(no subject)
Title: A Cat's Magic
Rating: K+ (Suitable for ages 13 and above)
Disclaimers: The character Edward Leat (and that of the ship's cat, Emily) belongs to latin_cat.
Original pen-date: 4 February 2011
Summary: Show the Colours AU; Terpsichore's cat, Miss Emily, changes places with Lieutenant Cartwright for a week. At sea, 1809.
Author's Note: Written for a Kink meme on DreamWidth. Prompt - A cat for a week. Miss Emily and a member of Terpsy's crew swap forms. Miss Emily becomes a human female. The crew member a male cat.
This was impossible, Foley thought. He had finally returned to his officer's cabin, having been summarily chased off by a red-faced Mister Leat. The cat he'd discovered in Mister Cartwright's cot was now sitting on the tiny desk, only a few inches from where Foley himself sat in the uncomfortable desk chair.
While the cat seemed perfectly comfortable on its new perch, Foley felt utterly miserable. The only explanation for this was that the cat was indeed Mister Cartwright. Which meant... the strange woman in the second luff's cabin was... Miss Emily. But that was so far from rational that Foley was loathe to believe it.
The pale-furred cat offered a placid mow and bumped its head against Foley's hand. It jumped down from the desk in a flurry of stirred-up papers before the Marine could turn any attention to it, however, and padded to the cabin door. There, it sat and gazed pointedly up at him.
"No," Foley said. "Can't go out there, mate."
What was he doing, talking to a cat? Foley shook his head. Besides being completely mad, it wasn't as though the cat could understand him. Or maybe it could? On hearing his refusal to let it out, the cat uttered a more irritable-sounding mrow and scratched at the door. This was lunacy, Foley thought. What if the cat's racket was heard by someone else?
In the wardroom, the officers were enjoying their dinner largely as routine. He had claimed that Mister Cartwright was suffering from an unsettled stomach and wouldn't be joining them, which seemed to have been accepted as truth. How Lieutenant Leat had explained the sudden appearance of a woman in his cabin was something Foley didn't yet know, but neither was he sure he wanted to.
"Oh enough of that, sir," the steward snapped, when the cat persisted in its clawing at the door. His admonition, amazingly, seemed to have an effect. Or at least the cat abandoned its attempt to scratch its way out. Instead, it crossed the cabin and leapt up onto the desk again. Foley found himself nearly on eye-level with the beast. The devilish feline had the same thoughtful gaze Mister Cartwright had, or so it seemed. Maybe it was indeed his officer?
Somebody rapped at the door. "Mister Cartwright? Got a bit of dinner for you here, sir, if you like." The voice belonged to Markham, which made Foley grimace. Of course. The wardroom steward knew of this strange situation also. There would be no keeping his tongue from wagging about this, either.
"Leave it - " Foley began, but it was too late. Markham, that eternal idiot, had pushed open the screen. "No, sir!" It was useless. In an instant, the cat was off the desk and out through the narrow gap that had appeared. Pausing only to curse scathingly at the startled Markham, Foley bulled his way out of the cabin, hard on the cat's heels.
He was too slow. The beast had vanished. Hell. Foley stopped just shy of the messdeck and groaned. How was he going to tell Sergeant Quinn about this?
Rating: K+ (Suitable for ages 13 and above)
Disclaimers: The character Edward Leat (and that of the ship's cat, Emily) belongs to latin_cat.
Original pen-date: 4 February 2011
Summary: Show the Colours AU; Terpsichore's cat, Miss Emily, changes places with Lieutenant Cartwright for a week. At sea, 1809.
Author's Note: Written for a Kink meme on DreamWidth. Prompt - A cat for a week. Miss Emily and a member of Terpsy's crew swap forms. Miss Emily becomes a human female. The crew member a male cat.
This was impossible, Foley thought. He had finally returned to his officer's cabin, having been summarily chased off by a red-faced Mister Leat. The cat he'd discovered in Mister Cartwright's cot was now sitting on the tiny desk, only a few inches from where Foley himself sat in the uncomfortable desk chair.
While the cat seemed perfectly comfortable on its new perch, Foley felt utterly miserable. The only explanation for this was that the cat was indeed Mister Cartwright. Which meant... the strange woman in the second luff's cabin was... Miss Emily. But that was so far from rational that Foley was loathe to believe it.
The pale-furred cat offered a placid mow and bumped its head against Foley's hand. It jumped down from the desk in a flurry of stirred-up papers before the Marine could turn any attention to it, however, and padded to the cabin door. There, it sat and gazed pointedly up at him.
"No," Foley said. "Can't go out there, mate."
What was he doing, talking to a cat? Foley shook his head. Besides being completely mad, it wasn't as though the cat could understand him. Or maybe it could? On hearing his refusal to let it out, the cat uttered a more irritable-sounding mrow and scratched at the door. This was lunacy, Foley thought. What if the cat's racket was heard by someone else?
In the wardroom, the officers were enjoying their dinner largely as routine. He had claimed that Mister Cartwright was suffering from an unsettled stomach and wouldn't be joining them, which seemed to have been accepted as truth. How Lieutenant Leat had explained the sudden appearance of a woman in his cabin was something Foley didn't yet know, but neither was he sure he wanted to.
"Oh enough of that, sir," the steward snapped, when the cat persisted in its clawing at the door. His admonition, amazingly, seemed to have an effect. Or at least the cat abandoned its attempt to scratch its way out. Instead, it crossed the cabin and leapt up onto the desk again. Foley found himself nearly on eye-level with the beast. The devilish feline had the same thoughtful gaze Mister Cartwright had, or so it seemed. Maybe it was indeed his officer?
Somebody rapped at the door. "Mister Cartwright? Got a bit of dinner for you here, sir, if you like." The voice belonged to Markham, which made Foley grimace. Of course. The wardroom steward knew of this strange situation also. There would be no keeping his tongue from wagging about this, either.
"Leave it - " Foley began, but it was too late. Markham, that eternal idiot, had pushed open the screen. "No, sir!" It was useless. In an instant, the cat was off the desk and out through the narrow gap that had appeared. Pausing only to curse scathingly at the startled Markham, Foley bulled his way out of the cabin, hard on the cat's heels.
He was too slow. The beast had vanished. Hell. Foley stopped just shy of the messdeck and groaned. How was he going to tell Sergeant Quinn about this?