onthewillowsthere | open post -- a little white kitten

After way, way too much research and overthinking, the kind of research and overthinking that had Janet feeling uncomfortably like Quentin and Alice's ill-gotten love child, she's been ready for a while. So, yes, maybe she wanted the dramatic gesture of giving this to Galahad as a wedding gift. Can you blame her? Nothing says “I hope you're really happy in all your marital bliss with that guy who always seems like he's trying to sell me a protection plan” like the promise of turning someone into a cat.

Whatever. It's also kind of anticlimactic at this point. Janet has a bowl of white paste and a whole lot of gumption, but as far as supplies go, that's it. She eyes Galahad. “You ready?”

“Yes,” Galahad says, in his usual too-serious way. He's excited, but that only means his affect is flatter and blanker than usual. He told Mothwing that he would come to her for a lesson this afternoon, but not what shape he'd be in.

“Okay. You're going to have cat-brain, and herding cats is famously impossible, so where do you want to do this?” Maybe Janet should have made the mansion generate a cat carrier. But it seems rude to show up to a meeting with a human person with one of those, and not her preferred brand of rude.

“In the garden. I want to go to Mothwing afterwards.”

“Sure thing.” She lets Galahad lead the way. She has a bowl of weird white gunk to manage.

Once they’re in the garden, surrounded by the riotous summer flowers, Galahad stops. “Will my clothes transform with me?”

“Nope.” Janet raises her eyebrows at him. “You'll be naked when I turn you back. I won't let your tiny cat body suffocate or anything, if you're worried about that.”

“When you have transformed me, will you please put my watch around my neck?”

That is… so cute. He's so cute. Every time Janet has mentally compared Galahad to an adorable talking woodland creature feels completely justified. “Yep,” she says, instead of oh my God, you're adorable. “Any other last requests before you can't talk anymore?”

“No. Thank you.”

Okay, sure. Janet scoops some of the chalky shit onto her fingers and invades Galahad's personal space. She swipes it onto his forehead, under his shock of marshmallow-fluff hair, then onto his bare shoulders. She steps back, looks him over like he's a used Chevy Malibu and she's about to try and talk him up to a family of four, then says a single harsh syllable out loud.

It's not a pretty transformation. Galahad kind of… crunches forward, folding up like a piece of paper crumpling in someone's hands. Cats are a lot smaller than humans. Fur is sprouting, his collarbones are melting away, a tail is crackling out from the other end of him. It's really, really not cute. But it does work, and Janet feels like the world's coolest magician when there's a little white cat with blue eyes staring at her from under his sundress.

It feels like falling down a cliffside – a whirling, disorienting feeling, but not the freefall in air of being thrown from a horse. When the world around Galahad comes to a halt, he looks up, and up, and up, to see Janet’s distant, blurry face.

He takes a careful step forward on his paws, getting used to his new center of gravity. His whiskers feel as though they’re constantly brushing against things, picking up every vibration in the air, and the world’s colors have changed into shades of yellow and blue. His ears twitch and swivel towards sounds.

He takes a practice run, and finds his stiff, awkward body has become graceful, fluid, as he bounds in a circle around the garden. He can’t tell how, but he knows his tail is important, as much a part of his balance as his four paws.

Finally he comes back and sits on his hindquarters in front of Janet. He knows he’s not supposed to be able to talk, but he tries anyway, and meows, “Thank you.”

“Holy shit!” Janet stares down at him. That doesn't make any sense. She remembers being a goose. All she could do was honk. She honked for days on end. It was actually really fucking tedious. “Whoa. I'm good.” She told him she would, so she kneels in the grass and swipes his watch from the pile of his clothes. “Here, kitty.”

Galahad pads over to her on his soft, silent paws and puts out his head for the watch-collar.

Feeling a sudden sense of portentous responsibility, Janet buckles it around his neck. She's careful not to make it too tight or too loose. He's so, so cute. “Okay.” She gives him a little scritch under the chin, like Regina likes. “Do whatever you want, but I'm gonna keep an eye on you.”

“I understand. Thank you, Queen Janet,” he meows again. Then a butterfly passes in the corner of his eye, and he springs after it, unable to stop himself.

Current Mood: excited

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

timebethine

Szarka hears jump, and she leaps and twirls to show Galahad how easy it is!

From:

onthewillowsthere

"I caaan't," he wails.

From:

lanselos_du_lac

"Nay. Thou canst. Leap here, I have thee."

From:

onthewillowsthere

"You might not catch me!"

From:

lanselos_du_lac

"Galahad," levelly, "I will. But-- an it would make thee bolder, I will try to come closer."

He starts to search for a foothold, saying gently to Szarka, "Szari, back. Give us some room."

From:

timebethine

Szarka knows Back! Mostly! She shuffles backwards with much Wiggling of Hips and Wagging of Tail, then looks up at Lancelot expectantly in case he is about to give her a treat for it.

From:

onthewillowsthere

"Closer," he meows piteously. "I don't want to fall!"

From:

lanselos_du_lac

"You needn't be afraid," he says, "I'll try."

Lancelot does have a treat for Szarka, and he steps over to hand it to her, saying, "Good girl. Wait a moment."

Then he turns back to the tree and starts up, carefully; he is fairly certain the tree won't bear up well, but all he's really trying to do is get close enough to Galahad to allow him to scramble down.

From:

timebethine

Szarka licks the treat from his hand, then trundles off to a tuft of moss to watch the proceedings.

From:

onthewillowsthere

Indeed, the willowy, drooping boughs of the Japanese maple bend and crack under Lancelot's weight as he advances up. Galahad meows and paces in the vee of branches anxiously.

From:

lanselos_du_lac

Lancelot stifles any sigh or show of frustration and concentrates on getting as close to Galahad as he is able. When he thinks he is finally within reach, he stretches his arm out and says, "Here-- to me. I have thee."

From:

onthewillowsthere

Immediately Galahad scampers along Lancelot's arm as if it were another branch and settles at the back of his neck, clinging with his claws.

From:

lanselos_du_lac

He winces at the claws, but doesn't otherwise protest. "Do thou hold tightly. I need both hands to climb back down."

From:

timebethine

Something is Happening! Szarka springs to her feet and comes to mill around Lancelot's toes in case he needs to be Helped.

From:

onthewillowsthere

"Hold tightly!" he meows, and digs his claws in deeper.

From:

lanselos_du_lac

He wants to encourage Galahad to be careful not to scratch him too much, but that won't be helpful. Instead he simply concentrates on scrambling back down, and once both feet are on solid ground he reaches up to lift Galahad off of his shoulders.

"There, see? All is well. Szari," he says, gently, "do not chase him."

From:

timebethine

Szarka sniff sniff sniff sniffs all around Lancelot and Galahad, until she's satisfied that they're where they Belong.

From:

onthewillowsthere

Galahad does not come easily off Lancelot's shoulders -- rather, he digs in his claws less he be dislodged -- but eventually he ends up back on the ground. Immediately he sits down and begins grooming his fur as if nothing had happened, even sniffing Szarka back when she sniffs him.