catnap with destiny [open]

[regalduchess]

...Perhaps it is true that cats have nine lives.

Three days after the crocodile, Duchess wakes up in the same place she'd died (swiftly, not fast enough for blood to stain past the collar). She's curled up as if in a light catnap on the windowseat in one of the halls, but the dust on the velvet cushions betrays the truth.

Duchess opens her eyes slowly against the light that filters in. Warmth puddles on her back, slips away on her shadowed paws and tail curled under her body.

...despite how nice it feels, she still has a phantom ache in her throat. She'll sit at the windowseat for a while, alternately grooming her fur into perfection or soaking up the sun.

A little later, she'll pad down into the gardens and inspect the newest... additions to the landscape.  It's entirely possible that anyone could run into her, either at the windowseat, the gardens, or anywhere in-between.

Comments

[mercybutton]

Where the hell has Frisk been?

Actively avoiding the castle, that's what--they've taken to moving their belongings to somewhere deep in the woods, guided by Flowey in the jight while the move was active. Everything jn their room has been emptied. Now, Flowey has taken to the freedom the Edge and the Forest allows, and Frisk is on a hunt to scrounge for more food from the candy room and the kitchen.

The only reason any of this has happened is because they'd been chased off by Croc. They don't want to be eaten or have their head bashed in--they'd rather avoid the pain, thanks.

Lucky Duchess, she's the first besides Flowey to see them post-incident. They didn't intend on being seen, but they were hungry. Also, they left their guitar behind.

[regalduchess]

Duchess pads to the kitchen to get something to eat before visiting the gardens-- only to see Frisk!

"Hello, little one!"

She hurries to their side, tail brushing against their ankle to announce her position.

"It is so good to see you safe and well-- you have been keeping safe, right?"

She doesn't want to alarm them, but maybe they've already heard of the crocodile. (Of course they have.)

[mercybutton]

They jump when they hear her, they feel she's a cat. It's odd, but not the oddest thing they've seen. They're crouched on a counter, that might be a little stranger, castle considered.

And at least it's not Croc. They ease up considerably, because someone's around at least, if they're to die. "Yeah, I'm doing okay. Um, have you seen a giant monster running around? He sounds like he wants to hurt people and he's big?"

That's Croc they're describing, but it's not as if they can tell her how he looks.

[regalduchess]

"Oh, yes." Duchess nods sagely. "I am afraid that I perished to him not long ago."

She doesn't go into detail. There wasn't much to go into, really. "Why? Did he-- did the monster attempt to harm you?"

If so, she'll go marching straight to anyone who seems like they can hunt him down and teach him some manners.

...or she might try herself. Small, and quick, and she can probably dodge him if it comes to that. After all, it is better she take the violence than a child.

"Darling, are you alright?"

[mercybutton]

Yikes.

"Mm, he, uh, chased me out of the library. I've started, uh, sleeping in the forest... it's not half bad there, actually." They rub their air, their gaze walking downward. "I'm okay, it's just... I don't wanna run into him again, you know?"

[regalduchess]

"Sleeping in the forest?" If this were a video game, an exclamation mark would surely blink into existence between her twitching ears. "Oh, darling, that is absolutely horrible! Please, you may sleep with me if you wish. I know a secure place that he cannot fit into."

...they might not be able to fit there either, but she'll find a way.

[itstheend]

If it were a secret that Chara loves cats, it's probably not now. They spot the Duchess in the gardens on their daily trip to the fountain for water, and immediately change course towards her.

They stop a distance away, and hold out a hand, carefully avoiding direct eye contact but blinking slowly on the glances to see if she's still there. There's an etiquette to these things, they've found; let the cat come to you if they want. Picking one up and squeezing it resulted in a very sharp lesson about that, once.

"Here puss, puss."

*Here kitty!

[regalduchess]

Time spent around Lady Bonfamille, as serene as she is, still taught Duchess plenty about being picked up unexpectedly. So when she's beckoned by the child, it's a pleasant surprise.

