Face the Blood - Yvette and Dori; Yvette and Catseye

[x-penance.livejournal.com]

Dori, still feeling guilty, visits Yvette. It's not as reassuring as she'd like.



She was growing weaker, the dialysis less and less effective. But still Yvette was able to summon a small welcoming smile for visitors - in this case Doreen. They'd already told her about her... about the man who shared her DNA and who refused to let her have his kidneys, despite his own impending death. She still wasn't sure how she felt about that.

“Hi,” Doreen said, as she walked into the room. She was going shoeless right now, and the soft click of claws on the floor could be heard, “How are you feeling?” Doreen asked, putting a lot of cheer into that question as she sat down in a chair near the bed. She felt bad about the whole thing, maybe she hadn’t done something right when she pulled the kid of the land mine. That maybe this was partially her fault, she thought. But smiled anyway. Brightly.

"I have, as you say, felt better." The smile faltered a little as Yvette winced, but she kept hold of it all the same. "You are all right? Fred was saying you were not hurt, but I am glad to be seeing you for myself."

“Yeah, I’m okay. I was already pretty high in the air when everything happened,” Doreen said. She could jump so high that it was almost like flying. Right now, she thought it was a bad thing. If she had been closer to the ground, maybe she could’ve found a way to grab Yvette too.

Doreen sniffed. She really didn’t like the medical smell of the room, but it wasn’t enough to get her to leave and the almost faltering of Yvette’s smile convinced her to stay even more., “I feel bad though because maybe I tripped it when I jumped? I don’t know. But anyway. Everyone is saying you’re going to be okay,” Doreen said. Hoping whatever happened wouldn’t make a liar out of her. “So there’s no reason to worry or anything, you know?”

"It was not your fault." Yvette's voice was fading with her strength, but she tried to be as firm as she could so the younger girl would believe her. "When I was stepping back, there was another mine and I was setting it off. Not you. You did very well, to help those children to be safe." Her expression, as readable as a book now without her powers hampering her, fell. "But I am not so sure things will be so okay. I am needing the new kidneys and the donor will not be consenting. They will keep looking but it is much harder when the person is not family."

“Is that what happened? It was really hard to tell,” especially when she wasn’t right there at the moment of the explosion, “They’ll keep looking, and they’ll find someone. I know they will. If I could do it, I would in a second. When it’s kidneys you only really need one, you know. I remember because my Uncle needed to have one done. So I’m sure they’ll find someone,” she said with a firm nod. Convincing herself as much as Yvette. “You just have to think positive, that’s what my Mom always says. Things will work out okay somehow.”

"Perhaps they will." Yvette went quiet for a moment, thoughtful. She'd had plenty of time to think since she'd wound up in this bed. Thinking was the only thing she could do and as she grew weaker, even that was getting more difficult. "If they do not... you will all be looking after each other, yes? Angel and Fred and Kevin, they will need the people to be there for them. My mother also... Dr. Marcel has promised that he will help her if there is something happening to me."

“They need you there for them,” Doreen said firmly, “And you will be,” she said, not wanting to think about the alternative, even though they all knew exactly what that was. Doreen didn’t like the way this conversation was going. Or the way Yvette smelled ever since they put the inhibitor on her. Or the smell of the machinery. Or any of it, at all. “It will work out okay,” she said again, almost more for herself than for Yvette.

"There is the being positive," Yvette said softly. "And then there is the being realistic. This country... it is not having the same resources as America. There are not so many options. I do not know why my father..." She stopped, and “shook her head, her expression growing stony. "He is not my father. He is the man who is, how you say? The sperm donor. I was to say I did not know why he would not be helping, but I am knowing why. Because he is the bad man."

“He may be a bad man, but you’re a good person,” Doreen said, “So, he did something good in his life. Even if he didn’t mean to,” she said.

That got a faint smile in return. "I am sure he would not be happy to be told that." The small girl winced again - the pain was getting worse as time went on, one sensation she wasn't keen on having back. "I have always tried, to be the good person. I hope I have done that."

“You are a good person,” Doreen said firmly, “You are. Don’t talk like it’s all done yet. It’s not.”

“It is not being over until the fat lady is singing?” It was a weak joke at best, but a joke all the same.

“Yeah. Like that. Or, you know, until it’s over. And it’s not over, Yvette. I promise. We all love you and we’ll make sure it’s not over,” Doreen promised, reaching to take her friend’s hand, holding back tears. She didn’t think she’d be able to say anything else without crying.

Yvette squeezed back faintly, barely a change in pressure. "I will try," she promised, voice fading on the last word as she slipped into unconsciousness again.



Later, Yvette wakes again, to find she has company of a purple kitty kind. Promises are made.



The bed smelled too much like blood for Catseye's liking, so the purple cat was sitting on the nightstand in Yvette's room, barely two feet from the formerly red-skinned girl's head. Her tail was curled around her feet and she sat tall and imposing, purple eyes watchful, staring down at the prone form, a stone guardian protecting her friend from further harm, though her stomach churned over the fact that she hadn't been able to stop Yvette from being hurt in the first place.
The girl in the bed sighed and moaned a little, then opened large brown eyes to look up at the purple cat. "'Lo, Catseye," she murmured. "You are to be my company today, yes?"

Nodding emphatically in a humanesque way, the cat put a tentative paw on Yvette’s pillow and cocked her head, wondering if she was allowed to come over to the bed.

