[Open] Catgroove.

[regalduchess]

The cat; small, lithe, and scared; runs through the aviary chased out by chirping birds, their beady eyes vindictive.

Once upon a time, there was a cheerfully tinkling bell on her collar. Now, it lies on the aviary floor as a trophy to the birds. The entire castle she runs through has a strange feeling to it, like everything is dead. Or asleep, or in mourning.

She finally comes to the throne room. Even cobweb-encrusted as they are, the silk seats are soft and comforting. The musty warmth reminds her of Bonfamille and her pink boas, her soft skin, the perfume she always wears-- always used to wear.

With a soft sigh, Duchess curls into a circle with her tail hanging off the edge of the throne, and tries to sleep.

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[regalduchess]

Duchess hears the tiny footsteps through her light catnap and soon enough raises her head, swiveling around to look Frisk in the eye.

A child! Considering the avian denizens of this place, she was expecting... something worse. Duchess rises to her feet and looks over the small human, noting with concern the pale, rippling scar across their throat.

She holds back from commenting and merely offers a purr, tail curling over her paws. Will they approach?

[dustless]

After a moment, they will.

"Hey, kitty," they say, voice even softer than usual. "New here, aren't you?"

They crouch by the throne, putting their head in line with hers. They reach out to give her a gentle pet on the head--though she might find it the slightest bit uncomfortable anyway. Frisk's more used to patting dogs than cats.

[regalduchess]

Not to worry! Duchess presses her head up into Frisk's hand happily and purrs, the sound as soothing to her as it hopefully is to them. She can talk; but it might be smarter to keep that a secret.

A child can't cause too much trouble, can they? She decides to speak, no matter.

"Oh~! That feels nice. Hello, little one."

[dustless]

Oh! They pause in their petting, just for a moment. This cat doesn't look like a monster, but they suppose they shouldn't be surprised at this point.

Little one. Sounds like Toriel. Frisk likes her already.

"Hi. Welcome to the castle. --If you are new. It's big, so sometimes I miss people for a while," they explain.

[regalduchess]

"I am new." She doesn't mention her three kittens, deeming a child too young to know about them. They might be here-- though she hopes not. They would be so much safer with Bonfamille, who would care for them in place of Duchess.

Once Frisk stops petting, she insistently butts her head up into their hand for more, soft whiskers tickling up against their palm.

"I am Duchess. What is you name?"

[dustless]

An unexpected Lesser Dog impression, if mild. They obediently keep up their petting, instinctively starting to scratch behind her ears.

"'M Frisk. And you're in a castle in the sky. We've all woke up here and don't know how it happened yet. Still. Been here for a couple months now." It's good to get the biggest questions out of the way first, of course.

[regalduchess]

"Oh." She hops down off the throne and winds around Frisk's feet, letting the agitation out that way; and the scratching was getting a little overstimulating, anyways. "Is there a way out? And are there any other people here?"

She settles into a sit, tail folded daintily over her paws. "You seem like a perfectly nice young..." pause. "Gentleperson, but those birds..."

[dustless]

Frisk straightens up. "...Not yet. I'm sorry. There is--are people. Couple human kids--Chara's one of them, though. They look like me, but with a different sweater. They're dangerous. Everyone else is nice, though, especially the monsters." They'll wait to see what her reaction is to that. What's a monster to a cat, anyway?

"Birds? Did the ones in the bird tower scream at you?" The macaws in there don't care for Frisk much, for some reason. Or the peacocks still.

[regalduchess]

She paws at her collar, the open o-ring. "They pecked off my bell. Awful things." It had been a parrot, a big, heavy one that bit on and didn't let go until she ran. "But it's only to expected. They are birds, after all. Sometimes they just can't help it."

Monsters? Now that was interesting. But if they were nice, then it shouldn't be too much of an issue! "I would love to meet your monsters, Frisk."

[dustless]

Duchess is quite a bit pleasant about it than Frisk would've thought. It isn't like they know a lot of cats, though, just cat monsters. And they were just kind of weird. "I'll go look for it next time I'm there. I'm friends with...some of them."

