The Cove Water Cat
#1

outfit



It was real. Asha had really actually done it. Made this place. Actually gotten him a keycard. And now here he was...

Alone.

He'd meant to initially come with Abraham, but his pal was at work and Wallace really wanted to check it out during the day rather than in the evening hours. Still didn't love being out after dark, okay, it... was just better to be home. And the sunlight was good, pouring in through the windows overhead.

Honestly, this was way better than he would have ever come up with. A much more... artistic touch than his very basic imaginings of a mere Olympic size pool back in the day when he'd had enough confidence to at least pretend to have ambitions. Amazing, really, clearly meant to be a jaguar's home, but it appealed to a tiger just as well. Bit warmer than a Siberian would flock to, but that didn't really stop him. It was pretty fucking relaxing in here.

So with a cat-brained hankering to float, he'd made it happen. And for at least a few moments he figured he was alone, perched on the side of the pool, head over the water as he stuck his front legs--and only his front legs--into the still pool and closed his eyes.

And promptly dozed off, big, striped face drooping lower and lower towards the water by the minute.
#2
The morning's tasks gone, she kinda wanted to just hang out at her pool for a bit. Maybe float and think about things. Wonder how Blair was doing. Decide to check in later, maybe.

Dressed in a towel with a bathing suit under, it wasn't her intention to shift. Someone else was in there that she could tell. But the door clicked open and she walked into the pool area with her stuff and it was to the sight of A GIGANTIC FUCKING TIGER.

Snoozing.

Briefly, she just stared, and maybe her cat felt a little size envy, even if she was stronger. Who was this? Was it Wallace or some other tiger?

Well, her next steps depended on if he woke, but either way she intended to tiptoe quietly to place her stuff on a chair poolside. Nice tiger. Good tiger. Be nice or she'll throw you in the pool with her strong queen arms. And maybe a bunny kick, Meowsha imparted the visual helpfully.
#3
He was aware of her, just enough, to come awake and realize he was about to get a face full of water. Snorting, his head jerked back and he wiggled an inch back from the edge and tucked his neck. Taking a deep, snuffling, sleepy breath, one single violet eye came a quarter open, searching for the woman he had missed catching with his gaze but could sense moving with other senses. Including metaphysical ones, in particular which told him he was outmatched by these soft footsteps.

His tail flipped once at the disturbance but then went still again as he closed his eye again, stubbornly pretending to drift completely back out.
#4
She could hear his breathing change, and froze on the way, expecting him to lift his head. God, if he stood up would he be even taller than she was? Definitely longer. Why were tigers that big? This felt like a gross oversight of animal design in this age. He belonged back with the mammoths.

His tail flicked and she felt an inner hiss. That's a threat! Clearly! Shove him into the pool!

Asha set her things down and sood up tall and decided she was not afraid of the oversized cat. Why would she be, when she was at her own throne? This was self affirmation, though it didn't fully sink.

She gave a soft huff and moved to the water's edge to sit by the snoozing animal, heart slightly thumping. She'd still spent like twenty seven years of her life being afraid of large animals when they got too close, okay. This was a lot to weigh against despite what she felt her own metaphysical strength to be. Anyway.

"Heya. I can tell you woke up, faker."

Her words were accompanied with a sort of nervous laugh.
#5
He'd mostly expected to be left alone--the cat never got bothered by much of anything--so when he heard the soft pad of her feet on the tile and the thrum of her heart growing closer, he very nearly opened his eyes again. But no, sleeping cat, look at how relaxed he was, right here by this pool that didn't stink to death of chlorine or anything. (So nice.)

But he knew that voice, and he knew jaguar vibes better than he knew even other tigers. And with the weighty presence of her non-physical being, he didn't even need to open his eyes to confirm what he already knew. Hello, Asha.

Only he didn't say it. Normally something about her made him wary--he knew too much about her, what she was capable of--but right now? Much simpler in this form, and much more capable, he felt almost friendly towards her. His massive head turned slowly toward her and then dropped to rest on his own foreleg as his eyes opened lazily and chuffed in lazy greeting.
#6
It was so surreal. Just watching a big animal that she knew to understand her, acknowledge her, look at her... and not be about to murder her.

