02 / JF - ephemera
They thought he was asleep. He had been, and he couldn't remember what had woken him up, but now he was just lying here, stretched out under the clean sheets Chris's cleaner had made up their bed with, listening.
Chris and Nick were down in the kitchen. Even with the dull hearing his human-ears gave him, he could tell that much. As a puma he'd have been able to tell their exact location, but as it was he could build up a pretty good picture from the blend of voices - just too low hear words as well as general tone - and clattering crockery; the metal sound that was someone - Chris, probably - sliding a shelf out of the oven; the slosh and growl of the dishwasher running. That'd have been Nick, making himself useful, like he was in danger of being asked to leave.
Nick was in no danger of being asked to leave.
He never had been, even though Chris maybe wouldn't have admitted that a while ago. Nick wasn't just the guy who'd made JC's whole world bearable again, he was a good guy in his own right. Nothing supernatural about two guys making lunch, no heroics today, but he could hear Nick and Chris's laughter starting up, and knew without hearing anything else that the two of them were cackling over something crude and dumb that he probably wouldn't crack a smile over.
Their voices were on the move - Nick's voice coming into focus
"…ink he's awake yet?"
Chris's voice was still muffled, but a second later JC heard it clear and true, as Chris sing-songed up the stairs.
"Hey, 'C" Chris called at a volume carefully pitched that it probably wouldn't have woken JC if he'd still been post-shifting unconscious.
"Hey!" JC replied, his own voice sounding croaky as he realized that he was drier than a desert fire.
"Lunch is on the table in five." Nick yelled back, and then there was a thunder of feet as first one, then the other - Chris, then Nick, JC guessed - decided that they needed to say hi more personally than that. God knows, he'd been asleep for a whole two hours. Anything could happen in that time.
The creak of the loose riser on the top step, and the rattle of the door handle were JC's last warning before two guys launched themselves at him, landing on the bed amongst laughter and whoops.
******************
JC and sound - I swear I came by that pair of prompts honestly, and as such, I wanted to stear clear of anything musical - too obvious. This is snippet of my puma-tory universe, because, well, anyhting hyper-sense-based I right at the moment seems to be. Nothing like your main character changing species to make you wonder things like 'do pumas see in black and white, or colour' and so forth. Nothing very profound to say here, though - just a random domestic moment. I guess you could tie that to JC using his human-hearing, not the more sensitive puma-hearing. (I couldn't write puma-JC like this, because it would be all about the smells ...)
Chris and Nick were down in the kitchen. Even with the dull hearing his human-ears gave him, he could tell that much. As a puma he'd have been able to tell their exact location, but as it was he could build up a pretty good picture from the blend of voices - just too low hear words as well as general tone - and clattering crockery; the metal sound that was someone - Chris, probably - sliding a shelf out of the oven; the slosh and growl of the dishwasher running. That'd have been Nick, making himself useful, like he was in danger of being asked to leave.
Nick was in no danger of being asked to leave.
He never had been, even though Chris maybe wouldn't have admitted that a while ago. Nick wasn't just the guy who'd made JC's whole world bearable again, he was a good guy in his own right. Nothing supernatural about two guys making lunch, no heroics today, but he could hear Nick and Chris's laughter starting up, and knew without hearing anything else that the two of them were cackling over something crude and dumb that he probably wouldn't crack a smile over.
Their voices were on the move - Nick's voice coming into focus
"…ink he's awake yet?"
Chris's voice was still muffled, but a second later JC heard it clear and true, as Chris sing-songed up the stairs.
"Hey, 'C" Chris called at a volume carefully pitched that it probably wouldn't have woken JC if he'd still been post-shifting unconscious.
"Hey!" JC replied, his own voice sounding croaky as he realized that he was drier than a desert fire.
"Lunch is on the table in five." Nick yelled back, and then there was a thunder of feet as first one, then the other - Chris, then Nick, JC guessed - decided that they needed to say hi more personally than that. God knows, he'd been asleep for a whole two hours. Anything could happen in that time.
The creak of the loose riser on the top step, and the rattle of the door handle were JC's last warning before two guys launched themselves at him, landing on the bed amongst laughter and whoops.
******************
JC and sound - I swear I came by that pair of prompts honestly, and as such, I wanted to stear clear of anything musical - too obvious. This is snippet of my puma-tory universe, because, well, anyhting hyper-sense-based I right at the moment seems to be. Nothing like your main character changing species to make you wonder things like 'do pumas see in black and white, or colour' and so forth. Nothing very profound to say here, though - just a random domestic moment. I guess you could tie that to JC using his human-hearing, not the more sensitive puma-hearing. (I couldn't write puma-JC like this, because it would be all about the smells ...)