(1942-03-30) Mister Pickles
Mr. Pickles
Summary: Now ain't this just a production…?
Date: 1942-03-30
Related: None.
Players:
clifton..kathleen..

Cooper and Butler, Higsi
Thu Mar 30, 1942


As Butler street runs the homes get larger and more spread out, signalling that the further one goes east the more affluent the neighborhood becomes. The homes here aren't surrounded by fences, but the lawns are nicely landscaped with shade trees dotting them.

Toward the end of the street is the decrepit McComb Mansion, which has set empty for decades. It is surrounded by a masonry wall, covered with English ivy and creeping fig.

Weather:
It is spring. The weather is warm and fair.


Now here's an interesting bit of imagery on this fine afternoon: one of the decadent houses along Butler, home to an accountant and his pretty wife and pretty daughter. Said preteen daughter is a friend of a one Madeline Wright. This house is quite a few blocks up from the rundown McComb estate, where Walkers seem to be afoot more often than not; it's flanked by a lovely yard and a neighboring house of equal loveliness. Simply put, this is a ritzy neighborhood; not the cat's ass but close to it.

After spending a few hours after school with this contemporary, it's time for Maddie to be picked up by her sister. Kathleen's cranky 1935 Ford pickup is parallel parked in front of the house, and when the willowy carpenter dropped out of the driver's seat she was practically bowled over by the two frantic girls. What a day to have /this/ happen, once Kitty was informed of the 'problem', she disappeared around the tall oak that looms in the front yard, it's leaves sighing in the temperamental spring breeze.

Maddie and her friend stand apprehensively on the sidewalk, staring at the tree. The former grasps the forearm of the latter, and asides to her: "Don't worry, Kitty can fix this!"

Just… /what/ needed to be fixed….

Clifton was walking around one side of town taking pictures…and ended up finding himself in a totally different kind of 'scenic'. A low whistle escapes his lips "Fancy…" Better than any kind of house he had ever lived in. For the moment he just walks up the street, taking the occasional shot that might work well in a frame or portfolio.

One of the two girls notices someone familiar, and sees fit to enlist more soldiers for the cause. "Hey, maybe he can help!" Maddie chirps, being the first to spy Clifton and regardless of how her more 'well off' counterpart and her parents (who are in the house, unawares) may react, lifts an arm to hail him. "Mister Clifton! Over here!" She hollers in her fluting little voice, simultaneously relieved and excited to see him.

Kitty can be heard snarling from up /in/ the tree. "Damnit Maddie, I got this. Ain't needin' no help! Nobody needs t'see this!"

Silence. "Who the fuck calls their cat Mr. Pickles?" The quivering leaves exhale in time with the swear. Since when did trees curse? What's this about a cat?

Clifton lofts a brow as he hears his name called…quite formally. The young voice though is familiar and he sees Maddie waving him down from the nearby yard. "Hey, Maddie! Everything okay?…" He speeds up his walk a little, putting his camera away in his bag. Once he gets into the yard he blinks and looks up at the cursing tree "…Oh look…a cat in a tree…" He grins. "How ya been?"

<FS3> Kathleen rolls Climbing: Success.

Shit, he's coming over. Damnit Madeline. Kathleen isn't quite on point with her climbing abilities, today, because there is a good reason: Madeline. Every time she picks up Maddie from a 'hoity toity' house, Kitty dresses 'nice'. She dons a dress. Dresses ain't conducive to climbing trees to rescue pampered pets from the swaying boughs. It's just long enough to be decent but certain ways Kitty has to contort and flex, a whole other half of her efforts are poured into the neighborhood not seeing her hoo-hah. At least she picks nice underwear.

"Madeline!" Kitty barks, the leaves quivering again. She can be seen now in the tree and up a good portion; it's easy to tell that she has no qualms with being up high. 'Mr. Pickles' is one of those flat-faced, puffy persians… he sits, a fat white lump, a few branches up from Kathleen.

"It's awful! Mr. Pickles ran up the tree! Kitty is trying to get him down but he sounds awfully mad!" Maddie reaches for Clif's forearm. It's her knight in shining… uh… clothes! +_+

Maddie's friend is struck dumb, and hope her parents don't look out the window.

