[open/mingle] in which cats reign

[espansivo]

WHO: pretty much anyone, leo, and like twelve cats
WHERE: park
WHEN: 20th-22nd
WHAT: a three day cat concert..! it's just a log about cats (for cats by cats)
WARNINGS: n/a

i.
[the cats are always out and about to greet people before it's time to begin, cute colorful ribbons tied around their neck or tail (depending on which was easiest, frankly), and they... are not actually shy of human contact despite being strays one might's seen around the city.

they will beg for food though. give them food. they will literally mob people if they see them with food, meowing and pleading and getting underfoot. stealing things from picnics and the like as well.]

ii.
[the actual concert performances are conducted by leo and

honestly they sounds like a bunch of cats singing sound.

there is a certain cadence to it that's actually songlike, the cats are actually singing to what leo is playing on his keyboard and they're sitting very nicely on the steps he's got for them too, but their attention spans aren't good enough for performances and, without fail, at some point of time they start to just... wander off... sitting in people's laps or rolling on the ground without a care.

the conductor doesn't seem to mind and just gestures for people to take their places, which can be your character or some npc, and yes he will bean cat treats at whoever is singing as "rewards". complain if you want or try and catch them, laugh at your friends or encourage them to go up and try!!]

iii.
[otherwise, there's apparently plenty to do..! leo has makeshift profiles of all the cats next to their resting spots (the big sign drawing anyone to it says star hall despite there not being a hall in the middle of the park and they're apparently all up for adoption... with papers to show their vaccinations and the like.

there's toys! there's treats! there's a space dubbed the "sleeping corner" where you can curl up with the cats and doze in the afternoon sun! it's a paradise!

play with the cats and enjoy the company of them, they're all named after different flowers and are all kinds of colors and personalities! it's really just a log about cats in the end.]

Comments

[adoringpast]

Not everyone uses it for popularity contests anyway but go off, I guess. You wouldn't understand.

[ hmph! what a pain, maybe he shouldn't have come if they're not going to see each other eye to eye on the simplest of things like fucking social media. ]

[espansivo]

[nnnnnnnnn. they really don't agree on things, huh. every time leo thinks they've hit it off one of them (usually him) says something that downs it. how's he supposed to get more memories of that leo guy if he can't get along with this guy..?]

... It's not for me, but if it'll help these guys get adopted, it's not like I'm against looking into it. Okay? Just don't expect hot pics on your dash or whatever it is.

[adoringpast]

[ oh, he's finally given in! excellent. even if not being about to get along the boy who he used to be real chummy with in his memories hurts a tad. ]

I'll even help you promote it, if you want. ☆ I've worked with animals once or twice, and I've always preferred cats anyway.

[ look, he's going to demonstrate but cradling the cat that was on his lap into his arms, smiling softly once more. the master of fake smiles, that's him. ]

See?

[espansivo]

[it's definitely the sort of smile that ticks his heart up a bit... or should, anyway, but sena's attitude -- while apparently on the magnanimous side -- bothers him enough that he bites back a scowl.]

Mm, yeah, yeah, real charitable of you, Mitzy-sama. But a cat's charm can speak for itself, you know? The one you trapped there can stand on his hind legs and walk around like a human.

[adoringpast]

I'm not trapping it?

[ the fuck are you talking about... fine, he's letting the poor guy go. no good animal should ever get into this spat of theirs.

and it's exhausting sena too, letting out a sigh before sitting up. time to throw in the towel for today. ]

This isn't going to work... If you don't want me here, I'll just go. Feel free to keep that iPod since technically it's supposed to be yours anyway.

[espansivo]

[leo makes a noise that's something like a muffled groan, rubbing his face and sitting up, scaring the cat off as he leans back on his hands with a look of annoyance.]

I didn't say I didn't want you around. It's not like I'm trying to drive you off, Mitzy, you came here to enjoy the cats and you're free to do that. But you're irritating sometimes, you know? And I know I get under your skin too. I'd rea~lly love to know how the hell anyone gets along with you for an entire conversation, or if it's just me that gets the short end of the stick 'cause of... I don't know, this or that reason.

[he knows he can't replace that person who was here before. he knows that they might never be as close as they seem in their memories. but that doesn't mean he wants to push sena away.

it just sort of sucks that it's ending up that way because of their own clash of pride, personality, and views.]

[adoringpast]

[ he falls silent at that, nulling it over for a few moments before sitting back down, defeated. ]

It's just you. [ because everyone else tolerates him for some damn reason ] Your case is different, and I just... I don't know what to do with you sometimes. You don't like me that much yet you say all those things anyway, apparently Kasa-kun and the others still adore you for who you are - and I don't get that.

[ at least they have that one in common. get that checked away. ]

...I don't even know how we used to get along back then.

