2025-08-07: Tiger Gets A Cat Tree, Plays With The Box
- Log: Tiger Gets A Cat Tree, Plays With The Box
- Cast: Yua Ooshiro, Remi Ryuuja
- Where: Aoba - Penthouse
- OOC Date: 2025-08-07
- IC Date: Friday, June 22 2012
- Summary: See title. Oh, and Yua decides she needs to take Remi camping... and reveals to her that she wants to marry Miho and bear her a child. Remi offers to be there with her when she tells her, and Yua doesn't realise what's actually upsetting her as she assures her she's in no danger from the conversation.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
Yua was... quite run down, during her Gekkoukan classes on Monday, though she tried not to show it to her students. By Tuesday at Kasugayama, though, she'd brightened up; now, at the end of the week, she's back to her normal energetic self!
At least... that's how she presents herself at school.
She's called Remi up, this morning, to come help her set up a new cat tree before she has to go to work. (That's the wonders of a half-day.) While of course they have people who could do this work for them, Yua finds fulfilment in providing for Tiger herself, and she's pretty sure Remi feels the same way. She's dressed in her outside leotard already, though she hasn't yet put her nails on.
His magnificent new throne comes in a magnificent big box, and Yua lifts one of the scratching post panels out of it, placing it against the ground. It's all made of stern enough stuff to withstand a Norwegian Forest Cat, of course. There are platforms for Tiger to lounge on, a cubby where he can hide...
... but when Remi removes the last piece from the box, the minute they turn their backs, there's a mighty crinkle of packing peanuts.
"Tiger!" Yua exclaims with faux frustration, hands to her hips, as she turns to behold him poking his head out of a box big enough to host his massive frame. "Whenever I buy you toys, you always want to play with the packaging! What do you have to say for yourself, young man?!"
'Mraaaaaah,' Tiger vocalises, looking quite pleased with himself.
He's got a BOX.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi is rather fond of Tiger... though she is not quite as effusive as Yua is in showing it. But she's never complained about having a large, warm cat placed on her lap.
She also happens to be quite fond of Yua, of course, though for entirely different reasons. And it's all too easy to agree to come up to help her with this task.
And so she arrived, dressed in her turtleneck, skirt, tights, and a cardigan besides, the entirely overdressed to Yua's underdressed. It's fine, she can deal with the chill for Yua's sake. She otherwise hasn't put any makeup on.
Building the cat tree is an interesting challenge, one she would have scoffed at doing herself before, but... oddly pleasant done in Yua's company. And she can't deny there's a certain sense of accomplishment at figuring out how everything pieces together, but then...
All of a sudden: cat in a box. Yua is frustrated, but Remi chuckles softly. "Well, dear... perhaps you should try purchasing an empty box next time?" She puts the last panel on and then reaches over to gently scratch Tiger's ears.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
Tragically, the air conditioning is going strong. Miho endures the brisk conditions for Yua's sake, just as Remi knows to brace for it. ... somehow, Yua doesn't seem bothered, even though she's just in a leotard.
Then again, she wouldn't know to be bothered even if she ought to be.
Tiger purrs, mashing his head into Remi's hand. (He appreciates the air con being on blast, too; he's a very fluffy cat. No heat exhaustion for him!) Yua sighs, putting a hand to her cheek. "But if I buy an empty box, he'll just want the box the box will come in..."
'Mreh!' Tiger meows, calling attention back where it belongs: to him.
"Tiger, this is for you! See, see? Won't you like it?" Yua calls to him, warmly, as she screws a scratching post into a base panel. From there, a platform screws onto that, and...
"This is just like setting up a tent," Yua decides, apropos of nothing. "... oh! That's a great idea! I should fetch Tiger a kitty tent!"
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi knows to expect it... hence why she's doubled up on warm layers... she still shivers, occasionally, but she's not about to complain.
She continues scratching Tiger's ears, as she ponders the dilemma. "Do they ship boxes in other boxes...?" she asks, sounding uncertain. "Would you then not need to ship the outside box in another..." She shakes her head to clear the thought of a box Ouroboros from her mind. "Well, then I suppose you would have two boxes, would you not?"
She moves to keep helping, Yua, of course, holding things in place... but she pauses as Yua mentions tents. "... is it? I'm rather afraid I wouldn't know..."
