2019-08-14 - Here Kitty Kitty

Finch steps out of one of the little shops, an antique store she sold one of the family items to a while back when she needed the money. Now she has a job though, and she lost her spot in the Ornithology program at Cornell, so she can afford to buy it back. As such, she has a bag in hand with a mantle clock in it. Once and Future Mallard House d�cor.

She's with her besties, Iggy and Itzy, and she squints in the sunlight after exiting the dark store. She spots Davida, she knows her vaguely. She baby sat her a few times before she got hired at Out on a Limb. "Hey, I know that kiddo. What's she doing heading over the bridge?"

Itzhak is trouble in an antique store, all hassling whoever's there to get out an ancient fiddle or maybe mandolin resting on a dusty velvet pillow behind glass. Then he tells them how much it's actually worth, with caveats on 'she needs a new bridge, this one is thicker than Kim Kardashian'. His opinions, everybody wants to hear them, right?

As the trio step back out into the gorgeous summer day, Itzhak's sliding his sunglasses on, squinting in the direction Finch is looking. "...I dunno, I don't see her folks. Or anything else neither." He veers off towards her, long legs eating up the street. Social conventions about a big rough dude like him heading for a small girl, what are those?

Isolde was feeling better and so was taking another walk around the neighborhood. Which is to say, she was actually walking on the edges of the Firefly Forest, trying to see if she could find any tree frogs or pretty flowers instead of thinking about the things she'd learned in her research this morning. Her hair was pulled back and she's wearing a pair of dark jeans with a black tank top. A few beads of sweat on her forehead. She's walking back towards civilization now, since her quest was depressingly unfruitful. Which means Davida is heading in her direction. Isolde isn't so sure a kid she should be heading towards the forest alone. "Hello there." She offers to the girl with a friendly enough smile. Also catching sight briefly of Itzhak & Co, but she doesn't do anything about that just yet.

Abby doesn't keep regular hours, and is out for a walk of her own. The weather being the unpredictable mess that it is, she's in a faded green t-shirt with some kind of summer campy logo on it, worn jeans and comfortable walking shoes. She's got her hair back in a pony tail, and a backpack. It all screams very practical and ready to face the great outdoors (or the lesser, paved outdoors) on a tight budget. She's on her phone, because how else would she take pictures of her walk? Spotting the lone girl ahead, however, she stops for a moment and a little crease forms on her brow as she resumes her approach.

Ignacio is in classic form: moleskine notebook in his back pocket and a plastic bic mechanical pencil behind his let ear: yellow. "So you want that clock because you love it, because it's yours, oooor because you want to punish people?" Not that he has to carry it, but still. Eyeing the kid he shrugs, "I dunno." He contemplates this with a fought for serious tone and expression, "The economy is hard, Finch. Some kids cobble shoes, and others get in on selling pixie stix on forest street corners. The gnomes re gonna be pissed. That's their turf."

Finch gives Ignacio a LOOK, he knows the one. The 'this may be serious' one. "The clock was my great great grandmother's, and it really belongs to Dove, but I sold it to pay the cable bill a few months ago. I'm just lucky it was still there. I really didn't want to explain why it was missing." She heads after Itzhak, but her much shorter legs have her lagging behind a bit. When she reaches them, she gives the girl a warm smile. "Hey Davida. What's your kitty's name? And what's weird about his tail? We can look for him for you. You shouldn't be this close to the woods without your folks."

Itzhak is in a good mood, because he got to hassle someone about violins, and he smirks at Ignacio as Iggy explains the hard facts of life. "Ya treading on dangerous ground, boychik." Even he can interpret that look!

Izzy is here, and he lifts a hand in greeting to her. Abby's here too and he doesn't know her, so she just gets a quick assessment before he's saying to Davida, "Nu uh, ain't seen 'im. Let's call your ma, huh?"

