Menagerie Pitch In: Ocelot Kitten

by **Magpie** on April 30th, 2013, 10:23 pm

Timestamp: 20th of Spring, 513AV

There was a sharp knock on Rosela’s door in the mid-morning. The Akalak outside heaved a sigh as he dropped the wooden cage in his hand to the ground, prompting an indignant squeak from the occupant. His pants on the side of the cage were nearly shredded, and as a small clawed paw swiped out from in between the bars, he pulled his leg away just in time. When the door opened, he put on his best tired smile and practically shoved a ragged backpack through the door.

“Morning, Rosela?” Hardly waiting for a confirmation, he picked up the cage by the wooden handle awkwardly holding it well away from his body. “Here’s little Kadda… Sorry we’re a bit late, making deliveries, you understand.” Leaning into the doorway, ignoring the invasion of privacy, he slid the cage inside. “There’s three meals of food in the bag. Don’t open the containers until you’re ready to use ‘em, the meat’ll start to stink if you leave it out. There’s toys, and ah, a pair of protective gloves in there.” For the first time, he noticed the multitude of arms. His mouth opened briefly as if to comment, but he shut it quickly once more.

“I’ll be back between the 12th and 13th bell, so try to be here then. She should sleep most of the day. In the sun – she likes it.” He became distracted, leaning back to look down the street as if waiting for someone. “That’s about it…” He started to back into the street, eyes on a pair of Akalaks rolling a large cage covered in canvas down the road. “You shouldn’t have any trouble. Thanks for your help!” In a moment he was gone, and the kitten growled after him, as if in good riddance.

OOC Notes :

by **Rosela** on June 5th, 2013, 7:38 pm

Rosela had been up with the dawn, as usual, doing up her face and hair. Her little bundle of fur was due to arrive at any point in the morning, and she dreaded answering the door looking any less than her usual meticulous self. As she took out the eyeliner, she glanced once at the sun rising outside, trying to gauge the time. She ran the pencil over her lash- and water-lines with practiced ease, adding an extra dab to the left to even up the wing-tips. Next was the blush, and she sucked in her cheeks to lay it correctly over her cheekbones. Tilting her head, she paused to admire the way the light fell over the brow of her nose. She wondered if ocelots had the intelligence to appreciate beauty.

There was a knock on the door just as she was finishing up her lipstick, and she blew herself a kiss as she capped the brush.

”Good morn- oh-“ She stuttered awkwardly as the young Akalak, too lean for her tastes, launched into a clearly rehearsed speech. ”That’s- Oh, ok-“ attempts to get a word in edgewise were met with a determined litany of instructions. Only when he had passed the cage over the threshold did Rosela stop trying to interrupt, and she nearly dropped the cage when she tried to move it further inside. Glancing down at the bag of ocelot-paraphernalia next to the door, a confused ”Umm…” was all she managed to get out before the young man had disappeared down the street.

Standing in an empty doorway with an ugly bag and a caged feline, had no choice but to step back, drag the cage into the room, and shut the door. The ball of striped fur inside took a swipe at her dress hem, and she twitched it away as she knelt down, peering inside. It was just as cute as she’d imagined but somewhat more…wobbly. It rolled onto its back and blinked up at her, one paw braced on the bars. Sighing deeply, Rosela opened the top of the cage, to which the kitten immediately rolled back to its stomach, and reached in.

by **Rosela** on June 6th, 2013, 8:02 pm

”Ouch! You little rat…” Rosela cursed angrily in Arumenic and withdrew her hand to suck on her cut finger. It had been a tiny cut, where one of the kitten’s claws had caught on in an attempt to grab the approaching hand. The protective gloves had been left in the bag, assumed to be a message from the zookeepers that she couldn’t handle a simple bundle of fur. The cut hurt well enough though, and she glared into the uncomprehending dark eyes.

Growling herself, she reached in with multiple hands this time and managed to catch hold of each paw, and while doing her best to ignore the growling creature now gnawing on one of her wrists, she managed to lift it out of the box. It writhed violently, uncomfortable with the manner of liting and let out an irritated cry. ”You’re fine, hairball.” It was quickly deposited on the floor.

Now that it was out of the cage and her hands once again safely out of reach, she could finally get a good look at it. It was a striking creature, with bold black stripes and spots over a gold body, bright pink paw pads, and short, wide ears. The body was just barely longer than her forearm and as it stood slowly up, its nose went to the carpet and it paused to watch her warily. Rosela figured there was probably a better way to pick the little thing up, and suddenly wondered if she should have done a little more research before taking in the creature.

The sheer look of it had spoken to the designer in her when she’d gone to see, simply out of curiosity, if fostering an animal from the Menagerie was worth one of her precious few days off. The striking patterns, particularly around the face, of the kitten were quite appealing, if nothing else, and she’d brought her design papers and a bolt of animal print cotton to work with for the day.