Puss puss. Definitely a child.

"Hello, little one." Best to set things straight right away.

"My name is Duchess. What is yours?"

She approaches and butts her head up into their hand.

[itstheend]

It's very obvious from the way their hand doesn't immediately move that Chara was not expecting Duchess to speak. Not that talking animals were that unusual to them, now - several dog monsters could - but they weren't thinking she'd count among their number.

For a moment they stiffen, expecting their SOUL to be drawn out, or magic thrown at them, but when neither occurs they smile in the awkward fashion of someone who doesn't know how to do that genuinely and finds themself at a loss when they need to, and begins stroking and petting her. They clearly have experience doing so.

"Hello, Duchess," they say politely. "My name is Chara."

*She sounds like Toriel...

Frisk sounds wistful. Chara themselves isn't sure what to think of that. Part of them is still on guard, just in case, and that shows in the set of their shoulders.

"You have very soft fur," Chara continues, unsure why themselves, but it is true.

[regalduchess]

She watches placidly as Chara pets her. They both seem fairly rattled-- well, Duchess is hiding it well, but she still feels rather upset!-- and sudden moves can't do anything good, or useful, for either of them.

"A lovely name for such a little gentleperson." Approval; she nuzzles Chara's hand. "Thank you, my darling. It is a bit of a job to take care of, but the result is very much worth it."

[itstheend]

A moment of memory. This is not the first time someone has called Chara's name lovely. The only lovely thing about them it seems, unless the definition can be stretched to include LOVEly.

"Lovely," they concur, curling their fingers to scratch behind Duchess's ears as the nuzzle naturally invites, "but ill-fitting. Whereas I could see you very much as a Duchess."

She has the regal bearing for it, and the care taken to her appearance. Isn't there a saying, that all cats are nobility? The only rule Chara would be inclined to accept, to be honest.

Frisk presses against the divide of their mind like, well, a kid holding their palms up to the glass of a candy store. *Chara, can I...? They hesitate and then nod, a small but still observable movement, and retreat back into themself.

The child continues to stroke and pet Duchess, but they seem more relaxed, and their face has fallen into a content neutrality, eyes almost shuttered closed.

[regalduchess]

Duchess kicks up a purr in her chest, eyes squeezing shut in contentment.

"Thank you, little one."

She can sense the shift. One does not live without children without tuning in to eccentricities quickly, and the hands that touch her feel reassuringly soft, but still different.

It goes uncommented on. She winds around their ankles, encouraging her new friend to scratch down her back. Duchess is nothing if not gently insistent; and she has no doubts that Chara won't mind obliging.

[rainingelsewhere]

They think they like the gardens. It's overwhelming and bright and has too, too many colors, but it's a nice sort of too much, mostly. And there are enough winding paths and overgrowth around for them to be able to duck into the brush to hide when necessary, even if their monochrome palette otherwise stands out in the greenery, like someone had just stolen the color away from one little spot of the world.

There are reds and greens and yellows and violets and so much more than greys and blacks and stagnant blue waters. And warmth, though they can't get as much of it from the shade.

When the Duchess comes by their quiet part of the courtyard, where they'd been nearly dozing off, they look up in slight alarm from the hollow of the tree they'd ducked into. They watch her, for just a moment, watching for or looking at whatever she is, before steeling themselves and timidly poking their head out further to try to call quietly out.

"... I know... where there's an out of the way clearing that gets a nice amount of sun, if that's what you're looking for. Ma'am."

[regalduchess]

In truth Duchess didn't notice them until they speak up.

She should feel guilty. Luckily, she skips that to feel straight worried for this colorless child. She dips her head in a nod;

"Oh, yes. I am quite familiar with these gardens. They are lovely, aren't they?"

She pads right up to butt her head against the child's hip. "My name is Duchess; what is yours?"

[rainingelsewhere]

"Mmhm," they agree seriously, head bobbing up and down.

