Nick and Catseye in Malibu

[x-wolfcub.livejournal.com]

Nick tries to get away from the group in Malibu, but runs into the one person he has the most awkwardness with.



The beach house was noisy, and though Catseye felt herself to be quite a social creature, there were times when a nap in the sun, alone, was something she craved as much as her favourite meat. She'd managed to find some peace and quiet in the boathouse, in one of the boats. The launch door was open, which meant the sun was streaming inside. She'd brought a book down with her but the sun had started to make her sleepy, so she'd shifted to catform and curled up on one of the seats at the aft sections of the boat.

The always awkward Nick Gleason had spent a lot of time trying to avoid the others at the Malibu house. He often questioned why exactly he had come, but that was another story. It was already too late now, and the best he could do was find a place to be alone. He had spotted the boat house during the first hours of the trip, and had finally found time now to slip inside, and breathe in a deep lung-full of air. But he had only taken a few steps when he caught a glimpse of the purple cat on one of the boats. His eyes quickly opened wide, as another awkward encounter played out in his mind. "Oh God..." He quickly turned to make his quick getaway, but things never seemed to go to plan as his shoe caught in the planking, and the boy fell to the ground with a large thud.

Startled out of her nap by the noise, Catseye shifted and frowned when she saw Nick lying on the floor. "Is Nick alright?" She noticed the direction he'd fallen in, and the frown increased. "Was Nick running away from Catseye?"

Nick quickly rolled over, rubbing the front of his face that he had landed on. Squinting his eyes, he quickly found Catseye again. "No, I wasnt' running away from you... Well, not exactly." He bit his bottom lip. "I actually really wanted to talk to you, but I wasn't exactly prepared yet..." He tilted his head to the side, quickly cursing himself both for being too clumsy and for not thinking through everything he wanted to say to Catseye before leaving the mansion.

"Oh." She made herself comfortable in the boat once again. "Well, then Nick should talk when he is prepared," she answered, waving a hand at him dismissively. If he didn't want to talk, then fine, she wasn't going to force him.

The boy let out a quick sigh before letting himself slam back down onto the dock behind him. "I guess now is as good a time as any." As soon as his behind hit, the boy leaned forward, placing his chin into his hands and furrowing his eyebrows together, trying to figure out what exactly he should say. "So about our last talk in the woods...." He tilted his head to the side, trying to look less threatening. "Have you had anytime to think?"

"About being a couple with Nick?" she stalled. "Or about being human?"

"Either. We haven't really had a chance to talk since then." Nick crossed his legs and hugged them close to his chest. He didn't know if the separation was his idea or hers, but he quickly shoved the thought to the back of his head.

"Yes Catseye has had time to think." That didn't mean she was going to volunteer anything, though, deciding to be obstinate and take his questions literally without adding anything extra.

"Well what did you decide about..." He bit his lip again, stopping himself from asking what he really wanted to "...being human?" He closed his eyes for a second after finishing his question. But he quickly forced his eyes open, as he really did want to hear the answer.

"Catseye decided to try harder and Catseye decided that even though she is not a real animal-type cat, she is a mutant girl that can be a mutant cat and that is okay. Catseye is happy with who she is. Is Nick happy?" she asked suddenly.

Nick turned his head to the side. "That's kind of a loaded question for me." He raised one of his hands up to his chin, scratching it slightly. "I haven't really been happy for a long time. There's still a lot of things bouncing around in my head all the time you know." He made his eyes lock onto Catseye's in front of him. "But I am happiest when I'm with you, yes." He quickly squinted his eyebrows together. "Why do you ask?"

"Does Catseye make Nick's blood boil? Does Catseye make Nick wirey and make Nick want to know what is inside Catseye's head?"

"You certainly don't make my blood boil Cats. And while there are times that I really wish I could know what's going on in your head, especially now..." He paused for a second, squinting his eyebrows together, making sure he really wanted to answer the question how he was about to. "Not knowing, actually makes things exciting for me." A smirk slowly appeared across his face.

"I think a large reason why I'm so calm around you, and why I'm so attracted to being around you as much as I am is because I have no idea what you're going to say or do."

Now she was even more confused. Jay had equated attraction with things that Nick said he didn't feel, but Nick said he was attracted to being around her! The best way to handle something when she didn't understand, she knew, was to ask. "But if Nick is attracted to Catseye, Catseye should make Nick's blood boil, yes? If Catseye certainly does not then how come Nick is still attracted to Catseye?" Other than the confusion, though, he was saying nice things, which she liked, and she was desperately trying to find out what was in his head, so maybe she was attracted to him?

"Wait blood boil meaning...." Nick's forehead was creased as he tried to put everything together, but suddenly, it released. "Oh, I thought you meant blood boiling as in angry." The boy let out a laugh, realizing that this time it was he who didn't understand Catseye instead of the other way around. "Cats I'm definitely attracted to you physically." He took a quick pause. "If that's what you mean." A brief, but teased smile became plastered on the boys face.

"Catseye thinks that is what Jay meant," she answered. "Not angry. Catseye thinks she is attracted to Nick because she does want to know what is going on in Nick's head and she does want to kiss Nick again but Catseye does not know about this blood boiling or feeling wirey."

Nick laughed for a second before answering. "Yeah, Jay's confused me on more than one occasion, but nowhere near as much as Shrio. I can still remember the first time I..." Suddenly the boy stopped himself. "Wait a second..." He pointed his face towards Catseye's. "You think you're attracted to me?" He had done a horrible job of keeping the hopefulness out of his voice, but at this point, he didn't care.

"Well, Catseye does not really know yet," she admitted, shrugging. "But Catseye thinks spending more time with Nick so she can find out would be a goodthing?"

"I always think that spending more time with you is a good thing Cats." The boy leaned back, even though the situation between them was still up in the air, it was a relief that they had gone this long talking without one of them turning into an animal and sulking away. "So no more avoiding each other?"

"Okay! Catseye does not like avoiding Nick. It is SneakyBad. Does Nick want to go swimming with Catseye?" she suggested excitedly.

"That sounds like the best idea since we've gotten here." The wide grin returned to Nick's face, one that hasn't seemed to be whole in weeks.