Shallow Hearts

[Deleted]

Gilbert

The tom walked rather pathetically down the streets. There were more cats scurrying about downtown then there normally were. The Cream tom flinched each time a cat got within so many steps of him. Both his black and rust mane wisped in the gentle breeze, sometimes floating down into his eyes, before being moved back above his face. He saw a jittery tom taking nip from another tom; one who stood proudly, and though looked business-like, Gilbert could almost feel the evil intentions behind the tom's smirk. He scowled at the junkie as he zoomed passed him, and Gilbert tensed. The tom had nearly run into him, in his haste to find some hole to crawl into, just to get high. Gilbert moved more quickly, trying to find a more secluded area himself. That had been too close. No way did he want the memories, thoughts and feelings of being high. Or the addictive qualities that might have accompanied such a physical transference. He didn't know if he could get addicted to nip, just from touching a junkie, but he wasn't about to take that chance either. Finding a more secluded spot, he sat down. There were too many spies and those who worked for Macavity in Downtown, and all over the city. Escaping Macavity seemed less and less doable as time went on.

[[OPEN]]

[eliaza]

Oswin

The patched queen made her way through the streets, heading in no particular direction, but checking behind her every so often. After the tenth or so time glancing over her shoulder, she turned back round with a satisfied grin. It didn't look like anyone would come to make her go do anything for them for quite some time. And when they did think of a job for her, they would have to find her first. That would take some doing, and she could always decide to evade them for as long as possible. That would be such fun. "Now...where to go?" Oswin contemplated. "Sidney, what do you think?" She giggled, before answering as her imaginary friend, "Let's go over there, and find some sticks or rubbish or something and make some dolls and have a tea party!" She pointed to the very corner where Gilbert had seated himself, though she didn't see him. Making her way over there, she scooted up against the wall. "Now," she wondered, "what can we use to make..." Then she finally noticed the tom sitting nearby. "Hey! There's someone here! Hello," she said, addressing Gilbert. 

[Deleted]

Gilbert

The tom saw a peculiar queen approaching him, one that looked to be talking to herself. Just what he needed. The first thought that went through his own mind was that she was either bat-excraments insane, high, or drunk. But he was in a pretty secluded corner, the best he could do was curl up further in the corner, mind his own business and hope she didn't see him, or try to get close to him, physically. When she finally did spot him, he inwardly groaned. He didn't think she was crazy, just too upbeat and childish, but not harmful. Annoying was the word that jumped into his head. She had barely said anything to him, and he already felt irritated. "What do you want?" Gilbert snapped, hoping his attitude would get her to leave, especially now that he could smell the Hench stench on her body. He was not in the mood to be near any Hench cats, though he wasn't in the mood for company, period.

[eliaza]

Oswin

Oswin grinned cheekily - well, in complete honesty, "grinned evilly" would be a more accurate description. She had not expected to bump into anyone, but if she must, it might as well be someone she could have fun with. And the moment Gilbert spoke, she knew he would be perfect. He was in a bad mood and everything! If he thought his mood would scare her off, the complete opposite was true. "We'll make dolls later," she muttered to her pretend friends. Then, in a normal tone, to Gilbert, "Ha, I know you, don't I? Gilroy, Gilfried? Something like that?" She shrugged. "I don't 'want' anything. You just happen to be sitting near where I'm playing."

[Deleted]

Gilbert

The tom, had he been a junkie, would have been eye twitching by now. Though the urge to lash out was rising, he bit it back. Counting silently in his head, he subtly looked for a way passed her without coming into phyical contact with her. His ice blue eyes, probably the ONLY attractive thing about him stared at her hard, once he realized he wasn't going to be able to move past without some part of his body brushing against hers. Even a tiny portion of her thoughts bopping around in his head gave him a sour taste in his mouth. "Then play elsewhere, or allow me to pass so I can leave." His eyes narrowed at her, but his hostilities didn't let up. Figures she wouldn't remember his name. Then again, he wasn't anyone worth while or anyone important enough to notice. "Gilbert." He rolled his eyes, his tone gruff.

[eliaza]

Oswin

Ossie moved so that she was purposely taking up so much space that Gilbert couldn't possibly get past her without either knocking her aside, jumping over her head, or lifting her up in his arms and setting her down in a different spot. All three of which she was well aware would be very unpleasant to the tom. Although, he was getting so annoyed by this point, that he probably wouldn't have too much problem with punching her out of the way. "You...you mean you don't wanna play with me, Albert?" Her grin had disappeared, replaced by a jutting lip and large, sad, green eyes that she lifted up to stare into his face. To all appearances, she was about to embark on a major sob-fest. Whether she would actually cry was a mystery to her, but it made little difference; actually crying and making others think you would cry were equally enjoyable. She was well-aware that her sad face would not likely have any effect on Gilbert, but that wasn't the point. The point was making a sport out of seeing how far she could botheration him until he exploded. "I...was gonna make you a tea-party and everything!"

