He can sense the annoyance and, while he doesn't smile, he is rather pleased with the reaction. He had felt neglected when CK went aground, so it feels good to do some of the neglecting.
"I only went once. Found a few games to play. My warden has me on a hunt, but I thought this appropriate, too.""
"Is he? Rewarding you. Like you're some puppy to be trained." His own scowl deepens. He's the one to make Iago light up like that. He's what his life and attention should be orbiting around. What is this... interloper planning?
So that's how it is. The Cat King's expression turns cold and distant. He feels icy, even though he can hear his heart pounding in his ears. His lip lifts in a sneer, almost on its own.
"I never said I was going by myself. I said it was a choice. A choice I had hoped to extend to you," he points out, but follows it quickly. "Where had you planned on us going?" he asks, sacchrine sweet. "Would we return to your world so you could leave me for Edwin?"
"Edwin?" He's yelling now, face flushing. Eyes too bright. "You think Edwin's the reason I have to go back to a life where he was the only thing that chased away the misery for a while? A-a... prissy little ghost boy who couldn't wait to be rid of me? That Edwin?"
He grits his teeth.
"Even if I were capable of graduating, I can only go back. I am a Cat King. I am only a Cat King. I can't be anything else."
"Yes, that Edwin," he says to him with that same sacchrine tone, but drops it for now.
"And you can be whatever you wish to be. You can take your powers and go somewhere else. There are cats to protect and courts to hold in all corners of the universe."
"I cannot. I'm starting to think you know nothing about me at all." Perhaps because he's reluctant to speak the truth of his being, who and what he really is. His purpose. But Iago's never really asked, either.
"And I won't leave this ship unless the Admiral grows bored with me and 'loses' me back to my world, regardless. There is no choice, not for me."
"Oh, and what am I to you, hm? Your favorite human. Your most loyal plaything?"
He stands up, jaw set. "You tell me nothing and accuse me of not knowing. You tell me you will never leave this place, convince me that I must leave, and grow angry when I seek out places for us to be?"
He throws his hands in the air. "I have given my love and my heart to a cat, and he is as capricious with it as he is a mouse in his grasp? Should I be surprised? And yet, here I stand, hand on my bleeding chest while I wonder how this could have happened."
"I'm the cruel one? Me? When you called me your king, while clearly think my duty and my title - my identity is a joke I can walk away from? Please. You don't know how much I gave you, Iago. How much more I was willing to give-"
His voice cracks. He looks away.
"Fuck you."
There's a purple flash and he's a cat again, slinking towards the door. Cats can't cry.
He lets him go, swallowing back the rise of bile in his throat as he sits and picks up his tablet again. His chest feels tight, his throat constricted, and he thinks maybe this is how one might die. Choking and drowning with plenty of air that simply can't get to his lungs.
The feeling fades as it always does. His body returns to normal. The game waits on the screen for his input but his hands are frozen.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2025-07-31 08:55 pm (UTC)"I only went once. Found a few games to play. My warden has me on a hunt, but I thought this appropriate, too.""
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Date: 2025-07-31 09:07 pm (UTC)"A hunt? What mice does he have you chasing after, then?"
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Date: 2025-07-31 09:09 pm (UTC)He turns, bright and proud, to face him. "He said my writing was well thought out and my research done right. He is rewarding me with this."
He walks over, game finished, and sits on the bed with him.
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Date: 2025-07-31 09:13 pm (UTC)"He going to give you a collar, too?"
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Date: 2025-07-31 09:16 pm (UTC)Iago moves closer, watching that scowl. He might have had his momentary delight at annoying him, but he genuinely doesn't want to make him angry.
And he doesn't know why he's resisting. "He has offered a place to go."
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Date: 2025-07-31 09:22 pm (UTC)"A place to go." He repeats, flatly. "Care to explain?"
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Date: 2025-07-31 09:41 pm (UTC)"If I graduate. A choice, if I want it. To return to his world. Hence the studies."
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Date: 2025-08-01 09:24 am (UTC)"And you're doing it. You've chosen to go with him."
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Date: 2025-08-01 11:02 am (UTC)He drops his hand. "I haven't been presented any other offers."
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Date: 2025-08-01 02:13 pm (UTC)"You said you were staying here."
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Date: 2025-08-01 02:16 pm (UTC)"And you convinced me to go," he replies, easy and gentle. "You convinced me that I shouldn't stay."
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Date: 2025-08-01 04:57 pm (UTC)He should have known.
He shouldn't have given Iago the power to hurt him.
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Date: 2025-08-01 05:01 pm (UTC)The pain is sharp enough.
"I never said I was going by myself. I said it was a choice. A choice I had hoped to extend to you," he points out, but follows it quickly. "Where had you planned on us going?" he asks, sacchrine sweet. "Would we return to your world so you could leave me for Edwin?"
no subject
Date: 2025-08-01 05:35 pm (UTC)He grits his teeth.
"Even if I were capable of graduating, I can only go back. I am a Cat King. I am only a Cat King. I can't be anything else."
no subject
Date: 2025-08-01 05:37 pm (UTC)"And you can be whatever you wish to be. You can take your powers and go somewhere else. There are cats to protect and courts to hold in all corners of the universe."
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Date: 2025-08-01 06:47 pm (UTC)"And I won't leave this ship unless the Admiral grows bored with me and 'loses' me back to my world, regardless. There is no choice, not for me."
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Date: 2025-08-01 06:53 pm (UTC)He stands up, jaw set. "You tell me nothing and accuse me of not knowing. You tell me you will never leave this place, convince me that I must leave, and grow angry when I seek out places for us to be?"
He throws his hands in the air. "I have given my love and my heart to a cat, and he is as capricious with it as he is a mouse in his grasp? Should I be surprised? And yet, here I stand, hand on my bleeding chest while I wonder how this could have happened."
no subject
Date: 2025-08-01 07:33 pm (UTC)His voice cracks. He looks away.
"Fuck you."
There's a purple flash and he's a cat again, slinking towards the door. Cats can't cry.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-01 07:39 pm (UTC)His love.
He lets him go, swallowing back the rise of bile in his throat as he sits and picks up his tablet again. His chest feels tight, his throat constricted, and he thinks maybe this is how one might die. Choking and drowning with plenty of air that simply can't get to his lungs.
The feeling fades as it always does. His body returns to normal. The game waits on the screen for his input but his hands are frozen.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-01 08:10 pm (UTC)He doesn't want to be here.
He doesn't want to be anywhere.
How foolish it was, to think he had a human again.