entrancelogs | OPEN | well, i don't know where they come from but they sure do come

Entry tags:

OPEN | well, i don't know where they come from but they sure do come

Who: Everyone and some adorable, rolly polly, purring kittens.
Where: Ballroom.
When: April 4th.
Rating: PG? It's kittens, how bad can it get.
Summary: As advertised, Anders wished for some kittens, now there are kittens, please adopt a kitten, kittens everywhere.

The Story:

_{[In the ballroom with plenty of space for them to romp around, Anders and Alistair set the kittens loose.

When he'd been thinking about them, Anders had had a particular image in his mind: a bunch of kittens sitting in a padded wicker basket like something out of a graphic illustration or inspired by a toilet paper brand. Who wouldn't find that adorable? That's exactly what he'd gotten, and exactly what they load the kittens up in to move them downstairs. Once the basket is deposited in the center of the room, some stay napping in its cushioned confines, others tumble out to explore.

Anders takes the time to bring up food, water, and litter. After some internal debating, he scatters some cat toys around the room, too. Welcome to Wonderland's one and only kitty daycare, for a limited time only!]}

_{(OOC: Don't worry about threading with Anders or Alistair if you want to join in just for kittens. Consider this a mingle log where you can make your own posts, tag around, etc.)}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

_{[Watching Alphys interact with the cats without openly letting on he's watching, he reaches out to pet whichever of the ones milling around him is demanding attention the loudest. These are a jealous bunch--whenever one gets a head rub, another will get in the way to press itself against his hand.

What hard heart couldn't love these creatures? Apparently even a breed of monster is enthralled by their company. Score one for cats!]}

You had a friend who was a cat who wanted a pet cat? _{[He wrinkles his brow questioningly.]} Can cats keep other cats as pets?

_{[Is that slavery if it's a cat doing it to another cat? That seems like just the sort of moral grey area Justice would get in a tiff about.]}

And what do you think now? Makes you sorry you've missed out on them until now, right?

[She thinks about it for a second, realizes she doesn't have an answer.]

I d-don't know, exactly? Then again, I'm not sure if, uh, c-cat monsters are the same as cats? Or, uh, c-cat type monsters. It's sort of l-like, how human b-bones and skeleton bones are, uh, similar, but different? I'm not sure I'm e-explaining this correctly.

[Just then, one of the kittens pounces on the end of her tail- she was moving it, slightly, in thought. She lets out a small yelp, shifting back to pull the offending kitten off of her, placing it slightly away.]

But, they're adorable! I m-mean, I saw them in movies and, t-tv shows, but t-they're so fluffy! I d-don't think I could, uh, k-keep up with this many for a long, uh, t-time though.

[Even now, she's trying to make sure the few clustering around her aren't hunting her tail again.]

_{[He considers the existential differences between cats and cat monsters, hand pausing mid-pet.]}

I suppose it depends if they're still cats at heart. Do they chase mice? Sit on people's laps? Insist on climbing onto tables when it's dinner time? That sounds like a cat to me.

_{[Alphys fussing with her tail meets with a low chuckle.]}

The cats are going to love you. I hope that tail of yours isn't sensitive--it looks like an oversized toy from this angle. But I hadn't realized your kind had television technology in your world.

_{[To be honest, she's not wrong about there being a few too many cats to keep an eye on, though, and he answers with wry humor.]}

You and human kind both. This many's a handful.

[She tries to smile graciously, keeping one eye on the kittens as she tries to continue the conversation. Whenever she sees them getting too close, she nudges them gently with the back of her hand, or just invites them to the ever-growing pile in her criss-crossed lap.]

Well, s-she's kind of a cat? Like, I think s-she likes doing those things, but uh, she also runs a store? K-Kind of.

And, uh, t-thankfully it's not, uhm, too m-much. They don't have, uh, v-very sharp teeth. [She giggles a bit.] But, uh, w-we do! It's, uh, all n-not as good as humans have, I t-think. But everybody, uh, h-has televisions and computers and stuff! And, uh, e-electricity from magical energy, thanks, uh, t-to the CORE.

What does a store run by a cat monster sell? Fresh mice? Catnip in bulk?

_{[The cats don't mind what Alphys is so long as she's willing to humor them; they continue to mill around her, leaving no part of her lap untouched with their paws.

Anders fares no better. It's one set of circumstances he'd never thought he'd share with a monster of any variety. He tries to imagine the Messenger in Alphys' place, making baby sounds at the kittens with his rasping lisp and probably infecting them with the taint in the process. That's... not the best mental image. He pushes it out of his mind to address the part of her explanation that gets his eyebrows rising.]}

Wait, the Core? Like Wonderland's Core?

Well, it was w-whatever she could, uh, find, a-actually. I taught her, uh, h-how to find stuff from, uhm, the dump, s-so she sells what s-she finds.

[She continues to gently touch the cats as they rub against her, until Anders mentions Wonderland has a Core, and she snaps her head up.]

W-Wonderland has a CORE? I d-don't think it's, uh, the s-same one, but I haven't h-heard about Wonderland's c-core. What, uh, d-does it do? I mean, the CORE, uhm, b-back home, is a gigantic g-generator, that turns magic into, uhm, e-electricity.

