Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ If This Cat Could Talk... ❯ Cricket and Roxas ( Chapter 2 )

If This Cat Could Talk…

By: Ellipsis the Great

DISCLAIMER: Kingdom Hearts and everything affiliated with it belongs to SquareEnix and Disney. All I own is the plot…

Summary: Axel's therapist suggests that he get a cat to help him get over an accident involving his little brother's best friend. It doesn't take him long to realize that strange things are afoot, however…

Rated: T just in case. May change later on.

Spoilers: None that I know of…

Warnings: Definite yaoi on the horizon, a little angst (obviously), and I suppose I should point out that this is AU…

 

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CHAPTER THREE: Cricket and Roxas

 

The cat in question was a tiny little thing. Its fur, a light golden blonde with streaks of a darker orange color, was standing on end as its back arched to make it look a little bigger than it actually was. It was directing its ire at a huge man with spiked brown hair via a high-pitched growl.

“Calm down, little one.” The man said in a surprisingly soothing voice.

“That's the cat?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at Demyx.

“That's the cat.” Demyx replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.

“Hm?” The man straightened and turned toward them. “Oh! Demyx, you're here.”

“Hey, Lexaeus!” Demyx said. “These are my friends, Axel and Riku. Axel wants to get a cat.”

“That's good. We've got a lot of them that need a home.” Lexaeus said. “But you'd better stay away from this one.”

“It's cute.” I said with just a hint of my usually saturating sarcasm, joining the bulky man and crouching down. I held out a hand toward the kitten. “Here, little guy. It's okay.”

The kitten hissed and swiped at me threateningly.

“It's alright.” I said in as gentle a voice as I could muster. It was kind of weird, but I felt some sort of kinship with this outcast kitten. “You're just scared, aren't you? Calm down, buddy.”

The kitten grunted out another warning, taking a slow step toward me. It finally worked up enough courage to come even closer, sniffing my outstretched fingers a little before squeaking and skittering away again.

“Come here.” I scooted a little closer to it. “I'm not gonna hurt you. Come on.”

“Amazing.” Lexaeus murmured as the kitten approached me again, still skittish but not nearly as bad as it had been.

Its huge blue eyes gawped up at me, not that I could blame it. I was a giant compared to it.

“Hey, there.” I said, gently scooping it up. It trembled as I stood, cradling it to my chest and scratching its head soothingly. “That's not so bad, is it?”

It apparently agreed with me, as it leaned into my hand and began purring. It had a surprisingly loud and gritty purr, like a gravel tumbler. Then it latched onto the edge of my shirt sleeve and began suckling noisily, pawing the palm of my hand contentedly.

“Definitely taken from his mother too young.” Lexaeus said, reaching towards the cat.

The kitten looked up at the mammoth of a man before he had even come close to touching it, eyes narrowed as another snarl rose up from its throat.

“Whoa, there, calm down.” I said, petting it again. “You're a fiery little brat, aren't you?”

“You should call him Firecracker.” Demyx piped up, laughing.

“…Huh?” I loved sounding like an idiot.

“You're keeping him, aren't you?” Demyx asked. “You're the only person he likes so far.”

“Oh.” I blinked down at the cat, who had gone back to suckling on my sleeve (creating a nice big wet spot, I might add), but was looking up at me again. “I guess so.”

The cat's purring intensified.

“He really likes you.” Riku said, reaching toward the kitten and receiving as violent a look as had been given to Lexaeus. “Oi! I haven't done anything to you, cat!”

The kitten growled a little and suddenly took off up my arm, curling itself up into the crook of my neck. I had to laugh at that, and did.

“Brat cat.” Riku muttered darkly, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

I laughed again. “So, what paperwork do I have to get done?” I asked, looking at Naminé.

“This way!” She said happily, leading me to a stuffy, sloppy office and digging around through the most illogical-looking file cabinet I had ever seen. She somehow managed the find the needed paperwork, handing it to me along with a pen from a coffee mug full of similar writing utensils that had spilled onto the desk.

 

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“So are you gonna name him Firecracker?” Demyx asked when I had finally filled out all of the necessary paperwork and forked over the twenty dollars required for adoption.

“No.” I said.

Even I have never been that cruel—after all, you never call a pet by its full name. Ever. And what sort of nicknames do you get out of a name like `Firecracker'? Fire-cat? Cracker? Crack-cat?

Thanks, but no.

“You should call it Brat.” Riku said, still a little sore about the earlier death glare.

“I'm not calling him Brat.” I said.

“What about Cricket?” Naminé asked. “He's so jumpy…”

“…”

“That's a great idea!” Demyx asked, in his `I've-Decided-This-Is-A-Good-Idea-So-Go-Along-With-Me-Or-Else' voice. When he gets that voice, the `or else' is completely serious. And scary as all get-out, surprisingly enough.

“Cricket it is, then.” I sighed, trying to ignore the way `Cricket's' claws had begun digging into the skin of my neck (he hadn't moved from his perch at all, and I hadn't bothered moving him). I gave him a soothing pat, swearing to give him a new name as soon as we got home. In public he might be `Cricket,' but when it was just us he would have a good name.

“Alright, then, let's go.” Riku said.