Isolde's smile remains as Davida explains about her cat. She does give Itzy (Oh yes. If she ever learns that a nickname of his, it's happening) a wave in return and bit of a brighter smile. "I'm sorry." To Davida. "I haven't seen a kitty like that. How long has he been missing?" Oh so sincere and looking sad for the poor girl to lose her pet!

Did someone say a kitty? Abby raises an eyebrow as she stops near the small party forming near Davida, one hand on a backpack strap, the other still holding her phone. She puts it down and offers Davida a friendly, sympathetic smile, listening for the answers to the questions the other adults have asked the girl. She's got a smile for everyone else too, but there's a touch more concern in her gaze then, turning thoughtfully towards the forest. "Hmmm."

Ignacio blinks looking wide-eyes to Finch. With a squint to Itzhak he replies to him with a mumble, "You're right, ITzhak. Faerie turf wars are nothing to takke lightly." Her'es where our hapless hero risks getting punched.

He winces with faint discomfort as he crouches, elbows resting on knees both to look around at cat level and be less a threat to the kid. The others as some good questions and he levels withthe kid, "Hi. I'm Iggy. Your cat sounds super cool." He holds his hands up pretty close together, "She this big," And further, "This big," And in cartoonish exaggeration, "Or circus sized like you can ride on em?"

Finch cocks an eyebrow at Ignacio, and looks to Itzhak for help with her friggen boyfriend already. "Why do you think he'd be this way?" She asks Davida. "You know it's not safe to go in there by yourself, Davida."

Itzhak ...can't argue with Ig's statement, actually, and shrugs at Finch in a 'you knew he was like this' sorta way. He quirks his eyebrows at Isolde, smiling a little. Then he holds out his hand to Davida, in the manner of all big brothers and uncles. "Well, ya can't go over the bridge to look for him. It ain't safe. C'mon, we'll look for him on this side."

"I have a kitty too. Her name is Chickpea," Abby says with a warm smile for Davida. Why, yes, /the/ Chickpea, with her almost four thousand Instagram followers. She walks along in the same direction, continuing in a quiet voice as if sharing something secret with the girl, "Cats are pretty good at staying out of trouble, especially if they're big strong cats. I'm sure your kitty wouldn't want you to go all the way into the forest searching for him. Maybe he's not even in the forest. Imagine he goes back to visit you and you're not there."

Ignacio slooooowly stands up and wonders out loud in Spanish, "if she's feeding a wolverine one of you is piggy backing me out of here because that's not okay." He points to Itzhak. The tall guy is it. "Itz, if we gotta run, you carry me, I'll hold onto teh clock and swear. Deal?" He pauses and sighs, "We can't let the kid get eaten by the bear. We know how to contact her parents?" TO Davida he asks, "Kitty have a stripey tail?" Yeah time to rule out unruly raccoon or somethin. HE looks to Abby looking a bit impressed. Good sell, lady. Good sell.

"Does Kitty talk to you?" Isolde asks, like it's a totally normal thing cats might do. Turning to walk with her as well. Because this place is no place for a kid in general. Especially not the forest where it was so easy to get Lost.

"Oh shit," Finch grunts out, and she starts heading after the little girl. "Come on, that doesn't sound like a tabby!" she calls to the rest.

Well, that's one thing off the list. Isolde was prepared for a lot of things - talking cats - but then she's called out and there is definitely no way, like Finch says, that it's a normal sort of cat. And she was pretty sure black panthers weren't a thing in Washington...so she takes off running with the rest of them! But, damn that girl is fast! There's no way she's catching up easily.

Ignacio sees the kid dart off and makes it all of lunging forward. Hand, arm, good leg and... that's about it. The other gets a twinge and- FIRST DOWN! wait, you're not supposed to be the football. Well shit. That went pretty much according to plan. Chest to the ground a fist curls under his forehead. After the angry Spanish ensues he notes, "I'm fine. Go go go!"

