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localgirlbecomesobsessed · 3 months ago

Text

The boss

Cathrine x Rui

Cathrine brings an important guest to the obscuary dorms.

Slight angst for my queen Cathrine

Contains;brief mention of child abuse v brief, Ed’s beef with a cat; injuries;slight blood mention; found family; Cathrine and Rui being cuties, Cathrine’s parents suck and she’s a lil depressed about it;

I’ve been insanely ill/working like a madwoman and trying my best so I hope you all enjoy ;)

The torrential rain roared over the obscuary dorm, the harsh pitter patter of raindrops hitting the windows echoing throughout the living room. Rui couldn’t even open the bar tonight, the weather too harsh throughout the whole of Darkwick for his clientele to make the journey all the way to the dark deep forest they were situated in.

Rui was making dinner; a katsu chicken rice bowl. Lyca’s request after craving it all day, the food truck could only stay open until lunch, the area becoming too flooded to continue much to Lyca’s dismay who had been studying in the library during lunch with Subaru.

Ed was lounging on the sofa in the living room, he was waiting to force Rui and Lyca to watch some old movie that he claims to be the best ever, Lyca waited patiently at the dining table for the food. Rui was almost done when the loud chime of the doorbell boomed through the house.

“We have a fucking door bell?”

Rui asked himself incredulously, wiping his hands on his apron as he pulled his gloves out from his pocket. Neither Lyca or Ed made a move to answer the door, instead they both looked expectantly at Rui, who sighed as he marched his way to the door swinging it wide open as he went to see who’d be mad enough to come all the way here.

“Can I stay the night?”

It was Cathrine.

Of course it was Cathrine…who else would do something like this?

She was holding a large pet carrier and was only wearing a short pleated light blue skirt and a dark blue jumper. She didn’t even have a coat on and was wearing trainers without any socks, evidence of her slipping over clear on her mud covered legs.

“Please come inside Catty, are you okay?!?!?”

She just stared at him, mutely nodding as she hobbled in.

“Are you injured?!?!”

Panic rose up within him as she shook her head, she let go of the pet carrier as she struggled to stand, the thing stayed hovering next to her as it became clear she’d been using it to help her walk to the dorm.

“I’m fine.”

Her voice cracked and gravelly as she wrapped her arms around herself, a chill clearly taking over her as Rui stared at her in shock.

She was obviously not fine.

“Oi, who’s at the door-“

Lyca came sauntering into the hallway, Cathrine giving him an awkward wave as she gently pushed the carrier to the room she usually stays in, she tried to walk up the stairs but none of them missed the way she winced trying to pull her leg up onto a step.

Lyca came running over scooping her up as Cathrine let out a loud yelp, he scooted around the carrier as Rui started pushing it towards the room for her…whatever was in there was insanely fucking heavy.

“What happened Cat?”

Lyca asked as Cathrine grumpily leaned her head on his shoulder, Rui narrowed his eyes at her legs, both covered in blood and shrapnel underneath the thick layers of mud.

“I put my phone in the microwave.”

———————————————————

“Rui!?!? 🤪 😟There is a creature 🐈‍⬛ 🐈‍⬛ sitting on MY chair🫵🏼 🪑 .”

Ed exclaimed looking at the overly large cat sitting in his space, it was a big black cat with only one ear, the other seemed to have been ripped off in a gnarly battle, Ed muses what creature would be brave enough to try and take down a beast like this. The eyes beamed into him, one a pumpkin orange and the other was glassy seeming to know everything and commanding the room as it looked smugly at Ed.

“That’s catty’s cat, she calls her the Boss.”

Rui had been setting the plates, looking glum as ever as he waited for Cathrine to come downstairs. Lyca’s hand brushed gently against the Boss’ back, the cat seeming to take a liking to Lyca, diving into him as soon as Cathrine opened the carrier door.

Cathrine.

She was currently having a bath, Rui forced her to promise to call for him as soon as she’s done so he can get a look at her injuries.

She seemed odd, like a lights been dimmed in her, it was like she was a shell of herself…

And she blew half the fucking cathedral up with just a phone and a suped up microwave.

