misborncat | [carpe] For Neville -closed-

"I doubt I have your reflexes for that kind of thing," Neville points out. He still catches himself staring at the Ribika's ears and tail sometimes, but he's become mostly accustomed to the cat-like appearance.

"I can teach you that in the summer. It will be nice and we can get into the lake without freezing."

"So you don't mind the water?" In Neville's experience with Kneazles and cats, they avoided water, or at least submersion.

"I like the water," Asato says, rechecking his bag before heading back out of the greenhouse once Neville's ready. "Not many Ribika do, but the bigger cats enjoy swimming and bathing in the water."

"And that includes you?" Neville asks, following Asato out of the greenhouse before falling in step beside him.

Asato nods. "I'm considered a big cat. I'm tall and larger than other small cats," he adds. "I don't know many small cats though."

"Yes, you are tall," Neville murmurs, looking away from Asato almost shyly. "Are there non-speaking cats in your world -- cats that aren't Ribika?"

That's akin to asking if there were humans that weren't humans. Asato blinks a bit at that.

"Do you mean like the true cats? No, they're in our legends though. And I've met a true cat here. He's orange and he can speak. And Anita can change her shape into a silver cat that walks on four legs."

Neville stares at Asato a long moment with something akin to wonder. "I'm not certain what you mean by "true cat". In my world, there's nothing like you, and regular animals don't speak. Some wizards have the ability to transfigure into animals, they're call animagi, but it's only a spell and they don't speak. Mug--," he cuts himself off. Because of Merlin, he tries not to use that term any longer - it doesn't seem to have a place here at the Mansion in any case.

He starts over. "Non-wizards have cats as pets - they don't speak though. They're cute little balls of fur, but I'm not sure they really think beyond their next meal or nap. Wizards have Kneazles, which look like large cats. They have the ability to sense suspicious people, and they make very good familiars for wizards."

Taking a deep breath, he smiles at Asato. "I've never encountered anyone like you. And of course I know you're not merely an animal. You have a heart and a conscious and you're one of the nicest -- persons I've met here. I'm just trying to understand what your world is like." It's practically a speech for Neville. "But I don't even understand what this place is, so I probably ask a lot of daft questions."

Asato listens to Neville explain his world and then is quiet for a long moment as he gathers his thoughts carefully.

"My world ... Is filled with green." He looks over to the forest. "If you were to take that forest there, and stretch it over all of the world and make it much, much deeper and fill it with plants that walk and plants that glow like the moon when it's full... Then it would be close to my home. The land I live on is called Sisa, and my village is called Kira.

"In my world, there are my kind, the Ribika, and there are many great beasts that hunt in the forests of my home. If you are not familiar with it, it can be very dangerous and many cats from the cities or from villages that are close to cities hire the cats that live in the deep forests as guides."

Asato glances at Neville, wondering if this is boring him. It didn't sound as amazing as Neville's world anyway.

Neville isn't bored in the least. In fact, he's listening intently, head cocked toward Asato. "Do the great beasts in the forest speak?"

The cat shakes his head. "They speak their own languages I'm sure, but I've never understood it. Everything has a language of it's own after all." Asato gestures to the birds where the occasional bird song can be heard.

"The birds here have a language, even if we can't understand it."

Neville has never thought himself better than other wizards because of his pureblood status. He doesn't even consider himself better than Muggles, only different. But he's never once entertained the notion that animals are his equal -- that a bird might harbor a conscious soul.

He doesn't consider Asato an animal though, and now he's afraid that he might have offended his friend without even knowing it. He takes a few deep breaths, wary of saying something wrong. "I grant you that, but I cannot form a friendship with a bird."

Asato blinks, then laughs. It is, quite possibly, the first time he's laughed around Neville. He doesn't do it often, and when he does, it's usually soft, mostly a wide smile and gentle chuckle.

"No, they're not what one would call friendly really. And since I do eat a number of the birds and animals found in the forest, being a friend would be strange as well."

He only meant to point out that just because something doesn't speak a language you know, that doesn't mean it isn't speaking to you.

Neville is at first startled, but then smiles broadly. Asato has a brilliant laugh, and he likes hearing it. "Not to mention the fish awaiting our nets," he grins. Inwardly, he decides that despite Asato's cat-like features - the ears, the tail, the fangs -- a Ribika is nothing like a cat, and he simply can't make the comparison.

"They'll be wonderful roasted over a fire," he agrees as they continue to head for the lake. It's not too far now we think?

"Would you tell me more about the place you come from? It sounds very interesting."

They should be very close to the lake by now. "What exactly do you want to know? I grew up with my Gran, and we lived outside a small village, out in the country. We shopped in wizarding villages, usually Diagon Alley in London. I went to school at Hogwarts, a huge old castle, Unplottable." He shrugs, at a loss.

You're talking to someone that comes from a very, very primitive place. All of that sounds like magic even without the wizard bits.

"Your... Gran? What's that?"

"My father's mother. Augusta Longbottom." Neville says her name with an affectionate respect laced with a bit of ambivalence. "She raised me from the time I was a baby." He thinks they've discussed this before, over ice cream, but they didn't know each other well then; interesting how things become more meaningful as friendships grow. "I call her Gran, short for Grandmother."

"Ah, I see." It's the familial relationships that are giving Asato trouble. Coming from a tribal culture, one in which he was raised, if not exactly included, means that the more common family relationships found at the Mansion often elude him.

"That's right. I don't think I have one of those... But I'm not sure." He shakes his head a bit, as if to clear it of those sorts of thoughts. They've probably come to the lake by now.

They both grew up without parents, and Neville knows that's probably not a good subject for either of them. Instead of replying right away, he takes a deep breath, enjoying the smells of fresh water and unpolluted air. The sun seems to be making the air come alive after being so cold for months. "I think the fish are in trouble," he grins.

Asaato smiles happily and sets his kit down to take out a few things. A rolled up heavy blanket to use to sit on, a snack of dried food just in case, and his netting. It wasn't very large as he started to unwind it, only about four feet by four feet.

"I think you're correct."

"Do you need any help?" Neville offers, moving away from the lake to Asato's side.

Asato smiles. "No, but I can show you how this is done." He stands up and holds out a bit of the netting for Neville to inspect. "It's easy to make, and small enough that I can catch enough food for myself for dinner and possibly for a meal tomorrow if I store them or even later if I dry what I catch."

"You really don't want to use the Mansion's kitchen at all," Neville muses as he inspects the net. It's really well done. "Not that you should conform to how everyone else does things." He himself would prefer living in his own cottage, but plans to discuss that with Merlin before making a decision. "This net is brilliant."

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