“To Wally World!” Demyx struck a valiant pose, struggling to stifle the smile that threatened to come over his face.

I shoved him gently. Well…not very gently, but gentler than I could have. Either way, he stumbled, waving his arms around in a windmill motion to keep his balance.

“Axel!” He whined, shooting me a sharp glare.

“Wasn't me.” I said with a small shrug, and could have sworn I heard a snicker right in my ear. I glanced at `Cricket,' who peered back at me with an eerily familiar cerulean gaze. I reached up and patted his head, smiling a little when he pushed it against my hand.

“Hmph.” Demyx made a face at me, blinking when Cricket spat at him.

Naminé laughed. “Looks like you've got a little protector, Axel.”

“Looks like.” I said, unable to hide the goofy grin that spread across my face.

I was definitely going to enjoy having a cat.

 

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“We're home!” Riku and I yelled as we entered the house and set all of our new cat supplies on the floor.

“Yo, boys!” Our father, Reno Scáth, called from the kitchen. “Where you been?”

“Shopping.” I called back. “Zexion wanted me to get a pet.”

“Right, right.” He entered the room, running a hand through his hair, which was the same bright red color as mine. “What did you get?”

“A kitten.” I said, nodding at the aforementioned creature, which was still perched on my shoulder. “Demyx insisted I name him Cricket.”

Dad rolled his eyes. “That kid and his weird-ass crap…” He muttered, then shook his head. “But whatever. It's fine.” He leaned a little closer to get a better look. “He's cute, yo.”

“He's a brat.” Riku said.

“What makes you say—ow! Hey, watch it!” Dad hissed, jerking his hand away when Cricket swiped his hand. “That little…”

“I told you.” Riku smirked.

“If that thing's gonna try to bite me every time it sees me, I'll kill it, yo.” Dad said, glaring at both of us.

“Leave my cat alone.” I said, putting a protective hand over the cat in question. “He can't help it if he's got good taste in friends!”

“Axel, you're its only friend.” Riku said. “It snaps at everyone else.”

Dad snorted. “Damn defective cat.”

“Dad, Zex said—”

“Save it, yo.” Dad held his hand up, cutting me off. “You can keep it or whatever, just make sure it stays out of my face, alright?”

I grinned. “You got it, Pops!”

“And don't call me Pops!” He started to hit me over the head, then glanced at Cricket, made a face, and turned back toward the kitchen. “Dinner should be ready in about half an hour, yo.”

“You ordered pizza again?” I asked snidely. Dad liked to act like he could cook, but the reality was that he could burn a salad. In fact, he might have done just that once or twice…

“Can it, you little ingrate.” He said, but walked back into the kitchen anyhow.

“You got it, Pops!”

“I said don't call me Pops, yo!” Came the snappy reply. “And if the phone rings, it's probably for me. I'm expecting a call from a friend.”

Riku and I exchanged a glance, then snickered. The `friend' Dad was referring to was Rufus, his boss that we both suspected was in more than just a `friendly and/or working relationship' with our old man, if you know what I mean.

I guess homosexuality ran in our family.

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That night I had the first of many bizarre dreams involving my new pet.

It began, as they all did, in a pure white room. Cricket sat in the middle, staring forward as if he was waiting for something. I'm still not sure how I saw him, because I was in the corner of the room—if there was a corner—curled up into a ball, shaking and crying and clamping my hands over my ears. Not that any of this did me any good; there was no sound in the room.

Well, mostly there was no sound.

“Help him.”

The voice was so familiar it made me stop shaking, though nothing else changed. It wasn't until several dreams later that I realized why the voice was familiar to me.

It was my mother's voice.

“I don't see why I should.”

The second voice wasn't familiar to me at all, and it made me look up. Cricket was still the only other thing in the room, and he hadn't moved.

“Help him, Roxas. Please.”

Cricket's head tilted to one side.

“But why? This is all his fault, anyhow.”

Somehow, watching all of this, I got the distinct feeling that the second voice was coming from my cat. It sounds weird, I know, and there were no indications of that. His mouth wasn't moving or anything. I just had a feeling he was the one talking.

“He needs you.”

“So? It's not my problem.”

At that statement, I finally moved, reaching toward Cricket.

“Help.” I sounded like I'd been crying for hours. I didn't even know what I wanted…no, needed help with; I just knew that I needed it. “Please, Cricket, help me.”

“Please, Roxas.”

Cricket stared at me for a long time, not acknowledging the first voice's plea. Then he began slinking toward me, his image growing fuzzy. I couldn't make out exactly what was going on as it morphed and melded, moving toward me all the while, but whatever it was it didn't frighten me like you'd think. In fact, I moved closer, curious.

What did frighten me, though, was when the image cleared again. I jumped back, staring dumbly at the young boy giving me a tight-lipped glare. His impossibly blue eyes pinned me in place, and they, coupled with his windswept blonde hair, made it impossible to mistake him for anyone other than the cat that he had replaced.

“I don't know why, but I'll see what I can do for you.” The boy said, offering me a hand.

I took it, my eyes never leaving his face, and then I blushed as he smirked at me.

“By the way, Axel…” He said, pulling me up. “My name is Roxas.”

And then I woke up.

 

~*~ENDCHAPTERTHREE~*~