8188/The Case Of The Finicky Feline

The Case Of The Finicky Feline
Date of Scene:	10 October 2021
Location:	X-Factor Investigations
Synopsis:	Jamie and Rachel lose track of one of their stray cats, only to find him with ... a few more.
Cast of Characters:	Rachel Summers, Jamie Madrox

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Rachel Summers has posed:
It's October. It's time for fall, festivals and Halloween. It's this reason that one Rachel Summers has purchased a large number of Halloween decorations from a local thrift store and is in the process of putting them up. The red-head, at the moment, is dressed casually enough, a pair of black jeans and a sweater of dark green hugs in close to the curves of her form, though the sleeves are currently pushed up to her elbows. The neckline is a mock turtleneck in form, and hanging from a golden chain is a necklace that rests down to hang around her mid-throat area. A charm rests at the end of the chain, a crystal shaped heart that has a phoenix in flight on one side, and a series of circles connected by branching lines on the other.

Rachel's standing on a chair currently taping a large black cat decoration to the window, the cat is designed so that both sides are the same, making it ideal for said window. Rachel's quite focused on making the front of the X-Factor Investigations look - at the very least festive.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Growing up, Jamie didn't celebrate too many Halloweens - after all, even before it was just him and his duplicates, he lived in a very remote area with his parents. Needless to say, there were no trick or treaters and no where to go trick or treating to - even though Jamie had often fantasized about going out with several of his duplicates dressed in different costumes in order to gain the motherload of all candy hauls. Alas, such was never meant to be.

Despite - or perhaps because of - that lack of celebration during his youth, Jamie had given Rachel carte blanche regarding decorations within the office and the living area up above. While she was getting the decoration, he was to be out getting a bunch of candy for whatever ghosts, ghouls or goblins came on by demanding their fair share of treats on the Hallow's eve. And while he has indeed returned through the back door with a few large sacks of 'fun sized' candies of all the good stuff - Reese's, Hershey's, Snickers, Butterfinger and more - he also comes in with a question, dropping the grocery bags of candy on one of the tables as he looks around. "Hey," he begins, not really paying attention to the decorations yet that have already been put up. "Have you seen Dodger around? He didn't eat his dinner last night and I haven't seen him all day today yet either." As he asks the question, Jamie does his best to sound casual about the inquiry, though it doesn't take a telepath to notice that he's a little worried about the adopted stray cat.

Rachel Summers has posed:
It would be so much easier to just do this through telekinesis. So. Much. Easier. But - someone could come in at any point, and there would just be so much explaining to do, or mind wiping to do.. that Rachel figures putting everything up by hand is much better. Thus, the red-head is moving from the black cat, to another dual sided decoration of a white ghost, complete with black maw wide open.

Taping it to the window is the easy part, hopping down from the chair a snap, turning around to offer Jamie a smile, only to hear the decoration slide down the window as the tape refuses to adhere..? THAT part isn't so easy.

"Crap." Is all Rachel states at first, turning about to once again hop back up onto the chair and begin stuffing a large abundance of tape to the window and decoration.

As she does, Rachel's casting her gaze over her shoulder at Jamie, picking up even though he's trying NOT to sound worried, she is a telepath. She knows better.

As enough tape has been placed onto the decoration to stick it in place, Rachel hops down again, offering a slight scowl to her features. "Actually - no. I haven't seen Dodger. I saw Smokey and the Bandit, and I saw Leia and Luke, and Chewbacca was in earlier, but no Dodger."

Tilting her head to one side, Rachel inquires, "Did you want to go looking for him?"

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Unable to help himself, Jamie quips at the amount of adherent that's being used with a wry comment, "Is the tape supposed to represent some sort of supernatural aura around the ghost...?" He offers a good-natured grin with the jibe, though as Rachel comments that while she's seen a bevy of the other stray cats that have begun to eat the food they've been leaving out, she hasn't seen Dodger recently, Jamie's eyebrows knit together towards the bridge of his nose. "Wait," he begins, "Who's Chewbacca? Is that a new one? I thought there was only Smokey, Bandit, Leia, Luke, Dodger and then Old Fagan who only comes by once in a while..."

He shakes his head then, one hand starting to move upwards, "Wait, nevermind, not important right now. And, yeah, I looked a little bit along the alley in back, but I didn't go far. I wasn't sure if maybe you saw him or not when I was out." Jamie frowns a bit then, the tone of his voice echoing the concern on his features. "It's not like him, he's *always* around, especially for food times..."

