=====Ollie Finds a Cat=====
Date: 1867-02-25

Ollie sneaks out in the middle of the night, returning with a wounded cat. He sneaks it into the orphanage.

<#ann: Celeste wakes up when Ollie sneaks the crying cat back into the orphanage, and gets out of bed to see what's going on, thinking at first that the cat's meows are a child crying. When she sees that the cat is hurt, she tries to figure out how to help. She bustles over to get her little nursing kit, mostly bandages and things like that. She tries to bandage up the cat and is scratched for her efforts. She'd give up if Ollie wasn't there, but he encourages her to keep going and she does manage to stop the bleeding, etc.#>

<#jonah: The cat seems to calm down after a few moments. Ollie holds it and talks softly to it, petting it gently. Celeste is able to examine the animal and finds that it's oozing from what looks like an abscessed bite to the back leg. Celeste recognizes what's wrong and neatly lances the wound, draining the pus out, while Ollie comforts the animal. Ollie then sneaks to the kitchen and grabs some scraps from the ice box, and feeds them to the cat, which accepts them gratefully. #>

**Jefferson is against the idea of the animal. He doesnt like the idea of feeding strays.

Cal loves the idea, and helps the group sneak food and distract Jefferson.**

<#court: Ollie and Celeste keep the cat in the tower for a couple of days until the abscess is healed, tending to it and feeding it. On the third day, the cat is feeling much better and, though they had planned to sneak it out safely that evening, it is too restless. While Jeanne and Cal are taking their turn stripping the orphanage beds to bring the sheets down to the laundry on their way to morning chores, the cat jumps in the window and dodges around them and out the door... right into the waiting arms of Nora, unfortunately, who is heading upstairs to make sure they are not lollygagging. The cat darts away to freedom, but Nora is livid, and wants to know what a cat is doing in the bedroom. Jeanne squares her shoulder and opens her mouth, ready to take the blame, but Cal jumps in quickly, surprising her. "It was me; a king needs a cat." Nora is neither amused nor impressed, and promptly sends him to Mr. French for a reminder of "his place." Jeanne is sure to pass him a few extra rolls at dinner that evening. #>


**@PCs - I think the Cat should get a name. I think the cat hangs about, knowing a place it can get food and some love. It does not live in the orphanage but is a regular visitor to the tower and the general area. Jackson likes to chase the cat off.**
<#jonah: Ollie would not name the cat. If someone else wants to, that's cool. #>
<#ann: Celeste thinks we should name the cat Gato. It's a secret not-quite-pet so we should name it in our secret language. Any other ideas floating about? #>
<#bill: Cole would be on board with Gato.#>
<#court: Good by me! #>

===Talk section===

<#ann: Jonah, for the future, as we get older and Celeste gets better at this sort of thing, do you want her to keep helping out? Is this a once-off? Does Celeste teach Ollie how to sew so that he can stitch up animals? Do they work together to learn more about animal anatomy? (That could be an interesting event, actually. If they find some dead rat or something and carefully dissect it so they can better understand how all the muscles and things work. Also interesting if Celeste wants to do that, but Ollie is NOT okay with it. I think we'll wait til their older though - maybe after she's decided to be a doctor, so around 13 and 10 for them?) Are you still going to be a vet, because we could do some studying together, basic things. #>
<#jonah: This is not a once-off. After this point Ollie seems to bring home sick, hungry and injured animals with some frequency. He's not keeping them as pets, but rather explains that he just wants them to feel better, and then let them go. I think that if Celeste wanted to dissect a rat, Ollie would have no trouble finding one for her — actually that might make a nice event for Jonah's purposes, so if you're up for it, go ahead and make one and I'll jump in. As for the vet thing: I'm not 10% sure yet, but I think we should proceed with Ollie showing some enthusiasm for helping Celeste study by helping her understand the animals he brings home. Actually, come to think of it, he's more of the nurse, and she's playing the doctor, at least sort of... #>

<#ann: I was thinking more that they come across something dead and get a good idea, rather than looking for one in particular. I think the impetus to go and find one would be when she is older. Is that okay, if it's not until, say, 1873 or so? #><#jonah: Yep, sounds great. #>
<#bill: We could, if you two don't mind, have a gone down thusly: Celeste and Ollie decide they want to dissect an animal and either Cole overhears or they ask him for helping finding one. He could then a. go out and find one or b. know right away to get one: "Arkadeus is always discarding dead animals in the woods behind his shop." #>
<#jonah: That could work, or I also think there's no shortage of dead rats around a city in that era. Let's see how the Arkadeus events turn out before deciding to use his discards. #>
<#ann: You had mentioned that finding a dead rat for Celeste would be good for your purposes, Jonah, is that still true? Because if so, then we should go that route. #>
<#jonah: Agreed :D Probably Cole doesn't even suggest Arkadeus. #>


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