revivalproject | Never try to outstubborn a cat

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Never try to outstubborn a cat

WHO: Catra, OTA
WHERE: Tunnel -> factories
WHAT: Dragging a whole damn bed across the city. Obviously.
WHEN: July 10th, following release from the tunnels
WARNINGS: Angry cat, will update.

Catra didn't want to hang around in the tunnels any longer than she had to, but she also wasn't about to give up that bed. And so she could be found hauling the whole damn thing inch by inch, mile by mile from her room across Temba towards the factories, dragging it around determinedly by the bed frame. She had to stop periodically for breaks, flopping down exhausted onto the bed, but she would not be deterred from her mission. She was going to get this damn bed to the factories and away from everyone else if it killed her.

[ooc: Tag with which ever tense/style you prefer and I'll match.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"World championship title to defend? I can tell."

Sarcasm was just how a person dealt with things sometimes. It was a way of life. And it probably wouldn't phase him if she brought it back out because really, she wasn't expressing anything that he didn't feel himself in terms of frustration.

"New. But not my first go-round with kidnapping of this sort. You?"

"Obviously." Her lips curled into a guarded sort of smile, putting on an air of confidence and examining her claws.

She shrugged a shoulder, "New...ish. I guess? I wound up here maybe a week before they crammed us all in there. Least out here no one can go poking about inside our heads anymore." She made a face. "...You gotta name?" she asked, pointedly asking for his first rather than offer up her own.

He couldn't help the almost-chuckle that her reply caused, and returned her smile with a half-smirk of his own. This one had attitude — cattitude? — and he could admire it. Much better, in his eyes, than the blank acceptance of this being their new reality.

"Mmm. I showed up directly in that bunker." So she didn't have much time here before his own arrival. Might not be too good a source of information about the place, but that was fine. The Soldier already had the most important piece of information: the Agrii were assholes. What he didn't say was that he hoped she was right; they'd left the bunker, yes. If the Calibrations of the Agrii were anything like the Calibrations of the Atroma, then the so-called poking about inside their heads was in fact over — for now. But he knew from his time under the Atroma that those beings had access to their minds whenever they wanted via the implanted chips.

But it had been mentioned that the Agrii didn't use such implants on their kidnapees. As such, he wasn't sure the extent of their powers over the populace.

Her question drew his thoughts back to the conversation and he shook his head. "I used to. Not anymore."

Catititude was right.

And while she might not have too much more to tell him about this world, she did at least seem to have some idea of where she was going.

Not anymore. That wasn't an answer she was expecting, and for a moment she looked a little unsure how to follow that up. "...Right. Uh. So say I need to get your attention for something, do I just do a 'hey you?' or...'big guy with the arm' thing?" she wondered, arching a brow at him.

Really, having an idea of where she was going was more than he had; aimless wandering wasn't quite what he would call it, but it was pretty darn close. Then again, some wandering wasn't a bad first step to exploration.

He shrugged, which had the effect of making the plates in the shoulder and upper arm ripple with the movement. It was, at least, a relief to not have it gawked at, or asked about. Too many people seemed to think themselves entitled to a history or an explanation, neither of which he was inclined to so casually give. "Soldier is the designation I give to others." A beat. "Or Soldat if you speak Russian."

He somehow doubted that she did, but the adage about the ills of assumptions wasn't without reason.

"And I suppose it would depend on why you wanted my attention."

Her head tilted curiously. 'Soldier' could have been the most basic designation for herself or any member of the Horde, but it felt strange to be offered it up in place of a name.

"What's Russian?" she asked, rather than push him on the name front. If that's what he wanted to be called she wasn't going to argue.

She shrugged a shoulder again, like she didn't really care. "I dunno, if I wanted someone to compete for the bed wrangling title or something. You seem like you'd be okay at it."

For a minute he thought she'd push the name issue, but she didn't and his estimation of her ticked up a notch. Sarcastic, attitude a mile wide, and something that approximated consideration: he could work with that.

