Note: This 2nd half was NOT written by me. It was from our very friendly guy, known as: "The Tyrant Hamster" on live journal. Three cheers and applauses for him for making a lovely 2nd half and he said he highly enjoyed writing this story.
Thanks to Chris for writing a nice 2nd half. He is a wonderful fresh writer from the UK.
Lady opened her eyes weakly in the morning light, and tried unsuccessfully to rub them with her hands, still getting used to being a cat. Dropping her fury limbs and whimpering, she felt her feline senses start to pour into her mind, telling her a few things but mostly that she was hurt. The black and white striped cat craned her neck down and winced, seeing her previously smooth, fine fur torn and spoiled with her own blood as well as some dirt. Lady wondered if she would have any new scars once she became human again, and that thought made her wonder if and how she would return to her natural form.
Rolling onto her feet, or paws for now, she winced, her feline form didn't inhibit the catlike agility she normally possessed, but it was a little more frail than her sweet yet tough regular body. She turned around on the spot, trying to get her bearings, she recognised the room, but only just. OK she thought, she needed clues, right, well firstly she was on a bed, so this would be a bedroom. Lady felt oddly pleased with this deduction, even though it was a simple one, and hoped she'd get back to normal before a ball of yarn amused her. She focused harder, a bedroom with a bed has an owner, so the owner of this room would be… Dante!
Lady almost jumped, realising she had been sleeping all night on Dante's bed, and now that she looked around it became obvious she was right. The spare drum in the corner, the heavy metal posters on the wall, and most of all the general mess completed by the empty pizza box under the bed her fine nose detected, the place was Dante all over. Realising this fact, Lady suddenly felt an urge to explore, she knew she should try and figure a way out of her situation, but here she was, a spy in perfect disguise, infiltrated into Dante's inner sanctum. Curiosity killed the cat, but Lady was a tough kitty and she couldn't pass up this opportunity to sniff around, just for a few minutes.
Jumping off the bed, she looked around, and took a sniff of the air. Sure enough, it smelled of him, although not as strongly as she would have expected, his scent was present, but she had to sniff or pay attention to her nose to notice it. Looking briefly under the bed she laughed as only a cat can, there was an empty pizza box shoved under there, she wondered how old it was. Moving on she stalked about the room, enjoying her guilty access.
The feline stretched once or twice, trying to shake off the clinginess of her dried blood in her fur, it was irritating, she'd have to wash it out, but at least she could walk alright. Turning her head she saw a beat up laundry basket, and her paws were walking towards it before she could think. Hopping her front up, she got her paws over the low edge and peered inside, seeing mostly socks, mostly with holes in, and a pair of trousers like the ones Dante usually wears, but no shirt she noticed. As she leaned a little closer, she saw one more item poking out of those trousers, and she leaned in to try and pull it out and see what it was. It was just, just out of her reach as she stretched further, further, so close to snagging it. Suddenly the basket shifted under her weight, and she meowed as it flipped onto its side, catapulting the contents onto her.
Lady scrambled out of the barrage of fabric, and turned wildly around when she heard the door click open, Dante striding through. The devil hunter, who had nothing but some casual jeans on, stopped and laughed upon seeing her, "Hey, those are mine" he chuckled. Lady cocker her head, and then couldn't see out of one eye, realising that something was hanging over her head. Shaking and pawing at it she removed the article of clothing only to find it was his underwear. If cats could blush, she was burning up right now, she certainly felt it even if it didn't show, Dante laughing some more at her antics. "Haha, demon fighter by day, laundry thief by night, cats these days" he mock-sighed while playfully shaking his head, before striding over and carefully picking her up, "Come on, lets clean you up".
Dante turned, holding Lady in his arms against his naked stomach and kicked the door open to walk through. Lady realised she was purring, and abruptly stopped herself, surprised at herself but also at Dante, he was holding her so gently, so caringly, and his stomach was so smooth and warm and, she was purring again. Lady would have slapped some sense into herself, but she lacked the proper limbs for such an action, so instead she tried to focus on memories of Dante slaying demons and other not-sexy thoughts while her body tried to convince her to rub up against him. She blamed the body, yes, that was it, cats were suckers for attention and cuddling and all that, no way this was her fault, not at all, even a bit, nope.
