Day in the Life

[emptyyourself]

[Who:] Severus Snape (cat), Martha Jones, Tony Foster, Arthas, Open
[What:] A day in the life of the worst cat ever.
[When:] Er, backdated to yesterday. I was unavailable.
[Where:] All over!

You know how it's done! Chime in or add your own threads. I'm up for anything but death.

Comments

Around 10 - Log for Martha [Closed]

[emptyyourself]

Severus was still a cat. He didn't like this situation at all, and Martha's suggestion that he play with cat toys or sleep had been completely dismissed out-of-hand. Out-of-paw. Whatever. Instead, he had spent his time making a nuisance of himself. If he was going to be miserable, so was everyone else.

Simpering Dustmop had taken to hiding under the bed now, but he didn't dare cross Boe. The cat had taken a perfunctory warning swipe at his nose when he'd tried to fight for Martha's attention. Instead, he simply got underfoot or stared up at her mournfully. He couldn't reach doorknobs. He couldn't get his own food. He couldn't talk. He didn't want to consider the problems that would arise when he had to use the litter pan.

Now, he paced just outside the door of the infirmary, stubbornly making as much of a racket as possible and shooting angry cat-glares at the support staff. Every now and again, he stopped to see if anyone (Martha) was paying attention.

Around 10 - Log for Martha [Closed]

[thegooddrjones]

Martha had dealt with him being a nuisance while they were in their room, and she'd dealt with him just being underfoot and meowing at her. She definitely hadn't had anywhere near as hard of a time with this as he currently was having. Of course Martha also liked being touched and sleeping without nightmares and having a good excuse to not have to deal with real life; her husband didn't seem to be having a good time with it.

She'd summarily banished him from the infirmary. It wasn't hygienic to have a cat in there, especially when people like Rex were allergic to cats. Despite the looks and yowling and in general feeling like her husband was possibly going to smother her in her sleep, she'd been firm on this notion.

However, after so long of him doing that, Martha's patience was wearing thin. She quickly headed towards him when he stopped to see if she was paying attention. "Oi!" She announced quickly. "Would you please stop this?"

[emptyyourself]

When she approached him, he sat back on his haunches and stared up at her morosely. She was being unfeeling. He wasn't safe like this. He was constantly in danger of being stepped on or kicked or eaten by the likes of Sirius Black. Martha could protect him, and she had exiled him to the hall.

When she snapped at him, he meowed at her, trying to convey - for the millionth time since last night - that he did not like being in this situation. Also, hungry. The smell of food from the dining hall was seeping down through the roof, and while she might not be able to detect the scent, it was maddening to him.

What did Simpering Dustmop do when he wanted something? Severus thought for a moment, then groaned inwardly. This was going to be humiliating.

He stood and began to rub up against her legs, making that ridiculous purring noise. At least he had learned to control it. This was embarrassing -

Hm. She smelled like him now. He could make her smell like she- Oh, territory! Perk!

[thegooddrjones]

Martha knew he didn't like being in this situation. At this point everyone on the second level knew about his unhappiness with the situation, and with her. There was the distinct possibility that the entire barge knew it by now.

She bent over when he sat back on his haunches, and lord was she surprised when he started to rub against her legs. For a moment Martha was too surprised to say anything in response to it. Quickly she bent down and took him in her arms again, absently rubbing his head.

"Alright, love, you need something." She spoke softly. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

[emptyyourself]

When she picked him up, he took the opportunity to - what was this? Scent-marking? - rub his cheek against her arms. It was in part feline instinct, and in part because he suspected Sirius Black and Remus Lupin (and every other animal on the ship) would be able to smell it. Of course, to any unsuspecting human, it might seem as though he was simply happy to be held.

He looked up at her again, purring in what he supposed was meant to be a contented fashion. She liked when Boe did that, didn't she? It was certainly why she had cats. If he couldn't reach her as a human, he could appeal to her fluffy, sensitive side. With purring.

Let me in the infirmary. Get some food.

Until now, he'd been doing nothing but the animal equivalent of shouting. Could he make that noise Boe did? The little one that was sickeningly adorable? He tried it, looking up at her as innocently as possible.

Mew.

Oh, good. He could be cute. Food, please.

[thegooddrjones]

Martha really didn't think of it as scent-marking, and if she did find out about it, she would be torn between being exasperated, amused and offended. She thought it was him being cat-like and this rewarded it with petting him below the chin.

She sighed as she watched him, knowing that it was simply more than attention that he wanted from her; Severus had never really wanted for her attention, but when he was in a mood or worried or unhappy, he wanted more of it. A part of her was thinking that was what was going on now.

When he'd looked up at her like that, and then mewed at her in a manner that reminded her of her cat, Martha laughed. "Does that mean yes for food, husband of mine?"

[emptyyourself]

Finally. Communication. He let out another mewling noise (and hated himself for it), then twisted and leaped down from her arms. He was getting much better about this jumping-and-landing thing.

He sat back on his haunches again and stared up at her expectantly, his tail swishing back and forth.

Well? Hurry up. Mew. With that, he turned and started to stalk into the infirmary, taking her acknowledgement as a sign that he was no long banished from the room like a common mutt.