The girl zips ahead like a sparrow taking flight and Itzhak says, alarmed, "Hey, no--" reaching for her. Her backpack loses all its momentum, slowing to a stop regardless of what Davida is doing.

Abby is already walking that way, but stops for a moment at the call answering Davida's shout from the forest. "Oh, that sounds like a really really big kitty. Davida! Wait!" She calls out, and as people launch themselves forward trying to grab the girl, Abby sets off running as well, to at least try keeping up with the girl before she vanishes in the woods, but it takes some effort. "Wait, I can't run that fast! Oh, shhh..."

"That is NOT a cat!" Finch calls out, and with a rush of spirit energy her hand reaches out and her very soul speaks to that of a nearby snowbrush, which she's always called Tobacco Brush, and the entire plant comes to life. It moves as if the wind is lifting each branch individually, and all of them reach for Davida to try and stop her progress. It's little white bursts of flowers rain down like a rain of flora, magical and pure. It slows the child's forward run.

Isolde stopped short when she saw 'Kitty'. If there was ever a misnomer...this was it. That thing was TOTALLY not a cat. But it didn't seem particularly hostile. Her mind reached out, trying to see if looks were just deceiving. Wincing a touch as she felt the pain and aggravation. "He's hurt!" She called out suddenly. "Don't hurt him. Let...let her go to him." Pressing her palm to her forehead briefly as if to get a hold of herself. "He trusts her I think. Not us though. Maybe we can help him."

Ignacio pushes himself to a sit and holds up both hands to show them empty. "Hey, if it's not eaten her up until this point and she's not going into the forest now is it our place to intervene? I dunno." He leans sideways and waves to teh ...large... creature. Well if anone's getting eaten he knows the answer to this one.

That is not a cat. Abby concurs, but doesn't say anything, though her footsteps falter for a couple of strides, eyes wide in incomprehension at the sight. "Davida, wait!" She calls out, and starts hurrying again, this time trying harder to catch up with the girl, though she's obviously got a headstart. The sudden shower of flowers within her field of view makes her hesitate again, not quite stumbling over herself but almost. "Wait, kitty looks like - oh, kitty needs a vet! He's hurt, don't touch it, okay?" She calls out, a little breathlessly.

Itzhak jerks to a halt, realizing Ignacio's taken a header. He turns back and crouches by him. "'Ey, Naishka, gettin' a little excited there, bruddah." The little kid is going zooming off to reunite with--ahaha, what the fuck is THAT. Itzhak steadies Ignacio with a hand on his back, looking across the bridge, and... are those hearts in his eyes? "Oh wow. Look at that, it's gorgeous." Then, a little more sensibly, he yells, "Stay back from it, it's hurt!"

Finch grimaces when the girl keeps going. She looks over at Isolde, stricken. "Are you sure? If it's injured it might EAT her too," she says worriedly, following but keeping enough distance not to seem a threat to the beast. She finally reaches Iggy and Itzy and concern creases her brow. "What's the matter with it. Can we help? From a distance?" she asks. "Itzy, can you open that trap? Ig can you calm it down? Maybe then I can heal the wound." She looks to the others. "Anything you can do to help?"

"I don't think it will eat her." Isolde says to Finch, but knows nothing about treating pets and nothing about bear traps. And this isn't even a pet so she'd rather see if other people knew what to do first before trying her hand at that. So, instead, she walks over to Davida and hesitates before kneeling down more to her level. "Don't worry Davida. We're going to get Kitty out of the bear trap." She assured her. Rather sensitive to various emotions as it is, one might think Isolde will start crying soon! But she doesn't. Instead she puts on a smile. "And then, we can take a picture of Kitty for you, when he's all better. Would you like that?"

Ignacio takes the hand offering to help him up. "Calm him down?!" His free hand patting the back of the one Itzhak lent him before letting go. "Finch, Unless they're a Sphinx I don't think they're interested in my book." He leans on the side of the bridge and offers his best, "Hey, be cool, we didn't come to hurt you or her." He looks to Finch and shakes his head.

