A/N: In the Second Time Around universe, and the Thanksgiving themed follow up to 'Friendly Invasion from Vector', Seven gets competition on Odin when the cat has new humans to claim in the form of Celes and Terra. Who will win? All pairings here are at least in a relationship, with Seven/Sice being married and Celes/Terra being engaged.
Celes vs. Seven, Part One
"Is the meal ready?! I'm fucking starving at this point..." Lightning complains for the umpteenth time and as quick as her namesake over Thanksgiving Dinner - which she started to call Turkey Day for personal reasons. She knew things had to be ready because Celes and Terra were coming over for the annual Turkey Day meal, which Sice was surprised when it was revealed that Terra and Celes are bringing in a dish that quite famous in Vector - which one Seven Farron was QUITE familiar with... and by being quite familiar, it was Seven's particular favourite. Sice tried loads of times to recreate it to the letter but to no avail, even though the silver haired lass was perfectly fine with Sice's version of the dish (Seven felt that Sice made it her own which made her happy). Speaking of the silver haired lass, she showed up to the living room like she just did the dirty with her wife with Odin the cat in her arms even though in reality Seven, very surprisingly, overslept for unknown reasons. It was Seven's sleeping habits that had Fang being more worried as of late despite Maria and Y'shtola looking into Seven's DNA to figure out just what was going on. Leon was freaking out about it as well: Seven is a sister to him.
The cuddle session Seven and Odin had on the chair near the sofa came to an end 30 minutes later when Celes and Terra make their arrival known to those in the house. Although a bit apprehensive, Kurasame Yun-Farron, who was between Fang and Sice, was adorable when asked who was at the door. It caused Lightning and Seven to smile at the scene, for Lightning and Fang's son showing good manners at his age. When Terra's voice announced their arrival formally, Sice immediately opened the door with a rare smile, with the brunette making a warm greeting for the engaged pair, who came with their dog Interceptor. Lightning got the food out of Celes' hands (the dish was one Celes and Terra made together; according to Lightning, the engaged couple cook all their meals together). It was close to the speed of Lightning's namesake that Interceptor the dog made way to where Odin the cat was relaxing and gave him dog kisses, as to say 'you're my mate/friend now - I fancy you as my brother, part of my pack' which Seven couldn't stop laughing her arse off at the scene, knowing that Interceptor and Odin will get along just fine.
Celes, however, would make things with Odin rather interesting for the silver haired lass.
XXX
The food that was served for all - the same rules apply from the previous years: grab yourself a plate of what you want. Y'shtola, Maria, Rydia and their better halves - plus the Villiers, Hope and Porom plus Vanille and Carlyn - all showed up and made excellent contributions in their own right. Even Leon and Minfilia brought a dish, plus cola and juice (Minfilia was especially proud of Leon for deliberately making the choice there {'Lyse having allergies to alcohol makes her no different than any of us. We ALL have issues with something we eat or drink - I'm not a fan of alcohol and I don't drink by choice; I detest when people force others to drink' Leon was caught saying during a date with Minfilia a week ago}). Celes and Terra took a small piece of Sice's version of the dish they brought - with Sice taking a slightly bigger piece of Celes and Terra's version - with the engaged couple from Vector not saying a single word when tried it. In fact they complimented the white haired lass on making their dish her own way because they absolutely LOVED it! What stole the scene here, however, was Odin making his way to Celes' lap. My new hooman. She's very comfy. She'll be great as my bed for now... the cat mused to himself before taking his nap.
Celes was oblivious to Odin taking a nap on her lap, until Terra got up to get dessert for them both - it was a combo of what Y'shtola and Lyse made as well as a fusion of a dessert dish from Eblan and Mist that Edge and Rydia perfected and made together. It was only when Terra came back with their dessert that Rydia pointed out that Odin the cat marked the seated Vector native Celes as part of his territory. This caused Terra to release a giggle and Celes FINALLY looking at her lap to see a sleeping feline there, making Celes smile. It didn't take me long to be part of Odin's territory... Celes happily mused to herself. For Seven, the silver haired lass couldn't help but shake her head at this, for it took Odin WAY longer (in Seven's opinion) to claim her as part of his territory. Sice found this exchange of sorts hilarious, since the white haired lass realising that Seven has competition with someone over the beloved feline. What was known here is that Celes and Terra were staying over until the new year due to major renovations at their home, which is right next door. What made Seven smile, however, was that Celes and Terra would be helping with the expenses while their home was being remade. For Celes and Terra, they felt that it was the right thing to do to help the people they're staying with.
Plus Celes had a huge Christmas gift idea for Seven.
XXX
After the Turkey Day festivities were all done and everyone made themselves a take home plate of food, it was Celes and Terra who did the lot of cleaning up in the house. Although the other four occupants felt bad about this, the reasoning from Celes was simple: "You allowed us to stay with you until the renovations are done. It's the least we can do. Your four should relax some..." All the while Odin was back with Seven, on her lap and purring away for a while. This brought a smile the the silver haired lass' face, knowing that Celes wanted the feline to be with his favourite hooman (which is Seven), even though Seven was also hanging out with Interceptor the dog. Dogs and cats LOVE their Seven Farron as the silver haired lass has her way with domesticated animals where she loves them to death and they love HER to death all the same (just not as much as Sice). It was after the cleaning was all done, with Celes and Terra being brought to their room for the foreseeable future, which was very similar to their bedroom at home size wise, if not a bit bigger. The engaged couple wasted little time and got to their night clothes so that they can get some sleep.
It was a while after Celes and Terra fell asleep that Odin the cat - sneaky feline he is despite being a senior cat nowadays - went to the room where Celes and Terra slept, with the cat making Celes' head his pillow while they slept. Terra...you're with Celes... I'll protect you both while you sleep... Odin mused to himself while sleeping on his chosen pillow. When they woke up the following morning, Terra couldn't stop laughing upon seeing Odin STILL on Celes' head, which Terra herself was given feline kisses from Odin himself. This love between the engaged couple and the cat woken up a friendly jealousy in Seven, the one who discovered the trio when the silver haired lass had a tray of breakfast for them. A friendly jealousy because of the Interceptor factor. In all fairness, Interceptor was sleeping with Seven and Sice in their room. To no one's surprise, however, Lightning and Fang chose to stay out of this rivalry, because this type of rivalry involved a dog and a cat. When they returned to the Guardian Corps HQ the following Monday, Lightning mused to others on how Seven might have met her match regarding Odin the cat. Rydia's remark? "I saw that rivalry a mile away. Cats have a thing for Celes. She's had a pet her entire life."
Who wins this friendly rivalry...time will tell.
To Be Continued...
A/N #2: Next up is Part Two of the tale which will reveal who is the BFF to Odin the cat, still in the Second Time Around universe.
