15611/Cats in the Woods

Cats in the Woods
Date of Scene:	13 August 2023
Location:	North Woods
Synopsis:	Hellcat meets Alderic, language barriers and burgers ensue!
Cast of Characters:	Alderic, Patsy Walker

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Alderic has posed:
    The late night finds much of the park, particularly the forested region on the northern end, all but abandoned. There are always a few nocturnal folks prowling about the shadows, though, and Alderic finds himself among them. He wasn't there for any nefarious purposes, though. He was there for food! People left all kinds of things behind at the park, after all.

    With the night sky fairly clear and the moon brightening the paths, Alderic wasn't as hidden as he thought he might be. He moved about on all fours, nose close to the ground as he sniffed around for familiar scents of edible things!

Patsy Walker has posed:
Creatures of various design make these wooded areas home. Some are just passing through, going from one place to another.

Technically, Hellcat qualifies as one such creature, sticking to some of the darker stretches of the area as she appears to cross it from one side to another. Must be en route to another destination. Tailing someone? Just passing by?

Hard to say, though the costume marks her as someone different from the norm. It dawns upon her that this place looks considerably different under more cover of darkness, opposed to during daylight hours. Many places someone - or something - could use as a hiding spot to hunt, ambush, or simply sleep in.

Alderic has posed:
    It wouldn't be long before two creatures of the night come across one another in the woodlands. Alderic freezes in place when he notices the yellow-clad woman, peering at Hellcat from the middle of the path. He's mid-stride, one hand stretched out in front of him, and one leg doing the same behind. He doesn't move for a long moment, just staring at her wide-eyed with alert ears. Then he tilts his head a little, inquiring with a raspy-sounding "Rrrowrl?"

Patsy Walker has posed:
"Well, that's not something you see every day," Hellcat says under her breath. Chances are in this case, she's seen before Alderic is. He's got sharper senses, being more an actual feline sort of thing compared to her. Even the way he pauses upon being noticed emphasizes that idea of 'maybe if she doesn't see me move, she won't notice me.' Then comes the questioning sound.

She's got claws on fingers and toes, though it's not clear whether that's only part of the costume or real. There's also that sash, which serves as the visual of a tail, if at her side. "And who are you?" she wonders, peering from behind the cat-themed cowl, shaped ears atop it.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic's tail twitches behind him, the length of it flitting back and forth for a moment. Whether he's got claws isn't immediately visible, but it stands to reason he does. Not to mention the stereotypical big pointy teeth. He doesn't seem to be able to speak, answering her with another raspy rowl. His posture relaxes though, and Alderic begins to prowl a little closer to Hellcat. She no doubt would notice the collar he wears, considering it's plainly visible about his neck. He sniffs at the air to try to get her scent when he stops again, a few feet from her. Crouched on his feet, he gestures with his hands, trying to say hello with sign language.

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat ventures a couple steps toward the humanoid cat, taking care not to give off overly aggressive body language. It's a position of peacefulness, of calm. She's watching closely, however. Best to be ready to act in some way if pushed to.

The distance apart gets shorter as he also moves. The collar stands out, drawing a longer look, but when he signs hello she frowns, reaching up to rest a palm against her forehead for a moment. Is that sign language? It looks like it. If only she'd had the foresight to study it. "What was that? Are you trying to say something? Can you understand me?"

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic replies with an enthusiastic "Rrowr!" and a nod of his head! He looks excited now, though he seems to also grasp that she doesn't understand the gestures - which is just as good anyways, because he doesn't know many of them in the first place! Settled on his hands and feet now, he peers up at Hellcat, his tail flicking again. His head tilts slightly, giving her another curious "Rrowl?" He doesn't seem threatened by her at least, which is a step in the right direction!

Patsy Walker has posed:
"..hold on." Hellcat puts up a finger before coming up with a cell phone from...somewhere amid the costume. Probably a subtle pocket it can safely be kept in for moments like this. She looks up some common sign language and guesses, "You were saying hi, I think."

By the time she's giving him a better glimpse again, he's down in that crouch with his tail twitching. Very catlike, no doubt about it. "I don't suppose you can tell me how you got like this. That'd be too easy," she remarks, adjusting her viewing angle so she can peer toward the collar, see what it's made of, how it's kept in place.