In any case, the kitten started to wander away from her, interested only in the various smells of her home. At this, Rosela went over to the bag by the door, and managed to heave it onto the table. Inside, there were indeed three ceramic containers, each with something wet and heavy inside, and various ropes and toys. In the bottom there was an additional bag of what felt like sand, and a folded up board. Pulling it out with a hum of interest, as the Akalak hadn't mentioned this, she discovered the board popped out into a rather smelly, squat, little box, with bits of gray clay stuck in the corners. Putting two and two together, Rosela smugly dumped a pile of the gray clay bits from the small bag into the box. One of her loosely termed 'playmates' as a child had had a housecat, a fat and temperamental creature much like its owner, and it had been trained to do its business in a box of sand.

Turning around to display her triumph of ingenuity, she stopped stark still as the kitten was no longer in sight. For one heart-pounding moment, she scanned the room until she saw a pair of glowing orbs peering out from under the bed. Rosela sighed and slid the box next to the end of the bed, which seemed to perk the kitten’s interest as a furred head poked out from the shadows to sniff it. Even further, with an excited grin from Rosela, Kadda snuck out from under the bed to step into the box.

Rosela stood up and cracked a pair of knuckles. ”See, not going to be all that hard-” There was the distinct sound of tinkling and it wasn’t until after the kit had left the box and went back to sniffing around the bed did the smell hit. A hand snapped up to cover her nose and mouth and she backed away. ”Ugh!”

by **Rosela** on June 7th, 2013, 7:32 pm

Stepping as close as she dared with her nose pinched shut, Rosela looked anxiously into the box. The clay bits had gathered around the urine, but did nothing to get rid of the smell. Did all cats have this stench? How was she supposed to get rid of it?

There was only one thing to be done, and she kicked herself for not doing it beforehand. Putting her bolt of cloth underneath her pillow for the time being, she pushed the litter box with her foot until it was against the far wall. Nearly gagging, Rosela eyed the creature watching her from under the bed and retreated from her house.

The walk to the Valkalah Library was swift, and with a few moments of searching found a section on animal husbandry. Not willing to stand around and read things there, she pulled off a book on ocelots and, for good measure, housecats. She barely noticed the Akalak behind the front desk as she began her immediate trek back to her home, thumbing through the book on housecats for a section on ‘odor’.

While it is advised to never let cat urine sit long enough to permeate the room, there are a few remedies for removing lingering scents. Applying a mixture of 2-parts water/1-part vinegar to the stained area will break down the scent almost immediately. Certain volcanic rocks may be ground down and applied as well if the area involves carpet or cloth.

Once the source of the smell is removed, a simple airing out will eventually clear the room. For a faster removal of scent, one may fry coffee beans over low heat in the affected room, though some may find the scent of coffee, as well as its price, off-putting. Incense and candles are more cost-effective methods, however these will not fully remove the scent, only mask it.

Rosela swerved to avoid running into someone’s back and kept walked as swiftly as her legs would carry her. Her shins were starting to ache by the time she passed her house and kept moving to the other side of town. Part of her wanted to peek in on the kitten as she passed, but the memory of the scent made her only quicken her step. She needed to get something for the scent before it soaked into the walls and tormented her forever.

by **Rosela** on June 7th, 2013, 7:35 pm

The walk to Zhongjie seemed to take longer than usual, and her shins and feet were sore by the time she arrived. Partway in, she found a spices vendor.

”I need coffee beans,” she announced bluntly, and she shopkeep, a deep violet Akalak with a heavy Tukant accent, looked at her in surprise.

“A lady with taste I see. We don't get much call for it, but… Ah here we go,” He produced a small canvas bag. “50 gold mizas for a pound.”

“I don’t need a whole pound, just a few beans.”

Taken aback, the shopkeep set the bag down on the counter and looked at her suspiciously. “I can’t sell just a few beans, I’d have to short one of the bags. Tell you what, 13 gold mizas for a quarter pound-”

”A quarter pound is too much.” Rosela gripped the shelf impatiently. Who knew what that infernal cat was spraying all over her house. ”I’ll pay extra for just a few beans, but-”

“A quarter pound for 12 gold mizas, my final offer.”

Snorting irritably and already wondering how she’d be able to apply vinegar to the litter without outright soaking it, Rosela waved off and turned away. She didn’t want a hill of beans just laying around her home, not when the cat would be gone in a day and she had neither the instruments nor the inclination to learn how to make drinkable coffee.

“Wait, wait!” The shopkeep called after her after she took a step back into the crowd. “A tenth of a pound!” That was more like it, and Rosela turned, eyebrow raised and noncommittal. “A tenth of a pound for 6 gold mizas. A better deal, you’ll never find.”

