Mittens Has Class

Chapter 16: Mischief Is Always Easier As a Cat

"Well?" Krystal asked uncertainly, as she did a slow turn for Mittens. "How do I look?"

Mittens gave her a deeply thoughtful scan, pretending to mull over some long monolog of thought. Krystal, of course, looked utterly adorable. They'd lucked out with finding some paws and a tail that were pretty close to the same green as the ears pinned to her head. The fuzzy arm and leg warmers had been easy enough to find in a similar shade.

She'd changed her usually dark blue eye and lip make-up to green as well, to better go along with the rest of the assemble. Only her torso wasn't currently clad in green, as it wasn't actually clad in anything at all, save for a nude-colored elastic band that her tail was attached to. While she planned to put on a small tee shirt and boy shorts before anyone else saw her, she'd drummed up enough courage to let Mittens see her otherwise naked.

"I feel like you're missing something." Mittens drawled slowly, making a meal of the set up.

Krystal looked down at herself, surveying the minimalist outfit. "Well, I suppose some kind of bodysuit or something might make it look better."

"No..." Mittens countered. "I think what you're missing is..." She took a slow deep breath before bouncing up to her feet. "ME!" And promptly snatched her up into a wiggly hug, rubbing her own naked body all over Krystal's.

Krystal cackled with laughter as they smooshed together, quickly joining in with the wiggles. She seemed in much better spirits now, as though their ordeal from the morning had never happened. In truth, Mittens had been pretty amazed at just how truly resilient Krystal seemed to be. She'd been locked in absolute darkness, slowly freezing to death, for more than an hour. Yet, she'd recovered from that experience with surprising quickness.

Possibly, Mittens just made her feel safe. It was also, heartbreakingly, possible that she'd simply been bullied and tormented so much over the years that she'd grown numb to these things through repeated trauma. Most likely, she had just become really, really, good at hiding behind all that make-up. Whatever the reason, there was no mistaking that she was genuinely happy at the moment.

"I...I want to... I want to show Chloe and Master Brooksend. Just really quick, before your company gets here." Krystal said after a minute, looking like she was mentally trying to convince herself of this. "I want them to see them to see me properly 'Mittenized' before I put some clothes back on."

Mittens peered at her. "You're sure you're comfortable with them seeing...well, ALL of you?"

Krystal gave her a nervous grin. "No." She chuckled. "But I want to do it anyway." A slight jitter passed through her body, but the goofy smile told Mittens that she was serious about wanting to push herself outside this comfort zone.

"Okay, but jus' knows that nobody's gonna hold it against ya, if'n ya chicken out." Mittens assured her. "Jus' don't feel pressured."

Krystal's smile turned into something more confident. "I don't. Ever." She gave Mittens a kiss on the cheek. "I want to do this. For me."

Mittens pulled her into a proper hug, giving Krystal's cheek a peck of its own. "I'm glad you feel safe." She said softly.

Krystal snuggled into the hug warmly, seeming truly grateful for it. "Okay, but I have to do this now." She said finally, with a bit of a nervous chuckle. "Before I can think about it too much and change my mind."

The two of them headed downstairs, Krystal's paw in Mittens' for support. Master and Chloe had already been told that Mittens was going to dress up Krystal and were patiently waiting in the den. However, it appeared that the two of them had decided to keep themselves occupied while they waited. Chloe was standing in the middle of the room, arms behind her while Master was carefully trying to sort out binding them with rope.