Her only version of 'being outside' she's ever liked is 'sunbathing on the beach', but she's not even sure she could tolerate that now...
"But anyway, dear... what would this... 'kitty tent' do...?"
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
"Well, of course! You have to protect your box!" Yua insists, quite enamoured with her logic. "But you'd only need a box box box if your box box wasn't fit to withstand the elements, I think."
That's... too many boxes...
(Tiger bats at the packing pellets. He will accept any and all boxes.)
"It's all about putting something sturdy together from the component pieces!" Yua relates, cheerfully. "And why, he could sleep in it, of course! And play with the entrance flap!"
Tiger can sleep anywhere, but he's not tired, right now. Helpfully, he tips the side of the box over, sending the packing peanuts scattering across the floor. Bat, bat, bat!!
"Wh... you little brat cat!!" Yua exclaims, looking up from where she was holding the base steady so Remi could screw in one of the upper levels. "Tigerrrr!!"
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"Well when you put it that way, I would assume that the... 'box box box' would be more preferrable than the 'box box' to begin with..." She frowns and pauses. "It would take up a rather extraordinary amount of room, would it not...?"
Look, she learned the basics of how a company is run from her parents. She didn't exactly get a tutorial in how shipping and receiving works in warehouses.
"Putting something together... yes, I think I see," says Remi with a slow nod, twisting a screwdriver to secure a screw. "I'm afraid I wouldn't know where to start with one. I've scarcely seen a tent, let alone put one together."
But kitty tent... "Hmm. I suppose he might enjoy that, then."
"Oh dear. Just a moment, please." Remi hastens to finish screwing in the remaining screws, making sure they're all snug. "You may let go now, Yua-chan." She sets the screwdriver down. "I'll help you clean this up.":
There are people that can do this, but Remi knows Yua will probably do it herself anyway, and thus, so will she help.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
"Haven't you noticed that when things are shipped to you, the objects are always much smaller than the boxes? Packaging is very bulky!"
Remi admits her unfamiliarity with tents, and Yua puffs her cheeks out. "That just won't do!" She exclaims, as if the end of the world was nigh. "One of these weekends, we're going camping, Recchi! We'll go camping, and you'll see!!"
Is Yua really enough of an outdoorswoman to be able to herd city people into the wilderness...?
She might be.
But screw, screw, screw, the cat tower is complete! It stands, resplendant and shining, with a glorious scratching post and several platforms to climb upon.
"I'll get the dustpan," Yua volunteers, bustling off to the cupboard. She knows where Eiko keeps the cleaning supplies, even if she's not always the one cleaning; she likes to help, sometimes. She bustles out with a broom and dustpan, and Tiger, naturally, leaps upon the bristles to chomp and defeat them!
"Ah! I am laid low by a mighty warrior!" Yua cries, as Tiger realises the broom has gone still and nyooooooms off to the sliding doors of the sunroom.
Yua sighs, as he wriggles. "I'm sure he'll eventually notice the real toy..."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"Well, yes, but I gather you need the packaging to protect the contents..." She gestures vaguely in the direction of the packing peanuts. "Better those packing peanuts be damaged than the cat tree..."
Yua declares that won't do, however, and Remi looks to her, blinking, mouth half open as if she means to speak but forgot what she was going to say.
She has no experience with camping, and isn't particularly sure she wants to be, but... if Yua wants to do it... Remi sighs, already imagining the potential dangers that Yua might need to be protected from in the wilderness.
... But maybe it'll turn out fun, like the cooking? She can only hope. "Very well, dear. I shall look forward to it."
But soon enough they finish, and Yua goes to get the dustpan. "Alright." She chuckles softly as Tiger pounces the bristles, and moves to encourage Tiger away, only for Tiger to run away.
"... The mighty warrior seeks his next quest already, I see. Here, let me." She offers to take the dustpan and kneel down to hold it in place so Yua can sweep them in.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
"Precisely!" Yua chirps, brightly. Wait, what was she even saying?
It takes Remi a minute to come around to camping, though, and Yua waits patiently for her to process it. "Great!" She says, just as effusive. "I'll teach you how to make a fire without matches!"
THAT SOUNDS SUPER DANGEROUS!
