Kitty's Keeper/No Clean Blades

XII

Back in the first part of the chamber, Kitty settled at a table and John across from them. Kitty looked at him expectantly.

John raised an eyebrow. "Wot?"

Kitty shrank a little, tenting their shoulders. "I...The book?"

Both eyebrows flew. "Oh! Oh yeah." He snapped his fingers, and the book appeared in a whirlpool of green aura. Kitty's fingers itched to pick up where they left off, but the rest of their body chose to watch the tome instead.

"Well, what troubles ye now, Kitty?"

Kitty straightened, then folded their hands over the cover. "I think I understand why you sent me on that journey, John."

John snorted mockingly. "Ye do, do ye?"

"Yes. Like Ringo, you agree that I take myself too seriously, and must learn to loosen up."

"That's true, but that's not why I did it."

"Oh." They brought their hand to their chin, then came up with an alternative teaching. "Then it is the opposite: I am too passive and must learn to stand up for myself."

"Worthwhile moral, but no."

"Then pray, what was I supposed to learn?"

"Who said I wanted you to learn anything?"

Kitty was dismayed. "But John-!"

"But Kitty! You drank too much tea and fell asleep. I, a being versed in the art of dream walking and mind manipulation, decided to take that as an opportunity to play around. If you learned something from it, that's well and good, I guess, but don't claim it was my doing."

It was difficult to argue with that. "Yes, John."

"If anyone was to learn anything, it was me. About you."

"What did you learn, then?"

"You've got a dirty mouth."

Kitty's cheeks became hot.

"And you're a rather active dreamer. You like to kick, and mumble, and your emotions are especially potent."

"Had a feast, did you?"

"More a heavy lunch. I'll be hungry again by dinner."

Kitty's curiosity was piqued. "Which emotion tasted the best?"

"For you? Determination. 'Course, yours was seasoned with annoyance."

Very true. "And in general?"

"In general? Love. If I could eat nothing more than love, I would be satiated the rest of my days. It's really all you need."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Love has several flavors, you know, not just the lust we prize and the mania you've seen. Love for oneself, love for one's family, your true loves...each one just as delicious and complex as the other."

"I've never thought of it that way."

"Oh, no? And humans were the ones to find the flavors!"

"And it tastes that good?"

John nodded. "Filling, too. Ye ever had a meal 'made with love'?"

Tranquil evenings sitting across from Sir Bloodvessel over a simple yet delicious fish dish flooded Kitty's enchanted head. They sighed, their mind's tongue running over a thousand childhood dinners.

John nodded. "Exactly." Then he rose. "Now, read your book! I will be away, tending to the sandbox. Yell-and I do mean yell-if ye need anything."

Kitty nodded. "Yes, John," they repeated.

> * <

Kitty finished three more chapters in John's absence, half taking mental notes of anything of interest and half wishing they had brought their log book to take actual notes with. When John returned, they were embarking upon the fourth chapter, only to be stopped by John's white paw on the page.

"Diligence is a virtue and a curse."

Kitty acknowledged this with a nod. John lifted his paw.

"Indolence is a curse and a virtue."

Kitty accepted this as well. John stepped back, then into the air once again. This time, however, he made sure to place a book underneath him as soon as he sat. He turned in the little space, then loafed with his back to the acolyte, the tip of his tail swishing idly.

Back and forth...back and forth...

Kitty noticed it in their periphery and tried their best to ignore it. To their dismay, it persisted, growing more pronounced as John began grooming himself.

Back and forth...back and forth...

The acolyte looked up, ready to ask John if they could sit elsewhere. Only a squeak escaped when they realized too late the folly of their actions. John, meanwhile, was too busy cleaning his ears to notice. It was only when he craned his neck to lick his back did he see the entranced human watching his tail go back and forth...back and forth...

...Back and forth...back and forth...

"Like my tail, do ye? Cheeky."

Kitty tried to speak, but all that came out were fits and starts.

"Aw, what's wrong, love? Cat got yer tongue? Or is it yer whole head?"

The tail rose higher as it helped John turn. He jumped down, stretched across the book, and held the human's face in his outstretched paws, kneading it like dough.

"So easy...One might think you want this. That you...like this."

The acolyte blinked one eye at a time, jaw hanging. He rubbed his forehead against their forehead, simpering.

"Aw...That's nice, yeah? Isn't it good?"

Their eyes rolled to the back of their head. "Norwegian Wood," they intoned, then fell limp.

"There we are. Let's get you to bed."