Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the plot and the original
characters. Thank you very much to everyone who's been reviewing because
it means a lot to me to know that you enjoy it and want me to cont. For
those who read my fics on a regular basis I apologize but the updates on
this fic and my others will be slow as I'm starting university and my time
will be taken up a great deal. On another and more important note SPECIAL
THANKS TO Unnamed Sniper
for that really awesome and detailed review, this chapter is dedicated to
you even though it puts Wufei in a good light which you certainly disagree
with lol. It didn't hit me till after I wrote it and decided to dedicate it
to you that there was an irony to this. Anyway I hope you guys like it/
Doorbells and Dozing
Cat stared at her bed and growled lightly under her breath, not that that would change anything but she felt like yelling. Someone had set some books from the bookcase on her bed which meant that she couldn't lay down on it until someone moved them. Of course Quatre would when he came to tuck her in but that was hours away and she didn't want to do anything besides sleep until it was dinner time. That was at least an hour away. Her tail twitching back and forth Cat sent the bed a disgusted look before turning around to see what was going on elsewhere. Duo, Trowa and Wufei were around the house somewhere while Quatre and Heero were still at work somewhere so maybe she'd check out what the other guys were doing. Though last time she'd checked Wufei had been doing his meditation thing and that was boring to say the least. Trowa was likely doing something just as quiet and boring which left Duo but she'd heard him say something about making himself a snack to hold him off till dinner and she'd learned that going into the kitchen when Duo was creating was a really bad idea. The guy was nice and everything but there should be laws about him and food preparation. The thought was interrupted when she heard the doorbell ringing and deciding to go see who it was Cat headed out of the room and met up with Duo in the hallway who smiled at her as he walked to the door with her slightly ahead of him. Reaching the door Cat moved away and waited for the door to be opened.
"Hi ya, Mavis, what are you doing here, Quatre didn't mention you were stopping by." Duo said as he stepped back to let Quatre's sister in, smiling at her brightly. Even if he hadn't already met Mavis he'd have known she was a Winner from her blonde hair and blue eyes, not to mention the smile that was so much like Quatre's. "Unfortunately he's not home yet, did he know you were coming and I just forgot about it?"
"Figures." Mavis said with a smirk as she walked in, smiling at her brother's friend. Her poor little brother was always on the go which was one of the reasons why she'd dropped in on him, she worried that he wasn't taking the time to relax and live. "He didn't know I was coming, I didn't know I was coming actually. I'm supposed to be in West Germany at the moment but there were problems with the transportation so I was here with two hours to spare so I thought I'd drop by on the slight chance that I'd find him home. Another one of Quatre's strays?" Mavis added when she caught sight of the cat watching them from below. "Well at least this in an animal that belongs in the house, wasn't the last one a squirrel or something.
"Nope, she's part of the family though Quatre and I are still trying to convince the other guys of that and yeah the last one was a squirrel..I think." Duo said as he bent down and picked Cat up in his arms, holding her carefully. "This is Sass-ah you might want to call her Mao like Wufei does because she won't let anyone but Quatre call her by the right name, or at least the name I came up with." Duo said with a smirk.
Sassy isn't my name either and if I ever get the chance I'm going to ram that name down all your throats Cat thought with a dark look in the world's general direction. Turning her attention back to this Mavis woman Cat could see the family resemblence between her and Quatre. This was the kinda woman guys were always going ga ga over and Cat figured that at least this one had come by the coloring naturally if Quatre was anything to go by and hadn't got the hair from a bottle. Of course the body could always be man made.
"Well she's a beautiful cat." Mavis said as she patted the cat on the head before moving her hand away, something telling her that the cat was as battle scarred as her brother and his friends. It was an aura that they all gave off, the seen and done too much that anyone could see if they bothered to look. Even her brother and Duo had it despite their characters. "So do you have any idea when he's going to be home or should I give up?"
"Actually he could be home anytime, why don't you come in and have something to drink at least. He'll be really disappointed if he misses you." Duo said with a boyish smile as he winked at her. "Besides I can keep you company."
