Meg taps the glass and hisses. She does not care for cats and yet, here she stands, at the pet store looking at the kitties. Raoul is not sure why he is needed. He was asked if he wanted to go on an adventure. This not what he had anticipated. He brought his adventuring satchel. He had certain expectations damnit.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Raoul asks. He's allergic to cats and his allergies are starting to manifest. He rubs his itchy nose and sniffs.

"Papa. Feel like he would be a cat person." Meg says. Raoul snickers at that and then recovers quickly. He looks around like he is nervous.

"Man-cat god." Raoul mutters, he taps the glass.

"Anyway, if it comes in black, he'd be about it. So, getting a black kitty cat." Meg looks at the cats on display behind the glass. She presses her face against it.

"Special reason for the cat gift?"

"Buying love."

"I mean, besides that." Raoul rubs his nose some more. His eyes blink and he feels them start to turn red. He will need drops soon. He sniffs.

"There!" Meg finds what she's looking for and vies for the clerk's attention.


Meg holds the cat as they walk through the city back to the subway station.

"What should we name it? Eunice? Sandpaper?" Meg scrunches her nose. She is not fond of cats.

"Sandpaper?"

"Paperclip? Cats are stupid, they don't deserve proper names. Fleck, Flack, Flounder, Leper, Chlamydia," Meg trails off.

"You are not naming a cat after an STI." Raoul shakes his head amused.

"Lupus, Luppy for short." Meg shakes the sleepy kitty, it opens its eyes and then half glares before attempting sleep again.

"Raoul?" Raoul and Meg look over, it's Reyer, he speeds his pace to meet them. He leans in to get a look at the cat and scoffs.

"Is it safe with this one?" He nods at Raoul who glares.

"That was a one-time thing! An unintentional one-time thing. I don't go around making cats explode into blood." Raoul spreads his arms wide and then drops them to his sides.

Reyer sniggers and Meg lights up and offers the sleeping kitten. Raoul pushes it away gently and shakes his head.

"So, what happened?" Meg asks.

"He made a cat explode into blood." Reyer eyes light up and go wide. Raoul wants to shake him.

"On accident!"

"Oh, wow!" Meg squeals with delight.


They are home now and they have not decided on how to present the kitty gift.

"I say we just throw it at him, cat catch, Cat-ch." Meg pretends to throw the kitty. Raoul stops her.

"Why don't we just hand it over, nicely." Raoul tries to take the cat and Meg boos.

They follow the music of the organ and continue to argue presentation tactics.


Raoul wins. He places the sleepy kitten onto the organ. It raises its head, looks around, and then stands up. It walks around in circles a few times before it pauses. It runs to the other end and jumps onto Erik's lap and curls up and falls asleep.

"Hello." He tenderly stokes the sleepy kitty; he looks over to Raul and Meg.

"Purpose?" He looks back down at his new pet. Raoul rubs the back of his neck.

"Uh, for you to love and raise?" Raoul says, Meg nods. Erik accepts this.

"Name?"

Raoul and Meg shake their heads and shrugs.

"I think the winner was Chlamydia or Paperclip." Meg smiles. Raoul pulls at his face.

"No one agreed to those names," Raoul groans.

"Pretty sure you liked Paperclip." Meg nods.

Raoul shakes his head.

"No, I didn't. That's not a name!" Raoul slaps his forehead and sighs.

"Ayesha." Erik says fondly. He brings the sleepy kitty to lips and kisses her head. She opens her eyes and meows softly before falling back to slumber.

It is a strange sight to see him, Erik, with his fully concealed face, being tender with a soft flesh furry creature he could easily crush.


Erik brings Ayesha and Raoul to the store for supplies. Raoul is not sure why he is here; he is still bitter about the lack of a proper adventure and he is still allergic to cats.

Raoul found a mask, a bandana, and is wearing it for protection. His eyes are still exposed, and he is teary and red. Erik holds the kitty close and casually peruses the items as he walks the aisles.

"I'm allergic to cats, why'd you need me for this?" Raoul complains. He huffs and crosses his arms like a petulant child. Erik expects Raoul to sit down in the middle of the store and start to shout and cry nonsense.

