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Skye and Sage could be annoying sometimes, but they were right most of the time, Jett mused as she leisurely strolled through Skye’s well-kept gardens. There was a certain serenity to it, to letting the light breeze pass her by as she slowly walked, taking in the flowers, the landscape, the sea that stretched further than the eye could see. Going slow wasn’t exactly her thing, but she could get used to this. Just letting her thoughts catch up to her as she breathed in the-
“Mrowwwwwwwwwww! Miyavvvvvvvvvvvvv!”
Jett’s head whipped around upon hearing the calls of a distressed cat, all her meditative and slow thoughts defenestrating themselves as excitement quickly bubbled up in her where peace and serenity once were. So much for tranquility and cultivating inner peace, Jett thought, racing towards the source of the noise. After all, she was fast by nature. Now that she had an excuse not to sit still and be patient, she was going to take it. Especially if it was a cat. She hadn’t even seen one in months! Having to hide away because of what her double did was taking its toll on her, she had to admit.
Reaching the site of the commotion, Jett quickly registered the issue. A small, black cat had somehow found its way onto the tallest tree in the garden and now seemed far too scared and skittish to get down.
Skidding to a halt, Jett’s excitement at finally getting to do something died as she saw the cat seeming to back further up the tree at the sight of her.
Why call for help if you’re going to try to run away from it?
Jett rolled her eyes, but remained steadfast in her resolve to save this poor kitty. It almost reminded her of Fade, and how Sage had reprimanded her for avoiding healing not once, but twice in the past month. Dumb self-flagellatory kitty, Jett thought. She had far more sympathy for the cat, though. It had done nothing wrong, unlike her.
“Here, kitty, kitty. I’m not going to hurt you. You can trust me! Neon says I’m really trustworthy! You can trust Neon, right, kitty? Hey look, I’m just gonna fly up to you like this, pick you up, and drift back down! I won’t hurt you!”
While blabbering, Jett demonstrated what she was going to do in order to save the cat. Throughout the one-sided conversation (there were a few meows from Jett’s interlocutor), the cat seemed to become less scared of the whole situation, climbing down from the branch it had been hiding up a bit. Jett couldn’t hold back her grin at this. Still got it, Sunwoo. You’re a natural with cats! Jett thought, grinning the whole time, as she prepared to updraft to the stuck cat.
Though her feline instincts from her cat form had made her irrationally and uncontrollably scared at the height she had managed to climb up to, Fade was surprised at the fact that it was Jett of all people who had managed to calm her down.
She had snapped out of her feline stupor with the phrase "What the fuck is she talking about?” in her mind as human confusion took the place of feline shock. What the hell did Neon even have to do with anything right now? Were she not in the awkward situation of a) being a cat and b) being stuck in a tree, Fade would have laughed at the dumb and extremely exaggerated way Jett was waving her arms and the childish tone she put on to ‘speak to the cat’. Unfortunately, she was completely at Jett’s mercy as the latter updrafted to the top of the tree and slowly drifted towards the helpless feline.
Instinctually backing up as Jett drifted to sit on a branch beside her, mistrust borne from feline instinct and human experience, Jett remained persistent with a smile as she beckoned Fade toward her, holding out her arms, waiting for the cat’s trust. Even if she did think Jett was a dumbass, she had to admit, it was kind of adorable the care she was putting in.
Fade trusted her abilities enough on the battlefield, and Jett didn’t like her even there, so as a cat Jett had no disposition toward, Fade bit the bullet and allowed Jett to pick her up.
The feeling of being enveloped by just the hands of someone she was at least a head taller than was… foreign, and made her tense up, but Jett’s continued babbling about Fade being safe with her annoyingly made her calm down. Fade silently cursed that Jett had to catch her as a cat in this instance. She could mess with her in so many ways if she wasn’t embarrassingly stuck in a tree right meow.
“Ok, we’re gonna go down now, alright, kitty? You got that, cutie?” Jett cooed, lightly ruffling Fade’s ears. Oh, Jett so would have got bitten were they not suspended in the air right now, Fade thought to herself.
Yes, I do ‘got that’ and Oh my god just get me down already and stop fucking petting me, Fade thought, but could do nothing as Jett continued tentatively petting her to try to calm her down. At least cats can’t blush , Fade thought, hating herself for even getting flustered at… whatever the hell this was. She was not expecting her Saturday to go like this.
“Give me a meow if you’re ready to go down, okayyyy?”
Just put me the fuck down already I mean “miyavvvvvvvv” - Fade hoped her meows didn’t sound too Turkish.
Safely on the ground (and in Jett’s arms, Fade’s brain annoyingly supplied) after having been drifted down, Fade immediately went to bolt off as Jett gently, as gently as she had held her, placed her down on the ground.
“Hey kitty, don’t leave yet! I-”
Fade immediately stopped in her tracks a few paces away as she suddenly felt Jett’s fear along with her yelling - a flash of the fact that the last time she had saved a cat, it had run away too, the fact that Jett loved cats but never got to interact with them because of her situation… why are my paws betraying me and moving me back to her. Curse this cat body! I'm not her therapist! Someone get Neon!
Having no human voice, of course, nobody heard her as Fade plodded back toward Jett who was kneeling down to greet her.