Not to mention the cat…the cat who is having a stand off with Ed as they stared at each other, the cat who is definitely over 20kg and is seriously an actual boss as she easily took the best seat in the house.

The cat, she never mentioned having before nor did he ever see her with when he came over.

He served the food to the others as he anxiously waited for Cathrine’s text, he saved her a plate covering it up in tin foil.

He didn’t have to wait long as she sent him a text with a cute cat emoji and a thumbs up, immediately making Rui run to the bathroom with a med kit in hand.

She had the door already open, letting the steam out as he raced to see her, she was wearing his basketball shorts and one of Lyca’s jumpers as she was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, her hair tied in a low pony as she looked up at him pathetically, her eyes red and puffy as she gave him a small smile wrenching Rui’s heart to pieces…she had been crying, but it’s Cathrine it felt so wrong to see her like this.

“Hey hey beautiful~ can I see thy legs.”

Cathrine stretched her legs out, luckily the wounds didn’t seem too bad besides a piece of glass wedged just under her knee, the rest seemed to be flesh wounds and all that was needed was to clean and bandage them, the shrapnel she seems to have already removed. Cathrine didn’t flinch this time, instead just frowned down at her legs as she testily swung them up, trying to get rid of the overstretched feeling in them.

The glass he’d have to call Lyca to help him pull-

“CATTY?!”

She had grabbed the tweezers and pulled it out herself, eyes dull and far away as she stared down at the blood pouring out of her wound.

Lyca came running in, eyes widening at the sight as Rui threw him a bandage, Lyca automatically catching it as he bent down to get a closer look at Cathrine’s leg.

“I got it out.”

She mindlessly replied to Rui’s shrieking seeming almost confused at his panic.

Ed came sauntering in raising an eyebrow at the commotion as he sat down next to Cathrine, his finger swiping the blood at her knee as he licked it up grinning at a slightly shocked Cathrine, it seemed to slightly break through the fog surrounding her brain.

“Would you🥵🥳 like to watch 👁️ a movie 🍿🧛 dear Cathrine 🫵🏼🫶🏼”

She mutely nodded as she let out a slight whine as Lyca cleaned up Cathrine’s wounds with alcohol pads;following Rui’s strict instructions as he frantically fretted and panic around Cathrine. Lyca wrapped up her legs, the left one that had the glass in it was far worse than the other, they might need to take her to Professor.Nicolas once the rain lets up.

They all sat in silence as they all debated whether to ask Cathrine just what the fuck is going on? The usually insanely hyper girl just sat quietly on the bath edge avoiding their questioning eyes as she fiddled with her fingers, not being able to stay completely still as she started helping Lyca secure the bandages. A silent agreement between the trio to not ask any questions until she’s comfortable became secured by Lyca’s way too obvious mouthing-asking Rui what to do, if Cathrine was in a better state she would’ve teased the boy but in that moment she just blatantly ignored it.

Ed helped her up and lead her to the living room, she pulled her hood up as Lyca and Rui followed them, she limped all the way to the Boss, collapsing around her as the Boss curled into her owner, purring away as she made bread near Cathrine’s face.

“They’re both🫥in my seat now😟🥲🥹😒”

Ed mournfully turned to Rui who just sighed in response, especially when Ed sat next to them, flopping on top of Cathrine as he threw the remote at Rui. Lyca gently sat on the other side, but then also immediately flopped on top of her, causing the Boss to shuffle herself to face him, swishing her tail in Cathrine’s face causing the woman to smile a bit more as her shaky hand went to gently pet the Boss.

“Put the movie 🎥 🍿on Rui🥰😘🥸”

Ed demanded as Rui grumpily went to sit in the armchair, all by himself, glaring in jealousy at the cuddle puddle that had formed around Cathrine.

“Pretty kitty, I made some Katsu curry for you angel~ when you want some let me know!”

His voice sickly sweet as Cathrine stiffly nodded watching cautiously as the Boss flopped onto her stomach glancing at Ed as he reached out to pet her stomach. She didn’t have the energy to stop The Boss’ nefarious quest, in fact…

No one stopped him.

They all just watched as the Boss latched her claws into him and bit as hard as she could, Ed couldn’t help but laugh in delight at the tenacious creature as he softly shook her off of him.

