The X-Project

Callie opens the Mansion door to a purple kitty but is reluctant to let it in without its owner.

Evan had taken Catseye's bags out of the car and placed them on the front stoop of the mansion for her, since she was reluctant to leave her feline form and do the heavy lifting herself. He'd insisted on coming with her to drop her off, but she'd managed to get him to agree that she didn't need him to go in with her, so they'd said their goodbyes in the car and after promising to call when she'd gotten settled the purple cat found herself alone and facing the closed mansion door. She was sure people knew she was coming. Why wasn't anyone waiting for her?

"Mrrrrrt!" she announced plaintively, pacing in front of the door and hoping someone would hear.

After a moment of deliberation over whether to shift to girl shape or try to find someone outside, it dawned on Catseye that she could press the doorbell with her tail and stay in cat form, which was so much better than girl form. Nimbly she jumped up onto one of her bags, which Evan had conveniently placed in front of the bell, and pressed the button with her tail. She then leapt down and parked herself in front of the door to wait for someone to answer.


"I'll get it," Callie called out to no one in particular. No one else was around that she noticed, and knowing how tight security around the school was she figured that whoever was ringing the doorbell was safe. Or at least so she hoped. So with book tucked under her arm, she hurried to the front door. When she opened it however there was no one around. Only some suitcases and a purple cat. Probably dyed, Callie thought, sadly shaking her head. Poor cat. She looked around the entrance for the person to whom the cat belonged. "Um hello?"

Finally, Catseye thought to herself. "Meep." Hello, PointyEarGirl. In appreciation for the cat-like pointed ears, the cat stalked forward smoothly and butted a shoulder against the girl's calf. "Mrrrrp."

"No kitty," Callie said firmly, still searching for the owner, as she took a step back. She grimaced at the cat hair left on her jeans. Normally she was far from opposed to getting dirty, but not where animals were concerned. Animals meant dander, and dander for Callie meant death by sneezing and water eyes and itching. It was something she did not want to experience that day. She crouched down in front of the purple feline. "Kitty. I can't let you in without your owner. Where is she? He? It?" Pause. "You have no idea what I'm saying. I can't believe I'm talking to a cat."

The cat bumped up against the girl's leg and let out an indignant meep. Catseye doesn't have any owner, SillyPointyEars! She jumped up onto one of the suitcases, rubbing her her head along the side and pawing at it. My suitcases. From the suitcase she leapt onto the pink girl's shoulder and used her as a springboard to get around her and into the mansion building, then stared at her from the foyer, head cocked expectantly. Are you coming in? And bringing the suitcases?

"No no no!" Callie chased after the cat and snatched her up, making sure to hold her as far from her own body as possible. She quickly carried the animal back to the door and set her on the suitcases before wiping her hands off on her already soiled jeans. "You can't come in!" She was trying to reason with this creature, even though she knew that the cat would not understand her. "Well not without your owner."


Rolling her eyes in a distinctively un-cat-like fashion, Catseye shifted into human form, six-foot frame causing the suitcase to sag a bit under her weight. "Catseye does not have an owner." She stood, stretching languidly. "This is Catseye's home. Can Catseye come in now?" she asked with a small smirk.


Callie stood there blinking, not knowing what to say. She had of course met shape shifters before in her life, but usually in their human form first. The reversal of the situation left her without words for a few moments as she adjusted. "I'm sorry," she gushed after snapping out of her daze. "I just thought... I mean... Well you were.... Ya no. Come in. Do you, like, want help with your bags? Or anything? I'm sorry."

"Mrrrt. Don't be sorry, PointyEarsGirl. Catseye surprises many humans." With a smile she picked up a suitcase. "Help would be nice. PointyEarsGirl is new to Catseye's mansion?"


"My name's Callie." The weight of the suitcase she reached for caused Callie to groan. "I came here like two months ago? So pretty new. I guess."

A sympathetic noise escaped the purple-haired catgirl as she glanced back at Callie struggling with the suitcase. "BigBrother bought too many clothes. Catseye didn't want to bring them but BigBrother says he bought them for Catseye so she should wear them and Catseye likes to make BigBrother ha..." she trailed off as a flash of Something Shiny caught her eye. Callie had ShinyThings on her wrist, moving as the pink girl hauled the suitcase inside the mansion. Without thinking, she reached out and pawed at the bracelet with a claw-tipped human hand.

It was proving a struggle for Callie to not only carry the suitcase but carry on a conversation when most of her concentration was on not dropping a heavy object. "Ya. My father had to ship me most of my clothes after I came here because of the weight restrictions on airplanes and..." Her voice trailed off as she watched her bracelet get pawed at and blinked. "Ya. My aunt made that for me for my birthday."

"SHINYSHINYSHINY!" It was all she could do not to pounce on Callie in her human form. Though the other girl was nearly as tall as Catseye but seemed jumpy and surprised and Catseye thought pouncing might scare her off. Now wasn't the time for pouncing and scaring. She planned on playing that game with some of the other humans. "PointyEarsGirl has very nice ShinyThings," she said instead, nodding her head appreciatively. "And Catseye likes PointyEarsGirl's pointy ears. They remind Catseye of a cat's, and that is a Good Thing." Of course, the girl wasn't a cat, but Catseye understood not everyone could claim that lofty status.


At this Callie couldn't help but laugh a little and smile. "Thank you? I've never had them been referred to as cat-like before, but I guess you're right. Hang on." She paused a set down the suitcase to rest a moment. "Any idea of where we need to put these?"



According to Evan she was going to stay in a guest suite until another rooming situation could be arranged, but the purple-haired girl was too excited about being back at the mansion to want to waste any time dragging her suitcases around. They could wait until later. "Leave SillyHumanClothes here," she instructed Callie, eying the bags, which were liberally covered in purple cat hair, with disdain. "PointyEarsGirl smells like Outside and Catseye thinks she would like to be outside now instead of carrying SillyHumanClothes. Catseye would like to hunt outside for presents to give her humans. Would PointyEarsGirl like to come?"

"Are you sure?" Callie glanced down at the suitcase then back at the once cat considering what she should do. "I mean no one will probably touch them, cause no one seems like that. But they might trip over them, so moving them to the side would probably be a good idea." She dragged it over and lay the purple covered object against the wall then wiped her hands off. She turned back to Catseye. "There. Okay. Right. Well I was on my way outside. So yes I would love to come!"


Shifting back into cat form, Catseye scampered back outside, then turned back and stared at Callie, trying to urge her on with a look. Come on! Come hunt! Hunting for presents! "Mrrrrreow!"