He was probably right, and it seemed like a better solution than the urine anyway. Taking the proffered six mizas, he weighed out the beans and passed them over in a small marked canvas sack.

by **Rosela** on June 7th, 2013, 7:40 pm

It was nearing afternoon and the technician’s visit when Rosela arrived back at her cottage, bracing herself for the smell when she walked in. She heard a thump as the door opened and saw a black tail disappear under her bed. The smell wasn’t as bad as she remembered, but still well in the realm of the unpleasant. Leaving the kitten in its hiding place, Rosela crossed the room to pry open the window. Even with the small chimney over the hearth, she didn’t want her room to permanently smell like coffee instead of cat pee.

She saw a tiny pair of paws emerge from the shadows as she sat down in front of the hearth, swinging the pan towards her. She did her best to ignore the glowing eyes watching her as she cracked the steel and flint together, trying to get a spark to land on the wood. She was shyke at building a fire, and struggled with it all through winter. At last something caught and as she began feeding smaller pieces to the budding flame, she saw a striped figure venture out from under the bed in her peripheral. Intending to continue her cold shoulder until the room no longer reeked, she dumped a handful of beans into the cooking pot, swinging it to sit over the low, young flame.

A bean fell out of the pouch to bounce over to the cat who eyed it greedily. In halting, awkward steps, she approached the bean and quickly pounced on it, lifting her paws to check on it immediately after. She sat down in front of it, as though disappointed, and batted the bean around, sending it skittering across the floor. Feeling a small amount of affection start to bloom, Rosela put her chin in a hand and watched Kadda alternately stalk, pounce, and bat away the bean. Kadda started to lose interest, and Rosela turned back to the pot, where the smell of the coffee beans was clearly starting to replace the scent of urine. Standing up and leaning over it, she swung the pot so the beans swished around in the bottom. So long as they didn’t burn…

The sound of her bed rustling made her turn, and the moment she did, time seemed to slow as she saw Kadda on the bed, the open window above the area next to the bed, and Kadda winding up for a clear leap to the windowsill. There was an excruciating crack as Rosela banged her shin on the side of her wooden chest, but she managed to get to the window just as Kadda landed there and one hand buried itself in the scruff at the back of Kadda’s neck as another hand slammed the window shut.

A high pitched whine was all Rosela managed to get out, and she was barely aware of dropping Kadda next to the pillow before she collapsed on the bed, all six hands holding above and below the throbbing area of her shin. Kadda responded to her prone caretaker with an indignant meow, leaning forward to sniff. Suddenly the 10 gold mizas for watching the creature seemed so utterly not worth it.

by **Rosela** on June 7th, 2013, 7:42 pm

Rosela hobbled around for the next bell, alternating the coffee beans on and off the heat, trying to convince herself that the creature she’d opened her home to wasn’t intentionally trying to drive her to madness. It was nearing the twelfth bell, and as soon as she popped open one of the meat containers, Kadda streaked out from under the bed, leapt gracefully onto the table and tried to get at the container in her hands. Pulling Kadda back, now by the more convenient scruff, she set the container on the table.

While Kadda went to town on the bowl, Rosela took the coffee beans fully off the now-dying fire, and collapsed into bed. Why had they ever given her this creature? Why were there not more thorough instructions? Heaving up the book on ocelots, Rosela kept an eye on the cat, head-deep in the food bowl, and began to read.

After a few chimes of skimming through pages, Rosela discovered that she not only had zero interest in the creatures as a species, but that she wanted to punch the technician for not telling her that ocelots were known to have particularly potent urine. They lived in jungle areas, yadda yadda, liked to climb a lot…

The clatter of the bowl startled her and she looked up to see Kadda licking the remains of her lunch from her upturned bowl. Deciding to leave her to it, Rosela switched books to the ones on housecats.

They seemed equally uninteresting, but she did focus in on the ‘play’ section, where it described various methods of playing with one’s cat. Dragging a rope in front of it, dangling a toy on a string, and building little houses and climbing areas all seemed less than thrilling.

Rosela looked up again, slightly paranoid, just in time to see Kadda make a flying leap onto the bed next to her. Her claws dug into the mattress, but before Rosela could pull the creature out, the door knocked loudly, sending Kadda immediately under the bed.

ENTER TECHNICIAN, STAGE RIGHT

by **Magpie** on September 18th, 2013, 7:53 pm

The technician at the door was slightly less harried than he'd appeared that morning, but not by much. "Hi, ah..." He belatedly looked down at his checklist.

"Rosela." The supplied answer was flat and mildly irritated.

