Marie

Adrian's scream woke Nova up. She jerked up and turned to her side to see Adrian huddled in a corner of the bed, clinging to the bed post and wearing a frightened expression.

Obviously, something was wrong.

She turned to Adrian and touched his arm and he screamed.

"Hey, hey!" Nova shouted at him just as their room's door flew open and Hugh, Simon and Max entered in their night suits with a hockey stick, a baseball bat and a pan, respectively.

"What is it?" Hugh shouts.

"Is it a ghost? Is my little baby scared?" Simon says, gazing at Adrian adoringly and Max snorts.

Adrian shots an incredulous, yet afraid, look at Simon and says, "There, something's moving, b-beneath the blankets."

Nova turned to where he was pointing and, sure enough, something was moving under the blankets, vigorously.

The room went quiet and Nova looked at Hugh and Simon, who returned a nod of confirmation and she pulled away the blanket, to reveal a white ball of feathers curled up in itself.

A kitten.

She lifted her head at the sudden change in ambience and atmosphere and looked around the room with her light green eyes.

"Awwwwwwwwwww!" Simon gasped, clasping his hands together.

"It-It's a kitten." Hugh states and Max bursts into laughter while everyone's eyes turn to Adrian, who is red with embarrassment. Soon, everyone, but Adrian, has joined Max.

"Adrian Everhart, the son of the great heroes and saviours of society, Hugh Everhart and Simon Westwood, is afraid of a harmless, cute, little kitten." Nova announces and everyone started laughing again.

After a few embarrassing minutes for Adrian, everyone stopped laughing and Max asked "How did this even get here?"

Nova started to shake her head when her gaze fell on their half open window and she sighed. -

"Someone forget to close the window before sleeping," she says pointedly in Adrian's direction, "Again." She was really starting to regret the decision of shifting to ground floor bedroom from the basement.

"You reap what you sow, kid." Hugh says and exits the room with Simon and Max in tow, the latter turning back in the end to shoot an amused expression at Adrian and shaking his head.

Nova huffed and took the kitten in her hands. She petted her fur before offering her to Adrian.

"Do you want to pet the monster beneath your blanket before I drop it back to the underworld where it came from?"

Adrian looked at her pointedly before returning his eyes to the kitten. He lifted her in his hands and his eyes get filled with adoration.

"She is so cute!" he exclaims, "Can we—"

"No," Nova cuts him off before he could complete it, "We can't keep it Adrian, it's too much work."

"Please!"

"You can barely close the window before going to bed, I cannot trust you with the responsibility to take care of a kitten."

Adrian's lips downturn slightly. He caresses her head again and asks, "It's too cold outside. It would be so cruel to leave her out at night like this, let's keep it for the night at least."

Nova thought for a few minutes and agrees. It really does seem cruel.

Adrian grins and settles the kitten on the bed in between him and Nova. The kitten doesn't take much time to make herself comfortable and feel at home.