Je t'aime... moi non plus

  • Thread starter Synthetic Seraph
  • Start date
The feline slinks from the carrier then bursts from a dozen pound housecat with silver, tan and black Clouded Leopard markings to a 5'8" 150 pound humanoid, jolting to life upright in the front passenger seat. With the same coloring throughout his body, It's hard to be sure which portions are skin or ultrashort hair, but a full fluffy coat runs down his back. And the best chance for Harley to pass as human would be to impersonate a dedicated actor fitted with prosthetics - thanks to his gold eyes with the vertical slit pupil, triangular furred ears, ample tail, hands with short stubby fingers and pads, and alien looks in the shape of the nose, lips, teeth and face itself. An open-sided tunic covers him from shoulder to thigh in a pattern crossed between his own markings and tribal tattoos. Beads of wood and ore are knotted into his short hair.

The exotic man smiled disarmingly while fiddling with the buttons and switches in the armrest beside him. "That's not a bad offer," he lied, thinking only of freedom to carve his own place in this strange world. "Any more doubts about my being a shapeshifter?" With the communication charm in effect, he sounded exactly like Vivian's native language and even her home accent. "What would you have done if I'd pretended to be a small common cat for a few weeks, until you suspected you'd got stiffed on your expensive purchase?"

(( More or less decent references:
small http://kotenokgaff.deviantart.com/art/Clouded-leopard-111341855
large http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=clouded+leopard#/d2o2x6z
humanish http://bewildered.deviantart.com/art/Clouded-Leopard-Sitting-43170783 ))
 
She looks at him, he was so attractive she could hardly believe it.... She shook her head and smiles at his comment " I see.... Well if you had then I just would've had pretty kitty. I got you on a whim, I would not be upset in the least had you not been a shifter. Have you eaten? Do you need anything before we get back to the house?" she continues driving even though she's ecstatic about the male next to her
 
Harley blinked those large liquid eyes at the human woman's kindness, so much like the shopkeeper's generosity but like a breath of spring breeze rather than the stagnant smog of guilt. "You don't have to worry about small things," he hedged, as he finally succeeded in lowering the side window.

In a flash he was back as a small cat and diving for that opening, no matter the speed of the moving car. With a -THUPP- the feline hit an invisible barrier headfirst, enchanted into being thanks to the warmed stone. The cat twisted from his paws-up sprawl on the floormat onto his feet once again, and phased to humanish in the passenger seat once again. "I should have known, if we're communicating, that would be in effect also," he muttered sadly. He let his head slump against the invisible barrier, which kept himself in and flattened one ear but let the wind stream all around him into the car, an odd visual effect.
 
She gasped and almost reached for him, she certainly slowed down not wanting him hurt. When he was hit back in the at her amber eyes blink in confusion. " I see... So you can't leave...." she bites her thin yet pouty lips and parks in her garage, she opens his door but let's him wander. Would she want a companion she had to keep prisoner? Would it e more humane to take him to forestry and release him there... Where he wouldn't be tested on like a lab rat...


Her home was large and full of machines and gizmos she had taken fancy to or been tweaking. She was an inventor after all. Sheets of engineer drawings and sketches littered the counter tops.... She was a little cluttered
 
As the car passed into the garage, the stone talisman spread its boundary to encompass the entire house. Harley gave the woman a mournful, antagonized look as he stepped past her into the domicile. "Of course, the human who took me home had to be a blasted engineer," the thought Harley muttered when he saw the numerous devices. The notion struck that he and she might be the only organic life in the building, and his skin crawled.

The feline bishoun turned to his owner abruptly, laying on the charm. "Look, Vivian, is it? What did you want today, what did you expect me to be for you? Something pretty? Pleasant company? A live, rare trophy to show off for your friends?"
 
She arches a brow and shakes her head, " I bought you on a whim. I didn't buy you for any particular reason. I just... they said that you want to.... they said you would never be bought and I just didn't want you to rot in there... what do you want? You seem awfully moody" she gets up and walks to her kitchen , " and also... I do not have friends"
 
Vivian's straightforward reply takes the wind out of Harley's sails, leaving him with less ammunition than he figured. He sighed and followed her. The longer he speaks, the more thumps of his forehead he taps onto the nearby wall. "No friends. And a house full of robots. You can't even relate to your own kind, much less any other type of life." Still with his forehead against the wall, he swiveled his head to look her way blearily. "You're doing me a favor, and I see how it looks that way to you, and the truth is it IS better to have a more open..." He almost said 'home' and then caught himself. "Building than a pet shop cage small enough for only one form. But this is almost the same as rotting when you're completely civilization and I'm pure nature."
 