"I asked for you to come because of the misguided want of having you around." Erik taps a product, he turns to Raoul who blushes and looks away, ashamed.

"What are you looking for?"


Ayesha is the most spoiled creature that Raoul and Meg have ever known. She has deep purple satin collar with a large emerald in the center. Her name is embroidered in gold. Ayesha has free reign of the home and has more freedom than Meg.

"Good girl," Erik is very affectionate with her. Raoul borrows masks from Erik's collection and has increased his dosage of his allergy medicine and decreased the time he spends over.

"I'm allergic to cats." Raoul says, his voice muffled. He's wearing multiple facial protections behind the fancy artful mask.

"They have an injection for that. Lasts a fortnight." Erik says as he plays with his kitty.

"Yeah, I guess." Raoul says. His eyes are on fire and he cannot see that well. He forgot the drops.

"That was not a question." Erik shakes Ayesha's favorite toy. Raoul pouts. He is not happy about this.


"I can't have sex with you." Raoul says. They are in Erik's bedroom and Raoul stiffens and he refuses to move or go forward with any activity. Erik steps away in respect.

"Because of what happened the other day? I told you, I couldn't get an appointment with the therapist until the end of January." Erik frowns.

Raoul and Erik have not been intimate or affectionate with one another since That Night. Erik is starting to go crazy(er) at the lack of it.

"No. The cat hair. It's literally killing me." Raoul points to Ayesha who is perched on her favorite spot in the corner of the room.

"Oh," Erik is greatly relieved and relaxes, "We can spend the night at a hotel—"

"Yes, we can do that." Raoul is out the door.


"I will take as much care with her as you did with Keaton." Meg says this, meaning she will take good care of the Ayesha and make sure her stuff is clean, you know, like a proper pet owner/sitter. Erik, on the other hand, knows what he did and how he sealed Keaton's fate, no regrets, Keaton deserved to die, so he needs a minute to process this.

"Yes." He says this with an odd and animated affect, that reminds Meg of a plastic and stiff doll.

Meg does not want to screw this up. Meg is never allowed to be left home alone for any reason and this random, we're leaving, back in the morning, you're on your own, take care, thing is very much welcomed.

Meg practically pushes them out the door and agrees to agree and nods and closes and locks the door as soon as she can. Meg waits a minute before she runs off to find a not so secret candy stash and runs to the media room and watches all the things she is denied.


"I don't think I explained how to serve her food." Erik says, he's tempted to go back, but opts to text instead. Raoul is excited he can breathe again.

"I'm sure Meg can figure it out, she had pet rabbit once."

"Yes, but it matters if my little lady dies." Erik snaps and he waits for Meg to respond. He glares at the screen. Meg is taking too long to respond.

"Meg's probably playing with Ayesha, don't worry so much."


Meg is on the sofa watching a movie on Lifetime and Ayesha is sleeping on the back of the sofa behind/on top of Meg's head. Meg offers a bit of popcorn to the kitty, who politely declines. Meg shrugs and pops the popcorn into her mouth.

Meg has left her phone on the coffee table, she does not know she has been receiving texts. Her focus is on the film and on occasion, the kitty.


Erik wants to strangle the phone and his daughter. He's ignoring Raoul because he's been obsessing over this one sided conversation. He growls, not groans, but an deep, low, animalistic, pissed off apex predator's growl. Raoul steps away in fear and leaves him be. Erik cannot take it anymore and calls her.

Raoul watches curiously, the entire conversation Erik has on the phone is in French, a language, Raoul, the English bloke, still is not fluent in, despite the offers of tutelage from both Reyer and Erik.

He ends the call and he needs a minute to let the anger and frustration cascade from his being. He turns around and spies Raoul. He remembers why they came.


It's near midnight and Meg's phone buzzes again. She checks it, rolls her eyes and takes a pic of the perfectly alive kitten that's laying in Meg's lap. Meg sends the pic. A second later she is scolded for still being up. Meg tosses the phone onto the coffee table and watches the TV.


Meg falls asleep on the sofa and rudely woken up by her irate Papa.

