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The cat, originally, was supposed to be Amanita's, but Nancy Drew (ND for short) definitely loved Nomi more and the feeling was mutual. Nomi loved how the cat would wind itself around her and purr, loved the way it would demand hugs and kisses and all the petting it wanted but still be fine by itself when they weren't home during the day. That cat was her baby and she loved it. Which was why she had no idea what to do with the cat when she was going on her honeymoon.
Most of the friends either hated cats, were allergic or had cats of their own and while Nancy Drew was an amazing cat, she didn't really get along well with other cats. Amanita's mom couldn't watch her because she was off to a big conference after the wedding. Nomi's family were definitely out of the question. They looked into putting her into a kennel for the few weeks they'd be away but it was expensive and Amanita got sad eyes when she saw the tiny little cages the cats were meant to stay in, which meant that was out too.
So they were stuck.
Amanita offered to put off their honeymoon until they could figure something out, stating that all that mattered to her was that they were together, and as amazing and sweet as that was, Nomi didn't want to do that.
"I could watch her." Will offered, giving her a grin. Most of the cluster were flying in to physically attend the wedding, all except Sun and Capheus who couldn't get their physically so would be attending via the link, and then they were going to be hanging around for a while afterwards to spend time together, so it could definitely work.
"Will, you are saving my life. Yet again." Nomi told him, pulling him into a hug and pressing a big kiss to his cheek.
They headed off on their honeymoon, happy knowing that someone as likeable and responsible as Will was looking after their baby.
There was one problem though. Will soon discovered that all the sweet and cute stories about Nancy Drew were lies, they were all lies! That cat was the devil.
Within five minutes of him stepping through the door and Nomi and Amanita leaving, Nancy Drew hissed and snarled at him, her body arched high in the air and her fur standing on end. He didn't know too much about cats but he knew this was not a good sign.
"Hey there ND." He said soothingly, walking towards her with his hand outstretched. "I'm a friend of Nomi's. We're good. We're calm. Everything's going to be o... fucking motherfucking fuck!" He cried out, nursing his hand close to his chest as she clawed at him.
"It's just a cat, Will." Sun's voice came from behind him, making him spin around to face her. His heartrate had elevated, which had apparently called upon her assistance in the same way it did when one of them needed someone's ass kicked.
"It's the devil." He disagreed, keeping his distance. ND was watching him with her beady eyes, calculating his every move for her best opportunity to strike, he was sure of it.
Sun rolled her eyes, striding forward. "You're lucky I love you." She said, taking over for him. The cat seemed to see the change, probably used to it from when she saw it happen to Nomi, and was now giving Sun a calculating look. "I'm more of a dog person, myself." Sun drawled, striding closer to the cat and stopping directly in front of it. She dropped down to a crouch, extending a hand out slowly to pet her.
"Careful." Will warned from behind her, glad he wasn't in charge right now but well aware that if she got bitten or scratched again, he would be the one with the lasting injury.
"I've got this. I'll just approach this as I would a competitor." She told him, smirking in triumph when Nancy Drew sniffed at her fingers and grudgingly pushed its head into her palm.
The peace lasted all about two days.
It seemed the cat had simply been lulling them both into a false sense of security. Sun would take over for Will when he went to Nomi's, survive feeding it and giving it water, she even let her toss her a toy to play with once, but then on the third day, she struck.
Sun let herself into the apartment and didn't see the cat anywhere. This wasn't that odd, Nomi had told Will that she often liked to laze about in Nomi's spot in her and Amanita's bed, so she didn't think too much off it. She took two steps further inside and suddenly Nancy Drew was jumping from the top of a cupboard, landing on her back, her claws clinging to her shirt and into her skin. If it had been a fight, she would have called cheating and poor sportsmanship.
She still gave the devil creature its food and water but then swore to Will that she would never be doing that again. Will agreed, wincing as Riley treated the claw wounds in his back.
"The cat can't be that bad." Riley said with a laugh, leaning in and giving Will a kiss.
"Oh yeah?" He asked, arching an eyebrow at her. "How about you give it a go?" He challenged.
"Fine. I will." She laughed, kissing him again.
The next day, Will was tempted to check in on her, it was easier for him to pop in on her then the others thanks to their stronger connection to each other, but she'd claimed she could handle it so he was letting her.
But then she didn't come back to the hotel that night. He stayed up until late, waiting for her to return, but he was worried. Finally, he gave in and popped in to check on her.
She was sitting on Nomi's couch, her knees drawn up to her chest as she hugged them, her eyes wide as she stared towards the doorway. Will was instantly on alert and spun around, his hand automatically going for the gun that was not on his hip at that moment and would do him no good even if it was, only to see that she was staring at the cat.
"It won't let me leave." She whispered, as though she was worried it would hear her and know what she was saying.
"What?" He asked in bemusement.