Working together, Remi and Yumi manage to get those packing peanuts back into the box... except for a few which Tiger batted out of sight which Eiko will have to discover later. It's fine. By the time Yua folds the flaps of the box together to re-secure it (what a strange trick!), Tiger has padded over to the cat tree, sniffing it experimentally.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee," is the noise Yua makes when she notices him, pointing wordlessly.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Precisely. What were they talking about? She's still trying to figure out how boxes get shipped...
Remi looks at Yua incredulously. "Without matches...? Why on earth would you wish to do such a thing...? A match would seem to be a rather efficient method, would it not...?"
But they get (most) of the packing peanuts, and Tiger comes back... much to Yua's excitement. Remi chuckles softly, under her breath. "Yes, dear, I see," she whispers.
She's watching, immensely curious to see how Tiger interacts with the new toy.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
It will remain an eternal mystery.
"Wellllll," Yua says, gesturing with a hand. "What happens when you don't have matches?" Is such a thing even possible, in this world? Being stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing?!
... is that what yua does for fun
Yua grasps Remi's arm, peeking out from behind her with the world's biggest smile on her face as Tiger sniffs, sniffs... and rubs against the new toy, proving once and for all that it is part of his domain.
"He likes it!!" Yua hisses, under her breath.
Tiger promptly flops onto his side beside the cat tree.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi stares at Yua, in genuine incomprehension. "So... like..." She struggles to articulate the thought. "... if we lost our matches, then...? Should we make sure to bring extra...?"
She must not have read enough fo the right kinds of adventure stories. Or maybe she never stopped to consider those were real things people did, once upon a time.
But she's wearing a small smile as Yua grows excited by Tiger taking to the new cat tree. She doesn't even mind the grip on her arm. "Yes, dear, I do believe he does... it appears our efforts have been rewarded," she whispers back.
Even if he just flops afterwards.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
"Well," Yua explains, patiently, "what if you get in a shipwreck, and you don't have any matches? Or what if you get lost on a hike, and run out of supplies?" She pauses, looking over to the arch of the kitchen, thinking of the incense burner she's placed by the stove. "Knowing how to build my own campfire is... how I can invite Hinukan to protect me, even when I'm far away from the home. Since I wasn't able to do that, in 'that place'... I'm sure the Hinukan would have responded to me if Hinukan could reach me."
That's not any god in the Shinto faith, but Remi might be able to piece together the context clues.
And lo, Tiger gazes upon the cat tree, contemplating...
"It's okay," Yua assures Remi, smiling to her. "He's always like this with new toys. I think it just means... he needs to get used to them! Oh, but I'm glad I can still make someone happy," she sighs, a touch wistfully. "He's such a good boy..."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"In a shipwreck..." Remi repeats quietly, frowning in concentration. She's giving this some serious thought, now that Yua has brought this up. She's read plenty of stories that involve a shipwreck, sure, but... did they detail that part? To herself, but still out loud, she reasons, "And you can also lose your flint and steel..."
But she follows Yua's gaze to the incense burner. Inviting Hinukan... in 'that place'... "Mmm."
Neither of them need to elaborate on 'that place'. But Remi's pleasant, even cheerful expression from a moment before has faded to a somber, thoughtful one.
She nods a bit distractedly, as Yua describes Tiger adjusting to new toys. "Yes, I see. That seems quite likely."
But despite her distraction she doesn't miss that other statement. "I am quite sure you make Miho quite happy, as well," she says softly.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
"Flint and steel is one way to make a fire without matches," Yua encourages Remi, gently. "See? You know more than you thought you did!"
There's something else carried in Yua's rare cultural admission. Hirukan is generous, and can hear prayers in any hearth; one needn't be in their own kitchen to reach the Hirukan. And that means...
That means Yua can't view any part of the Blacksite as a 'home,' comfortable as they made some parts of it.
"I hope so," Yua says, her own voice soft, as she looks down to Tiger and his slowly twitching tail. "It's difficult for her to deal with those awful men, when they want things from me... she willingly bears the burden for my sake, but I... wish I could do more for her."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Yua is encouraging but Remi isn't sure how to feel about that. "Yes, well... I only know about it from what I have read in stories, or perhaps acted out on stage. Given the real tools I am not quite certain I could start a fire properly..."
