Chapter 14 - Boobs Are the Best Cat Toys
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The early morning chill, forming a misty haze in the pre-dawn light, made Mittens' skin goose-pimple as she lazily twirled and danced about the back yard, waiting for the sun to rise and greet her. She could feel an invisible draw pulling at her to slip back into bed with her two friends and return to snuggling, but she felt an equal desire to do one of her morning frolics. It always made her feel so much better when she said a proper good morning to the first rays of sun.
And, this morning, she needed that little extra dose of feeling good. She kept thinking about the strange little breakdown in Krystal as they were going to bed. It had started her little kitty brain spinning and whirling, combing over details from the time she'd known the shy and enigmatic girl. While she'd often seen a deep melancholy etched in her heavily made up face, she'd always usually been stoic in manner.
Seeing her friend cry and not knowing the reasons for it bothered Mittens. She'd been wanting to help her, by bringing her out of her shell, but it seemed that Krystal had much more she needed help with than just bullying and shyness. And so, she'd tried to think about any possible clues she'd seen that might help explain.
However, she still lacked enough context to be able to separate Krystal's general depressive introversion from something more specific. Something that might be a clue could also be nothing more than just one of her eccentricities. Just as something she attributed to just social anxiety could be a symptom of something deeper. Mittens had always had a knack for reading people, but Krystal had a way of keeping her guessing that was both amazing and crazy-making.
The girl was definitely a cat.
As she leapt and bounced, mind quietly turning her friend over and over, she noticed a light come on in the sun room. After a moment, the patio doors opened and someone stepped out into the muted morning gloom. It was Krystal, still clad in the gym shorts she'd changed into before bed, but now also wearing a red hoodie and a pair of Ugg boots. Unlike Valli, she'd brought a bag with some extra clothes.
As she crossed the yard towards Mittens, she wrapped her arms about herself against the chill. While it had been too dark in the room when she'd slipped into bed with them to really see her face without all the make-up, Mittens could now better make out the real face beneath all the base-powder and heavy mascara. She practically looked like another person.
Mittens already knew that Krystal's mother had been three-fourths Comanche, but had never realized just how much of her mother's heritage had passed on to her daughter. All that make-up changed her face completely, altering the look of her facial lines and making her deep blue eyes so much more prominent. It masked not only her, but her ancestry.
Without it all, the mixture of Native American and Polish roots was much more clear and read beautifully across her features. Though she looked a little strange with a clean face, Mittens could still see the beautiful soul that she felt so blessed to have gotten to know. It also made Mittens feel honored that she was getting to see this unprotected side of her friend, as though she'd earned some new layer of trust.
"How are you naked out here?" Krystal asked with a chuckle as she came up. "It's freezing!"
Mittens waved dismissively with a paw. "Meh. It jus' chilly. Once ya start dancin' ya doesn't even notice." She did a few spins and bounces in illustration. "Give it a try!" She grabbed a hold of Krystal's hand and began pulling her along behind her as she bounded along.
Though it took a moment for Krystal to give in and start dancing, before long, both of them were twirling and frolicking about the yard together. As Mittens had said, Krystal didn't appear to be chilled for long, once she started dancing in greeting of the sun. She even unzipped the front of the hoodie, revealing the sports bra beneath, though she still kept it on.
"Do you do this every morning?" Krystal asked after a bit, a little breathless from all the leaping around.
"When I can." Mittens replied with a little shrug. "Lately, I's drivin' ta learnin' 'round this time." She gave a giggle. "So, I gets it in whens I can."
Krystal gave a chuckle. "I'm starting to understand how you stay so thin all the time. You're not even winded."
Mittens gave her a toothy grin. "It a cat thing. We gots down tha whole 'run ta rest ratio'. It's why we sometimes jus' up an' ZOOM out a room. It's ta balance tha ratio."
Krystal laughed at the explanation, seeming almost amazed at how almost logical it actually sounded. "I wish I had your boundless energy. Or just your awesome, insane, mind."
Mittens spared her another broad grin. "Jus' start dancin' all the time! Anytime ya gotta wait fer somefin', jus' dance whiles ya wait. Before long, you'll be both full o' energy an' half crazy."
Krystal laughed again, but had a look that suggested she might just take the advice to heart. "It is so amazing how you make everything always seem just so...simple." She said after a moment. "As if nothing ever really bothers you."
Mittens gave a flap of her paws. "Eh, I has ma own emotional luggage. I's jus' smurt 'nuff ta put wheels on it!"
This made Krystal laugh again, obviously picturing the metaphor as a comical scene. "I need some of those wheels!"
"I'll trade ya a set fer...a quick flash!" Mittens offered, waggling her eyebrows.
Krystal gave her head a shake and chuckled. "What is with you and always trying to get me to show you my boobs?"
