Vocalization - Imagines

Eve the kitten AU - Communication Attempts

Layne shambled down the stairs, his gaming headset half on, half off and with dark circles under his eyes. Out of instinct only, he made his way to the coffee machine. He squinted at the buttons and made himself a cup of coffee - the strongest he could get. It was awfully bitter, but at least it got his mind to work for basic tasks. Like figuring out what time it was. Or just what day it was. November 1st. The day after Halloween. 10am. Way too early. It wasn't his fault that he was so tired. At least not in his eyes. If his pc hadn't been on when he'd come back after helping with the dishes, he wouldn't have started playing again and he wouldn't have continued for hours without noticing. Now his sleep total for the night was at zero hours. Perfect. Just as he'd finished the first cup of coffee, he immediately made himself a second one. He'd need at least ten to make it through the day. Maybe even twelve. With the second cup in hand, he decided to make his way to the bathroom to fix his hair before Eve could start messing with it again. But just as he started making his way down the hallway, he heard something moving anxiously from where the couches were.

He turned around, thinking his tired mind was playing tricks on him. Then he checked his headset. No, nothing was coming from it either. Yet the sound was still there. A sort of shuffling - and was that meowing?! No. That couldn't be. He could be as tired as he wanted to, but he was fairly certain that they did not have a cat the day before, or any other pet for that matter. Layne put his headphones and the cup on the table, then slowly made his way towards the couch. There was something moving on it, wrapped in Eve's favourite blanket. It seemed tiny, at least when compared to the size of the blanket and the pillows around it. To be honest, he was scared. Had someone played an evil Halloween prank and let a rodent inside? One... Two... Three. Quickly, he grabbed the moving bundle. It made a squealing noise and stopped moving, aside from shaky breathing. Apparently, it was tame. Carefully, he removed one hand. The creature didn't move. Then, he started unpacking the bundle of fabric. Again, the being inside of it made no attempts to flee. As he removed the last layer of the soft blanket, he let out a short gasp of surprise. It was a cat. A kitten, in fact. Its eyes were two different colors, the right was green, the left blue. Fitting to this anomaly, a patch of cream white surrounded the green eye. It looked almost like a cloud of caramelized cotton candy. The same cream white could be found at the tip of the kitten's tail, its right shoulder, right back paw and its belly. The little puffball looked Layne in the eyes and blinked. Its ears twitched slightly. Layne sighed, then smiled. "How did you get in here?" They locked eyes for a bit. Something about the small cat was familiar. Then, he finally noticed it. "Eve! You look just like her! She needs to see you!" As the coffee finally took effect, he started hurrying off to Evelynn's room. But the little kitten jumped off the couch and rushed right after him. It came to a slippery halt in front of him and meowed in an upset manner.

Layne blinked. "Come with me then." He tried to step over the cat, but the cat moved the same direction, so he had to make sure not to step *on* it. It hissed. "... Sorry. You went where I wanted to go." This time, he tried to go around the kitten, but it slid off to the side he tried to go. Layne smiled. He faked going the other way, then used his height and long legs to avoid the cute blockade. Chuckling, he walked on, until, suddenly, he felt something clinging on to the fabric of his pants, actively trying to pull him backwards. The little cat had dug its tiny claws into the fabric and was trying to stop him from going on. He sighed and stood still. The kitten rushed forward through the gap between his legs, turned around to face him (all throughout slipping and sliding across the floor) and meowed tensely. It started chasing its tail for a few seconds, then stopped and looked at him. He broke out into laughter and picked up the little furball. It didn't resist. Smiling, he carried it over to Evelynn's room. "I think I'll call you Little Eve."