This Cat Got Claws

Thomas Blake Jr. Catman II Son of Catman and Cheshire Anti-Hero - H.I.V.E. Meta Written by Chris [OC]

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Artemis froze for a moment as she considered what he said. She had not been expecting him to be that blunt about the subject. But she shouldn’t have been very surprised, given his nature. Turning to glare at Blake, she considered how to deal with the subject. She’d been planning just to ignore them when they were together and keep them as far away from each other as she could for the rest of the trip. No matter how much Cameron told her to drop it before they’d even left. But he couldn’t understand. Felines where dangerous. Particularly the male ones. “I know you wont.” Her jaw is locked for a moment as she got closer to him. “If you do, I’ll kill you.”

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Oh, you didn’t need Blake’s senses to acknowledge just how hostile Artemis had become. It was a tangible sensation that lingered in the air - causing every hair on his body to stand on end. It was tense. Justified. But, tense.. If Jade were here, she’d be scolding his tendency to display emotion. His one alleged flaw - which, compared to the success in other departments, really shouldn’t have been that great a deal considering. But, when you’re trying to create the perfect killing machine...Caring for those he assumes into his ‘pride’ really isn’t the healthiest quality to possess. As far as he saw it, though, being able to care for Rebecca was the one reason Artemis may not directly kill him there and then. She was the mutual ally, of sorts - the one of whom both shared similar interest in. Nodding once - confirming he received the message - he began to wade a little further through the water; slowly coming to realise that this may have been enough ‘fun’ for one afternoon.  “You don’t like me, do you?” Call it what you will - the general vibe, an assumption, a flawed conclusion...But, he figured the act of tolerance was just that. An act. Better to clear the air now than continue on like this.

[rosesxice]

Dropping her hands from his cheeks, instead taking Blake’s hand instead. She doesn’t even glance back at her family as she pulled him off with her. She was happy to get a decent amount of time away from her family, and to have time with him. ..And, they were close enough to Zandia’s jungles, which she was sure he’d like exploring. 

“Do you want to see something cool?” She asked, once they where out of range of the house, and well into said ‘jungle’.

[aintnokittycat-blog]

You’ve seen a child at Christmas, right? Well, that was Blake on steroids. From the moment he’d set foot in the jungle, it was like entering a god-damn toy store - whether it being to stalk through the overgrowth or gain a vantage point in the trees, he was flooded with raw instinct; unfamiliar with the Zandian landscape, sure, but certainly not unfamiliar with the general offerings.  Bonus points, of course, went to Becca who stood by his side. Somehow, the experience seemed that little more exciting with her presence. So, you can’t exactly blame him for quirking a brow at the question. What he thought she was implying, well, we’ll put that down to the bond they shared on a primal level. Intimacy. Yes, he figured she was going to show him something fairly explicit. Not that he anticipated it, of course.  “Go ahead.” 

[rosesxice]

The sounds he was making were magic. Between him speaking and the positively primal sounds he was making Rebecca was getting more excited than she had been before. “Nu-uh.” She shakes her head once again, her voice cracking slightly as her own well practiced ‘humanity’ gave away to her naturally feral side. Sinking her teeth once again into the side of his neck, Rebecca began to purr. Slowly edging her body closer to his until they where completely flush against one another. Only then did her lips leave his neck, choosing to instead nip at his bottom lip.

[aintnokittycat-blog]

You’d have to be a feline to truly appreciate what Blake was experiencing. This wasn’t some petty foreplay or raunchy affection that humans exchange - this was something else completely. Like a word with no translation. It was ecstasy - and, then, some. Playfully baring his teeth, he - too - bit down upon her lip; with an ever-present sound tickling away at the back of his throat. Not quite a growl. Not quite a purr. Something else entirely. Something deeper. With all his strength, he forces himself up to bend at the waist - dragging his fingers across the exposed flesh of Rebecca’s back in intimate caress.