"Well how can I say no to that." Mavis said with a wide grin as she took off her light jacket and handed to it him. "So I take it that every one's good, Quatre's been really busy lately and he's been forgetting to write as much as he usual does."
"We're all pretty good though busy." Duo said with a shrug as they walked into the living room, Cat still snug in his arms. Motioning for her to sit Mavis took a chair and Duo sat down on the sofa across from her. "Milliardo and Noin are away on a mission so for the moment Heero's pretty happy though they'll be back any day now which is already putting him into his usual grumpy mood. Trowa's his usual silent self, a soldier of his was wounded today though so he's kinda upset over that which is understandable. Wufei had an interesting experience that you'll appreciate though. Since we couldn't leave the cat here while we were at work we took her with us and Wufei had her for the afternoon. Anyway while she was with him Dorothy stopped by for a little visit." Duo said with a grimace that was mirrored by Mavis who had on more then one occasion wanted to track the blonde bitch down and shove her out an airlock after beating the other woman to a pulp. "Anyway she was being her normal self and after antagonizing Wufei for a while left with Sassy at her heels. Apparently my favorite feline didn't like her much either because my darling attacked Dorothy in the middle of a bunch of people and ripped her skirt nearly completely off!"
"You're kidding!" Mavis said with a shriek of laughter which grew into full blown laughter when Duo nodded. Minutes later when she could get air into her lungs and speak normally Mavis looked at the cat with love and respect. "Oh I really like you." Mavis said with a wide smile in the cat's direction. "I don't suppose you managed to get a hold of the security camera tapes that would have recorded that unfortunate incident would you?" Mavis asked with a mischievous look in Duo's direction. He wouldn't have been able to resist.
"Well I had some spare time at the end of the day and since Heero was busy I figured that I'd do a once over of the security stations, to make sure that everything was working smoothly." Duo said with a smirk the grew into a very devious grin. "I should have them nicely edited and ready for selling by the end of the week."
"Put me down for thirty, they'll make wonderful Christmas presents." Mavis said with an equally evil look in her eye. Maybe she was a Winner but she really, really hated that woman. She disliked her for who and what she was, hated her because she had nearly stolen Quatre from them after they'd already lost their father and a sister. "So what about the other guys, how are they doing?"
"Well lets see." Duo said as he absently tapped the left side of his face. "I'm good as usual, So is Quatre, he's really attached to the cat and being with her seems to relax him. The cat's good too though she's still recovering from her accident." At Mavis's questioning look Duo elaborated. "Quatre saved her from getting smushed by a car but she got a little banged up in the process. But the doctor said that she should be just fine and she's doing really good, aren't you, Jaws?" Duo said as he looked down at her, preferring that to Mao which just didn't suit her in his opinion.
Hissing in reply Cat stayed on his lap because it was comfortable and because she liked listening to them talk. Quatre's sister seemed to be a really nice person, she hated Dorothy so that made her a good judge of character anyway.
"Yup, she's good. I call her Jaws because she really likes the movies though she did attack the t.v. When I put on the third one which was really sad in comparison to the first two." Duo explained with a chuckle. "The forth ones okay but like most sequels it just went downhill after the first or second video. I'm going to try and get hold of the Freddy Koeger Nightmare movies though and see what she thinks of those, she really likes a good bloody horror. If I wasn't so fond of her I'd tell the guys we should start calling her Mini Heero."
Well that was it Cat thought as she gave him a dark look before hopping off his lap, heading for the door to go see what the other guys were doing. The stairs to the second level were a slight problem but she made it none the less and arriving at Wufei's door Cat found it slightly open, likely to let in air and butting her head Cat was able to open it enough to squeeze in. Cat instinctively sensed him and turning her head saw the young man sitting on his bed with a book in his hand, his eyes never looking up from whatever he was reading. Cat had never seen him with his hair down or his glasses on and Cat thought to herself that they made him look younger and more vulnerable. Probably why he only looked like this in the privacy of his own room. Curious Cat walked further into the room and hopped onto his bed, causing his to look up at the movement as she was having a slight problem getting up and was slipping towards the edge. Instead of telling her to get lost or letting her fall like Cat expected he set his book down and reaching over picked her up and placed her beside him on the bed. Picking his book up once more Wufei basically ignored her but Cat didn't feel ignored, just like they had a comfortable silence and understanding. Cuddling up against his side Cat went quickly into sleep and didn't even feel his light pat on the head.
