Nikolai's Room at the Arms, Monday Morning, Before Classes

[spin_kick_snap]

It had been a very long and very tiring weekend for the little klipspringer that was actually a girl. There had been the necessary kicking anytime she'd been called a goat and the fretting every time her oddly-shaped MateProtector had gone out of sight. The time he'd been hidden behind the Great SquareWood the hid the place of BrightLightLotsWater had been quite distressing. Oh! And bouncing, of course. The bouncing was very important! And then she'd had to protect him when the creature with the weird headfur had been taken by predators--really, it was a lot for one little klipspringer to do.

Taking care of her MateProtector was definitely the hardest part of her weekend. He seemed to have no survival instincts at all. He kept trying to wander off without her, he blocked his eyes so he could not see, and he never kept lookout, even when she was eating! They had even fought the night before about when it was time to sleep. He didn't seem to understand that once the DayBright went away, it was time to sleep. After an intense argument where she'd had to headbutt him several times to get him to listen to reason, she had eventually 'persuaded' him to lay down. In addition to being dumb, her MateProtector lacked horns, which made it easier for her to win their arguments. He refused to sleep, preferring to watch the BrightSquare, but at least he was still enough to let her sleep. Except for those times when the BrightSquare would make loud enough noises to startle her awake and bounce away looking for predators.

MateProtector sometimes made loud noises at her when she did that. The klipspringer did not understand why. Was he trying to bring the predators to them? Each time, once she'd ascertained that they were safe and nothing was trying to kill them, she would return to her place on his chest and fall back asleep, privately resolving not to mourn too much if his idiocy got him eaten by an eagle or something.

At some point after the BrightSquare had gone off and the DayBright had risen, the Fandom's whimsy had released it's hold on the little klipspringer, returning her to back to her normal self. Sleep held Kathy too tightly for her to be aware of shift in form. She stayed comfortably tucked on Nikolai's chest with her head pillowed on his shoulder, a little colder now that her fur had turned back to skin, but too deep in dreams to really notice.

[For him whose room this is and was shamelessly modded!]

Comments

[gunslingerpose]

"In a rush?" Nick gave her a wry grin. "I was about to put some coffee on, if that's your thing. Maybe fry up some eggs or something. You've been eating a vegan diet all weekend, I figured you might want a real breakfast before you take off or something, at least."

Lookit that, he wasn't chasing her out!

[spin_kick_snap]

Wait...he wasn't?

Kathy peered up at him, confused. "You--you don't want me to go?"

[gunslingerpose]

"Unless you're in a hurry," Nick replied with a shrug. "C'mon, Kathy. You've been keeping me from walking into walls all weekend. Least I can do is feed you before you go running out of here."

He was being good and not adding the 'all flustered' that was on the tip of his tongue.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy's stomach rumbled at the mention of food. "I am pretty hungry," she admitted, because it wasn't like she could deny it now. "It takes a lot of food to keep me going. When I'm me-shaped, I mean."

All the insane bouncing needed fuel.

"If you're sure I won't be a bother..."

[gunslingerpose]

"No bother," Nick replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Bacon, eggs, and toast sound okay? There's not much in my fridge, but I should have that much, at least."

And the rest, he just sort of ordered up from food service. Working at the hotel he lived in had little upsides, now and again. Being on a first name basis with a lot of the kitchen staff helped.

[spin_kick_snap]

"That sounds wonderful," Kathy assured him. "Is there anything I can do to help? Umm, I mean, if you still trust me around sharp implements and things."

Guess who had forgotten she was clad only in a towel while talking to her crush?

[gunslingerpose]

Food was amazing for that.

"Nah," Nick chuckled. "I'm pretty sure I can handle breaking some eggs into a pan without burning the hotel down. You want coffee or something like that, you can join me in the kitchen and make it how you like it once you've rinsed the rest of that soap off."

He nodded to the counter.

"Clothes are there when you need 'em. And seriously, don't sweat the curtain, baby. It was just a matter of time before someone did it. I'll get something put down in that tub before you come by with coffee to pay me back for that hot alleyway dance show I gave, at least."

C'mon. He knew he won that bet, and she knew he won that bet, and he was demanding a western movie marathon and snuggling in return.

[spin_kick_snap]

Someone. Because Nick probably had people up here in spades. He was hot, self-assured, and didn't really seem the type to do relationships.

"Yeah," she echoed softly. "Someone."

Fortunately, she had something else to focus on, like the fact that she was still in a towel and talking to him and not ballsy enough to drop it the way she'd done as Lady Dokkaebi. "Thanks. I'll be out in a few minutes." She was going to tidy up the mess she'd made in his bathroom first.

[gunslingerpose]

"Cool," Nick replied easily, not quite missing that dejected tone she suddenly had going on again. "I'll see you in the kitchen, then."

He was going to go and fry every last egg, because... That seemed like a thing to do right now. Vacating the bathroom now seemed like a good plan, before he could somehow fuck something up even more. He seemed to be doing that.

[spin_kick_snap]

Showering the rest of the soap off and then cleaning up the disaster she'd made gave Kathy enough time to collect her equanimity, enough that she could put on Nick's clothes and go out into the kitchen to face him without immediately wanting to run for the door.

"That bacon smells amazing," she said, sticking her head out of the bathroom door while she pulled her wet hair up and away from her face. "I hope you made plenty because I'm suddenly starving."