Nico, Nick, and Catseye

[x-catseye.livejournal.com]

After trying some Guitar Hero, Nico gives Nick and Catseye a magic Shakespearean experience.

It had been a long October for Nicholas Gleason, but November wasn't looking much better. As he rubbed his temples at the side of his desk, he couldn't help but notice that the huge stack of books he was supposed to read for class weren't shrinking on their own. Even when he did finish one, it seemed like a new set replaced the old. Crossing his arms, he let out a sigh, but slowly a smile pulled up the corners of his face. The books would have to wait, he needed a sanity break. Quickly pushing out of his suite, Nick made his way towards the rec room, where he hoped a certain purple-haired girl would be waiting.

"Hi Nick!" Catseye exclaimed from the rec room couch when she caught a whiff of Nick's scent coming down the hallway. She was trying to show Nico the proper way to play Sonic The Hedgehog, but she put the game on pause when Nick caught up to his scent and appeared in front of her. "I am showing Nico how to play this game the right way," she informed him.

Nico sighed; she got the idea of the game, but damn, it wasn't as simple as she had thought; if her parents were a little less on the evil side of the fence, she would've wished to have a little brother to play videogames with, and probably get beaten, but at least get the hang of it. Still, Catseye was a good teacher, and was willing to keep the laughs minimal...or so she thought. Relief came when she paused the game. Kneeling over the couch, Nico turned at Nick, clearly checking the boy while the purple haired girl wasn't looking at her. "Hey Nick", said at least, a small smile as she decided the boy was alright, at least for Cats, of course; she didn't know what to think of relationships just yet.




"Hey you two," Nick shot back, as he shoved his hands in his pockets. Even after being at the mansion for nearly half a year, he still felt uncomfortable around situations that were more than just himself and one other mansion dweller. Still, he decided to push through as he shuffled his feet forward. "Has she tried to teach you Guitar Hero yet? She gets a little intense."







Nico negated with her head slowly, relief slowly leaving her. That was the game when you also sang right? She didn't want to sing, or be close to sing, or even see someone singing, because then she would end up doing it, and hell if she didn't want to. Still, she managed to smile back at Nick. "Cats is rather intense at nearly anything she does, so I wouldn't be too surprised."





Catseye stuck her tongue out at first Nick, then Nico. "I think that was supposed to be teasing saying I am intense but I am going to think it is a good thing," she decided, knowing it was true. "Nick do you want to play Guitar Hero? We can teach Nico?"







"Sure, I should be able to do that." He said throwing himself onto the couch. "And I think it's adorable that you're intense Cats." He flashed a smile at the girl. "But only if you're up for it Nico." He held his hand up hesitantly towards the girl. Nick knew that the mansion could be a bit overwhelming with activities, and didn't want to feel like he was ramming things towards the girl.


For a second, she wanted to say something that dismissed the activity, but Nico then realized she couldn't just keep avoiding the subject every time it appeared. Also, the people on the mansion were nice and encouraging enough for her to believe they wouldn't look funny at her; at least she knew Catseye wouldn't. "Alright, alright...but if you ever tell anyone I'll make you two taste my wrath, and it's not a nice thing."

"What does wrath taste like?" Catseye asked, loading the game and distributing a guitar to Nico and a microphone to Nick. "Or do you want drums?" she asked him, tilting her head.


"I think I'd get a little too emotional if I took the drums." Nick said as he reach forward for the microphone. A smile was on his face as he turned towards Nico. "And I think Wrath tastes a little like milk if you left it out in the sun for too long. Right Nico?"





Nico grabbed the guitar, giving a wide eyeing to the microphone for a whole second before smiling at Nick. "That's a pretty damn accurate analogy, yes." So, what she was supposed to do now? The guitar, if you call the plastic ting without strings like that didn't look like any kind of controller she had ever used. "Hmm...tutorial please?"



"Eew, old milk tastes icky," Catseye gagged, making a face. "I do not want to taste your wrath Nico. I promise I will not tell anyone we are playing Guitar Hero." She pushed some buttons on her own guitar, then on Nico's to set up her character, then picked a song and pushed buttons on Nico's again to set up her guitar. "Here you can be the bass it is the easiest when you are learning. All you do is watch the screen but you have to watch the right screen not mine or Nick's I will tell you which screen to watch and you watch your screen and when the colours come to the bottom, you push the button that is the same colour on your guitar and you push this bar down or up and then it makes a note! Do you understand?"

Well, all in all it was..."Pretty simple, I guess?" Nico nodded, indicating the catgirl to start. "Alright, I guess it's a good idea I stick to the easiest part for now..." Turning her attention back at Nick, the girl wondered in silence how the microphone was supposed to be used.

Nick coughed several times trying to loosen up his vocal cords for the coming challenge. "So what are we playing anyway Cats?"


"I picked 'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey," the catgirl replied excitedly, tapping the buttons with her claws as she waited for the song to start. "Nico, when you said you could do magic for Nick did you mean anytime?" she asked, figuring it was okay if she talked while they played since she wasn't singing.

Don't stop believing? She certainly didn't see that coming. "Yeah, I mean, as long as we aren't doing anything else, I can." Only then Nico realized Nick might not even know what were they talking about. Leaning backwards a little so she could see the boy, Nico decided to find out. "Hey, did she told you?"

"Born and raised in south Detroit... NoThisIsAllNewsToMe." Nick said all in one sing-songy voice. It was always a little complicated for him to talk, but while singing Journey, it took on an entirely new framework.

"Nico said she could do magic for you, something with Shakespeare, as a present to you from me," Catseye grinned, letting out a frustrated growl as she missed a note. "Can you do it today?" she asked Nico curiously.