Alderic has posed:
    The cougar gives her another enthusiastic nod! It's accompanied by another "Rowl!" He watches her pull out the little device, but cell phones like most technology are as good as magic to Alderic. He shakes his head at her follow-up question, though, and signs some simple words: Know. What. No.

    Alderic seems to notice her peering at his collar, though, and he leans a little to let her have a better look at it. The material seems to be steel, and though it's closed with welded bolts, undoubtedly could have been removed at some point. It seems the reason it hasn't is the nameplate on the side, that clearly states his name and "Subject PCON-04" directly beneath it. At least that answers one question about him!

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat is hesitant to reach out too closely just yet. Not out of fear, but rather out of just keeping personal space in mind. More signing, though as she checks on her phone the answers don't seem to make a lot of sense to her just yet. "Subject PCON-04..what is this? Were you in some kind of lab? You escaped?" she asks, her tone more..uncertain, but at the same time cautious. The collar looks pretty sturdy, like it's meant to be permanent. "Someone didn't want this to come off."

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic tilts his head curiously as Hellcat once again refers to her handheld device. He doesn't really have any means of clarifying for her, though! Language is not his strong suite! He doesn't seem uncomfortable with the collar on, though it's clear someone didn't want him getting it off. At least for now it isn't bothering him. He answers her questions with more signing. Before. I. Sad. Hurt. Run. Scared. It's probably too many words for her to keep up with and look up, but he finishes with Now and Happy.

Patsy Walker has posed:
"Slow down..hold on," Hellcat says a couple times as the sign language comes through a little faster than she can find the equivalent words. "Hurt..scared..run. Ahhh..now happy. Because you're not there? Do you even have a home?" No, she is /not/ considering bringing a stray to her place. Not this kind of stray. Absolutely not!

She includes, "Do you have any friends? Anyone who can help you?" She's close enough that one could each out and touch the other, but she's yet to initiate such.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic replies with another "Rrowr!" He nods his head - he's quite happy to not be there. He replies to the follow-up with a couple more words: City. Home. He also nods his head - he -does- have friends, but none of them seem to be present in the moment! He rowls at Hellcat again, this time signing the words I and Hungry! It is pretty late, after all, and it's not like he can just go order a pizza!

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat muses, "Well, this beats trying to talk to a normal cat." At least this one can more or less respond, understand, and communicate in a very basic way. "The city is your home. But where do you stay? Just..anywhere?" It may help to get a better understanding of just what this one's plight is. "I live in this city too, but I have a place of my own." About this time, she crouches to get more on his eye level, since he seems content to remain that way in his crouch.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic certainly doesn't seem inclined to stand upright, despite that he appears as if he could do so easily. When Hellcat crouches down in front of him, Alderic leans forward and sniffs at her face, then gives a low rumbling and nuzzles his head against her jawline with a firm bump! At least he's a friendly cat, this encounter certainly could have gone much differently. He doesn't seem to have an answer for her though, her suggestion that he stays 'just anywhere' is probably the correct one. He doesn't seem to have any particular place that he calls home, instead staying the night where-ever he's able to!

Patsy Walker has posed:
The move in gives Hellcat a moment to pause, then the sniff and nuzzle and bump almost causes her to fall back until she braces herself and gets both hands out to clutch about where the cheeks are, a few fingers making it to the area of the ears. "..hey! Watch it. I know you're hungry, but I'm not on the menu! Were you looking for something here?" She stays in place, caught between finding this awkward and also...well, cute isn't really the word, but something like that.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic settles down after a moment, of course. He's not trying to bowl her over, just give her a friendly hello! He's purring now, though, and he answers Hellcat with another nod. Or maybe he's just nuzzling his head against her hands now, in an effort to get her to scratch behind his ears! It's hard to tell!

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat gets her balance back under her, and she does give those ears a good rubbing and scritching, since that purring is chiming in. She knows a content cat when she sees and hears one, even if it's gigantic compared to the typical housecat. But this one is also wilder looking. "Oh, I shouldn't be surprised you probably like that a lot," she muses.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic seems quite happy to be on the receiving end of ear-scritching, twisting and leaning to press into the touch. At least he's not likely to eat her for dinner! He rowls at her again, though, and makes another gesture with his hands before pointing at her. Where. Maybe it's not clear what he means, someone must still be teaching him at least.