"Russian is another language," he replied. "If you haven't heard of it, it probably doesn't exist where you're from." It still felt a little weird to speak of evidence of different worlds, but hey, he'd been on other planets and here he was talking to a cat-person. Could be worse.

"I don't know, that title seems really important to you." Judging from her dramatic flop onto the bed earlier, he could guess the difficulty she was having. "But I guess I shouldn't pass up the chance to work with a champion. You got a name? Kitty Cat doesn't seem fierce enough."

"Are you from Earth?" she asked curiously, "It's where almost everyone else seems to be from." She grumbled a little at that. Stupid name for a world.

Her lips quirked, and she might have even given a low rumbling purr, laughing a little. "...It's Catra," she finally supplied, chancing a more genuine smile.

"Originally, yes." It wasn't where he was before he came here, but he supposed it counted as an answer to the where are you from question. "Doesn't matter to me where someone's from, though. More interested in how they act."

He paused a moment to think about it. "Well, unless you're actually one of these so-called Agrii, in which case we're gonna have a conversation." She could probably guess from his tone of voice that he meant to do less talking and more punching in that sort of encounter.

"Catra, then. Handshakes traditional where you're from? Supposed to be for me, but I'm not a huge fan." Of handshakes in particular, and of being touched in general. But he returned her smile; he could identify with the way she'd been so guarded and sarcastic at first.

Catra's gaze shifted away, not sure that matrix would do her any favours. Her actions weren't exactly a shining example of morality.

"Yeah, you'll have to get in line, Buddy. If we find any of them I get first dibs," she growled.

She gave him a sidelong glance and another hesitant shrug, "I mean, I guess, but I don't really like them either," she admitted.

The way her gaze shifted, he sensed that he'd hit a nerve. The Soldier filed the information away, not feeling it appropriate to bring up. After all, he was no example of stunning past behavior either, no matter that it might not have been of his own free will.

Better to focus then on the idea of confrontation with the Agrii. "As long as you leave me a few, yeah?"

He kept his expression neutral, echoing her shrug. "Not gonna force you if you don't like it." Free will was important to him, along with personal space; two things he'd not experienced much under HYDRA. And the days spent in cramped quarters underground hadn't helped either. "Bed wrangling isn't contingent on it."

"Heh," she grinned, flashing him a sharp canine. "Yeah, I can leave the stragglers for you," she teased, smoothing her hair back.

"I mean...I'm not going to freak out or anything..." she excused. Totally not a big deal one way or the other. "You really think you can take me?"

"Generous." Not that either of them would get a shot at the Agrii, at this rate. Hell, the Fleet had barely gotten a shot at the Atroma and even that had not gone entirely well.

"Nah, it's fine." He just smirked at what appeared to be at least some level of posturing. She reminded him of an alley cat, in a way: wary, slow to trust, and probably deadly in her own right. "You wanna find out?"

It was a pretty good assessment.

Catra got to her feet, gesturing to the bed with a welcoming smirk. "Give it a shot," she offered, seeming confident despite the size difference between them.

With permission granted he stepped closer, first going to the head of the bed, then the foot, inspecting the way the side pieces joined in. It'd be no use helping her if the bed came apart from the stress of dragging, after all. Apparently Agrii construction was strong enough for this though — a small miracle perhaps, given the apparent state of the rest of the planet — and took a firm grip at the base of the foot with his left hand. Lifting carefully he straightened, bedframe gripped in his palm, and looked at her.

"Which way?" It was probably some kind of cheating, using the prosthetic, but at least it could be used for something good for once.

"..." Her cheeks coloured a bit with the ease with which he seemed to do that. Was everyone here some kind of super powered something or other? It was almost worse than dealing with the Princesses back home.

"Okay, well first of all, that's totally cheating. And secondly- This way. Towards the factories," she gestured, flashing him an appreciative smirk.