"You can't sleep with her, you'll crush and kill her!" He takes the perfectly fine kitten, glares at Meg, scolds her in French and turns his attention to the kitten, he soothes her and kisses her and holds her tenderly. Raoul kicks the sofa.

"Want to go for pancakes?"

Meg doesn't answer him, she slips into her shoes and runs to the door.


"I think the cat was a mistake," Meg says as she stuffs a forkful of pancake into her mouthole. Raoul agrees, but not with sinister vibe.

"I don't disagree, but he loves it, so we'll just have to deal." Raoul drinks his coffee.

"Do we, though?" Meg drinks some milk.

"The kitten stays, no debate." Raoul uses his Boss Voice.

"Fine, but I am not happy about this." Meg pouts and crosses her arms.


Raoul drops Meg off and is headed out when Erik appears, he grabs Raoul's wrist and wordlessly leads him to his music studio. He takes his seat at the piano, Ayesha is on top of it, as Erik plays, she meows/hums to his music, as if singing. She's not entirely out of key.

"She can harmonize with you."

Raoul feels sick. If Erik demands that the cat gets a part in the Opera and Musical productions he will have a stroke and die. There some things Raoul cannot allow or agree to.

"She's a genius. I knew she was special. Take Marguerite out without my permission again and I will kill you, did hear her? She's learning scales. Listen." Erik is excited, he runs through scales, and the kitten responds. Raoul recoils at the threat and then feels odd, he's threatened in the same sentence a kitten is being praised.

"I'll remember to ask next time, I didn't think it would be a big deal, and she's smart for sure." Raoul rubs his nose and sniffs.

"She's not your daughter, you do not have any right to her. I'll keep Ayesha around the Opera. I'm sure the more exposure, the more she'll learn, the better she'll be for it." Erik is a very proud furry parent.

"Maybe she can vocal coach Carlotta." Raoul rubs his eyes and sneezes.

"Ayesha can replace her." Erik comes around and kisses his precious little lady.

Mm mm.

Nope.

Raoul rubs his nose and his eyes blink and he's unable to keep the tears of irritation at bay. No cats at the Opera! There are some things, that cannot be allowed. Erik picks up Ayesha and continues to praise her.

"Is that what you wanted, Raoul for?" Raoul asks miserably. Erik snaps his head at him.

"Raoul?" Erik tilts his head.

"This isn't a manager moment?" Raoul scratches his nose.

"What does this have to do with your position?" Erik gestures to the room.

"So, you're not talking to 'Raoul',"

"Why are you speaking in third person?" Erik steps forward and touches Raoul's forehead.

"I'm confused. So, you're not asking me, Raoul, the manager and part owner of the Opera, to allow Ayesha to, whatever?"

"What are you talking about? I don't think you're using your medicine properly. You sound confused, mad almost."

"I'm not the one who wants their cat to star in the Opera!" Raoul snaps and touches Ayesha a little too hard, who squeals something fierce.

Erik slaps Raoul, he holds back, a lot.

"Ow." Raoul rubs his face.

"You're not thinking clearly. Go lie down." Erik points to the sofa against the wall across from the piano. Raoul hunches his shoulders and walks over, he feels pathetic and scolded and dislikes it.

He lies down and Erik places Ayesha on the piano before walking over to Raoul.

"I told you to start the injections. The pills and the draughts are playing havoc with your mind."

"Yeah, it's the allergy pills. Not the cat owner." Raoul mumbles.

"What was that?" Erik asks, his voice a warning.

"I'll see my doctor tomorrow about the injections!"

"Good boy."


Notes:

So, I was trying to find info on Ayesha, because I forgot what she looked like/breed and I found this beautiful passage from our Erik about his precious feline:

"Ayesha changed my life. Over fifteen thousand kilos of salted horsemeat had been stored at the Opera, and supplies were not yet entirely exhausted. I could not bring myself to consume horseflesh, but I stole for Ayesha and stayed out of the room while she ate to control my revulsion."

and then
" . . . if there had been no horsemeat, and rats, she would have eaten human flesh; I would have killed, if necessary, to feed my precious, precious little lady."

I forgot about that. Personally, I prefer Sasha, his doggo.
anyone else? Have a Erik pet preference? Let me know! Be fun to discuss!