Caught Red-Handed... Or Red-Pawed?

I wasn’t sure if I should have come at all, it was kind of impulsive of me, but I’m kind of… glad? That I came, that is. It’s fun. Getting to see Val smile and laugh like a normal person without having to worry about what the next task for him to do is… it’s refreshing. I bet he feels that way too. Even the trip to Leo’s house was technically work related, even if it was just an excuse. Here? No strings attached! Just him and a couple of friends. I’m glad I got to see it… Even, maybe, be a part of it a bit. He smiles at me a lot, but it’s different. I don’t know how to describe it.

He’s having fun… maybe that’s the difference.

Val is practically dragging Marius around, trying to get him to crack a bit and let loose. He was laughing and smiling with Yancy, happy to have someone with similar interests to talk to. They… They’re all good kids. Good friends.

I haven’t really felt lonely like this in a while.

It’s never permanent.

After a while of chasing the boys around, Yancy turns to me, concern written on her face but still trying to smile.

”What about you, Princess?” She says at a volume low enough that the others can’t hear. “How are you feeling?”

”Um…” I pause, looking around to see if I could spot a clock somewhere to no avail. “I feel fine, but honestly, I have no clue how much time has passed. Will I really be able to tell when I’m about to turn back?”

”It’s been just over two hours.” Yancy confirms. “You should be able to tell… I don’t know how it’ll feel, probably instinctual? So, um, let me know right away if you feel even a little off! We can go somewhere and I’ll take you home. Sh-should probably go back before Ms. June comes to check up on you in the afternoon.”

”Ah, you’re right. I forgot about her.” I pout. “We can just pretend I snuck out or something. I’ve gotten caught doing that once or twice. Someone will ‘find’ me and Val will never know.”

”If… you’re sure that’s okay…” Yancy doesn’t seem too sure. What could Ms. June possibly do? The worst is just locking me in the room completely for a few days. Nothing I haven’t gone through before.

”Yeah, I’m sure… but maybe it would be smart to start heading back. Unless you want to stay longer?” I scratch my cheek. “I don’t want to end your day with Val early…”

”Oh, no! It’s okay. I’ve done all I want already.” Yancy smiles. “I would be okay with leaving now. If His Highness wants to stay, he has Lord Marius here, doesn’t he?”

”I guess.” I mumble. A date with Yancy turns into a date with Marius. Boo!

With a smile, Yancy turns from me, tapping Val on the shoulder. Both he and Marius turn to face us.

”Yancy! What’s up?” Val asks, eyes sparkling in anticipation. Almost like he wants to hear her suggest a new place to go.

”I think Lana and I will have to leave now.” She says, and Val deflates a little.

”Oh.”

”S-Sorry to end it early!” Yancy quickly bows slightly. “Lana has something she has to do and needs some help getting home, so…”

”I understand.” Val gives her a sad smile. “It’s a shame. I had a lot of fun.”

”I’m honored!” Yancy declares, hands going to grip her skirt. “Um. If it’s not too much… M-Maybe we can do something like this again. Just us? I… liked getting to spend time with you, today. I feel like I got to know you a bit better.”

Val finally brightens up a bit, giving her an assured nod.

“Yeah, I would like that as well. Let’s plan on it!”

”Th-then we’ll be seeing you guys later!” Yancy waves at them as she rejoins me. She begins to guide me in the general direction of where an exit should be, when I feel some sort of… nagging feeling tugging in the back of my mind. Is… Is that…?

”Um, Yancy?” I call to her. She doesn’t stop moving but she does turn to look at me. “I think… it might be time… we need to get out of here quick!”

”O-Okay!” Yancy responds, eyes now frantically searching through the crowd. “We… We might not make it to the exit… Maybe we can find… oh, over there!”

Yancy makes a sharp turn, practically dragging me through the crowd until it thins a bit and we pop into a side alley next to a bar that’s closed until evening time. There’s no one in the alley, thankfully, but there’s still a lot of people passing by the alley as they casually chat about. I frown watching them.

”Uh, are you sure this is enough? Maybe we should go further in, or hide behind a dumpster or something. What if someone sees and causes a scene? It’s not every day you see a girl turn into a cat…”

”S-Sure! Um, this alley seems pretty empty. Maybe you can give me my sweater back and I can just… hold it up to cover you?”

“Would that even work?”

”If we go further in, they might think I’m just doing something magic related!”

”Or something illegal.”

”O-Or that…”

”There you guys are!”

Both Yancy and I stiffen straight up at the familiar voice. When I whip my head around, I see Marius at the entrance of the alley, panting like he ran to catch us.

”You both are faster than you look. The hell you doing back here? I thought you were going home.”

”W-We are!” Yancy stutters out, face betraying how panicked she is. I step in so she doesn’t have to take the fall.

”We were just trying to figure out how we want to get home, is all!” I say, annoyed smile plastering my face, though I pray it doesn’t show like I think it is. “Why are you even here? Where’s Val? Go back to him and make sure he gets home safely!”

”Snippy, are we?” Marius frowns, crossing his arms. He walks closer into the alley, making me instinctively take a step back. “Don’t worry, I can see Val from here, he’s taking a breather to get some water. I just wanted to talk to you before you left. You didn’t really say bye or anything.”

