A Tale of Two Kitties

Wow! That was unexpected. Makes me wonder what else I don't know about her, other than, of course, everything. Maybe, for the first time in longer than I can remember, I have a friend. "One can hope, right kitty?"

Eris snuggled into me as I scratched her ears, loving every minute of it.

I didn't see or hear from Shasta again for several days. College is, after all, school and as such gets busy rather frequently. I had been knee deep in several classes. I'm sure she was as well.

Friday, after my last class, I made a beeline for my car before my peers decided to torture me for their own amusement. I was surprised to find Shasta sitting on the hood holding a larger than usual backpack.

"Hey Darrin" She chirped.

"Everything OK?" I asked.

"You busy?" She inquired.

"Got a paper due next week, but not in a hurry to get started, why?" I answered.

"I kinda need a place to stay for the weekend." She said, looking at her feet. "I know we barely know one another, but my roommate's boyfriend is in for the weekend and unless I want to listen to them humping constantly, I have no place to go."

"I only have one bed." I stated.

"I'm good with the couch." She said. "You do have a couch, right?"

"I do." I nodded. "Are you sure you want to stay with me? I'm boring."

"You are far from boring." She giggled. "I'm desperately trying to escape 'boring' if you get what I'm saying?" She made a circle with the index finger and thumb on one hand and poked the index finger of the other hand into it, arching her eyebrows.

I blushed furiously making Shasta laugh. "Sorry, didn't mean to embarrass you."

I shook my head. "I thought I didn't have filters. Alright, you can stay. I hope I won't regret this."

"Hey, it's not like I have the plague." She humphed.

As we drove to my place I asked. "Why am I your only hope, princess? I'm no Obi-Wan. Surely you have friends."

"I'm going to be honest here." She stated. "I want you to know I'll never lie to you. I want to earn your trust. I do have a few friends, but not nearly as many as I had before the party. After I stood up for you, alot of them abandoned me. It seems having Stephanie and most of the football team as adversaries isn't very good for my social standings. The few who stuck with me aren't in a position to help me right now. Besides, I find you interesting. I'm dying to talk to someone that likes Anime. The few I've found here are guys and most think that because I like it, I'm like the girls in it. I'm most certainly not. In fact, I'm a virgin too and plan to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Immature, hyper-hormonal Neanderthals are NOT a turn on for me. I don't want to be some jerks next conquest. I'm not saving myself for marriage or any of that BS, I'm just looking for someone that appreciates what he's getting. I want it to mean something to both of us.."

She sat nervously quiet for a few seconds, then added. "Oh, and I want to meet Eris."

I'd become rather nervous at the highly personal nature of her confession, but when she blurted out that last line, I lost it, laughing so hard I nearly lost control of the car.

"What's so damn funny?" She scowled.

"So this is all an elaborate ploy to meet my cat?" I grinned.

"That's what you got from what I said?" She shook her head.

"What?" I asked. "Did I miss something?"

"Replay what I said in your head." She frowned. "See if anything stands out."

"OK." I answered. "I'll try."

I sat, keeping my attention on the road as I rewound the conversation.

Neanderthal... nope.

Virgin, TMI, but nope.

Anime, intriguing but again, nope.

Stephanie, Oh Fuck No!!

Interesting. She thinks I'm interesting. HOLY SHIT!

I all but slam on the brakes, bringing the car to a halt, then turn to face her. "You think I'm interesting?"

She gives me a smile that I think could melt the polar icecaps. "I think he's got it!"

"Why?" I asked.

"Does there need to be a reason?" She questioned.

"I don't know." I admitted. "I'm in uncharted waters here."

"Then let me be your navigator." She smiled, lightly touching my arm.

Once I regained enough mental ability, I finished the drive to my apartment and we quietly entered.

"Make yourself at home." I said. "Restroom is down the hall."

"Wow!" She beamed as she got a look around. "Otaku much?!"

My apartment is absolutely filled to overflowing with posters, figurines and assorted crap. Most of it Anime based.

"Guilty as charged." I blushed. "Sorry, I should have warned you."

"You should see my room at home." She giggled. "I'm wasn't lying about liking Anime. I might have a few less posters of nearly naked women though."

"Don't go in my bedroom." I groaned.

"OH! I gotta see this." She squealed and bolted past me.

"Wait!!" I shouted, but it was too late. Why did I even say that? My bedroom is the inner sanctum of my collection and most of it is R-rated at best. Alot of it is hentai.

