13982/Here Kitty Kitty

Here Kitty Kitty
Date of Scene:	26 January 2023
Location:	Abandoned Subway
Synopsis:	June is rescued by Alderic from some ne'r-do-wells, but isn't sure what to make of his bestial appearance.
Cast of Characters:	June Connor, Alderic

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June Connor has posed:
    "No, I told you I'd get his ID, and give it to you," June explains with a scowl. The old subway is not a place for anyone to be, really. But it avoid the patrols of the bat family. It's not common for innocent bystanders to be around down here.

    "We wanted the ID so that we can break into his lab," the man across from the young woman says. He's easily twice her size, standing a good 6'6" to her 5'3, she looks like a mouse next to him. Not only this, but he has three others with him, all dressed in black and red shirts of their gang. "If he knows you took it, they'll just disable it."

    "Hell, he'd know eventually, why you whining to me? Go use it before he gets to report it. It's still night," June answers witha raised tone that says she isn't intimidated.

    "We aren't READY tonight!" the man roars back. "Now he knows, and it's on you!"

Alderic has posed:
    It was the shouting that caught the cougar-man's attention. He was lurking about in the abandoned subway, though he kept his distance from people most of the time. When he hear someone shouting, he followed the sound and made his way down the abandoned tunnels. Lurking in the shadows, he slowly approached the scene, keeping himself hidden from the gang - nothing but the reflection of light in his eyes suggesting he's even there. June might catch a glimpse of him as he prowls around the outskirts of the group, perfectly silent, a predator stalking prey. His tail accidentally catches an empty, long abandoned can as he passes by, causing it to clatter to the ground - but when anyone looks, he's already gone and hiding in a different group of shadows.

June Connor has posed:
    "Not. My problem!" June snarls back, failing to back down despite the fact that she's outnumbered and definitely would be overpowered. It earns her a left cross to her cheekbone, sending her stumbling backward to be caught by one of the other three. "Shit!" she complains. She handles it better than one might expect, but hardly in any superhuman manner.

    "Yeah, your problem. Because now we aren't gonna get the stuff for Black Mask. And you know he doesn't much like people not delivering. So that means we gotta have someone to blame to hand over to him."

    June tries to swing a punch back at her larger target, but the man behind her holds back her arm. "Pussy gotta have someone to blame," she bears her teeth as if she had fangs, when the sound of the can to clatter to the ground. She hadn't paid attention when Alderic was in her peripheral vision, but it was close enough that the strike of the can triggered her to look a split instant before the others. She just catches the shadow of the tail disappearing, and the whole group goes silent.

    "What was that?" One of the secondary aggressors asks. "Who down here?"

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic doesn't know a lot about how things work in a human society, but he does know an unfair fight when he sees one. It's only a moment later that the attack comes - not from the direction of the noise, but from the side. The blur of tawny fur bolts right past the three men standing around, bounding on all fours towards the largest one. Alderic barrels into him with force, tackling him to the ground. The cougar-man drags him down to the concrete with ease, claws digging in without mercy to hold onto him. "Raaoaaoowrrrr!" The pitched roar of the feline echoes down the subway tunnel as Alderic's fangs bite and tear at the man's leather jacket, tearing it and threatening to do the same to him!

June Connor has posed:
    As the man is struck by Alderic, he goes to the ground. He may be slightly larger than the cougar, but he has much less to work with in combat than a creature built to kill.

    "Get it off! What is it!?" he cries out desperately, suddenly not the tough guy he was a moment ago. The other three recoil, as does June, all four of them no longer concerned with the argument from seconds ago. Gasps of 'oh shit' and 'what is that?' come from all of them as they stand in horror for a moment. The leader pulls out of his jacket, arm bloody and struggles to pull a pistol from his pants.

    "Get him Mark!" one of the three encourage him, though none of them do anything to actually help.

Alderic has posed:
    As the larger thug gets away from Alderic, the cougar spends a moment more just -shredding- the jacket, pulling it apart with his teeth. When one of them shouts "get him" Alderic snaps his attention back to the group, and in a few short bounds he puts himself between June and the other four. He hunches his back, facing them from the side to make himself look bigger, like any feline would. He bares his fangs, hissing at them, fur standing on end. The fur on his hands and around his maw is a little bloody from his attack - though it's definitely not his own blood. It would seem, for the moment, June's found herself an ally in the abandoned subway.

