Chapter 3 – Powers
Bolt always hated when Penny went to school, it usually meant he had nothing to do for the next few hours. This time however was different; he planned on taking Mittens out on a sort of date. He had one problem, what do cats do on dates? He racked his brain for answers that he wished he knew, only to come up short. Now he was running out of time because he wanted to get as much time in as possible. He got so desperate that he went and asked the one hamster he knew would have the most absurd answers for him, Rhino. As usual Rhino was sitting there; in front of his 'Magic Box' just watching what he felt was entertaining. "Rhino? Can I ask you something?" Bolt said nervously lowering his tail to midway. "Sure Bolt, anything for my hero." Rhino said with excitement his ears twitching away. "Well, I want to do something fun with Mittens, but I don't want her to feel left out, so I was wondering…" Bolt was interrupted when Rhino spoke almost for him, "You want to know what to do for your date with Mittens right?" Bolt was surprised to say the least, Rhino had a knack for finding the right words for a situation but not for finding the situation before it was explained. "Uh…Yah, well what should I do?" he asked in slight shock pulling his ears back a little. Rhino began thinking, pulling gently on his wiskers, "Hmmm, take her for a walk in the yard, that will let the two of you talk. See if she likes flowers, women usually do, and make sure she's comfortable being around you." Rhino's words made a lot of sense to Bolt, which sort of scared him a little. "Just be yourself Bolt, and be back here, in the kitchen at twelve thirty."Rhino informed, sliding down to the ground. Now Bolt was confused, "Why?" he asked. "For your romantic lunch of course. Don't worry Bolt I'll have everything under control well before you get back." Rhino said as he escorted Bolt out of the living room. "Go on super dog, go find the cat of your dreams. She's probably on the deck sunbathing." Bolt hardly knew what had happened, he now had a new knowledge of Rhino, and he had an entire day set up for him and Mittens and it only took Rhino less than a minute to come up with.
As Bolt left the room out of ear shot Rhino laughed excitedly, "He he. Time for Operation Matchmaker." he said and took off to find Penny's mom. He found her in the master bedroom reading a new magazine she ordered, Rhino first climbed up the covers and lightly scratched her exposed arm, the lady looked to see the hamster and he just smiled at her. She quirked an eyebrow, he usually never came straight to her unless he wanted something, and that is how she asked what he wanted. Rhino used his right paw to point to his left, signaling he was going to use sign language, a little trick he learned from her. She watched as he signed out the situation and his plans for a romantic ending to a casual date between a dog and a cat. Intrigued, Penny's mother continued to watch as he signed taking notes about the more detailed preparations.
Bolt was flabbergasted, he knew Rhino's insight was decent but the knowledge he displayed then was unheard of. Before he knew it, Bolt had made it to the back door of the house. Like Rhino had said, there she was sleeping in the sun, the light shining off of her fur. Lying there on the deck peacefully breathing as she dreamed away, and it hurt him to even attempt to wake her up. Before he could turn around to forget the whole thing, Mittens spoke up, "Cats don't really sleep while sunbathing Bolt, we just rest a little." "Oh, heh sorry about that." Bolt laughed out uncomfortably folding his ears, "I just uh… wanted to ask if you would just walk around with me a little while. You know just until lunch." Mittens chuckled at his uneasiness, "Why Bolt, are you asking me out on a date?"she asked looking back at him. Bolt was just about ready to feint when he said, "Yes?" and grinned completely unsure of himself. "I'd like that." She said standing up and stretching. Bolt released the breath he didn't know he was holding and relaxed completely returning his ears back to their upright position. "So where to?" she asked. Realizing he had no destination Bolt began to think of ever place in the yard he'd been to. After a few seconds it finally hit him so he asked, "Do you like flowers?"
The wild flower patch on the far side of the yard was probably his best idea so far. Mittens had never actually been there nor had she seen it from the porch. The flowers were in full bloom now and the mixture of colors dazzled her as she went around walking with Bolt. The smell of the flowers was heavenly, they mixed in the air with the perfect amounts and the result was just amazing. The two were enjoying themselves so much neither of them noticed the pack of three grey squirrels just outside of the fence. "Hey Look at this fellas, no hamster today." They all laughed at the hidden joke. Bolt stopped and cringed a little at the familiar voice, "I thought you three were caught when that comet smashed into your tree." he said. Mittens just walked up next to him and whispered, "Just ignore them Bolt, remember we're here to have a good time." The closest squirrel over heard her and yelled, "Yah, listen to your girlfriend there dog." With that all three of them laughed hysterically. Bolt had a retort this time, "Ok I will." and with that he began walking away with Mittens at his side. The three squirrels quickly stopped laughing as the reality hit them hard. Bolt the dog just admitted that he had feelings for a cat, and he was not ashamed of it. "Hey dog, what are you some kind of freak? Dogs and cats cannot date. It's against natures rules." One of them said. The other two just stood there in shock and stayed quiet. "Oh and I suppose you're a spokes man for Mother Nature." Mittens retorted swishing her tail back and forth in annoyance. Bolt looked at her and asked teasingly, "What happened to ignoring them?" "They're beginning to really irritate me right now. Especially that one." She said to him only slightly upset. "No, but at least I know the rules." The squirrel said. Mittens turned to the squirrel and started walking towards him, "Ok I've had it up to here with you and you're messed up attitude. You act as if Bolt is in love with me to humiliate him, and then when it's true you treat it as if it's a taboo. You always act so self-righteous that you can't see how much of an idiot you really are." Holding up her right paw and acting as if she were extracting her missing claws she continued, "If I had claws I'd…" She stopped and stared at the raised paw in wonder and shock, out from the spots where her claws should have been missing, a set of brand new metal claws had made themselves shown as if they had been there the whole time. The squirrels also stood still in shock and awe for a few second, then all three screamed like little girls and ran away.