An hour later
Wufei looked down at the sleeping cat and let a small smile cross his features. He'd never considered himself an animal person but this was no mere animal. She had intelligence though he'd bite off his own tongue before he'd say so. She was a handsome creature Wufei thought as he absently stroked her head a few times before withdrawing his hand, not wanting to wake her up. Quatre hadn't come home yet and Wufei wondered how to go about asking Quatre for permission to keep her if his friend was thinking of giving her away to someone else. It was likely better to wait until he knew whether or not Quatre intended to give her away before asking Quatre about her, that way he wouldn't have to ask unless it was necessary. A cat would be a good companion Wufei thought with a short nod as he looked down at her, they were independent creatures which had no need to be coddled or babied and could take care of themselves with ease. Mao never whined or demanded affection though Quatre and Maxwell were always smothering her with it. Yes he would not mind such a pet.
A little while later
"Wufei, is the cat in there with you?" Quatre's voice asked from behind Wufei's door, breaking Wufei's thoughts about a problem at work. "I can't find her anywhere and I figured that maybe she came into your room and crawled under the bed or something."
"Yes, she's in here." Wufei said from his bed and nodded when Quatre came in, still in his black business suit that he'd been wearing that morning though he had at least loosened the tie and ditched the jacket. "She decided to come in and take up space." Wufei said as he looked down at the cat with a cool air thought it was more for show then anything.
"Sorry if she bothered you." Quatre said hiding a smile at the picture the two made. If the cat had really been bothering Wufei his friend would have simply kicked the cat out of the room as oppose to letting it snuggle against him on his bed. Looks like he wouldn't have any objections from Wufei concerning keeping the cat permanently. Of course she was a handful Quatre thought as he lost some of his smile as he recalled Duo's recount of Sassy's day at Preventers. "Did she really attack Dorothy today at work?"
"I wouldn't say attack, more like Mao wished to express her dislike for Dorothy through humiliating the blonde demon." Wufei said with a smirk as he pictured Dorothy's face when it had hit her what the cat had done, in front of everyone. "Sally is of the opinion that cats are very good judges of character. At the moment I have to agree."
"Oh, Sassy. I told you this morning that you needed to behave while you were at Preventers." Quatre said with a sigh though there was a slight smile on his handsome face. As small as it was of him the thought of what his cat had done amused him slightly and he slightly wished that he could have seen it, even if that was wrong. "Is Lady Une terrible angry?"
"Haven't talked to her though according to Maxwell Mariemaia is fond of the cat so perhaps the child pleaded the cat's case and succeeding in getting her off the hook." Wufei said with a shrug though if Lady Una was upset over the cat's actions he was prepared to point out that Mao had been provoked and that Mao had done as much good as harm since she'd helped out with that wounded soldier of Trowa's. "Don't worry about it, it will be all right."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're right." Quatre said with a smile as he walked over to sit on the bed, lifting a hand to stroke Sassy's head carefully, not wanting her to suddenly wake up hissing and clawing. She didn't tolerate a great deal of petting and stroking unless she was tired or being fed. "Well we're just waiting for Heero to get home and then we can eat, Trowa made lasagna and garlic bread so we're eating good tonight."
"Sounds good." Wufei agreed having smelled the food when he'd smelled something burning and had assumed correctly that Duo had attempted to prepare something. Luckily Quatre's sister Mavis had dropped by and had known to put baking soda over the flames before there had been serious damage done and the meal already cooking in the stove had been spared. "Did you have a nice chat with your sister?" Wufei asked as he changed the subject. He'd never had any siblings and he enjoyed studying his friends and their relations with their siblings. It made him think that he'd missed out in that area.
"Yeah, though I only got to talk to her for a half an hour before she had to leave." Quatre said with a sorry look. He missed his sisters and wished he could see them more often, even though they tended to lecture him on his life and the way he lived it. "Well I think I'll go change and then see if I can give Trowa a hand with things. Can you bring Sassy down when you come for supper or do you want me to come get her?"
