The apartment was quiet for a change. This was an unusual state of affairs; with two and a half catgirls (counting the magical advisor slash hero Neko), a
woman whose sense of humor was on par with the fey whose blood she shared, and a self-proclaimed genius hacker with a penchant for friendly pranks all living
under the same roof -- not counting the occasional couch-crashing house guest -- it was a wonder that the place hadn't exploded from sheer activity levels
by now.
But this afternoon in early fall, it was quiet. All the occupants save one were out, and that exception was doing her best to finish her task before anyone
came home. It was a surprise, you see.
Samantha -- catgirl, former orphan, proud bearer of the Hyper Kitteh moniker bestowed upon her by Aunt Nene herself -- slowly stirred the thick mass in the
mixing bowl as she frowned thoughtfully at the open recipe book on the counter, her tongue stuck firmly in the corner of her mouth and her brow furrowed in
puzzlement.
"Sprinkle in the sugar and beat until soft peaks form," she read aloud slowly, and shook her head. "This is tougher than I thought." She
lifted her ladle with some difficulty and examined the gooey material. It held its shape stubbornly, clinging to the spoon and resembling nothing so much as a
frustrated thundercloud having a bad hair day. Sammy nodded to herself. "That oughta do it."
The title at the top of the recipe page caught her eye again, and she snorted. She was the first to admit she wasn't the world's best reader -- as
she'd pointed out to Mr. Turtle the other day, she hadn't known *how* to read until she got to the Home, which wasn't all that long ago, really --
but even she knew that books were supposed to have things spelled correctly.
"It's M-O-U-S-E, you dummies," she said piously. "You've got an extra 'S' in there."
Nodding firmly, she turned to the molds she'd prepared earlier and began spooning the thick chocolate goo into them. It would firm up in the fridge by the
time everyone got home, and then she'd surprise them all. They didn't think she could cook, but she'd show them. She'd followed the recipe
exactly!
* * * * *
The lock rattled, then clicked. The door swung open and Nene entered, followed by Ifrit. Alice trailed last, wearing a sour expression; on her shoulder, Neko
wore a look of barely-contained mirth.
"Hello? Anybody home?" Nene called out. There was a flash of movement in the shadows behind the couch; she whirled, reflexes kicking into
overdrive, as--
--Sammy pounced.
"Hello, Sammy," Ifrit said with a smile, twisting her head to peer over her shoulder at the catgirl clinging to her back.
"Hi, Aunt Ifrit!"
"Thank you for not using your claws this time."
"Heh. Um... yeah. Sorry about that... again...." Sammy dropped to the floor and chuckled in embarrassment. "It's the wings...
they're so PRETTY... and TWITCHY... and... I'll stop now."
Alice and Nene chuckled. Ifrit shook her head in patient amusement. "I'm going to go get a snack," she declared, leaving the shame-faced
catgirl and the others in the living room and heading for the kitchen.
"You'd think I'd be used to you doing that by now," Nene remarked. "You spend more time clinging to my girlfriend than I do."
"Hey!" Sammy looked indignant, then whirled on Alice, who was not quite -- quite -- howling with laughter. "That's not... ooooh!"
Further discourse was cut short by an explosion that rocked the building, coupled with a high-pitched wavering scream of terror, both emanating from the
kitchen. Heedless of possible danger the heroes charged into the smoke cloud.
"IFRIT!" Nene snapped. "What happened?" She skidded to a halt as some of the smoke began to clear, nearly causing a catgirl pileup as
Sammy and Alice both attempted to avoid running her over, dodged into each other, rolled in a ball of purple and grey fur, and came to their feet on either
side of Nene, weapons drawn and ready. Neko landed lightly on the counter, having leaped from Alice's shoulder at the first sign of impending collision.
They all regarded Ifrit with wide eyes.
The fey stood ramrod-stiff, one hand extended in one of her classic flame attack positions, the other mostly covering her eyes -- which were themselves
squinched shut tightly. The refrigerator was, in a word, gone -- the freezer compartment was embedded in the ceiling, smoke drifting gently from its scorched
bottom edge, while the main part had simply blown apart, leaving a gaping, soot-encrusted, charred hole in the wall where a nice innocent Kenmore had once
stood.
Belatedly, the icemaker feed line began to spray water in the air in a tiny arc, forming a small puddle on the floor.
"Ifrit?" Nene said more slowly. "Why did you blow up the fridge, hon?"
"Are they gone?" Ifrit asked.
Nene's humor was reasserting itself as it appeared there was no lingering danger. "What, did the stuff in the Tupperware containers threaten you when
you opened the door?"
