video; un: mogget

[themogget]

[There is a cat on the screen. A white cat wearing a red collar sporting a small silver bell and a green, tear-drop shaped pendant. He looks at the communication device for several moments with a pair of sharp, vivid green eyes.

Then the cat speaks.]

Ah, good, it's working.

[The cat's voice sounds... more or less as you might expect a cat to sound. He doesn't have a human voice, but rather the various sounds a feline might make are twisted around into entirely coherent words. He shifts in place, adjusting the position of his small white paws.]

I thought it best to get this out of the way as quickly as possible, having no wish to spend another year explaining that I am not someone's familiar. [His ears flick back momentarily.]

Nor am I a human choosing to look like this, or a simple housecat. Do not treat me as such. [The talking part probably gave that last bit away, but he's met a lot of stupid people. Mogget pauses here, and lets out a quiet sigh.

He ends the communication there, though one might hear a mutter of '--don't know why I bother' just before it shuts off.]

Comments

video; un: signorvespa

[prontissimo]

Sooo... if you're not a cat, and you're not a human that made some kind of weird Change... then are you another type of creature, one that just so happens to look exactly like a cat — but can talk? Or what?

[ Inquiring minds want to know. And yes, he was nosy enough to skim through some of the other comments, so he's coming at this from another angle. ]

[themogget]

Yes.

[And that's... well, that sounds like all Alberto is going to get out of him with regards to that subject, because while Mogget doesn't necessarily need to be cagey about his past and origins with the freedoms afforded to him outside of the Old Kingdom, he still most definitely is.]

Any further questions?

[prontissimo]

Nah— I’m good. That’s cool.

[ The most nonchalant, with an easy shrug and a light smirk. He’s satisfied by that “Yes” alone. Probably Mogget’s easiest interview on the matter yet. ]

[themogget]

[Mogget's eyes narrow, just a fraction. How curious, to see someone finally satisfied with such a vague reply.]

Hm. You are an interesting one.

[prontissimo]

Ha— you're not the first one to say that~

[ As if he's proud of it. He knows he's... an oddball. Putting it nicely. ]

[themogget]

I'm sure you believe it to be a compliment.

[Hard to say if Mogget meant it that way or not, but he thinks he has the evaluation right.]

But one less person I need to go to lengths to explain myself to is fine with me.

[prontissimo]

I get it— I mean, between you and me... I look human. But I'm not human. So if you look like a cat but you're not a cat— I get it. Whatever you are.

[themogget]

[Mogget stares, in the way one might expect a cat to stare. Were this conversation be happening in person, his keen sense of smell might be able to tell him more about the boy's claim.]

I have little option but to take you at your word.

[And since he hasn't volunteered what he actually is, he doesn't pry further.]

But you realise this is a public channel?

[prontissimo]

Huh? Wha—?

[ No. He does not. He’s still calling his cell phone “the Everything Machine.” He’s… struggling with all this technology, as much as he’s delighted by it, too. ]

[themogget]

Mm. Anyone who cares to look can see what you're saying.

[Not to say people will be looking, but a talking cat is probably something to look at... so who knows.]

I'm sure it's fine.

1/2

[prontissimo]

Well, uh— Anyone who's looking— I am human! I was just bluffing to make the not-cat feel better!

[ He says it in a louder, more pronounced voice, as if he were trying to be overheard by someone in the next room over. He's still not fully grasped the nuances of talking online, his passive-aggressive instincts are misplaced. ]

private; 2/2

[prontissimo]

[ But he pauses, thinking to add another stab at this after examining his comment fields a little more closely (far be it from Alberto to examine anything more closely, really), then continues more normally, though cautiously— ]

Sooo is there a way to make it not public, liiike—? This? Wait, no— No... Wait, yes! Like this?! Right?

[ Well, he, uh— he got there...? That was embarrassing just to watch, yeesh. And probably rather annoying. ]

[themogget]

[Mogget watches his display with a passive expression, for as much as cats can really make expressions at all. When the boy finally stabs the right button to lock their communication from any prying eyes the cat blinks slowly and shifts position slightly.]

That's it.

[Though the cat is already out of the bag... so to speak. Hmm.]

If it's any consolation, I doubt anyone here is going to care what you are.

