futurology | VIDEO. UN: LOKI

[ the sound of the wind storm hollows dully against the cave walls. Loki's squidge, Bacon, can half be seen crawling in the confines of his tacky green jacket and over his knee from where he sits, sometimes ducking and squeaking when a particularly large gust hits. to keep it from screaming, Loki offers his fingers absently, which the little squidge pulls on with its pudgy arms before ducking low again. ]

Hello there, it seems like we'll be waiting this out for some time considering the weather-type circumstances. While we're all rotting away, etcetera etcetera, I thought we could amuse ourselves with a game. A little bit of team bonding funtimes, so to say. [ he twists a dark nailed hand in the air, gesturing. ]

Soo—oo ... it's called Two Truths and a Lie. How do you play? Glad you asked, it's simple! Give two true statements about yourself and add a lie to the mix, shake it up then toss it out there and see if your team members know you well enough to spot the lie.

Usually this is done with copious amounts of alcohol, but we're lacking at the moment. [ pause. ] But—ah—you could always enjoy the satisfaction of being right. It's not like we're doing much else.

NOTE | Feel free to threadjack if that's your thing!! :****

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

How has your experience with cats been? I've read about pets, but I think it's just not the same thing.

[Two cats...well, if he's allowed he'll have to keep that in mind, when he returns home.

Provided, of course, that he remembers all this. Considering how much he's forgotten already, he rather hopes he will]

Just in general? Really positive. As long as you know how to, er, 'talk' to them, cats are great. They're not like dogs where they'll pretty much automatically love you -- they're more like people, where their opinion of you is based around what you do to or for them, or what you can offer them.

[He laughs, a little self-conscious about it.] I mean, I guess there's some truth to the idea that cats mostly subscribe to the idea of cupboard love, but I kind of like that. They're honest... and once a cat decides it likes you, they can be really affectionate. They're good company if you like quiet time, and nothing beats a purring cat when you're feeling a little bit under the weather.

They do sound like nice companions to have.

[And Evan gives him a rather clear image of what it must be like, having a cat. Hard to win over but affectionate in the end doesn't sound so bad...

Actually if anything it's somewhat like his experience with people, so he can see the point in Evan's comparison]

Thanks for explaining it to me with all those details.

Well, I mean, there's plenty more details to offer.

[He grins again, this time amused] Like the endless hair in your food, the fact that I've never known a cat not to beeline for a carpet when it has to vomit, the 5 a.m. wakeups, cleaning the litterbox...

The way you tell it, it's like having a fluffy child.

[He can't help the small chuckle that comes with that image]

Oh, well, maybe like having a fluffy teenager. [He scoffs amusement at the mental image, too.] Honestly, having a cat is a lot easier than having a squidge, and it sounds like having a squidge is a lot more like having a kid.

It's interesting to compare those experiences... If it's like teenagers, my job has been looking after several for some time now.

[A pause, as he considers...]

...Well, some have broken twenty now.

[Evan laughs, the reaction awash with both delight and embarrassment. After all, he's only just recently broken twenty himself...]

Well, you're set, then. You're the ideal cat owner. I'm sure you'll make a couple of nice shelter cats very happy when you get back home.

I'd like that. Actually, a lot of investigators were themselves people who needed a place, so they'd fit right in with the rest of us.

[It's a nice thought, even if it comes of the lot of them being mostly orphaned]

Oh!

[Evan catches the sad quality of that, too, but Haise does not seem to be dwelling on it, and so after a moment of waffling, neither does he. He grins, tentative.]

Well, maybe your whole squad would like a cat or two, then? To pass on the good fortune of having found a family, I suppose.

You know...they might.

[If he were to compare any of them to cats, it would probably be Urie... Though he's got the good sense not to announce that particular thought.

The initial aloofness was quite pronounced with him]

I wonder if they could agree on names...I've got no idea what they'd come up with.

[That draws a plain laugh from the young man.]

Oh, lord, good luck with that.

I guess you could make naming the cats a reward for, I don't know, some particular brilliance on the part of one of your squad members. I mean, though, some shelter cats come with names, especially if they're surrenders, or if they've been at the shelter for a while.

That's not to say a cat really ever answers to their name, though.

Would you say they're more likely to answer to the sound of a can-opener?

[Just going to take a guess here]

Ha! [It's a stereotype to be sure, but it still nets a cackle from the young man.]

You could call that accurate. Try that trick and you'll get any cat in the house, though, once they realize there's a correlation between tin cans and tuna.

That may be a trope too, but it's just as accurate. [He snickers.] My cat growing up used to go nuts over the water in the bottom of a can of tuna.

[There's a quiet hum as he digests that information]

So they're pretty keen on that, then? It's good to know...I'm sure there's a lot I'd need to learn, to take proper care of pets.

[And he doesn't know what experience if any the Quinx have with taking care of animals, even ones as low-maintenance as cats seem to be]

Well, some are, at least.

[The amount of thought Haise is putting into this is endearing. Evan grins at his friend, rather gently.]

Honestly, being a good pet owner comes down mostly to being attentive and willing to do your research. There's a million how-tos on pet ownership out there, though honestly there are as many temperaments of pet out there as there are temperaments of humans.

You'd do just fine, I think.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

[As much as it is idle conversation at this point in time, he's nevertheless grateful for the information]

I'll give it my best shot, when I get the chance.

[Not that he will have the opportunity, but...nobody needs to know that]

[Evan chuckles, continually charmed by Haise's earnestness.]

And you'll make some unsuspecting cat very happy in the process, I bet.

I'll hope you're right.

VIDEO. UN: LOKI

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cool to wrap this one up?

sure thing!