IC Contact

[keep_nothing]

✉

CODE 🔋 3:27 AM

Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan

UNSETTLED HERO
"LADY VORKOSIGAN"

ADDRESS
THE RESIDENCE

MESSAGE
"This is Cordelia,
leave me a message."

TEXT

CALL

VIDEO

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION | ETC.

Comments

[keep_nothing]

[ She resumes petting Kitty as she was a few moments ago, not as intently so they can hold a conversation, but just idly skritching under her chin. ]

As well as can be expected, we're really just playing the waiting game for now.

[rathercommon]

[ Her head tips up, and her eyes narrow in pleasure at the under-chin scratching. Well done, Cordelia. Don't you dare cut your fingernails at any point. ]

Waiting for everything to settle down?

[keep_nothing]

For everyone to return safe and sound.

And if you're here, Kitty, you're safe. But ... how are you? [ The more obvious question of "what happened to you" is implied in her concerned tone. ]

[rathercommon]

Oh, I'm all right.

[ And then, because she knows what the underlying question is, she says - trying her best to sound peppy and cheerful: ]

I got a new Porter power. When I came back. I don't have to be a cat - I can shapeshift my form at will. I expect it's going to be a very useful ability. Imagine how much better my spying will get after this.

[keep_nothing]

Spying on your friend's parents as they get dressed, hmm? [ she teases. ] But that does seem like a useful power.

[rathercommon]

Oh -

[ She flickers suddenly from cat form into the form of a sparrow - a reaction to her embarrassment. ]

I'm - really sorry about that, really. I suppose that made me - I'm not some creep or something like that, I promise.

[keep_nothing]

[ It surprises her,the sudden shift, but she only jumps a little. She's also smiling once the initial surprise leaves her. She holds out her hand for the newly-shaped bird. ]

Teasing, love.

[rathercommon]

[ And the bird flutters up to land on her palm, still fluttering her wings in a rather flustered way. ]

Right, I know. I just...don't want to seem...You know.

[ Like a perv. ]

Like I don't respect your privacy. I definitely, definitely do.

[keep_nothing]

It's fine, Kitty. Really.

[ Her free hand rises to join the other, using the back of the knuckles of one finger to stroke Kitty's head lightly. Then she smirks, ] Don't let it ruffle your feathers.

[rathercommon]

[ Oh, no. Oh, no. The bird groans. ]

Oh, that was awful, Cordelia...Please tell me you haven't got some secret love of punning.

[keep_nothing]

[ She laughs lightly. ]

Aral's better at it than I am when he wants to be, but that was just begging to be used.

[rathercommon]

[ Hold on. She changes into a mouse in answer to her ripple of surprise. ]

Aral? Really? Puns? Him?

[keep_nothing]

[ Whoop, she makes sure to cup her hand so she won't upset Kitty's balance. ]

Not all the time, of course, just when he's in a good mood for it. Though I guess his darker humor isn't immune either.

[rathercommon]

Oh, I'd very much like to see that. I thought that the Barrayarans were hardly capable of joking in a way that's not ridiculously dark. Even Gregor has a very dark streak to him, doesn't he...

[keep_nothing]

Him and Aral more than most, I would imagine. [ Cordelia's smile doesn't fade so much as sobers. She could imagine quite a lot, even if she didn't already know the details. ]

But you know what I'd like to see?

[rathercommon]

[ The mouse blinks up at her. ]

What?

[keep_nothing]

As adorable and interesting as your new powers are, I'd like to see your face.

[ She lifts her hand to pet Kitty's head with a fingertip, her voice growing softer. ] Or perhaps you're still working on the second half of "safe and sound"?

[rathercommon]

[ Oh. The mouse's head lowers; she looks away. Still human, underneath it all - forgetting that you can't exactly read a mouse's expressions. ]

No, I'm...sound. Everything is fine. It's just a little hard, you know. It takes a lot more energy to be something big than it does to be something small.

[keep_nothing]

You know, I've found that when someone says "everything is fine", it's usually the opposite. Why would being in your normal body take more energy than shifting shapes?

[rathercommon]

Well...

[ She hesitates just a little too long. ]

You know. It's sort of like - the physical kind of...presses down on the spiritual. Bigger means that there's more...physical matter to drag down my spirit. Sort of. I think.

[keep_nothing]

Kitty. [ She says her name softly but firmly, cutting off any further excuse. ]

[rathercommon]

[ A beat. And then she tells the truth. ]

My normal body...isn't my normal body any longer.

[keep_nothing]

... What does that mean?

[rathercommon]

Some things happened back home.

I was...sort of...changed.

[keep_nothing]

"Sort of." [ It's not a question; it's an expectation of answer. ]