"I think I can manage." Wufei said with a smirk and waited till Quatre was out of the room before he petted her on the head again. "I wonder what you dream of small one." Wufei said under his breath before shaking his head at the silly though before turning his attention back to his book.
Doorbells and Dozing
Cat stared at her bed and growled lightly under her breath, not that that would change anything but she felt like yelling. Someone had set some books from the bookcase on her bed which meant that she couldn't lay down on it until someone moved them. Of course Quatre would when he came to tuck her in but that was hours away and she didn't want to do anything besides sleep until it was dinner time. That was at least an hour away. Her tail twitching back and forth Cat sent the bed a disgusted look before turning around to see what was going on elsewhere. Duo, Trowa and Wufei were around the house somewhere while Quatre and Heero were still at work somewhere so maybe she'd check out what the other guys were doing. Though last time she'd checked Wufei had been doing his meditation thing and that was boring to say the least. Trowa was likely doing something just as quiet and boring which left Duo but she'd heard him say something about making himself a snack to hold him off till dinner and she'd learned that going into the kitchen when Duo was creating was a really bad idea. The guy was nice and everything but there should be laws about him and food preparation. The thought was interrupted when she heard the doorbell ringing and deciding to go see who it was Cat headed out of the room and met up with Duo in the hallway who smiled at her as he walked to the door with her slightly ahead of him. Reaching the door Cat moved away and waited for the door to be opened.
"Hi ya, Mavis, what are you doing here, Quatre didn't mention you were stopping by." Duo said as he stepped back to let Quatre's sister in, smiling at her brightly. Even if he hadn't already met Mavis he'd have known she was a Winner from her blonde hair and blue eyes, not to mention the smile that was so much like Quatre's. "Unfortunately he's not home yet, did he know you were coming and I just forgot about it?"
"Figures." Mavis said with a smirk as she walked in, smiling at her brother's friend. Her poor little brother was always on the go which was one of the reasons why she'd dropped in on him, she worried that he wasn't taking the time to relax and live. "He didn't know I was coming, I didn't know I was coming actually. I'm supposed to be in West Germany at the moment but there were problems with the transportation so I was here with two hours to spare so I thought I'd drop by on the slight chance that I'd find him home. Another one of Quatre's strays?" Mavis added when she caught sight of the cat watching them from below. "Well at least this in an animal that belongs in the house, wasn't the last one a squirrel or something.
"Nope, she's part of the family though Quatre and I are still trying to convince the other guys of that and yeah the last one was a squirrel..I think." Duo said as he bent down and picked Cat up in his arms, holding her carefully. "This is Sass-ah you might want to call her Mao like Wufei does because she won't let anyone but Quatre call her by the right name, or at least the name I came up with." Duo said with a smirk.
Sassy isn't my name either and if I ever get the chance I'm going to ram that name down all your throats Cat thought with a dark look in the world's general direction. Turning her attention back to this Mavis woman Cat could see the family resemblence between her and Quatre. This was the kinda woman guys were always going ga ga over and Cat figured that at least this one had come by the coloring naturally if Quatre was anything to go by and hadn't got the hair from a bottle. Of course the body could always be man made.
"Well she's a beautiful cat." Mavis said as she patted the cat on the head before moving her hand away, something telling her that the cat was as battle scarred as her brother and his friends. It was an aura that they all gave off, the seen and done too much that anyone could see if they bothered to look. Even her brother and Duo had it despite their characters. "So do you have any idea when he's going to be home or should I give up?"
"Actually he could be home anytime, why don't you come in and have something to drink at least. He'll be really disappointed if he misses you." Duo said with a boyish smile as he winked at her. "Besides I can keep you company."
"Well how can I say no to that." Mavis said with a wide grin as she took off her light jacket and handed to it him. "So I take it that every one's good, Quatre's been really busy lately and he's been forgetting to write as much as he usual does."
