Returning A Lost Kitten (Darcie and Mik)

Darcie asked herself a million times why she was doing this, he obviously did not want to talk to her any more so why on earth was she going to see him to return a cat that he didn't even want to have brought back to him and hated the sight of.

With a small sigh she debated what she would do as she walked closer and closer to the herbology gardens, she had wanted to attach a note to Tigon's collar but had not known what to say in it, and now she was getting more and more nervous.

Deciding that she would just knock on the door and leave Tigon on the step, Darcie bent down and placed Tigon on the step, pouting slightly as she mewed, apparently she did not want Darcie to leave, but as Darcie knocked on the door, she patted Tigon once more and turned to walk back up to the tower.

Mikhail ran a hand through his hair, pacing around his office. He cursed to himself and fixed his hair again. Why the hell did he keep doing this? He felt something akin to embarrassment and guilt when he had left Darcie in that cafe. It was the right choice. He didn't let anyone close; nobody. He had himself, and that was all he needed.

His place was even clean for once. No orange fur lining the carpets or claw marks on the sofa. Better yet, it was quiet. So why was he so antsy? Sighing to himself, he made some tea. He smiled as he remembered the last time he used the teapot before he shook his head and frowned. No emotion.

Hearing a knock at the door, he set the teapot down after he finished filling his cup. Opening the door, he opened his mouth to tell whoever it was that he was busy when he noticed Darcie's retreating back. Looking up at the sky, he sighed and looked down, seeing the damned cat staring up at him. Or rather she was.

Mikhail grunted as the cat jumped up into his arms. He stumbled back, surprised at such strength from the cat, and fell on his back. A string of expletives fell from his lips as he looked at the cat on his chest. She even had the gall to mew at him.

Darcie jumped a little when the door had opened behind her, she turned around and made to give Mik one of her large smiles, she could at least pretend that she was alright so that he didn't feel so bad about what he did, if he even felt bad in the first place.

As soon as she head a thump and a rather choice string of swearing Darcie gasped and without thinking dashed back over to his office to see what exactly had happened to Mik, she would hate it if he was hurt and she didn't help him when he needed her.

"Oh my! Mikhail are you alright?" she asked, slightly panicked

When she saw Tigon perched on Mik's chest Darcie couldn't help but give the cat an exasperated look and she tried very gingerly to pick her up from Mikhail's chest.

"You silly cat, that's no way to behave, you were so good for me too." she pouted.

Mik grunted and rubbed at his chest, sitting up from the floor and dusting his hands off. "I told you that cat is nothing but trouble, especially for me," Mikhail said, pushing himself up off the floor and onto his feet again. He dusted himself off and pointed a finger at the offending cat.

His mouth open and closed a couple of times before he sighed, dropping his hand. Definitely wasn't worth it. Mikhail stared at Darcie for a couple seconds before he moved. Standing beside his desk gave him at least a little of his composure back. Or it at least made him feel safer than he was earlier, especially with Tigon around.

"I take it you just came to bring her back?" Mik asked, gesturing toward the cat bed that was still in the corner. "If she wants to stay here then she can. Though she seems to be rather fond of you. Can't say I'm not surprised; she liked you when you came through that door the first time."

Mik's eyes were drawn to his desk and the hot tea still sitting there. He figured he might as well ask her if she wanted some before she left to attend her own classroom or office. He gestured to the set. "I just made some. Do you care to join me?" He asked, moving to sit behind his desk. "Feel free to just leave if you don't."

Darcie felt guilty for bringing Tigon back now, perhaps she should have just kept her, she was looking into getting a cat anyway and she would have saved Mikhail a lot of trouble when he was upset and frustrated by the things that Tigon did.

Biting her lip she wondered if she was going to be able to stop herself from giggling when she saw Mikhail open and close his mouth when he was pointing at Tigon accusingly;

"I'm beginning to see things from your perspective, maybe she just likes to wind you up secretly." she grinned a little patting Tigon on the head.

With a small nod Darcie smiled softly; "Yes I just came to bring her back, I wasn't sure if you wanted to see me or not so I was planning to just leave her on the step, but I couldn't just walk away when you might have been hurt."

When she was invited inside Darcie let out a huge smile and she happily stepped into Mik's office, and accepted the offer of some tea, it reminded her of doing the tessomancy reading when they had last met.

"I would love to join you for some tea, what type is it?" she asked in her usual chirpy voice.

"I wouldn't doubt that she likes to rile me up," Mikhail murmured, sighing to himself when he took a seat. "It seems to be her favorite hobby actually since she can get under my skin. It's pretty easy for her since she's hard to catch when she puts her mind to it."

Mik eyed the cat in Darcie's arms who meowed over at him and jumped on his desk. Holding a hand out so she didn't knock over any of the tea or other ornaments that adorned his desk, he picked Tigon up gently and set her down on her bed. Looking up at him for a few moments, she meowed at him again before laying down.

Mik furrowed his brow. The day in the cafe came back to him as strong as ever and a slight frown marred his face before he steeled it back to neutral. "Personal choices aside," Mik murmured quietly. "We are professors at the same school. It is natural for us to mingle, no matter what." Even if I don't want to get to know other people at the moment.

Mik gestured to the teapot, and it began to pour another cup of tea. "Earl Gray," he said, a small smile coming to his face. "A personal favorite of my mother's when she was alive. We used to drink it quite a lot when I was younger."

Darcie blinked a little bit, and she was completely shocked once more, she had no idea what it was with Mikhail, she just didn't understand him and she waited a few moments before speaking once more, just to make sure that she had gotten what he had said right in her mind.

It was not in her nature to jump to conclusions and she looked down at her lap, biting her lip and blinking rather rapidly, she had never met someone who didn't want to be around her, especially when she had done nothing wrong...maybe he just didn't like her.

"If you don't want me here, I can just leave, I don't mind at all, I'd just rather you be honest with me than me thinking that you want to be friends and then turning around and saying that we're not."

Standing up from the table Darcie wiped at her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath to calm herself down;

"I don't want to burden you with my company if you don't like me." she whispered quietly.

Mikhail sighed, rubbing at his forehead. This was one of things he was avoiding when he told himself that he would get to know anyone while he was teaching at the school. He stood up from his chair and stared at Darcie for a few moments, trying to figure out what to say.

"Look," he said, running a hand through his hair. "It isn't that I don't want you to stay, it's just I feel you would definitely be better off not being around me." Turning to the side, he picked up the frame of his mother and sighed.

He might as well say what he was going to say eventually. "I'm cursed with something, alright," he murmured, setting the frame back on the shelf and staring back at Darcie. "Been that way since I was born. I'd rather not go into the details, if you don't mind."

Returning to his chair, Mik sat down and crossed his arms. "I don't get close to people for that very reason. I don't happen to like passing out on every interval. If you wish to leave, then I won't stop you." He commented, pulling his cup to him and blowing on the tea to cool it down.

Darcie wiped at her eyes again, this was so confusing, so he wanted her to stay after all? He just thought that she would be safer if she stayed away from him? Maybe this was why he was so alone...maybe this was the reason why he didn't mingle with other professors...?

Biting her lip Darcie whispered;

"I see, but surely that is my own choice, I consider you a friend Mik, and I dont leave my friends when they need me for anything, and I don't even if you don't admit it yourself...that you need me, just to talk to or complain to."

When he told her what was wrong Darcie opened her mouth slightly and felt so immensely guilty, she hated the way she had been so ignorant, had she upset Mik by saying something about his curse inadvertently? She hoped not and she said quietly;

"Oh Mik, now at least I understand why you acted the way you did I was just so confused by it, I...I thank you for trusting me with this information and you have my word I'll never tell another soul." she promised, letting her eyes lock with his own.

A large smile on her lips, Darcie sat down as if nothing had happened; "I like Earl Grey too, do you have any lemons? I always used to have it with them back home."

Mik sipped at his tea in contemplation. He figured telling her about his problem was the only way to make her understand why he did indeed push people away from him. He had already made the mistake of reaching out to pat her hand one time, and he had saved himself by doing what he knew how to do best: Hiding himself from others and cutting off all ties.

Yeah because that worked so well Mik old boy. He thought to himself, looking over at Tigon. Said cat was just staring up at him like she wanted some of his tea. "Like hell cat," he murmured to himself. "You're not getting any of my tea."

Sighing to himself, he nodded. "All I have to go on is your word, but for some reason, I don't think you'd tell anyone as you have so promised." All she knows is it's some sort of affliction or curse. She doesn't know what it happens to do. "And she never will," Mik muttered into his tea cup.

He gestured over to his cabinet, waving his hand and watching the doors open on his silent command. "There should be at least one up there. I restocked them just the other day. Go ahead and ransack the cupboard; I don't mind."

The silence that fell for a few moments was one that Darcie would have normally found uncomfortable, although she did not now that she knew why Mikahil had acted the way he had done, everything was not back to normal as far as she was concerned.

Giggling when Mik addressed Tigon, in the way he usually did, Darcie realised how much the cat and Mik were like an old married couple; "You really do argue a lot you two." she grinned "You're like an old husband and wife the way you quarrell."

When Darcie heard what Mikhail said she nodded her head and her eyes firmed for a moment, her hand stuck into the air in a fist as she spoke; "I wont let your trust down Mikhail, I really promise I wont tell anyone, believe it."

Happily opening the cupboard Darcie grinned as she saw the lemon and tried not to knock anything over or displace anything in the process; "Do you want a slice?" she asked as she sat back down.

Mikhail shot a look at his cat and sighed. "Figure the only way I'm going to get used to her is to do what I do best," he muttered. "Can't really ignore her, she'll scratch up all the furniture. So every time she even tries to have a bad thought, I lock onto her and tell her no. She has this look about her when I just know she's going to do something bad."

