Nico and Catseye

[x-catseye.livejournal.com]

Mopey, Catseye visits Nico for cuddles and Nico tells Cats about her parents.

Unable to sleep, Catseye shifted into catform and wriggled out from under her covers, jumping down from the bed and padding quietly out of her room. She had napped with Angel the night before so tonight Catseye thought it was only fair to let Angel sleep and go nap with someone else. Some people liked absolute silence when they tried to sleep but Catseye had always found it more soothing to drift off listening to the steady heartbeat and breathing of someone close by.

She approached Megan and Nico's room from the outside of the mansion, hoping the crisp cold would jar her out of her mopey mood, though all it seemed to do tonight was remind her of the hundreds of other nights she had been out in the cold throughout her past, which stirred up the confusing feelings of whether or not she should be angry at her father for throwing her out or whether she had, as Kurt suggested, just wandered off and gotten lost one night in this kind of cold.

The window was shut but unlocked, and Catseye used her tail to slip in before closing it behind her, hoping the noise of the window shutting wouldn't wake either of the girls. On the windowsill she spun and spun until she was so dizzy she didn't know where she was jumping, or which bed she was landing on.

Unlike the last time, Nico was already sleeping this time, or at least had been until a purple fur ball fell on her stomach, letting her without air for a second, and obviously waking her up in a rather sudden fashion. Still, the time she had spent on the mansion had already helped her internalize most of the apparently weird events that happened in them -she couldn't understand why she kept burning her toasts though-, so she quickly connected the dots.

"Catseye? Is that you?" Her voice was still dreamy, but she was already getting more awake. "You surely know how to knock," commented with a smile she wasn't sure Cats would be able to see.

Catseye licked Nico's nose, then moved off of her friend so she could shift and not completely squash Nico. "Catseye could knock yes but then Catseye would wake up two people instead of one and Catseye did not want to do that. Hi Nico. Can Catseye nap with Nico?"

Nico's smile widened when her friend didn't get the little joke, and decided to leave it at that. Catsyes sounded...distressed, and maybe that was woke Nico up entirely at last; she didn't remember seeing her like that before, but then again, she hadn't seen much of Catseye lately so...

"Yes, you can nap here whenever you want. You can also tell me what's wrong, if you want, of course; I would like to be useful for you."


Catseye snuggled against Nico's side and made a face. "Nothing is wrong Catseye is just sad about her fatherperson and confused about what really happened to Catseye when she was a baby."


Nico also accommodated to Catseye's presence in her bed, so she could face the girl and keep a comfortable position. "Well, then something is wrong Cats. It happened long ago, but it keeps bothering you, which means you consider it important, right?" Nico was aware of Catseye's history, and she was more than empathetic with her; blaming the girl's parents didn't seem like the best course of action though.

"Have you talked to your father about it?"

"No, Catseye cannot talk to her fatherperson because Catseye does not want him to know that Catseye is alive since the motherperson and brothers knew about Catseye but kept it secret from Fatherperson and if Fatherperson knew they kept a secret Fatherperson might be angry with them and try to hurt them," she responded miserably.

That was the reason Nico had a grudge against parents; they seemed oblivious to the pain they caused to others regardless of their good feelings. Now she had to make a choice; she could either voice her feelings and tell Catseye what she thought about her father, or actually try to be there for her. She struggled a little, but ultimately decided for the last. "Look," she started, trying to sound as calm as she could. "I think, and this is only my opinion, that he should know, not because he has done anything to deserve it, but because you deserve to stop hiding from him. I think I know you Cats, and you are strong and good, and your mother and brother love you. Even more, if your father were to try to hurt them, you can protect them now, take them to a safe place." Nico wondered if she was doing the right thing again, but decided she had to speak up.

Drawing herself closer, Nico placed on forehead against Catseye's, eyes closed as she tried to focus. "Ultimately, I believe we can't run away forever. Heck, I wish I could just forget about my parents, but I know I will have to face them sooner or later. It scared me a lot, and still does, but at least now I know I have friends and people I can trust close to me, and I consider those my family."


Catseye was quiet for a while, thinking Nico's words through. She nudged the other girl's forehead with her own and finally said "Cat-I think you are right Nico. He should know and yes I have to face him because I do not want to hide and yes I can protect my motherperson and brothers especially if my friends are with me to help. But first I must do what Mister Kurt said and talk to my motherperson and brothers and ask them what the fatherperson said about how I died and why they are not telling him that I am alive now because keeping secrets is not a good thing but if they are afraid I want to help them. Nico if you know you have to face your parents why are you not doing it now?" That part confused her a little.
Nico nodded, nudging Catseye back in the process of doing so. "Yes, that sounds like the appropriate way to do things; Mr. Sefton is very reliable." She didn't answer right away for the second part. "It's...different," started, but Nico found difficult to explain what was happening to her properly. "They...do magic, but it's not like Amanda. They kill people." Nico sighed, gathering strength to keep talking. "And they tried to kill me, and I think that I'm safe being here, because of Amanda and everyone else, but one day, I'll step out of this place, and face them." Nico swallowed hard, resolve building up. "And they'll die, or I'll die. As I am at the moment I'm too weak to survive them, so I can't face them until I'm certain I can do what I must." Her eyes were watery by then, and her voice shaky; how weird could she sound?
Hearing Nico's voice falter, Catseye hugged her around the shoulders and nudged her again. "I did not know your parents killed people," she replied, sounding contrite. "I am sorry and sorry because they tried to kill you. Yes you are safe here yesyesyes Amanda will not let anything happen to you and neither will I! And when you get strong and stop hiding I will go with you to make sure you do not die because I would be veryverysad if you died!"

As if the topic wasn't emotional enough, the hug and nudging managed to break Nico down; fortunately it was a silent cry, and she had enough attention to hear Catseye replying to her. Hugging back, Nico then shifted to her face was hiding against Catseye's chest, small tremors shaking her. But Catseye was wrong about something; Nico had to it by herself, she jut couldn't bear to risk any one's life, not if she could. "Thanks," managed to mumble between cries. "What a crappy friend I am, turning a conversation about your problems into something about me!"


Catseye tilted her head in confusion. "I do not understand why you think you are a crappy friend to talk to me," she replied. "I like when you talk to me and I like to help you and first I told you about how I was sad and you helped me by having a good thought and then you told me about your parents and now I can help you with a hug and I can try to have good thoughts to help you and that is what friends do yes?"

Nico nodded, a weak laugh following as she sniffed. "Yes, you are right; this whole thing made me a little irrational, sorry." Nico realized she was quite comfortable where she was, and felt a little weird to actually be doing that. "Would you mind if we stay like this? Or, if you want to turn back into your cat form..."

"I do not mind," Catseye replied, giggling. She tugged some of the covers away from Nico, though, so she could snuggle under the blankets with her. "You are a veryverygood friend Nico, do not say you are a crappy friend ever!"

Nico smiled, closing her eyes again. Oh, Megan was going to be a bit surprised on the morning. "Thank you, Cats; I'm sure you will manage to solve your problems. Both of us will, I'm sure of it." Nico's eyes started to close again; she was tired after all, and crying only remembered her how much. She managed to register how good her friend smelled before yawning and falling asleep again. "Good night," managed to whisper before giving up to the warmth and quiet of sleep.