“Your pet🥰🐈‍⬛🫵🏼is a monster 👹👹👹”

Cathrine hummed happily at that as the Boss shuffled back into a loafing position, protectively sitting in front of Cathrine whilst keeping Lyca in her view. Rui turned on the movie, a consecutive groan echoed throughout the room as they all realised what movie Ed had chosen…

Nosferatu(1922)

———————————————————

Cathrine was the first to crash out, an arm loosely wrapped around the Boss as the beast rested her head on top of Cathrine’s. Lyca was next, strewn across Cathrine’s legs as a makeshift blanket as he kept a hand latched onto her ankle and then it was Ed…who had been having a battle of wits with the Boss as he tried to cuddle up to Cathrine, his head resting awkwardly at her hipbone as he laid lazily across Cathrine, practically squishing the poor girl but it was the only position the Boss would let him sleep in.

Rui sighed as he texted Professor Nicolas that they’ll be coming to see him tomorrow, only to be met with an immediate phone call from the Doctor.

“Cathrine’s with you?!?”

The rain thundered in the background, lightning flashing through the room as Rui checked on Cathrine’s sleeping form, he leaned back in his arm chair sighing as she peacefully slept.

“Yeah, she came a couple of hours ago…”

The deep sigh of relief from Nicolas was not lost on Rui.

“Good…has she said anything about what happened?”

Nicolas asked nervously, Rui clicked his tongue in thought as he got up from the chair, moving to another room in fear he’ll awake the cuddle puddle.

“Nah she hasn’t…is catty okay?”

He started pulling out ingredients for a caramel tart, one of Cathrine’s favourites, he pulled out some pears as well to top it with.

“She’ll be okay…it’s I can’t say, but she’ll probably tell you, just give her time…I’ll make something for her legs when you swing by tomorrow.”

If Rui could he’d give her all the time he had, anything she wanted really…which was a slightly terrifying thought.

“Sure Nicky!!! See you tomorrow.”

He hung up the phone, grabbing some butter as he took his gloves off and put his apron on. He opened the box when a thunderous noise erupted behind him, before he could turn to look he’d already been knocked down by the Boss, unconsciously he pushed her away before realising…

He didn’t have gloves.

“FUCK”

He scrambled to get up as Cathrine came running into the kitchen, a look of horror on her face as Rui couldn’t bring himself to look at the poor thing.

“Boss, my voluptuous lady get the fuck away from the butter.”

A defeated voice sung out of Cathrine as Rui looked at her confused, she sighed as hobbled over to them, picking up the obese cat as she gently placed her back onto the kitchen floor, seeing Rui’s look of terror as she looked at him guiltily.

“Shit I should’ve told you…The Boss got cursed by some anomaly…she’s invincible basically, the chancellor spoiled her and over fed to the point she’s become this utter unit, so I took her and now she’s mine but she is such a beast for butter, the chancellor would give her buttered croissants for breakfast- I’m so so sorry….I should’ve warned you.”

There was a small smile on Cathrine’s face as she looked at the Boss in pure adoration, who just cried for more butter.

Rui stood shell shocked as Cathrine glanced at him, regret clear on her face at the fact she didn’t tell him before.

“I am re-“

He cut her off as he let out a strangled noise, his brain too static to take in the fact a living creature can touch him as he stared at her with a mixture of being impressed and shocked.

“You stole a cat…from the chancellor?”

His eyes slightly manic as the imagined figure of Cathrine’s dead cat set his nerves alight.

“Yes, she’s a Maine coon, so she’s already meant to be huge but now she’s massive and I have to do water aerobics with her-do you have a bath I can burrow.”

She was obviously trying to change the subject and keep them both distracted. Rui blandly nodded staring down at the Boss, too afraid to reach out to her as the kind cat blinked up at him, Rui was terrified, even as she pawed at his leg begging for butter as Cathrine giggled at the Boss’ antics.

She glanced up at Rui, frowning at the look of horror on his face, fingers twitching as he stopped himself from reaching out.

“Rui…how bout tomorrow, if you’re avail do you wanna help this fat cat swim?”

