Owner	Pose
Jax	For a few days, something has been brewing. Out in the darkness, there are mrowls and yowls, hisses and purrs, yipping and borping... It's downright uncanny. Whatever is going on is clearly feline related. Quite openly, blatantly cat related. And yet the resident cat mutant has become slightly elusive, refusing to answer any questions even remotely related to the odd goings on.     Until today.     Until now.     The sounds in the hallway outside of Shannon's door are, to say the least, odd. There's that clear silence of someone making no noise. But that's not all. There's rustling, bumping, and an odd sound that can only be described as many small thumps being rapidly repeated, as if something with a thousand legs is running around.     And then, out of nowhere, there is a knock and the unmistakable voice of Jax. "Hey Shannon! Got a moment?"
Shannon	From a door left slightly ajar, there is the sound of soft, lilting notes from a guitar, each string plucked lightly in a gentle, rolling rhythm. A familiar alto voice hums a by now familiar melody, as if drumming up the courage to sing. There are a few false starts, a few flubbed notes, before the musician within finally finds her footing, singing softly to herself. "Hey, homecoming queen Why do you lie? When somebody's mean Where do you hide? Do people assume You're always alright? Been so good at smiling Most of your life...."      The song, however, fades away, the strings silenced as Shannon rests her hand across them to still the vibrations. She lets out a soft sigh, glancing towards the door. A visitor? A rarity, for one to cast their shadow on her doorstep. Still...      "Jax? Sure, come on in. What's up?"
Jax	There is a few more moments of shuffling and some... is that a borp? That sounded suspiciously like a cat trying to whisper.     Suddenly the door swings open, rapidly, energetically, enough to make a *whoosh* sound as it does. And there, in the corridor stands Jax, in a cheerleading outfit in Patriot colors, complete with pompoms. And surrounding him, taking up literally half of the upstairs hallway, is a herd of cats.     "Gimme and S!" Jax begins, and the cats spring into motion as he does, following along with the energetic dance routine, waving tails and tilting ears almost perfectly synchronised. "Gimme an H, gimme an A, gimme an N, another N! Gimme an O, one more N! What's that spell?!"     By now it's as if the floodgates have opened, and the cats pour in, jumping on every available soft surface and crowding around Shannon.     "Shannon! Shannon! Shannon! Shannon!"
Shannon	"What... the... FUCKERY?! Aaaaack!" There is just enough time to get her guitar safely put away off to the side, where hopefully it will not suffer the depredations of cat claws and curious little pink snoots. The same cannot be said, however, of her lap. Or arms. Or any part of her that soon winds up covered in fur-coated, purring razorblades that knead.      And knead.      And knead some more, in that classic art known colloquially as 'smurgling', 'kneading bread', or just as frequently, 'making biscuits'.      And Shannon seems to be the dough.      "Jax, you wingnut! What on earth...?!" Is that a laugh coming from the stunned, shocked winged healer? No, surely it must be an auditory illusion!
Jax	Within moments, the room is filled with happily purring cats. Some no more than kittens, others grizzled semi-feral toms who nevertheless deign to let themselves be seen in the company of pampered pets and lap cats. It's almost as if every cat Shannon has ever seen or even glanced in the area is there. No, scratch that... absolutely every cat Shannon has ever interacted with that still lives in the area is here. And it's a big, big area.     Jax enters last and closes the door, which takes a bit of doing while still holding pompoms. In the end, the shiny, dangly things are put down, and immediately pounced upon by the younger among the felines, carefully observed by a few elderly matrons.     "Squeaks said you were feeling sad. Well, what he said was that you were feeling really, really sad, so.... I figured this wasn't a one cat problem. Or a two cat problem. So, popped out, spread the word that you needed cheering up, and here we are."
Shannon	"'Scared' is a better word," Shannon admits, letting out a sigh of surrender. There was no way she was going to escape talking about this, and no way she was going to escape feline therapy. Not with so many cats in attendance. Not only are the little kittens playing with the sparkly Patriots-themed pompoms, some seem to have decided to play hide-and-seek amongst her wings! The ones that choose to array themselves in her lap, she allows to do so, offering them each attention in turn, ear-scritches and all.      "Just been really 'off' since the Gulf of Corinth. I've been wishing I could talk to some of the teachers, see how they deal with fear after the fertilizer hits the fan out in the field. Beginning of the school year things have gotten in the way a lot, though, I get that."      Her brows furrow, and the fingers working their way amongst the fur of her erstwhile feline companions slow just a touch. "I can't let this tie me up in knots but I'm not sure how to deal with it. And if I can't deal with this, what good am I going to be to a patient or teammate out there when they need me the most?"