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat continues with this as long as it seems welcome, so the 'chirping' at her along with some movement leads to her checking what it means before she asks, "Where? Where, what? Food?" Jeez, if she just starts feeding him, he's probably going to try to follow her home. Some cats are very insistent when it comes to things like that, picking their humans and everything. She only dresses with them as inspiration, at least where the costume is concerned.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic seems confused by her questions for a moment, and he adopts an expression of consideration. Then he shakes his head and signs You and Where and Before. The cougar-man rowls at her again, a curious expression of wide eyes and alert ears peering at her face. He's a curious creature, it would seem, and he's curious about her! Though as long as she keeps rubbing at his ears he'll practically fall over trying to get more!

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat's hand pauses in its attentions. Maybe she's stopping with the ear thing! Oh no! "Uhh..where I came from?" she wonders, turning partially back toward the direction she'd been. "That way, mostly. Along some buildings, through some alleys, then here.." The costumed woman nods, trailing off. "But I don't have any food on me."

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic looks in the direction she points, but quickly becomes confused by her rather vague answer! He rowls at her again, then starts to crawl around her, sniffing around her as if he doesn't believe she doesn't have any food on her! Surely she's got some beef jerky or a half a sandwich! He doesn't find anything though, and Alderic gives a rowl before sprawling on the ground in front of her. Such drama.

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat's hands go up, those claws still prominent. He already felt them around the ears. "You're not going to find anything! I don't carry a picnic with me everywhere!" she exclaims, turning a bit with all that crawling and sniffing. With the sprawling display and the plaintive sound, she rises back up and crosses her arms. "So that's how it is?" the yellow-clad woman squints.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic opens one eye to look up at Hellcat. It doesn't appear to be working, so the puma rolls over onto his hands and feet. His tail twitches again. "Rrow?" He peers up at her again, looking all innocent. What could you expect of a cat? He signs to her again. Yellow. Cat. Who. He wants to know who she is! She hasn't given him her name, after all!

Patsy Walker has posed:
"Aha! I knew it! You're just trying to get more attention!" The woman snaps her fingers and points at Alderic upon spotting him peeking up, shaking her head. At least she's amused. She's going to either need some better translator for the sign language, or attempt to learn something on her own. "Me? I'm Hellcat...Alderic." She gestures toward the designation on the metal collar, with the name included. Stupid things, collars.

Alderic has posed:
    The cougar's ears perk a little when he hears his name, and he rowls back at her excitedly! He seems to be happy she's figured out his name, too. He doesn't seem particularly bothered by his collar, at least! And since she doesn't seem to be posing any threat to him, Alderic starts to nuzzle at her again, brushing against her like a large cat. Perhaps it's too late, and she's going to end up with him following her home anyway. She might want to stop for some cans of tuna.

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat shifts a hand to redirect a bit of the nuzzling, though the brushing of her side is very different than it is from a normal cat. "This is so surreal," she says mainly to herself. "Look..part of what I do is help people..and anyone else who needs it. If you're scavenging for something, I'll.." Pinching the bridge of her nose, she shakes her head again. "I can't help it. Do you want some treats?" She raises her voice a little at the last word, putting some excitement back into it.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic rowls excitedly in response to her! He sure as hell does want treats! It's usually good stuff, at least in his experience. Way better than whatever discarded, half-eaten hotdog he was planning on making his dinner instead. He rowls up at Hellcat again, expecting her to lead him to something delicious now!

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat's shoulders slump. She really shouldn't have done that. "Fiiiine. Follow me. Let's go get you something, but after that you have to go back to wherever it is you sleep." She can't be taking in strays, not like this one! "If you aren't safe and you need some help, I'm sure we can figure something out." Maybe a safehouse somewhere, or a room. A room that would probably get shredded, for that matter. Looking back at him, she starts back on her way through the greenery.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic isn't one to pass up free food, and he happily follows along after Hellcat, his tail flicking behind him. He's purring and watching her with curious interest as she leads him along. He's very good at staying out of sight though, any time a car or person passes by, he's ducking into the shadows and hiding himself where-ever he can, rather effectively as far as ordinary citizens are concerned!

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat uses her phone to place an order for food to be delivered to a particular location, with the instructions specific to leave it just inside an alley next to the address with a larger than usual tip given. Money makes the world go 'round in many different ways, and she leads the pair up to the top of a building overlooking said alley. By the time they reach the spot, she points to her phone and says, "Only a few minutes away. I got some fast food."