He stiffened and sighed when he felt Tigon rubbing against his legs. Reaching down, he picked her up and set her back down in her bed. "And now I have to clean my pants later," Mikhail commented, wrapping his hands around his tea cup.

Mikhail nodded at Darcie, a small grin playing on his lips. "I know you won't Darcie. You are the only person who knows now, minus my father." Mik sipped at his tea and sighed. Most days, he considered wearing gloves, but then he would just look weirder than he already did. It was a choice to stay hidden, but he had to go out of his way to avoid such contact.

Mik held up his hand and shook his head. "No, thank you. I usually have lemon with some of my other teas. With my Earl I prefer just one lump of sugar." He commented, lowering his hand back down to the desk and picking up his cup. "I'm very peculiar with my tea."

Darcie smiled happily when she heard what Mik said about Tigon, he really was treating her as if he was some sort of child, and to her it was incredibly cute to see it was very odd too though considering that Tigon at the end of the day was a cat.

"Thats a good way to train her, she should be adapting in no time if you carry it on, I have to say, I might have spoiled her just a little bit so...sorry about that." she grinned sheepishly.

When she was told that she was the second person to ever know about this Darcie blushed a little, she felt so very trusted and special when she was told that and she hoped that Mikhail would carry on this trust for her in the course of their friendship.

"I guess it's a pretty secret secret then." she whispered quietly "I know it sounds silly, but why do you keep it so secret, maybe people would understand your actions more if you told them?"

Gently she cut a slice of lemon before putting it on a coaster she conjured up; "Thats a little weird but then again I can't comment I do weird things myself." Darcie giggled.

Mik sighed before shaking his head with a chuckle. He should have expected that Darcie would spoil the little demon cat. He actually did expect it just a little bit, but he didn't expect Darcie to bring the cat back.

"It's fine," he finally said, taking another sip of his tea. "She should know by now that it is not exactly easy in my house. I'll have to invest in some sort of a cage, but I doubt even that will stop her from doing what she does best: Ruining my furniture and getting my pants all orange."

Mik stared into his tea for a couple of silent moments before looking back up at Darcie. "It's secret secret secret. Trust me, if people knew, they just might go out of their way to avoid me. I avoid people anyway, but I'd pretty much be on my own." Or forced to wear gloves. Either or.

He smiled slightly into his tea cup and drank some more. "I prefer to think of them as unique things we do," he murmured. "After all, unique is just another word for weird. But it sounds nicer."

Darcie was a little shocked when Mikhail said that he was going to get some sort of cage for Tigon, she did not think that she had been bad enough to warrant being put in a cage, although she was not there half the time that she was with Mikhail...so who was she to judge?

"I think that might be a little extreme." she said with a concerned tone to her voice "Maybe you should try putting her in another room and locking the door if you don't want her to bother you?"

When he told her just how alone he would be if he told everyone about what had happened to him, Darcie nodded her head, she didn't know after all and she could not give advice about what she didn't know about, after all Mikhail would probably know everything about his curse anyway.

"I understand, I won't give you advice because you've probably heard it all before, and in most occassions advice doesn't actually help." she said with a sad smile.

Laughing a little Darcie nodded and sipped at her tea; "Thats a nice way to look at things, everyone has their own uniqueness after all."

Mik supposed putting the kitten in a cage would be a little too harsh for her, but he had to teach her in some way. Unless she was being like this on purpose of course. "She would find some way in," Mik sighed to himself. "But I suppose the cage will be put off to the side for now. I'll accept that it's kitten behavior, but once she gets older, she'll have to start behaving."

Mikhail quirked his lips up in a small smile. Yes, she was quite right. Advice in this situation would help in no way since he was the only one who knew about his affliction. Besides his father of course, but even the old man knew when to let things alone. The affliction was something he would never speak about. Ever. Though Darcie sort of ruined that for him.

He stared down at his hand, flexing it and pulling his fingers into a fist before letting them relax. Such innocent touches can lead to the worst consequences. Mik stopped staring at his hand and moved his eyes to stare into his tea now. He faintly wondered if this cup could tell him better things were on the way, but he figured one and done for the fortune aspect.

"Advice is unneeded," he finally said with a nod. "But I am...flattered I guess, in a way, that you would certainly give some to me if you thought that I needed it." Some day...perhaps when I'm certain you won't turn away from me, I'll let you know just what is wrong with me. And why I stay away.

Darcie was very glad when Mikhail said that he was going to put the cage to one side for now, it was good to hear that he was willing to give the little kitty some more patience before he finally had to do that, she was only little after all.

"I'm sure she will calm down when she gets older, she'll just sleep I think, thats why my old cat used to do, she used to sleep on my bed until I had to urge her off at nighttime." Darcie smiled gently, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

The silence that fell when Mik thought was not one that she was adverse to, she rather liked it in fact, it gave her time to think about whatever could be the matter with him exactly, she did not want to pry and continue to pester about it, when he so clearly disliked the subject however.

"Oh don't worry about that, I'm always here for my friends whenever they might need me to be, and whatever they might need me for might I just add." she said with a happy grin.