MEADOWLARK | IC INBOX

[purrsistence]

@catra.victorious | ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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@ren.amamiya

[variate]

Hey.
You hungry?

text

[purrsistence]

[ She stares at the message for a moment, uncomprehending.

What day is it? She frowns. Ren?? She hasn't talked to Ren in-- months. More than months. How much time has passed here? She quickly flicks through her backlog of messages, but it looks... mostly empty. Clearly not enough for anyone to miss her, apparently.

In a very un-Catra-like response, she types out only-- ]

No.

[variate]

Wait.
Really?

[ like he totally doesn't believe that. ]

[purrsistence]

No, I said it just to screw with you.

... That was sarcasm. In case you can't tell.

I'm not hungry. I don't want to go on a lunch date, or braid your hair, or whatever. Leave me alone.

[variate]

[ that is extremely aggressive, even for Catra. it doesn't really discourage him, but just seems to concern him more. ]

Dinner date, maybe?

[purrsistence]

[ Catra stares at the message for a long time and internally debates how much of a pain Ren is going to be about this if she continues to turn him down. Probably more than it's worth. He'll probably just show up at her place uninvited, which would be worse. At least this way she has a chance to prepare.

Then she has a second debate as to whether she has enough money to pay for an entirely new identity in this world and if she can just fuck off and start fresh. ... Probably not. ... Maybe she can bully Cassius into it. But not today.

So instead, she finally answers him after a long period of silence-- ]

Fine.

But it better not be something lame.

[variate]

No promises.
Meet me at Red Wings.

[ he'd be a total pain in the ass. ride or die, Catra. ]

[purrsistence]

Ugh. Why there?

[variate]

Because I'm still at work. I'll be getting off soon.
There's no need to come in, I'll meet you outside.

[purrsistence]

Fine. I'll be outside.

[ It might be many moons ago for Catra, but the bad memories from the last time she was at Red Wings still linger in her mind as fresh as if they were yesterday.

Still, she rolls off her bed and yanks on her boots before quietly slipping out the door.

She's outside Red Wings some ten minutes later, a little away from the entrance, leaning on a pole with her arms crossed and looking cranky. This is... obviously not the same Catra that Ren last saw. The differences are enough to be startling. Her hair is longer-- much longer-- and she's dressed from head to toe in some kind of red and black get-up with a pointy-looking headpiece around her face. But it's not just the hair and the clothes, really. It's more... the entire way she holds herself is... wrong, somehow.

Catra has always been a bit cranky and aggressive, but there was always a sense of a trouble-making munchkin about her lurking under the surface. Her posture was usually languid and easy, her hair scruffy and sticking out at odd angles like a lion, her clothes deliberately ripped to give off a scruffy devil-may-care attitude.

There's none of that here. This looks like... a version of Catra with all the rough edges sanded down and smoothed out. Smooth hair. Nice clothes. Her body language tense and closed-off, her tail as still as she can make it. There's a sense that she's hyper-aware of every movement her body makes, controlling herself, coiled tightly like a wound spring. ]

[variate]

[ it's a lot of prep work, but he comes out when he's finished, apron removed and heading toward her when he sees her. it's been a little bit—given the state of everything the last few weeks, the focus has been more on supporting everyone's survival.

the subtle differences are noted. ]

Catra.

[ he says quietly to get her attention. ]

We don't have to eat if you don't want. There's a few nice skyparks close to here, too.

[purrsistence]

[ She doesn't start when he calls out to her. Rather, she's silent for a few seconds, looking Ren over with a frown. Considering. ]

What are you after? You'll save us both a lot of time if you just spit it out already.

[variate]

[ that's new from her. debt isn't something that's beyond him—he's used to striking up deals. one thing for another thing. they had made that sort of deal, but it seems like she's not satisfied.

her bluntness doesn't seem to jar him. ]

You want to update our deal?

[purrsistence]

I want to know what exactly it is you want from me.

I said I didn't want to eat. But you're still here anyway, asking me to-- I don't even know. Hang out. [ She says the word aggressively, like it's dirty. ]

So what's your angle? What are you hoping to get out of this?

[variate]

[ people can really make anything sound bad if they want to. there's a tilt of his head as she spits out the words, and he feels like he's in the middle of an interrogation. ]

Any answer I give you isn't going to be satisfying. What happened?

[ he knows this song and dance. she's trying to push him away. ]

[purrsistence]

[ Everything. ]

Nothing. I just remembered what the real world is like. People like you just get in my way.

[variate]

[ she's not far from the truth. ]

Yeah, I'm usually a problem.

[ if it means helping someone, or changing something? he's absolutely willing to be an issue for someone. especially Catra. her heart was teetering when they last spoke, about to fall over the edge and into the shadows. he can almost hear that shadow talking now as she speaks, reasoning a way to remove him from the equation. ]

Did you want to chase me off?

[purrsistence]

Chase you off? Chase you off?

[ Catra's voice is incredulous, and then she laughs, long and hard, but it sounds so bitter. ]

That's the beauty of it! I don't even have to do it! You'll leave of your own volition!

[variate]

[ trying to antagonize him one way to get a reaction that she wants. ]

You've already convinced yourself that you know what I'll do.

[ he mulls over on that one for a moment, his voice still deep and steady. this isn't necessarily about what Catra wants—it's become about what her distorted heart desires. it sounds like ]

Yet you came here anyway. Why?

[purrsistence]

Haha. Wow. Talk about an over-estimated sense of self-importance, much?

I came because if I hadn't, you only would have chased me up at home anyway. Don't flatter yourself.

[variate]

[ while he would have if she didn't eventually oblige, he just might still. ]

There wouldn't have been a difference.

[ this is something that he's used to: people assuming who and what he is, what he stands for and what he can accomplish. it doesn't seem to bother him, he got enough for both other people and Shadows during his time chasing hearts in Mementos. ]

It's easier to try and stop it before it happens, though.

[purrsistence]

Exactly. Now you're getting it.

I don't need friends. I don't need hangers-on. I only need people who will do what I say, when I say it. So if you can't do that, then piss off. Got it?

[variate]

[ there's a tilt of his head that turns into a partial shake. he's not going to head off—this is something that he can't let alone. ]

That's not what I mean. I meant it's easier to let something else other than yourself define you.

[purrsistence]

... What are you talking about?

I don't let anybody define me other than me.

[variate]

[ hasn't he seen this before? over and over again, people with the seed of contempt in their hearts that turned it into a blaze of disruption. ]

Really? It just looks like you're reacting to something and thinking you have control over what you're becoming.

[ like a neatly timed kneejerk. she's just refined the process. ]

The answer isn't being alone.

[ even if Akechi thought it was at that time. it was better to push away people and act on his own, but in the end it had been his downfall. at that time, no matter how far Ren tried to reach, he couldn't catch Akechi.

he might be able to catch Catra, even if she hates him for a while. ]