[thegooddrjones]

When he twisted to be released from her arms, Martha just let him go; there was no sense in squeezing a squirming cat, especially not when that cat was as stubborn as Severus Snape was in his normal human form.

She expected that him in cat form was only going to be about a million times worse. The thought was confirmed with the swishing of his tail.

"Where do you think you're going? You're not going into the infirmary, mister. I've told you, people are allergic to cat fur and it would make things much harder than it has to be. Come on, I'll stop by the dining hall and get you food, but we're not eating it in here. We'll go back to my room."

[emptyyourself]

He stopped and stared back at her, his eyes narrowed and ears laid back. For a moment, he debated sitting himself right down in the middle of the infirmary and being a stubborn ass about it. He had just as much right as anyone else to be in there.

But she might not get him food. His tail flicked as he mulled this over. Finally, his ears perked up again and he stalked back toward her. When he reached her feet, he paused and eyed her flatly.

Fine. For good measure, he rubbed against her leg again, arching his back into it, then headed out into the hall.

[thegooddrjones]

The laying back of his ears meant that Martha raised her brows and her hands hovered for a moment in the direction of her hips. She wasn't going to have a fight with her husband who was a cat in the middle of the infirmary. If she had too, she would have picked him up and taken him out and suffered the scratches and anger for it anyway. This wasn't going to stand.

Thankfully, he became less himself about it, and he stalked back towards her. Well, that was a relief, even if he eyed her in that flat-cat-manner. Martha's lips twisted upwards, but she didn't grin at this, even though she wanted too, and even though he really would have deserved it if she did so.

When he rubbed against her legs again, Martha started to lean down to pet him. Of course he was gone before she could, but that was beside the point.

She walked towards her room and opened the door, calling him as she did. "Come on, Severus."

[emptyyourself]

Did she just call him like a dog? He stopped and stared at her from twenty feet away, radiating annoyance from his little cat body. No. No, no, no. He was not going to be summoned like a household pet.

It took him a long moment to decide how to handle this. The situation was already bad enough without her treating him like a cat. Finally, decisively, he defiantly sat down in the middle of the hall and glared.

[thegooddrjones]

"I'm not actually going to take you down to the kitchen. It's not sanitary for pets to be in there and people would be grumpy. Do you remember Paddy last year when...." And her voice trailed off because he didn't remember and the reason she'd been glad to be a cat was in part to him being gone and now Paddy was gone as well.

For a moment, all Martha could do was sigh. She dragged the sound out and she just dropped onto the floor by her door. "I know you hate this, I get it. I know you think it's indignant and beneath you and that Bernard did it because he holds a personal vendetta against you, but come on. If you were you, you wouldn't want pets in places either. Will you please come here and stay in my room?"

[emptyyourself]

When she sat down, his eyes narrowed into small slits, and he looked away stubbornly. She was right, of course. He hated pets in the dining hall. He wouldn't have cared much for them in the infirmary. But he wasn't a pet. He had a right to be in those places. If he could have sighed, he would have.

Well, at least she was asking.

He padded over and sat down next to her. If he was honest with himself (which he rarely was), he would admit that, while he was hungry and tired and frustrated with the situation, right now he simply wanted someone (Martha) to make things right - and being with her was as close as he was going to come. After a moment, he clambered on to her lap, allowing himself to be miserable. It was the best he could do to acquiesce.

[thegooddrjones]

Martha watched as his eyes narrowed, and she restrained herself (though just barely) from rolling her own in response. She wasn't going to get into an argument with him while he was a cat and all he could do was just meow at her. Also, his meow was loud and piercing and shouty. If he kept doing at her she was going to get a headache.

When he padded over and sat down next to her, Martha smiled. When he climbed into her lap, Martha quickly started petting him, her fingers moving slowly as he looked so miserable. "It's going to be alright love. I'll get you some fish and whatever met they're serving tonight in the dining hall." She wasn't going to give him cat food, that was certain. "And then we'll take a nap, yeah?" Food and naps, they were definitely the best way to fix things when one was a cat.

[emptyyourself]

When her fingers worked through his fur, he relaxed, but managed to keep himself from purring. This wasn't okay. This was horrible. He was a cat, for Merlin's sake, and he was stuck like this. But her hands felt nice. Soothing.

He looked up at her with that same baleful stare, but at the mention of fish, some lower brain function took over. His whiskers twitched. Fish. Fish sounded perfect. She had his complete attention with that word. Fish. Yes. Fish. He moved off of her lap and stood by her door, staring at her and meowing plaintively as though to say, "Well? What are you doing? Why aren't you getting up?"

When she didn't move fast enough, he started to purr and rub against her side, no longer thinking about marking her or being cute. Get up, Martha. Get up! Fish!

[thegooddrjones]

She knew that it was sheer bloody stubbornness that kept him from purring, and the knowledge of it made her smirk, but she didn't comment on it.

Well, he was hungry. That at least solved on problem. She watched him as he stood by her door, and she started to get up before he started to purr and rub against her side.

She laughed and stood up then. "I'm going, I'm going. Hold your horses." Opening her door, Martha waited for him to go in before she closed it.

Once she did, the kitchen was only a level away. Martha managed to get two large pieces of fish: one cooked and one raw before she returned to her room with them on a plate.