Not knowing what else to do, I plopped onto my couch and awaited the inevitable. I was embarrassed beyond words and I was sure she now thought I was some kind of degenerate pervert.

She was in there much longer than I thought she'd be. I figured she'd bolt from the room, spit venom at me and flee. Eventually, she emerged and casually walked over to the couch and sat next to me.

"I've embarrassed you." She almost whispered, head down. "I'm sorry."

"Y-you're not m-mad?" I stuttered, sporting a full body blush.

"Why would I be mad?" She asked, finally looking up and meeting my eyes. "It's your home, it should be where you feel safe. The place where you can be you with no judgement. I will say that you definitively have a thing for Nekos."

"I..." She placed a finger on my lips, silencing me.

"You don't need to explain." She smiled. "I'm a psych major, remember. Being who you are made it difficult to form relationships with your peers. These..." She waved her hands around the room. "Are your friends, the people you are comfortable with."

"You do understand." Letting out the breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"I do." She smiled. "I told you my room was very similar. You and I have quite a few friends in common. You see, I never really fit in very well either. I wasn't super smart like you, but with my martial arts training and my avoidance of the usual teenage hormonal misadventures, I wasn't very popular."

"I find that hard to believe." I said. "You're smart, you are going to be a doctor after all. I could never do that."

She smiled at that and patted my hand. "Thanks, coming from you, that means alot."

"Honest, remember." I grinned.

"One of the many things I think make you special." She admitted.

"So all this really doesn't bother you?" I asked, still not believing she hadn't run away.

"Not even a little bit." She answered. "Actually, I'm kinda glad you have an outlet for your frustrations. It shows me that you are a normal, mostly well adjusted human. We do, however need to work on your social skills a bit."

"We?" I inquired.

"It's what friends do." She giggled, crossing her arms under her breasts. "I'll help you with that and you help me not kill the assholes that keep messing with you."

"Deal." I grinned, sticking my hand out.

She looked down at my hand, then shook her head and opened her arms. "I think this requires a hug. I know I want one, and I'm pretty sure you NEED one."

I'm sure I looked terrified. I hadn't had any serious contact with another person since I left home and my mother hugged me goodbye and this certainly was NOT my mother. It was a girl and a very attractive one as well.

"Come on." She chided. "I don't bite... yet."

I blushed again as she enveloped me in the warmest, tenderest hug I think I ever had. The smell of her hair, the softness of her... everything, completely overwhelmed my senses. I wanted to panic, push her away, but I couldn't. It felt too good. Something deep inside me whispered 'Let it happen. You don't have to be alone anymore.'

I fell into her, clinging on for dear life. I returned the hug, a bit too enthusiastically it seems, as she groaned as I squeezed her.

"Easy." She gasped. "I'm pretty tough but not unbreakable."

I released her. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"It's OK." She tilted my head up and gazed into my eyes. "It's pretty clear you've had very little intimate contact. It can be overwhelming. We'll get through it... together."

"I'd like that." I admitted. "Can... can I have another?"

"Anytime." She nodded, again taking me into her arms.

After a short, but pleasant hug, we separated and sat down. Of course, now Eris made her grand entrance, jumping up on the couch and nuzzling Shasta's cheek.

"Well hello pretty girl." Shasta giggled. "You want some too?"

Eris climbed Shasta's chest and continued to nuzzle her face. "She's adorable."

I sat there in a state of shock.

"What?" Shasta asked.

"She hates everyone except me." I explained. "She hides any time anyone else is here. If they try to approach her, she hisses and threatens bodily harm. I'm at a loss here."

"How long have you had her?" Shasta asked.

"The day I moved in, I left the door open." I recalled. "She just wandered in like she owned the place and has been here ever since."

"Maybe she belonged to the previous tenant?" She pondered.

"I thought the same thing." I said. "Even went to the rental office and asked. This unit had sat empty for more than a year. Seems there was a kitchen fire. Not much damage, but smoke and water made quite a mess. Of course the insurance company was a pain in the ass, so it took them that long to get the unit back online."

Eris continued to rub herself all over Shasta, treating her like a long lost sister. Which may be more true than I realized. Eris is an orange tabby, it's why I named her as I did as the character Eris' hair and her fur are almost the same color. The color of Shasta's hair.

I reached over to stroke Eris' fur, eliciting a purr from her. She disentangled herself from Shasta and curled up in my lap. "Traitor" I chuckled as I continue petting her head and especially her ears.

