Take a Breath ((OPEN!!!))

[shizoo]

The mercurial little tom's heart sank a bit as he leaned back instinctively into Tommy's touch for comfort. His dream girl was looking confused, & the other odd one was disparaging reading. . Reading?! I mean really? Reading was awesome!! he thought--his smile fading by degrees.
Though when the gorgeous queen smiled at him, his heart stuttered--then his mouth followed, completely bypassing his brain--he stammered out. "I like reading myself. . for fun. It's not just for humans anymore." he stated a trifle dizzily.
Finally acknowledging that he was clearly out of his social depth here, Merton gracefully turned & scooted behind Tommy--keeping his paws on the taller tom's shoulders. "Well, Tommy here is an expert in fun--completely cool about it." he said, trying for a casual laugh, & ending up sounding a lot more like a turtle with a cold. With a spasmodic jerk of his head, Merton nodded at Tommy. "Tell em Tommy, tell em what you. .I mean we like to do for fun."

[eliaza]

Alyssa gave up trying to figure out the moral dilemma of the story and stared at Merton. Reading? For fun? "But if reading is fun," she protested, "why do humans hate it so much? They all hate it but they make each other do it, and so they're all miserable until the holidays." She shrugged. "Least, that was my humans." She looked at Tommy as Merton deferred the question of "fun" to him. "So," she grinned, "Merton likes to read for fun, Electra supposes it depends on the situation, what great ideas do you come up with?"

[X2]

Thomas quirked an eyebrow and a smile, though his smile seemed to fade around the same time Merton's had. It wasn't that he was copying Merton, it was simply their shared time together that seemed to connect the two. Tommy could literally feel his buddy's emotions drooping and he couldn't help but be disheartened along with Merton. The tom was so awkward and socially backwards with queens. He supposed he could try yet again to teach and train Merton how to flirt with queens.

At the very least, he could try teaching Merton to be less...Merton. His mental voice laughed at how ridiculous that had sounded. Merton couldn't be anything besides himself.

Though, thinking about it now, Thomas didn't have the best record with dates and queens either. Yet Merton still thought he had the best luck when it came to queens. He opened his mouth and was about to say something, when Alyssa piped in about reading, hating it, humans. It was not really a topic he let himself follow much. Merton was more the intellectual type. Still, he inwardly sighed, and unconsciously took a protective stance in front of Merton (Who had already slipped behind him.)

He could just see Merton jumping to her opinion as though it were a personal jibe and go on and on about the wonders of books and reading. Tommy had no opinion either way, aside from the fact that he couldn't read human words. Though he knew he would not be able to sit still long enough to read, even if he could. Instead, he answered the question Alyssa directed at him and just hoped that Merton would let the comment about reading go. "Oh, Anything physical." Came his confident voice, not realizing that his statement could be taken the wrong way.

[Moonstruck]

Electra's eyes continually flicked between Alyssa and Merton with their differing opinions of reading. Honestly she just really hoped neither of them tried to draw on her opinion in the matter for two reasons. First off she really didn't like taking sides on something the dark queen had little opinion on, and second she could barely read human words - it simply wasn't something she'd even needed so she never learned. Instead she just silently hoped this wouldn't turn bad as Lecky wasn't exactly certain how to diffuse this, she didn't know either cat well enough to know a topic that would distract them.

Electra was insanely grateful as Tommy redirected the conversation back to fun. Anything physical... Upon hearing that and how confident Tommy was Electra blushed, her mind not exactly going to a wholesome interpretation of anything physical. She did after all live in the same tribe as Tugger, whom some of her friends held an infatuation for and Tugger was well, Tugger. So it wasn't really a stretch that that was what came to mind. Electra attempted to form a reply that wasn't tinged with a bit of sarcasm but was currently failing. Instead she settled for, "It might be helpful to rephrase that a little bit Tommy." A blush still tinging her cheeks worrying that she might be the only one who heard the double meaning of physical.

[shizoo]

Merton wasn't even aware of the comforting contact between him & Tommy, he just knew he felt much more confident with his buddy here. Placing his paws on Tommy's shoulder he stood on tiptoe & peeped over at the females, his mind humming along at a furious pace--ok, girls didn't like reading, got that, message received. He could almost hear the clicks & whirrs in his head as his mind searched frantically for something--anything to talk about that didn't involve books.
Absently, he rubbed his cheek comfortingly against Tommy's upper arm as he stared at Electra--his expression rather blank.
Topics. . Topics.. he had plenty of topics in his head, just none a girl might be interested in. He heard the subject of 'anything physical' come up & his heart sank--innocently missing the double entendre completely.
Desperate he blurted out the first thing he could think of--"Do you believe in ghosts??"
Then the little tom quailed a bit as he realized that yes, those words had come out of his mouth. Slowly--not wanting to see his dream girl's disgust, he sank back behind Tommy rather wishing for a hole to open beneath his feet.

[eliaza]

Alyssa almost burst out laughing at Merton's ridiculous question. But then she actually stopped to think half a minute, and it hit her that this whole time he was trying to impress Electra or at least pique her interest in something. So he was asking the first thing he thought of out of sheer desperation? So weird... Still, Alyssa decided to take his question and run with it. It could at least steer the conversation somewhere... "Ghosts...hmm...Well, Tommy obviously doesn't believe in ghosts, huh?" She winked at Tommy. "Since you only like 'anything physical.' But me, I totally think they're a possibility. I mean like, how do you explain those weird unexplained noises at night and stuff?" She paused, hoping Electra or Tommy would join in with something interesting to stop the conversation teetering between boring and insane.

[X2]

Thomas paw wound around to grasp at Merton's side. He subconsciously sought out, physically, Merton's presence. Especially after he felt his best friends paw holding onto his own shoulder. He had been having a hard time following the more colorful aspects of the conversation, though he did find Merton's babbling endearing. However, at the mention of ghosts. Something probably immature, but it was a topic that interested him. His eyebrow up, but as Merton was still slightly behind him, he knew Merton wouldn't have seen it. "Ghosts Merton?" Thomas gave Alyssa a grin and shrugged. "Perhaps. But I do think just the idea of Ghost can have a real physical reaction in others." He grabbed Merton by the shouldes, and turned him around to be face to face with him. "So ghosts? What strange happening has brought up this topic, huh buddy?"

[Moonstruck]

Lecky was relieved when the possible innuendo went by without much of a comment. Sure things like that didn't bother her, hell Electra occasionally made them, although it was normally with those she knew better. For her it'd simply have been uncomfortable since she didn't know these cats as well.

Her attention was dragged back to the actual conversation rather than the hypothetically awkward one she had been considering by Alyssa's laugh. Ghosts? Well that was an interesting conversation topic, rather out of left field but interesting none the less. Silently she nodded along to the comments of Alyssa and Tommy, agreeing with both. "Or sometimes move items too" She tacked onto Tommy's statement about reactions in others.

[Moonstruck]

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[Moonstruck]

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