She gave a tiny huff back to the sound — well, all of her felt tiny. But anyway. "Having a nice time?" she asked, as if she was asking someone in a more human form. "I've only seen jaguars and snakes here. S'kinda nice to get a different water cat."

Not that she was shifted herself. But there were plenty of formations to hide behind if she wanted to get that party going, so.
#7
Jaguars--duh, he could feel the claim here as well as anyone could--and snakes? Snakes, huh? That was a thing? A finely whiskered brow popped up as he looked at her with a bit more curiosity now, a slide of his gaze towards the water for just one second as if he might see one there now, but the water was still and clear. Then back to her as the question had seemed sincere and warranted some thought.

A few ideas floated around his brain but the energy used to say most of them wouldn't have been worth it, so he settled on, "Glad to be 'ere," as best enunciated as a cat could managed with his chin mashed comfortably into the ground.

Shifting a few inches, pulling his elbows in a little, he sought to get a few degrees closer. Little, little Asha. Wouldn't be tackling him across any coffee tables today!
#8
Glad to beer. Be-er? Be here, probably. She watched his giant face make those movements and tried not to giggle out of fear at how fucking huge his teeth were. Just.

Big.

He moved a little closer too, and hesitantly, with a hand that felt very small, she moved out to pet him on the head if he'd allow it. She was tempted to ask if it was Wallace after all, but knowing it for sure would kind of call up everything between them, right?

"Never seen a tiger swim before."

This was bait, obviously.
#9
If he had been just a little more in his usual mindset, letting Asha stroke him on the face and between the ears would have been very strange and out of the question, indeed. But he was here because he was a tiger, too, and the tiger had... probably been looking to be pet. Maybe just a little. It was a very nice feeling, and one he got almost never these days. His eyes drooped again for the sensation, but it didn't last long.

Never seen a tiger swim before, huh? He grunted at her, demanding more attention instead of showing off. If she stuck around she'd see it--no way in hell he was coming all the way here to not swim. But right now he was lazy sleepy cat, and she had interrupted his dozing.
#10
Rude. He wasn't rising to the bait. Asha just continued to pet, because she was a sucker. His fur was very thick and warm, too, and just.

God, this creature was so big. Bigger than Abraham shifted, and that was huge. "I bet a jaguar could swim faster than a tiger, though. We're more... hydrodynamic."

Look at her with her big words! She heard it in a documentary somewhere.
#11
It was a happy place to be in and he wriggled closer still, right up to where his nose was pressing up against her leg.

One eye slid open again, however, at her thoughtful trivia. Unproven trivia. He made a deep hmmmmmm noise in his throat that was... maybe doubt. Or maybe just a noise!

And if she'd not resist he would keep sneaking closer until he put his entire child-sized head into her lap, soaking up the attention and the ambiance thoughtlessly.
#12
He was a snuggler! Asha wasn't blind to it, though it did seem to happen before she realized what exactly had been happening. His head ab-so-lute-ly gigantic, was now in her freaking lap. She leaned back a little to accommodate, giggling. Less fear, now.

"Okay, okay. You win. I'm here to provide all the scratches. Totally free spa upgrade."

Ha.

Asha gave special attention to behind his big ears, happy to provide all the attention that she liked herself. The little ear spots were cute, too! And of course, couldn't resist ruffling into that cheek ruff, getting down to the base of it and then smoothing and finger-combing his long, long fur out too. Her other hand rested at the crown of his head, happy to continue a head massage there too.

This was sweet for all his size was alarming. She just didn't get to play with other animals as much!
#13
And to think he'd been apprehensive at the idea of coming here and encountering Asha on his own! It was, of course, much easier to know what to do and what you wanted from another person when your primary instinct was cuddles. Asha was a lot of things in his mind, some more flattering than others, but right now at the top of the list was the fact that she was a supreme snuggler. His hind legs relaxed and his body rolled to the side somewhat as he let them stretch out to the side, his back to the pool now.

Breaths drawing longer as he once again fully relaxed, he was completely happy to stay right here as long as she would keep this up.

