Twas the night after Fullmoon,
and all though the yard
Not a creature was stirring
not even a...
...well we're out of things that rhymed , and plenty was stirring. 4 somethings. It was St. Paddy's day and that meant... shenanigans abound in pockets all over town.
There's not a splash of green on Zillah, or orange. Just so much black, and grey, and a tiiiiiny bit of purple in the scarf wrapped around her neck. She's dressed in so many layers, leggings under two levels of velvet skirt, t-shirt under longsleeved under more velvet under stolen black leather jacket. It's not the bug's, at least. She's not that mean.
Rorschach had that in common with ZillahHe TOO am a fan and proponent of not freezing off his bits. His jacket was zipped up in all of its chained and painted glory. Combat boots bore him through the snow and he signed to the trio with, <<Hey, think we can make snow Leprechauns? We make angels in December. Not often we make snow leprechauns>> He looked to Zillah to as the the cats their insights on this.
Tegan doesn't speak hand gesture, so she just accepts it as nothing more than flailing by a bug. Like Zillah she hasn't added any green to her outfit, probably in the hopes that someone might be brave enough to try and pinch her.
And Tom's wise insight goes as follows:
"I'm gonna pee on somebody's grave, gonna pee on your face. All the other dead guys get Guinness in tribute, but I'm gonna pee on your face!" This is, of course, sung in the world's worst Oirish accent, something that sounds like a folk song if you maybe have never heard real Irish folk music and are St Paddy's levels of drunk. Nobody make a snow leprechaun where HE aims, is what we're saying here.
He does, however, pause and sniff the air, distracted by other things as well; he's had spirits, so maybe he's seeing some. Or is maybe just a little more cattish in his cups, pupils growing a little wide as he pauses to scope the graveyard, one hand held out with his bottle o'booze that just anyone could snatch away in his distraction.
Moon Court Nights are the best nights. The little shadow's found herself a nice pair of leather gloves, probably also belonging to whatever rich bitch didn't deserve to be wearing such a nice moto jacket. Fingers move in a flurry of motion to the bug <> as she laughs. "Snow Leprechauns," she offers to Tegan. It also comes with her withdrawing a flask of who-knows-what from her pocket and offering that as well.
Rorschach blinked and looked Zillah up and down and with one finger made an X over his heart and held up 3 fingers in a boy scout salute. He so solemnly swears to make that promise, whatever it was. The scarred grin widened looking over to Tom. The flask came out and his head tilted to the side, one antennae twitching curiously. Fine there was a grabby hand too. He looked to Tegan as if 'c'mon. Snow Leprechauns!!!' someone was digging to find support for the cause here
"What the fucking hell are Snow Leprechauns?" Tegan counters, her brows inching upwards and her eyes widening, hoping beyond hope that there is some sort of magical coin giving snow beasties about to leap out from behind tombstones at any moment. "Do they give you silver instead of gold? If so, I think they are cheap bastards that need a swift kick in the arse."
"Snowprechauns." Tom gives a little purring chuckle at this portmanteau, but his ears twitch again. He circles Tegan a little bit, which might be taking an opportunity to ogle, or might be spurred by other things. He's been a twitchy sort since the word go, and it's not all green beer and catnip; something in the air. "Pot o' gold or go home!" he caterwauls in warning, then pauses again in his pacing.
"I'll hold you to that, handsome," Zillah threatens - or promises - to Rorschach. He grabbies for the flask, and so he gets it, filled with cheap whiskey. "No idea what they are, but I think they must be drunkards." Like they aren't. She watches Tom as he stalks, as cats do, and just quietly stays over heeeere, where she's safe. "Hey, I'm not picky, I would take the silver. Could use it in crafting if it's good enough."
Rorschach was sort of wary from 'go' to travel with two cats. He was sort of getting used to being smacked in the head a lot and just learned to roll with it. He did his best to keep them both in view out of habit. The news Zillah gave him made him walk all the more upright. Was a good evening. It was when Tegan asked the fuck a snow leprechaun, or a snowpurechaun...thing was he got a distinct look of no good about him. He hopped up on a cemetery bench and looked around. Ah! one of those tomb-y things. Perfect. He lept off the bench and started to gather up snow to pile on top of the tomb. Awww shit, someone has to ask.
At first, Tom and his stalking is ignored. Then Tegan glances at the other cat, hissing briefly at him before she turns back towards Zillah and Rorschach, "So?" She then trails off when the bug starts to build one, her head tilting to the side, ears flicking forward in interest.