"Why is she a traitor?" Shasta asked. "I figured you'd be happy we get along so well."

"I am." I admitted. "More than you know. I'm just so used to being her only companion, I guess I might be a little jealous."

"Don't be." Shasta smiled. "I happen to think cats are a good judge of character. She chose you over all others, that means she sees the good in you and the love that she needs. You are her world. She has chosen to share you with me. Cats are very territorial. That she doesn't see me as a threat means alot."

I scratched Eris under her chin. "So you like Shasta, huh?"

Eris purrs just that much louder.

"I'll take that as a yes." I grin.

"Why wouldn't she like me?" Shasta prodded. "You like me, she likes you, therefore, she likes me."

"I don't think the Transitive Law of Equality applies here." I chuckled.

"Think all you want Euclid." She grinned. "That's my theory and I'm sticking to it."

"I'm impressed." I said. "Euclid isn't exactly standard reading these days."

"Yep!" She chirped. "I'm alot more than a pretty face and big tits."

I sat, dumbfounded with my mouth hanging open and blushing. This girl is going to be the death of me yet.

"Shit!" She spat. "I really need to think before I talk, especially around you."

Shaking my head, I snapped out of my shocked state. "Please don't change. If you can take me as I am, how can I ask any less from you? Be who you are. Yes, you are turning my world upside down, but I really need it to be and you do it so very well while making me feel safe while you do it."

Shasta hugged me again. "Thank you Darrin. I know I'm a handful sometimes, but I really want you be comfortable around me."

"I'm getting there." I confessed.

Eris took this moment to express her displeasure I'd not fed her yet as she batted her food dish across the floor.

"M'lady demands sustenance." I chuckled. "Kinda hungry myself. You?"

"Starved." Shasta replied.

"I can call out for pizza?" I suggested.

"Never met a pizza I didn't like." She said. "Unless it has pineapple on it."

I ordered from my usual place and shortly, we were in pizza heaven.

"When time travel is invented, I'm going back and murdering the entire family line of whoever thought pineapple on pizza was a good idea." I asserted. "I may have to kill millions, but I will stop this scourge."

"On this we agree." She giggled. "I'd be happy to help."

I raised my glass of soda. "To future, or maybe past, homicide."

"Here, here." Shasta answered, laughing.

After eating, we returned to the couch.

"Darrin, would you show me your Anime collection?" Shasta asked.

"Sure." I said. I stood and walked over to one of two double doored cabinets and opened it.

"Holy Shit!" Shasta gasped. "That's alot."

"I have well over a thousand DVDs and nearly that many printed comics." I beamed. "The computer on the desk has over a hundred visual novels and games."

"Any hentai?" She grinned mischievously. "From the color of your face, I'll say yes."

She poked through the cabinet. "I have alot of this, but some here I've never seen or heard of."

"At my first college, I had a Japanese friend." I explained. "Kenji was even more into Anime than I was. He was able to get alot of stuff that's not available in the U.S. He still sends me new stuff a couple times a year."

"Some of this isn't translated." She observed.

"I can read Hiragana." I said.

"Hira who?" She asked.

"Hiragana." I repeated. "Most of the comics are written in Hiragana."

"What about the DVDs?" She inquired.

"Many are subtitled or dubbed." I explained. "Better for sales."

"And the ones that aren't? Oh God, you're gonna tell me you speak Japanese as well aren't you?"

"I'm far from fluent." I said. "But I get the gist of most of it."

"You are one VERY complicated person Darrin Newkirk." She giggled.

"Thank you Shasta Coleman." I bowed. "I am more than meets the eye."

"That you are." She purred, hugging me and placing a soft kiss on my cheek.

We spent the rest of the evening reading comics or watching DVDs.

"This one looks interesting." Shasta thrust a comic under my nose. "Would you read it to me?"

"Certainly." I smiled and started reading, in Japanese.

"In English smartass." She snuggled in close so she could see the illustrations.

"That one's pretty good." She yawned and stretched. "Are there more?"

"This is #1 of 32." I answered. "I have them all."

"A project for tomorrow." She smiled. "Now, shower and bed, if you don't mind?"

"I'll set out a towel and washcloth for you." I said.

"Thanks."

While she was in the shower, I made up the couch for her and after she finished, I wished her a good night and took my shower and turned in.