She forced a grin onto her face clasping her hands together as he stared at Cathrine with wide doe eyes, he sucked in a deep breath as he glanced back down at the Boss before glancing up at Cathrine.

“Okay.”

———————————————————

The chaos of the room was too much for both Cathrine and Rui to handle as The Boss fought them on every turn when it was time to do the water aerobics, Cathrine knew she should’ve waited for her to get acclimatised and not do it the very next day they’ve temporarily moved into obscuary but she needed to keep up a routine with the Boss otherwise she’d refuse to exercise even more.

She also needed to get Rui acclimatised to the Boss, she serves as an amazing therapy animal and she wants Rui to have someone with him throughout the horrors of being cursed to be alone…she might not be around forever and the boss would be …so one step at a time…

The Boss only just started to get better with the concept of water aerobics, but the change in environment must’ve unsettled her to the max when it came to her exercise time. Which has now lead to Cathrine laying at the bottom of Rui’s bed dripping wet and exhausted, despite the fact it was still only the morning, Rui was leaning against his headboard, the Boss laid on top of him as he repetitively brushed a hand through her fur, their battle had brought the two closer as Rui was the only one to actually get her to swim today.

Cathrine seemed a lot better, having slept through her bout of a minor breakdown, she’s seemed to have sprung back to her normal self…until she had to wrestle a 20kg+ cat into a bath.

She kept glancing at Rui, who had his eyes closed, seeming to be in a state of calm as he charmed the Boss easily into relaxing in his hold. She had stayed with Rui all night, allowing him to become brave enough to start gently petting the huge creature as the two bonded through soft touches and sneaky snacks.

She pursed her lips as she kept glancing at him, the events of the previous night at the front of her mind as she felt she owed him an explanation, not only that but she wanted to tell him about what happened, something she’s still trying to wrap her head around-but there’s no better time than the present as she broke through their calm atmosphere.

“My er…my parents-well my siblings gave my parents my number and told them I’m in Darkwick academy-so they’ve been ahem-…blowing up my phone hence me blowing up my own.”

Cathrine quietly started as she kept her gaze on Rui’s ceiling, following the curled pattern on the wall as Rui’s eyes slowly opened and begun watching her, the Boss’ ear perked up at the sound of her owner’s voice.

“I’m probably going to get a new number; I don’t think I’ll be in contact with my siblings again which is sad…should be sad but I told them not to do it and if they’re gonna do it-“

She took a deep breath, finding herself becoming wound up again, she texted them a week into being at the academy, just so they know everything’s fine. She’s been tentatively talking to them for the past year, her older siblings and hers relationship slowly mending as they promised not to hand her number or address or anything over to her parents…and yet…

As soon as they found out about Darkwick, it’s all they could talk about, it seems it’s all they could talk about with their parents as well…leading to a confrontation that she desperately didn’t need.

“Catty…?”

Rui quietly snapped her out of her thoughts as he looked at her with deep concern.

She pursed her lips as she debated whether to continue or to just stay silent…but she wanted Rui to know-needed him to know, but does he even want to listen? Or know…she couldn’t help but think she’s just boring him to death with her whining, it wasn’t his business-

“Catty what’s wrong? Tell me beautiful otherwise how am I meant to cheer my pretty girl up?”

She covered her face with her arms, hiding the small smile and blush sprouting on her face as Rui grinned at her snapping her out of her mini spiral, the Boss meowing in agreement as they fell into a comfortable silence for a moment.

“We all grew up with my nonna in the countryside-me and my siblings, my parents worked in Japan and we never saw them except for a few times and that was how it was until I was like 14?-15?”

She paused as the Boss got up from her spot on Rui, stretching out and going over to Cathrine, flopping onto her chest as she pressed a paw to her cheek.

“She died…my uh gran, so we had to move to here-to Japan, which was weird but f-f-fu-urgh it was a good time…until we realised our parents were the actual devils and super strict and didn’t like us very much, which was fine, super chill kind of…”

She frowned to herself remembering the extremely awkward first dinner they all shared, a stark contrast to the loud and warm dinners in the small apartment they shared with her nonna.