A junk-dealing cat. That's a new one.

_{[File that away under "things I never thought I'd hear in my lifetime."

The cat walking up and down his shoulder threatens to lift its tail and put its rear in his face, and with practiced ease, he scoops it off of him and sets it on his knee instead. No dignified conversation ever took place from behind a cat's butt.]}

You'd have to explain what electricity is before I could answer that. I don't really know what Wonderland's Core does--no one does. That's the question.

[Alphys giggles a little watching the cat's shenanigans with Anders, smiling as he gently moves them. It's kind of funny to talk about her world with people who don't know everything it came with- it's strange that there are people who've never even heard of monsters. And now, in this case, haven't heard of electricity. Alphys looks puzzled, and tries to think of how to respond to this.]

Well, uh... it's w-what turns the lights on i-in here? Imagine, like... c-controlled lightning, and using it's p-power to make things work. So like how when y-you eat food, it becomes energy to move your body, e-electricity is like the food for, uhm, m-machines to operate. In the Underground, i-it's fueled by magic, in part, so the Underground's CORE w-worked by taking the energy from, uh, magma and lava, and turning it into magical energy and electricity!

[She stops, looks thoughtful for a few moments.]

Maybe, uhm, Wonderland's CORE d-does the same thing? Gives p-power to this place... or, uhm, power t-to the mansion to change, c-create events, and bring us here.

Now lightning, I understand!

_{[He makes a thoughtful sound. Ah, so that's what's powering the appliances in the mansion.

After being captive for as many months as he has, Anders had gotten a feel for how things worked mostly through his own trial and errors: light switches turned lights on and off, cords carried power to the toaster and the television sets, that sort of thing. But the blend between magic and man-made power systems has taken some getting used to.]}

But let's say we're talking about similar concepts. If this core is acting like a generator as well, then it could be producing magic and the electricity you're familiar with in the same way. _{[He looks down at the kittens assembled around him.]} The magic that made these cats appear is coming from somewhere, at least.

_{[What's driving Wonderland's generator, then? Their memories, as the rumors say? There's another unpleasant thought.]}

Y-Yeah! Like a controlled lighting, that c-can be summoned with machines, instead of m-magic.

[She's pondering over how Wonderland could work, wishing she could get her hands on some blueprints. But it's likely that if the magic powering it is strong enough to bring people from other worlds together, it probably doesn't have any physicality at all. But that much magical energy, churning and self-sustaining itself... that's dangerous. That's practically a time bomb. Enough... to warp reality, itself. And there it was.]

In that case, it's m-more likely that it's a s-self sustaining generator. [She puts her hand to her mouth, biting one of her fingers absentmindedly while she gathers her thoughts.] I-If it's creating magic from memories-- l-like the theories I've heard-- it would burn itself out so quickly, b-because that would be such an overflow of magic... which m-might mean, the events we experience are o-overflow. That's why everything changes so drastically, a-and how it can affect us and our core selves. T-Then, when those events are done, it claims a memory from t-the person or people it latched, uhm, o-onto, and uses that to s-stop itself from shutting down, until... it s-starts over again.

[She crosses her arms, obviously distressed.] T-That's... and no one knows, w-where this is? Or how to g-get to it?

_{[Scholarly debates on magic and technology clearly float this monster's boat. This must be what it's like for a monster to get excited and not be in a manic, bloodlust-fuelled haze.]}

You think? These are a lot of 'what if's to consider without actually seeing it in person. Start chasing those theories in circles and you'll give yourself a headache.

_{[It's too much thinking for Anders today. He's run over every explanation to make sense of Wonderland's power in his head before, and he's resolved not to do it again. Not this afternoon, anyway. Everyone needs a break every now and then.]}

I've been told the Core is on the other side of the glass, in that Mirror land where our lookalikes reside, but I haven't been there myself. Me, I'm willing to take it one magic meltdown at a time. If you're set making an expedition to find out for yourself, you can plan while you play with the cats. Handling small, fuzzy animals is great for getting the juices flowing, don't you know.

_{[This is not, in fact, a scientifically proven fact, but what's she going to do? Call him on it? She's a monster from another world who lives underground, come on.]}

[She does find it in herself to giggle a little bit when Anders suggests that handling the cats helps creative thoughts. She wouldn't object to that. Sometimes magic works in unexpected ways, and if it manifests with happiness related to kittens, she wouldn't judge. He's also, probably, messing with her, but it's still kind of nice.]

I'm n-not much of an adventuring, or uhm, fighting person, so I d-don't think I'd be very good at doing anything like t-that. I would like to study it, if anyone ever g-got close enough, but... it sounds too dangerous to warrant, uhm, anything l-like that. So all we have is what if's r-right now. And part of being a scientist is t-thinking of all the possibilities. Or, uhm, at least c-considering them.

[She does smile gently as she gently pets one of the cats, a calico that's settled into her lap and fallen asleep, despite her wild hand gestures at times. She's... pretty taken with this one, and it shows in her gentleness towards them.]

No risk, no reward. I have a mind to go over there myself and see what's what. Maybe give Her Majesty a piece of my mind.

