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[semifreakingnormal]

[Once he gets past the urge to just spew apologies, once he feels a little less like tearing his hair out, he gets on the network.]

You know, I don't remember if I ever said anything about it. But there's an animal clinic on board. [He holds up a set of keys, jingles them.] That's what those keys were, a while ago. I've got some experience working in one so, um. If anything happens, I've got stuff for splints and vaccines and worms and stuff. Since it'd be really easy for one to infect a whole bunch, you know?

[He pauses, because he remembers how people said apologies were unnecessary, that flood-selves weren't real, but like before, it just feels necessary, just to get it off his chest.]

And I'm sorry I was so...I'm just sorry.

[Private to Daneca]

You especially.

[Private to Jack]

So that's got to be, like, the worst thing to get paired off of, right? [WORST BEHIND THEM THOUGH right? right?]

[Private to Iris and Bruce, separately]

And thanks. For not letting me do something...really bad.

[Spam for Alana]

[He thinks Alana probably needs more than a straightforward apology, though he's not sure why. Something tells him she doesn't really have friends here, and while it's kind of weird trying to be a friend to someone who could be, like, a school therapist or counselor or something, he also thinks it'd be nice to know that someone's thinking of you.

Or something. He's seriously not over thinking it.

So eventually, Scott makes his way to her door, knocking. He knows there's a dog in there.]

Comments

[patheticvillain]

This is the best thing that's ever happened!

[semifreakingnormal]

Why?

[patheticvillain]

Because we never had a vet before! I had to, like, hope that the Admiral knew where a cat's lungs were, dude, this is amazing.

Where are you? Like where are you right now.

[semifreakingnormal]

Yeah, I guess. And I'm pretty sure I know where a cat's lungs are.

My room? I was gonna head over to the clinic, though. You wanna see it?

[patheticvillain]

Yes.

[SHOW HIM SHOW HIM SHOW HIM]

[semifreakingnormal]

Okay, okay. It's over in the infirmary, meet me there. [CALM YOURSELF, MAN]

[patheticvillain]

[Cassel is over like a shot, Ilia perched not-terrifically-happily on his shoulder. The cat has better things to do, in his opinion, than be carted around while the boy does things excitedly, but fighting it would be more effort than it's worth.]

[When Cassel skids to a stop outside the infirmary, Ilia takes one look at Scott and flattens his ears irritably.]

[semifreakingnormal]

[Well hello to you too, Ilia. Scott grimaces a little, stays on Cassel's opposite side.]

Hey. You know cats totally hate me, right? [But he waves for Cassel to follow, heading through the infirmary toward the kennels and clinic.]

[patheticvillain]

Then you're the vet with the grumpiest patients. Deal with it.

[Cassel grabs Ilia briefly by the scruff of his neck and he chills a little, but only enough not to hiss - he's still clearly not thrilled. But the more used he is to the setup, the better, Cassel figures, so he's not freaking out at a more dangerous time.]

Anyway, [he says, following Scott through,] Ilia hates everyone.

[semifreakingnormal]

[That gets a laugh as Scott unlocks the clinic door, pushing it open and holding it for the both of them.]

It doesn't surprise me like, at all that you'd have a cat who hates everyone.

[patheticvillain]

[Cassel looks at Ilia. Ilia looks at Cassel. They both look at Scott.]

Why doesn't that surprise - wow, okay, this is actually completely awesome.

[semifreakingnormal]

[Wow. How the hell do you do that, Cassel.

Scott smiles and makes a grand gesture a la Vana White.]

Here we have one totally awesome vet clinic, with some totally awesome kennels, and a totally awesome medicine cabinet.

[patheticvillain]

Awesome. And you seriously know how to do all of - everything?

[All the vet shit. All of it.]

[He sets Ilia down on the counter, which gets vigorously sniffed.]

[semifreakingnormal]

I don't know about everything, but everything we'll probably run into, yeah. I mean, I wouldn't want to be doing surgery. [He is only sixteen, okay.

And the counter probably just smells like disinfectant. Gotta keep shit pristine, here.]

[patheticvillain]

[Well, this counter now belongs to Ilia. He rubs his face on it so hard, you don't even know.]

[Cassel, on the other hand, basically looks like it's his birthday.]

This is so cool. I really had no idea you knew how to - do you know the Emperor has like a jillion cats? Everybody has pets. You're now more important than the Admiral. [Jazzhands!]

[semifreakingnormal]

[omg cassel who let you do jazzhands]

Yeah, and we have no cars to hit them, either. I can give them stuff for fleas and ticks, though. Are there ticks in the CES?

[patheticvillain]

I don't know, probably. There's birds and shit so why not ticks?

[semifreakingnormal]

Yeah, well there's definitely Frontline and stuff here. Even stuff for splints.

[He waves at the materials, grabs some bandages to toss between his hands.] That's how I met my girlfriend. She brought in a dog she'd hit. She was freaking out.

[He says this SO FONDLY and nostalgically and maybe a little sadly. :C]

[patheticvillain]

Seriously? That's. Pretty adorable. [Everything about Scott is adorable, what the shit.]

My ex was a cat once. I stole her from a shelter.

[semifreakingnormal]

[[He shrugs, riiiiiight up until that. last bit. there.]

....Wait, what? [Ilia is now getting a look askance. Is that a he. Is that a she. Is that your girlfriend, Cassel.]

[patheticvillain]

[Scott. What do you take him for.]

She's not a cat anymore. Jesus.

[semifreakingnormal]

Well--!

[Look he is easily confused, okay.] Can she change, too? Like you did?

[patheticvillain]

Uh. No. No, she can't.

[That's not an explanation. He has to get better at this, at explaining his own life. It just doesn't seem believable even to him, some of the time.]

I changed her, because someone made me. And then I had to get her back. Change her back.

She's back home now, anyway.

[semifreakingnormal]

Oh.

[It's a little high, the kind of 'oh' you say when you're not really sure what else to say. Then he shakes his head, and it's vaguely canine, with the way his hair shifts.]

So - you turned her into a cat, and she wound up in a pound? That sucks.

[patheticvillain]

[It's kind of adorable. Cassel feels a little bad for making him uncomfortable, but then, he doesn't know how not to. This is kind of just how he is.]

First she tried to kill me. But yeah, I had to - I had to get her back, because my brothers -

[This is dumb. He forces a smile.]

What's your girlfriend's name? I never asked.