Clifton looks around a moment, as if making sure for himself there is nobody around who might accuse him of trying to rob houses or kidnap the children. "It's okay, Maddie. I'll help you get…Mr….Pickles down?" Poor cat. Looking to Maddie's little friend, Clifton offers a kind smile and wave before walking over to the base of the tree. "What do you need me to do?" He looks up, spotting Kitty in an…interesting situation. He tries to ignore anything he may be seeing, instead just looking for the cat "Any luck yet?"

Thankfully, Kitty is careful enough to avoid a compromising situation.. for now. But the flats fall from her feet, landing one after the other onto the grass.. her bare feet touch the bark now. Her thumb is no longer quite as sore; this is good. She looks down with concerned golden eyes, noting that Clif is for-sure there to help. Better take what she can get before Mr. and Mrs. Fancyshit call for professionals to get these yahoos out of their tree.

As the two young girls watch, Kitty focuses on Clif. "M'gonna need you to get my work coat from my truck," She starts, "So—"

"Waaaaaaaooo~" Mr. Pickles is not happy. That is a cat's Do Not Want sound. "… rooowwaaaaoooo!!"

"Need cover because this asshole is gonna rip my arms up, I can see it comin'." Kitty calls down to Clif, nodding toward the parked truck. "It's unlocked, coat's on the passenger side. Kin' ya get it up to me?"

"Coat. Truck. Right." Giving a quick nod, Clifton runs over to the truck, setting his bag in the passenger's seat with his camera before grabbing the coat and running back over to the tree. "Here. Catch!" He tosses the coat up to her. Given that it was a cat in that tree…and what he was…it was probably best that he stayed down on ground level for now.

Inwardly thankful but not showing it, Kitty looks up into the fearful blue eyes of pampered Mr. Pickles. "Calm yerself down, gonna get you out of here. Why ya running up here in the first place, y'idiot—-"

"*hiiiissssss*…"

"Yer own fault." Kitty hisses back. She'll just go on arguing with the unfortunately named cat til' Clifton comes back with the thick coat. Once her father's, it's been 'around'…. it's as thick and heavy, loaded with pockets, as one can imagine. Clifton hauls back to throw it up, and Kathleen swats the coat out of the air while clinging to the tree in a half-hug. Carefully she shrugs it on over her bare arms, covering up her surprisingly charming sundress. Tentatively, she begins to close the distance… Mr. Pickles puffs up…

"You're so brave~" Madeline flutters at Clifton, while her friend cries up at Kitty. "Mr. Pickles isn't an asshole!!"

"Katiebelle! Language!" Shrieks her mother from the porch. What a production this is.

Clifton watches Kitty go about saving…well…kitty. When the woman calls from the porch his attention swings in that direction, but there was no time to explain right now. She'd either freak out over his presence or realize he was just trying to help. "I've got ya Kathleen…I'm spotting from down here." He'd look over to Maddie and her friend though "Go back up onto the porch, okay Maddie? Take your friend too…we'll bring Mr Pickles once we get him down." Just to make sure they were out of any possible harm's way.

<FS3> Kathleen rolls Quick Fixes: Good Success.

Perhaps, fortunately for Walker, cranky vulgar Ms. Wright is taking up much of Mrs. Fancyshit's attention… she's too busy worrying about this spectacle in the tree, as opposed to realizing that there is a Walker right in the midst of it. Madeline stands raptly looking up into the tree, until Clifton bids her and 'Katiebelle' to go onto the porch. Just in case it rains flailing Mr. Pickles.

Or Kitty.

Angry the cat may be, he's kinda in that 'frozen' state where once the carpenter reaches forth to grab his scruff, he /remains/ frozen. A low feline snarl vibrates in Mr. Pickles' chest as Kathleen pulls him in close to her, stuffing him beneath her coat-padded armpit. Precariously, but with /much/ luck, the woman begins to 'feel out' the branches with the soles of her bare feet, easing herself back down gracefully from whence she came. A couple of branches up from the ground, she releases the cat… it practically does a double jump the moment it comes in proximity to Clifton, and flees — shrieking, aaaaahhh Mr. Pickles!!! — around the side of the house.

Now that was an odd reaction. c.C

Clifton ducks out of the way, bringing up an arm in case he was meet with claws to the face. However, as the cat runs off screeching and hollering, he turns his attention back to Kathleen. "Here…" He reaches up a hand to try and help her down if she needed it "I guess that's Mr Pickles' way of saying 'thank you'" He chuckles.

