Caged: Cat!Toreth
In Caged we get to meet one more big black cat that symbolises Toreth. If I add this information to the fact that my own cat (on the icon) resembles Toreth much more than any other human being I’ve ever met, it becomes dreadfully obvious that Manna most probably based Toreth’s character on a cat she once owned (or still owns). And Warrick, Sara and Carnac are based on Toreth to be (almost) a perfect lover, friend and enemy, respectively.
Most ingenious! *applauds*
CAGED:
Cat!Toreth
Firstly, a few quotes from Wait For It.
He'd assumed the absence was due to the game they'd started, but it was always possible there was a more sinister explanation. In the past Warrick had missed the warning signs of Toreth's intermittent retreats. If this was one, it would be better to uncover the source of the problem before things got out of hand.
Management in Warrick/Toreth relationship seems to be playing a major role.
Toreth bit the nape of Warrick's neck, because it was the only way he could keep quiet, stop himself from telling Warrick how good it was, how much he'd wanted it - and then he was coming so hard that his eyes teared.
Wait For It emphasises once again that the sex is so good because of the depth of Toreth’s feelings for Warrick.
"Enjoy it?" Toreth asked.
"It was perfect."
"Not quite. It was supposed to happen this weekend, on Sunday."
"So why did you do it tonight?"
"Guess."
Warrick considered. The line was obvious, but Toreth would prefer him not to get it. "Because it's game night?"
[…]
"Because that was as long as I could stand it."
Toreth-management again. :)
~*~*~*~
Caged.
Since Toreth couldn't see him, Warrick allowed himself a smile. Toreth's reaction to children always amused him. There were so many topics that Warrick wouldn't normally dare raise with him, most of them to do with their relationship. Any suggestion that they would be together in the long term was risky. Offers of affection that weren't tied to fucking, expressing any kind of disapproval over his compulsive infidelity, even bringing food round to Toreth's flat too frequently - any of these and more could trigger a retreat. Then there were the standalone topics, such as Toreth's family, which were absolutely unmentionable.
In order to be good at Toreth Management, Warrick has obviously made an extensive research into the subject. You see the conclusions in the quote above.
His best guess was that it had never occurred to Toreth that 'I like children' might in any way be connected to 'I would like to have children of my own', with all the concomitant relationship implications. It had never seemed like a good idea to suggest the link to him.
Indeed, it is not a very good idea: it could have caused a major breakdown after which Toreth would have agreed to whatever Warrick wanted, of course - Warrick just doesn’t want to demand such a sacrifice from Toreth. Yet.
She was in beautiful condition, coat glossy, muscles flowing under her skin as she moved and turned, moved and turned. That only made it worse, that such a healthy specimen could be so sick.
*loves the metaphor*
"Why's it doing that?" Toreth asked eventually.
"She came from somewhere where she was kept in a very small cage. The repetitive behaviour is called stereotyping. A stress-reducing response, or so I understand."
"So why is it still doing it?"
"Probably because she hasn't noticed yet that things have changed."
"God, no wonder they're extinct in the wild if they were all that stupid."
"It's not a question of intelligence. It was all she'd ever experienced. […] There was nothing she wanted in the world around her, and no unpredictable events that required a reaction, so eventually she ceased to respond to it."
Very beautiful explanation of Toreth’s condition. Perhaps, a bit too beautiful. :)
"Her stereotyping is very deeply ingrained. The damage was done to her during early development, and was then heavily reinforced for a number of years."
"So it's going to be like this forever?"
"They hope not. They've had other animals arrive in a similar condition, and most of them can be coaxed out of it eventually. Helped to learn new behaviours. It's likely to take a long time, though. Months at least. Perhaps years before she's anything like normal."
It seems that it was Manna’s objective to make Toreth ‘normal’. It’s a pity that story came to a dead end. But then, in my opinion, Toreth can never be completely normal, though in time he can learn to accept whatever Master Warrick wishes. :)
Toreth stopped pacing and crouched down, palm pressed against the glass. "Poor fucking thing."
It was virtually the only time Warrick could remember him expressing sympathy for anything, animal or human.
*loves the metaphor some more* Toreth is expressing sympathy for himself, of course.
"You brought me here because you wanted a comparison, didn't you? To see us next to each other?"
"Yes."
"Well? What's the conclusion? That thing - is that what you see, when you look at me?"
"Occasionally, yes."
Toreth smiled, as predatory as anything they'd seen during the day, but without the reassurance of a barrier between them. He reached out slowly, giving Warrick plenty of time to react, pulled him forwards, and kissed him hard.
"Then more fool you."
Though provoking, isn’t it? On one hand, Toreth is obviously acting a bit too self-assured here. On the other hand, Warrick does miss a point as we see in the next quote:
To his surprise, Toreth had stopped at the flamingo pool to wait for him; he was sitting on the wall and watching the birds. When Warrick came up, he glanced round and smiled briefly, the aura of danger gone.
Instead of the reaction Warrick expected - Toreth disappearing for a while - Toreth tells him a story from his childhood, which is, frankly, the directly opposite reaction.
Management is a great art and Warrick is very good at it and Toreth is not that difficult an object to manage. Warrick’s inadequate performance can only be explained by personal involvement.