Dante carried the on-off purring cat through the back of his offices and into his bathroom, another slightly rundown room that worked, but little else. He closed the door with his foot and put Lady down on a stool, then turned to the bath and got the taps running, talking as he did, "I usually shower, so, I hope this isn't too hot or cold".
Lady watched him with confused emotions as the tub slowly filled, he was about to give her a bath, naked, but, she was already naked, and it wasn't really her naked body, she was just in it, so, it didn't really count, but if she enjoyed it, did that mean something? She was still wrestling with her thoughts when she heard Dante dip his hand into the water, testing it with his fingers, "Hmm, nearly right, just a little warmer" he said, running the hot tap for a couple more seconds, and trying again, "Perfect".
The white-haired half-devil turned around and went to grab the cat, but she scooted back out of his reach, earning a playful sigh from him, "Come on, don't tell me you like being covered in blood". He leaned over and went to gently grab her again, but again she retreated, this time into the corner. Dante shook his head, "You're as bad as Lady, she can't tell when people just want to help either, come on, those cuts will get infected if we don't clean them up soon, just let me help you out now and you can go back to being an independent cat, alright?". Hearing this suddenly made Lady feel, oddly ashamed, like she'd done something stupid, and she slunk over to the half-devil, letting him pick her gracefully up and ease her into the water.
Normally cats hated getting wet, and Lady wasn't exactly a fan of it either, but she bit down the urge to jump out and settled down, it was a nice and warm wetness at least. She watched as Dante searched around for something, finally pulling out a very dusty bottle of bubble-bath. He blew the thing, and when the dust cleared and he finished coughing looked inside to see if any was left. There were a few drops in the bottom of the container, and Dante checked the back to make sure nothing would irritate a cat, before realising he didn't have a clue what would and wouldn't do that.
Shrugging, he offered the bottle-top to Lady, asking "What do you think? Its left over from when my mother used to wash me as a kid, so its old, but do want what's left?. Lady timidly sniffed the hole, wondering if she would pass out or be attacked by mutant germs, or insulted, the stuff inside was nearly old enough to vote after all, it should be going through teenage rebelliousness right now. The strong smell that filled her delicate nose certainly came across as powerful, and somewhat strange, but it didn't seem too bad, and right now Lady felt a few bubbles might make for a helpful distraction, so she meowed positively. "We have a winner" Dante smirked, turning the container upside down and squeezing the contents out, swirling them with the empty bottle a bit to raise a small militia of bubbles.
Lady tensed, feeling Dante's shadow fall over her as he rested his hands on her back, about to begin washing the blood and dirt out of her fur. She was kind of worried he would hurt her, in her weakened state, but much more concern came from the idea of his hands roaming all over her body, even if it wasn't really hers, she was in it, would experience it. But she couldn't bring herself to fight him, the only way he could understand is if he knew who she was and she didn't want that, not yet at least. Confusion was still playing through her mind as his hands ran down her back, immersing themselves in the water before rising back up and beginning to run through her fur, dislodging the mess stuck to it.
Lady sighed, or the cat equivalent, and had to steady herself on her front paws, his hands, felt so good. She purred, his fingers were moving up and down, through her fur, gently but with a certainty as he rubbed tingles into her flesh while getting blood and dirt out of her fur. She didn't know if he was for some reason bizarrely talented at this, or if her cat senses simply amplified the sensations, or a mix of both. All she knew is, far from the half-rough treatment she was expecting, the half-devil was unwinding her with a heavenly touch that made her whole body tingle and slink into relaxation. "You've got a nice coat under here you know? Rich black, kinda like Lady's…" he said half to himself, his mind wandering as his hands worked her sides clean. "She's not that bad really, she's gotten better, the first few times I tried to help her I got shot at, once with a rocket"
Dante chuckled, remembering how he rode the missile around the room, whooping like a kid in a candy store, that had been fun. "We fight together now, but sometimes, I wish she would let me help her more. I love her fire, all feisty and independent, but sometimes you need help I guess, heck, even me and Vergil fought together against Arkham" he continued, just thinking out loud as his hands rubbed Lady's tummy clean, unaware that she was hearing all this. "I dunno, whatever, maybe I'm just lonely or something, I'll probably feel better after your dry and I put on some music" Dante's skilled hands caringly cleansed the cat's hind legs, and moved out to catch a few bubbles before returning to her chest.