Tom stops sniffing in Tegan's direction, and seems abruptly to snap out of his vagueness, moving away in quite the 'I meant to do that' stalk. "You love me," he says, though his ears are flatter as he's hissed at. "It's not like I dumped you in the snowbank, acushla. Just a hello. Hmmm." Watching Rorschach piling snow up, and the height of the tombs for better vantage point, he starts walking on someone's grave -- specifically jumping up to stand on a gravestone.
One cat is trouble. Two is incredibly interesting. The shadow sliiiiides over away from them, to lean against a statue of an angel in mourning. Ironic, since angels don't have the feelz. Everyone knows that. Dark eyes follow Ror as he scampers up, as she chills her backside against freezing cold marble. Watching, with interest.
Rorschach was cold, but he had a project. Honestly he was used to being uncomfortable so that he had something to entertain someone with as his own distraction? Eh he was a happy little bug. Okay they looked more like snowmen though he did try to fashion drawing suits on them using the pencil in his back pocket as a sculpting tool. The snow wasn't great to work with but in a short while there was the start to a small leprechaun army. There were about five of them. Both hands gestured to the lot of them for Tegan's benefit. His antennae laid back on his head and he was smiling. THAT... was a colony of snowperchuans. He looked back to Tom but then to Zilla with a sense of excitement. The antennae came back up like semaphore flags and he pointed to Zillah, made raptor gestures and then waved both hands at the snow people again.
Tegan blows Tom a kiss when he stalks off, "Of course I do." She agrees, then moves to find herself a place to sit, watching Rorschach work on his snow leprechaun. She lifts a hand, scratching at an ear, looking thoughtful, "While those are great..." She glances towards the others, seeking support in the anti-snowprechauns movement.
~OH MY GOD SHE LIKES ME I am of course too cool to acknowledge this.~ Tom doesn't say this, he just struts on the gravestones and body language does the rest. It's a rolling wave of smug, trapped in his quite boozy haze. "Ar ndoigh!" Hairball? Might be. He weighs the distance from his stone to the snowprechaun colony. "Pot of gold or get the fuck ouuuuut," he tells the tiny snowbeings. And -- is he preparing to launch himself in their direction, thus no doubt half-killing himself on a monument even if he does knock over the little fellas? There's something about his posture once the self-satisfaction fades that says yes. He's about that toasted and ill-equipped with common sense. That, or he's listening again to something only he can hear -- the ears swivel and the posture is wide awake.
The amusement shines in Zillah's dark eyes as the bug makes his little snowperchauns and the two cats interact together. And when there are raptor gestures made towards the snowmen, the shadow shifts towards the tomb, getting ready to scale it - when she sees the tomcat getting ready to launch. Lizard set on destruction, she is not, and she knows better than to get in a cat's way. And so she just grins up to Rorsch, blows a kiss, and finds herself a place to lean, to watch, once more.
Rorschach was standing...in the very wrong spot. And he seemed to know it too. The antennae stretched out and the blue in his eyes was dilated back so there was nothing but glossy glossy darkness that regarded the Tom-cat with great heed. The expression of 'uh oh' was clear on his face. Though proven the other night at the wedding he was no stranger to being in a scrap. He just was not the most adept at them. Maybe it was a fight or flight response gone horribly wry, but seriously, the bug should know better than to get between Tom and prey or stay there. Instead of diving out of the way he made a sound (holy shit there are noises?!)). It was a strange clakking rattle from the back of his throat like if a cicada and an angry toaster were brawling? That might be close. OH defense of the people from the apex predators was on... and the very wrong choice.
Tegan leans forward when it appears that Tom is going to dive onto the little snow figures, ears forward, whiskers twitching with anticipation. She is most certainly not going to halt this destruction.
Zillah gives a little arm-wave to Tegan, holding up...her flask, and a bill. Apparently the shadow is putting ten bucks and her flask on the bug to win.
Tom cocks his head to one side. There's a suggestion of whiskers twitching. "Someone's coming in the graveyard, and they're not expecting us," he says. Sometimes, prophetic cat is prophetic. This sounds a little like one of those times, if it's not just that his senses are on liquor-fueled red alert. And then, he does give a leap, not towards the tiny snowmen, but towards the bug, all arms and legs; the kind where he means to see that they both end up in the snow. Banzai!
