Two weeks quickly passed before I had the opportunity to visit Danielle again. Work was kicking my butt. We were on the verge of a breakthrough, or at least we claimed to be, like we always did at this time of the year. It made the investors happy, and playing along was sadly necessary when the stakes of our work were that high. I was just grateful the bows and praise and a—… hand kissing were my boss’s responsibility rather than mine. He disliked doing it as much as any sensible person, but he was just glad to spare us the trouble so we could focus on the actually important stuff.

Danielle welcomed me into her apartment. We exchanged the customary pleasantries, then she sat me down in the living room, near the window again. She insisted on brewing me a cup of tea and left for the kitchen.

I twiddled my thumbs while waiting, tucking my foot under my leg. The kitty was nowhere to be seen, but near his water bowl on the other side of the room, I managed to spot the word buttons. There were five of them now. 

Frankie finally made his appearance. He headed for the couch, his little plush toy in mouth, but stopped in his tracks as he spotted me. His tail slowly lifted upright, curling at the tip.

I turned my chair towards him and leaned down. “Hello there, little one.”

His eyes stayed on me for a moment, before looking straight ahead for another. He stayed like that for about twenty seconds, his tail having settled back down and swishing left and right, before he headed for the buttons. He lifted his paw and shook it, staring at them one by one. He placed his paw down on one of them without pressing it, then just removed his paw. He walked in a circle, moved to the buttons again, sat down, dropped his toy and started meowing.

“Yes, yes, I’m coming!” Danielle called out from the kitchen. She came in and quickly handed me my cup — too hot, I placed it down on the table to let it cool — before bouncing across the room to Frankie. “What is it, Frankie babyyy~?” she cooed in baby talk.

The kitty just continued mewling, weaving between her legs while rubbing against them.

“Seems like he’s already doing a lot better,” I offered.

Danielle enthusiastically nodded. “Hmm hm! He’s got his button for food, for pets, for when he wants his bee, and the other two are his name and mine!” 

She quickly demonstrated them. “Food!” “Pets!” “Arlinn!” “Frankie!” “Mom!”

I snickered. Leave it to Danielle to name a plush toy after the manufacturer on the tag.

“So what is it you want this time, hmm?” she continued, asking the kitty.

After another pause, Frankie walked around the room before stopping in his tracks. Once again he stared straight ahead.

“The couch? You wanna climb on the couch?”

Understanding what was asked took him a moment. He turned in a circle and looked in my direction.

”Hm. Do you know what he wants?” she asked me.

“I can’t say I’m the cat expert out of us two,” I said.

“True!” Danielle replied, sauntering to the foyer.

I waved my hand above my cup of tea to assess the heat. With it still being too hot to drink, I opted to pull out my whistle and cool it down with a spell before taking a sip, then sat back to observe the genius at work.

Danielle came back with a heavy book in her arms and a button on top. The book was something about cat psychology. She opened it and started flipping. “Page fifty-seven, body language, fifty-seven, body language…” She glided her finger over the text, flipped a little more, then looked back and forth between Frankie and the book. “I suppose I’ll try that, then!” Placing the book aside, she picked up the button, pulled out the slip between the battery and the connector, then spoke into the button while pressing it. “Hello!” she said. “Hello!” the button replied, compressed and gravelly.

She placed it down next to the other five and Frankie gave it a whack. “Hello!” He pressed it again. “Hello!” “Hello!” He rubbed himself against Danielle’s legs with a “Mrrp” then continued to push it, looking right at me. “Hello!” “Hello!” “Hello!”

“Hello to you too,” I replied with a smile, leaning on my hand.

“So that’s the process!” Danielle said, sitting across from me. “As you can see, he’s been taking them on very fast since your spell. I barely have to reinforce the words!” I nodded along. “There was one time he accidentally reset a button, so now I make sure to write what they’re supposed to say on them so I can fix it. Still… All this progress in just two weeks!”

I straightened my posture. “Is that abnormal?”

She shrank in her seat, as if she felt she said something she shouldn’t have. That put me a bit on edge. “I mean, it’s juuust a bit faster than average, but it’s within expected range, I assure you! Maybe there’s a step back right around the corner anyways, right?” She smiled toothily, hoping to soften the blow.

I concluded I would have to look into the true ‘expected range’ myself. Still, I nodded, pretending I bought the excuse — and it wasn’t like the kitty didn’t seem safe for now.

The conversation moved on after this point. I asked her questions about her job-seeking adventures and shared some of my own tribulations from work; truly, adulthood had never seemed as attractive as during these kinds of moments. Some time during the conversation, I turned my eyes back to Frankie and saw him down on his flank again. The look Danielle and I exchanged made it clear that we both knew we were still a ways away from a resolution.

I departed not long afterwards; I didn’t like to drive after dark.

PrincessFelicie

Come join my discord server to discuss my stories, and find plenty of recommendations for trans, queer, neurodiverse fanfics and original works! I'd love to see you there <3 https://discord.gg/EBKzeR55kT