[rosesxice]

After afew moments, Becca pulled back from the hug, though she definitely didn’t stop the contact. Instead her hands moved from where they’d been resting on his shoulders to his cheeks. Her thumbs running gently across the stubble in hopes to keep him purring. “Do you wanna take a walk with me?”

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Snuggling against the motion, he closed his eyes in a moment of uninterrupted appreciation - struggling to process how someone could be quite as tender and gentle as Rebecca’d seemingly mastered. At the prospect of spending some time alone with her to prowl - for, that’s what walking really was to him - his face lit up with child-like excitement; even more so when he considered how relieving time away from Artemis would be. The look said it all, really. He was pumped and ready to go!

[rosesxice]

Once he’d started talking; Becca’s growling had turned into a fit of muted giggles. It had become odd to see him acting like a human and, in honesty, she loved it. Dropping her head to the spot of his throat that vibrated when he spoke. “Nuh-uh.” She shook her head against him, before nipping the pulse point on the side of his neck. It wasn’t a hard bite, of course, just enough to show her affection as her hands continued to ‘restrain his’. It wasn’t often she got to act like this– so she was taking full advantage.

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Oh, you think you’ve heard him purr before? That was nothing compared to the noise he just made. It was a sound so primal and instinctive that he wasn’t even consciously aware he’d made it!  “Mm-hmm.”  Tilting his head to the side, he provided considerable access to his neck for more kissing - or, biting - or, whatever the Hell she felt like doing to him. At this point, he was so anticipating of her next move that he’d welcome anything. 

[aintnokittycat-blog]

@rosesxice [x]

Grazing his stubble against the exposed flesh between her neck and shoulder blade, he released a low purr of intimate satisfaction; too enthralled by the contact to concern himself with Artemis’ burning glare. “Now, I am.”

[aintnokittycat-blog]

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Alright - now he was actually in the water, it’d become perfectly clear that Blake’d rather be anywhere else but here. His expression. His posture. That low, resonant growl that rasped away in his chest with every exasperated breath...And, although his senses screamed otherwise, the young lion would have gladly pounced at Artemis out of sheer frustration.  “I won’t hurt her.” Wading across the water, he was almost baffled by just how disapproving the woman was of him - like he presented some sort of threat or negative influence over Rebecca; which, really, wasn’t the case at all.  “You want Rebecca safe. Me too.” 

[rosesxice]

As Blake took the submissive role on the ground, Becca pounced. Immediately following in place behind him as her hands grabbed his wrists. She was attempting to pin him to the ground, which wouldn’t have even been possible if they hadn’t been playing around. And once she’d gotten him somewhat where she’d wanted him, Becca leaned over and snapped her teeth at him once again. Mimicking the playful growl he had as she did so.

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Although she’d effectively just dominated him - to which, he allowed - Blake was far from humiliated; if anything, he found the whole ordeal to be very amusing indeed. Lions are social creatures, after all - so, he found it enthralling to be within the presence of other, like-minded felines. Here, he didn’t have to call his actions into moderation. Here, he could unleash that raw, primal nature that drove him from human normalcy.  For a moment, though, he allowed himself to slip back into, well, humanity as the low baritone of human speech resonated upon the ground. “Woman, you’re trying to kill me.”  It was playful. Boisterous. Not in the least condescending. A display of pride at her efforts. 

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🏊

🏊: our muses go swimming at the lake

Artemis had absolutely no idea why Rebecca had invited the young man to come to Zandia with them. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. It wasn’t that she had any problem with the other feline, of course, but she certainly didn’t like him sniffing around her daughter the way he had been.Which was why she’d taken ‘ample’ opportunity to separate them. Which meant, inviting Blake to swim with her in the mornings…      “How strong of a swimmer are you?” She asked as she almost immediately jumped into the body of water she’d taken him to.