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic doesn't seem to have any problem keeping up with Hellcat. It would seem he has a natural talent for climbing, and he scales up the side of a building to follow her without any real trouble! She points at her phone and he gives her another curious expression, but he seems to figure it out after a moment! He finds a comfortable spot to flop over and sprawl out lazily while he waits for food to come to them! He peers at Hellcat and continues to purr, though, his tail twitching a little.

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat spends more time watching the street below than she does Alderic, but given the purr she can tell where he's at, how far away and all. She also proves herself to be quite adept at climbing, those claws coming in handy when she isn't leaping along to grab this and that like a rock climber. As a car pulls to a stop, only four stories down, she sees a guy get out with a large bag of food.

As he moves in confusion, she whistles down to him and motions to the area indicated on the order. "Yeah, I'm one of them," she calls down. "Just leave it there and don't linger. Go on and make some more money."

Shortly thereafter, she heads down to grab the bag, bringing it back up. Inside are half a dozen burgers, a couple orders of fries, and she's got some water to go with it all.

Alderic has posed:
    It doesn't help that Alderic peeks his head over the ledge of the buildling, too, peering down at the delivery guy. But he probably just looks like an ordinary cat peeking off another balcony from that far up, at least one would hope. He waits patiently for Hellcat to retrieve the order from the street, and when she comes back she's got a new best friend! Alderic is purring and rubbing against her as soon as she steps out on the roof - he's just very excited for burgers!

Patsy Walker has posed:
"Hey! Back, cat!" she teases, holding up one of the burgers - still wrapped - while using her free hand to gently guide Alderic's nuzzling head to the side to get his attention back on the food. She flips one of those burgers behind the back, testing his ability to catch. "Don't eat the wrapper," Hellcat reminds.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic is on that burger with an enthusiastic pounce, snatching it from the air in his maw! He isn't really that familiar with the concept of wrappers, but he tears at the paper with his teeth until it reveals the sweet burgery insides of his prey. He gets the burger out of the wrapper and then proceeds to chomp on it and swallow it in chunks. It's gone within seconds, and then he's sniffing around and licking at the remnants of the wrapper until he's convinced there's nothing left. Then he's coming back to Hellcat in search of another!

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat watches all of this with a rather impassive expression, what little of it can be seen with a good half or more of her face hidden by that cowl and feline mask. "That was..effective, but watch me. Do it like this."

She shows her own burger, proceeding to unwrap it slowly, with exaggeration to it before taking a single bite, chewing it a few times with a drawn-out "Mmmmmm, goooood," before she swallows. "Now, you. And take your time. It's not going anywhere."

The next one is offered, this time held in one hand.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic watches Hellcat curiously as she unwraps and then takes a bite from the burger. He seems confused for a moment, unsure what she was trying to explain to him! When the next burger is offered, he takes it from her in his maw and drops it on the ground. He bats at it a little, trying to get it to come undone like she showed him. He doesn't seem to realize he has thumbs. Eventually he starts to tug at the wrapper with his teeth, and soon enough he has the whole burger unwrapped! And the paper is only a little torn. Of course, as soon as the burger is freed, Alderic is hurriedly chomping down on it again, devouring it in seconds.

Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat leans against a metal box most of these buildings tend to have, making convenient spots for relaxation. In one hand, the burger. The other, a bag of fries she plucks a few from with her teeth. The bottle of water is close by. "Close enough. The rest is all yours if you want it." A marathon begins with a single step, after all.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic is more than happy to take responsibility for the remainder of the bugers and fries! There's a lot more torn paper as he devours the rest of the burgers, and the fries. He eats his fill, which is to say most of it, before he seems content. Finally he flops over next to Hellcat, the cougar purring contently now that his belly is full!

Patsy Walker has posed:
With the food done away with, Hellcat washes the last of hers down with more water, keeping an attentive eye on the cougar mutant, or whatever he actually is. Lots of questions around this, few answers. Good thing she's also a detective. There are already a few things she's in the know about: the feline look itself, plus the identification on the collar. Being able to communicate more easily would be nice, but that's a barrier that may take more time to get through.

In the meantime, she's got some digging to do. Which will begin, naturally, once the big cat has left to go back home, same as her, but not without a plan to meet up again.