Ifrit peeked, then lowered her arms and shivered. "Mice!" she declared with loathing. "There were MICE... in our REFRIGERATOR."
Sammy's eyes widened. "AUNT IFRIT!" she wailed. "You BLEW UP my MICE!"
Ifrit whirled on her. "You put MICE in my FRIDGE?!?"
"They were a SURPRISE!" Sammy wailed, tears forming. "They were really hard to get right, too!"
"You put MICE in my FRIDGE?!?" Ifrit was starting to smolder -- literally.
"Hold it a second," Nene said, holding up a hand. "Time out." She turned to Sammy and laid a comforting hand on the catgirl's
shoulder. "Now why did you put icky nasty mice in our nice clean fridge?"
"They WEREN'T icky! I m-m-made y-you a CHOCOLATE MOUSE!" Sammy sobbed. "It was supposed to be a SURPRISE!"
Nene blinked. "Well, I think it definitely qualifies as that."
Ifrit was frowning. "Chocolate?"
Alice: "Mouse?"
They regarded each other in confusion and turned to Sammy. "Chocolate... mouse?"
Sammy nodded and sniffed. "Yeah... I heard Aunt Nene talking about how much she liked that chocolate moose at that restaurant the other night, and I
couldn't find a recipe for a moose, but I found one for a mouse, and it was chocolate, and I thought she'd like it, and it was really hard to make and
you BLEW UP MY MOUSE!"
Neko fell over laughing. Ifrit bit her lip to keep from doing the same; Alice fell back against the wall and slowly slid down it, either hiccuping or laughing
so hard she couldn't breathe, it was hard to tell. Nene managed to control herself, but a grin twitched the corners of her lips as she squatted down next
to the sobbing Sammy.
Without looking up, she said, "I'm taking Sammy out so she can see what real chocolate mousse is supposed to be like." She turned her head and
regarded Ifrit. "Think maybe you can take Alice and get us a new fridge, hon?"
Ifrit nodded, still trying not to burst into laughter.
"C'mon, Sammy," Nene said, gently pulling the catgirl to her feet. "Let's you and me go get some chocolate, and then we'll talk
about your schoolwork."
"S-schoolwork?" Sammy said, sniffing back a tear.
Nene nodded as they left. "Uh-huh. Spelling, to be precise."
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
woman whose sense of humor was on par with the fey whose blood she shared, and a self-proclaimed genius hacker with a penchant for friendly pranks all living
under the same roof -- not counting the occasional couch-crashing house guest -- it was a wonder that the place hadn't exploded from sheer activity levels
by now.
But this afternoon in early fall, it was quiet. All the occupants save one were out, and that exception was doing her best to finish her task before anyone
came home. It was a surprise, you see.
Samantha -- catgirl, former orphan, proud bearer of the Hyper Kitteh moniker bestowed upon her by Aunt Nene herself -- slowly stirred the thick mass in the
mixing bowl as she frowned thoughtfully at the open recipe book on the counter, her tongue stuck firmly in the corner of her mouth and her brow furrowed in
puzzlement.
"Sprinkle in the sugar and beat until soft peaks form," she read aloud slowly, and shook her head. "This is tougher than I thought." She
lifted her ladle with some difficulty and examined the gooey material. It held its shape stubbornly, clinging to the spoon and resembling nothing so much as a
frustrated thundercloud having a bad hair day. Sammy nodded to herself. "That oughta do it."
The title at the top of the recipe page caught her eye again, and she snorted. She was the first to admit she wasn't the world's best reader -- as
she'd pointed out to Mr. Turtle the other day, she hadn't known *how* to read until she got to the Home, which wasn't all that long ago, really --
but even she knew that books were supposed to have things spelled correctly.
"It's M-O-U-S-E, you dummies," she said piously. "You've got an extra 'S' in there."
Nodding firmly, she turned to the molds she'd prepared earlier and began spooning the thick chocolate goo into them. It would firm up in the fridge by the
time everyone got home, and then she'd surprise them all. They didn't think she could cook, but she'd show them. She'd followed the recipe
exactly!
* * * * *
The lock rattled, then clicked. The door swung open and Nene entered, followed by Ifrit. Alice trailed last, wearing a sour expression; on her shoulder, Neko
wore a look of barely-contained mirth.
"Hello? Anybody home?" Nene called out. There was a flash of movement in the shadows behind the couch; she whirled, reflexes kicking into
overdrive, as--
--Sammy pounced.
