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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 18, 2010 5:10:53 GMT -5
Destiny stood outside the door to the professor's office and found she couldn't bring herself to go in.
She hadn't asked Tigger to get into her school bag; hadn't, in fact, known the cat was there at all. She hadn't asked the cat to come to class. And she certainly hadn't asked her to jump out of the bag and make herself known.
Destiny was annoyed with herself for being so frightened. She kept telling herself she was being silly and professors didn't kick you to the curb for accidentally bringing a cat to class; but she couldn't shake the idea that she'd long overstayed her welcome and sooner or later somebody was going to decide they didn't want her anywhere near them, and couldn't they please find an opening at the children's residence again?
And if that weren't bad enough, for some reason she couldn't get "Mary Had a Little Lamb" out of her head...
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 18, 2010 12:27:52 GMT -5
Professor Yang's office was kind of a, for the lack of a better word, mess. On his desk were papers every which way around his computer and printer, which is amazing considering that he had not taught at St. Dymphna's Academy for any longer than half a day. Stacks of unopened cardboard boxes and a cupboard filled with lightweight nothingness made the room seem much smaller than it actually was.
There was room for a single chair.
Professor Yang opened the door to greet Destiny. "Please, come in and take a seat."
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 18, 2010 23:15:50 GMT -5
Destiny stepped forward into the office and looked around cautiously. She sat on the very edge of the chair and tried to figure out what she was going to say.
"...I'm sorry?" she finally managed.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 21, 2010 10:46:32 GMT -5
Yang sat back and looked at Destiny's expression. 'Poor girl must be scared,' he assessed. Yang smiled at her.
"It's not about whether or not you're sorry," he said, "it's about whether or not you'll be late again next time."
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 20:01:52 GMT -5
"Late?" Destiny said, puzzled.
Oh.
She had been late, hadn't she? Permanently out of touch with time as she was, Destiny had become so used to sneaking into classes and hoping she wouldn't be noticed that in all the excitement of discovering that Tigger had been riding in her bag, she had entirely forgotten that she had even been late.
"Um. I guess I was late. I'm sorry. I don't really think about late very much. Sometimes there's lots of other things happening in all the other places all at the same time and there's too much to think about. I kind of forget to look in the right places sometimes."
Destiny wasn't entirely aware of how vague she was being, mostly because she didn't have the words to talk about her odd perception of the world around her and didn't fully realize that not everybody lived in the same world she inhabited.
Had the professor seen the cat? Or was it just lateness?
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 20:54:29 GMT -5
"It's not my business what you do with your free time, but it is my business not to let tardiness interrupt the class," Yang began to admonish, "I have a door policy to let some late people in 10 minutes after class begins; later than that, no admission." Yang then softened his tone a bit and gave a somewhat apologetic smile, "I don't want you to do badly in this class, so please, at least be at the door within the first 10 minutes, alright?"
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 20:59:30 GMT -5
Destiny looked down at her sneakers. "I'm sorry. I'll try," she said. "Really try."
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 21:12:17 GMT -5
Yang nodded. "Good, also..." He leaned forward with a grin.
"I love cats, but make sure she doesn't disturb the class, alright?"
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 21:18:22 GMT -5
Tigger was going to have to hunt her own dinner tonight; Destiny wasn't going to provide any hamburgers. At least not until the next time Tigger looked at her and mewed in a particularly cute fashion.
Destiny's face burned. "I'm sorry," she said (again). "I didn't know my bag had a cat in it."
She tried to explain. "Tigger just kind of goes wherever she wants. Sometimes she wants to be places she's not supposed to go. And I guess she went in my school bag."
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 21:30:23 GMT -5
Yang laughed a little at how flustered Destiny was and quickly attempted to calm her. "Don't worry, don't worry, I think it's good that your cat is adventurous - beats having a lazy one."
"I won't mind if you bring her again," he said, "but just make sure she stays kind of quiet, okay? Hearing her purr was kind of distracting."
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 21:33:58 GMT -5
Destiny relaxed a little, but she frowned at the thought of stopping Tigger from purring. "I don't think I could make her not purr," she said. "Tigger purrs whenever she wants to. I think maybe I had just better check my bag to make sure she isn't in it."
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 21:37:50 GMT -5
Yang frowned a little himself - he honestly did like cats. "Alright then, you make sure of that. Now, if there is nothing else to talk about..."
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 21:43:49 GMT -5
Destiny quickly shook her head. "No, nothing. I'll try to be on time, I promise I will."
She stood and edged to the door. Then she froze as she looked back at the chair she had just been sitting in.
Underneath the chair sat a small brown tabby cat.
"Mew?" said Tigger, looking very pleased with herself. She knew where she wasn't wanted. She also knew that if she wasn't wanted somewhere by someone who had just grabbed her round the middle and unceremoniously dumped her outside when she wanted to be inside, it was rather a good sort of revenge to be located exactly where that person didn't want her.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 21:48:03 GMT -5
"Mew?"
Yang looked at Destiny and assumed that she was being cheeky before realizing that the sound came from under the chair.
Yang's look of slight annoyance turned neutral, after which it turned all smiles. "That must be your cat!" he said, happy at the intruder's presence. He knelt down and placed his hands forward and clapped. "C'mere, little kitty, c'mere." He beckoned.
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 21:51:10 GMT -5
Tigger looked at the professor critically. Well, he didn't seem like the sort to squeeze or pull tails. Cautiously, she took a step forward, glancing back at Destiny.
Aha! Yes, this was going to work out nicely. Confident now, the cat turned her back on her treacherous friend and padded toward this new human, carrying her tail high and curled just a bit at the tip.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 21:54:30 GMT -5
Pleased at the cat's advance, Yang reached out further and gently petted the top of Tigger's head with a finger.
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 22:00:05 GMT -5
The cat felt the gentle touch and knew she had correctly identified a Cat Appreciator. She immediately pushed her head into the human's hand, then began rubbing her cheeks against it.
Mine, Tigger thought to herself.
Surprised, Destiny watched Tigger interacting with her teacher. Someone who liked cats couldn't be all bad... could he?
"I think she likes you," Destiny said shyly.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 22:02:43 GMT -5
"I think I like her," he replied. Yang reached over with his other hand and slipped it around Tigger's waist along with the hand he had been petting her with, testing to see if she minded being picked up.
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 22:08:03 GMT -5
Having been recently manhandled, the cat was not so easily persuaded that people who wanted to pick her up actually meant well. She squirmed away and sat just out of arm's length, tail circled round her paws, gazing fixedly at the professor.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 22:15:27 GMT -5
Yang was a little disappointed, but inched a bit forward to try and pet her again, content to leave it at that.
"Your cat is quite cautious," he said to Destiny.
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 22:21:44 GMT -5
"She's scared because I grabbed her and took her outside," Destiny said sadly. "I think maybe she doesn't like me right now."
Tigger had in the meanwhile returned to the professor and signaled that she was ready to resume being petted.
"But she likes hamburgers," Destiny added, brightening. "And she likes people that give her treats 'cause she only usually eats mice from the stables."
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 22:26:11 GMT -5
"I see," Yang noted and continued to pet Tigger. He searched his mind for something he could feed her.
'Coffee? No, no coffee. Hm...' He continued to pet her until he realized that he did have something he could feed her. Yang held out a finger and told Tigger to "stay right there" before he turned to his desk. Somewhere on the desk, under the papers lying around, was a can of anchovies Yang had considered for an hour-before-dinner-at-home snack. He opened the can and presented it to Tigger, hoping she likes seafood.
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 22:34:38 GMT -5
Upon hearing the can opened, Tigger turned on her purr full-blast and began twining around Yang's ankles. She barely paused to sniff the fish before she began licking at the oily treat, her purr interrupted here and there as she swallowed a bite.
"I guess she likes fish, too," Destiny observed.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 23:02:43 GMT -5
Yang watched Tigger enjoy her meal and continued to stroke the top of her head. He had a content smile on his face - he could afford to go hungry for the next hour.
"So," he asked Destiny, "mind telling me how you two met?"
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 23:11:50 GMT -5
"Just at the stables," Destiny said. "I was walking along and Tigger was walking along and then I said hi and she said hi and we decided to be friends." Destiny smiled. "She's got an important job. She's a mouser in the stables and she's really good at it."
Tigger was chewing contentedly, hunched over the anchovy tin in great concentration, still purring.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 23:33:45 GMT -5
"Ah, so she's part of the staff, then," he said jokingly and continued to watch Tigger feast. 'We should get a cat too,' he thought to himself, 'Anna would like it; I would too.'
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 25, 2010 23:38:08 GMT -5
"Yeah. She's been hungry a lot lately, though. Maybe there aren't a lot of mice anymore. Maybe she's too good at it!"
Tigger, who was now pushing the can around the floor in an attempt to lick up the last of its contents, was feeling quite content. It was difficult to be angry at the girl when her stomach was full of fish; and, anyhow, the girl was only a kitten. One had to make allowances for silly youngsters.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 25, 2010 23:48:02 GMT -5
Now that Tigger finished her anchovies, Yang attempted to lift her up again.
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Post by Destiny Valencia Everett on Jul 26, 2010 0:02:46 GMT -5
Tigger let the professor pick her up. She was feeling a great deal less twitchy, and a provider-of-anchovies was not too likely to squeeze her. She hoped.
Destiny watched all of this with a little bit of envy, and edged around the desk, reaching to pet Tigger as well. She didn't want the cat to forget her.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 26, 2010 0:09:47 GMT -5
Yang cuddled Tigger a little bit, but noticed Destiny and her visible envy. Realizing that she was worried her pet was getting too attached to him, he handed Tigger over to Destiny with a smile.
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