It was all because of a cat. A stupid cat. Ian Kabra shook his head. To think that the world had almost ended because of one stupid cat.
Well, his world, at least.
Almost like she was reading his mind, the girl standing next to him said,
"Saladin is not stupid."
"Sure," he muttered. Under his breath, he added "even if the stupid cat did something that almost killed me."
"Ian!"
"Look, Amy, I know you love that cat, but he was almost responsible for ending my life."
"Just because you're embarrassed that a cat cracked the code before you did does not mean that your life is over!"
"You have a point," Ian conceded. "The cat almost completely destroyed my self-esteem and reputation, therefore almost ending my life as I know it, as opposed to just ending my life." He scowled. "My social life, of course, has just been abruptly and prematurely ended. I can never show my face in public again."
"Whadaya mean?" Dan asked. "I can see your ugly face just fine right now. Although if you want to stop showing it to me, I would definitely appreciate it."
"Yes, but – "
"Yes? You'll stop showing it to me? Yes!"
"Yes, I'm showing my face to you, but you don't count."
"Excuse me?" Amy's eyes hardened. "We don't count?"
"That's not what I meant," Ian said hastily. "I was just saying that you're not as likely to make fun of me as, say, Natalie would be."
"I like making fun of you," Dan said.
"Well, I did mean that you didn't count, since you go around in pajamas all the time."
"Hey! That's my ninja warrior outfit! Not pajamas!"
Ian muttered something unintelligible.
"Don't be so dramatic. It's not that embarrassing," Amy said.
"Yeah," Dan added. "You're totally over-reacting. Saladin did get super-cool Madrigal training from Grace." He grinned. "Which is obviously superior to your Lucian training."
"Are you aware what it is like to have your life ended by a cat?" Ian asked, glaring.
"Of course I do!" Dan said. "Well, cats, anyway. Not a cat, 'cuz there was more than one."
Ian was curious despite himself.
"How did you manage to do that?"
"One time, Aunt Beatrice took my nun-chucks away because I accidentally knocked over a few of her miniature cat statue-thingies. I couldn't be a proper ninja for a whole week! Can you believe it? Those cats were ugly, anyway. "
Ian rolled his eyes, although he found it easy to believe that the cats were ugly.
"I believe you are the one over-reacting," he said. Dan gasped.
"Over-reacting? How am I – "
"I'm sure it's possible to live a week without pretending to be ninja," Ian continued.
"Pretending?"
Soon the boys were arguing over which one of them was over-reacting to something stupid. Amy frowned. If this kept up, she doubted that all of her Madrigal training stood a chance at the challenge of getting everybody working together to defeat the Vespers.
They had worked together before, though. In the gauntlet. And it seemed so impossible just a week before that happened that everyone could work together, but they did. They had worked together against a common enemy. We could do it again, Amy thought.
"WELL, AT LEAST MY MOTHER – "
Or not.
"Look, you're fighting just because of a cat. Isn't that a little - " she began to say, but the boys were to engrossed in their fight to listen.
At this point the shouting was so loud that someone was bound to come to investigate the noise. Sure enough, Natalie strolled into the room.
"Was someone talking about Mum?" she asked. Ian glared at Dan again.
"How lovely. Now you've upset Natalie."
Under other circumstances, Dan might have laughed at the accidental rhyme, but he was too angry right now.
"Well, you upset my sister first!"
"Pardon me?"
"Oh, don't play innocent. Remember Korea?"
"Dan!" Amy snapped, her face turning bright red. "There is absolutely no need to bring that into this conversation."
"Agreed," Natalie said, her nose wrinkling. "I would like to forget about how Ian used to fancy someone as fashion-challenged you. It was so embarrassing." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Although it did provide me with some excellent blackmail material."
"E-e-excuse me?" Amy said. "Do you really still need to make fun of me like that? It's not funny and it never was!"
"What do you mean?" Natalie looked confused.
"Teasing me about Korea. It's not funny and it never was!"
"You said that already."
"I know that! I'm not stupid. I said it because it's true!"
"Well, you have to be pretty stupid to – "
"Fall for something like that? Well, I'm smarter and more experienced now. And my boyfriend, Evan, is... would... he..."
Amy wasn't sure why she brought up Evan. All she knew was that she felt angry and humiliated at the mention of Korea, and wanted to show the Kabras that she was different now. She wouldn't fall for something like that again.
"You have a boyfriend?" Ian asked. Amy thought she saw a flash of emotion in his eyes, but it disappeared quickly.
"Who would date you? I mean, a couple of years ago Ian might have done so, but I think that was just the stress of the clue hunt getting to him," Natalie said.
"I said it wasn't funny!" Amy felt herself getting angrier. Between her anger and her embarrassment, she knew that her face must have been redder than a tomato.
Hamilton poked his head through the door.
"Whoa, what's going on?" he asked. "I thought I heard Ames shouting." He looked at Amy and Natalie, taking in their expressions and body language. "Was there some sort of cat fight?"
The word "cat" reminded Ian of how the whole mess had begun. And of what was happening before Natalie had walked in.
"As I was saying, Daniel," he began.
"It's Dan!"
"It is a complete over-reaction to get so upset about not being able to pretend to be a ninja for one week."
"Pretend?"
Soon the boys were arguing, once again, over which one of them was over-reacting to something stupid.
"There's nothing wrong with collecting baseball cards! At least baseball's a real sport, unlike that stupid thing with horses you play!"
"That has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, which is saying something due to the fact that I know you, and – "
Amy sighed. This was going to be a long battle.
A/N: Honestly, I do think they can work together... when absolutely necessary. But, c'mon, there's going to be fighting. Hopefully, it won't be because of something as silly as Ian and Saladin not getting along. We wouldn't want a cat getting in the way of our beloved Amian, now, would we?
All reviews are appreciated, of course, but this is my first time writing Amy or the Kabras in a non-parody, so I would really like to know if I was able to keep them in-character.
Quote of the Day: "Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say." - Ares, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan