Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High
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The panther clawed at Warren's front door, growling and snarling banging as hard as it could without hurting itself further. Finally, a very annoyed and sleep-deprived Warren opened the door and jumped back at the sight of the panther standing before him. The cat bounded inside and with its right paw pushed the door shut. It immediately switched to standing on its right paw, and held it's left one up.
"Ivy?" Warren now recognized the giant feline.
The cat tried to take a step towards him, but as soon as its left paw hit the floor it let out a large whine that had been held in for over thirteen blocks. Warren recognized it as a sign of pain and pointed to the nearby living room. The panther limped in making sounds of agony every time the paw touched the ground. Warren rushed into his kitchen grabbing ice, wrist splints, and ace bandages. He returned to see the large panther curled into a ball on the living room floor, and he knelt beside it.
"Ivy. I need you to come back. I can't help the panther. You said you can control the change, so do it." He searched the large black and white eyes, and slowly, they began to fold in upon themselves revealing the normal gray Warren was so used to seeing. He looked down at the rest of her and watched her body follow, folding in on itself as if the cat was being reabsorbed into the human.
When the change was complete, Ivy was huddled naked on his floor, clutching her body, shivering, bruised, and tired.
"Oh, shit." He whispered looking down at her. He grabbed a gray wool blanket off his couch and draped it over her. She tried to smile, but was too weak to fully accomplish the task. He reached out and gently lifted her onto the couch, careful not to let the blanket fall off her. She was barely able to wrap the blanket around herself so it wasn't just resting on her, but managed well enough. He sat next to her and took her wrist, not asking a single question.
She smiled as much as she could. "If anyone walked in right now," she took a deep breath, "this would be totally incriminating." She attempted a laugh. Warren looked at her confused. "Nice boxers." She quickly glanced down at his banana-print Joe Boxer underwear. He looked down himself and smiled when he finally understood what she was talking about.
"Even injured and bruised, you're still making sexual jokes." He mused at her.
"Someone has to." She didn't try a smile this time.
He ignored her comment, and carefully splinted her wrist. Before she ask how he knew what to do, he answered. "My moms good friend is a nurse, and when she got tired of being called over to splint my ligaments, she taught me how to do them on my own."
"Oh." She looked down at her wrist, unsure of what to say next. "Do you have anything to drink? Something with sugar?"
"I think I have some soda." He came back a moment later with a liter bottle a glass, and a phone. He had Will on speed dial, so as the phone rang on the other line, he opened the bottle and leaned over the table to start to pour the Pepsi. She intercepted the action however, and took the bottle itself and chugged. Warren stared in such disgust at the amount of soda she was drinking that it was on the third "Hello?" that he noticed Will had answered. Warren simply told him to get the guys and come over. He also asked to have Layla bring Ivy some clothes. When Will asked why, and what they'd been doing that she needed clothes, Warren told him to shove it and hung up.
After Ivy finished the entire liter, she dropped the bottle to the floor, and her face began to regain its natural white, instead of the sickly one it held initially.
She turned to look at Warren and gave him an actual smile. "Might want to put some clothes on first."
He glanced down at himself again and nodded. "Point taken."
He came back down right as there was a rushed knock at his front door. He looked out the peephole and saw their friends standing impatiently. He opened the door and they all pushed passed him and went straight for Ivy.
"Yeah, sure, come on in." Warren said sarcastically to no one as he closed the door.
They all saw her sitting on the couch huddled in the gray blanket, with a splinted wrist.
"What happened? Are you OK?" Will stood above her, while the others crowded around.
"I brought you some clothes; the only gray t-shirt I own." Layla looked worried.
"Thanks, Lay. And I'm fine. My wrist hurts like a mother, but I really am fine." Ivy tried to console her friends. She recapped the events, how two months prior she had seen a cloaked man but brushed it off as nothing, and how he hadn't returned since. She told them how he cornered her and bruised her wrist, and how she had burned her hand-print into his face. She told them how she ran and somehow he got ahead of her and she ran right into a choke-hold. She told them about the challenge, and the change, but left out the gory skin-tearing details. Magenta probably wouldn't have minded, but Layla got squeamish easily. She also told them that when she hit the ground, she felt the pain the panther felt.
"It's the first time that's ever happened. If the panther gets injured, I'll see it, and when I'm human again I'll feel it, but as the panther, I don't feel it. It's like me and the panther are two different people." She sat on the couch looking across the table at her concerned friends. She still shivered, and when they insisted on more blankets, she promised them it wouldn't make a difference.
After about an hour of answering questions and retelling the story a second time, Will, Layla, Zach and Magenta rose to leave. Ivy stayed on the couch, not feeling well enough to stand just yet. Layla moved to give Ivy a hug.
