Project Boussh: Cat and Mouse
by Durandir

The dungeons were, all things considered, a feline paradise. There 
were plenty of mice and rats to keep Macavity busy for hours; and so 
he kept contentedly busy. He'd have to emerge eventually--to see 
about those peculiar new kinds of songbirds he'd spotted earlier 
aboveground, and to see also about finishing the staking out of his 
territory--but there would be time enough for that. For now, he was 
glorying in an abundance of rodent prey.

As he occupied himself with batting around his latest catch, simply 
playing with it, since he'd long since sated himself and need no 
longer hunt for food today, something new appeared in his field of 
vision. He knew it was a human: but it was not *his* human, nor any 
other with whom Macavity was on terms of familiarity. By scent he 
recognized the man who'd followed him, together with the Great Furry 
One, to find his person, many catnaps ago. He had seen that his 
person had become familiar with this strange human; but Macavity knew 
that cats must be wise even if humans are not. So he watched warily 
from the shadows as the stranger approached.

~

Thayer roamed the dungeon levels--empty now, thank Heaven; at last 
they'd sorted out that mess his uncle had bequeathed him--in search 
of an unprecedented ally. He'd never before suspected that a cat 
could be so difficult to catch if it didn't wish to be caught. It was 
clear that Macavity didn't wish to be caught.

A flash of orange around a corner taunted him; it had to be the cat, 
but how was he to catch such a blur? "Macavity!" he called 
finally. "I give up. Come out, won't you? I have to talk to you. I 
need your help..." No answer. No further blurs of orange, either. He 
sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead in frustration.

And then he peeked around a corner, and there was the cat, sitting 
calmly in the middle of the hall. "Macavity!" said Thayer. "Come 
here, cat, will you?" Naturally, he wouldn't. Thayer crouched down 
and reached out a hand--but the movement perhaps startled the cat. 
Macavity bolted, the spot of orange quickly fading into the darkness 
of the surroundings.

"This can't go on," Thayer grumbled.

~

Thayer found Runt lounging in the med bay with a half-dozen other 
pilots. "Good," said the Dictator, looking around anxiously, "Becki's 
not here. Runt, might I speak with you a moment?"

The Thakwaash's eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded and followed 
Thayer out of the room.

~

Indeed, the songbirds here were a rare delicacy. Macavity had never 
encountered anything so fine in his own territory. Molly and Tamarisk 
would regret not having accompanied him on this adventure--Molly for 
the birds, Tamarisk for the adventure.

Suddenly his nose told him that his hunt was again to be interrupted. 
It was the strange human again. But with him--how odd--the Great 
Furry One! Macavity crept behind a flowering bush to see what would 
happen.

~

"He is near here, we think, Thayer," said Runt. "We still do not see 
why you wish to catch the cat, though."

"I, well--it is--you see--"

Runt smiled and shook his head. "We will understand if it is 
something of which you cannot speak."

"Well, it's not that I cannot speak of it. Rather, that I feel silly 
enough as it is, chasing round the Palace after this infernal cat, 
and I cannot find a way to explain my reasons for doing so that would 
not make me feel even sillier."

"Ah," Runt nodded sagely, apparently not inclined to press this line 
of questioning. "It is no matter."

"Do you see him yet? There was that half-eaten bird back there; 
surely the cat should be--"

"Shh," Runt warned. "By the bush." He nodded to indicate one of the 
plants; indeed, there among the leaves was that elusive golden fur. 

"Come on, Macavity," Thayer pled. "Do, please do come out." But the 
cat did not budge. Well, at least he hadn't moved any farther away. 
That seemed progress. Thayer turned to his companion. "It's no good. 
Maybe he'll come to you?"

"We shall try," Runt nodded. He in turn called to the cat, and 
Macavity seemed to be studying the two of them very carefully, 
glancing from Thayer to Runt as if to wonder what business had 
brought them together there. The cat's nose strained forward, a 
perplexed look in his golden eyes, but he did not leave the security 
of the bush.

At last Runt took a few careful steps forward. But Macavity glanced 
once more from Runt to Thayer, then turned and ran.

"I shall be seeing that blur of orange in my dreams," Thayer sighed.

~

It was impossible to give up. Having latched onto that one thought--
she is nearly as aloof as that cat of hers--he was determined to see 
the plan through. If only Macavity were not equally determined to 
rebuff Thayer's attempts to befriend him! It struck him, in a 
reflective moment, that if he couldn't persuade the aloof cat, 
perhaps it was no wonder he was unsuccessful with the woman as well.