She watches him and nods listening to his ailments. It is true she never got along with other people..... she rubs her temples and then looks at him. She lets out a soft sigh and goes over to him, " look. I know you dislike me. I know you probably would like to put your claws in me right now. But just stop growling. I am not a nice person and it is true that I dislike people.... and that they do not seem to like me very much and I am sorry that my work displeases you... there is a back yard. I have nothing else to offer you"

She sighs and then just clicks her tongue, she had wanted a pet. She had been thinking a cat or something..... not a living person.... not complex.... not..... she did not handle rejection well
 
A weary look scrapes over Vivian from head to toe at the gutsy, insufficient suggestion. Back yard, indeed. Harley stalks over to the nearest window, fiddles with the latch until the iron lock swivels out of the way and he can lift it, then a soundless smack of his hand hits the next invisible barrier like a mime. "It was worth a shot. The spell considers the building the enclosure, not the property line." Dejectedly, he put his head to the upper glass. His ears drooped and tail dragged, dark rings in contrast to the floor.

"In my world, I was what you might call an ambassador between the people and the wilderness. If they cut too much of the forest, if one species grows too numerous and unbalances the ecosystem, I settle disputes. A single digger or a force of nature, it didn't matter. And when I said 'people', even their houses were one with the forest. Not this square thing. This - is - no - place - for - me. Throw that spell-stone out the window and I'll be on my way."
 
She looks at him and goes up to him softly, " alright look. I... In this world it is very much about mechanics and science. If I let you out the window.... they will take you to a lab, they will strap you to a table and they will cut you apart. I can't.... I said I would do my best by you. I will call her tomorrow and see if I can get an extension so that you can go out in the yard. Come now, I will walk back there with you. I am sorry to hear that you lost what you were and that you are stuck here... but stop moping and work with what you are given" she puts her aqua hair down with a sigh and opens the back door, "come on"

the yard was decently large, there was a small shed... there was places for a garden and small trees
 
Harley's alien face pales at the description of his dissection fate if he were captured by less than sympathetic members of this odd sentient race. And Vivian's intentions truly make sense. But a rumble lets loose from Harley's throat, the beginning of an animal snarl despite his humanish structure for the time being and his eyes flare as he turns her way. A lunge had him back in the small feline form and running towards that back opening, but this time he is ready for the barrier, leaping up at it and rebounding to demonstrate the airy exit that for him is still a physical wall. If a cat could look sarcastic, this one could - as he arched the length of his his furred tail over his back against that transparent shield. From the other side, Vivian could see how flattened the hairs were, a physical impossibility if it weren't for the arcane arts. Harley could only look outwards to the trees and landscaping, not join it. And if given the chance there would be no middle ground, from freed straight to the wilderness as a smaller or greater feline.

He switched back then, abruptly. Sitting on the floor, slumping against the invisible wall with one furred ear bent in half against it, he murmured, "If you're that eager to be 'nice', come join me again. Talk. Show me around." His bag of tricks surely couldn't be over that quickly but for the time being his voice sounded so defeated.
 
She watches this and sighs. She closes the back door and then sets her gloves down looking down at him. " Alright get up, it is alright. There isn't too much to see and you probably won't like it much" she sighs and shows him to the kitchen, it was fairly sparse holding only the necessities, then the dining room which contained a table and two chairs.... no one ever visits so she never bought more. She had a work desk in the back covered in papers and sketches, " up the stairs is a library, my workshop and two bedrooms.... uhm my guest bedroom is sparse... no one really comes to see me. But I will get the spare bedding out for you. I assume you don't want to be in my room with me"
 
Harley followed along noting all the details Vivian offered. While still in bishoun form he stepped in close towards the human woman at the end of her tour and last offer, so near that his tail wrapped around himself and flicked against her. "That wouldn't be a problem at all. Being in your room. With you. That is." He drew out each word slowly, adding worlds of implications to that scenario. His head cocked and gold eyes sparkled. A smile revealed large canines for bestowing love bites unlike any other Vivian had ever had even if she did have human lovers already.