Intending to jump down herself, Kathleen is nonetheless appreciative by this rare gesture of aide. Carefully she accepts Clifton's help in getting down, since it's easy for her to misjudge and land hard on something with her bare feet. "Thanks a lot," She says, meaning it on a few levels. Not only for the help, but the fact that Clifton respected her when she was up there. She may be gruff and indulgent and vulgar, but Kitty /does/ like manners. She is just getting back down onto terra firma when she spies the white blur of Mr. Pickles disappearing around the house. "More like Mr. Pickles saying fuck you and the horse ya'll rode in on." Kitty muses companionably.

A cheering Maddie and Katiebelle can be seen, and heard, chasing the poor harried cat. Kitty cranes her neck, hollaring toward the yard. "Five minutes, miss!" She warns Maddie.. she sounds more like a mother than a sister.

Back to Clifton, Kitty actually smiles earnestly. "Much appreciated. don't wanna be walking into the clinic with cat scratches t'match the thumb."

Once she's back on the ground, he actually bends down to get her shoes where they landed in the grass. Offering them out to her "Don't mention it. Just glad I was walking by…and that Maddie has a good loud yell" Clifton chuckles.

Okay, now — at least by Kitty's standards — she's getting pampered. Nobody has ever picked up and passed her /shoes/ to her before. Kitty blinks once, twice; accepts the flats and leans back against the tree to slip them back onto her feet. She pulls off the heavy coat and holds it over an arm; Mrs. Fancyshit is still watching and despite it all, Kitty still wants to seem respectable to Maddie's friends' parents.

She shoots the prim woman an awkward, /vaguely/ anxious glance… reaches up to push back a hank of her hair. "I didn't even think to take the coat with me.. yer a lifesaver. What brings you out this way, anyway? Thought I saw ya put yer camera into m'truck. Be sure not to forget it."

"I was just walking around…the usual. Looking for photographs" Clif says, nodding at her words. "Ah yeah don't worry I'll grab it before I head out." Watching the girls chase the cat around the house he'd then catch sight of the older woman again…then noticing Kathleen dressed up a bit as well. He suddenly felt like a very sore awkward thumb. "Sorry…you probably need to go…with your sister and the cat. I'll just grab my bag…"

"That ain't my cat." Kitty says suddenly, "No chance in the six circles of Hell would I claim something like that." She says again, one corner of her mouth quirking up into a wry little smirk. "Yer fine, Clifton.. not gonna run you off, if anythin' we interrupted yer business. I'm just saying, better get that camera before babygirl finds it. And you with it… she didn't forget, y'know." Kathleen chuckles, pushing her hair back again with the spread fingers of a hand. She turns to glance at the house again, watching 'Katiebelle' potatosack carrying Mr. Pickles into the porch. By now her mother is looking outright at both Clifton and Kathleen, and she goes indoors behind her daughter.

"No harm done." Kitty says again, glancing 'round for the blonde girl who /should/ be following her friend. "Can't wait to get home and out of this monkeysuit. Ain't fair to Maddie if I show up at all these pretty houses lookin' like a drudge." She grins again. "Y'get some nice shots? Lots of pretty houses and lawns. I bet the ol' McComb haunt could be fixed up real nice."

Clifton nods "If you're sure…" A glance back to the porch as the woman goes inside has him relaxing a bit. "Don't say things like that…" He frowns suddenly, looking back to you "Your sister adores you. Just as you are…" He then nods though, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable "Yeah. A few good shots…then I realized the area I had stumbled into. Figured people might think I was taking pictures to set up something…sinister. So probably best the camera ended up going away anyways."

"Thank y'kindly.." Kitty says quietly, grinning again. "I just think it's a.. good gesture, y'know. Reputation is gonna be a big deal for her someday. I'm her mommy and her daddy; gotta crack the whip and teach her…." She coughs, looking skyward for a bit in contemplation. With fluid steps, she moves to the passenger side of the pickup and pulls open the heavy door, very gently picking up the bag containing the camera. Knowing how important it is to Clifton, she handles it carefully and sees fit to get it to him since she feels nervous handling something so valuable.

Maddie can soon be seen flouncing down the steps from the porch of the beautiful house, carrying her books. Fresh-faced and happy over the recent excitement, she throws herself into Kitty's arms and squeezes her tight. The carpenter drops a kiss onto the top of her head, and the girl looks at Clifton with dancing blue eyes. "Thanks for helping with Mr. Pickles!" The preteen girl chimes in Walker's direction, still clinging to her sister.

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