Lady tensed, she would have screamed or something, but it caught in her throat as he cleaned out the fur around her upper torso, her mind going a mile a minute, 'Come on Mary, stay cool, these are not your breasts really and he is not feeling you up, he's cleaning your fur, he'll be done in a moment, just stay very still'. Sure enough, it was only a little while before Dante had cleaned that part of her, and moved on, swiftly rubbing down her front legs as she breathed out. The half-devil gave her an odd look, "Oh, glad I stopped talking? Even cats don't want to listen to me, I've got rotten luck with women" he sighed, shaking his head lightly.
He scooped some water up in one hand and tipped it over her head, washing off the little filth that had accumulated there, thankfully that part of her had emerged pretty unscathed from the battle. Lady shook her head reflexively, spraying Dante with a mist of water, "hey, cheap-shot " he complained before grabbing her up and taking her out of the bath, putting her on the floor. "Alright now don't do anymore shaking off, just one second, here it is" Dante said, grabbing a towel and dropping it over her, rubbing it all over her body rapidly, but not too roughly. After a minute of this he raised the towel off her and ran his hand over her back once, "Seems dry enough, OK, stay here, you'd do a better job grooming than me anyway, I'll just go make a call". Dante smiled and got up, leaving the room to get on the phone to see if he could track down a lost and found pets list, or shelter or something. Lady shook herself, still a little damp but more or less alright, and looked at the slightly ajar door, now was her chance. She pawed the thing open and slipped out, quietly and quickly starting to hunt for Dante's stash of magical items, perhaps she could find something to help her out.
Meanwhile, in the office, Dante was having little luck as he dialled another number, "Yes, hello, Dante speaking, no its nothing critical, look I'm just trying to find out if this cat I found has a home or, yes a cat… Yeah alright, sorry to waste your time" he said mockingly, slamming down the phone before sighing and trying to think of another number. After a moment he got one, and started dialling it, muttering to himself, "Ungrateful asses, lets see how little time they have next time a demon is raping their wife or eating their children". He heard the other end pick up and launched into conversation before they could even speak, "Enzo, its Dante, listen, I like being able to count to ten on my fingers, how about you? If so, find out where I can leave a cat in good care, now" Dante ordered and slammed down the phone. On the other hand, Enzo stared at the receiver for several seconds before saying several things he wouldn't have wanted his mother to hear. "Right, now, I should sort out something for the cat to eat before I leave to meet up with Lady" Dante said, turning to head back to the bathroom.
As he did this, Lady felt like cursing, but she didn't know any cat swearwords. She'd searched all over his place and was now on upstairs rooting through a case for something, anything that would help her get back to normal. Suddenly a golden glow caught her eye, and she tugged at a piece of cloth covering the shiny object, finding out it was a large gown of some sort. She pulled and pulled until the whole thing was out on the floor, and hopped back up to see a Golden Orb, lying there before her. At first disappointed, she began to wander if maybe this rare item could help her. She looked around, at the room, thinking, and then her eyes settled on the window, and she had an idea. On the one hand she might die, but she reassured herself that she faced death a lot and it wouldn't be the first time she'd relied on a Golden Orb. Lady grabbed the object in her paws, struggling to hold it as she pulled the smooth object out of the case, hearing a voice coming from the stairs. "Come on cat, give me a break, where are you?" it was Dante looking for her, she panicked and hurried, he wouldn't just stand by and let her commit suicide or use one of his valuable items. She backed up, and prepared to dive through the window, when suddenly it occurred to her that, if this worked, she'd wake up naked in an alley.