Abby starts to slow down as she approaches Davida, panting as she gives the girl a small reassuring smile, keeping her voice steady. "It's okay. Did you know I'm a nurse? I don't think he's that hurt. He's just a little -" she looks up and stares at the thing, a small crease etching itself on her brow. She blinks, stands in complete silence for a moment, then glances back the way she came before refocusing a quiet smile on Davida. "Did you bring anything for kitty? Does he like ham and cheese?" She shrugs off one of her backpack straps and digs in. "I have a sandwich. Do you think kitty would like that?"

Itzhak glances at Finch. "Okay, Fincheleh. Together." He crouches again, this time to pick up a twig. One knee on the road, he rolls the twig between his fingers, studying the trap. "On three. One. Two. Three--" and he snaps the twig.

"Right." Finch braces herself where she stands, and her fingers move, as if she is weaving, or pulling strings. She is, in her mind, as she can see the silvery strands of spirit essence move out from her, to the creature. As the trap falls away due to Itzhak's power, her own moves to slide into the injured paw of the creature, dulling the pain first, then weaving the injuries closed. She's been expending a lot of power lately. She is going to be so hungover from it tomorrow.

Isolde gave Davida an encouraging smile. "Perfect. Then we will do that." She said.Nodding also to Abby at the suggestion of giving it a sandwich. Then the creature was free. She flinched some as it jumped free of the trap. But it wasn't running them down! So...that was good. When the things turns his attention on her, Isolde looks back, but a shiver does run up her spine at the feeling of it assessing her.,

Ignacio just leans there, his head hangs. His fingers flex into a ball and fall loose just resigned he's a foodgroup in this situation. The shiver runs through him and his composure falters and he looks... well there's an emotion there that might be apologetic.

"I'm sure he's very hungry," Abby says, keeping her voice even and calm as she talks to Davida. Then she looks over, and again frowns slightly as she takes in the sudden collapse of the trap, eyes darting aside to the others with wary confusion steeled behind a friendly face. Out comes a sandwich. She looks at her regular sized sandwich (okay, it has a lot of cheese in it, but that's by human standards). She looks at the size of the kitty.

Leaning in, slowly, she moves to touch a hand to Davida's shoulder and speaks low, eyes on the thing. Whatever it is. She's not going to think about it! Not thinking about it! "I'll just put the sandwich down and then we'll go stand over there a little, okay? Just to see how kitty is feeling. Chickpea is very sweet, but sometimes, when she's hurt or hungry, she can bite and scratch a little." She shows Davida her hand. And, well, there's scratches. "And - and kitty is much bigger so he could scratch us pretty bad even if he doesn't mean to, okay?"

Finch slumps against Ignacio when the repair is done. And then she gets that weird sensation, wincing a little at the sense of being bitten by a cat. She grabs the affected hand with a little grunt. "Glad I don't have Ms. Mags with me," she murmurs tiredly. If it wanted to eat her now, she'd probably run slower than Iggy.

Itzhak, sensing that Kitty is investigating him, first stretches out his fingers, then curls them under, as if he's cautiously petting that feathery mane. "Hi there, beautiful," he whispers, face alight, eyes on the monster, enraptured. "That feel better? Not gonna let ya stay in any nasty old trap, not a pretty boy like you." He's just crooning to it adoringly, as if it's a much more mundane animal, while kneeling in the gravel.

Once it appears the creature is not going to attack them, Isolde relaxes further. Slowly taking out her phone because she is a woman of her word! She rises back to her feet, letting Abby handle Davida now and taking a couple steps more back and towards Itzhak. She has never navigated her phone so quickly before to snap a picture of Kitty if it's possible. Examining the image before putting her phone away for now. "It is very pretty." She murmurs softly. Still watching it a bit carefully though. Making sure it stays docile. Well, as docile as it can.