[Deleted]

Gilbert

How long had it been since she sat down? Not even two minutes had passed, and if they had Gilbert would have been quite surprised by that news. With his stony ice blue eyes giving her as good of a death glare as he could muster. Ironically, one that seem to mirror Macavity's own, he took a quick peek inside her head. Really, he just wanted to know if she was as stupid and crazy as she seemed. The connection was so short, that all he felt from the strain was a dull throb in his head. "Ugh..." He felt so dirty with her girlie little thoughts swimming in his head. 'Ugh' was a huge understatement. "No, unless you think I'm Sidney. Just how old are you anyway, Oswin?"

[eliaza]

Oswin

Oswin fell silent at his question, for at least a full minute. Scrounging up her nose and shutting her eyes, she pretended to concentrate very hard. Finally, she opened her eyes again and stared at him despairingly. "I don't rightly know," she said sadly. "You see, I was only a kitten when I was born, so I don't remember very much. I don't think I could understand about years and things back then, so how could I know? And my mummy never even told me. Actually I don't even remember my mummy." She frowned. Come to think of it, she didn't remember her mother or father. Why was that? she wondered. Everyone must have parents, even crazy Macavity. Shrugging, she looked at Gilbert again and asked abruptly, "Do you remember your mummy?"

[Deleted]

Gilbert

Well, at least she was consistent with most of the queens Gilbert knew. If you could get them on the subject of themselves, and kept them there. For Gilbert, he figured it'd be easier to control the conversation if he could keep Oswin talking about herself. He didn't care if she chose to lie to him, or tried manipulating him with tales that are suppose to elicit sympathy from others. He gave her what he hoped was an attentive look, though he wasn't paying too much attention to ALL the words. The 'I don't know' was all that was needed to answer his question. Everything else was loose and unnecessary information. "We're talking about you right now. So...no mother, what about your father?"

[eliaza]

Oswin

The sneak! Thought he could evade the question, did he? Oswin was just about on the verge of a full-fledged tantrum. It was one thing for her to manipulate others; but for them to turn around and try to do the same to her! The worst of it was, he was giving her a perfect opening: she could so easily work up such a great sob-story that might pierce even his (what she saw as an) icy heart. But to do that, now, she would have to let herself be pulled into his sneaky little trap. On the other hand, he was clearly too smart to be tricked into giving her a sob-story of his own; and in fact, what did she want to listen to such dravel from him for? That would be dull beyond all words. So, for now, she resigned to allow him to have his paw on the game; it would still be fun, after all, and she could always turn the tables later...just like cheating at chess, couldn't be too hard. "Should we tell him, Sidney?" With a dramatic sigh, she began to invent her story, "My daddy was...or is, perhaps, if he's still alive...a Jellicle. The leader of all Jellicles." She paused, waiting to see what effect this much would have on Gilbert.

[Deleted]

Gilbert

Silently, he listened to what Oswin had to say. He gazed at her with intensity and he seemed to have his full attention on her. He did give off the impression that he was "hooked" on what she had to say. And he was okay with letting her believe she had him hanging on her every word. His real attention was merely on her physical presence. Like with everyone, he didn't want to come into physical contact with her. Especially after he had peeked a tiny bit into her mind earlier. "You don't say..." He spoke with disbelief that the Jellicle Leader was her father. "Tell me then. If that's true, how come you haven't gone to the Jellicles? Why are you still bumming around with us Hench Cats?"

[eliaza]

Oswin

Oswin gasped, apparently terrified by Gilbert's words - and, in this case, she probably was genuinely frightened. "Leave? Join with the enemy? You're bonkers!" She lowered her voice, muttering to herself now, "Did you hear that, Estella? He's completely mad! Mental, this one!" She turned back to Gilbert. "Do you think I've lived my whole life with the Henches and am not aware of what Macavity does to deserters?" She nibbled her claws in an agitated state, very worked up by the idea.

[Deleted]

Gilbert

"Says the queen talking to a horde of imaginary friends." Gilbert sarcastically rolled his eyes at her. The uncomfortable closeness was still present, but he did allow her to believe he was getting more comfortable, if a bit perturbed at her company. It wasn't true, but he had no where else to go at the moment, and she wasn't going to move aside for him to leave any time soon, so he had to accept it and move on. He did shrug at her accusations though. He knew all too well what happened to those who tried and failed to escape. "I hear its been done before."

