17481/Fact-Finding Catgirls

Fact-Finding Catgirls
Date of Scene:	24 March 2024
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Front Yard
Synopsis:	Catgirl Data Acquired. Investigations towards Avengering commenced.
Cast of Characters:	Sprite, Greer Grant

---

Sprite has posed:
    Sprite is...well, Sprite is bored this morning. It's been almost two-weeks since stopping the rogue werecreature and his buddies with Mercy, and to be honest, that was Deliverance as hell. She's glad to be back in the city after her little road trip. But she's also feeling the need to get into something, which makes it a great time to do something outrageous. Like, oh, just show up at Avengers Mansion.

    To her credit, she doesn't just land there or teleport inside; that would be FUN, but when you're dealing with superheroes, that can often lead to those boring hero-on-hero fights. Which are cliche, overdone, and (not that she'd admit it) have the potential to make her look bad. So instead, she shows up at the front door, in total civvies, and just leans on the doorbell. (Sure, there's probably procedures and tech in place to stop someone from just ding-dong-ditching the Avengers, but when you're the queen of illusions, you can make it sound like someone is leaning on the doorbell anyway.)

    She's either going to get one of the people she wants, or she's going to get an annoyed superhero, and either way it's going to be gold. So, she waits jauntily out there, being an annoyance. It's a strategy she's perfected over the millennia; she's been mistaken for various deities, but if there was a bailiwick for her, it should really be Goddess of Being A Pain In The Ass.

Greer Grant has posed:
    A hero-on-hero fight can make for amusing fanfiction at times, but when the pool of opponents include people like the Hulk, it definitely runs a risk that should make anyone pause and consider other options. And that's without getting a lecture from Captain America as one of the possibilities. When it comes to ringing the doorbell, the Avengers certainly have scanners and systems to screen obvious threats and some not so obvious threats, and then there's their reputation. Don't ding-dong-ditch the Hulk.
    This morning, it's Tigra that's most alert within the mansion, having been having a somewhat late breakfast, and on hearing the doorbell she paused a moment to see if it would continue and then glances at a monitor to see who might be at the front door. She sees someone who -seems- relatively unremarkable, but she's the first to know looks mean very little in this business. Coffee in hand, she makes her way to the door.
    She opens the door and glances down, then glances further down when the doorbeller proves to be even shorter than she seemed on the monitor, causing Tigra's tail to flick lightly in curiosity. "If you're Avon, missionary, or looking for signatures for a petition, I don't think we'll be interested," she idly quips.

Sprite has posed:
    She honestly wasn't sure who she'd get. Getting a catgirl in a black bikini wouldn't have been something she'd expected in the top three, but she grins, looking up at Tigra a bit, and almost being a little put out when it takes her that long to get up to the face. "That is /entirely/ unfair. First you have the body of a bikini model, then you're a catgirl on top of it, and then you have legs that long? There is no justice in this world." Sprite, of course, is perpetually stuck in the body of a kid, and Tigra has more than a foot of height on her.

    "But, hey, bonus when you can show up, ring a doorbell, and get Tigra to show up." She extends a hand towards the feline superheroine. "I'm Sprite. Not Avon, not currently a missionary, and not looking for a petition." Might as well give the real name; the Avengers probably have computers that can recognize her, and who knows...someone MIGHT know about her. If not, then she just gets to do the amusing intro situation.

    She pauses, and then adds "Do they even DO Avon in this day and age? I mean, I'm sure it probably still exists, but isn't it all internet these days, not running around door to door? On the plus side, you didn't accuse me of trying to sell you girl scout cookies, so there's that."

Greer Grant has posed:
    The tail flicks again, with amusement, at seeing Sprite having to look up and up at her. An eyebrow goes up, partly in query and then in more amusement at Sprite's words, and she can't help but grin, rest a hand on her hip and shift her weight to show off just a bit more. "Hey, like the song goes, everybody wants to be a cat." For her part, Tigra looks Sprite over with curiosity, and appreciation. "At least you didn't get She-Hulk, and that hair looks like it takes an enviable lack of effort to get looking that cute."
    She takes the offer hand with a friendly and warm grip. "Honestly, I don't know," she says of Avon, "but have to say something, and no way you can just say something like 'Yes, can I help you?' when opening -this- door, and hardly anyone seems to recognize 'You rang?'" A tilt of her head, now. "Obviously not the soft drink, so is a computer graphics thing? Or the spirit thing?" She purses her lips slightly in thought, the name familiar but not jumping immediately to mind. More coffee would help, probably. "Come in?" she offers politely, stepping back, never liking the awkward talking at the doorstep thing.