"We're all pretty good though busy." Duo said with a shrug as they walked into the living room, Cat still snug in his arms. Motioning for her to sit Mavis took a chair and Duo sat down on the sofa across from her. "Milliardo and Noin are away on a mission so for the moment Heero's pretty happy though they'll be back any day now which is already putting him into his usual grumpy mood. Trowa's his usual silent self, a soldier of his was wounded today though so he's kinda upset over that which is understandable. Wufei had an interesting experience that you'll appreciate though. Since we couldn't leave the cat here while we were at work we took her with us and Wufei had her for the afternoon. Anyway while she was with him Dorothy stopped by for a little visit." Duo said with a grimace that was mirrored by Mavis who had on more then one occasion wanted to track the blonde bitch down and shove her out an airlock after beating the other woman to a pulp. "Anyway she was being her normal self and after antagonizing Wufei for a while left with Sassy at her heels. Apparently my favorite feline didn't like her much either because my darling attacked Dorothy in the middle of a bunch of people and ripped her skirt nearly completely off!"
"You're kidding!" Mavis said with a shriek of laughter which grew into full blown laughter when Duo nodded. Minutes later when she could get air into her lungs and speak normally Mavis looked at the cat with love and respect. "Oh I really like you." Mavis said with a wide smile in the cat's direction. "I don't suppose you managed to get a hold of the security camera tapes that would have recorded that unfortunate incident would you?" Mavis asked with a mischievous look in Duo's direction. He wouldn't have been able to resist.
"Well I had some spare time at the end of the day and since Heero was busy I figured that I'd do a once over of the security stations, to make sure that everything was working smoothly." Duo said with a smirk the grew into a very devious grin. "I should have them nicely edited and ready for selling by the end of the week."
"Put me down for thirty, they'll make wonderful Christmas presents." Mavis said with an equally evil look in her eye. Maybe she was a Winner but she really, really hated that woman. She disliked her for who and what she was, hated her because she had nearly stolen Quatre from them after they'd already lost their father and a sister. "So what about the other guys, how are they doing?"
"Well lets see." Duo said as he absently tapped the left side of his face. "I'm good as usual, So is Quatre, he's really attached to the cat and being with her seems to relax him. The cat's good too though she's still recovering from her accident." At Mavis's questioning look Duo elaborated. "Quatre saved her from getting smushed by a car but she got a little banged up in the process. But the doctor said that she should be just fine and she's doing really good, aren't you, Jaws?" Duo said as he looked down at her, preferring that to Mao which just didn't suit her in his opinion.
Hissing in reply Cat stayed on his lap because it was comfortable and because she liked listening to them talk. Quatre's sister seemed to be a really nice person, she hated Dorothy so that made her a good judge of character anyway.
"Yup, she's good. I call her Jaws because she really likes the movies though she did attack the t.v. When I put on the third one which was really sad in comparison to the first two." Duo explained with a chuckle. "The forth ones okay but like most sequels it just went downhill after the first or second video. I'm going to try and get hold of the Freddy Koeger Nightmare movies though and see what she thinks of those, she really likes a good bloody horror. If I wasn't so fond of her I'd tell the guys we should start calling her Mini Heero."
Well that was it Cat thought as she gave him a dark look before hopping off his lap, heading for the door to go see what the other guys were doing. The stairs to the second level were a slight problem but she made it none the less and arriving at Wufei's door Cat found it slightly open, likely to let in air and butting her head Cat was able to open it enough to squeeze in. Cat instinctively sensed him and turning her head saw the young man sitting on his bed with a book in his hand, his eyes never looking up from whatever he was reading. Cat had never seen him with his hair down or his glasses on and Cat thought to herself that they made him look younger and more vulnerable. Probably why he only looked like this in the privacy of his own room. Curious Cat walked further into the room and hopped onto his bed, causing his to look up at the movement as she was having a slight problem getting up and was slipping towards the edge. Instead of telling her to get lost or letting her fall like Cat expected he set his book down and reaching over picked her up and placed her beside him on the bed. Picking his book up once more Wufei basically ignored her but Cat didn't feel ignored, just like they had a comfortable silence and understanding. Cuddling up against his side Cat went quickly into sleep and didn't even feel his light pat on the head.