Jax	Aha! The cat's out of the bag.     Threading his way through the collection of fur, tails, ears and spiky bits, Jax sits down on a chair that mysteriously clears of felines just as he sits. With a nod, he leans forwards and steeples his fingers, in the classic psycho-analist 'tell me more' pose. Slightly spoiled, of course, that he now has a cat on each shoulder, and a small kitten sprawled on top of his head, peeking out from between his ears, looking at the world from so high up with the typical kitten wonder. "Zere is much zu talk about, ja?". Even his fake German accent is all ham. Luckily, he continues in a normal voice.     "So, don't tell her I told you this, 'cause she will pitch me overboard next time I see her, but the Captain was terrified too. Hah, even Gregor didn't know what to do anymore, that should tell you something. It was scary stuff. The kind of scary stuff you normally only ever get to see once, briefly. Honestly, if you weren't such good pals with Neptune, don't think we'd be sitting around now talking 'bout it."     Which is, for Jax, a frightening level of introspection.     "So, what's bothering you about it? Hate to tell you, but... nobody on that boat knew what to do, not something that's ever happened to them before."
Shannon	"We were shut into that little room," Shannon fumed. "We were helpless. I could only have carried one of you at a time to shore and by then it would have been too late for some. We were closed in, sinking, and on top of that...." Her face goes flame red, and she coughs rather noisily. Her voice is something of a squeak as she admits something else. "...I'm pretty sure I soiled myself right in front of Poseidon, I was so fucking terrified."
Jax	Little room? Little? Jax' ear twitches for a moment, but decides that the descriptor is probably more significant than accurate. "Yeah, that. Kinda standard procedure when the yacht is sinking, 'cause it's easier to get out to the life raft from there. Big sliding doors, bit of the bulwark that hinges open so you can step right in... but kinda terrifying when the boat's falling through the water." At the mention of the word 'water', practically every feline in the room stops what they're doing, and swivel their heads directly at Jax. "Sorry, sorry, won't mention again, sorry..."     There is a collective sniff and then a variety of 'well, alright then' noises in a variety of pitches and tremolos. The collective purring resumes, making the room sound almost like the inside of a bee hive.     "I mean, only reason I wasn't trying to claw my way through the window was 'cause I knocked myself out on the coffee table." Man... Not his finest hour.
Shannon	"And that little bit of barley on the water was just a sort of, 'Hi, how are you, nice place you have here and thanks for letting us pass through.'" Shannon moves to shake her head, but much to her surprise, she too seems to have taken the Cat in the Hat literally, in that a cat has -become- the Hat. "Shhhh, yes I know, I said the 'W' word. Just... I hated being that helpless. Haven't been that helpless to save my friends since about two years ago. Couldn't even help any of you get to the lifeboat. I just... froze. That's never happened to me before. The only thing I could think of was to pray."
Jax	"Which, y'know, saved us." Astute summary from Jax, as per usual. Or not. "And I'm telling you, the only reason I didn't freeze or freak out, is 'cause I couldn't. Tell me about anyone on that boat at that time that wasn't freaking out."     The purring in the room is probably loud enough to vibrate some walls, and can probably be heard in the hallway. Or, you know, possibly even downstairs. There's some big cats in here. One of them, clearly a Maine Coon, looks at Shannon with his head tilted halfway around, tongue lolling as if he's some kind of puppy. That is one, very, very weird cat.     "But I know you. Bet you've thought of a dozen things you'll do differently next time, right?"
Kit Killovarras	When there is this much fur, this much noise and this many things all living in the same room, it's going to grab some attention. As silent as he can be, the sound of Kit's curious snuffling can be heard for the other side of the door for a moment before it just sort of, stops.. "I can't think of a polite way to ask this... But what the fuck is going on in there? And why can I smell /THAT/ many different things?" Behind the door is a very, very confused looking yeen in very, very different clothing than he normally wears. In place of his shorts, or jeans and a hoodie, he's wearing dark brown pants and what looks like a tan-ish brown... tunic? It very much looks home made and is probably fairly comfortable, but it's also the first time he's worn it since coming to the school.
Shannon	A wide variety of purrs, meows, and mewling noises from cats of myriad sizes and range of ages is Kit's primary answer, through the door that has helpfully been left ajar. Both Jax and Shannon, were he to peer through said opening into the room, would have their respective share of feline friends festooning them as if they were furry little garlands. "Thing is, Jax, there -isn't- anything that could be done differently. But how do I keep myself from freezing like that again? How do I deal with that level of fear if it ever comes up again? The only thing I can think of is about a dozen or so questions, not things I'd do differently...."      Her voice trails off when she hears someone outside the door calling in. Rolling her eyes, she raises her voice to answer. "Come on in, Kit, just watch out for a lot of tails!"
Jax	"Shame there's no way of doing it over again, y'know? Try something different, now that you're prepared, see what works?" Nope, absolutely no way of doing that. That would require something like a holodeck. Or a specialised room that could simulate danger. A danger room, if you will. But such technology is clearly the stuff of the future. Couldn't possibly exist.     "Oh, hey, sorry, let me just..." And Jax stands when Kit is invited in, spreading the mass of fur like some kind of very specific prophet, leaving a free patch for someone to tread should they so wish. He is, himself, not dressed as usual either. For some reason, he's dressed like a New England Patriots cheerleader. Complete with pompoms, although those are currently being shaken back and forth in the tiny fangs of a pair of very small kittens.     "It's the all-cat cheer squad!"
Kit Killovarras	Kit winds up coming in, closing the door behind him again as he just stands there for a moment.. stunned as he looks around at all the cats. Eventually, he just shakes his head and laughs a little. "Well, this is... weird. But somehow it's not surprising." Then he looks between the others for a moment and his ears twitch a little as he asks, "So.. Why all the cats.. and the cheerleader outfit..?" he asks after a moment, letting one of his ears fold to one side. Then he stops and just sort of stares at Shannon for a moment, "aaand.. you're upset.." he finally says, his other ear folding out and to the side as he asks, "What's wrong? How can I help..?"
Shannon	"Just... haven't been quite right since the Gulf of Corinth," Shannon replies, after a few long moments of peering right back at Kit. "And I'm not used to friends sticking around long enough to talk this kind of stuff out. At least, not friends my own age."      Motioning to Jax and his decidedly cheer-y getup, she tries not to smile--and fails. Miserably. "Better not let your dad see you in a picture of that," she says. "He'll pitch a fit for sure."
Jax	"Whatever could you possibly mean?" Jax asks with a grin, when Kit mentions he shouldn't be surprised. That kitten is still perched on his head, and Big Bob is easily balancing on his left shoulder. Rosa is currently climbing back up to his other shoulder, in the classic 'hang on kitty' pose.     "Don't let my dad see me like this? I sent him a picture half an hour ago, I bet he's still laughing. Knowing him, he'll send a Christmas card with that picture to the rest of the family." Because Jax refuses to take things seriously, and seems to have inherited that from at least one side of his family. But that does mean that when one of his friends needs cheering up, he's liable to show up actually herding cats.     "And, so, you know, you can talk to me 'bout this kinda stuff. All of it. Dunno what help I can be without the furious fifty feline back-up squad, but... y'know, I'm just down the hall. Or bribe me with food, that always works too. Point is, I ain't going anywhere, and I promise you, if you bottle things up and I find out you're upset without telling me, next time this room ain't gonna be big enough for all the furry backup I'll be bringing."
Kit Killovarras	Kit tilts his head for a moment, then gives a shrug and a warm little smile, "Well, I mean I don't plan on going anywhere.. Least not permanently." he says with a little chuckle. He hasn't tried moving since entering the room, giving a glance around to the various cats for a moment before looking back to Shannon and adding, "Seriously though, if you ever need an ear.." he'll wiggle his a little and give a bit of a grin.. Yeah, he's trying to be cute, or funny, though it doesn't help that his ears are taking on a constantly lowered position. He'll lean against the door a bit, tilting his head a little as he sighs. "Really though, I think that took a hell of a toll on all of us.. Nothing like being dragged to the bottom of the ocean to make you flip out about your own mortality a little.."
Shannon	"Facing death wasn't the worst part of it, though," Shannon replies, holding up her hand. For some reason, one of the little kittens on her shoulder has taken this as a cue for some much-needed head bonking and petting--which she is all too happy to oblige! "It was being unable to help anyone. And it didn't help, being confined in that little room."      One fingertip came up under a ginger-furred little chin, with the winged healer making funny little cooing sounds as she went nose-to-nose with the kitten who had garnered her attention for the moment. "I've faced down some weird shit out there, and some here. Hell, I'm an undertaker's kid, so death isn't exactly a mystery to me. But it's very rare for me to be afraid, and this is the most afraid I've ever been. What if I freeze up when someone needs me the most?"      She glances at Jax for a moment, peering into his eyes, and smiles a bit. "You sounded for a moment like my bestie who was here up till about a year-ish ago. He moved on to MIT. Pretty much threatened to kick my ass if I bottle shit up. It's just been a bear finding someone to talk to about it."
Jax	Oh dear. Whatever control Jax seems to have over all these cats may not be strong enough to counter the lure of chin scritches. More and more cats are queuing up, prompting Big Bob to jump down from Jax' shoulder and cut in line to stop the bigger cats from pushing aside the kitten. He may be tough and mean, but Big Bob has a heart of pure gold.... gold-ish. "Sounds like a sensible guy." is all Jax will say on the topic, and then glances at the collection of cats. It seems the spell is very near to being broken. There is a kind of fractiousness setting in that wasn't there a few moments ago. Rosa mewls in his ear. Big Bob gives him a glance. The weird Maine Coon on the desk gives a strangle 'borp'. The kitten on his head looks down, staring down the large cat mutant.     Ah yes. That promise. Because it's impossible to herd cats...     But it's really, really easy to bribe them.     "C'mon, my furry friends! Snacks in the kitchen!"     Cue stampede.