This encounter was perhaps one of the unforeseen perks of being a little more in tune with Hobbes these days.
#14
Oh hell. The stretching out of his legs really made it clear how he was just absurdly freaking long, and she shook her head in disbelief. How! How was anything that huge!

Don't focus on that. Also don't get tail length envy. Focus on positive things! Like how warm his head felt in her lap! That was actually just kind of nice.

"You are a very very pretty cat. I don't know if you get told that enough, but it's true."

She wondered if she should send Abraham a picture. It was a good thing she couldn't at the moment anyway, being that her stuff was pretty far away, but like. If he got up.

She wasn't trapped here, was she?, floated a stray thought, after what was probably a series of minutes passed. No no. Everything was fine. Everything was fine. Pet the tiger. Pet. The. Tiger.

Some more time passed though, and she eventually patted him on the head. "Come on, lazy. Let's get you some exercise."

Her legs were kind of numb at this point. Maybe she would just drown when she slipped in.
#15
No one told him he was pretty these days. Not seriously, anyway. Cat or otherwise. He was... a little flattered? Okay, a lot flattered. He did have a vain streak, for all he would deny it vehemently if confronted. His sense of ego was a confusing thing.

He figured Asha meant it, anyway. What could she possibly get from flattering him?

Okay, that was already too much thinking so he really did just sort of drop off the face of the planet while putting her legs to sleep, focused on the touches of tiny little human hands and the feeling of blunt nails against his skin where fur was parted. Very easy to lose track of time, of consciousness, and to become all but a dead weight in her lap. At least it was just his head.

When he pat him, though, he blinked awake with another rumble of sharp breath in. His head lifted just enough so he could turn his gaze out, around, as if someone else had walked in on them and that was why he had to get up. But no, just them, and he tried to pretend this time like he hadn't fallen asleep at all.

Big yawn, though, more or less right in her face. Couldn't control that.
#16
Big fuckin' yawn. Her cat had slowly settled into something more accepting of her strength versus his size, and while the image of EXTREMELY LARGE TEETH did set Asha back into wariness mode, the cat herself only preened herself in her head, charmed by the show. Okay, Meowsha.

Huffing back against tiger breath, Asha shook her head.

"Up up up! My legs are dying. I'm gonna have to turn into a fish to keep up."

How tall was he? Those legs were very long.
#17
Up up up, okay. He did that, rocking back to put his weight into his hindquarters, and then using that shift of weight to find his paws. A brief shake of his head as if that would wake him, he rose up and padded backwards to give her space with another chuff.

Was he freshly endeared towards her? Probably. Don't think too hard about it.

Fish sounded good. Were there fish in the water? He didn't think so, hadn't seen any... but what if there was anyway.
#18
HOLY. SHIT. Nothing ever needed to be that tall to the point that it towered over her?? What the fuck.

This newfound perspective freaked her cat out as freshly as if he'd turned into a giant cucumber, and Asha held bay against a sudden break, but like. Barely.

"I," she started, staring wide and orange-eyed at him, mouth dry, and her voice doing... interesting things. "I'ᵐ ᵍᵒⁿⁿᵃ go behind that cliff thiⁿᵍ? Over there? And just like. Shift a little? Is that coᵒˡ?"

She started like, sidewalking that way, extremely definitely going to let the cat out. She'd be shorter for it, but. Four legs better than two?? Please do not follow, she'd totally be out soon! D:
#19
In this state, Wallace did not entirely understand what it was that caused Asha to suddenly seem very... nervous? All he knew was her heart rate had gone funny, like prey (he was hungry) and her eyes had taken on a hue. All the relaxation of the petting session had evaporated as quick as could be. His tail swayed and he lowered his head to look more level at her, ears intent on the strange thing her voice did. Almost didn't understand her for it, but realized she was going somewhere.

Curiosity and misunderstanding went hand in hand and as she tried to slink away, he tried to pad after her. Where was she going, taking her good petting hands away? Weren't they going to swim?

Also... fish?
#20
"Hey, no! Waiiiagh!" cracked the hand she held out to stop him and OK NO THIS WAS NOT GOOD SHE NEEDED TO GET OUT OF HER CLOTHES.