[prontissimo]

Really? Don't humans hunt monsters here? Or, uh, at least fight them or something? I've heard about the "quests" and stuff...

[themogget]

People hunt and fight dangerous monsters, or ones that want to fight.

[Mogget blinks once again, still quite slowly.]

You don't look like a dangerous monster. You look like a boy.

[prontissimo]

Yeah, and? Bet you’re more dangerous than a cat, aren’t you?

[ Alberto’s not a dangerous monster. He is just a young boy. But he fancies he could be dangerous if he wanted to be, certainly can scare humans, and that’s pretty much enough to be considered a “dangerous monster” half the time. In reality, though, he’s really only a danger to himself in all his boyish recklessness. Mogget’s not entirely off the mark. Though Alberto has a point, too… ]

[themogget]

I have magic, so naturally I'm more dangerous than a cat.

[And much like Alberto, he could be dangerous if he wanted to be. Mostly, though, Mogget is far too lazy for that. Besides, no one here has done anything to draw his wrath save for whatever brought them here in the first place, and he doubts he's going to come up against whatever that is any time soon.]

But I also have no pressing desire to cause physical harm or property damage. Unless you're planning to cause deliberate injury to the local populace, I think you're in the clear.

[prontissimo]

Nah, nah, nah. I just wanna take photographs and try all the weird new human stuff and maybe learn to make fireworks. Y'know, — play around.

[ He's nonchalant, but then casts a wary glance, feeling he needs to puff himself up a bit, though, ever having something to prove. ]

...But if someone tries to fight me, or hurt someone I like, I'd fight them.

[themogget]

[The cat blinks slowly.]

That would make you no different to anyone else here, I expect.

[He shifts his paws, crossing one front leg over the other and slowly flexing his claws out and then back in.]

But I'm curious - you seem to want to make yourself seem frightening. Why?

[prontissimo]

[ The question catches Alberto off-guard, and he shifts his eyes away, glancing to the side in thought... He'd never considered himself this way. But as soon as he's told so, his mind is flashing backwards, first to his most shameful moment, trying to scare Giulia away by revealing his true self, in some horridly petty and jealous attempt to keep Luca by his side; then to every time he'd taunted Ercole, even as the bully's goons invariably took hold of Alberto and punched him in the gut, to which he did nothing to protect himself; every time he'd forced Luca into doing something his best friend was clearly terrified of; every time he told that little voice in the back of his head that spoke good cautious sense "Silenzio," to convince himself he's fearless, a force to be reckoned with, even without anyone around to prove himself to... Was it frightening? He never seems to have succeeded in frightening anyone like that — and the times he had frightened people... had been very much to his detriment. A scowl tugs his face as these thoughts rush by in a flash, and he responds with a steelier tone to his voice than has been heard thus far — indeed, always something to prove. ]

...I don't wanna be frightening. I don't wanna scare anybody. I just wanna be strong. And have fun.

[ To him, after years all by himself in all but total isolation, the two ideals have strangely become inseparable. ]

[themogget]

Then I don't think you're going to have a problem here.

[But he's very interesting... and Mogget will be keeping an eye on him.]

So stop worrying so much.

[prontissimo]

As long as no one's hunting sea monsters here, then I'm not worried...~

[ There's an airy, dismissive tone that comes along with his shrug, like he's shaking himself of the worry itself. He's certainly an odd boy, who lets much more information slip than he often means to. But that just makes him all the more interesting, perhaps. ]

[themogget]

Only the ones causing problems, I expect. Sinking ships, eating swimmers, that kind of thing.

[He browses the quest board from time to time and hasn't seen anything about any sea monsters, but who knows?]

You're not planning to cause those kinds of problems are you?

[prontissimo]

Wha—? No, of course not! I’m living above the surface anyway — everything good is above the surface. I don’t care about that stuff. Besides— I met the sea monsters here. They’re weird. And tried to curse me to trap me down there.

[ Alberto, that’s not exactly how it happened and you know it. They encouraged you to leave so that wouldn’t happen. An important difference, probably? ]

[themogget]

Is that so? Funny, I didn't hear anyone else complaining about that.

[Could it be that this boy just got a bit too close to things that he shouldn't have been sticking his nose into? Mogget really couldn't say.]

But I do hope you took that as a warning.