Summary:Pris and Sharon recover at home after their adventure. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
  |
"Sorry for the torture. I promise, the fish is almost done." Priscilla offers, standing in front of the stove as she prepares three salads. Hers and Catseye's are much larger, and they will both get larger pieces of the fish fillet currently baking in the oven. But she is making the same meal for all three of them, wrapped up in a short purple kimono-style robe with a gold-accented emerald dragon across the back. They have been home for less than an hour, but Pris could not wait for a proper meal any longer.
Emma is getting her shower first.
Catseye shifted back to smoothskin form when they leave the freighter, it's easier to transport back home without notice. Not that Emma couldn't make people forget a giant purple lioness, but a human form is less memorable. But even though her form was human, her thoughts … not quite. It wasn't until they were almost home that she started using any words again, and even now she is being exceptionally cat-like. "Hungry NOW. Starving." And she gives Priscilla the most sad, pitiful, big kitty eyes she can manage. Given that Priscilla denied her earlier request to eat her share of fish without cooking it first, Catseye thinks sad-kitty-eyes are entirely reasonable!
Priscilla's response? She finishes the preparation she was on, turns and leans down to kiss her sister on the forehead. "Very soon. I promise." And Catseye knows her sister does not lie. In just over a minute the timer sounds, and Pris backs up, lowering the oven door and using the oven mitts to pull out the foil-covered baking sheet. She then makes quick work of slicing up the fish into three very unequal portions: Catseye's salad gets half of everything; Priscilla's gets two thirds of the second half, and Emma gets a mere one-sixth of the total. But Pris has been cooking for her family more than long enough to know how much each of them can and will be comfortable eating.
As soon as she is done divvying up the fish, Pris puts out two salad bowls on the table, and puts Emma's in the microwave just to keep it 'covered' and waiting. Then she follows Catseye to the table, quite sure her sister is already devouring. She won't even complain if Sharon isn't using utensils.
Sharon has snatched up the first few bites of fish without a fork, moving fast enough to avoid scalding her fingertips. She can't stop the rumbling of her stomach. "Sorry… healing takes lot out of Catseye." She will use a fork for the salad, and eventually for the fish, but she needs those first bites in her as quickly as she can.
Priscilla grins. "I know. It does the same to me. I should have just opened the big can of tuna for you before I put this in the oven. I'll know better next time." And no, Pris doesn't mean anything by it. She just knows Catseye would love the tuna straight from the can. Not as much as fresh-caught, mind you, but good enough. "It's been a long time since I've had someone to work with who heals up like I do." She smiles warmly at her sister. "It's nice." She feels a lot less like a freak this way.
"Think Prissykitten heals faster than Catseye. But energy has to come from somewhere, yes?" Catseye is tucking into her food between talking. "Is hard… In furform can eat more, eat less often. Smoothskin needs food every three days at least." In lion form she can eat once a week if the meal is big enough. Smoothskin needs water more often as well. She needs the protein, craves it, but makes herself eat the salad as well. One advantage of smoothkin form, it can eat and get trace elements from plants. Furform need internal organs from prey animals to get the same effect.
Pris shakes her head. "Not really any faster. But my shapeshifting means I can seal up the injuries, get back to operational faster. The damage is still there, I still need to heal. But it's a lot less obvious to anyone but me." Priscilla watches her sister with warmth and love in her face as she eats. "When you're almost done, you'll have to tell me which is better next; tuna, or that liver I bought just before we left." Because Pris knows Catseye can and will listen to her body and know what it needs better than Pris can. "We did good. Really good, considering that it was a Wraith operation." She doesn't say 'I was worried I wouldn't make it.' But she's sure Catseye knows. Emma surely does, and is lovingly pissed off at her about it.
Catseye wants more tuna… but, "Liver. trace elements and rebuilding blood." She grimaces. "Getting shot Not Fun even with healing factor. Is hard to hold on to language with too much pain. More important to remember mission and proper behavior than how to talk." Forgetting how to speak is acceptable. Forgetting that you don't eat people is not. And if her feral nature cost the success of a mission? Or got her family hurt? Nope. Not acceptable at ALL. So many things are more important than silly human words.
Pris lays a hand gently, warmly on Catseye's mid-back, nodding. "OK. Raw, I'm guessing, is better in this case?" She does not want to watch Catseye eat a raw liver. But she will put it on a plate for her and clean it up afterwards without complaint. This is love. "Pain sucks." She has her own experiences with it, to be sure. Empath. She feels the pain she and others cause.
"Cooked is ok. Tastes better warm." Catseye will sear it… rare is still cooked after all! The scorch on the outside won't bother her, and it tastes better the temperature of a fresh kill. Not that she'll say that out loud. "Will probably need to sleep in tomorrow too… no tests tomorrow or labs, so can sleep in."
Priscilla nods. "And you can still be 'sick' easily enough. Let me know if you want me to go by the school and pick up anything or talk to anyone." And she will gladly sear and heat up the liver; she doesn't have Catseye's tastebuds, but whatever her sister wants or needs, she gets. Period. "I'm really glad you could come with us. You were pretty amazing."
"Fighting is half instinct… the other half is what training is for. First school, where MotherMotherFrost taught, was lots of fighting training and…" Catseye takes deep breath and lets it out. "MotherMotherFrost not have full control. Could not choose all the teachers and students. Could not dismiss all teachers and students. Other memebers of Hellfire Club involved. Other agendas. So… Catseye had good friends, yes. But also some students would use powers on others." Catseye gets a wicked grin, "So made sure Catseye's claws faster than others powers. If scared, not come after Catseye."
Priscilla nods. "I didn't have much instinct for it when I started. But I learned." She doesn't belabor the point anymore than Catseye does, but she gets it. "Ugh. So, that is why Emma is so exacting and stressed out by the founding of the school. She's concerned, making sure nothing like that can ever happen again." She sighs. "Of course, that means she is putting everything on her own shoulders, without much delegation." And Pris is worried about that. Not worried enough to fight Emma, but she worries nonetheless.
"No one in my old crew really respected me, so they all picked on me. A lot." She shrugs. "They learned to respect me. But only after I learned to respect myself. And that too a long time." Priscilla just goes back to eating for a bit. "I think one of the reasons I missed them so much - and still do - was because I lost that respect when I lost them." Because she fought for it. She won it. But it only exists when those who learned from it are there to give it.
But now Pris has family.
"Catseye understands. Does not miss the teacher's pet jokes. Or people trying to slip catnip in food or drink. But having clawed my way to being someone not to fuck with… Miss that." She eats her liver with good appetite, slowing down half way through to something more like a normal eating speed. "Of course, being a Frost is another level of 'do not fuck with' yes?" She smiles warmly at Pris, "And have sister to back me up. And will do the same for her. Is the best."
Priscilla smiles at Catseye and nods. "It's true. Being a Frost is definitely a whole new level of 'don't fuck with me'. And having family that loves and looks out for each other? It's the best." She busies herself with her own salad, so she's not watching Catseye eat the liver.
"I never imagined actually having a family. I never thought it was possible." Pris admits. "I figured I didn't have one because I wasn't supposed to have one." She doesn't say 'wasn't worthy of one', but it's not hard to guess. "My jokes were more … crude." Pris has mentioned that she morphed early, ended up looking a lot more mature a lot younger, with some likely predictable results in the racist, misogynistic deep south. "I did have a few who tried sliping me Ecstacy, or ruffies."
But enough about that. "No more issues with that, for any of us. You feeling better?" Pris inquires.
Catseye decides to give the cute pitiful kitty eyes one more try. "Need icecream."