"It won't let me leave. Watch." She instructed, slowly letting her knees go and lowering her feet back to the floor. The cat watched every minute detail, tensing more and more with each movement. She finally got her feet on the ground and pushed herself up to stand. She took a few slow steps towards the door, the cat started yowling, growing louder with every step. When she got close to the door it darted forward, swiping at her with its claws, and sent her hurrying back. "See!" She called out, jumping when it made the cat yowl again.
"I'll be there as soon as I can." He told her, already shoving his feet into his shoes and taking off for Nomi's place. He could have taken over for her and got her out of there, but probably not without injury to her body, and he wasn't willing to let her get injured so she'd have to sit tight until he could get there.
He burst into the apartment, wincing as the cat leapt on him and dug its claws into his arm, biting him as well.
"Come on." He instructed, gritting his teeth through the pain, waving her past. She hurried past him and once she was clear he shook his arm until the cat detached itself from him and then backed out as fast as he could, slamming the door shut behind him, shutting the creature inside the apartment.
Lito laughed himself silly when they told him the harrowing tale the next day. He laughed so hard he claimed he couldn't breathe and ended up literally rolling on the floor laughing.
"It's just a cat!" He cried out once he was able to get himself under control, but then he seemed to think about it again and set off into giggles again, which just set everyone off as well.
"Let me take care of it." Wolfgang piped up from his end of the table, silencing any remaining giggles.
"Ah, no, that's okay." Will said uncomfortably.
There was a reason everyone turned to Wolfgang for all the unspeakable or uncomfortable things they didn't want to do. None of them wanted to explain to Nomi that her beloved cat had been shot by an angry German man. No matter how evil the thing was.
Wolfgang shrugged, looking away from them, and Kala reached out to run a soothing hand over his arm, making him give her a slight smile but he was still clearly pouting.
"I think this is an example of a time where you need a lover, not a fighter." Lito told him, giving them all a wink and holding his hand out for the keys. Will shrugged and handed them over. Maybe Lito could do better.
Lito could not do better.
Definitely not.
He met them all back in Will and Riley's hotel room, crying and holding his cheek.
"That wild animal maimed me!" He cried out, moving his hand to show the claw marks on his cheek. "Why my face? How could that beast do this to my money maker?" He asked. Everyone knew this was serious business, and those that had dealt with ND knew how painful her attacks could be, but someone let out a snort (quite possibly Hernando, but no one could prove it) and then they were all giggling ridiculously. Lito glared at them all and stormed towards the bathroom to tend to his wounds. "Screw all of you!" He cried out, which just made them laugh harder.
Capheus offered to take someone over to do the next shift with the cat. Riley immediately declined, not wanting her body anywhere near that cat again, Lito called out fuck no from the bathroom where Hernando was giving him 'first aid', and he couldn't take over for Sun to do it because she wasn't there either. With a sigh, Will agreed to let him take over for him.
He just hoped he'd have better luck than the rest of them.
Capheus lasted a decent four days taking over. That was mostly due to the fact that he hadn't actually seen the cat in person. It was nowhere to be found when he got there to give it food and water and change its litter box, even when he went looking for it, much to Will's chagrin, but the food was eaten the next morning, the water drunk and the litter box used.
"Nancy Drew, I had delicious food for you today." He called out happily as he entered the apartment, starting in surprise when he saw that the cat was sitting right next to its food bowl for a change, staring right at him. "Oh, hello there! Finally come to say hello?" He asked, moving closer to her with a grin on his face. She ducked her head, letting him reach out to pet her, but as soon as his hand made contact with her head she darted up, biting down on his fingers and grabbing his hand with her paws to keep him there.
"Goddamnit!" Will shouted in pain, shaking his hand in pain, Capheus groaning along.
"How do I get it off?" He called, apologetic that Will was hurting, all while he was hurting himself.
"No idea." Will told him, wincing as the cat chewed viciously at his fingers.
"Maybe Nomi can help." Capheus suggested, thinking about reaching out to her, but Will shook his head.
"She's on her honeymoon, we can't disturb that just because we can't handle her cat." He pointed out. Capheus sighed but nodded.
"You're right, Nomi deserves the chance to be happy and not worry about us intruding." He agreed, pausing as he noticed the cat easing off when he said Nomi's name. "Hey, wait a minute... Nomi..." He said trailing off and letting it linger. Nancy Drew let go and perked up, looking for her owner, and Capheus backed towards the door. The cat seemed to realize her owner wasn't actually around and let out a rumbling growl, turning to charge at them so they yelled in fright and ran for the door, slamming it shut behind them.
"Maybe you just don't know how to handle her." Kala suggested with a shrug.
"Maybe it's the devil disguised as a cat." Lito countered, rubbing at his cheek bitterly.
"Give me the keys. The poor thing at least needs to get fed today." She pointed out, snatching the keys from Will and heading out.
Half an hour she was back. She had no claw marks, no bite marks and hadn't been attacked. Unfortunately she wasn't completely unharmed. No, instead of bite and claw marks, she was left with a severe case of hives.
