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rsadelleThis is what you find when you google for sad orange kittens:
I reread the middle parts of the Jordan Eberle turns into a kitten story, and then I soothed myself to sleep thinking about Claude turning into a kitten. Danny's doorbell rings, and he answers it to find the Schenns on his doorstep with a tiny orange kitten. They tell him it's Claude. He's pretty sure he's being pranked, but they're freaked out enough that maybe it's real. He tells them he can't take the kitten because he has dogs, but they keep insisting until he takes it. It does sort of look like Claude, and when he carefully introduces it to the dogs, they seem cool with hanging out with instead of trying to eat it, so Danny hangs onto the kitten overnight. He doesn't quite believe it's Claude until he wakes up in the morning and instead of a tiny kitten sharing his bed, there's a naked Claude.
He's not very happy about it, and less so the second time it happens (in the locker room where half the team can see, so now he's absolutely sure it's not a prank), and as dumb as it is, he ends up lecturing a kitten about how he's the captain and he can't just turn into a kitten to get out of dealing with a bad season. He gives up on the lecture after a while because kitten Claude looks sufficiently chastised and unhappy, and also because he needs a nap. When he wakes up from his nap, Claude is Claude again, but this time Danny brought his clothes from the rink so at least he doesn't have to lose any more of his clothes to Claude.
The next time it happens, Danny says no and sends the kitten home with the Scotts. Laughton keeps forgetting to be intimidated by Claude because the kitten's cute, and Hartsy is pretty much Claude's best friend. Hartsy texts in the morning to say that kitten Claude cuddled up to him last night but is human Claude again this morning, so at least it's not just sleeping with Danny that makes him turn back.
Claude turns into a kitten on a road trip, which Danny finds out when Hartsy knocks on his door and deposits kitten Claude in his hands and some of Claude's clothes on the chair in his room. Danny is perhaps the only one sensible enough to be scared by this happening on the road when they all have single rooms now, and institutes a policy that Claude has to check in with him a couple of times a day on road trips.
And then, I don't know. Obviously more kitten cuddles and Claude finally figuring out he can control it and make choices about when he's going to be a kitten, and also Claude learning to not be freaked out about being the captain.
Danny's starting to get wary of people ringing his doorbell, so it's a relief when it's human Claude standing on his doorstep. The boys are delighted to see him, but tell him he has to come back when they're not about to get picked up to go to their mom's. The dogs go with the boys, and then Sean wanders through and says hi to Claude, and then they're alone in the living room. Claude says he thinks he can control the kitten thing, and he wants to try it, and he knows Danny will watch out for him and also that if he can't change himself back after a while, at least they can take a nap and that'll work.
Danny is still not happy about the kitten thing, but it'll be so much better if Claude can control it so he agrees, and then Claude stands in the middle of the room, closes his eyes for a minute, and then there's a tiny orange kitten Danny has to rescue from the pile of Claude's clothes.
He doesn't really have kitten supplies, but kitten Claude is perfectly, blissfully happy to bat a water bottle cap all around the kitchen. When he gets tired, he rubs against Danny's ankles, and Danny picks him up and pets him, and also tells him how weird this thing is.
Danny sits down on the couch in the living room with Claude purring in his lap, and that thing about petting a cat lowering your blood pressure must be true because he's not as annoyed as he thinks he should be. After a while, Claude butts his head against Danny's palm, jumps down, and goes to the middle of the room. A minute later, he's himself again and pulling on his clothes.
They work on it, which mostly means Claude comes over or knocks on Danny's hotel room door and turns himself into a kitten and curls up on Danny's lap for a while, until Claude has it down. Even then, he comes over sometimes just to be a kitten. He says it's no fun by himself, and when Danny tells him he can't keep hiding from his problems by being a kitten, he says it's the same thing as other guys partying or golfing or whatever they do to give their minds a break from thinking about the job.
Hartsy invites Danny out to lunch after practice one day and tells anyone who tries to get in on it that it's an assistant captains lunch, which, it turns out, really means he wants to talk to Danny about Claude. He tells Danny that despite Claude's willingness to turn into a kitten with the other guys sometimes for their amusement - it doesn't seem to hurt his standing as captain - he won't do it unless Danny is there, which Danny didn't know. He doesn't want to have to do anything about it now that he does, and he doesn't really know what to do anyway. Hartsy seems pretty philosophical about it and points out that as assistants, they're supposed to back up and support their captain. Danny still thinks Kimmo should have to be involved in that case, but he does concede that Hartsy has a point and that since whatever Hartsy's been doing hasn't been working, he'll see what he can do.