[eliaza]

Oswin

Oswin snorted. "Right. And who told you that? A Jellicle? Probably just wanted to try and convince you to join their silly club of dancing lunatics." There was quite a bitter tone in Ossie's speech - which, of course, didn't truly represent how she felt about the Jellicles at all. That is, she wouldn't, if she ever actually thought she had any real chance of escaping to join them. But that was so far out of the question that it never entered her mind as more than a joke or sarcasm. "Not that I, you know, know any Jellicles," she added quickly. "Except my father," she swiftly amended, remembering the story she had just begun. "But I don't even actually know him, only heard things about him, so that doesn't count." She frowned, getting caught up in her own make-believe story again. "Maybe he's not even my father. I just heard it from some random stranger who claimed he knew my parents or some crazy notion like that."

[Deleted]

Gilbert

Gilbert listened to her, not that he had much choice in the matter. "Mmmm...Dancing lunatics as opposed to the pure psychotic lunatics living with us at the Warehouse. Why yes, that is a no brainer." Was he sarcastic reply. He didn't know how much longer he had to sit there and listen to such nonsense. Though his mind did drift to investing in some gloves, for an occasion such as this. Maybe he couldn't touch her physically, but with gloves on, he could have pushed her out of the way and walked off by now. Without getting any messed up thoughts or memories from her. Unless she lashed out and touched him somewhere other then the gloves, but no one went out of their way to touch him. He was more or less a 'hermit', henches and street cats often went out of their way to avoid him. He was about to correct the false statement in her story, but she had quickly amended that she didn't really know her father. He snorted,"Ah the convenient 'random stranger'. And how much longer do I have to listen to this bullcrap story?"

[shizoo]

OSWIN (Being temped until Eliaza comes back)

Oswin was about to continue tormenting Gilbert-Ooh maybe even touching him. . that could prove fun & interesting! She wondered if he was really as odd as she'd heard.
Then the her ears perked. .she heard someone coming. Well, that would never do. She decided to disappear into the shadows to assess the situation-who knew, perhaps this new person would be even more fun that scrawny Gilbert. One never knew after all, & he was being a little tiresome right now.
The patched queen faded back into the shadows to watch completely disappearing from view.
[exit Oswin]

[shizoo]

 JINX  

Jinx paused to adjust the 'borrowed' knapsack on her shoulder. She was exhausted. The small black & gold queen wasn't even sure where she was. There were some days, when just putting one foot in front of the other was a chore. Still what she had left behind wasn't worth going back for, so forward had to do.
She shoved her tangled bangs back a little so she could see better. Dam city. it had more twists & turns than her 'uncle's' perverted mouth. She couldn't tell if she was near the Jellicle compound or not. For cats who were supposed to be friendly, they sure hid well. Her very unusual eyes sparkled even in the dim light. the colors changing from green to reddish brown & back.

A wry grin twisted her mouth, Maybe hiding is what let them be friendly. she mused. It would make sense. She turned left down the short alleyway hoping to find an exit. She was so absorbed in her thoughts & so tired, she didn't even notice the two cats that were in the street there.

[Deleted]

Gilbert

The scrawny tom picked up on someone coming around the same time as Oswin; probably a few seconds earlier. However, she was no longer in his way and Gil took his chance to get out of the corner and start walking away from Oswin. The annoying brat. It wasn't long before he was running into another queen, but he easily slipped past her before any physical contact could be made. Instead of just leaving it at that and continuing on his way. Gilbert...being Gilbert had to tsk her under his breath. "Get your fracking eyes fixed."

[shizoo]

JINX

At the mention of her eyes, Jinx's head whipped up to look at the other cat. What the? How could he have seen them under her bangs?
At her agitated motion her bangs flipped back showing her glowing-glittering eyes. Surprise had them sending little false sparks of red & gold. Then she realized it must have just been a snarky comment. Usually, she was a peaceable queen, but tonight she was exhausted & lost her temper a bit.

Anger giving her energy, the tiny queen stalked after the tom & started to poke him in the chest with the tip of her finger. "Look, I apologize for getting in your precious way." she bristled. "But I have had a rotten day & I was just looking for some quiet place to sleep OK? Since that doesn't look like an option, how bout I follow you around until we both drop from exhaustion. Huh?"
She didn't really mean it, but he'd just annoyed her enough for her to make the threat. She stared defiantly into his face turning the full force of her strange eyes on his. "Yeah, yeah, I know, look at the freak." she added with a touch of bitterness. "Whatever. I wish I could get them fixed."

[Deleted]

Gilbert

The tom sensed the queen following after him, but she didn't give him much time to mentally prepare himself. Before she was suddenly back in front of him poking him with her index finger. Luckily, it wasn't enough, random surface thoughts, mainly of anger, that Gilbert struggled against. It wasn't his anger, it was hers. He didn't feel anger at the moment, aside from hers, he was simply annoyed. Irritated, but that was what Oswin had provoked out of him. He did angrily bat her paw away. "Don't ever touch me." It took a while before he finally caught up with the words coming out of her mouth. Freak? He supposed he was a freak, but her? "Freak is not the first word that comes to mind. You cranky, and rude bimbo."