Ailurophile: A Shoujo Parallels OTP Short

A familiar knock resounded on the glass window.

“Arzen? Arzen, are you here?”

The man peeked inside and blinked, seeing an empty bed with wrinkled sheets and strewn pillows. Perhaps she had just gone to the bathroom to wash up for sleep. Shaking his head lightly, Mathias opened the window and slid in, tsking at how she always forgot to lock the damned thing.

The bathroom door was closed. He sat on the corner of the bed, stretching out and setting his pistol down on the soft mattress, taking the time to lay back himself. It had been rough in Technika – morning until afternoon had his usual shift, and his evening was cleared – Eri was busy working in Barrier, so he decided to pay his favorite Mortal Monika Arzen another visit.

“The hell?” he muttered, rolling around. There was something under the covers –

Something undeniably soft.

And squishy.

And there was something long extending to the end.

Bewildered, Mathias hesitantly stretched out his hand to the long, slim shape which made an obvious form from under the sheets. Unwillingly, he grabbed it.

At that came the most unhuman screech from under her oversized TARDIS blanket. Mathias jerked for his pistol and stumbled back, nearly falling as he jolted away from the bed. He had already lifted the silver weapon, raising it slightly and using his other hand to harshly yank the blanket off, expecting a rogue Setomion that had made its way into her room for some reason –

“Mee-uf-oww!”

A black cat pounced on him, the ginger letting off a noise of shock as the thing landed on him, smacking the gun away from his grip and whacking his face with its small (and yet, endearingly cute) paw with a soft growl. Mathias spluttered and pried the cat off his suit, staring at it with his blue eyes focused on its’ glaring emerald-green ones.

“…you know, cats with green eyes only exist in fiction,” he muttered.

It gave another growl and attempted to kick at his chest.

“Did Arzen get you or something?”

The cat, supposedly capable of understanding human language, shook its head.

“But she’s allergic – Christ, I’m talking to a goddamn cat. Okay, if she didn’t get you,” he stared it dead in the eye, “Then where the fuck did you come from?”

The cat – which was a small black thing with large eyes and squishy pink paws – gave him a look back.

A familiar, oddly suitable look that belonged on the face of only one person.

The cat didn’t really react for a few minutes, as if it was letting Mathias decipher it all on his own.

And at that, he realized that no one was in the bathroom.

* * * * *

“Arzen, how the hell did this happen!?” the cat gave a nonchalant shrug, “Are you really telling me that you’re not surprised – at all – about being turned into a cat? With green eyes?” and it shrugged again, leaving Mathias with a very weirded out feeling about the current situation. The cat – Arzen, apparently – was merely behaved on her own bed, not scratching at the blankets or bouncing on a pillow. Mathias was at the verge of lying down.

“Meow.”
No. Not surprised at all.

“This is ridiculous,” the ginger grumbled, “I’m talking to a cat who I assume is the girl I wanted to visit. But instead of her, I get a black-furred, green-eyed cat who’s just staring at me.”

“Meow – mee-uf!”
Please stop flattering yourself.

“And I don’t even know how it happened.”

“Meow…”
Neither do I, but it seems kind of nice.

“We have to turn you back somehow,” he said, mostly to himself as he lay back down. The cat gave him a judging look and he rolled his eyes, gently picking up the small animal and scratching it behind its ear. It nearly gave out a content purr, making the man smirk in amusement.

She nearly seemed to blush at her own reaction.

“Don’t hide it, darling – you like the small scratch,” he said in an almost cooing voice, rubbing her behind the ears. Arzen!Cat gave a purr this time, relenting and leaning in to give his cheek what seemed to be the cat version of a smack, except that it was softer and surprisngly felt nice. “What if I rub your back like what people usually do,” the Technikan muttered, one hand supporting it and the other starting to rub the back of the small cat, making it create another sound which helped it relax on its own.

“Would you mind if I took a small nap, darling?”

“Meow – meow mee.”

I can’t really say no, can’t I? Meh. Do what you want.

Taking that as a yes, Mathias chuckled and set the cat down on his chest, closing his eyes for a few minutes. The cat, on the other hand, merely smirked – or it seemed to smirk – before curling up and closing its own eyes as well, comfortably resting on the man’s chest while he slept away himself.

When he opened his eyes again, Mathias gave a surprised yelp.

The light weight on his chest was gone, instead heavier and bigger than the standard size of a cat. His face felt hot and his hands were unable to move, all of him in shock at the sight in front of him.

Laying on top of him was a snoozing Arzen, wearing her familiar loose bun along with her shirt and shorts.

Unable to move (in fear of waking her up), Mathias gulped and shut his eyes, an unusual feeling of fear and slight nervousness seep into him. She made a small noise and actually snuggled closer to him, and he wondered if she didn't feel that she had somehow transformed back into a human while asleep.

Not wanting her to be uncomfortable when she woke up (as well as wait for her to actually wake so that they could move), Mathias sighed and gently sat up, making sure to hold her properly. He carried her upon standing up, walking to the left side of the bed and gently setting her down, putting the blanket on top of her afterwards.

She eased more into sleep at this and he smiled slightly, moving towards the door to lock it as she usually did and turned off the lights. He moved back to her and tucked away a strand of hair which had gotten into her face before standing back up and glancing at the digital clock on the bedside table.

Usually, Technikans would be getting off from work.

He locked the window for her this time and configured the settings on his suit.

A smile appeared on his face as he took in her sleeping expression.

“Good night, Kätzchen.”