Her legs hadn't broken, miraculously, so Asha took the opportunity to make a dash for it and bolted behind where she needed to go, tugging at the strings of her bathing suit along the way. Please no follow!!!
#21
No! And the hand up. Those were much clearer instructions, and he wasn't remotely new and stupid enough to not pick up on them. He halted, confused somewhat still but... oh, oh. Okay. Yeah. He got it. Standing there for a moment while he disappeared, he listened with ears that missed very little.

That didn't keep his interest forever, though, since he had no interest in eating the shifting woman, and she wasn't going to pet him more. So he looked back at the water and plodded that way again, stopping to sniff at the surface of the pool he had yet to fully enjoy. Soaking his front paws had been nice but...

Float!

In a moment.
#22
Oh thank fuck.

Asha struggled, her hands becoming clawed paws faster than she could retract them to get her clothing off. But it eventually did happen! Just with some scratches over her back and hips that haha weren't about to heal right away!! :(

Whatever — eventually, after a little under a minute of breaking — she was her own brand of jungle cat. A... decidedly smaller cat than he was. Stepping out, she wharfed a hefty snort that would probably be like a tiny breeze compared to the striped behemoth. Whatever >:[

Roooooooooo.
#23
Noise!

He knew that noise pretty good. He liked jaguars. Actually, he liked one jaguar in particular.

Picking his head up from his sniffs the tiger looked over his shoulder again, putting eyes on the orange-eyed lady. Small but powerful. His posture... inviting! She could come closer. He wouldn't do a single mean thing!
#24
She eyed him with a skeptical sort of gaze, though how much of that was her dramatic facial structure and how much of it was actual skepticism was something only she would know.

Still, he didn't seem to be thrashing her way. So.

She padded forward thickly, head held low, and then stretched her neck out to press her nose against his... leg? Front leg. Big sniffs. Her eyes stayed up on his face though. In case he tried to BITE.
#25
She looked intense in a way that was unlike his good jaguar friend. It was interesting, the similarities there but muddled in translation from Abraham to Asha.

He stayed still at the edge of the pool as she approached, as she sniffed at him. Making that same friendly tiger noise again, he turned his neck so he could return the sniffs, along her neck and back. Careful, cautious cats figuring each other out. But oh, was she hurt? She smelled a little... hmm...

With confidence derived from a cocktail of size and the earlier bonding with her woman self, he moved to lick at her self-inflicted wounds.
#26
There remained the fact that she didn't exactly know who this was. But also he was just a very large animal, moving his massive heart over her to... groom? Meowsha had her preferred slapfight reaction to this, but Asha managed to keep her at bay again.

Cat politics. Hard! But everything she could tell was that there was no intention of aggression. Why would he wait for her to shift if so?

Right. Asha took the chance to forcibly relax her jaguar self. It was fine, and a little heartwarming despite the weirdness of being so much smaller in comparison. Was this how smaller animals felt when she groomed them? Heh.

Anyway, she moved to bump her head against his leg, imparting a sense of good will. He didn't have to do this, but it was an animal kindness and she recognized it. She'd stay still, head down. Sometimes you just had to be the cub.
#27
He was as gentle as a giant cat with a rough tongue could be, but also knew she would be fine. Just minor hurts compared to many. Distantly he acknowledged he'd seen her in much worse states.

Not making her endure it long, he was done within a minute-she didn't have that much surface area to sniff over comparatively speaking--and then he nudge her head with his nose before stepping to move into the water, uncertain about the depth right here or in general, but about to find out. He was eager for the very light, cool sensation of the pool and assumed easily that she would follow.
#28
That wasn't so bad! See! All was well.

He slipped in — it did get deeper, particularly towards the waterfalls, but for now it would leave him about a foot above the water. Asha followed in, and she was immediately set to paddling, head lifted up above the surface.

Seeking to take the lead to... around the pool, mainly, she swished expertly through the rippling and rolling water.