Thinking fast, she grabbed the gown, rolling over it and wrapping it around her awkwardly, it would have to do. Just managing to hold the Orb in her mouth, she heard the door creak open behind her as she started to run at the window awkwardly. She heard Dante gasp and start to run after her, "Hey, what the, bad kitty!" he shouted after her, breaking into a run to stop her. He was fast, but she already had a head-start and had leapt through the window before he could stop her, breaking it, cutting herself but ignoring the pain. She fell, turning in midair and seeing him leaning out the window, looking at her with confusion and horror, then she felt a hard impact, and the world left her.
Dante cursed, wondering what the Hell was into this cat, and bolted out of the room and down the stairs, intending to go round the side and se if the poor, crazy thing was still alive, too surprised to think to follow it out the window. Meanwhile Lady's eyes opened, and she felt her spirit return to her body, yes, her body, the resurrection had restored her own form, she cheered mentally. Looking down though, she quickly got to grips with her situation, she was lying naked in a back alley, her exposed ample breasts and supple form a glaring advertisement for rape.
With lightning reflexes she jumped up and wrapped the gown around her, even pulling the hood it oddly enough possessed over her face, before looking up to the window to see if Dante had witnessed all this. She saw he hadn't, and wondered where he could have gone, when suddenly she realised he might be coming round from the front to see if she was still alive. Acting quickly, she dived behind some bins, just as the white-haired youth, still in only his trousers and some shoes he had put on while on the phone, came round and walked up to the spot she had fallen. Dante looked around, down at his feet, and then around again, before sighing and shrugging, raising his arms and eyes to the heavens as if to say 'why me?'.
He turned and shook his head, before jogging back round, Lady slowly coming out of hiding after he left. She sighed in relief and planned a route back to her place ASAP, she couldn't exactly walk around looking like this and besides, Dante would probably be coming over. Deciding on her path, she set off, running through back alleys and streets in nothing but a hooded gown at 10am, holding her arms across her front both to keep that gown closed and stop her breasts bouncing, wishing so badly for a bra right now.
Half an hour later, Dante knocked on her door, Lady opening it and letting him in, fully dressed and ready for battle. Dante blinked, normally they just set out, but he didn't turn down the invitation, and nodded his thanks before walking in. Lady closed the door and turned to him, answering the questioning look on his face, "Oh don't worry, we'll get going in a few minutes, I just thought we could take a moment to, relax and catch up, is that OK?" she asked. Dante shrugged and nodded, "Uh, sure, if you want to" he said, a little unsure at this strange twist. Lady smiled and walked to the wall across from the one he was leaning on in her hallway, looking at him and making a little small talk, "So, how's it going?". Dante shook his head, "Weirdly, I think its going to be one of those days", Lady raised an eyebrow as if to ask for an elaboration. Dante sighed, "Well, firstly this is a little strange, although not unwelcome" he added, then paused, wondering if that didn't come across as too friendly, before deciding the pause was worse and pressing on.
"Oh and this cat I found last night, after I cleaned it up and tried to find her home or one for her, stole a Golden Orb from me as well as some rag, broke a window and killed itself. So yeah, strange day so far" he said, shrugging lightly. Lady smiled, "Hey, don't worry about it, besides, I bet that cat is fine, you know what they say, nine lives, she's probably having a good time right now". Dante cocked an eyebrow at her, "How did you know it was a female cat?" he inquired, Lady mentally kicking herself, stupid mistake she thought, but she recovered well, grinning and saying "Just call it Lady's intuition". Dante laughed lightly, "As you say Lady, so, ready to go kick some demon ass?" he asked, pushing off the wall, his eyes coming alive at the suggestion. Lady smirked, "Looking forward to it" and, grabbing Kalina Ann, she and Dante walked out together, ready for another day of fighting side by side.