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[rathercommon]

crystal | letter | cease and desist notices slipped under her door | action

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[rathercommon]

[ Oh. ]

I'm - I don't know about that last bit. I'm not a nice person.

[justashotaway]

You think people are good. Do you think cats are good?

[rathercommon]

I don't think all people are good. But - [ Well. ] Yeah. Cats are arseholes, but they're good, I guess.

[justashotaway]

They sit on your shoulder and make small noises. And they vibrate. And you do not have to be a nice person to be kind to them.

[rathercommon]

Purr.

[justashotaway]

I know.

But other people might not.

[rathercommon]

They might not know the word "purr"?

[justashotaway]

[Another pause, and then, somewhat reluctantly--]

Everyone does not know these things.

[rathercommon]

[ Maybe miraculously, Kitty's voice is practical and judgment-free. ]

That's true. But there's absolutely no harm in asking if they run into something new, right? I mean, if we all want to decide to get rid of the word purr and swap out vibrate in its place, then that's okay. But if they're going to run into it other places, it's probably worth learning. - It really is maddening when people act like you're a bad person for not knowing something, isn't it?

[justashotaway]

[This is something worth thinking about, longer than she has in the course of talking to someone else. She tucks a thorny mess of ideas--how much do others know that I do not, what do I know that they don't, how do people decide to say purr instead of vibrate, how do these things change--away for later consideration. For now, she hazards an answer to Kitty's question.]

...Yes.

[rathercommon]

[ Apparently satisfied by this agreement: ]

Yeah. Especially since it's the ones who get judgmental who are the ones who decide what information is worth knowing. Even though there's plenty of stuff worth knowing that they don't know.

[justashotaway]

What stuff?

[rathercommon]

[ A shrug - ]

You know - how to brew a proper cup of tea, how to throw a pot, how to keep a proper balanced ledger, how to organize files, how to clean. How to be a decent person. How to pick a pocket or pick a lock. How to scrap properly. Lots of stuff.

[justashotaway]

Oh.

[ She goes through the list silently, considering the options. The crossover between what they don't know and what she doesn't is greater than she'd like, considering she isn't part of Kitty's them. ]

I can pick locks. But not properly.

[rathercommon]

Any time you can pick locks and it comes open, it's proper, I say.

[justashotaway]

Sometimes they break.

[rathercommon]

Really? I've never had a lock break on me.

[justashotaway]

You do not use claws to open them.

[rathercommon]

Well -

[ A noise that sounds adjacent to a laugh. ]

No. I'm not actually a cat. Do you?

[justashotaway]

Yes.

[rathercommon]

[ Wait. ]

Really?

[justashotaway]

Yes.

[rathercommon]

Oh.

[ Erm - ]

Are you...human? [ Quickly: ] Sorry if that question's offensive. I don't know what all types of people there are in this world.

[justashotaway]

Yes.

[The question isn't offensive, but the idea of trying to explain why she's a human with claws hasn't gotten easier. But she makes the attempt.]

Other humans do not have them, though.

[rathercommon]

Oh. Then - how'd you come by them?