Danny's not sure exactly what he's supposed to be doing, but most of the time Claude comes over to be a kitten, he just cuddles up in Danny's lap, so the next time he shows up at Danny's hotel room door, Danny lets him in, locks the door, and turns around and hugs him before he can turn into a kitten. Danny holds on until Claude hugs him back, and then keeps holding on and strokes Claude's hair the way he would pet kitten Claude. He tells Claude that he doesn't have to be a kitten, and after they stand there for a while, they sit down on Danny's bed and watch a movie shoulder to shoulder.
It starts to work, kind of. Claude still comes over to be a kitten, but sometimes he comes over just to get a hug and hang out. Hartsy tells him that Claude still won't be a kitten if Danny's not around, but he also bumps Danny's shoulder and tells him Claude looks better and whatever he's doing is helping.
But then there's the road trip where Hartsy and Jake show up at Danny's door with a hissing kitten barely being kept in check by Hartsy's hand holding him by the scruff of his neck and a stack of clothes being carried by Jake. Hartsy tells Danny he doesn't think Claude meant to do it, and hands over the hissing kitten, who just jumps out of Danny's arms and disappears deeper into the room. Hartsy wishes him luck, and Danny closes the door behind them.
Claude is nowhere to be seen, and a little investigation finds him hiding under the nightstand between the beds. Danny sits down on the floor, back against the bed, and tells Claude he's really unhappy with him right now. That does nothing, so he sighs and just sits there for a while, until Claude creeps out from under the nightstand.
When Claude gets close enough that he nudges his head against Danny's leg, Danny picks him up and cuddles him close to his chest. He pets the top of Claude's head, over and over again, and it takes a long time until Claude's fur stops sticking out everywhere.
[And then I didn't know what else would happen and the Flyers' season never got better anyway.]
I reread the middle parts of the Jordan Eberle turns into a kitten story, and then I soothed myself to sleep thinking about Claude turning into a kitten. Danny's doorbell rings, and he answers it to find the Schenns on his doorstep with a tiny orange kitten. They tell him it's Claude. He's pretty sure he's being pranked, but they're freaked out enough that maybe it's real. He tells them he can't take the kitten because he has dogs, but they keep insisting until he takes it. It does sort of look like Claude, and when he carefully introduces it to the dogs, they seem cool with hanging out with instead of trying to eat it, so Danny hangs onto the kitten overnight. He doesn't quite believe it's Claude until he wakes up in the morning and instead of a tiny kitten sharing his bed, there's a naked Claude.
He's not very happy about it, and less so the second time it happens (in the locker room where half the team can see, so now he's absolutely sure it's not a prank), and as dumb as it is, he ends up lecturing a kitten about how he's the captain and he can't just turn into a kitten to get out of dealing with a bad season. He gives up on the lecture after a while because kitten Claude looks sufficiently chastised and unhappy, and also because he needs a nap. When he wakes up from his nap, Claude is Claude again, but this time Danny brought his clothes from the rink so at least he doesn't have to lose any more of his clothes to Claude.
The next time it happens, Danny says no and sends the kitten home with the Scotts. Laughton keeps forgetting to be intimidated by Claude because the kitten's cute, and Hartsy is pretty much Claude's best friend. Hartsy texts in the morning to say that kitten Claude cuddled up to him last night but is human Claude again this morning, so at least it's not just sleeping with Danny that makes him turn back.
Claude turns into a kitten on a road trip, which Danny finds out when Hartsy knocks on his door and deposits kitten Claude in his hands and some of Claude's clothes on the chair in his room. Danny is perhaps the only one sensible enough to be scared by this happening on the road when they all have single rooms now, and institutes a policy that Claude has to check in with him a couple of times a day on road trips.
And then, I don't know. Obviously more kitten cuddles and Claude finally figuring out he can control it and make choices about when he's going to be a kitten, and also Claude learning to not be freaked out about being the captain.