“What, me?” I chuckle in disbelief. I move to try and shoo him out from the alley. “I didn’t think there was anything left to say. I’m a bit in a rush, so if you don’t mind—“

”Hey, chill out for just a second!” Marius rounds on me, catching my hand before I can try and push him away. “It won’t take long, I just wanted to say—“

He pauses, eyes looking somewhere just above my head. His confused gaze makes me reach up with my other hand to tug my hat down more securely… only to realize it’s not even there, having fallen off when I moved suddenly to chase Marius away.

“…What’s with the cat ears?” He asks, less accusatory and more confused.

The heat that rushes to my face when I realize he’s looking at my cat ears is so immediate it’s dizzying. I can’t bring myself to meet his eyes as I try to grasp at something, anything, to pass this off.

”They… they’re accessories, haha, my, my niece made them for me.”

The look on Marius’ face tells me he doesn’t buy it for a second. He abruptly reaches up and touches one, startling me the moment he makes contact.

”…They’re real.” He mutters. “The hell are the two of you up to? Why do you have—“

”Hush!!” I grab his arm and pull him further into the alley to stand next to Yancy, mostly because I can tell he’s not going to leave until he’s said his piece and I’m running out of time. He’s probably going to find out whether I like it or not.

”S-Say what you need! But please, keep whatever you see a secret! Please? Don’t tell a soul! And know that this was all my choice, no one’s else! Yancy had nothing to do with this, I made her do it, so—!”

“Hey, hey! Calm down, you’re talking too fast and I don’t understand.” He tries to console me in vain. “What do you mean, it was your choice? You made Yancy do what…?” Marius pauses, staring down as my skin starts to glow. Yancy panics, moving to adjust her body so no one looking in can easily see what’s happening.

”A secret, Marius! Secret!!” I manage to get out before my body starts to rapidly shrink. Marius is stunned to watch as it happens. When the light fades, I’m hidden by the dress I was wearing, practically drowning in it. I wrestle with the fabric until I can find an opening and pop my head out, staring straight at Marius. Who, for the most part, looks like this isn’t the craziest thing he’s seen, but still shocked nonetheless.

”…The cat.” He says, flatly. “Lana… was Val’s cat this whole time?!”

To his credit, he’s mostly whisper-screaming. He still rounds on Yancy, accusatory.

”Why on earth is Val’s cat here?! Why was she a human?! Care to explain?!”

”I-I-!” Yancy stutters, flustered at the sudden accusations. “She- Well, she jumped into my bag before I left the palace-! I promise it wasn’t malicious! She told me that she knew Janice would be here and wanted to follow His Highness to make sure she didn’t run into him!”

”What?! You expect me to just believe that?!” He looks outraged, turning around to leave. “The first time too, Lana was Val’s cat we were searching for, wasn’t she?! Why was she with you?! Wait until I tell Val, he’ll-“

”D-Don’t!”

Yancy practically throws herself to cling onto Marius, holding him back from storming off. It seems Marius is too soft to throw her off, because he doesn’t retaliate, just glares in shock at her.

”Princess begged me not to tell Val about any of this! She doesn’t want him to know! Please, Lord Marius, please, she asked you to keep the secret too!”

He pauses, glancing back down at my tiny form. I give a loud meow to reinforce Yancy’s point, walking up and leaping onto her shoulder. I’m hoping this shows him she’s indeed speaking for me. The whole time, my eyes don’t leave his. He stares at me for a beat longer.

”…Why wouldn’t she want him to know?” He asks, uncharacteristically quiet and soft. Yancy seems to relax a bit.

”She said… he doesn’t need Lana as a human, but Princess as a cat. There would be no point in him knowing… She just wants to make sure he’s happy, and she asked me to befriend him so that he’s not lonely.”

”…So that’s why the teller said that…” Marius lets out a rough sigh, running a hand along his face and in through his hair. His hand pauses on top of his head as he stares above us at nothing in particular. After being lost in thought for a minute, he speaks up again. “She made you do it, huh?”

”Y-yes… She was worried for His Highness, and asked in her own way for me to use a spell I made that can turn animals into humans for a short time. It’s… a long story, about the spell, but… She’s a good cat… person… So if it was to help her, I wanted to do it. I… may admit I was also a little selfish, hoping she would want to turn human again.” Yancy gives Marius a nervous smile. “She’s nice to talk to. I didn’t get to talk to her much today, but…”

Marius holds up a hand, cutting Yancy off. He pinches the bridge of his nose and groans, like his head is pounding. Finally, he waves his hand and stands up straight once again.

”Fine. Fine, whatever, I’ll keep the secret this time. Just don’t let me catch you doing it again without a good reason. No turning the cat human for fun, got it?”

Yancy nods rapidly and Marius rolls his eyes. They land on me, and he stares for a second. He sighs as he walks up to me and reaches out to pick up… the bell? I guess it fell out of the dress’s pocket when I turned back.

”…I followed cause I wanted to say thank you for the advice and the help today. I never got the chance to, but… Yeah. Thanks, I guess. I’ll distract Val, so get home quick so he doesn’t worry about you.” Marius mumbles, reaching out to tie the bell around my neck.

…Ah, I feel… a little happy to hear that from him. He’s really not as bad as I thought he was, just a bit defensive maybe. This is NOT me warming up to him, though! Just admitting I might have misjudged him a bit, based on my own biases.

…..

Before Marius can leave the alley, a person hiding just around the corner grins while holding a charm close, and walks swiftly away.

”My, my. The little maid girl can turn that silly cat into a human? How fun~”