Falling 'leaves' (Kit)

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Despite the fact that summer had come to an end, it was still quite warm outside. Within the office where he usually caught up on paperwork, however, a certain coldness had settled down. Not enough for Milan to put on the heating system though. It was too early in the year to justify that as well. Therefore he had decided to simply go out and take a seat in the sun. Documents weren’t taken with him though. A little break was welcome and perhaps this would give him a chance to spot on of his recruited students. Then he could perhaps initiate a small conversation and find out how they were doing. The recruiter sadly had to admit that he didn’t make enough time for this in the past. Today could be a good start.

Once outside, Milan felt rather lost though. While it had sounded like a good idea in his head, it kind of felt weird to randomly mingle with students like this. To not make himself productive while there was enough that he could do (which he still had time for though). Perhaps he should have asked Ella to join him. Or maybe he should just go back inside and have a purpose again. After giving it a try at least. He couldn’t give up without having given it a go. So, with that in mind, the Irish man stepped over to a random tree on the courtyard and took a seat underneath. He wasn’t really used to relaxing… so it took him a couple of minutes to at least get relatively comfortable.

Once he sort of was, Milan slumped down some – yet no too nonchalant – as blue optics aimlessly scanned the surroundings. This was nice… yet not really for him. Glancing down at his clock, he sighed. If he could manage to sit there for ten minutes, it would be a feat. How hard could that be?

[Kitrana Moore]

Well, it would be harder than he'd likely anticipated. Milan had unknowingly taken a seat underneath a tree that was occupied. He wasn't the only one out for a brief session of sunbathing.. though the tree's occupant was apparently better at relaxing than he was. In fact, the tree's recipient was taking a cat nap. Literally. As a cat. A grey stripey cat with somewhat striking eyes. A cat who had been dreaming about something and had sleepily swiped a paw at some dream-thing.. only to then be put very much off balance as it rolled to the side.

And fell directly and unceremoniously into Milan's lap.. waking instantly and freezing almost solid as it stared wide-eyed trying to take in it's new surroundings.. Given a few second to calm down (if, of course, she hadn't been thrown through the air out of sheer reflex on Milan's part) the cat would blink and stare up at the man who had caught her.. shrinking back a bit and trying to look small. Because what else was it supposed to do? Even as a cat, this would be a difficult situation to escape from if whoever this person was didn't want her to get away.. and hissing might get her thrown or kicked.. which was never fun.. and men weren't quite as likely to be cat-people as women were.. so after shrinking back and hopefully not receiving violence or panic from her conveinent landing pad, the cat could gingerly and slowly attempt to step out of the man's lap and back away...

Unless he seemed excited to see her, of course. In which case pets were in order and Kit could be as lovy and purry as she wanted. One thing was for sure, though.. Milan likely hadn't planned on mingling with a student quite like this.

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Eyelids had only just given in to gravity when a sudden and unexpected weight landed in the recruiter’s lap. While not as heavy as some items, instinct took over and made his body stiffen for a second while his back straightened again. Wide eyes could nearly mirror the cat’s, though they were dilated for another reason than fear: surprise. Hands, on turn, had also moved without him being fully aware of it, and had settled themselves near the feline’s waist. It had been an automatic reaction to stabilize whatever had dropped down, if only to limit possible disaster that was linked to further movement. It took him a couple of seconds to realize palms had met fur though, and for the initial ‘completely-caught-off-guard’ phase to wear down some. At that point the man retrieved both hands and his tension diminished. Altogether, it merely took a couple of seconds, but to the animal, it quite possibly had felt like an eternity.

“Where did you come from, huh?” Blue optics shot up to the branches above him, assuming that one in particular was thick enough for the cat to have laid on it. The moment his gaze fell upon the creature again, the softest of smiles graced his lips. He could tell it was scared, cautious and possible ‘calculating’ how to flee from this situation. It was why the man ever so slowly moved a hand forward, first to let the cat sniff, and secondly to gently scratch its cheek (if allowed). Based on the dog he had at home, he knew that animals, that did not feel at ease, considered being petted from above as a threat. “No worries,” the Irish man cooed. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Not like it would understand (he assumed), but it was a habit to talk to animals.

“I better hope you aren’t smuggled here by a student though.” The frown that appeared seemed thoughtful as his hand now smoothed over the soft fur on the cat’s head. Kit’s shapeshifted form looked healthy; Milan figured she had to belong to someone. “It kind of wouldn’t surprise me if you were… Were you?” At that, the recruiter gave himself a shake of the head, chuckling weakly. It wasn’t like the animal would provide him an answer.

[Kitrana Moore]

Okay.. Escape not an option. Hands. Being held. Hands holding in place. Going to get thrown or captured or have to shift back to human in dude's lap CRAPCRA-- Oh. No, dude had just instinctively grabbed what had fallen into his lap. And was letting go. Milan had likely never seen a cat relax so quickly as when Kit was no longer being held in place. The risk of being thrown now off the table, her tail twitched as her head turned when he started talking.

Fortunately out of Milan's vision, Kit's eyes also roamed upwards when he asked where she'd come from.. They both stared at the same branch for a moment before their eyes met again. His smile put Kit even more at ease. So much so that she didn't bother sniffing his hand, only staying still so he could pet her. Not being hurt was awesome. She simply pressed against his hand and purred.

Hehe, she wasn't smuggled here, no.. Though on at least one occasion she had been smuggled back onto campus by a student. The man, clearly having decided that Kit was healthy and likely not a stray, had moved on to actual petting, prompting Kit to smile a catty smile and press into his hand. Being petted was something no human could properly appreciate. It was awesome. If one could imagine a hand-sized patch of euphoria and love that moved across their body again and again, they would get an idea of what normal petting was like. Full-on happy 'I love you' petting was even better.

But... in Kit's blissful enjoyment of being petted, she'd completely forgot to plot and deceive this man.. and as he asked if she was smuggled in by a student, she happily continued smiling and shook her head 'no'. She wasn't smuggled. She was most certainly supposed to be here. Or at least she was allowed to be here. In the tree. Though perhaps petting wasn't exactly an encouraged way for Milan to interact with the students. Kit sure didn't mind, as was evident by the way she put her front paws on his leg and nudged his hand, silently asking for more attention.

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Milan did find himself taken back for a second, convinced that the cat had just shaken her head in response to the question. Of course he shook off the thought a moment later though, simply assuming it was a movement of the animal’s head while it attempted to receive more petting. So the frown that had settled on his face slowly faded into a soft smile. While more of a dog person, the recruiter cherished all animals. And while the cat looked very healthy, he still wondered where its owner was this close to the institute. Perhaps the feline was lost?

His hand continued to pet her head. “So, where do you live, huh? This isn’t exactly the best place for a cat to roam, especially when it comes to the newer recruited students.” It made him chuckle some, allowing blue eyes to scan the surroundings. The younger students often cooed at cute animals like cats. Of course they were not as overly excited as some younger kids, but some still didn’t know how to control their reactions. And, on a side note, the fact that powers were involved during such situations… Not always too safe for animals.

“You hungry?” For a second he had forgotten about the foil package that he had placed down next to him after sitting down. The hand that was not petting Kit picked it up and he tried to open it without scaring the cutie. He managed to tug a small piece of cheese from between his sandwich, offering it to the feline.