Rorschach lived up to the reputation of his people. Skittery bug was skittery. He was never going to overpower to out brawl a cat. Scavengers were not apex predators. They operated on surprise and stealth. Did you know being caught flat foot in the open is not a stealth maneuver no matter how vehemently he will profess he planned it this way an hour from now? True fax. Now Tom being able to keep the bug pinned down was a whole other story. Wriggly bug was... wow kinda able to completely bend all limbs in all directions, even in the places without joints. It was sort of like pouncing a wet towel that held out hope in vain of making a comeback. One antenna twitched still trying to pick up other signals, and be aware of things in the area to avoid dodging headfirst into a tombstone and knocking his own ass out. Don't ask how he knows how to do that.
Wait....a bet? Tegan's attention is caught by the bill and the flask, a grin appearing as she nods to Zillah, pulling out a bill of her own, and a bottle opener. It doesn't have the same force of a flask, but it is what is in her pocket. And, she has to back her fellow cat, after all.
Zillah gives a solemn nod to Tegan. Bet accepted. Bottle openers are useful things, after all, and there is a sacred nature to the 'what the fuck do I have in my pockets' wagers. She moves - slowly, so not to attract the attention of bug or cat. Well, male cat. Tegan, she's sidling up to, as she watches the two men tumble around. "Please say that you think that's kinda hot too," she stage whispers, with the wide flash of a grin.
"SQUIRMY BASTARD! Hey! NUTS!" Tom's valiant effort in the eternal battle of cat vs bug involves a lot of pouncing when in human size; trying to lock down the bug that just keeps getting away. Just when his attention's pinned something, some other bit of Rorsch gets free! It's MADDENING! "Don't make me lick you!" He will deny to his dying breath that these threats come on one another's heels. There's a moment where it looks like he's trying to wrestle/kick the bug man to death, which largely involves a LOT of rolling in the snow and flailing of limbs, and a fair amount of squawking. Why, when you get guys to fight, does it look so ridiculous, yet feel so right?
Threatening a humanoid insect who considers the bait shop a snack bar with unhygenic misconduct was not likely to deter him. Save for one thing; he could not guarantee that Tom's tongue didn't have the gentle caress of 40 grit sandpaper. He should have run but being a moving target only invites a chase. THIS he knew. Tome was wrestle-kick-stomping him and the retaliation looked more like Rorsch trying to climb Tom while they were already on the ground; antennae whipping in all directions. As that threat of being licked came about the bug did the only thing he could to protect himself. Yeah one antennae went into Tom's ear. -Poke-
-
"Maybe." Tegan admits, grinning just a bit, "It's at least entertaining, if nothing else. I can't ever get Riley to do shit like that for my entertainment..." She shakes her head a bit, sighing dramatically before she hollars at Tom, "Bite him!"
"Stick around with us, there's plenty of this," Zillah offers to Tegan. "You missed the wedding crash. That was a good time. Tom gave a toast." Zillah's dark eyes are alight with impish glee, as she watches the two continue to roll around, and then the cat threatens to lick, and she can't help but laugh. "Fuck, he's a wriggly one. No fucking idea what the bug has for skeletal structure, but it's...well." Clear throat. "Has lots of possibilities."
The noise Tom makes when he's antenna-poked is a shuddery yowl. "I was listening for the good ghosts, I need those!" He does look like he's trying to bite at Rorschach for a minute, though there might be something he's saying low to Mr. Prey as he does. His kicks slow, and his heart seems to go out of the fight as the poke to the ear reminds him and distracts him. His eyes go like saucers, and he roll-flips away and starts on hands and knees, not quite pulled upright, crouching as if to hide behind the gravestones to go on a different hunt and leave the poor bug only somewhat molested.
Rorschach was, in an instant when Tom lept up, sent sommersaulting backwards and was flipped flat on his back like a pancake in the damp snow. Whatever Tom said to him had him concerned enough not to grab a leg and bite at it. first his torso rotated 180*, then his lower torso, thankfully in the same direction that he was crouching there. A hand brushed off his leg. Out of habit he fingers dancing just off the base of the knife in his boot. His head turned in one direction, then the other. Antennae stretched slowly like an old TV tuning in for reception. He looked to the Ladies and back to Tom shaking his head slowly. The expression seemed to read 'I'm pickin up nothin. You?'
Tegan eyes Zillah a moment before she laughs, "Well then." She decides, then glances back towards the fight in time to see Tom flip away, "Fuck." She hisses, handing over her money and bottle opener to Zillah, shaking her head. "Fuckin' cats."
Zillah gives Tegan a look of innocence that is not at all innocent. Despite the flutter of lashes and the widening of dark eyes in attempt to sell it. "Cats are great, but never expect them to do what you want them to," she offers sagely, you know. To a cat. But it's as she's taking money and bottle opener, sliding them into her pockets. "Can't see ghosts, I'll let you know if the other things are around," she notes, as she takes a hit of the flask and loops an arm into Tegan's to drag her along towards gravestones and the bug.
Tom casts a glance over his shoulder. "Cats aren't for doing what you want. For doing what they want. I'mmonna check it out. And Oi'm gonna piss on that guy's grave..." He's singing, but this time under his breath; a stalking manner, one that suggests he might be about to crawl out of his human form and into that of a housecat, any minute. And off he goes, behind the next row of graves, only that yowly voice giving him away.
The bug was damp and disheveled. He was a bit worn out and catching his breath after the dive tackle and war of attrition but still he seemed energized from the encounter. Alive. On his toes, or at least alert and on his ass in the snow. There were more gestures, but he didn't seem to hold it on Tegan that she needed to speak kung-fu either. It was easy enough to grasp 'I don't see what you see. He was still looking around. Listening intently only rewarded him with being able to hear Tom pissing in the snow behind the headstones a ways away. Not quite a reward for alertness one might hope for. He looked back to the ladies and made a short gesture <<You both ok?>> Curiosity became a grin looking up to teh shadow. <<Hi.>> okay he was a bit proud of himself there.
Tegan smirks just a bit, "Really? I never would have known." She follows along where she's led, giving the bug another look before sighing, "I'm going to have to figure this stuff out if I want to understand, aren't I?"
"I can help teach you, if you wanted," Zillah offers to Tegan. "He tends to carry around a notebook too, though." She grins to the other woman, before she's turning that look down to the on-his-ass bug. "Yeah, we're good. Thanks for the show." She reaches down, and fingers brush over his cheek before she's offering him a hand up. "One feline down," she says with a tsk. "At least your little guys survived."
Rorschach covered up his junk defensively with one hand having almost been kneed in the groin at least twice by the feral cat. It was a moment later that he realized 'little guys' wasn't a euphemism but she meant the Snowperchuans. His head wobbled sideways and into a nod. Yup. She had a point. That too. He turned to the hand on his cheek and kissed the inside of her palm before taking the hand up. As if to emphasize he pulled out a slightly soggy-covered notebook. Apparently there was reprieve. He looked around and there was a mischief and brushing his sleeves off, hands slowly pushed apart and with the gesture shadows seemed to be pulled like one of those children's magnadoodle games, with the metal shavings and the magnet pen, until shadows from branches stretched into words across the snow. They read, 'Hi, Tegan >^.^< ' with the emoji spelled into it. And with the end of the gesture they snapped back into insitu position. He brushed his hands off and gave Zilla a wink. That said he moved aside and gestured to the tiny snow persons and made a dinosaur-destroying gesture. They were welcome to have at. apparently you don't level a population without asking first. Because rude.
"Hello, Bug." Tegan replies to Rorschach, looking highly amused by the emoji that is added to the greeting, then she laughs, "You trying to get rid of us cats? You shouldn't, you know. We're the best."
Zillah gives a silent chuckle as the bug covers his buggly bits defensively, and there's a little waggle of dark brows from the shadow. No comment, just browwaggles. Could be she's glad that those little guys didn't get destroyed in the scuffle, too. "Nah, I like cats," she says towards Tegan with a grin. Her gaze gives the bug a quick once-over, making sure that there's nothing wrong with her. And then, with a bit of shifty-glances, she sort of...slinks backwards. And in a flash she's hopping on top of that tomb, and making a scree sound before stomping on the snowperchauns.
Rorschach pointed to himself and scoffed at the idea of getting rod of cats. There was a shake of his head to affirm that. As the Snowprechuans were comfortably lured into their false sense of security and about to be descended on, Rorsch wandered over to the nearby headstone and hopped up to sit on it. He swung his boots idly, and leaned elbows on knees watching her have fun and with that pointed to Tegan and the Snowmageddon that was taking place as if 'you are welcome to get in on the destruction' It made him smile.
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