"The hardware comes in handy sometimes. At least this is a good use for it." Not that he wanted her to feel bad about the strength difference, because he didn't. For him, he'd done so many horrible things with the prosthetic that the chance to use it to help another person was a nice change. "I mean, I'm sure I'm nowhere near the championship form you have, you'll have to let me know if you have any tips."

Best, he thought, to not call attention to the blush creeping across her cheeks. Act like everything was normal, just a casual stroll through a deserted alien planet. No big deal.

"Gotta admit, I don't know too much about the layout of this place. Got anything interesting to tell me about where we're going?"

"Yeah, looks like it'd be useful," Catra agreed, giving it a brief passing look. Her lips quirked, giving it some thought as she walked along. "Lift with your knees? I think I heard that somewhere before," she offered with a shrug. Her technique had mostly been stubbornness and brute force.

"Most of the people are back there," she pointed back towards the city center, "This section is more run down so they mostly avoid it. There's a forge, and mine over there. And a whole lot of factories. I think people used to live in some of these places, but I haven't explored it all yet."

He couldn't completely hide the grimace that crossed his face, for all that he tried to school his expression back to neutral as quickly as possible. "Sometimes," he replied, trying to make it sound as nonchalant as he could. She didn't need his issues. "Good advice though. I'll keep it in mind."

Lift with his knees indeed! Trite, but it make him chuckle a little.

"They're all back there and you're out here." He wasn't exactly surprised by that given her attitude thus far; in fact, he could relate to wanting space to oneself. "Got a story behind that?"

Ah. Her ears lowered for a moment, glancing away when she picked up on that grimace, though she too tried to act as though nothing had happened.

"Not really," she dismissed, shrugging a shoulder. "I don't know them...and- I dunno...it feels more like home out here anyways, so..."

Ears were a great indicator of mood, apparently; he wondered if she knew how much they broadcast. There didn't seem to be a good way to bring it up, however, other than reiterating that she hadn't stepped over a line. "Doesn't matter though, it's useful now."

That was all that mattered. HYDRA may have made him, but he could remake himself.

"I know how it is to need your own space." He identified with it fully, knowing full well what it was to need to remain separate from the bulk of the populace. "Not gonna bother you, knowing that I know?"

She was occasionally aware, but she had a lot less control over them than she did over her facial features.

"Mm? Nah. I can take you if you decide to cause trouble," she determined with a smirk, "There's a whole bunch of empty places around here if you're looking for somewhere away from the rest. It might not be as cushy, but...no one to bug you."

At least he wasn't going to call her out on it. That seemed like it would be unnecessarily cruel.

"Yeah, that's me. Trouble." He grinned at her, a bit exaggerated maybe but it was better than the narrowly-avoided unpleasant conversations. "Yeah? Already looks a lot better than what I'm used to. Maybe I'll be your distant, part-time neighbor." Not that he didn't already have an offer of somewhere to stay, but having his own space apart from that would be welcome indeed.

"Clearly. Taking on the bed wrangling champ on your first meeting."

Catra looked about the run down landscape with a hum. "...Same," she agreed, "It's got nothing on the Fright Zone. But more neighbors might be all right. I guess. You don't seem completely awful. Good to have around if I need help lifting stuff."

"What was I thinking," he murmured, just loud enough that she'd be able to hear. Strange how comfortable the conversation was, but he wasn't going to question it. It was a nice change.

"Fright Zone sounds... well, like a place that'd have to live up to that kind of reputation. Guess that makes this place the Mildly Annoying Zone?" Hopefully the Agrii weren't listening to them and getting ideas. He glanced sown at her again, weighing the options of what to say and how much. "Solitude's nice, you know? One of my favorite things. But sometimes it's good to have another person around once in a while so you don't forget what it's like."

Not that he was speaking from experience or anything like that.

Never try to outstubborn a cat

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