[espansivo]

We might get along better if I didn't have to feel like I'm stepping on eggshells all the time around you, wondering if I'm gonna say something that'll have you usin' that blackmail trick of yours. I mean, step one was getting me off your dick, that's understandable, but it's not like I know you well enough to tell if you'd use it for other things too.

[sena's just sort of an asshole in his eyes for that, knowing how important tsukasa is to him and... frankly speaking this is why he's vulnerable with like, three people, because he doesn't know when someone's just gonna take that trust and use it.

he wonders if the other leo had that problem. the one that was here before, the one in their memories. leo looks away from sena, playing with the grass.]

... My case is different 'cause you met everyone else you know once and only once, right? Sometimes it feels like we get there, that we can agree on something and even talk normally, banter a bit... I like it. It's fun. You're nice to talk to, even when we don't see eye to eye on the more minor things, it's just... getting there.

[adoringpast]

[ those leos didn't piss off sena that much compared to this guy in front of him, which is totally why sena's always been irritable with him. ]

I would never use that for other things. The last thing I want to do is to have Kasa-kun hate me because of what I've been doing to his brother. [ and let another junior down lol ] You're just... unpredictable. I don't know what you're going to say or do most of the time and it pisses me off so much because it's so different. You're different from those ones I've met before and it frustrates me.

[ that's how wild this leo is. ]

But you're right in saying that getting there is tough. Because to be honest, I don't actually hate you despite the things I've said. Even if you do have a point that music makes you freer than anything else, but do you think I don't know that? [ EXHALES ] ...Even so, I don't know if I deserve that kind of freedom, given my circumstances. Modeling is all I have in the end, after all.

[espansivo]

[unpredictable, entirely different, but he doesn't actually hate him. just frustrated by him. that's oddly comforting, because at least leo knows how to deal with being a source of frustration; he's that way for pretty much his whole friends' group and they still like him for some reason.]

Everyone deserves that sort of freedom, someplace or something they can just let loose in. A pretty face and a poor attitude shouldn't stop you from it. "Circumstances" shouldn't stop you from that. So if you wanna sing, then just sing, you don't owe anything to the world and the people in it, Mitzy.

[of course, that's just his view and he knows it. he doesn't know what's on in sena's life, can't do anything but nudge him out of comfort zones he seems to have like he does everyone else he knows.]

No matter how unpredictable I am, that's something that's the same, right? Don't let yourself be trapped. It's wrong to keep a songbird in a cage.

[adoringpast]

[ a songbird in a cage... how fitting. ] Seems you're just as poetic as Kasa-kun.

[ he's chuckling as another cat decides to come between them and sena pets her head, his muscles relaxing. talking this out with leo is relieving. if this were the sena of last year he would've just left him like he'd said, but didn't.

maybe there is a chance for him. he'll hold on it to it. ]

I still have to see you play your instruments, though. [ he'd already seen him play the keyboard earlier and how he's also good at it, but he wants to see more of that tbh. ] What if we give your songs a test run some time? Both of them. It's not that I'm rusty or anything, but I don't sing with people that often.

[ he's anxious to try out that leo's songs, the ones in the ipod, but maybe he'll find his rhythm with the songs of this guy? he still thinks the genre's not for him, but... ]

[espansivo]

We do come from the same roots, you know, even if I've cut my ties with that family.

[he retains every lesson they taught him, from etiquette to education, but he's learned to dismiss and separate himself enough to make a statement. leo can actually be proper and respectful the way tsukasa is if he wants to be!!! he just isn't. it'd show more when he spoke japanese though.

if the offer seems to surprise him, it's because it does; he lets a smile grow wider, eyes crinkling as he slides back down onto his back.]

Sounds good to me~. All you have to do is hit me up when you're free again, songbird, and I'll play anything you ask. Even the vuvuzela if you manage to get your hands on one!

[that one's fun.]

[adoringpast]

No.

[ a beat ]

On the vuvuzela, I mean. I'm going to be more than busy next month because of finals but... I'll make room for you then.

[ he likes it, being called songbird. because leo's right in saying that sena's only a bird trapped in a gilded cage. at least it's better than any other weirdo names he's given to him thus far. ]

[espansivo]

[oooh, he didn't get offended at the nickname..! nice. songbird it is. another yawn, stretching out in the sun like the cats starting to come around.]

I'll hold you to that, Mi~tzy..♪ School's such a bore, with finals and all that shit... Mmmm, I'll have to make sure Nazu takes care of himself too, huh? What a switch. [...] Take care of yourself too, alright? I won't wish you luck though~.

[adoringpast]

As if I need any. I'm going to get through finals my own way.

[ through hard work and determination! he's already found himself a study partner anyway, hoho.

anyways, he's gonna get up again - ]

Take care of that little gray one for me too, mmkay? I'm gonna visit him again once I'm done with my shit.

[espansivo]

Oooh, a prospective home after all..~ Alright, alright, I won't let anyone steal him away.

[he'll be the most protected kitty.]