Yvette gave a small nod - there was no harm to be done now and she found that she craved contact now she could have it. "Please. I am not such the good company, but I do not think you are minding, are you?"

In response, Catseye jumped onto the bed and nuzzled Yvette's cheek, settling herself along the girl's side with her face close to Yvette's, purring loudly. She licked her friend's cheek with her rough tongue and kneaded her front paws into the bedspread contentedly.

There was a slight hesitation, born of habit, before Yvette's hand moved to weakly stroke the purple cat's length. The fur was soft and warm under her fingers and for a small time she simply relished the sensation. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and slow, almost sleepy-sounding. "It is good, that you are here, Catseye. I do not think I should be alone, just now. When... if... if something is to happen, I do not want to be alone."

Catseye inched away from Yvette and shifted to girlform, then cuddled back up against Yvette again, trying to be careful of her injuries. "Catseye won't leave. Catseye wants to say nothing will happen but Catseye and Yvette are not SillyKittens and know something might happen but Catseye does not want anything to happen because Yvette is Catseye's friend and Catseye will not leave Yvette alone now except maybe to hunt the human who made Yvette hurt."

Normally Yvette would have protested the change, but she was tired and sick and Catseye's length against her was warm and comforting, especially in the face of the conversation. Perhaps because of the conversation. "It is not one person who is hurting me," she said softly, the hand that had been stroking Catseye's fur now loosely tangled in her hair. "It is the legacy, I suppose, of the war. The mines, the man in prison... even me. If it were not for the war, I would not be here. And now, it seems the war is to be taking me back." Her eyes half-closed. "I do not want to be going, Catseye. But I do not want to be in pain like this."

"Catseye does not understand how the war is taking Yvette back," she complained, tracing circles on Yvette's shoulder with her fingertips, trying to mimic the way the cat would lick it for comfort. "Catseye is sorry SharpSkinGirl is in pain," she added, reverting to her own name for Yvette as her concentration shifted to more important things, "but everyone gets pain, that is life and weak or old cats and humans die but because SharpSkinGirl is strong and young and smart she will fight the pain and win and get better."

"I am trying, Catseye. But I am so tired now." It came out almost petulant, like a sick child and she bit her lip. She had to be brave. For her friends, her mother. "Everyone has been so good to me," she said instead. "I do not want to disappoint them."

"Friends don't get disappointed," the catgirl assured her matter-of-factly, nuzzling her nose against Yvette's neck affectionately. "Friends help. Friends be strong for the friends who are hurt and help them fight."

"You are the good friend." A slight shiver went through Yvette at the contact, far more close than anything she'd experienced even before her powers manifested. "It is helping, to have the people with me. To know that they... love me." She closed her eyes, tears prickling her eyelids. Another sensation she'd almost forgotten.

Catseye shifted into a more comfortable position, sliding an arm under Yvette's back and draping her other over her shoulders, trapping her in a hug. "Everyone at the school loves Yvette," she smiled. "Even the ones who aren't here. And especially ShinyRoom... Kevin," she said with a teasing grin, hoping to take Yvette's mind off her pain.

On cue, the blush appeared, colouring the tips of her ears and her pale cheeks. "Kevin is the dear friend, yes," she murmured. "As you are also. And I am noticing... you are using the people's names?"

Grinning at the blush, Catseye nuzzled Yvette's cheek. "Catseye is trying, because Catseye does not want Yvette or other friends to think that Catseye thinks they are just things not people. Catseye wants her friends to know they are special and not just one thing like a boy in a shiny room or a girl with sharp skin. Yvette is a Yvette, and that is manymany things that make up a person who is Catseye's verygood friend."

"I do not mind SharpSkinGirl, but I can see what you are meaning." Yvette thought to what Fred had said, about her being more than just her appearance. "It is good, to be seeing more than just the one thing. I think sometimes, it is easy to focus on what is outside and forget the rest."

The purple haired girl nodded. "And that is a veryveryverybad thing. It is easy to just see the outside. That is why Catseye likes it. But it is not very nice. Catseye does not like it when people think she is just a regular pet cat with an owner, because Catseye is more! So Catseye understands SharpSkinGirl is not just sharp skin. She is muchmuchmuch more." She hugged Yvette tightly, suddenly worried that she might never see her friend again if she let go and left the bed.

"We are all... more than we seem." With her free hand, the other still occupied with the dialysis tubes, Yvette hugged Catseye's arm back, clumsily. "You are the good person, Catseye. You will look after everyone, yes?" Her voice was growing slurred and faint.

"Yes, Catseye will look after everyone." She knew what Yvette meant - she meant if she died. She was going to leave it at that, since Catseye didn't like to pretend people were going to be fine when they might die, but she couldn't bring herself to let Yvette think she would be okay with Yvette dying. "Catseye will look after everyone until Yvette wakes up and is better. Then Yvette has to do it. Catseye will help, but Catseye has lots of hunting and working and driving to do, so she can't look after everyone without Yvette's help."

"It is... the deal," Yvette said with a weak, tired smile. She reached up to pat Catseye's cheek briefly, before closing her eyes and letting her hand fall. "You will stay, yes?" she murmured, already half-asleep.

"Catseye is not going anywhere," she assured her friend, stroking Yvette's hair like one would stroke a cat. "Have a good nap. Catseye is going to nap too; Yvette is nice and warm and soft."