Fox(girl)ificated 2 - Ch.6 - Even More (Big) Emotions (Patreon)

By the time Clayton and I finally clocked out it was a quarter to six in the morning, which meant the sun was already up when I made it back to my apartment some forty-five minutes later. I was tired enough not to care though, and was in bed less than a minute after I stepped through the door.

Unfortunately sleep didn't come easily, despite my exhaustion. There was just too much on my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about Doctor Fawkes and her GAMA ray, and what she could do for me if I could get another chance to see her. Then there was Luna, the beautiful catgirl was another constant fixture in my brain.

MaR-AID was in there too, haunting my thoughts along with my dreams. I couldn't shake the fear that they were going to shut down Fawkes' clinic before I got my chance. Or that they were onto me, that they were going to arrest me for being an unregistered meta.

So I only managed a couple hours of fitful sleep before dragging myself out of bed. It took a double-jolt from good old Mr. Kaffe to get me moving, then once I'd got myself cleaned and dressed I grabbed my phone and Doctor Fawkes' card. I sat down on the sofa and gave her clinic a call.

After listening to it ring for a solid minute I finally gave up and disconnected. The fact that it didn't go to voice-mail worried me, and for a second or two I panicked that maybe the clinic and the GAMA ray were destroyed in last night's supervillain attack. That passed though when I reminded myself the clinic was nowhere near downtown or the financial district.

So I sent an email instead, and asked how soon I could reschedule my consultation. I tried not to sound too desperate, but also made it clear I wanted to do the whole thing as quickly as possible.

With that out of the way there really wasn't anything else for me to do. I probably should have gone back to bed, considering how tired I was. Instead I decided to get some fresh air, and soon enough I found myself wandering around that park again, taking in some Saturday morning spring time vibes. And from there it wasn't long before I was lining up in the nearby cafe.

I tried to tell myself I was just there for some caffein and maybe a bite to eat, but really I was hoping to run into Luna again. I knew there was a good chance she wouldn't even be working today, and for that matter the place seemed really busy so even if she was there I knew she wouldn't have any time to talk with me. I was so busy preparing myself for disappointment that I was almost startled when she called my name.

"Kit!" Luna exclaimed with a wide smile as I got to the front of the line. "I'm so glad to see you! I've been worried about you!"

I ended up blinking at her in confusion for a second or two. Even after I parsed what she'd said, it didn't make any sense to me. I finally asked, "You are? You have? But... why?"

Her ears and tail were still standing up tall and happy as she replied, "I'm glad because I like you, silly girl! And I've been worried because of what happened last night! I was scared you might have got hurt during that jerk's rampage."

Part of my mind was busy swooning over the fact that she said she liked me, and that she called me a girl. Other parts though were convinced I'd misheard her. Fortunately enough of my brain was still functioning that I could stammer out a reply, "O-oh. I'm glad you're ok too."

The gorgeous catgirl gave me another happy smile that melted my heart a little. Then she asked, "What can I get you this morning? Same as last time?"

"Uh, yeah ok. That sounds good," I nodded.

I couldn't even remember what I'd ordered last time, but it seemed like Luna's memory was spot on. She rang up a medium latte with two shots of vanilla, and a ham and egg croissant. I fished out another twenty dollar bill from one of my pockets and mumbled something about her keeping the change. She flashed me another heart-stopping smile, then I shuffled off to the end of the counter to wait for my food.

Between the lack of sleep and all the other stuff going on in my head I didn't even register when I heard her tell one of her coworkers that she was taking her break as soon as she'd finished putting my order together. She handed everything over to me, then I finally clued-in that something was up when she slipped an arm around me and started guiding me out of the busy cafe.

"What..." I blinked a few times. "What are we doing here?"

The two of us were in the park, sitting down together on a bench overlooking the duck pond. Luna's left arm was still around my waist, and she was holding an iced cappuccino in her other hand.

The beautiful catgirl gave me a nervous smile, "The cafe was too crowded. I thought it would be nicer to have lunch out here instead? And we can talk a bit easier, without all the noise."

"Oh. Yeah, ok," I nodded slowly.

It took another second or two to tear my eyes off her, then I had a sip of my latte while she slurped up some of her frothy frozen drink through the thick straw. It wasn't long before my heart was racing, but that had very little to do with the caffein. Mostly it was because I was having lunch with Luna again, for the second time in four days.

There was a bit of an awkward silence as I struggled to make conversation. I wasn't sure what to say or where to start or if maybe I shouldn't say anything at all. Like should I ask about exchanging contact info this time, or wait and see if she mentions it? Should I let her know how I felt about her? Or should I keep quiet incase she thinks I'm stalking her or something. Should I ask if she's heard anything new about Doctor Fawkes? Or would that make it seem like I was just using her to get what I want?

Meanwhile Luna was staring at the pond with a thoughtful look on her face. Her cute feline ears folded back like something was bothering her, and after a few minutes they drooped to either side like she was sad. Meanwhile her tail hung down low underneath the bench. And seeing all that made me think I'd managed to upset or disappoint her even though I hadn't even said anything yet.

Unless that was the problem, maybe I was being too quiet and weird. Or maybe she thought I wasn't interested in her, maybe she figured I wasn't talking because I wanted to be alone. Or -

"Kit?" Luna suddenly asked in an uneasy voice. "There's something I want to tell you, and I've been trying and failing to figure out the best way to say it. So I'm just going to spit it out."

She had another quick gulp of her chilled drink then stated, "The stuff you told me at lunch on Wednesday, about what happened to your parents? I'm sorry but I had to look into that. I um, called in a favour or two and did some digging. What I found... I know you're worried about people not believing you, but I found the truth. I'm not sure if you want to hear it though?"

My gut lurched before she'd even finished the first sentence. And by the time she was done my emotions were all over the place again. Part of me wanted to run, I was half convinced that she was going to do like everyone else and tell me I was wrong. That she'd found whatever lies MaR-AID wrote in their reports, their manufactured 'evidence' and all the other stuff people used to gaslight me.

And part of me was convinced she was with them, like how else could she even look into that stuff if she wasn't with MaR-AID? Or if not, she was obviously friends with them. She even admitted that on Wednesday, that she was friends with a cape. After all that's how she got in with Doctor Fawkes.

Except part of me still trusted her, still wanted to believe her. And wanted to hear what she had to say, even though it was probably going to be painful.

"Ok," I finally whispered. "What did you find out?"

Luna's arm was still around my waist and she gave me a gentle comforting squeeze, but after a couple seconds she let go and straightened up. She took a deep breath, then began to quietly tell me about the man who killed my parents.

"Silver Bullet was originally known as Quicksilver. He was initially registered as a C-rank speedster in Reno Nevada, until he lost his temper and got in an altercation with a couple civilians. He left both of them in the hospital, and that should have been the end of his career as a hero. Instead he changed his name to Silver Bullet and was reassigned to the town where you grew up."

She paused there for a moment before continuing, "After what he did to your parents he was sent to a small town in Montana, where he operated under the name Silver Dart. He was only there for about five or six years though, before he ran a tractor-trailer off the road and left the driver paralyzed. Now he's in Fairbanks Alaska, where he goes by the name Gold Rush."

"I'm sorry Kit," the beautiful catgirl sighed. "That man should have had his status revoked after the first incident. And after what he did to you and your parents he should have been in prison. The cover-ups, the reassignments, all that goes against everything MaR-AID is supposed to stand for."

She slowly shook her head as she added, "I know you might not believe this, but I promise there are good heroes out there. They're not all like him. And the good ones don't know about this sort of thing. If they did, they'd have stepped up and put an end to it. I'm sure of that."

Unfortunately I was barely listening at that point. My body felt almost numb, except my heart was pounding. And my thoughts were all over the place, but my emotions were sort of crystallizing. There was some shock, some fear, some uncertainty. Mostly there was anger. I was mad at the man who killed my parents, and I was mad at the organization that let him get away with it. The people who covered up his crimes then helped him go ruin other innocent lives were just as guilty as him.

It wasn't until I noticed the quiet buzzing of electricity that I realized I was losing control of my power. Sparks were dancing around my hands as I clutched my lunch, while arcs of current burned through my shoes and down into the ground.

There was no hiding it from Luna either, I could tell she'd already noticed. My anger was immediately replaced by fear. Now the girl I was crushing on knew I was a meta, she could see I was dangerous, and she probably guessed I was unregistered. I was doomed and I knew it. Even worse, the growing fear made it almost impossible to calm myself down. My sparks started growing stronger.

Next thing I knew Luna was sitting across my lap. Her tail curled around my right leg while one of her legs hooked around my left. Her hands took hold of my arms and held them against her sides, while she pressed herself tight against me.

"No! Get back!" I gasped as I tried to push her away. She was a lot stronger than she looked though, and I couldn't shake her off. "I can't control it and I don't want to hurt you!"

The petite catgirl turned her head slightly so her lips were by my left ear as she whispered, "Shh, it's ok Kit, you can't hurt me. Deep breaths, alright? In and out, try and calm down. I'm not going to hurt you, and you're not going to hurt me."

It took another few seconds for her words to sink in, then I finally stopped struggling. I followed her advice and took a couple deep breaths, while it slowly struck me how improbable it was that the petite five-foot-nothing catgirl had so easily overpowered me. I was almost six feet tall and while I wasn't muscular I still had some strength to me.

"Ok," I sighed after a couple more seconds. "I'm ok now."

"Are you sure I didn't hurt you though?" I added nervously.

Luna let go then slipped off my lap to sit next to me again. She nodded as she looked up at me, "I'm sure cutie. It tingled a bit, that's all. Actually in the right circumstances that sort of thing might even be a little fun?"

Hearing her say that left me almost stunned again. At their weakest my sparks normally hurt like a really bad static shock. After all the power I'd absorbed last night, my uncontrolled zaps should have stopped her heart. Instead she was talking about tingling, and maybe even joke-flirting about doing it for fun.

The two of us stared at each other for another second or two, before the next fear hit me. She knew my secret, and she was involved with MaR-AID. I was probably one phone call or text away from being arrested and thrown in jail. Except Luna spoke up before I even had a chance to start freaking out.

"Don't worry," she stated as she wrapped an arm around my waist again. "I won't tell anyone, I promise. I don't care that you're a meta, and I don't care if you're registered or not."

I let out a long sigh as I slumped against the back of the bench. Then I asked, "Why? Why are you so nice to me? Why do you keep trying to help me?"

"For all you know I'm some secret villain or something," I added quietly. "Or at best I'm just some worthless nobody."

"You're not worthless," she stated firmly.

Then she gave me another gentle squeeze as she quietly admitted, "I'm a meta as well Kit, that's why your sparks can't hurt me. I've never... Nobody knows this, but I've got a talent that's like intuition, or empathy? That's how I know you're not bad, or evil."

"Basically I can tell when someone's a good person or not," she whispered. "It tells me other things too. Like the first time we met I knew you're a cute girl. Or when we ran into each other on Wednesday, I knew you needed help. And..."

Her voice trailed off and I glanced down at her, then realized she'd started blushing. Her ears were folded back while her tail twitched behind her like she was anxious about something.

Then the beautiful catgirl I'd been crushing on since I first laid eyes on her looked up at me again and asked nervously, "Do you believe in love at first sight?"

** This chapter is brought to you courtesy of Camille, who commissioned it! **