"Yes, Rosela! How's little Kadda doing? May I come in? Just need to check up on her and I'll be on my way."

by **Rosela** on October 15th, 2013, 8:55 pm

Technician packed off, satisfied she hadn't lost their precious kitten, Rosela slumped back onto the bed. The kitten had dashed back underneath it as soon as the technician allowed and Rosela had figured it'd take her a while to come back out. Picking up her design paper, she stared at the blank page morosely. She didn't want to drag the poor creature out again, but feeling appraised by the technician had sapped her creativity.

Movement in the corner of her eye brought her attention to Kadda, who was apparently feeling comfortable enough to venture out only chimes after the technician had left. Rosela smiled softly to herself as the kitten leapt gracefully onto the table, pausing to blink sleepily into sunlight streaming down onto it. Feeling inspired, Rosela leaned forward to pull the bolt of tiger-striped fabric from under the pillow behind her. Kadda watched her get up and move across the room to get her knife, head rotating on her small, furred body. When Rosela set the bolt upright on the table, Kadda padded over curiously, her head bobbing as she gave it a cautious sniff. Seemingly unimpressed, she retreated to the square of sunlight and rolled onto her side.

The fabric made a low growl as she sawed the knife through it, cutting off three long, thin strips. Kadda regarded her actions sleepily and upside down, soft belly fur exposed to the sun. She batted Rosela's hand as it reached out when she passed, but did not move otherwise. After fetching a needle and bobbin of black thread from her trunk, Rosela sat cross-legged on her bed and folded the first of the three strips in half. As they were, the fabric was unstable, and would easily stretch and rip. Leaving the ends open, she realized she had forgotten to bring pins and so used three hands to hold the long strip closed in half as she ran a line of whipstitches down the side. Needle in, out again, loop around, and in again. It was a soothing, repetitive action and she found herself timing it with Kadda's slow breathing.

Knotting off the end, she bit through the thread with her teeth and threaded the needle again. It was difficult to tell how long it was until she finished sewing the third strip, but the sun patch had migrated slowly off Kadda until only a single outstretched paw lay in the light.

Rosela watched her tiny chest move up and down with her slow breathing and listened to the faint sounds of movement outside. It was nearing dinner-time and both of them would have to eat. Resolving to finish her toy before then, she turned back to the trio of strips before her.

Holding the ends in one hand, she knotted them tightly together and held the knot in one hand. She braced the hand on her knee and began braiding with three other hands, each hand twisting the fabric as it was turned in. In moments, she hand a long braid, much of the striped pattern lost in the twisted fabric.

When she reached the end, she turned the braid over on itself and knotted it, then turned it over twice more to build the knot into a larger one. When it was finally finished, her stomach let out a miserable growl, and Rosela hopped off the bed to eat.

by **Rosela** on October 15th, 2013, 8:59 pm

"No, stop that."

Kadda had become very interested in her bread and cheese as soon as Rosela had brought it out, and two hands lifted the kitten away as it was eaten. "You'll get - mmf - yours, just let me finish." Stooping to put the kitten on the floor, she indecorously shoved the rest of the bread in her mouth. She hadn't thought ocelots even liked bread, but it was possible they'd eat anything when they were young.

Cheeks still full, she brushed her hands as she stood, chewing as she dug in the backpack for another container of food. Kadda leapt back onto the table, sniffing for a moment at the breadcrumbs and then padding quickly over to the bag. Her head was in the bowl the moment it was opened, one paw attempting to push Rosela's hand away as she set it down.

Realizing she'd have to wait to try out her new toy, she sat down on the bed and bounced her foot impatiently as the kitten slurped in the bowl. Her mind had begun to wander by the time Kadda finished, and she was staring out the window, watching a distant bird rise and fall when a sudden shuffle of sand surprised her. Jumping around, she saw Kadda moving around in her litter box.

By the time she'd finished, Rosela was starting to lose interest in her houseguest, and wondered what anyone saw in a creature that cared so little for what their caregiver was doing. She flopped backwards on the bed, throwing an arm over her eyes. Maybe she'd just turn in early-

"Hey! No!" She was bolting out of bed before the noise even completely registered, and four hands were wrapped around the creature's middle, prying its claws out of her bedpost. "Stop it!" The claws were dislodged with a flurry of splinters and the feline writhed irritably, growling at her. As soon as she was released, Kadda bolted once again under the bed. Sighing deeply, Rosela leaned forward until her forehead rested against her bed spread. At least the creature hadn't shredded that.

Snatching up the toy, she attempted to appear playful and jiggled it in front of the bed. The kitten did not move. "Come on...plaaaaay," Rosela whined irritably.

Giving up after a chime of alternate dangling stlyes, Rosela tossed the toy into the bag and flopped back onto the bed. This experience was not in any way worth 10 lousy gold mizas.

Closed Menagerie Pitch In: Ocelot Kitten