Remi doesn't know about that, of course, but... she's wondering if maybe she should. Yua is one of her closest friends, after all...
... one of a very small handful of friends at all, in fact.
But as Remi listens to Yua, she senses another topic that might need addressing first. Miho dealing with those men, and it being difficult... "Mm. Yes, I imagine it must be." She puts a hand on Yua's shoulder, gently. "There is no doubt in my mind, dear, that you are in fact the reason she can endure this. ... Not that it makes it right that she should have to."
She withdraws her hand, and tries to discreetly rub her other forearm with it, to stave off a shiver. "What else would you wish to do?" she asks, curious. "I'm sure Miho appreciates all of your efforts."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
"It's okay," Yua smiles. "I'll show you!"
She doesn't show as much of her religious practice, but it's not a comment on how close Remi is to her. It's just... not something which fits well, in Japan.
Yua smiles up to Remi, though, as she pats her shoulder. "Of course, you're right," she says, because she knows that Miho's love is that strong. "So long as we're together, nothing can stop us, right? I guess I just... feel a lot more stoppable whenever Nishiyama-san needs something."
She scratches at her cheek, contemplating Tiger for a moment... before she steps over to pick him up, his massive frame pooling over her arms as she carries him over to offer out to Remi. "Here! Tiger's warm!" ... she noticed her shivering, huh?
"I'm not quite... sure," she says, then, reaching up to scratch Tiger behind the ear. (He'll quite happily pool in Remi's arms, instead.) "... well..."
Yua shakes her head. "No, I know what I'd like to do. It just... doesn't feel possible. But... Tiger's lovely, but... if I could marry her, you know, bear her a son, she'd have a legacy of her own she could shape, you know? It's one thing for her to be such a titan, but... I feel like she'd like to pass her skills on to her own."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Yua will show her. "Then I shall be sure to follow your instructions closely."
It might not be a comment on Remi by Yua, but... Remi isn't so sure. She's been doing a lot of thinking, recently, thanks to an encounter with a certain man by the name of Kaneshiro.
"I would certainly hate to be anyone foolish enough to challenge your combined might, dear," Remi comments. Of course, she's no slouch, either, thanks to the NWO's experiments.
But she frowns as Yua mentions that name. "... Yes, I quite know what you mean."
They conditioned her to fight and protect their assets, including Yua, and yet... what good is she if she is kept out of a mission?
... Not that she wants to define her worth by that metric, but... it's hard to escape that mindset, sometimes.
It is maybe a little embarassing to be caught out but... Yua, of all people, Remi is sure understands. She smiles softly as she accepts Tiger into her arms. "Thank you, dear..." And to Tiger she smiles, "Hello, Tiger... how do you like the new cat tree we built for you?"
There is a surprised intake of breath as Yua brings up... "Oh, Yua-chan..." She might not be intimately familiar with every aspect of the legal issues involved, but... she is familiar enough to understand the difficulty, at least.
It's something she'd only thought about in abstract, before... She was sure she would eventually be introduced to someone she would be 'encouraged' to get along with, and thus the matter would more or less resolve itself. But that was before...
She contemplates Yua silently. "... have you discussed this with her?" she inquires gently.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
'Mrah,' Tiger meows, helpfully. Tragically, this isn't the answer to either Yua or Remi's torments.
Or is it?!
"... I've never spoken of it before," Yua admits, softly, her hand curling at her chest. "Part of me is afraid, if I share it with Mimi... what if there's truly no way? Or -- or what if she'd have to marry someone else to fulfill it? You know, married women can have surrogates, but single women aren't really considered..."
She frowns, looking up to Remi. (Well, she's looking at her eyebrows, but it's close enough.) "What if wanting something impossible is just another burden she'll need to carry? I -- I want to do more for her -- but what if I end up doing the opposite?"
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
If only they could partake in Tiger's wisdom. Alas, neither of them speak Cat. (But one supposes they haven't tried taking Tiger to a Palace yet, to check...)
"Oh, Yua-chan..." She's holding Tiger right now, she can't really give Yua a hug. "Come, let us sit." She moves to the couch. That way she can have Tiger in her lap, and have an arm free to comfort Yua. Single women... "I wasn't aware..." she admits, quietly.