They shiver a little at the gesture, not out of fear. The contact was brief and she'd hardly touched them, but it tickles. She tickles. A duchess, though. The cat- not a monster? doesn't feel like one, but they can't be sure- certainly seems like she would be. They should take care to be polite.

To that end, they sketch out something of a hybrid between a bow and curtsy, deep and formal without falling over.

"A pleasure to meet you, ma'am. I, um... I don't have... much of a name. Someone else called me Grey Kid, and another just Gray. I don't mind those, I think."

[regalduchess]

Duchess patiently waits, covering her paw at the charming (but so awkward!) gesture Gray manages.

"Do not feel the need to be formal, please. Do you mind if I call you Gray? Is there another name you would rather be called by?"

It never hurt to ask. She does love being called Duchess, and the regal bearing she has, and the respect--

but sometimes she misses just being Odette, when she herself was a kitten fumbling around at her mother's paws. It's the least she can do to be a good role model to Gray and the others, now.

[rainingelsewhere]

They straighten back up, a little rigidly at first, but relaxing their stance after a few swishes of their tail for balance.

"Another name...?" they echo, wonderingly. "No, ma'--mm, I do not. And I don't mind Gray. Any other name would just be playing pretend."

[regalduchess]

Duchess hums consideringly, placing one delicate paw on her jaw. "Playing pretend can be a good thing, can it not?"

She smiles. "Gray it is, my dear."

She's tall enough to put a paw on their head like she does with her kittens. Interesting! She'll pat them a few times, standing on her hind legs.

[mettaton_rex]

Mettaton goes looking for Duchess, eventually. He isn't feeling any better about anything, but he looks better after retreating to his room for a while and changing into a new outfit. Looking good is the first step to feeling good, right? And this way at least the shattered mess containing his SOUL isn't showing.

He finds her out in the gardens. Still not his favourite place to be, but he doesn't care too much right now.

"There you are, darling!" He manages a smile, albeit a strained one. "...are you all right?"

[regalduchess]

"I am doing quite fine, your highness." It's to humor him. He looks like he's excited about something (or majorly upset) and either way, getting in the way of his passion can't end well.

"I just..." he's an adult. He can handle it. "I had a run-in with a giant crocodile, but everything is fine now. How are you?"

[mettaton_rex]

...well. Of course, she doesn't know he knew that. She doesn't know what he tried to do.

(He's having a hard time explaining to himself now why seeing those few scraps of fur made him so enraged, and so reckless. He likes Duchess, and she didn't deserve to die like that, but it's not like they're actually close.)

(Of course, no one he does care deeply for has ever died. That has never ever happened.)

"I'm - ha. The same, actually. I mean..."

No, he can't keep this up at all. His expression crumples. 'Majorly upset' is clearly the issue here. He covers his face with one hand, looking away.

"I know what happened. I wanted to make sure - that you were back, too."

[regalduchess]

She waits patiently for Mettaton to tell her the truth. That's the thing, she's learned, about truth; it will come out, either easily or hard.

When she tells him, Duchess purrs sympathetically and rubs up against his leg, tail curling in the air.

"I am back." Back too? So he--

"My dear highness," okay, she really can't resist calling him a dear of some stripe, "are you alright? You aren't too damaged?"

[mettaton_rex]

"I'll be fine." Which implies that he's not right now, of course, and he realises even as he says it that he can't leave it at that. Even if Duchess doesn't press him any further right now, they're still in the play together. She'd find out eventually. "I - there's some damage left, but it looks worse than it is. Nothing serious."

...it's pretty serious.

I'm not really sure what's the status of Grune's interactions with Croc so, uh...vagueness....

[lostinmyway]

Grune is, as usual, tending the gardens. Drifting in her own world, it takes her quite some time to notice the little slip of white among the leaves and flowers, but eventually:

"Oh! Duchess! You're back!"

She reaches out a hand in invitation.

me: WILD SHRUGGING

[regalduchess]

Duchess nearly jumps out of her skin at the unexpected greeting. She gets over her surprise quickly and pads over to Grune, already starting up a purr.

"I am! How are you? Safe, I hope."