Why did I have to feel bad for her, Fade thought as Jett blabbered on, petting Fade’s ears and trying to get the feline in her lap.
It did feel nice, Fade had to admit, as much as she didn’t want to - but she definitely couldn’t get used to it. If Jett ever found out…
“Such a cute cat! I can’t believe I’ve never seen you before!” Jett yammered on as, much to Fade’s chagrin, she continued her petting. At least she was gentle in trying not to scare her off, Fade thought as Jett continued. “And your big, colourful eyes… How are you a stray! So adorable!” Jett cooed as she continued giving Fade’s ears attention (why the hell is all this affecting you so much Hazal what the fuck get it together oh my god I do not like being called cute I do not I do not I’m so glad she can't notice how flustered I am) before slowly stopping and narrowing her eyes. “And your white highlights… and the fact that your left eye is brown while your right eye is blue.. And the faint mark across your nose…”
Oh no.
“Fade…?” Jett cautiously queried, suspicion mounting in her eyes. She wouldn’t put it past the stray cat of a woman to actually be a stray cat, of everyone at HQ. Maybe apart from Omen.
Fade’s ears twitched at the mention, with Jett immediately noticing. Curse this cat anatomy, Fade thought, meowing and pretending to lose interest in her as Jett’s eyes fully widened.
As Jett pulled out her phone to try to take a picture, however, Fade took advantage of her feline reaction times and quickly transformed back into her human appearance in a swirl of red and black nightmare essence.
Jett dropped her phone, staggered back and shrieked upon seeing Nightmare. Fade, mid-transformation, internally winced at this and instinctively went to apologise.
“Meo-” Hitting herself on the head, Fade tried again. “Ahem- sorry.”
“What the fuck?!” Jett, now slightly more calm, uttered in surprise as Fade tried to hit the cat out of herself.
“What was I supposed to do, let you take a picture of me like that? I wasn’t gonna attack the phone out of your hand.”
“You’re- you-” Jett’s wide eyes and slack jaw suddenly turned into a shit-eating grin as she realised the implications of this. “You got stuck in a tree and were too scared to come down.”
“I’m… new to this whole being a cat thing, yes. I just learned I could do this and I… Thank you. For saving me. From the tree. That I got stuck in.” Fade was sincere, though she said it through gritted teeth. Having to admit this to Jett of all people was not easy.
“Oh, everyone is so finding out about this!” Jett excitedly said, picking up her phone off the floor, giddily.
Fade hissed at her while trying to make a retort, shaking her head as she remembered the human way to navigate this. “I was being genuine, but if you want to shove it in my face and flaunt it because you’re too embarrassed you were nice and gentle with me and called me cute, I suppose everyone will have to find out about that, too.” Jett’s finger suddenly hovered over the keyboard she was typing on as her eyes widened.
“I didn’t-”
“Oh, and you think my eyes are adorable too. Can’t forget that.” Fade was glad she could have the shit-eating grin on her face now with Jett in shock horror.
Jett made a show of deleting what she had typed on her phone, then putting it away before clearing her throat.
“And you’re not embarrassed you were scared to death and I calmed you down? I just know all those pets and me calling you cute affected you too, kitten.”
“Motherfu-”
Both Jett and Fade whipped around to the source of a new noise in the garden, thankful for a distraction before their weird ego teasing battle could inevitably escalate.
“Ah, Jett, Fade. I am surprised to see you two here together. Have you finally settled your differences? I saw a cat stuck in a tree from a window and decided to come down to see if I could help, perhaps you two bonded over that?” Sage smiled at the two, genuinely hoping that they had somehow come to an agreement, masking her utter confusion about the two being alone in the garden with the cat gone.
Both Fade and Jett looked knowingly and guiltily at one another, before Fade decided to speak first. “Yes, Jett was just telling me about this… cute and adorable cat she just saved from a tree with her radiance. Quite touching, I must say.” Fade hid her amusement well beneath her unassuming expression, as Jett tried much the same to deadpan, yet couldn’t quite hide the bright red blush on her cheeks.
“Ah, it ran away though after I graciously saved it and it bit me. Really hard too, I’m just glad I was able to calm it down and save it, really, I was just telling Miss Cat Lady over here.” Jett lied through her teeth, mock sadness on her expression as she was completely unable to hide her grin at Fade’s unhidden and utterly incredulous expression.
“I did not bite y- I mean, I, uh…” Fade’s almost angered expression at Jett lying to Sage was quickly replaced by wide-eyed shock at what she had just implied. Jett was surprised at the Freudian slip as well - Fade was usually harder to crack than that. Her fucking with Fade was no fun if she instantly gave the game away.
With Fade shocked and unable to form a sentence, Jett quickly leaped in to try to characteristically save her. You owe me for this, Fade…
“See what I mean about her, Sage?! She was gonna say she thinks I deserve it. She’s always just so evil to me, even when I try my hardest to be nice to her.”
“Jett, why are you always stirring up…”
“I don’t know, maybe because you…”
Sage simply sighed, all her hopes shattered. Well, at least the cat was okay, even if Fade and Jett were… Fade and Jett. They really should do something about the weird sexual tension between them when they argue if nothing else, Sage thought to herself as she facepalmed and walked away, the pair still bickering as she made her way back inside HQ.