Before long she would perform a fun trick: dipping her head just below the surface as she swam, so that the water glided over her in a swell of surface tension. Look how cool she was!
#29
Waterrrr. He felt a little dazzled for the feeling, of being able to go into the pool without overthinking it. Normally if he did swim these days, it was in a lake or a river. Always had to be on the look out for animals or people. But here, where no one was coming in that Asha hadn't approved of in some way... pretty nice! Just a more active version of his earlier doze(s). The water wasn't so deep and so he mostly walked at first, but he followed her without much thought about it, finding the water became more his depth quickly enough.

He paddled, long sweeping strokes. Head turned up above the surface, his rear end deeper under the water than the rest of him. As she dipped beneath the water he watched with a curious interest, finding her smaller size probably offered her a lot more grace than his...

Playfully, he made a soft sweep of his front paw at her hind legs under the water.
#30
Wow! She was out here putting on a show and instead she was just getting MAULED! Cat took it better than the grooming, at least, and she paddled and turned to face him with a wet cat squint.

He'd pay for that. Right... now! She dove underwater, seeking to bat at his front paw in return.


hit

#31
He swept at her and that definitely got her attention. She dove and returned the gesture, just the other end, and he knew it was on! A little surge of energy in place of a hunt--still hungry!--would be good, and he made a rough noise above the water as she connected.

Well, two could do this! He pulled his front legs up and went underwater as well, reaching for her to pull her entire little body into his chest.


him miss

#32
She was watching for what he might do — but she didn't expect him to come under after her!! The grab was a half success, but she managed to writhe out of his grasp. But all that struggle definitely meant she had to come up for air!

So that she did, snorfing out forcibly through her nose and breathing in deep, before circling back down into the water and aiming to bite him on the rear. Not like, viciously! But definitely a sparry kind of hard.

>:]


hit

#33
Slippery little cat. He felt a certain kind of cumbersome in the water, not exactly the fastest. Not a little wriggly snake, and not a well equipped as say... an orca. But still, at least it wasn't confused splashing, right?

He tried to circle to figure out where she'd gone, but before he could get a bead on her again, she bit his BUTT. He grimaced under water, surprised more than agonized, and paddled up towards the surface for air himself, but also kicking at her with his hind leg while he did so.


miss

#34
AHH! He was wriggling away from her and she'd manage to follow the weird little yin yang circle they were going in. He did manage to glance off her cheek, but the cat, being an opportunist by nature, well!

She grabbed hold of the offending leg and decided this was the hill she would drown on.

Temporarily.


hit

#35
There was a jAguAR attached to his LEG!

He would say, even as an impossibly sized tiger, there was something alarming about this. Even in play it was just one big Oh No.

Instinct wanted him to get her off, so after a short breath--not enough!--he was curling under himself, back into the water to try an reach his own hind legs, and more importantly, grab her in return with both front paws and threaten with an open mouth. Maybe she'd let go on her own if he did, or he could pry her off!


wow that's actually a hit

#36
There was only so much a semi-aquatic predator could manage underwater, but as he moved to coil down and grab hold of her, she would seek that limit!

Grasped to him, she would aim for a bite at his side as the water twirled them about, some dumb animal subsurface ballet show. Try charging for seats to that one, Asha!


hit

#37
Ow!!!

It was all kind enough, but it was a lot more of a tussle than he normally got into. And her teeth pinching his skin beneath his stripes wasn't a great feeling. He writhed and knew he needed to get up for air again somewhere in here, but for the moment he didn't want this little ball of teeth and terror attached to him, so he got his limbs between her and his mass and did a good hard kick/shove to try and send her further away in the water.

Then he could paw for the surface and gulp down air. Whether or not he was successful at sending her away! Thank you.


misster

#38
Sorry was that supposed to be a miss because it dislodged her enough to get her off!

And then. And thennnnn...

Well. Asha just remained very still as the water buoyed her upward, possibly into him, or possibly to the surface.

It was intentional.
#39
He pushed to the surface and gasped for air, felt her body brush up along his side again and braced for another attack that... didn't come. Her patterned body floated to the surface and for a moment he was too busy trying to catch his own air to realize this was a strange moment, but then... uhhh???

Pawing at her, no claws just trying to get her attention, to get her to raise her head, he made some water garbled inquiry in an unshared cat language.
#40
Poke. Prod. Pawed.

