{ Checking out the scene } (1,276 views)

Deciding not to translate for Chance, Daphne just shook her head. Translating was too much of a bother: if she would not understand the full meanings of what they were saying, she would not clarify for them. He seemed pretty impressed by her comeback, however, something Daphne noted with pride.

She looked at Chase, confusion making itself present in her mind though her face remained unchanged. A break to relax and unwind? Was he implying to just laze around for a period of time, to not train or practice even when she was able to? Aside from using the internet to discover new music and watch other dancers’ preform… and doing homework… she didn’t see the use in downtime.

“Why would I be lazy? If I have enough energy to do something, I will do it. “

Upstairs, there was a faint meowing sound. Daphne’s expression didn’t change, and she didn’t move to look up at the stairs. Josue had just woken from his nap, something he took on a daily basis.

Daphne couldn’t wrap her mind about what Chase was implying. Relaxing would make her feel better? But she felt perfectly fine! In fact, being idle for too long made Daphne feel anxious, as though she was wasting her time. She had to enjoy her youth while it lasted—there would be time enough for relaxing when she was older and graduated, after forming a successful dance career for herself.

“I feel fine. Being lazy makes me feel not fine.” She said. When they had such an intense reaction to the meow, she looked them over as they seemed to cower in fear. Why were they so afraid? She blinked three times, trying to see the situation from their perspective.

Nope. She couldn’t understand.

“Release something? No. Josue!”

There was the sound of paddling footsteps upstairs, and once the source reached the top of the stairs, a pure white cat was revealed, staring down at the boys accusingly. He trotted down the stairs and strode to Daphne’s side, where she bent down and lifted him up into her arms, nuzzling into his fur. The cat meowed, staring at the boys. “This is Josue, my cat. He does not bite. Unless you are cruel to him. Then he bites hard.”

Josue meowed at them again, as Daphne removed her head from his fur, her face blank.

Daphne gauged their reactions to her cat, all whole holding him, her gaze locked on Chance. Chase seemed much more interested in animals and much more enthusiastic to see it, it was the reactions of those not interested in animals that Daphne was worried about. She didn’t want anything to happen to her dear Josue, nor did she want to have to send him back to France because one of her roommates couldn’t stand animals.

“He is a Norwegian Forest Cat. He is everything you said.” She replied, not moving her eyes from his. She did not mind anything being said about Josue—beautiful, handsome, pretty, cute—so long as it was good.

Her eyes flashed over to his twin brother, though, at his next comment.

“Is there something wrong with wanting to know more about animals?” She asked. “Ferme ta putain de gueule, J'apprécie son intérêt.”

She slipped into her native tongue, stroking Josue as she spoke. “Josue is my best friend. He came with me from France when I decided to start schooling here. It is my first year.”

“Yes. He is very beautiful.” Daphne said, glad that this boy who liked relaxing was also fairly interested in animals. It would make this much more tolerable, to deal with at least one housemate who, though different from her, could respect her choices. She knew she was going to discover some odd people here, and was trying to be compliant with that.

“Your attitude gave off a different impression.” Daphne said. Josue meowed at Chance. Once again, Daphne did not offer to translate, looking over at Chase.

“I had to speak to the dean. However, I was granted permission to keep Josue, as long as my housemates are not allergic and I clean up after him. Josue is very neat. He does not make much mess.”

“Problems with cats?” Daphne asked. Perhaps that was why he’d called her a cat—expressing that he was having a problem with her in some roundabout manner. “I see. If you do not like cats, they can be a hassle. Josue is well behaved. “

He wasn’t going to try to get the cat removed, and that was enough for Daphne not to become hostile with him. She looked over at Chase, though, more interested in the boy who also liked Josue.

“Yes. I would not be happy without Josue.” She said. “I am not used to America. Everything is new. What kind of experiences has he had with cats?”

Daphne listened to their story with mild interest. So he had bad experiences with cats. At first, she thought his dislike might just be shallow. However, his explanation made sense. If Daphne found herself faced with a situation like that, she would certainly judge the entire species. Josue wasn’t quite like that, though. At least not to Daphne.

When Chance put his brother into a headlock, Daphne watched. These two boys were very close, they seemed to do that a lot.

“Cats can be judgmental.” She said. “Not every animal will like you. Josue will stay out of trees. He does not get violent very often. So long as you respect him, he will respect you.”

Josue stared at Chance, almost as though he, like Daphne, was judging him.

Josue meowed, his tail swishing back and forth, tickling Daphne’s arm. Daphne listened to Chance and Chase talk. They were really close, after all. They were twins, she hadn’t expected much different. She wondered what it would be like to have a twin, or a sibling for that matter. She couldn’t imagine it being good—especially if her sibling was vastly different from her.

“Cats are fascinating.” She agreed. “Josue usually stays in my room, unless I am gone for an extended period of time. He is an indoor cat, he does not wander around usually.”

Josue hopped down from Daphne’s arms, and trotted over to Chase, nuzzling his leg.

“He wants attention.” Daphne said. “He is, how you would say, an attention whore.”

“Why would I stop using my native language? I will call you things in French when I cannot think of the proper word in English… it is, how do you say, more easy, for me to do that. I do not know much English ‘slang’.”

She looked at Josue, who was still craving attention from Chase. When the two twins argued about impressing her, Daphne narrowed her eyes just slightly. Well, if they were trying to impress her, that would be good. They would be sure to do as she asked, in that case.

“Josue, venez ici, s'il vous plaît.” Daphen said, the French demand rolling off her tongue. Josue nuzzled Chase one more time, still purring, before he strode back towards Daphne. Daphne knelt down and stroked his fur, and glanced up at Chance’s comment.

“Oui. That, and your attitude. If you continue to not lock the door, or make numerous foolish mistakes, I may gain a baby impression.” She stated.

Daphne looked between the two brothers, judging them based on their responses. Chase seemed to be the more well behaved—at least, to Daphne--twin, while also being the one she liked slightly better so far. Chance, on the other hand, seemed like a handful.

Daphne stroked Josue’s fur, and the cat’s wide eyes focused on the other two humans.

“If you have such a problem to not understanding me, then learn français.” Daphne said, mixing some of her words up as she hoisted Josue into her arms and knelt back up. “I do not mean to be rude, but I am the one who has to know two languages. Not you.”

That was as simple as it got—Daphne refused to adhere to solely using English, and he was going to have to get used to it. She looked at Chase, nodding in appreciation.

“It should not take you too long to adjust to a routine, so long as you try.” She said. Josue turned his head to Chance, eyeing him as though he was a piece of tuna.

“French is hard to learn? There are set rules for French. Very few exceptions. English is much harder to learn. Many words mean the same thing. Rules are made to be broken in English language. I do not understand why it is so widely used. It is confusing to learn.” She shook her head. Some of the words she had to learn were ridiculous. English was the most difficult thing she had ever attempted to understand. French was simple to her, English was just a clusterfuck.

She glanced down as Josue, who licked his lips. She glared up at Chance.

“He is just staring. What ‘look’ do you speak of?” She asked.