Ignacio wraps his arms around Finch's shoulders and kisses her temple. "Good job." His hands squeeze her shoulders and wobbles from side to side. Is he giving an assurance, or hiding behind the tiny flamethrower? Yes. The answer might well be 'yes'. He finally asks expecting no answer, "Better?"

"That's right, he might be nervous." Abby quietly confirms Davida's assessment, her wide eyes fixed on Kitty, blinking as the thing's chitinous tail lashes the air. She looks back to the girl, nods encouragingly as she sets down the sandwich, and lightly squeezes the offered hand. "Okay," she says, then straightens up, shouldering her backpack. Slowly, making no sudden moves, and very pointedly not turning her back on Kitty, she starts to back away with Davida in tow. "See? He's looking all better."

"Job's not done yet." Finch is exhausted, but she uses a little more juice, to direct her animated tobacco shrub, to pluck up the sandwich and walk it on over to the creature. It sets the offering down a few yards from it, and backs away, before resettling itself, its roots sliding into the earth in the new spot. It goes still and silent, no longer animated.

Itzhak slowly rises from his kneel. He doesn't make any moves yet to dust himself off, or go to Isolde, or anything. Everything is calm. No need for giant panther monsters to be afraid. Ignacio's got Finch, Abby's got Davida, the cat thing is fed, everything is gonna be okay. "See, guys," he says quietly, "not everything over There is horrible." He pauses as the bush does its thing. "...Okay, I'm jealous."

Isolde stares at Kitty, tensing again when he starts getting a little jumpy about the moving bush. A look towards Finch - it's brief but curious. Then the bush is receding, the Kitty is eating...She gives her hair a tug briefly - trying to refocus. Thankfully Davida speaks! "Hm?Oh! Yes I did." She takes her phone out and kneels down again to show Davida the picture. "You can't keep this one. But I will get you one that you can keep. I promise." And Isolde never broke a promise!

Ignacio hugs Inch holding onto her so she doesn't fall down offering, "That is the third damndest thing I ever seen. Like officially." He looks to Abby and Isolde after giving Davida and Itzhak a glance over, "Yous a'ight?" but it's Davida speaking and she gets a lopsided smile. "Good. Glad we can help. Still, jsut because the forest is the forect doesn't mean we can't get hurt. Be careful runnin into places like that. If you get hurt I'm sure Kitty and your parents would feel super bad, yeah?"

Abby just keeps her attention on Kitty out of the corner of her eye, enough to make her brow furrow at the sight of something happening with the bushes. Not unlike Kitty's reaction. She keeps walking with Davida until they've put some distance to the thing. "I guess he likes ham and cheese," she tells the girl with a warm smile as the sandwich gets devoured, and exhales a breath of relief. "Sometimes they can be dangerous. It doesn't mean they're terrible, though. But you should be careful."

Finch clings to Ignacio and gives him a grin. There is sweat beaded on her forehead though, and she is looking a little pale. Healing seems to take way more out of her than setting things on fire. "Kitty will be fine, Davida. Thanks to you."

Isolde grins as she is hugged and returns it. "You're welcome!" There is a shrug though, about if the parents are going to be told. She isn't so sure on that. She'll let the others decide. Nevermind the fact she's the second oldest person in this current group.

Finch returns the child's hug warmly. "You're welcome. Next time you can't find kitty though, tell an adult, ok? You shouldn't ever cross the bridge on your own. Promise me, Davida, please?" she pleads with the little girl.

Abby returns the hug with a sunny smile. And she does give pretty decent hugs. "Kitty is - very lucky you care so much. But you have to be careful and not go into the forest by yourself, okay?" She repeats, her concerned voice turning serious. Not severe. Just worried. "You should tell them you were out looking for kitty, if they ask. They could be worried about you. I guess you don't have to tell them about everything that happened with - Kitty. For now." She looks towards Finch and nods.