And that nets her quite the grin. "Kay! I don't know where they are, 'cause the castle's pretty big and some things move, but we'll find somebody eventually. Unless you wanna stay here?" She's pretty small, after all. She might end up tired if they give her a grand tour.

[regalduchess]

"I wouldn't mind staying here." She curls her tail around their leg, then, letting it brush past as she hops back onto the throne. "Would you mind helping me clear off some of this dreck in the interim, my darling?"

Even though she is normally loath to get dust on her coat, she paws away some of the cobwebs from one of the armrests. It's certainly wise of Frisk to offer her the decision, since she is, put plainly, a housecat, even though her children give her quite the workout.

[dustless]

They suppose the throne's comfortable enough. Frisk hasn't tried sitting in any of them yet--mostly because they were a bit filthier than even they care to deal with. And that's saying something, since they've fallen out of their hammock in the gardens and woke up in the dirt without much of an issue.

"Sure. 'F 'dreck' means 'dirt', anyway." They start brushing the worst of it away on the seat itself around her. And they'll probably pluck some of the more annoying cobwebs that stick to Duchess' legs for her, too.

[regalduchess]

Duchess certainly appreciates Frisk's attention to detail. And that Frisk saves her some grooming later, she appreciates as well. She ends up with a relatively clean throne to perch upon, the silk not gleaming quite as brightly as it could, but not encrusted with dust and dirt anymore either.

"Yes, it does." There is enough room on the throne for Frisk, if they choose to sit.

Duchess cleans her dust-covered paw with dainty flicks of her tongue. "Do your monsters have names? What do they look like?"

[dustless]

Room, but it doesn't quite occur to them to bother. They only sit when they're tired or when things are upsetting and they want to look nonthreatening; Duchess seems perfectly fine as she is, so they keep on their feet. Plus she might want to go somewhere, at some point.

"Yeah. There's S-4 and Sans-Serif, who're skeletons--human ones, anyway--and Sans, who looks like Sans-Serif but...isn't...entirely." Frisk isn't sure how to explain alternate timelines to a cat. "And there's Batman." Whose name is pretty much self-explanatory, they think.

"Mettaton's a robot--" they don't quite register that a cat might not know what a robot is, either, but they stop talking for a moment as their thoughts shift. "--and Sans-Serif doesn't know what a kitty is. I want to show you to him sometime. 'F that's okay."

[regalduchess]

"Oh." She smiles, despite her only experience with skeletons being the tiny bones of rats and birds. A human-sized skeleton must surely be enormous. "They all sound quite interesting! What is a robot?"

Pause. "And yes, of course you may show me to him. He sounds intriguing as well; an educational endeavor for all of us!"

[dustless]

Sans-Serifs's a tad shorter than they are, though definitely larger than the usual cat. "Oh. A robot's a machine. Made of metal that can move around and do stuff on its own. Mettaton's a he, though. Looks sort of like a shiny human usually, or a box on a wheel."

Excellent. Frisk brings their hands together in a gentle clap. "Thank you, Duchess. He needs a lot of niceness, and you're very nice, and to learn a lot. He's still just a kid."

[regalduchess]

"A machine? Like a phonograph?" Madame Bonfamille had a phonograph in her room, playing soft strains of Carmen or old composers. "--a shiny human."

Now that she doesn't quite believe, but... she'll give Frisk the benefit of the doubt in the meantime. "Thank you, little one. Niceness is a quality too many people in this world lack."

[dustless]

"...maybe?" Frisk has no idea what a phonograph is, at least not by name. (They found one in a room once when they were exploring, but there weren't even any records for them to try to figure out.)

They reach out to gently pat her between the ears, just once. "Yeah. Everyone has some in them somewhere, though."

[regalduchess]

Duchess will show him later, then, and even though seeing the phonograph unharried by her three little kittens will ache she has another child to take care of now. She arches into the pat, and lays down onto the soft silk.