"Hello, Sammy," Ifrit said with a smile, twisting her head to peer over her shoulder at the catgirl clinging to her back.
"Hi, Aunt Ifrit!"
"Thank you for not using your claws this time."
"Heh. Um... yeah. Sorry about that... again...." Sammy dropped to the floor and chuckled in embarrassment. "It's the wings...
they're so PRETTY... and TWITCHY... and... I'll stop now."
Alice and Nene chuckled. Ifrit shook her head in patient amusement. "I'm going to go get a snack," she declared, leaving the shame-faced
catgirl and the others in the living room and heading for the kitchen.
"You'd think I'd be used to you doing that by now," Nene remarked. "You spend more time clinging to my girlfriend than I do."
"Hey!" Sammy looked indignant, then whirled on Alice, who was not quite -- quite -- howling with laughter. "That's not... ooooh!"
Further discourse was cut short by an explosion that rocked the building, coupled with a high-pitched wavering scream of terror, both emanating from the
kitchen. Heedless of possible danger the heroes charged into the smoke cloud.
"IFRIT!" Nene snapped. "What happened?" She skidded to a halt as some of the smoke began to clear, nearly causing a catgirl pileup as
Sammy and Alice both attempted to avoid running her over, dodged into each other, rolled in a ball of purple and grey fur, and came to their feet on either
side of Nene, weapons drawn and ready. Neko landed lightly on the counter, having leaped from Alice's shoulder at the first sign of impending collision.
They all regarded Ifrit with wide eyes.
The fey stood ramrod-stiff, one hand extended in one of her classic flame attack positions, the other mostly covering her eyes -- which were themselves
squinched shut tightly. The refrigerator was, in a word, gone -- the freezer compartment was embedded in the ceiling, smoke drifting gently from its scorched
bottom edge, while the main part had simply blown apart, leaving a gaping, soot-encrusted, charred hole in the wall where a nice innocent Kenmore had once
stood.
Belatedly, the icemaker feed line began to spray water in the air in a tiny arc, forming a small puddle on the floor.
"Ifrit?" Nene said more slowly. "Why did you blow up the fridge, hon?"
"Are they gone?" Ifrit asked.
Nene's humor was reasserting itself as it appeared there was no lingering danger. "What, did the stuff in the Tupperware containers threaten you when
you opened the door?"
Ifrit peeked, then lowered her arms and shivered. "Mice!" she declared with loathing. "There were MICE... in our REFRIGERATOR."
Sammy's eyes widened. "AUNT IFRIT!" she wailed. "You BLEW UP my MICE!"
Ifrit whirled on her. "You put MICE in my FRIDGE?!?"
"They were a SURPRISE!" Sammy wailed, tears forming. "They were really hard to get right, too!"
"You put MICE in my FRIDGE?!?" Ifrit was starting to smolder -- literally.
"Hold it a second," Nene said, holding up a hand. "Time out." She turned to Sammy and laid a comforting hand on the catgirl's
shoulder. "Now why did you put icky nasty mice in our nice clean fridge?"
"They WEREN'T icky! I m-m-made y-you a CHOCOLATE MOUSE!" Sammy sobbed. "It was supposed to be a SURPRISE!"
Nene blinked. "Well, I think it definitely qualifies as that."
Ifrit was frowning. "Chocolate?"
Alice: "Mouse?"
They regarded each other in confusion and turned to Sammy. "Chocolate... mouse?"
Sammy nodded and sniffed. "Yeah... I heard Aunt Nene talking about how much she liked that chocolate moose at that restaurant the other night, and I
couldn't find a recipe for a moose, but I found one for a mouse, and it was chocolate, and I thought she'd like it, and it was really hard to make and
you BLEW UP MY MOUSE!"
Neko fell over laughing. Ifrit bit her lip to keep from doing the same; Alice fell back against the wall and slowly slid down it, either hiccuping or laughing
so hard she couldn't breathe, it was hard to tell. Nene managed to control herself, but a grin twitched the corners of her lips as she squatted down next
to the sobbing Sammy.
Without looking up, she said, "I'm taking Sammy out so she can see what real chocolate mousse is supposed to be like." She turned her head and
regarded Ifrit. "Think maybe you can take Alice and get us a new fridge, hon?"
Ifrit nodded, still trying not to burst into laughter.
"C'mon, Sammy," Nene said, gently pulling the catgirl to her feet. "Let's you and me go get some chocolate, and then we'll talk
about your schoolwork."
"S-schoolwork?" Sammy said, sniffing back a tear.
Nene nodded as they left. "Uh-huh. Spelling, to be precise."
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs