Little Darcy's, it's that time again: YOU decide which path we take. Are we going to be seeing a guest star anytime soon? *cough* Victor *cough* Will he be in the company of another guest star? *cough* Lola *cough* Who knows? Review and let me know! Quick reminder: Logan is bold and Wolvie is Italic

Chapter 10: Kitten gets her kicks

Being a first time pet owner is always an interesting experience. Being a feral, Logan had a bit of an advantage as animals generally responded well to him. Pollock was no different.

While she was definitely Marie's cat, Pollock seemed to hold a certain fondness for him too. At night, she was Marie's bed buddy but during the day, Logan was fair game. When he complained one too many times, Marie decided Pollock needed a timeout. She took the baby animal to the bathroom, where she could do little damage (or so she thought) and shut the door behind her.

For a minute or so, yowls and crying from the kitten carried through the air. When it cut off, both feral and succubus assumed Pollock was sulking. Marie gave it another five minutes or so before she went to open the door up.

"Pollack did yah learn yah- Oh mah lawd LOGAN! COME LOOK AT THIS!"

He followed the sound of yelling, then stared alongside Marie at the bathroom in shambles. Evidently the only reason the mournful cries had stopped was because the kitten had found something else to pass the time with.

One corner of the shower curtain was shredded, the waste basket was knocked over and yards of toilet paper were wrapped about the small animal like gauze on a bride's wedding day. The claw marks in the roll suggested Pollack had stood on her hind paws to bat at it, only to become stuck when she tried to drop down. Mewling helplessly, she tried to turn aside from the fearsome toilet paper but only succeeded in adding another layer to her mummified body.

Marie had been expecting Logan to explode. After all, she wasn't completely certain but it did seem Logan was a bit jealous of her sweet little kitten. Instead, he doubled over and laughed so hard she was almost afraid he was in hysterics.

"Sugah wh-"

"That tiny ass little- Usually it's my claws doin the damage-" He dissolved into another chuckling fit, holding his side and hand braced on the wall to keep himself upright. He was still giggling to himself as he freed Pollock from her new mortal enemy and helped Marie clean up the rest of the bathroom. Two things occurred from that day on: Pollock was terrified of all tissue and Logan cracked up anytime he happened to catch her hissing at some. As far as first time kitten parents went, Marie was just glad it hadn't been any worse.

Her relief would be short-lived though, as both Pollock and Logan continued to be handfuls. Logan had a got a temp job fixing up cars at the garage in town, while Marie sold off several water colors she'd been doing during their time together. As it so happened, there were a few women in the little town that happened to be pregnant and Helen (the older woman who helped watch the house when Logan was traveling) had taken a shine to Marie. She sang her praises to the women, who in turn asked for commissions to do for their nurseries. So her days were happily spent, roaming with Pollock for art inspiration and keeping the little house neat and tidy.

Logan didn't mind staying in the area for a while, the animal liked running here and they both liked watching Marie play in the lake (though Logan managed to push this enjoyment down to only a few sneak peeks here and there). The money he got from car repairs was decent and he liked to see Marie's confidence built by being able to sell her artwork. Not to mention, Marie's cooking was a definite incentive to stay put.

While he was in town, she handled the meals. Every day, 12:15 on the dot he came back to the house for lunch and his place was already set, plate full and beer or ice water waiting. Sometimes it was a hot sandwich, sometimes it was a patty melt, always it was delicious. She'd stand on her toes, kissing his cheek hello or giving him a 100 watt smile when he made his way into the kitchen to wash up. He'd hug her tight, the animal purring happily and then take his seat.

Usually, she'd be pulling something from the oven or whipping up a dough/batter. It would sit on the window sill to cool, the same way Marie's mama, and her mama's mama did it before her. Today's baked good was in the form of a pie, rich and bubbling over its lattice laced crust with sticky sweet blackberry juice. He inhaled appreciatively, reaching to cut himself a slice right before Marie swatted his hand back down.

"This is for dessert tonight and it needs tah cool."

He groaned, trying to reach around the tiny southerner. Marie was equally determined, hands on her hips and moving in front of him every time.

"Oh no yah don't. Ah spent half the mornin pickin the berries and the rest of it making the pie. Ah don't want so much as one berry out of place before supper, hear meh? Go on an eat yah lunch."

He grumbled all the way back to the table, but consoled himself with a quick pet to Pollock who was curling around his ankles, begging for some lovin. Torturing himself, he took another deep sniff, frowning at what clung to the end of it.

"You're hurting." He frowned, wondering why she hadn't mentioned it when he came in. She shrugged with a smile that strained at her eyes. "Just a little headache. Too much sun ah think." She was practically wilting at the table and Logan had no intention of sitting by the way side to watch. He stood, Marie peering up at him blearily and picked her up carefully, nudging her warm forehead onto his shoulder. "Ah'm okay, really. And ah meant tah pack a snack for the afternoon-" She protested but winced at the light coming through the window. He carried her upstairs, clicking his tongue for Pollock to follow.

