fandomhigh | Cats! Monday, 4th period

"Welcome, everybody!" Jon was actually smiling this morning. Hey, he liked his subject. As evidenced by Issa lounging on the desk up front and getting plenty of scritches.

"This is 'Cats!'." Jon looked at them and shrugged. "If you don't know what a cat is, this is Issa, and she's a cat. There are all sorts of cats on Earth, organized into two subtypes - pantherinae, the ones that roar, like lions, tigers, and leopards - and felinae, the ones that purr, like cougars and domestic cats. The others I've mentioned are all wild cats that haven't been domesticated, bar a few insane individuals. Cats as they are now have been around for about three to five million years with few changes. They have flexible backbones, retractable claws, and good night vision, which makes them excellent little predators. Er...depending upon the temperament of the individual cat, of course." He eyed Issa, and she gave him an unimpressed look back.

"And that...that will probably be the most intellectual we'll get in this course. We're going to meet cats, pet cats, play with cats, and learn about cats. But first, I don't know if you all know each other, so we'll do introductions, as is the tradition. I'm Jonathan Sims - Jon or Mr. Sims is fine - and I'm from Bournemouth in England, though more recently London. Also in England. I'm from more or less the current time. I've owned or lived with several cats over the years, and currently have Issa."

He nodded at them. "So, erm. Name, roughly where and when you're from, and what experience you have with cats."

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Cats!

Or pay attention to Issa. Jon won't mind.

Who are you, when and where are you from, and what do you know about cats?

He's here! And about as cheerful as Jon gets.

Yay cats!

Gladiolus Amicitia

Liliana Vess

Lydia Bennet

"I am Miss Lydia Bennet," Lydia introduced herself, "and I come from the year 1810, and most recently from the island of Sainte Josephine in the West Indies, although I grew up in Hertfordshire, which is in England." Apparently a lot of people didn't know that! "I daresay I know quite a lot about cats already, as I grew up with one, who was my sister Kitty."

Everything was probably tracking until that last bit.

Gladio honestly was a little distracted by Issa, although perhaps not in the same way most people might be.

He was pretty sure no one else in the class would be spending the lecture trying to bridge a ten-year-gap in time to try of figure out if they used to actually live with that cat...

"Hey," Gladio grinned, at Kon and the rest of the class, as he lifted a hand with his greeting. "I'm Gladio, from a place called Eos, let's not get into all that. And I guess I know about what the average person does about cats, but my girlfriend's got two of 'em,so I figured it wouldn't hurt to learn more."

Plus, he always liked to support Jon by taking his classes when he could, but he didn't need to mention that and make the poor guy awakward.

...more awkward.

"Hello, darlings," Liliana said, tearing her attention away from Issa. "I am Liliana Vess, I am originally from the the county of Vess, Benalia, Aerona, on the plane of Dominaria--" not Innistrad, Gladio "--but I haven't been there in about two hundred years, so I leave it as an exercise to the listener whether or not that counts as where I am 'from'."

Who was surprised that she and Ignis were together. Honestly, now.

"As for cats, I have often kept them as pets, as they are the Multiverse's most perfect creature."

"Beg pardon, darling?"

Jon gave her a grateful look for asking so he didn't have to.

"Hello." Jon gave him a smile and a nod. "I feel I should point out you could be in a bit of danger if they smell too many other cats on you, though. They might snub you."

Issa was giving up no hints. She just alternately stared back at him regally and ignored him entirely.

"And they would certainly agree with you there," Jon said, grinning. "As, um. There's a saying on Earth that cats have once been worshipped as gods, and they have never forgotten it, nor will they let us forget it."

"Can confirm," Liliana said with a sigh that had very little to do with cats.

Look, just because she had never created races to worship her, that didn't mean sometimes it didn't spontaneously just happen.

"She was in girl shape much of the time, of course." Of course!

"Your...cat...wore the shape of your sister, and your parents never noticed?"

Say what now?

"She wasn't my cat, she was Mama's, to start. And then she was my sister. And of course they never noticed. My Aunt Philips did, but she was a witch, too, so that's to be expected."

This girl had gone to the Stark School of Storytelling, hadn't she? What Liliana wouldn't do for a Silverquill professor on the faculty.

"All right darling, why don't you begin at the beginning and include useful things like how and, if you're really feeling generous, why. Magic, I'm assuming, plays a part?"

"It's not like I did it on purpose, you know," Lydia said, quite taken aback by how rude Liliana was being. "I was only small. But I just...pretended Kitty was my sister, and everyone humored me, and I suppose because I was a witch then one day they all believed it and she really was my sister. But she was still also a cat, of course...until recently. Now she's just got her girl shape."

If Liliana was waiting for accidental toddler magic to make sense they'd be here a while.

It wasn't the toddler magic that Liliana tried to make sense of, simply her explanation of it.

"Ah," she said, once it had been explained properly. "Now that is quite interesting." She sat back and regarded Lydia with glittering purple eyes. "So it was neither an illusion nor simply a change in their perceptions, since this sister of yours has a permanent body of a young woman, though you did manage to either warp their memories enough to accept this new daughter or at least enough to make them not notice or care about any inconsistencies...Did she still act like a cat but everyone assumed it was the correct behavior? Or could she walk and talk and eat like a human as well?"

"Well, both, of course. It was very funny when she'd be up upon the rooftops and no one seemed to notice that it was a very odd place for a Bennet girl of Longbourn to be, and most annoying when her needlework was better than mine."

Liliana chuckled at that. "Needlework has always been and will always be a curse," she said. "Still, all that as a young girl? You are a clever little sorceress, aren't you?"

Jon smiled. "We should arrange another playdate."

Between their cats? Between Lili's worshippers and the Eye's? Honestly, either!

"Does that mean we're allowed to bring out own cats to class?" Liliana asked.

"Absolutely!" Jon answered. "The more cats the better. Oh, um. We might go other places some weeks, so I'll let you know when not to bring them, but yes, if you have cats, you're all welcome to bring them."

Cats! Monday, 4th period

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