"Today is good as any other day, yeah." Nico was getting the hang of the game, which didn't mean she was getting all the notes alright, but at least could play and talk in a more or less efficient way. Also, playing the bass was quite simple; she would need to try the guitar later, and maybe sing a little...but maybe not. "I already had an idea of sorts, but if Nick wants something more detailed, I would like to hear him."

While going on an instrumental interlude for the song, Nick let himself bang happily on the microphone as one eye raised at the proposition. "Wait, I'm confused. Do you mean like letting us see a play? Or being in it? I'm a little shaky on dodging magical arrows..."

"Oh, it would be like watching a play happening as if it were the real thing, but not being there; pretty much like dreaming about it, but being completely aware that is just a dream, although a very real one..." Nico didn't continue, since she was starting to miss some notes, and noticed that was harder to get on track once you got many of those. "Anyway, if you want to be in the play as one of the characters, I can do that as well; just remember you wouldn' really die or get hurt...but you might feel it?" Nico wasn't sure, and at the time half of her brain power was trying to get the frigging notes right.





When the song ended, Catseye took her hand off her guitar instead of picking a new song. "He might get hurt?" she questioned, frowning, and her tail wrapped unconsciously around Nick's wrist.



"What? Of course not? I wouldn't put anyone in danger!" Alright, maybe she got a little on the defensive, but after talking to Amanda she had decided to do her best, and not to do magic just because; she had promised it to Catseye, and was decided to make it happen without hurting anyone. "That is why looking at a play without taking part of it seems like a better idea; I was only voicing another option." She didn't take her hands of the guitar, not sure of what to do with them.

Nick was still a bit confused by the whole thing, but quickly looked up at Catseye with a reassuring grin. "I'll do whatever you want to." He winked for a second before continuing. "It is your gift after all."

"But it is for you!" she answered in protest. "You should do what you want to, not what I want to! Besides it is for you not me. Or can I come too?" she asked Nico curiously.

Nico shrugged, a smile on her face though. "I thought you would be in there as well, actually, so there is no problem about that."


"Yay!" Catseye exclaimed happily. "What do you want to do Nick since it is a present for you?" she asked excitedly.

"I'd always love to go see a play." He turned his eyes towards Nico, dropping his face slightly. The whole magic realm was still a huge mystery to him. "Can you do that?"


"Well, which one? If you want to do it now, I think you should get comfortable and take a sit first, since you will be, well, dreaming." With the prospect of making her little magic trick at that moment, Nico's worries about singing had vanished, her mind working on the best way to formulate the spell.


Catseye sat back and made a show of getting comfortable. "Which play are we going to see Nick?" she asked enthusiastically.

Nick paused for just a second before turning to Catseye. "How about Taming of the Shrew? It's kind of like the first movie we watched together with Yvette."


"But the play was not like the movie we saw," Catseye reminded him, "I have never seen the real play I think I would like it veryverymuch because I would like to see how it is different from the movie we watched!"
Nico just stood there, watching them debate. She knew close to nothing regarding plays and that stuff, but the girl considered that as long as Nick knew what he wanted, she should just need to focus on giving him control. "So, would you guys prefer to be in a theater, or actually in the middle of the events as if they were the real thing? Also, Nick, you would be the one providing the details and everything."

"I think in the theater would be... the safer option." Nick was still a bit weary of the whole magic idea. He decided that he better be more safe than sorry as he turned towards Catseye. "If that's alright with you."


The catgirl opened her eyes- she'd been anxiously awaiting the start of the 'dream'- and nodded emphatically at Nick. "At the theatre where people saw the play for the first time?" she asked hopefully.


Now that was pushing it. "Uh..." Nico had to consider it for a second. Could she really pull something like that? Her idea was to make the play happen like Nick remembered it, so if he knew the where and when...his mind should fill in the blanks for her. "I'll see what I can do", said at least before biting the same finger she usually did to summon the staff. "Alright, here we go." Focusing, Nico had a final moment to reconsider, but she had already made up her mind. Nico had initially decided to simply go with a phrase that connected the ideas of having a dream and seeing a play, but so far she hadn't found anything better than Play the Dream, and that sounded horrible even in her mind, but before she said it, other words filled her head.


"I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;
If wealthily, then happily in Padua."


A silver gas -although it also looked like silk, and Nico remembered something about Harry Potter's novels- came out of the staff, slowly surrounding Nick and Catseye like a scarf. "Well, you should feel the effect right now...what the heck did I say anyway?"


But Nico's answers came in the form of the already glazed over eyes of Nicholas Gleason as he stared straight forward. An emotionless gaze straight at the wall.

"You said something from the play," Catseye mumbled, eyes closed again, before the silver misty stuff enveloped her and she slipped into the magic with Nick.


"I...did?" Well, that was certainly interesting and not expected for the with in training, but the idea of having the Staff of One sometimes wispering spells to her wasn't entirely new, although that only made it the more freaky. Both Nick and Catseye were already dreaming, so Nico decided it was better to leave the rec room and do something else; she wasn't just going to stare at them until something happened. The girl was making her way to the door when she noticed the game, which was still on, and the microphone. They wouldn't hear, would they? And apparently nobody was to enter the room, so it would be safe to give it a small, insignificant, not important at all try right? The staff had gone inside of her chest surprisingly fast, and she was already selecting a song; she didn't even care a man was the one singing, or getting the lyrics right; the moment Nico grabbed the microphone she was on her own especial place.

"I need an easy friend. I do, with an ear to lend..." It was a shame Nick and Cats were missing it, although they were surely experiencing something completely amazing; far from being bad, Nico was a pretty good singer, actually, and she was singing without raising her voice too much, still thinking someone might pass; she wouldn't have noticed though, eyes closed as she allowed herself to go on the gift she had done for herself.