Sprite has posed:
    "Everybody DOES want to be a cat." Sprite says. "Though these days, everyone pegs that to anime. Which, I would say is a shame to limit it ONLY to anime. But anime catgirls are adorable. Bet you'd be too." She looks pensively thoughtful for a moment...and then Tigra finds herself clad not in her typical black bikini, but in a Sailor-Moon-style outfit. Japanese fuku, tiny miniskirt (black of course; the aesthetics must be observed), bicep-high opera-style gloves, big bow at her back, and black high heeled pumps, open-toed for no claw squishies.

    Is it real? Good question. Like all Eternals, Sprite can do matter manipulation, so it COULD be? But she's also the master of illusion, and her illusions fool ALL the senses...so it might not be, but at that point, does it really matter? If an illusion is imperceptible as an illusion, does that make it reality? Far too philosophical.

    "I dunno. I DO like to dress in green, sometimes. But it mostly refers to the spirit-slash-fairy-slash-pixie bit."

    She lets go the hand and starts to move to come inside. "SO. I have a friend who's part coyote; how'd you get to be part cat?" she just asks out of the blue. Social mores are not really Sprite's thing.

Greer Grant has posed:
    A quick grin as Sprite agrees with Tigra's song reference, and then she has to nod in agreement about the anime catgirls. She starts to look briefly thoughtful, trying to picture herself as one, and then, she finds herself dressed as one, the heels adding a bit to her height, and her tail sneaking out beneath her skirt, teasing at possible fanservice for the attentive viewer. Said tail does twitch vigorously at the change in her outfit, and she looks down at herself in surprise, holding out her hands to look at the gloves, then tug slightly on fuku. "Ahhh," she says, recognition starting to register. "Sprite. Think I remember seeing your name before." She closes the door behind the diminutive reality/matter manipulator or illusionist, not sure which is the case, but taking it in stride.
    With a gesture she invites Sprite further in, and heels click and give her hips an extra sway as she leads the way towards a kitchen area. "I'm seeing the connection to the fairy-slash-pixie bit now, definitely," she observes. "Coffee?" she offers before answering, "Practice." Pause a beat. "Short version, nearly died and in saving my life, became like this. What's your friend's story?"

Sprite has posed:
    Sprite moves to follow, getting a broad grin as Tigra takes the outfit change in stride rather than getting her tail in a twist about it. People who can take a joke get some extra points in Sprite's book. She looks up at Tigra, wide-eyed, and with a perfectly serious/concerned tone asks "I dunno...won't it stunt my growth?" She manages the straight face for all of a second and a half afterwards, and then can't hold it, grinning.

    "Coffee. And it's not practice. If I could be a catgirl by practicing, I would have been a catgirl a long time ago." And then, just for the joke, she's suddenly a mini-Tigra version of Sprite. The short red hair, but she's got the fur, the tail, the claws, in the same fur-pattern the heroine has. And in a junior version of the anime outfit. It's the details that matter.

    "Born that way, best as I can tell. But these days, who KNOWS about all that. Could be mutant, could be magic, could be...well, jeez. Could be nearly anything. Native American, so I might give a LITTLE more points to the magic spin." She goes up on tiptoe a moment to /study/ Tigra's features. "I can't make out any ethnicity beyond "cat"." She declares, and then steadies herself. "Anyhow. Figured I might see if you had any connect with the shapeshifter scene; it's always good to network. Speaking of networking, I should probably also find out if you guys have a "Junior Avengers" or "Avengers Liaison" or "Avengers Groupie" thing. I mean, it could be handy to know. Either for me, or my friend."

Greer Grant has posed:
    When you've been through the sorts of things Tigra has, you learn to roll with the punches as well as land on your feet, and having a sense of humor goes a long way. She laughs softly at Sprite's height joke. "Heaven help you if it does," she responds dryly, before getting out a mug and pouring a cup for Sprite, gesturing to milk and sugar available on the table if either is desired, then tops her own up as well, adding plenty of both ingredients. She takes a step back to look Spritigra over appraisingly. "Wow, finally got my own sidekick. Now I just need a Tigramobile, and I'm all set," she grins.
    A thoughtful nod at Sprite's description of her friend. "Native American was my first thought, between hearing 'coyote' and seeing this," she says with a gesture to her own anime outfit. "Coyote the Trickster." She holds still for the studying, curious about it, and then ahs softly in understanding. "Pretty typical Caucasian," she supplies on the ethnicity question. She slides into a seat, settling legs 'just so' with an easy grace, to maintain modesty with the skirt. "We definitely like staying in touch with with others in the Business. I don't know if we have anything official like that, but I don't usually worry about formalities like that." She then reaches up to touch her amulet and her form shifts to that of a human woman, built the same as Tigra, though with black hair. "Sort of a shapeshifter, myself, not counting having had my shape shifted, but nothing like what I suspect you can do."