"Of course, Frisk. Sometimes, it just needs a little urging."

[antitemporal]

Sans-Serif had actually noticed Duchess racing by when she'd first fled from the birds and into the castle. Of course he'd gone chasing after the strange white creature, in equal parts curiosity and concern. Curiosity because he'd never seen anything more tat fast that wasn't a him. Concern because he'd never seen the thing at all, but it had come from the direction of the aviary and the other him had always warned Sans-Serif not to go near there.

Once he'd stumbled across the little trail of dusty footprints, it had been easy enough to follow, though he'd had to follow somewhat slowly as his initial burst of enthusiasm had left him quite tired out. Not to mention that he still tended to trip and fall when moving much above a jog.

But eventually, the rattling of bones and the panting of a tired skeleton will probably become audible from just outside the throne room, until at last a small skeleton comes stumbling a little into view. He has to pause to lean on the doorframe, panting, and the first thing he notices in the room beyond is Frisk.

"frisk...i s-saw a thing...it looked like a scared thing..."

[dustless]

"Serif!" They thoughtlessly leave off the 'Sans'--'Serif' alone is shorter, and they'll ask if he minds later. For now, they just beam--though there's a definite edge of concern.

"Was it her?" Frisk points at Duchess over their shoulder, taking a few steps in his direction just in case. Catching people might be one of their things now. "This is Duchess! She's a kitty!" Enthusiasm's still quite strong in their quiet voice.

[regalduchess]

The kitty sits up tall and proud, looking down upon Serif-- though not in a condescending way. "Hello, Serif. Frisk told me about you. I am a cat, although I am not completely representative of my entire species. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

This must be one of the skeletons. She smiles, as well as possible, and tilts her head and ears.

[antitemporal]

It's easy enough to see Duchess, once she's pointed out. And Sans-Serif doesn't even so much as twitch with surprise, to hear her talk. Why shouldn't cats talk? He hasn't even entirely understood that most of the birds physically can't, rather than just being rude.

Sans-Serif looks to Duchess, and actually gasps aloud a little in realization. It's shortly followed by a broad grin, of the sort Sans usually wears when overhearing a particularly good pun. Frisk is telling people about him! Telling people about him so that they smile when they see him! They really are friends now!

That's a particularly happy sort of realization, enough to distract him for the moment from any strangeness over the nickname. He draws nearer to the thrones, still wobbling a little from exhaustion.

"it's nice to meet you, too, duchess." He's getting better at greeting people, though he still doesn't think to offer his, for lack of a better word, full name.

Once he's close enough to comfortably talk, Sans-Serif sits himself down on the steps leading up to the throne to rest.

"so you're a cat...and a kitty?" He looks somewhat puzzled for a moment, by this. Sans-Serif has seen pictures of cats before, had picture books read to him about cats before. He just hadn't made the connection that "kitty" was another word for one. Certainly not when the pictures he's seen of cats have never looked so...bright and soft and pretty.

After a moment, he brightens somewhat hopefully as an explanation presents itself. "is that like how i'm a monster and a skeleton?" In the way of some children, his train of thought passes right by another station and he adds: "i like your hair."

[dustless]

Frisk is pleased as punch. Never had to introduce old(er) friends to new friends before, and they're glad this seems to be going well enough from the start. They take a semi-step back, as to not block the monster and the cat from being able to look at each other fully.

...That's a good question, really. Or at least it's something they never thought about before. They don't think it's really the same, but... "Kitty might be the name for a younger cat--no, that's kitten. I think cat and kitty mean the same thing. Don't know why they're different." They glance to Duchess, since she'll likely have a better idea.

[regalduchess]

"Yes. dears. Cat and kitty do mean the same thing. It's a bit like calling a child a kid." She pauses and smiles, covering her mouth with a paw. "Thank you, Serif. It takes a lot of care to get my fur this clean."

She looks more closely at Serif; he doesn't look exactly as she imagined, but he did look close enough, and not scary at all. "What are you two doing wandering the castle all alone? You're only children, after all."