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Honestly, you’d think he was being asked to jump in a vat of acid from the way he glared at the water. Even as a child, he hadn’t had the greatest relationship with the fabled h2O…But, that held no relevance to how strong a swimmer he was - lions, by nature, are fairly remarkable when forced to traverse bodies of water. So, it looked like Blake would be following suit; diving in afterwards with a moment’s hesitation.  Bringing himself to the surface, he spat a steady stream of liquid from his mouth - akin to a water sculpture - and, frantically shook the dampened mass of hair out his face. Grr. “Strong enough.” In other words, I’ll survive. I mean, who actually enjoyed this sort of thing, anyway? Tigers are weird… “Why here?” C’mon, all things aside, he wasn’t stupid. He knew what she was trying to achieve in separating them. Having it explained outright would simply provide context for her actions; and, why he was freaking swimming out here in the first place!

[rosesxice]

A grin spreads across her lips as Blake collided with her from behind. Her hands immediately flying to claw at the arms that were bringing her down– not terribly hard but hard enough to let him know she was going to put up somewhat of a fight. And the moment her knees hit the ground, she struggled against him, turning her head to playfully snap her teeth at him.

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Glad to see the playful nature of the moment reflected in Becca, Blake focused all his body-weight on tilting to the one side; effectively rolling over so that he was now the one laying on his back. Generally speaking, per the laws of nature, his aim should have been to assert himself as the dominant one - but, this wasn’t about that right now; this was, for all intents and purposes, two felines fucking around like felines do - complete with claw swatting and various degrees of growling.

[aintnokittycat-blog]

@rosesxice

Perhaps, there was something in the air. Maybe, it was just one of those days. All Blake knew was that there was a burning restlessness from within that was propelling him on to some fairly animalistic behaviours; so much so that he directly pounced on Becca from behind - nothing remotely threatening or uncomfortable when out of context. More...he’d brought her to the ground in a mock-wrestling sort of way - playfully growling the entire time.

[rosesxice]

Becca can’t help but grin as he somehow managed to sting words together. Within seconds of her sitting down, a young man had come by and dropped menus infront of them. And moments later, another young man set a tray of fruits and vegetables inbetween them on the table. “Of course I do.” She kept her grin as she popped a slice of melon into her mouth. “Why would I bring you to somewhere I didn’t know?”

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Vaguely skimming through the food on offer, there came a point where Blake threw the menu aside in frustration; concluding that, if she was so familiar with the place, then, she’d know what meals to recommend. Even then, he wasn’t sure how to pronounce most of the names - let alone guess what he’d be served...  “Adventure?” he shrugged; slowly realising that not everyone operated quite as erratically as the young Catman. Routine? What was that? Habits? He had none. Well...He didn’t frequent the same place for too long, to be exact. Not out of paranoia or to cover his tracks - more...his attention span and instinctive drive to keep hunting moving betrayed him every time. “You smell goo-mph.” Good. Barely audible from the ridiculous mouthful he was attempting to swallow. They were both felines in nature anyway - it wasn’t like she was going to judge. 

[rosesxice]

“Becca.” She answers in turn, with a grin. His lack of social skills were cute.  Keeping an arm linked to his, she began to lead him down the street. Not even attempting to hold an actual conversation with him as they walked, as it didn’t seem like he could get more than one word out at a time. Once they’d gotten to the restaurant, which was owned by her father, she’d escorted him through the groups of old tattooed Zandian men who glared and muttered something about Americans as they came in. And as the men were scolded by their wives for being rude, Rebecca gestured at an empty table for him to sit. “It may not be as fun as hunting, but it should taste good enough.”

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Although he offered a brief nod in response, there came no blatant indication that he’d actually acknowledged the disclosure of her name. As far as he was concerned, she could have the most obscure name in any given language - it was her scent that he’d go on to remember; just like with everyone and everything else he encountered in his travels. Take the restaurant, for example - they’d barely entered the block it resided on when he'd noted the prominent aromas of hibiscus, tarragon, juniper berries...And, a considerably unhealthy waft of ash. It all brought on the distinct vision of an exotic land - fruity scents, warm spices, that sort of ‘barbecue on a summer evening’ aesthetic that danced across his nostrils. It was strangely pleasant - almost as obscure - in principal - as how comfortable he felt in the female’s presence.  “You know this place?”