Rachel Summers has posed:
"Chewie's the big brown cat with the whiskers out to here, and all the fur. He wont let anyone near him, but he yells for food in that loud voice?" Rachel begins, furrowing her brows together, remembering that 'oh yeah', she hadn't told Jamie about that one yet. Then again, you start feeding one cat, and even though they asked Dodger to only bring maybe one other friend, the cat has started to show up with more and more.

Rachel's quite sure that it's a cat-spiracy. Still, Jamie is worried about the little orange and white striped friendly boy, so Rachel grabs her red leather coat from the coat and hat rack. "Well, lets go do some looking. I'm sure he can't be too far away. You are talking to an expert tracker here, Jamie. I can track friend or foe, animal or human, mutant or meta."

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Yes, Jamie had asked Dodger to keep the number of free-loaders to a minimum or they'd stop putting out food. But the orange cat called the bluff and when more and more cats started coming around - not only did he and Rachel begin to put out more and more food, they also installed a cat flap in the back door (with a little help). Cat-spiracy or no, it's clear who the better negotiators are in the arrangement. Though at least a few of the furry free-loaders recriprocate with affectionate pets - like the currently missing Dodger. Apparently, the newest arrival, Chewbacca, is one of the less cuddly ones. Jamie shakes his head with lack of recognition as Rachel describes the brown feline, his eyes a little blank. "Hadn't seen him come by yet..." he answers. "Pretty soon, I think we might want to start buying stock in Purina..."

As the coat is grabbed and assurances given, Jamie lets out a small sigh of relief. "I can't imagine he's too far away either," he agrees, "And I'm sure he's fine. I'd just feel better knowing for sure I guess..." He shakes his head at himself, a lightly wry grin creeping onto his features. "Thanks. I guess I hadn't realized how used I was getting to having the little stray come around..." As the pair exit the back door of the office, Jamie gives a point and a nod to the left side of the alley, where the orange-and-white Dodger is often seen coming or going. "I looked down that way to the cross street, but didn't see him in or behind any of the dumpsters or loading docks..."

Rachel Summers has posed:
"Okay, well.. give me a moment." There use to be a time when Rachel might have disliked to use her abilities in this manner. For so long she was a 'hound', a slave to Ahab, forced to hunt down her fellow mutants. She was nothing more than a dog on a leash, sniffing out friends, family and strangers alike. For years after she had freed herself from Ahab's influence, she hated to use this particular power. Yet, Rachel is also damn good at it, and it's a kind of redeeeming thing, now, helping to find people and not for slaughter, but for the good of the person being sought. (Or in this case, cat.)

With a deep breath, Rachel's senses reach outwards. While she isn't able to read an animal's mind, she is able to register the thought patterns, and she knows Dodger's quite well. A step to one side, and then another, and Rachel's moving with the thought she picks up, her stride swift - almost at a gait without realizing she's doing so. If she's not careful, she might even drop to all fours, though she does stop herself with a jerk.

"Ah. This way." She begins, trying to be completely and utterly nonchalant that she nearly DID drop to all fours just then, so caught up in the 'hunt' for Dodger.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Though he hasn't seen her use the ability much, Jamie knows that Rachel is indeed a master tracker, one of the best. He's also not entirely clear as to just why it may have been a painful thing for her to use in the past, or that being able to channel that ability now in the way that she does for X-Factor investigations is such a... well, redeeming thing, it almost seems. But he does know that she feels that way about, he's seen it in her eyes and heard it her voice, when she's found a missing child, a long-lost relative or who-ever else X-Factor might be searching for. And he can tell it now, in the way she sets out to track down Dodger. Though - there's a moment as she clearly latches on to the mental 'scent' of the four-legged friend that Jamie swears she's just about to go down to all fours herself. And is that a flash of strange, jagged scars or tattoos streaked across her face? Jamie's not quite sure - they're there and then gone again in an instant, and then, just around the next corner and tucked in behind a stack of cardboard boxes proudly sits the object of their hunt. Who isn't quite alone.

Along with the orange-and-white Dodger - who is sitting quite pleased with himself it seems - is a fluffy all-black cat who is laying on her side, eyes squinted closed as Dodger every so often cranes his head down to lick between her ears. Even more, however, are the half-dozen tiny little kittens that are scrunched up along the black cat's tummy, clearly suckling from her as they wriggle against each other.

After giving the black cat another lick on the top of the head, Dodger turns to regard Jamie and Rachel with what can only be described as a grin, and if Rachel *could* read the feline's thoughts, they would surely be those of a proud dad introducing his family.

"Well. I guess that makes sense," Jamie deadpans as he eyes the scene. "Looks like we're going to have a few more mouths to feed..." He lets out a quiet sigh and a shake of his head before turning back to Rachel. "You don't suppose that one of McCoy's dozen PhD's covers veternary science, do you? Like, specifically, spaying and neutering..."