_{[Anders doesn't see a problem in admitting this--half of the prisoners here probably want the same thing.

But that's something to put into motion another day. Today he has his hands full quite literally, and so does his new monster friend over there by the looks of her. He smiles. A reptile monster falling under the spell a tiny kitten? That's something he didn't think he'd ever see.]}

There must be plenty to occupy a scientist on this side of the mirrors until then. Like the exotic surface species: the cat.

Well, I'd be w-willing to study cats any day! I mean, uhm, t-their mannerisms, and... their f-favorite pillows and stuff like that.

[She's still gently petting the tiny calico. She's just so cute. She stretches out in Alphys lap and exposes her belly, and Alphys all but squeals in happiness.]

Ooooh, look at her! Yeah, you want belly rubs, don't you?

[Alphys rubs gently at the kitten's soft stomach fur, and the kitten curls back around her hand, so it's stuck in the middle.]

... I don't think I c-can leave now.

Sounds like it'd make a fine edition to any bestiary. I'd be the first person in line to read your final report.

_{[Better get cracking, Alphys. Anders smiles with an almost ominous amount of good cheer. No one can escape the cuteness of cats, no one.]}

Looks like it's decided. Might as well get comfortable.

[She giggles a bit before squinting at the contented kitten, and then moving in her other hand to scoop it off her lap and gently place it in her lab coat pocket. It mewls a little bit from the disturbance, before settling in happily, head disappearing but tail hanging out the side. Anders can see it's little paws prodding at Alphys' breast as it kneads around to get comfortable.]

W-Well, uh... if you're still, uhm, trying to find homes for these, I g-guess I've been chosen, or s-something! Or, uh, I d-don't think she wants to leave.

Just to be clear... you don't eat cats or anything, do you?

_{[It's a valid question, he feels. One can't be too careful about these things. If he lets one cat-eating creature walk out with one, then all of them will want a bite-sized snack.

He probably should have asked before she sat down and started playing with them, but it's a perfunctory question. It'd be bad form not to at least ask, right?]}

W-What? N-No! Why would I-- no, o-of course not!!

[She looks a little bit offended. Like, she gets it, humans have misconceptions about monsters, but like... eating small animals?? Do they think they just do that for fun?]

Monsters b-barely even eat physical things, let a-alone small animals. And especially n-not cats!

Well, I had to ask. Old habits, you understand.

_{[But it'd been worth it to see her reaction. The indignation in her body language says more than words could, which offsets some of Anders' questions.

It's not that he dislikes the chatty reptilian lady--actually the opposite--but she's a walking, talking unknown, and he's experienced enough with the world to know humans and non-humans are capable of deceit and savagery in equal amounts. Better to investigate an unknown than trust in it blindly. That's just smart.]}

[She blushes, flustered. He really caught her off guard with that one.]

W-Well, I... I don't b-blame you, I just. I c-could never. I don't even know a-anyone who would be okay with, uhm, eating a k-kitten. That would just be t-terrible!

_{[The irony of this moment isn't lost on him. Most humans wouldn't be this vehement about it, and they're supposed to be the evolutionary good guys.]}

What kind of things do you eat underground? I can't imagine there are many options if you don't travel to the surface...

_{[Not that he's advocating for a diet of bats or nugs or whatever her people consider a healthy, balanced meal in her world. He runs the backs of his fingers along the ruff of a kitten's chest as if to reassure it it won't become a pint-sized snack on his watch.]}

Probably for the best. Their tails are stringy and you wouldn't want cat fur in your teeth.

We just, uhm, e-eat food? I mean, it's also made of m-magic, so it converts directly to energy, b-but... it tastes and looks like h-human food, apparently. Humans are a-able to eat it just fine, and we can eat h-human food, too.

[Some monsters eat more solid things; she knows Asgore kept trying to make snail pie, and said Toriel did as well. But most food was just magic.]

Y-Yeah, though, I can't, uhm, imagine they'd taste very good, anyway. But, uh, I s-should probably, uhm, escape while I c-can. And I don't wanna hold up t-too much more of your time. But uhm... t-thank you, for, uh, t-talking to me.

You live in an interesting world. Remind me to check the label on the next jar of pickles I open.

_{[Magic pickles sound like they'd be a bitch on the digestion, no matter what Alphys says. But consider his fears allayed if magic closet cats don't qualify to be a part of the magic buffet.]}

I'm always up for a good chat. _{[It really depends on if other people are happy to talk to him. It's hit or miss.]} It was a fair trade for you coming down and keeping some of these rascals amused for a time. I hope it was worth it. And if you run into troubles with your new friend there, I'm only a call away.

[She can't help but giggle at that, standing up gently and trying to de-tangle herself from the other kittens surrounding her. The tiny calico she's picked rolls around in her coat pocket, poking her head out the top and letting out a mighty mewl.]

O-Of course! I mean, uhm, it was n-nice talking to you too. I promise, I'll take g-good care of her.

[Alphys reaches down, lightly scratching her new kitten on the head.]

T-Thank you! And, uhm, I'll t-talk to you later!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

OPEN | well, i don't know where they come from but they sure do come

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject