B l a n k

Chapter 7

Instead of doing something stupid like strangling myself (though that was very much a considered option) once Luka was gone, I took the opportunity to stretch out my arms, my back, and anything else that felt stiff. I felt joints pop, muscles stretch, and blood flowing as I did so, and it was probably the best feeling in my life. Well, at least since I got here. Then, I felt the cold air rushing against my arms, as the shirt I was given was short-sleeved, and I couldn't help sighing as my sweaty arms and hands received a thorough cooling.

It. Was. Amazing.

Yeah, yeah, I'm probably overreacting. To you that is. I've been in a straight-jacket 24/7, thank you very much. And if you mention showering and changing, I will personally knock you over the head for being so stupid, because being around Jerome is definitely not peaceful.

Once I was all stretched out, I dropped onto the lumpy floor, and all I needed were my cats to snuggle with.

Sure enough, just as I was about to close my eyes, Sketch flitted into my vision, pausing about six feet above me. She smiled and slowly flapped her wings, allowed herself to drop until she was inches above my face. She landed lightly on my stomach, and although it wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, I didn't complain.

"I see you got that straight-jacket off!" she mewed cheerfully. She seemed to be in a pretty good mood as well.

I gave a tiny nod, "Yep." Subconsciously, I reached up and ran my nails, which were rounded so it would be harder to scratch myself, along the skin behind her right ear, enticing a loud purr from Sketch.

"Ah... You haven't done that in so long..." she murmured as she sunk down, her legs slowly giving way, and she ended up curled up on my stomach.

As I caressed her, moving from her ears to the spot between her wings(she really liked that, by the way) to the back of her neck, I saw the kittens padding up to me out of the corner of my eye, yawning and stretching their tiny wings.

Void was the first to reach me, followed closely by Lock-pick. She shook out her white speckled pelt as a final way to wake herself up, and then she bounded up on top of me, barely fitting on my belly, right next to her mother, “G’morning!” She smiled brightly, her eyes getting their shine back now that she was more awake.

Lock-pick sat beside my head, waving her tail around and purring as I used my unoccupied hand to scratch her as well.

Void leaned over my face and tilted her head to the side, “Can we play a game? I’m booooored,” she groaned, puffing out her bottom lip slightly: another thing I thought was impossible before now.

I laughed a bit, making her bounce up and down slightly. “How can you already be bored? You just woke up,” I pointed out.

“I know,” she groaned, “but I’m still bored.” She rested her head on my chest, flattening her ears back and looking up at me.

Ugh. I can’t quite remember, but I’m going to assume that I could never resist cute faces very well, since I sure as hell couldn’t resist this one. You can’t blame me, though. Her face was down-right adorable!

... Don’t judge me.

With a sigh, I curled my back upwards to sit, forgetting I could use my arms now as I was so used to having the straight-jacket on.

She smiled again, hopping off of me and waving her tail. With her huge grin holding tight to her face, she craned her neck around and plucked a black feather, which was flecked and streaked with white, from her left wing.

“We can play Capture the Feather!” she squealed around it before placing the feather on the ground, right where it rose up to form one of the plush lumps, “everyone take one of my feathers. If you get the smallest one, you're ‘it’!” She spread her wings out, inviting us to go on ahead.

Lock-pick nodded enthusiastically before taking one in her teeth and pulling. She placed it next the Void’s, and seemed to visibly sulk a bit when she realized that the feather she had chosen was about an inch shorter than her sister’s.

They both looked up at me expectantly, so I just shrugged and kneeled down, carefully pulling one from her right wing. I put it down right next to the others, only to find it was the smallest: only a inch or two.

Lock-pick’s ears flicked upward, easily showing she was glad to not be ‘it’.

I glanced over at Sketch, “Don’t you want to play, too?”

She laughed lightly and shook her head, “No thank you. I’ll just watch. You have your fun with them.”

I smiled and nodded before turning back to Void, my eyebrows drawn slightly, “So what do I do now?”

She looked a bit sad, probably because she was remembering how I couldn't remember anything, but she shook it off pretty easily from what I could tell, “We’ll keep the feather in the air and try to keep it away from you. You try to catch it!” she responded, picking up her feather, as it was biggest, “We’ll use this one, since your hands are all big,” she giggled, flapping her wings until she was about at eye-level with me.

“Alright then,” I confirmed, “Go ahead and start.”

Lock-pick took off quickly, flying up to Void and knocking into her lightly. The feather escaped Void’s mouth and it began floating through the air, gliding and flying, as if it were a bird itself. Well, maybe a directionally-challenged bird that couldn’t fly upward, but still... it’s a freaking bird, okay?!

Void didn’t seem to object to this, and instead blew on the feather, making it flutter up even higher, though still in my reach.

I swatted at the air, trying to grab at the little flying quill, though it wasn’t working out very well for me.

We spent, oh, I’d say a good hour playing Capture the Feather, laughing as I stumbled around to follow it and they used their wings and breath to keep it away, periodically falling out of the air or bumping into each other clumsily. Honestly, it was really fun, getting to play with them. I hadn’t really gotten to do anything too fun with the kittens, since I was always sleeping or getting check-ups or hearing lectures from Ms. Wicked-Witch. It was a nice break from everything to just have some fun...