And if this wish should become a burden... "I wish I had answers for you, I truly do... These are..." There is a pause, a hesitation.
She's attracted to both men and women, even if she's never admitted the latter to her friends. (That doesn't mean they don't know, of course, just that she's never admitted it.) And yet... she'd always assumed she would just have to... set aside, that part of herself.
So she'd never given any consideration to the difficulties Yua and Miho would face, as a result. Not only is the situation complicated, she somehow feels wholly unqualified to discuss it as well.
She sighs and slowly shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Yua-chan. I have no counsel to give. I suppose this is rightfully a matter you should discuss together, but... I understand being loathe to place more of a burden upon her."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
Tiger circles on Remi's lap, once, twice, three times... and then a fourth time, because he's Miho's cat.
(Diabolical.)
And Yua, of course, sits beside her -- though she doesn't do even a single pirouette before she does, because she is letting Tiger down -- and reaches over to scritch his little baby ears.
It's easy not to know about the trials of bians, being fair. One might practice relationships with another girl in high school, but certainly by Yua's age one is expected to find a man so universally that the alternative isn't even considered. Hiding an attraction to women is a very easy thing; even Yua isn't immune to Japanese society, to thinking that Remi, too, must surely have been practicing, even if she was lying about the relationship being only for the stage.
Remi has no answers for her, except, perhaps, for one. "No, you're right to think I ought to speak with her about it," Yua shakes her head, a touch glum. "I was just... scared to say it at all! But -- but I did say it," she reasons, with herself, "so surely I could say it again. At least... she deserves to know my feelings are really that serious, right...? Even if it's impossible..."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Four times. Remi will endure this, because it does eventually lead to a very warm cat in her lap. "Are you comfortable, Tiger?" she asks quietly as she reaches out to pet his back.
Remi, at least, isn't disappointed by the lack of pirouettes. She reaches over to gently hug Yua as best as she can with a cat in her lap.
It is easy to make those assumptions... but she might have also guessed that Miho and Yua would never... settle, for all of that.
And Remi didn't help matters by lying, by downplaying, by... acting, to disguise her actions.
But Remi has been feeling a bit introspective, of late, trying to cope with the idea that she should know her friends better than she does...
... but right now, she is here to support Yua, so she sets those thoughts aside.
"You did," Remi agrees, of having said it once. To say it again... "Would it help if I was here, when you told her?" Is she trying to offer help, or is that that protective instinct kicking in again? She's not sure. Why would she ever think she needs to protect Yua from Miho?
"Yes, I think that may be the way to go... even if it is impossible... well... then Miho shall still know you a little better than she did before, yes?"
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
'Mreh,' Tiger says, because he is being pet.
Yua was inviting Remi in, of course, mentioning something so personal to her; but it's difficult for her to volunteer so much, when the world around her views it as nothing more but quaint country talk. (She does hear her students gossip, she isn't deaf; she knows they wonder whether she came to the big city to find a man, as if the men back home are something they settle for. ... as if Okinawa's just a rural set of islands interchangable with theirs.)
Yua think on her offer, leaning in against her. "No," she shakes her head, after a moment. "It isn't dangerous, Recchi." She can guess why Remi might be feeling protective, and it comes with a stab of guilt, though she was not the one to harm her so. "Mimi would never hurt me. But... thank you," she smiles, to her. "If not for you, maybe I would have just kept those feelings inside for a lot longer..."
She'll make Remi some nice morning tea, before she leaves. Some coffee from their fancy coffee press. She likes to give Remi these nice things, even if she can't give her back the life which was taken from her.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi will happily continue to pet Tiger.
Remi appreciates the vulnerability... she cares for all of her friends, of course, but she and Yua, well...
Well.
It isn't dangerous. Remi winces a little. "I know, dear, I know, I just..." Part of that was to offer support, but... only part. She does manage a small smile back. "Of course, Yua-chan, you are most welcome." If not for her...
Remi is silent for a moment. "... yes, well... these thoughts can be rather difficult to bear alone, can't they?"
She definitely doesn't feel like the world's biggest hypocrite saying that. Not one bit.
At the very least, she will be able to sooth herself with tea and fancy coffee, at least for a little while.