“They had very strict standards and liked to ensure we met them, through f-forced competition or…”

Memories flashed through her like lightning shooting down on her as the super fun and ‘not’ horrific abuse cycled through her mind, but like most things she decided to push those thoughts and memories deep deep down, not ready to confront or deal with it, especially not after yesterday…

“Never mind that aha…anyway bad times, I moved out on the condition I don’t go into engineering or biology or anything id want to do really, but I do have to go into economics so I can be a valuable employee of the company, my other two siblings were already higher ups and turned into pricks…until I moved out, it was weird they turned back to how they were when we were younger after I left…”

She murmured that last part to herself, she was always the one who stuck out between the three of them, always the one her parents said needed to be hammered down more…

“Anyway I was the idiot who trusted my siblings and ended up getting harassed for days on end so…”

She blew out some air as the Boss got back up and and curled into a circle, this time reaching out a paw to touch Rui, who had scrunched himself up to avoid touching Cathrine-just barely. He ached to bring her into his arms to better comfort her as she spilled her guts to him, hands twitching as he instead grabbed a pillow and wrapped his arms around that instead.

“I’m sorry she’s gone Catty…”

He struggled to find the right words as he digested what she said.

Cathrine smiled sweetly at him as she stretched out, the Boss looked annoyed at the sudden movement as she huffed and moved back Rui, who threw the pillow at Cathrine as the Boss clambered on top of him, loafing as she stared into Rui’s soul. It was Cathrine’s turn to hug the pillow, pulling it close to her as the smell of Rui’s cologne infiltrated her brain. She clutched at it, not being subtle at all a small blush spread across Rui’s face as he got a glimpse of the girl’s actions.

“Thanks Ru~i”

She grinned at him as the two fell into a comfortable silence, Rui trapped by the boss and Cathrine trapped in her thoughts.

Why does being around Rui simply make things easier to deal with?

It was a question she found herself pondering a lot lately, she could’ve went anywhere after she slightly blew up the cathedral, but instead she trekked all the way to obscuary, her half lucid mind telling her that it’s what she needed; and she was right…

“Are ya gonna talk to them if…”

He trailed off wondering why’d he even bring it up, if there wasn’t a cure would she talk to her siblings? He wouldn’t want her to go with regrets…he doesn’t want her to go at all…a sombering pit opened up within him as the Boss pulled herself closer to him, breathing heavily into his face with one glassy eye staring deeply into his eyes.

“No…I told-“

She clutched the pillow tighter as her breath stuttered, not wanting to think too deeply about her choices…

“I told the chancellor and Nicky to tell them after I go-if I go…they’ll be alright.”

It was definitive, her parents sparsely cared unless she was causing trouble-then they took it into their own hands to correct her wrong doings, her siblings only liked her when she was far away or fucking up, her siblings loved her of course they did-or she hopes but there’s no point in keeping up contact, not whilst she’s at the academy, the ingrained need to become superior and demolish their competition superceeded their love for her, hence the alerting of the parents, they knew it’d throw her off.

It’s not their fault…not entirely

It’s how they were brought up-

“Catty…please don’t-“

Rui couldn’t do anything to wipe the tears from Cathrine’s cheeks, but he can do something to help her, he picked up the beast that is the Boss and placed her gently onto the pillow Cathrine was still latched onto. She hid her face into it, not wanting Rui to see as he leaned over her, trying to push down his anxiety at being so close to her but he wanted to show her that he’s there, he’s waiting and he’ll try his best, the two had previously tried to avoid eachother once they realised how badly they adored the other…but they couldn’t stay away, they needed to be near eachother, just their presence seems to be enough to calm the other.

He had his arms planted either side of her head, watching as her long pink hair cascaded over the side of the bed, he made sure no part of him could accidently touch her ensuring his body was kneeling away from her, it was an extremely awkward position but as he stared down at Cathrine, who risked raising her head; eyes widening as ruby eyes met pale red ones.

“Catty…you don’t need them, you have us now. Lyca; Ed; boss; everyone at Darkwick…I doubt you’d be able to get rid of any of them now…even if you wanted too. You can’t chose your family…but you can chose your friends, your own chosen family and I hope the people here will be able to be that for you”

He let out a dry laugh, trying to force himself to pull away as her gaze turned soft, melting at his sweet words.