"No serum today." Ivy stated blankly, and Layla made a circle around the table back to where she'd been standing before. Everyone laughed her little display, and she blushed.
"Can I trust you brought me a bra?" Ivy asked hopefully.
"Of course I did. It's a little big on me, so it'll probably fit you fine. There's also some underwear. You're lucky I'd just bought some new ones, otherwise you'd be stuck with mine. I didn't know if you were my size shoe, though, so I just brought you black flip-flops that my cousin left at my house over the summer. She was a little taller than you, so I figured you'd be around the same size." Layla smiled proudly.
"Seriously, why do you guys feel the need to talk about all your undergarments around us?" Zach was bright red, and not being ghetto about the situation. Ivy laughed a little.
"Why do you guys feel the need to get so embarrassed by it?" Magenta laughed at Will and Warren diverting their attention to something other than the girls. She chuckled again and pushed Zach in the direction of the door. "We'll see you guys tomorrow. Take care of her, Warren. Or else." Magenta was very stern sometimes.
"Or else what, Rat?" Warren's eyes sparked humorously.
"Or else I'll come crawl on you in your sleep." She laughed at his paled face.
"That's not funny." He opened the door and shoved her out.
"Maybe we can cuddle, too!" Magenta beamed with sarcasm.
Through his straight face Warren managed a spiteful, "Get out."
"Oh, shoot." Layla stopped. "I forgot to get you some pajamas, I just brought jeans."
"It's fine, I'm sure my mom has something upstairs." Warren offered. Layla smiled and waved goodbye, ignoring Warren and Magenta's conversation.
Warren and Ivy said goodbye to the rest of them, and he closed the door once they'd filed out. When he turned back around he saw Ivy trying to stand. He rushed forward to help her.
"Warren? I'm fine." She watched him pause and hesitate before deciding not to push the matter.
She stood straight up and looked across the living room at the boy staring back at her. She had never seen him in such a lack of clothes, and she took the time to appreciate his physique. She took note of the white wife-beater and black sweats he had put over his banana boxers. She looked at his hair pulled back into a bun, the way he wore for work, He looks like a Samurai. She smiled slightly. She let her gaze fall over his dark charcoal eyes, and his strong, carved face. She followed his thick neck down to his shoulders and arms and hands. She scanned over his tall legs, and all the way back up. She'd never really noticed how big he was, but standing before her now without his big leather jacket, or hunched over brooding, she realized how huge he was.
Staring at her, Warren wondered if he'd ever get to see her dance something that wasn't salsa. He watched her silver eyes watch him, and he noticed that they were, in fact, a matte silver, not just gray. He looked at her delicate face; her large almond-shaped eyes, perfect nose, and full lips. He noticed how clean and neat her eyebrows were, and followed the trace of her hairline. He laughed silently at how her hair had gone from Jovovich in Ultraviolet, to something he couldn't quite name. He looked over her pure white hair, and looked at her thin neck. He looked at her posture and couldn't help but laugh at how much she looked like a ballerina. He watched the way she held the blanket wrapped around her arms and body, but leaving her shoulders and collar bone bare. He looked down the straight blanket at her feet, and gave a small smile when he saw a tattoo on her left calf. It looked like two bass clefs, but from where he stood he couldn't tell. He had to remember to ask later. He retraced the path he carved, and slowly found his way back to her beautiful, half-human eyes.
They stared at each, and both blushed uncontrollably. Neither could decide if they were more embarrassed because they'd been caught looking at the other, or because they caught the other looking at them.
"I, uh," Ivy cleared her throat, "need to wash my face. Can I use the bathroom?" She shifted awkwardly.
"Oh, yeah, yeah. It's, uh, down the hall on the left." He stupidly pointed down the only hall there was. "I'll try to find you some sweats or something." He took off up the stairs before she had a chance to thank him.
She rummaged through the bag with her good hand, and found a toothbrush and hairbrush. She made her way down the hallway and finally found the little butter-yellow bathroom. It only had a toilet and a sink, and she wondered what the point of a bathroom was, without a shower. I suppose it makes sense if you have company over, though. Don't want them roaming around your house. She washed her face, and brushed her teeth. She put a little water into her hair before plaiting it into a messy braid. She still hadn't figured out to braid her short hair, and minimal use of her left hand didn't help.
She got back to the couch and lay down, still wrapped in her gray blanket. She closed her eyes, for what she thought would only be a moment, and she was asleep instantly. When Warren returned no more than five minutes later, he saw her curled up on the couch, and decided not to wake her. He left the sweats and t-shirt on the arm of the couch, and returned to his own bed to go back to sleep.
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