Sprite has posed:
    Sprite takes a couple moments. She turns out to be a "several sugars and some milk" girl, getting her cup ready. She grins. "I will totally buy you a Tigramobile if you find one you like, because that sounds HILARIOUS. No sidekick, though. I wouldn't look as good as you in the bikini." There's just a /bit/ of bitterness to her tone in that statement, and then all the illusions melt away, leaving Sprite as herself, and Tigra back in the bikini.

    "Unofficial is good. But if the police come knocking at your door, it can be nice to have a Fuck Off Badge. I mean, not that they can do anything to ME. But not everybody has my advantages. Think you could maybe drop a word to the powers-that-be, and maybe get me a callback on it?"

    Her eyes widen when Tigra untransforms. "Holy crap! I didn't know you could do that! I mean, I figured you were perma-cat. That means you're choosing to rock the cat thing then? I approve!" The diminutive Eternal grins back. "And I can change a lot of things. Unfortunately, myself isn't one. I mean, I can LOOK like anything I want. But that's just looking. I would not look like a preteen Tinkerbell if I had my choice in the matter." She says, dryly.

Greer Grant has posed:
    Tigra can practically taste the bitterness, and she certainly can understand it. "Well, there's something to be said for standing out from the rest, given how common builds that favor bikinis seem to be in this business." She touches her amulet again, returning to her Tigra self. "It's a little complicated, but this is my 'normal' form. I can look and be human but I default to this, which might not be perma-cat, but is adjacent." A sip of her coffee, and then she reaches over to grab a pad and pen. "What's the best way to reach you?" she asks, to ensure that callback.
    Another look over at Sprite, a thoughtful one. "I don't feel like I'm going out on a limb when I ask, you're not actually 'preteen' are you? Don't have to get into it if you don't want to, of course." Tigra would be shocked, though, if Sprite seemed inclined to hold anything back.

Sprite has posed:
    "If I was going to stand out, I'd rather it be in the other direction. You know, kind of She-Hulk/Power Girl-y?" Sprite says, and nods. "Here, let me hit you up with my numbers." She rattles off a phone number, for the current best means of reaching her; a cell phone she carries.

    "God no. I've been around since your people learned to bang rocks together to make tools." Which let's be honest, might have been something one of the Eternals taught. "Immortal in the painfully long sense." She and her fellow Eternals are pretty much the oldest beings on the planet; normal "immortals" don't hold a candle. Vandal Savage, maybe.

    Holding things back is not her forte.

Greer Grant has posed:
    A quick grin from Tigra. "Yeah, I can't blame you for that, not at all. I envy She-Hulk sometimes, myself. Especially if it comes to really heavy lifting." She writes the numbers down, repeating them to make sure she has them correct, putting Sprite's name down and the label 'Avenger, Jr/Kid Tigra' next to it, then sets it aside but not entirely out of view, to make sure she doesn't forget about it.
    Another head tilt and considering look at Sprite at the answer, and a long pause as she considers it. "I believe it," she says quietly. "And that's not something I would envy. The painfully long time, or being preteen all that time." A beat. "Probably frustrating to be compared to Tinkerbell when you were around long before her, I bet."

Sprite has posed:
    "I was Peter Pan." Sprite says, her voice a little quiet on that. "So, yeah. That bit with Claudia in Interview with a Vampire might as well be me too. Not that I'm bitter or anything." Pause. "Except that I'm totally bitter."

    She drains the rest of the coffee, and moves to stand. "Anyhow, let me know." She nods to the phone numbers. "I could lend a hand around here, especially in exchange for potentially getting my friend a "get out of bureaucratic bullshit free" card."

    The investigation on finding a lycanthropic expert will have to continue; Tigra's a different kind of catgirl.

Greer Grant has posed:
    "You really were, weren't you?" Tigra says, reading between the lines. "I can't imagine what it's like, but I listen well, if you ever need a shoulder to lean on." She puts her own number down on the pad and tears it off, then rises to her feet as well, setting the coffee down. "We'll need to follow up, find out more about your friend before we can promise anything, of course. But if we can help out, I don't see any reason why we wouldn't." She gestures vaguely front doorwards, offering to see Sprite out and handing over her number.