"I have claws." She said quietly to herself. "You have metal claws." Bolt said to her in as much wonder as Mittens. The two looked at each other, then back down at the claws. It was when Mittens said, "I had a dream that I had claws like this, except I also had claws made from wind, fire and all kinds of different things like that." that Bolt began thinking, and made a decision to try out what he thought. "Mittens try thinking about a different element like…fire, then pull your claws out." "Fire. Ok." Mittens agreed, and did exactly that. First retracting the metal claws, she began thinking about the fire she would curl up in front of during winter. The claws that came out were glowing a fiery red and the flames that jumped off of them licked Bolts nose. Suddenly the grass began to burn and smoke, catching fire from the claws themselves. Both began to panic, and Mittens hid her claws out of instinct. The two backed up toward the fence as the flames began to grow and spread. "Bolt what do we do?" Mittens asked her ears turned back in fear. "I'll call for help." He said, and took a deep breath. The bark he let out was powerful, and Bolt was blown back several feet. Mittens ran up to him thinking he might be hurt, but upon reaching him she found him just shaking off the dirt. Looking in the direction of the fire, both of them noticed that the fire had been blown out, and the flowers pedals had all been blown off. "Was that one of your movie powers?" Mittens asked. "Yah, I think that was my old Supper Bark." He said. Bolt and Mittens looked at each other in complete shock, until Mittens said, "Bolt, What's happening to us?" His only answer was, "I don't know Mitts, but it must have something to do with that alien and his crystal." "Let's go home Bolt. I just want to forget about today." Mittens said, which was a bad idea. Bolt took it as she didn't like him anymore, dropping his head and ears then sadly saying, "Oh…ok." Mittens only now regretted her words, after all today was their first date. "Oh no Bolt I didn't mean it like that, I just…" now what does she say? Bolt needed to know that the date was not included in the parts she wanted to forget. "I had a lot of fun today Bolt. Despite the squirrels and the weird powers." Bolt used only his eyes to look at her, hope rang in his soft voice as he asked, "Really?" "Yah, really. So don't take it the wrong way ok?" Bolt perked up his ears slightly and raised his head to be at eye level with her before saying, "Ok Mitts." Mittens couldn't help herself, she snuggled her cheek into Bolts furry chest and purred.
The walk back to the house was uneventful each keeping close as they walked and for the moment just being a couple, not a couple with powers. As the two entered the back door they could smell the delicious scent of food coming from the kitchen. Entering the kitchen, Bolt and Mittens found the table set up just for the two of them. A burning candle in the middle with food already on the table, the lights turned down low to create a romantic atmosphere, and chairs turned so they could use them to jump onto the table. 'Rhino really out did himself.' Bolt thought to himself. "I smell shrimp and steak." Mittens suddenly said. Sniffing the air he smelled it too shrimp on the right and steak and vegetables on the left. Obviously the right side was for Mittens to sit at so Bolt took her to her chair. "Thank you Bolt." She said as she ascended to the table's surface. Walking over to the other side of the table he used the chair to reach the top of the table as well and saw the meals prepared for the two. In front of Mittens, she found a small plate of shrimp and as a main course a chunk of cooked salmon and some steamed vegetables. To the right of that a small bowl full of water was in place of the cup. On Bolt's side there was a perfectly cooked five ounce steak cut into chunks with steamed vegetables, and a side of doggy treats. A bowl of water to his right for washing down the food. It seemed more like a romantic dinner than a lunch to Bolt but it seemed as though Mittens didn't mind it too much. "You did all this for me?" Mittens asked smiling at the thought. "Well, you're worth it." Bolt smoothly said, obviously more confident. Mittens could only blush as she looked slightly away from him. As the two of them ate, Rhino listened as he watched the 'magic box' from within his ball with Penny's mom sitting next to him as if they were the best of friends. "Bolt was a little late, the food was dropping in temperature." He said to himself.
After lunch the two of them decided to take a nap and when Penny got back, she found them curled up together sleeping peacefully at the foot of her bed. Pulling her camera out of her back pack she snapped a silent picture and said, "That is definitely a keeper."
End Chapter – 3