June Connor has posed:
    June backpedals, tripping over a broken piece of rubble as Alderic maneuvers to section her off. The others flee, and Mark, though he has his pistol drawn, is injured and swaps to his left hand. He is a horrible shot apparently, as he lets off a round, cracking violently through the subway's old stone, but it strikes the back wall. The whole foursome are backing up rapidly away from the conflict, making their way for the exit of the old subway station.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic flinches when the gunshot goes off, but rather than fleeing the big cat-man snarls again and lashes out at Mark. He lunges for him, swiping with a claw, catching the back of his hand and knocking the gun away. "RRaoaraaow!" Alderic hisses again when Mark finally runs off, and the cougar growls as he stands on-guard for a few moments longer. Finally he seems to have decided the danger is over, and the feline man turns his attention back to June. Rather than lunging at her, though, the cougar settles into a crouch on his hands and feet. "Rrowr!" he calls to her, the tone raspy and vocal. He watches her for a few moments, though at the same time he's taking a moment to groom himself, licking at the back and sides of his hands to clean the blood from them.

June Connor has posed:
    June hasn't translated the activity to be in her favor. She's now alone with a giant anthropomorphic cougar, and her green eyes are as wide as saucers. She looks to where the gun fell on the ground, then back at Alderic. "Nice kitty," she says softly. Quietly, she raises herself up, moving slowly back to stand to her feet, watching for any sudden movements.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic's head and ears perk up as soon as June says 'nice kitty'. That seems to have caught his interest! "Rrowr!" he replies, his tail flicking behind him excitedly. He's not snarling and hissing anymore, and he has a much calmer look - more like a cat who just heard a can of tuna being opened than a wild killer beast. With June getting to her feet, Alderic closes the distance with just a few short leaps, and suddenly...! Suddenly, June has a cat-man curling around behind her legs, rumbling loudly as he nuzzles against her like a big, friendly housecat. He's still trying to figure humans out, of course, but so far all of the ones that have done good things for him have been women - so naturally he's inclined to be more amicable towards June than the men who were giving her trouble. It seems Alderic already thinks they're friends!

June Connor has posed:
    "Oh no, nono no," she winces, bracing for death. She knows she can't fight something that large. And... then he is purring. That's a good thing for cats, right? The nuzzling of the large cougar is enough that she is set forward and has to take a step to maintain balance. "Right. This is nice. I got a big...cat furry who is hitting on me, and just nearly murdered a guy. We're fine." She tentatively reaches out to pet Alderic on the head, body still a bit tense.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic rumbles deeply as he comes back around to the front of June, settling into a crouch again. He squints a bit as she pets his head, but he doesn't seem to dislike the gesture! "Rrowr," he calls up to her, his tail flicking behind him again. He peers up at her curiously, head tilting a little. He could tell she's tense, of course, but there's not really much that he can do about that! He doesn't seem interested in eating her though - he looks more curious about her than anything else.

June Connor has posed:
    June has a curled lip of apprehension, "Yeah, right, nice kitty." She relaxes only slightly, happy that he seems to be more passive toward her. "I um. Thanks?" she offers, uncertain whether he can understand her. "I'm June." She looks at the collar, squinting in the dim light at it. "Alderic. Good to meet you, Alderic. So you're some kind of science experiment that escaped. That tracks." Her bad girl demeanor is uncharacteristically put on pause. "Never been a big cat person," she confesses, as if there were some need to come clean about it.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic tilts his head a bit as he looks up at June. "Rrowr!" His reply to her 'thanks' is vocally excited, and he seems to understand what she's saying well enough. His ears perk a little when she says his name, and he nods his head! It would seem he's affirming her deduction that he's an escaped science experiment - though what kind is still questionable. He tilts his head when she mentions not being a big cat person, and he replies with a "Rrowrr", as if to say he wasn't always one either.

June Connor has posed:
    "Great, so now I got a giant pet science experiment. Okay, this is good I guess." June slowly moves toward the gun, reaching down slowly to pick it up by its barrel, watching Alderic's response for any hostility to such an action.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic watches June as she walks towards the gun, but his head only tilts slightly with an expression of curiosity. His tail swishes a bit, and he moves as if to follow her, getting up from the crouch and moving a few paces closer. He doesn't seem alarmed by her going for the gun - it seems he doesn't understand it quite the same way she does, and he doesn't think of the object itself as threatening. After all he's only been shot at a few times, and it's more the loud noise that frightens him! Even if he's decidedly not bulletproof.