Stray Cat Strut

Interlude Lucy - School Days Part Three

Lucy woke up slowly and wonderfully. There was warmth to her left. Cat's body was always warmer than her own, and so she made for a perfect space heater under the blankets, but there was also something cool wrapped around the top of Lucy's head.

Blinking, she reached up and touched something metallic, only to realize that it was Cat's new arm, protectively wrapped over the top of her head. Cat was sleeping on her side, sort of, with one leg out and touching Lucy and her fleshier hand across Lucy's hips. She was sleeping, though. Mouth agape, eyes closed, hair all... actually still perfect despite being asleep.

Lucy was a little envious of Cat's new tech hair. Her own was a nightmare to take care of.

Her augs lit up for a moment as someone sent her a text. Well, someone with priority texting. She got hundreds of texts every day, but had them sorted so that, depending on the sender, she'd either receive a notification or wouldn't.

The list of people with priority texting rights was tiny. At the moment it was Cat, of obvious reasons, Daniel, because he never texted and if he did it was probably urgent and had to do with the Kittens, and Myalis...

Myalis: Good morning, Lucy Leblanc.

Lucy grinned then shifted slightly so that she was snuggled in a bit closer to Cat. "Good morning, Myalis," she said in a low whisper. "Is it actually morning for you?"

Myalis: 

"Mm, mysterious," Lucy whispered back. "Also, Leblanc? Are you getting in on the joke?"

Myalis: I think of it less as a joke and more as an inevitability. Your personality profile suggests that you actually do care for Catherine, and while you're your own person, you have a need for someone like her to further your goals in the short and long term. And you do love her.

"And does Cat love me?" Lucy asked. She turned a little, then reached over and moved a curl of Cat's hair away from her face.

Myalis: I can see her brain chemistry. It's frankly kind of disgusting how much the sight of you lights up her brain.

Lucy giggled, then stretched over to give Cat's nose a little peck. Cat made a face at that, then rolled onto her back, stealing some warmth away from Lucy.

"Oh well, time to get up, I suppose." It was only half past six, still early enough that she could spend the next half-hour or so luxuriating in bed next to her special space heater. Lucy shuffled to the edge of their bed, which she still couldn't believe was so damned large, then sat on the edge of it for a moment. She scooped up some boxers from the floor and shimmied into them, then picked up and sniffed a t-shirt. Cat had worn it last. It smelled like her.

Lucy tugged it on, amused by the way it was so tight at the front. Cat would like that.

With a bit of a stretch that felt impossibly nice to just be able to do so casually, Lucy fell into her morning routine. First, a couple of quick squats, then she bent down and touched her toes. Finally, because she could, she lifted her legs up one at a time, as high as they could go, and wiggled her feet.

A month ago all she could feel of her feet were the occasional spasm or tingle, and moving them required all of her effort. Now it was easy. So easy that she worried that she'd one day forget how hard it had been.

She didn't like that she had suffered for so long but... well, it made her become who she was. When someone was so low that their every breath had them choking on dirt, it wasn't hard to justify a certain more pessimistic view of the world.

The kittens would be starting to wake up soon. Some were probably still awake, actually. The school was sending someone over today to start lessons with them, and she'd been slowly warning the gang that they had to listen and behave, but that didn't mean that they'd actually do either.

Well, whatever. It wasn't her problem, but the poor teacher's. Worse case, she'd see if she could send a message to Grasshopper. The samurai was a very busy woman, but Lucy had the impression she wouldn't mind popping over for a minute to put the fear of god into the brats.

She was just starting to pad her way over to the kitchen when something caught her ear. A strumming noise, soft, yet vibrant, and very... real? She wasn't sure if that was the word for it, but the sound felt like it was alive, not some pre-recorded and edited thing. Lucy had pretty good augs now, courtesy of Cat, better than just about anything on the market, but even with the best of the best, there was still a tinniness and artificial... something to any music she listened to.

She wasn't sure she'd ever enjoyed much real music in her entire life.

It wasn't hard to find the source. Nya was sitting in the living room, bent over a wooden guitar. "Stay with me," she crooned softly. "Mayonaka no doa o tataki."

Lucy paused by the doorway and just listened for a while. Nya had a very pretty voice. Softer and less raspy than Cat, more feminine, and she had obviously practiced singing a fair bit to become as good as she was. She sang, her tail twitching in time with the strumming of her guitar, and a cheeky smile appearing on her lips whenever there was time for it.

Nya didn't just have Lucy's attention, a few of the other kittens were sitting by and staring. Eventually, though, the song ended.

"That was beautiful," Lucy said.

"Ah, thank you, Lucy nya!" Nya said. She stood up, stretching as she did. Lucy liked Cat's little cat themed gimmick, it was kind of cute, but Nya took the whole cat thing to an entirely different level.

"Where did you learn how to play?" Lucy asked. She didn't know much about music, but it seemed like a safe question to ask.

"I learned in high school, nya! I was in the light music club, and I even had my own little band. It was a good time, mhm! "

"Oh, that's cute," Lucy replied. "Did you sleep well on the couch?"

"Oh ny'es!" Nya said with a quick nod. Then she bowed towards Lucy. "Thank you for allowing me to stay in your place."

"Hey, no problem," Lucy said. "Want some breakfast? I'm about to cook something up before Cat wakes up."

"I will help," Nya said.

Lucy decided not to say no to the help, though it didn't take long after arriving in the kitchen to realize that Nya's idea of breakfast and her own were different. Nya started to look for a rice cooker, and when she didn't find one, a brand-new one appeared on the counter. It was shaped like one of those maneki-neko cat statues.

Lucy found herself grilling some fish that she was pretty sure couldn't be found on any ocean on Earth while Nya made miso from scratch, with Lucy jumping in to help where she could.

"You know your way around a kitchen," Lucy said.

"I live alone, nya," Nya said. "It's either learn to cook, or eat nothing but food that comes in boxes. And I like to eat healthy, which means fresh ingredients that I trust, nya."

"I get that," Lucy said. "Is this tofu?"

"Yup! Cut it into cubes, we'll add it to the soup once the miso is dissolved, nya!"

Lucy hummed as she did just that while keeping an eye on the fish. She didn't know too much about cooking fish, but she had a decent idea of what it should look like by the time it was done.

Cat crawled into the kitchen a few minutes later, sniffing at the air more like a starving dog than a stray cat. "What's that smell? It's weird," she said. Then she blinked at Nya and nodded. "Right, you're still here."

"I am! Nya! Wanna join my band?"

"No," Cat said.

"Want some soup? It's tasty?" Nya tried.

"I... okay?"

"Then join my band! Unlimited soup, nya!"

"No," Cat said.

Lucy decided to step in. "Cat has a busy day today, I'm sure."

"That's right," Cat said.

"And I'm sure she'd love your company."

The look of betrayal made breakfast taste so much sweeter, but so did the idea that Cat wouldn't be getting into trouble without backup.

***