"How could you not know you're allergic?" Wolfgang asked, rubbing over her hives to relieve the itching and giving her a fond smile.
"I don't spend time around cats. Don't tease me when I'm hideous, it's not nice." She told him, pouting. Wolfgang chuckled and leant down to give her a sweet kiss.
"You're not hideous, you're absolutely beautiful." He assured her, brushing her hair behind her ear. She beamed up at him but then rolled her eyes when Lito let out a gagging sound.
"Oh please, Lito, as if you're not as disgustingly sappy with Hernando." Sun pointed out with a roll of her eyes and he shrugged, completely unrepentant.
They had absolutely no idea what to do about Nomi's cat now, though. No one was willing to go back to try to feed that beast and there was still a week before Nomi was due back, but none of them were willing to let the thing starve. Lito suggested readying a giant bowl with food, another with water and then just shoving it through the door to it, but that had its problems because what if it ate it all and drunk all the water in the first day?
"Or, you could just let me take care of it." Wolfgang pointed out. "I'm not scared of it, I'm not allergic, and I don't think it's going to be able to get the better of me. Let me do it." They all exchanged glances and reluctantly agreed, Will handing over the keys once again.
If he shot it, he'd have to deal with Nomi, they were all washing their hands of it.
Nobody heard anything from him for a day after he took off to head to Nomi's place. Kala was laid up in bed, miserable and recuperating from her allergic reaction, and she assured them that he had it under control, but they were all still really worried.
What if he'd killed the cat and was in the midst of burying its body somewhere no one would ever find it?
What if he was locked in a weird Mexican standoff with the cat, him with a gun and her with her claws?
What if the cat had killed him and was in the midst of burying his body somewhere no one would ever find it?
They all agreed after another day that they should pop in to check on them. No one wanted their bodies anywhere near the hellcat so a pop in would be best.
The sight that greeted them was completely unexpected.
Wolfgang was lounging on the couch, a Schwarzenegger movie playing on the TV, and running a hand absentmindedly through Nancy Drew's fur where she was draped over his shoulders, purring happily. To say everyone was shocked was a complete understatement.
"Are you all going to stand there staring or are you going to sit down and watch the movie? You're making us nervous." He said, not once taking his eyes off the screen or stopping his petting motions. Nancy Drew stopped purring, her eyes going to where they were clustered together as though she could actually see them, but made no move to vacate her obviously comfortable position.
"Did you drug the cat?" Will asked worriedly, seeing how docile she was for a change. Wolfgang shook his head, smiling as ND stretched down from her perch on his shoulders to pad a circle in front of him, rubbing her head against his chest and his chin.
"Did you kill the cat and find an exact double to pass off as Nomi's cat?" Lito asked, sitting on the couch and reaching for the remote to change the channel to a better movie (and maybe see if he could find one of his instead) but Wolfgang merely shook his head and didn't allow his hand to move.
"Nope. Same cat." He assured them all. "She's just a big loveable fur ball, aren't you ND?" He asked, his voice going into a baby talk tone that freaked them all out.
"Who are you and what did you do with Wolfgang?" Riley asked, making him roll his eyes.
"You guys just can't appreciate her the way she needs." He told them, sounding offended on her behalf. "Now shut up, we're trying to watch a movie." He told them, scratching ND's belly when she laid on her back in front of him, his other arm going around Kala as she popped in and curled up next to him.
"She's a lot lovelier when she's not making me break out in hives." She commented, snuggling in to both of them. Wolfgang grinned and nodded, pressing a kiss to Kala's head and pulling both her and the cat closer.
The others wondered if they'd entered the Twilight Zone, but none of them were going to argue against it, seeing as though this meant they were all free from the cat's reign of terror.
"How was my baby while I was gone?" Nomi asked when she was back, ND hugged tightly to her chest. "Were you good for Mommies' friends?" She asked, her voice taking on that same baby talk tone Wolfgang's had.
The others all exchanged nervous glances, because no, she was not good for Mommies' friends.
"She was a dream." Wolfgang assured her, moving to stand next to her and reaching out to rub the cat behind the ear, grinning at it. Nomi grinned and pressed a kiss to Nancy Drew's head.
"Of course she was." She said happily, the two of them lavishing attention on the cat as though she was the best thing ever.
Amanita moved to stand with the rest of her wife's cluster, a smirk on her face.
"She was a terror, wasn't she?" She asked them and they all nodded immediately.
"Oh yeah. Are you sure she's not part hellcat?" Will asked, making Amanita chuckle.
"I'm pretty sure she is." She agreed, looking back over at her wife. "But she's a dream when Nomi's around, so I can deal with it." She told them all, making them all grin because she actually was pretty sweet right at that moment, soaking up the attention from her two favorite people, Nomi and Wolfgang.
At least until she turned to glare at them all over Nomi's shoulder.
Yep, definitely a hellcat.