Chapter 2: Hello Kitty?
Something's wrong.
Wesley watched as the white smoke dissipate and tried to stand up but found that every time he did, he ended up losing his balance. His whole body felt awkward and it was actually easier to stay on all fours. When he finally saw the faces of his friend, he frowned. They looked awfully huge, which they shouldn't be, even from all the way down there. Fred was speaking about him having his soul back when she paused and said something absurd.
What? Kitty? He wasn't… Wesley looked at himself and finally registered his feline appearance. He looked back up at them, blinking rapidly in shock.
"Miaow." Oh bugger.
------------
"Don't worry, Wes. We'll find out what went wrong."
They were in the lobby trying to figure out what exactly went wrong. For the past twenty minutes, Fred had Wesley snuggled comfortably in her arms while stroking his fur although Wesley was too confused to notice the intimacy of the situation.
"Where did you say you got this spell?" Gunn asked Angel.
"It was… some magician guy." Angel said. "He was recommended!" He added, off Gunn's look. Then, dejectedly, "After some convincing on my part. Do you think that was the problem?"
Before Gunn could answer back, the front doors opened dramatically and Cordelia strode in. "Hey everyone, I'm back. Ooh, who's this little cutey-patootey?" She walked up to Wesley and plucked him out of Fred's arms. Fred let out a small "Um, Cordy" but she was too busy cooing at him. Wesley, for his part, just took it looking dazed.
"Ok, weird kitty – I didn't know they could look like that."
"It's Wesley." Fred told her.
"Yeah, and I think you've snuggled him enough." Gunn said.
Cordelia looked shocked. "I didn't know he had a cat. Poor kitty was left all alone in his apartment all this time?"
"Not Wesley's – Wesley. It's him." Fred corrected her.
"What are you talking about?" Cordelia said confusedly. "Wesley's down in the basement…"
Angel cut in. "No, it's really him. The spell backfired and…"
"Oh my god! Wes?" Cordelia lifted him up to eye level and stared at his eyes. They were as blue as his.
All Wesley could say was, "Miaow."
------------
Wesley recalled his childhood days when his mother would warn him against being naughty or she would turn him into a little toad. She wasn't joking; she carried the spell prepared in her purse. He couldn't help but feel that this was some sort of a punishment.
He was suddenly moved from Fred's arms to Cordelia's. He was lifted to stare at her eyes and suddenly he found inspiration.
Research! A time like this would always call for research.
Feeling renewed with energy, Wesley struggled in Cordelia's arms. Put me down, he said, I need to research this. After a while, Cordelia got the idea and let him down. He instantly rushed to the office to start when he realised that in no way was he able to get to the books. He jumped up to them – this is amazing! – but all he succeeded to do was make little scratches on the bindings.
"Miaaaaoooow." Oh bloody hell, this isn't working.
Just then Fred came in and realised what he was doing. "What do you need, Wesley?" she said as she came up to the bookcase.
"Miaow" Oh, Fred. Thank god. I need The Compendium Of…, he realised that it wasn't titled, at least in English, and finished, it's the green one.
"This one?" Fred held out a book. It was wrong.
No, the one on the left to it, the left. "Miaow! Miaaaaooow!"
"This?"
"Miaow." Yess!
Wesley jumped up and down in excitement and Fred could barely contain her laugh. "Oh, so this snicker, uh, this is it? I'll just uh cough leave it on the desk. Can you open it?"
Wesley jumped on top of the table to where she put down the book and opened it using all his weight. He stared at the letters for a while and gave up.
Oh, I can't read this. I need my glasses.
Wesley jumped off the table past Fred and the others and into the basement.
------------
"Ok, what happened here? Yeah, the spell backfired, but how? How can it backfire?"
"Mr. Genius here got the spell off someone playing bad cop, crazy cop." Gunn said.
"Hey," Angel said. "I wasn't-"
At that moment Wesley passed by casually and all conversation stopped. He said 'miaow' – like as if saying 'don't mind me, carry on.' – and went into the basement.
"I think we should get Willow." Cordelia said after a few moments.
Angel immediately turned to her. "No, I don't want to be always dependant on her every time we're in a magical ditch. That's why we did this without her."
"And that's why we now have a kitten instead of a human Wesley." She argued. "Any of this getting through that thick skull of yours?"
Just then Wesley returned from the basement. He repeated the 'miaow', this time muffled because he had one end of a pair of glasses in his mouth, and went into the office. They were silent as they watched him go. Cordelia broke the silence.
"This is one thing I never thought I'd say about Wesley but… my-god-he-is-so-cute-as-a-little-kitty!" she said quickly.
The others agreed.
------------
Wesley tried putting the glasses on but eventually gave up as they now were too big for him. He pushed them onto the book and peered from behind them, trying to get a good angle every time he moved a paragraph. It went on like this for a while before Fred entered carrying a tray.
"Hi, Wes. I brought you something. Well, I didn't know what you wanted since you're, you know, so I brought you tea and… milk." Wesley looked at it curiously as she placed it on the table beside him. Milk?
Of course I'll have the tea. Just because I'm a cat, doesn't mean… milk it is then.
Wesley lapped it up once, then twice, and then sang 'happy happy joy joy' in his mind as he drank with glee. It was a while before he remembered that Fred was still in the office and by then she had this strange look in her face. A happy look. A happy isn't-that-just-so-adorable look. Wesley faked a cough and returned to his research.
It was twenty minutes in and he was alone in the office when he found that he needed to cross-reference with another book. Wesley gave out a big yawn and rubbed his face.
Hm, where's that… Wesley got off the table and looked back up to the bookcase. It's not here, he whined, where… Ah, yes. I brought it to my apartment last week. I'll just go and get it.
Wesley ran from the office, out the lobby and headed outside. Gunn was just coming back from somewhere and had the front doors open. Just then Cordelia and Fred came back from the kitchen and saw Wesley running.
"Wesley, wait!" Fred said, but he was already out the doors. Gunn went after him and caught him just at the junction before the street.
------------
"He's… out in the sun." Fred said, as she watched Gunn struggle with Wesley so seemed anxious to go somewhere else.
"And why do you sound disappointed?" Cordelia asked.
"Well, I kinda thought… well, this is silly now, but I thought he'd still be vampire."
Angel walked up to her. "Actually, you're right. Why isn't he? A spell like that shouldn't be able to just remove his vampirism. It's…"
"Impossible?" Cordelia put in. They watched as Gunn finally calmed Wesley down and walked towards the hotel.
As soon as they entered, Cordelia gave him a lecture about not going off on his own, and then, struck by a revelation, suggested that since Wesley will be staying like this for some time, they should really get him a collar. Wesley hissed at the idea but Gunn told him all the dangers of being a stray cat and eventually he was defeated and sulked in the office.
The day turned into night and still their research lead them nowhere. It turned dark enough for Angel to be able to go out so he left to go in search of his magician. Cordelia, Gunn and Fred didn't have much to do after that so they hung out in the lobby.
As the humans were talking outside, a tiny 'poof' sound came from the office where Wesley was.
Author's note: Thanks to all those who reviewed – love ya lots! I know "miaow" is actually spelled "meow" but I'll spell it however I dang please, so there! (Actually, nobody complained about that but my Word programme just keeps underlining it in red.)
Next chapter: Wesley undergoes another transformation.