The change in mood was quite simple; if asking for sympathy kept him IN custody rather than OUT towards Earth's wilderness, what about gaining trust until his keeper dropped the barrier for a field trip? Or more accurately, as a newbie when confronted with a new device, poke every button at once and find out what it did!
 
She couldn't lie to herself.... he was hot. And she did want him, her attraction to him was evident but she did not buy him to use as a sexual toy. She kisses his cheek softly, " you will have your own room and if you want to join me ever you can but you will always have the option of sleeping in your own bed. In your own comfort." She blushes and she has never had a human lover, she intimidated most men. She sighs and shows him the guest room which is sparse and the bed has bedding laid on it, a dresser and a bedside table with a small lamp on it.

" My room is just down the hall, the bathroom is in the center"
 
The receptivity surprises him, even in the form of an almost pure kiss on the cheek. Yeah, a night or two of intimacy or even hints in that direction and she'd be throwing the enchantment away to bring him outside, he figured, and that would be IT. Better a cat in the wild posing as a mere animal than in a box with robots. And for the present he lays the enticement on thick. "That is most kind of you. My, what a perfect little habitat this is for you. You live here, you work right here. And now with someone to keep you company, you have... everything you need, don't you." Without any exaggerated movements the bishoun stretched, angling his hips slightly and poising one leg, to draw attention to his chest and on down his physique. As he lengthened the markings on the exposed skin not covered by his tunic seemed to elongate, drawing the eye to the ringlike pattern.
 
She shrugs, " I suppose. I used to.... oh it is silly. Go ahead and settle in." She sighs and walks into her room. When she opens the door he sees that despite her wealth her bed is small, her room sparse, she seems to lack extravagance. She sighs and removes her eye patch touching the scar on her eye. Sparks can be deadly... she removes her clothes and puts on a night gown, her long hair loose. She sits on her bed and just plays with her hair. She didn't expect him to wander in. She didn't even know what she was doing with him...
 
One thing to learn is that of the handful of traits that carried over into the human shift, along with features like tail and ears there was also the stealthy walk in utter silence. In any case meandering in as the dozen-pound leopard-marked housecat while the woman was distracted with her eyepatch and scar was easy work, and a rewarding job with that view of the lady's full undress and redress. Close enough to be compatible, he noted; amazing that the cluster of races in his world and this shared similar potential with one another... if he truly intended to carry the ruse that far. For now Harley simply took up residence behind Vivian and phased back, and stroked that loose hair in a touch that came out of nowhere.
 
She startles at his touch and blinks at him, " Harley.... what are you doing in here? I am just about to go to sleep... yo should rest" she blushes, no one had ever shared a bed with her, she was horrid with human contact and her scar.... she covered her eye with her hand.... he had seen it.... no man liked a woman with scars. She turns away from him and closes her eyes, hand still covering the wounded one. She did not know how to respond to him
 
"Oh... you speak as if there is a problem. Is this not appropriate?" The offworlder made himself sound naive in a lowly trick that any behavior he wished to excuse was automatically a normal custom in his society. But more than that, the act of hiding the scar confused and intrigued him, a true difference between their cultures. Positive or otherwise, the scar and all such things were part of who you were, and what was the use of hiding from oneself? Harley grasped Vivian gently by the wrist to draw her hand away, and rather than focus attention on the old wound he lipped and nibbled at her fingertips to distract her and absorb the whole of her attention, and only then regard the two halves of her face from a new position in front of her. He'd already seen the site while changing, but as Vivian seemed to think there was something important about it he let he see him observing.... At times he looked to the damaged side, at times to the pure, comparing the two individually. Then he stepped quite far back away and she was simply "Vivian". After a long moment's pause in which he plucked the next words from the air like birdsong notes, Harley intoned, utterly sincerely. "My lady, do as you please, but as for me I find that organic marking a more pleasing pattern than the solid circle you wore."
 
She blinks at him confused, she was sure that the reason that he would never be taken home was this: the boy did not know what he wanted.... he didn't want to touch her... then he wanted to be in her bed. He wanted to run away and now he wont leave her side. She stiffened hen he moved her hand but the nibbling relaxed her. THAT was sweet of him.... when he spoke shhe looked to his eyes and blushed, " I was once told that no one would ever want a woman so marred on her face. My father gave me the patch to wear the next day. I am... despite my accomplishments... their biggest disappointment"
 
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