[rosesxice]

His use of the word in such a normal setting rolled off of her easily. She doesn’t even question it. Instead, her tongue darted out against her bottom lip as she considered food.       “Can I join you?” She grins, immediately invading his space and hooking an arm around his. “I know some good places to scavenge.”

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Although he wasn’t exactly familiar with the custom, Blake didn’t object to the linking of her arm; and, he certainly wasn’t going to be complaining about the close contact any time soon. “Sure.” Granted, there was a twinge of doubt in his voice - generally speaking, he’d only ever hunted alongside actual lions in the past - but, from what his senses were telling him, she’d be more than capable of helping to sate that resonant grumble in the pit of his stomach.  "Blake.” It’d come out of nowhere - not in response to anything she’d said, more...him ticking off the ‘to do’ list he’d compiled on human interaction. 

[rosesxice]

@aintnokittycat

    His scent was intoxicating. It wasn’t often Rebecca got to see another ‘cat’. Atleast one that wasn’t directly related to her. How could she not approach him. Making her way over to him, she grinned.    “What’s a boy like you doing in a place like this.” 

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Having gained awareness of her presence, it was taking all of Blake’s - already minimal - self control to maintain a steady stream of thought. When he tried to ignore the scent - to push it aside - every ounce of his being screamed out in defiance. It was like he was being drawn towards her - and, boy, was he drawn. “Hunting.”  Rather, he was scoping out lunch - having not quite grasped the whole ‘human’ shtick yet or how freaking ridiculous the word ‘hunting’ sounded when spoken so casually.

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“Apply pressure to the wound - don’t let go.”

hurt meme.

    “Look– I know how to care for a damnned wound.” Artemis snaps at the young man, she was doing what he’d said of course.. But not because he said it. “Do me a favor and rip up your shirt.”

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Growling somewhat in mild irritance, Blake set about tearing the fabric into various shreds - allowing for an instinctive grunt to pass from the exertion of doing so. How they got into this situation, he could scarcely recall - all that mattered now was getting out of it. “Saving your life isn’t a favour,” came the husked baritone; squatting on his haunches like, well, a cat. “It’s what you do when someone’s hurting.”

[aintnokittycat-blog]

Ah. Admission Day. The most important twenty-four hours of a convict’s life. An opportunity to make a lasting impression on your fellow men. Prove you won’t break - prove you’ve got what it takes to break them. In Blake’s case, he’d managed to successfully take out seven of the Belle Reve servicemen using teeth alone. It was a manic display of screams, blood and questionably torn limbs - concluding with an enveloping void as the tranquilizer worked it’s magic. When he came to, he was chained at both his wrists and ankles - with the added security of being strapped rather tightly to the chair of what he assumed to be an interrogation room. His knowledge of modern society was minimal at best - let alone human interaction - so, this was doing nothing for his opinion n humanity. Realising - eventually - that the cuffs withstood his frenzy of resistance, he allowed for his shoulders to slump in aggrivated defeat; growling lowly towards the door. Sure enough, a gentleman entered which brought the total number of occupants to four: Blake, the new arrival and the two guards who trained their guns on him at all times. Much like a lion would stalk it’s prey, his gaze never left the stranger for a second; slowing or increasing the rate to which he followed as the arrival moved. By now, he’d managed to detect the distinct trace of too much cologne, a wine too rich for his nostrils and...margherita pizza? For a prison facility, he certainly seemed to be basking in fine luxury. Hmm...All that aside, he didn’t seem particularly threatening; which motivated the young Catman to - at least - humour the interrogator. 

“What is this place?” he growled in broken English. The accent itself wasn’t particularly distinct - more...an obscure blend of South African, Latvian and American. The result of poor integration, if anything. “Who are you?”