"Too much sun is gonna give you one hell of a headache if we don't get ahead of it." He filled her glass from the carafe of water on the nightstand, helping her sip it and then put a cold damp washcloth against her forehead. "I only have one car this afternoon, I'll come home after and check in on you, 'kay kid?" Tension already having begun to seep out of her body, she hummed an agreement. Pollock snuggled in beside her and he tiptoed out, careful not to disturb their rest.

When he returned that afternoon, the house was quiet. He kicked off his boots and made a beeline for Marie's room. The soft hum of the fan on the dresser told him she'd been up at least once, but the water glass was empty and the flush had left her cheeks. Since she was still sleeping soundly, he headed back downstairs to root out a snack for himself and maybe a treat for Pollock. Unfortunately, as soon as he entered the kitchen he was arrested by the sight of a blackberry smeared Pollock and a partially eaten pie beside her.

"Shit shit shit Pollock! Ack. Damn cat! Get down! Bad!" He rushed forward but it was too late. She'd already scooped out a portion and the sill was dotted with fruity pawprints. When she jumped down, the trail of little purple cat feet continued behind her. Thinking quick he scooped her up and promptly dumped her into the sink.

"Mrooooow!"

"Shhhh!." He bopped her nose, listening nervously for Marie to come down and see what all the fuss was about. When no footsteps were heard, he let out a soft sigh. "Okay, I don't have any idea how to make another pie, do you?" Pollock's answer was to continue licking berry juice from her face and paws. "Shit Marie is gonna skin us both- this is life or death cat! Come on, gimme ideas, whaddya got?" Again, the kitten was useless. "Damn cat. Bet you a dog woulda known what to do. Okay. Pie.. gotta fix the pie. Um.. okay. We clean you and then we clean the pie." Running the water he doused their pet, squeezing dish soap onto Pollock's paws and scrubbing it in. He rinsed her, hissing for her to be quiet and watching the stairs the entire time. The dish towel was then wrapped around her, fur rubbed until fluffy dry and the newly lemon scented kitten was on her way.

"Okay. Fix the pie. Fix the pie…"

We could serve it.

Marie wouldn't go for that, she'd know something was up.

What if we cut it up,then she couldn't tell it got ate.

She still might see the hole though..

What about the white cream?

What, like whipped cream?

Or the cold one.

That could work..

Cut out the cat piece.

Working quickly, he cut out the chunk that Pollock had been feasting on, then grabbed the tub of vanilla ice cream and dumped a portion of it into the newly freed up space. He added a bit of berries, swirled it together and then topped the entire thing with whip cream before sticking it in the fridge.

"Here's your dinner flea bag." He put a bowl of the bits and pieces he cut off in front of Pollack who meowed happily and lapped it up. Having done all he could, Logan decided to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to come up with a plausible excuse as to why he'd decided the pie needed any changing in the first place. He glared at Pollack who was rolling in pleasure at her snack.

"If I'm goin down, you're coming with me Cat."

When Marie came down to start dinner, Logan's heart sped up and not in a good way. Pollock, the true culprit was quick to rub up against her mistress, big kitten eyes staring up at her as cutely as possibly. Marie picked her up, rubbing her own cheek against Pollock's furry one and smiling at her purr.

"Ah thought we could grill some steaks fah dinner. Ah'll make mashed potatoes. Sound good?"

"Works for me."

She put Pollock down, moving to wash her hands, still not noticing the lack of dessert in the window. By now, Logan was sweating bullets. When she went to the fridge for the ears of corn, the frown tipped him off. It was over.

"Logan-"

"Look I know you didn't want me to touch it and I didn't but it was a mess and I didn't know what to do and I wanted to make it look okay for you-" Wait. She was smiling. Smiling! Stunned, he watched as she took it out and examined the chilled dessert. "Ah didn't know yah could make icebox pie! Ah haven't had it in ages and it's so hot today. Great idea!" She tucked it back in for safe keeping, almost reverently, and beamed at him. "Thanks sugah. Ah could use a sweet treat tah stay cool. That was really thoughtful." Still smiling, she went about shucking the ears of corner while Logan let out a breath he didn't realize. It seemed like everything would work out after-

"What on earth!?"

Several things happened at once. Marie lifted one bare foot off a sticky and smeared blackberry pawprint. Logan tossed a balled up paper towel in frustration. Said paper ball smacked into Pollock, who promptly panicked and jumped up onto the counter where the potatoes and corn had been sitting. Vegetables tumbled down, kitten raced for cover and the humans were left with yet another mess to clean.

"POLLOCK!"