But that was the whole point, wasn't it? If he *could* befriend the 
cat, then...

He rounded a corner, and there was Macavity, sitting serenely out in 
the middle of the hallway, a most irritating habit of the animal's. 
Thayer stood still and stared at the cat for a moment. Macavity 
stared back, equally still. At last, Thayer slowly crouched down, 
slowly reached out, and quietly spoke: "Please, Macavity?"

The cat made no move to come nearer. But at least he made no move to 
run.

"You aren't a very sociable houseguest, you know. I won't hurt you. I 
don't see why you're so determined to distrust me, either. Come here, 
Macavity, let me meet you."

But the cat just sat there. They went on thus for several minutes, 
Thayer fruitlessly coaxing the golden statue that the cat seemed to 
have become.

Then, most unexpectedly, a giggle rang out behind him. Even on his 
knees, Thayer nearly jumped a foot. He looked around behind, and it 
was she.

"Hi," he said sheepishly.

"You're going about it all wrong," Becki answered, watching him in 
amusement. She came forward, placed a hand on his shoulder to steady 
herself, and knelt down beside him. "No coaxing a cat who doesn't 
*want* to come."

She looked away from him, back to the cat; Thayer, however, found 
himself unable to avert his eyes from her face. She then began to 
call the cat, just as he'd been doing, but in a lighter tone, almost 
mocking, with a carefully cultivated air of disinterest. It seemed a 
disinterest, he thought, nearly great enough to match the disinterest 
Macavity had been showing all day long.

The cat cocked its head to listen to her, but still wouldn't come. 
She finally gave up with a sigh. "He won't come to me for fear of 
you, I suppose. Time to change tactics." She stood up and reached a 
hand down for him; he took it, half in a daze, and stood to join her.

"Now," she said, turning with him to face away from the cat, "act as 
if you don't *want* him to come to you. That's the only way to be 
certain that a cat *will*."

"How," he asked, still unable to look away from her, "am I to act as 
if--" But suddenly he stopped, feeling a sudden weight against his 
leg. He looked down; and it was, of course, the cat, weaving merrily 
back and forth between the two of them.

"See?" she smiled triumphantly.

"Well, of all the..."

"He'll let you pet him now, I think. Ice broken, and all that." And 
she was right. Reluctantly releasing Becki's hand, Thayer reached 
down and stroked the enormous tawny head, and Macavity purred all the 
louder, pressing eagerly against his fingertips.

"You are a very perverse creature, you know that?" Thayer chided the 
cat. "Make up your mind."

Becki laughed gently. "Sooner ask a rancor to curb its appetite. Cats 
are supposed to be indecisive; else they'd not be cats. It's one of 
their more endearing qualities."

"In that case," he smiled up at her, "I don't want to know their bad 
qualities."

"Silly. I think he likes you."

"It's very kind of him. I hope he won't change his mind about *that* 
a minute from now."

"No, I don't think he will. He's indecisive, but not unloyal."

Several minutes passed in silence, save for the rich, deep purrs of 
the tabby cat. Then Becki's comlink sounded to call her away.

"Sorry," she said, and she truly looked sorry. "I have to go."

"We'll be all right," Thayer said. "I'll look after him; don't worry."

"I suspect he'll look after you, too," she smiled 
wistfully. "Well...see you later, then." And she left, not 
disappearing all of a sudden as Thayer'd seen her do one too many 
times, but walking away slowly, glancing back more than once, the 
wistful smile still in place.

When she was quite gone, he returned his attention to the cat. "Well, 
Mac," he smiled. "mission accomplished. Good cat. Yes, you are." The 
tomcat purred in pure delight. "I'm most pleased to make your 
acquaintance, Sir Cat. You're much prettier up close, do you know? 
You shouldn't make such a habit of running before people can come 
close enough to see what a beauty you are. But perhaps one can't 
fault you for caution." Macavity blinked inscrutable golden eyes at 
him as if to agree. "Anyway. You'll help me, won't you, Cavver? 
There's perhaps no one in all the Palace who could be of such help to 
me, if not you. Will you help me to win your mistress? Lead me to her 
again as you led Runt and me to her rescue once?"

And Macavity blinked once more; it seemed a gesture by which to seal 
a pact. "I'll take that as a yes," Thayer smiled. "Thank you, 
Macavity."