Danny's starting to get wary of people ringing his doorbell, so it's a relief when it's human Claude standing on his doorstep. The boys are delighted to see him, but tell him he has to come back when they're not about to get picked up to go to their mom's. The dogs go with the boys, and then Sean wanders through and says hi to Claude, and then they're alone in the living room. Claude says he thinks he can control the kitten thing, and he wants to try it, and he knows Danny will watch out for him and also that if he can't change himself back after a while, at least they can take a nap and that'll work.
Danny is still not happy about the kitten thing, but it'll be so much better if Claude can control it so he agrees, and then Claude stands in the middle of the room, closes his eyes for a minute, and then there's a tiny orange kitten Danny has to rescue from the pile of Claude's clothes.
He doesn't really have kitten supplies, but kitten Claude is perfectly, blissfully happy to bat a water bottle cap all around the kitchen. When he gets tired, he rubs against Danny's ankles, and Danny picks him up and pets him, and also tells him how weird this thing is.
Danny sits down on the couch in the living room with Claude purring in his lap, and that thing about petting a cat lowering your blood pressure must be true because he's not as annoyed as he thinks he should be. After a while, Claude butts his head against Danny's palm, jumps down, and goes to the middle of the room. A minute later, he's himself again and pulling on his clothes.
They work on it, which mostly means Claude comes over or knocks on Danny's hotel room door and turns himself into a kitten and curls up on Danny's lap for a while, until Claude has it down. Even then, he comes over sometimes just to be a kitten. He says it's no fun by himself, and when Danny tells him he can't keep hiding from his problems by being a kitten, he says it's the same thing as other guys partying or golfing or whatever they do to give their minds a break from thinking about the job.
Hartsy invites Danny out to lunch after practice one day and tells anyone who tries to get in on it that it's an assistant captains lunch, which, it turns out, really means he wants to talk to Danny about Claude. He tells Danny that despite Claude's willingness to turn into a kitten with the other guys sometimes for their amusement - it doesn't seem to hurt his standing as captain - he won't do it unless Danny is there, which Danny didn't know. He doesn't want to have to do anything about it now that he does, and he doesn't really know what to do anyway. Hartsy seems pretty philosophical about it and points out that as assistants, they're supposed to back up and support their captain. Danny still thinks Kimmo should have to be involved in that case, but he does concede that Hartsy has a point and that since whatever Hartsy's been doing hasn't been working, he'll see what he can do.
Danny's not sure exactly what he's supposed to be doing, but most of the time Claude comes over to be a kitten, he just cuddles up in Danny's lap, so the next time he shows up at Danny's hotel room door, Danny lets him in, locks the door, and turns around and hugs him before he can turn into a kitten. Danny holds on until Claude hugs him back, and then keeps holding on and strokes Claude's hair the way he would pet kitten Claude. He tells Claude that he doesn't have to be a kitten, and after they stand there for a while, they sit down on Danny's bed and watch a movie shoulder to shoulder.
It starts to work, kind of. Claude still comes over to be a kitten, but sometimes he comes over just to get a hug and hang out. Hartsy tells him that Claude still won't be a kitten if Danny's not around, but he also bumps Danny's shoulder and tells him Claude looks better and whatever he's doing is helping.
But then there's the road trip where Hartsy and Jake show up at Danny's door with a hissing kitten barely being kept in check by Hartsy's hand holding him by the scruff of his neck and a stack of clothes being carried by Jake. Hartsy tells Danny he doesn't think Claude meant to do it, and hands over the hissing kitten, who just jumps out of Danny's arms and disappears deeper into the room. Hartsy wishes him luck, and Danny closes the door behind them.
Claude is nowhere to be seen, and a little investigation finds him hiding under the nightstand between the beds. Danny sits down on the floor, back against the bed, and tells Claude he's really unhappy with him right now. That does nothing, so he sighs and just sits there for a while, until Claude creeps out from under the nightstand.
When Claude gets close enough that he nudges his head against Danny's leg, Danny picks him up and cuddles him close to his chest. He pets the top of Claude's head, over and over again, and it takes a long time until Claude's fur stops sticking out everywhere.
[And then I didn't know what else would happen and the Flyers' season never got better anyway.]