By night, all cats are Black

[blackcatjiji]

who ; Jiji and all the "Halo guys" (and girls and AI)
what ; The cat-proximity effect in action.
where ; The Spartan Fort Of Helmety Doom
when ; Afternoon, Jiji's first day
warning(s) ; Cats and UNSC personnel. Interacting.

Comments

[chttrbox_recon]

After consuming enough oatmeal and booze to fuel a small nation, Jun retires to his room. He absently leaves the door open as he collapses into his desk chair, half setting/half dropping his helmet onto the floor as he tries to gather himself through the mixed buzz and lingering horror.

He wasn't sure how else to cope with what he'd seen, or how to get that image out of his head. For a while he just sat there, numb.

[blackcatjiji]

It would be a strange day in the world when a cat could see a left-ajar door and not go exploring. At first he had only poked at the door because it was open, and then because there was a light inside the room beyond. It was a dim light, just at cat-height, and ended up belonging to some tiny indicator on the inside of Jun's helmet. Yellow.

Silently padding across the floor, he dipped a foot into the helmet experimentally, stretching out his neck to examine the light in closer detail. That was when he heard Jun's breathing and looked up.

He was just...sitting there. Not doing anything.

The sound his feet made as he lit from the floor to the desk was quiet, hollow, but far too loud in the relative silence. He edged over to the side and gave Jun his best, most plaintive, wide-eyed attempt at feline cheer.

"Mrow?"

The was a pause.

"...Are you okay?"

[chttrbox_recon]

Jun startles at that, and then lets out a ragged sigh when he realizes it is just a cat and not a dinosaur come to eat him again. He rubs his hand over his face, slurring out a reply,

"M'fine."

Then he pauses, and glances at Jiji through his fingers. "I'm talkin' to a cat. I must not be as fine as I thought." But of course it's Jun, he talks to everything. Heaving a stronger sigh and leaning back in his chair, still looking dark and distant, "Cats have nine lives, right? How many have you used so far?"

[blackcatjiji]

"Yeah, but nobody believes that," Jiji murmurs, considering Jun carefully, then settles on his haunches on the desk.

"I'm still working on this one," He drawls; a tiny, thin shadow of a creature, looking up at the armored shadow of a warrior, "But I once talked to someone who told me she'd died three times, and had six left."

[chttrbox_recon]

A short little chuckle, and he rubs the back of his neck. He was tired from everything, and tense.

"That would make nine then, wouldn't it? She say if it ever gets any easier?"

[blackcatjiji]

"I don't think so."

It was the most natural thing in the work to make the flying jump from desk to shoulder. The dimness was all but black to a human but Jiji's eyes caught the dim glow from the vestigial HUD on the floor, and the indirect light from the cracked door, and multiplied them a thousand fold.

"But I think one of those times, she was supposedly hit by a car, so I don't think there was much to remember about it," He continued, wavering to find the right angle before nudging his cheekbone against Jun's armored knuckle just so. Pet the cat. Pet him. Pet the damn cat, Jun!

[chttrbox_recon]

Jun gives another slight jerk as Jiji jumps, still a little twitchy, but he relaxes a bit quicker this time. He reacts to the head bump with a few absent little scritches, before stopping to take his glove off and pet him in earnest.

"I didn't remember anything. I wouldn't have even known it happened at all except I walked in on -- on it. Of course, I think that has more to do with this place and less anything else. I'm not even a cat."

[blackcatjiji]

"Nobody's perfect."

The shoulder is an excellent place to settle, but Jiji's not in the mood, rubbing once against Jun's cheek before turning to get a better angle on the patting. He's in a good mood.

"It's not easier to die, just because it's easier to get killed, y'know," He was all but purring now, kneading at the unyielding armor under his feet, "But if you want to try it my way, then I can give you some definite pointers."

[chttrbox_recon]

"Definitely room for improvement, here." That little rub against his cheek does wonders to Jun's disposition, and he has to smile a little, Kitty!

Continuing the petting, because it's putting him in a better mood as well, "I would appreciate that. I'll take all the help I can get.

[blackcatjiji]

"Okay so the first thing is, you've got to take off this stuff sometimes," Jiji began, hopping cheerfully down from shoulder to lap with a thunk that only illustrated his point. After all, Kiki was a healthy, happy young human and she seemed to think of nothing so much as what else she could be wearing aside from whatever was on her body at the time, "Get your toes out, feel the grass! It's good for you. And another thing, what's with all the windows being shut all the time! You need to see the sun and eat food that tastes good and nothing else. And take naps."

Jiji considered that point for a moment, cocking his head against the steady, pleasurable pressure of Jun's hand.

"Lots of naps."

[chttrbox_recon]

Except that Jun's hand sort of pauses as he listens, looking down at Jiji with growing concern.

"That's what I was doing when I was attacked." And that's why he's sitting in his bedroom in base with his armor on and all the windows closed.

[blackcatjiji]

"So you're just gonna let them ruin the whole world for you?"

He streeeetches and butts at Jun's hand. Hey don't stop!

"I know you're human and that that's something that happens a lot with you guys, but trust me; it never helps."

[chttrbox_recon]

"Hey, I spend all of two minutes out of armor in the best of times; stuff like that" Jun jerks his head towards the door, sort of vaguely referring to his whole dieing thing, "just make it that much harder to get out of it. Otherwise, I enjoy the world just fine."

[blackcatjiji]

If Jiji were a brave cat, he'd put his paws up on Jun's chest and tell him to take it off now and prove he's not scared. If he were a stupid cat, he'd do the same, but with perhaps more vehemence.

But he's neither of those things. Just a cat. So he looks up at Jun with eyes as wide and they can go, then reflexively bends to groom the fur along one side. He can't take that kind of stress, not without some kind of outlet. After a minute, he looks back and does what he does best: point out the obvious.

"You're the one asking advice from a Cat."

[chttrbox_recon]

A light chuckle, and he resumes petting Jiji.

"Okay, you have a point." A little more serious, sort of staring out into space as he lets the calming qualities of petting-a-KITTY take effect, "It's a little ... no, pretty embarrassing to have live through all the shit I have just to loose it in a rather undignified manner."

[blackcatjiji]

"Nobody's perfect," least of all non-cats.

Actually that was a little profound, and he let the thought tumble around in his brain under the soothing pattern of Jun's stroking hand.

"My name's Jiji."