Work Text:
It starts as a whisper in her head.
Gary Seven's cat is a mystery.
Isis is her name, and she acts like she owns the place. The office is her domain, and Roberta dares not interfere.
Gary talks to her, often, replying to moments of silence in the room. It's as if she replies to him and absolutely no one else.
Imagine, a cat speaking...
But, Isis isn't even a normal cat.
There's moments, just like when right before the Captain and Spock left, that she'll turn to see a woman sitting where Isis was moments before. Then, she'll blink, and Isis is back to a cat, as if she's seeing things.
And it sure feels like she is, with the way that Gary disregards the comments so quickly.
But, the whisper begins, and perhaps she is not only seeing things.
Roberta, she hears often, as if someone's chastising her. She'll look over to Isis, who only stares back, her tail flicking. Roberta will often evaluate whatever she's doing and figure out if maybe, just maybe, whatever she was doing was a bad idea, or not allowed. (Usually it is, although she'd never like to admit it.)
She's staring at some confusing paperwork that Gary has given her, far beyond what she usually takes care of (mostly just expenses) when the whisper returns.
Roberta.
"What?" She finds herself replying, not even caring that she's talking to the cat. Her gaze whips to Isis, who has been lounging on the couch for the better part of the morning. "I'm doing my job-"
Isis flicks her tail. Stop.
"Stop what?"
There's no response and Roberta groans, going back to the paperwork.
Roberta.
"Isis, I don't even know if it's you who doing this, but stop-" She looks back up to see the same woman as every other time sitting there, an arm resting on the back of the couch.
Stop working, The woman smiles, tilting her head as the whisper echoes through Roberta's mind.
It's an inviting prospect, ignoring the work that she doesn't want to do.
"Isis?" Roberta asks, placing her pen down. It seems obvious, it has to be her, but...
"That's my name," The woman speaks, her voice the exact same as the one that was in her mind moments before.
This doesn't feel real, but it's possible, given when she's seen just by working here.
And, the woman is rather pretty.
"Stop working?" Roberta leans forward, using her arms to prop herself up on the desk. "Don't you think Gary would be unhappy with me for that?"
Doesn't matter what he thinks. "After all," Isis almost purrs, "He listens to me."
Roberta isn't quite sure whether or not to believe her, but...
"Okay, fine," She stands up from her chair, pushing away the folders.
Gary can do his own paperwork.