Eris decided she'd rather sleep with Shasta. As much as I couldn't blame her, she's still a traitorous little furball.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny. We both really needed to get at least a couple hours of study in, so after breakfast we hit the books. Around 2 PM we decided to assemble a late lunch and dive back into the Anime series we started last night. The series she had chosen starts out rather normal, at least as normal as Anime gets, but later in the series slides increasingly into hentai. I had forgotten this when we started.

"Ah, Shasta, this gets pretty uh, suggestive, in the later issues." I said. "Are you sure you want me to continue?"

"I'd like to, but if it's too much for you..." She giggled.

"Thanks." I exhaled loudly. "I'm not saying never, but maybe after we get to know one another better, OK?"

"I keep forgetting that I'm pretty much ALL the female contact you've ever had." She observed, patting my arm. "Well, except for that uber bitch Stephanie, and I think both of us would like to forget that."

"Amen." I groaned. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She smiled.

"How is it you know so much about what I'm thinking?" I asked. "You're just starting college, yet you sound like you're already a psychiatrist. How is that possible?"

"My mom was one." She frowned.

It didn't take a psych major to read her thoughts. The way she said 'was' spoke volumes.

"I'm sorry Shasta." I apologized.

"It's OK Darrin, you couldn't know." She tried to smile. "She died when I was 15."

I pulled her closer. "You don't have to say anything else."

"I'm doing it for her." She explained. "She always said I'd be good at it, even better than her. She said I had a gift for reading people. I wanted to make her proud."

"Well, if what I've seen of your abilities is any indication, she already is." I smiled and hugged her a bit tighter.

"Thanks Darrin, that means alot." She sighed. "For someone who's supposedly socially inept, you are very compassionate."

"My mother always told me being kind is never the wrong thing to do." I stated, remembering my mother's mantra.

"She sounds like a wonderful person." Shasta praised.

"She's probably the only person on this planet that really understands me." I said. "She's been my safe harbor through all the stormy seas of my life."

"And your father?" She asked.

"Senior VP of an investment banking firm." I said. "Intelligent, driven, still has absolutely no clue how to relate to me. He tries, but we don't get along very well."

"Seems like an odd couple." Shasta stated. "How'd they meet?"

"Funny story really." I explained. "Not funny, haha, funny strange."

"Go on." She prodded.

"Back then, dad was a branch manager at a local bank. Some hopped up thug decided to rob the place. He jumped over the counter and waived his gun at the first teller he saw, demanding money. She froze in terror. He was going to shoot her when dad knocked him down and shielded the teller from the robber." I recalled. "He fired as he fell, punching a nice hole through dad's left ass cheek. When he jumped back up, he was going to finish the job. Miraculously the cops burst in and he fired at them instead. It didn't end well for the robber."

"Holy shit!" Shasta gasped. "Your dad's got some balls! Let me guess, the teller is your mom?"

"You'd think so." I shook my head. "She was married and 6 months pregnant. My mom was one of the cops. She fired the fatal shot."

"Let me get this straight." Shasta chuckled. "Your dad got shot protecting a pregnant employee and your mom shot the man that tried to kill him?"

"That's what they've always told me." I grinned.

"So kind of a case of mutual hero worship?" She giggled.

"I don't know the details." I admitted. "They don't talk much about the dating and falling in love part."

"From what little you've told me of her, I presume your mother didn't take it well?" She asked. "Killing the robber, I mean."

"I don't know how you do that." I stared, wide eyed. "No she didn't. She remained on the force, but moved to duties that didn't put her in that situation ever again. It's not that uncommon for men or women really. Taking a life, even when you have no choice, is hard. Some people never get over it."

"Is she OK now?" Shasta asked, concerned.

"She just recently retired." I said. "They retired her badge number. She was well liked by her peers. That more than anything helped her get through it. To quote the chief when he spoke at her retirement party. 'She wasn't a good cop, she was the best cop.'"

"Must make you proud." She said.

"I'm proud of the police officer she was." I explained. "I'm sad that experience hurt her. She's gotten over it as well as can be expected, but I can tell it still bothers her every so often."

"You are amazingly sensitive." She observed. "That's an uncommon trait in the highly intelligent."

"Mom was the driving force behind that." I admitted. "She could see how cold and clinical I could be when I was younger. It wasn't intentional. I didn't do it on purpose, but I hurt people around me. She made me see that. She always told me to turn the situation around and try to see it from their side. Apparently it worked if you see need to point it out."