It was weird because she felt it, and even though she was sort of messing with him, for a few bizarre seconds she actually legitimately could not will her head above the surface? Actual panic started to set in. If she had the ground beneath her it could work as leverage, but...

A very floppy kind of accudental push of her front paws from his giant cat body would be what got her up there. Whoa! She definitely almost died in her own pool! Exhilarating! She started to paddle madly just to be sure she didn't go under again.

Anyway, she did make a whole lot of panicked but excited jaguar noises about it after spraying water from her nose and mouth.
#41
Okay! She was... okay! Sort of. Pretty sure he had just saved her from something, he wasn't afraid of getting clawed or bitten again, and paddled near her, nosing at her as if he could keep her afloat that way. Maybe they needed to be a little more careful--inhaling water was pretty unpleasant but also dangerous. In theory. He'd actually never heard of a were drowning before? Let alone dry drowning.

But still. He was here to make sure she was alright because he actually did care about her. Little jaguar queen lady who had made him miserable several times in their shared history but ultimately was definitely a friend. If an unconventional one.
#42
Help, he was being the nicest. The absolute nicest. Asha murbled some more expressive jaguar sounds and paddled along with him, letting him be kind and supportive.

Eventually, she was definitely steady enough to paddle on her own, and that was an opportunity for fun too. They could finally race!

"Rooace?" she garbled to him, cat eyes wild with Asha excitement, nodding to the far long end of the pool.
#43
He felt better once she stopped floundering so much. And more so when she proposed a... game? He mostly understood her point because of her earlier notion of thinking she was probably faster than him in the water. Well... they could find out! He didn't mind a little competition.

"Ya," he agreed, getting water in his mouth.
#44
Ya it was! Okay. So.

She urged him towards the closer end of the pool. Then nodded to the big waterfall structure in the middle-ish of it.

"Go roun' falls? An' back?"

It was more like you go around the other side of the structure under the alcove at the far end and then loop back around but he'd probably get that.
#45
He tried to bob his head in agreement, but felt like it might be obvious enough. "Yuff," yes, but with water still in his mouth. Sneezed.

But he was as ready as a really big cat in a really big pool could be while waterlogged and fresh off a good tussle.

The moment it was obvious she was going, he would go, too, hoping to some degree that his size and his massive paws would be some fashion of advantage at propelling forward.
#46
She shook lightly as he sneezed, as if any of it had landed on her. But anyway. Asha plunged forward, her smaller size lending her something of an edge, maybe?? But she paddled like her life depended on it, intent on beating him because she could.


Asha: 5/10
Wallace: 4/10

#47
His strokes after her were longer and slower but a good margin, but it left him quickly falling back. Not much, but enough that he knew she was really pushing for it. He opted for going steady for now, eyes on the area up ahead that she had pointed out, an alcove and the falls that they could turn around before heading back. Tried not to worry about her, about losing, and just do his best.

But with her ahead, it was difficult to just ignore her.
#48
Heck yeah she was paddling as hard as she could. He was a close close close second, and as she lowered her head to circle the loop back, she moved to kill this fairly quick competition.


Asha: 9/10
Wallace: 8/10

#49
He swashed through the water at a pace unlike anything he'd ever put himself through before. Normally swimming was a very leisurely activity for him, but this was... kinda fun, too? Especially as she wasn't really getting especially far ahead, for all he couldn't seem to close the gap.

Asha carried on hard and quick, but he was counting on her tiring just enough towards the end so that he could give it his all and as they were in the last stretch it seemed to him that exactly that happened. Or maybe his own enthusiasm just pushed him forward with more fervor, and within the last few strokes he went from just behind to neck and neck, right up at the point where they had started.

He splashed at her in shared victory, big paw coming down hard on the surface of the water.
#50
Asha very nearly had a victory, but in looking back at him ended up almost clipping herself passing a shorter waterfall rock thing! Oh no!

Still, she managed to keep her lead — or at least share it. He seemed to enjoy that some, and she circled away from the splashing only to return the favor when she paddle-twirled back around.

This was way too fun.

She still didn't know who this was, though. Eventually, climbing out of the pool, she shook off aggressively and then turned to him.

"Whroo?"



Asha: 11/10
Wallace: 11/10

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