An hour later
Wufei looked down at the sleeping cat and let a small smile cross his features. He'd never considered himself an animal person but this was no mere animal. She had intelligence though he'd bite off his own tongue before he'd say so. She was a handsome creature Wufei thought as he absently stroked her head a few times before withdrawing his hand, not wanting to wake her up. Quatre hadn't come home yet and Wufei wondered how to go about asking Quatre for permission to keep her if his friend was thinking of giving her away to someone else. It was likely better to wait until he knew whether or not Quatre intended to give her away before asking Quatre about her, that way he wouldn't have to ask unless it was necessary. A cat would be a good companion Wufei thought with a short nod as he looked down at her, they were independent creatures which had no need to be coddled or babied and could take care of themselves with ease. Mao never whined or demanded affection though Quatre and Maxwell were always smothering her with it. Yes he would not mind such a pet.
A little while later
"Wufei, is the cat in there with you?" Quatre's voice asked from behind Wufei's door, breaking Wufei's thoughts about a problem at work. "I can't find her anywhere and I figured that maybe she came into your room and crawled under the bed or something."
"Yes, she's in here." Wufei said from his bed and nodded when Quatre came in, still in his black business suit that he'd been wearing that morning though he had at least loosened the tie and ditched the jacket. "She decided to come in and take up space." Wufei said as he looked down at the cat with a cool air thought it was more for show then anything.
"Sorry if she bothered you." Quatre said hiding a smile at the picture the two made. If the cat had really been bothering Wufei his friend would have simply kicked the cat out of the room as oppose to letting it snuggle against him on his bed. Looks like he wouldn't have any objections from Wufei concerning keeping the cat permanently. Of course she was a handful Quatre thought as he lost some of his smile as he recalled Duo's recount of Sassy's day at Preventers. "Did she really attack Dorothy today at work?"
"I wouldn't say attack, more like Mao wished to express her dislike for Dorothy through humiliating the blonde demon." Wufei said with a smirk as he pictured Dorothy's face when it had hit her what the cat had done, in front of everyone. "Sally is of the opinion that cats are very good judges of character. At the moment I have to agree."
"Oh, Sassy. I told you this morning that you needed to behave while you were at Preventers." Quatre said with a sigh though there was a slight smile on his handsome face. As small as it was of him the thought of what his cat had done amused him slightly and he slightly wished that he could have seen it, even if that was wrong. "Is Lady Une terrible angry?"
"Haven't talked to her though according to Maxwell Mariemaia is fond of the cat so perhaps the child pleaded the cat's case and succeeding in getting her off the hook." Wufei said with a shrug though if Lady Una was upset over the cat's actions he was prepared to point out that Mao had been provoked and that Mao had done as much good as harm since she'd helped out with that wounded soldier of Trowa's. "Don't worry about it, it will be all right."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're right." Quatre said with a smile as he walked over to sit on the bed, lifting a hand to stroke Sassy's head carefully, not wanting her to suddenly wake up hissing and clawing. She didn't tolerate a great deal of petting and stroking unless she was tired or being fed. "Well we're just waiting for Heero to get home and then we can eat, Trowa made lasagna and garlic bread so we're eating good tonight."
"Sounds good." Wufei agreed having smelled the food when he'd smelled something burning and had assumed correctly that Duo had attempted to prepare something. Luckily Quatre's sister Mavis had dropped by and had known to put baking soda over the flames before there had been serious damage done and the meal already cooking in the stove had been spared. "Did you have a nice chat with your sister?" Wufei asked as he changed the subject. He'd never had any siblings and he enjoyed studying his friends and their relations with their siblings. It made him think that he'd missed out in that area.
"Yeah, though I only got to talk to her for a half an hour before she had to leave." Quatre said with a sorry look. He missed his sisters and wished he could see them more often, even though they tended to lecture him on his life and the way he lived it. "Well I think I'll go change and then see if I can give Trowa a hand with things. Can you bring Sassy down when you come for supper or do you want me to come get her?"
"I think I can manage." Wufei said with a smirk and waited till Quatre was out of the room before he petted her on the head again. "I wonder what you dream of small one." Wufei said under his breath before shaking his head at the silly though before turning his attention back to his book.