“And you?”

Cathrine murmured out shyly looking at Rui with a small grin and nervousness shooting through her.

“Of course beautiful, cursed twin life after all, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to tear myself away from yo-ahem ahaha, I mean we’re interconnected ya know?”

He grasped the bed sheets, squeezing them with all his might as he tried to keep himself together. The beating of his heart drummed loudly in his ears as Cathrine began to sit up, Rui knew he should move but as their faces become increasingly close he couldn’t bring himself too. He trusted Cathrine enough to know she wouldn’t do something like that to him, his breath fanned her face and he prayed to whatever gods there were that his breath wasn’t too terrible, she fluttered her eyes at him, her tear stricken face probably looked terrible yet Rui was looking at her like she hung the moon, the tension was thick and heated as they gazed into each others eyes knowing neither can touch the other…

“Boop.”

She pressed a disgruntled Boss’ paw to Rui’s lips, smiling and giggling to herself as the playboy’s face flushed a deep red as he quickly backed away from Cathrine, she desperately needed to ease the mood not wanting to drown Rui in the heaviness of it all.

“You’re gonna be the death of me.”

He flopped back onto his pillow as she laughed, both hiding their blushing face from the other as the Boss hopped off the bed grumpily, looking for Lyca or to harass Ed, whoever she could find first.

“Thank you Rui…really, I owe-“

He threw a pillow at her, Cathrine shot up looking at him in confusion.

“You don’t and won’t owe me anything ever…except maybe a date babe.”

He winked at her throwing a heart sign at a hiding Cathrine as she then launched the pillow at him, her face flushed an even deeper red at the proposition.

“Sure, name a time and place.”

———————————————————

“Why does Cathrine🥰🫶🏼😭 have to leave us so soon😟🥲😒, how will we cope without our flower🤦‍♂️🌻🌼🌸.”

Ed lounged on the living room sofa, ruminating his woes as Cathrine and Lyca packed up her stuff rolling their eyes at his dramatics.

Rui was chopping apples in the kitchen, keeping his back to the others as he slowly slugged his way through making an apple pie. Slightly depressed that Cathrine’s short lived stay was being cut so soon.

When they went to see Professor Nicolas and the chancellor, he announced the cathedral will be fixed in two to three days, much to the disappointment of the obscuary trio and Cathrine. Lyca and her even asked if she could just move into the obscuary dorms and they could make the cathedral into another lab, but that was swiftly denied by the chancellor who tried to reprimand Cathrine for blowing up the place, the two arguing until he sighed and admitted the parents have gotten ahold of Darkwick too and that they’ve been swiftly dealt with and he understands her actions but can’t applaud her for it as it was too extreme. They also couldn’t allow her to live at another house’s dorms as it’ll show favouritism from someone who was meant to be impartial, much to the annoyance of Cathrine who blatantly admits to favouriting obscuary and mortkranken anyway.

The chancellor couldn’t be too harsh after hearing what her parents were actually saying, so her punishment was much more lenient than what it should’ve been.

It was to work with professor Nicolas in getting through the mountains of paperwork from the immortal case and the hospital cases that intermixed with them.

He did request for the Boss to be brought back but that was quickly denied by Cathrine after showing him the before and after pictures, to Lyca’s amazement the little lady used to be over 30KG and now she’s at least under that (hopefully), though the amount of snacks Ed used to persuade the Boss into a truce whilst Cathrine and Rui made Lyca and Ed watch twilight, may of added a couple of KG onto the dear Boss.

The chancellor let his guilt and sympathy for Cathrine overcome him as he gave her permission to keep the Boss.

So now here they were looking glumly at Cathrine’s backpack as she flopped on top of Ed, sighing dramatically as Ed let out an exaggerated cry.

“I don’t know who’ll miss living here more, me or the Boss.”

The Boss who sat on her designated spot on the kitchen counter a light blue blanket placed for her to lay on, looking adoringly at Rui as she slyly tried to swipe a piece of apple from the bowl.

“I think Rui will miss you two more.”

Lyca said offhandly as he brought out the book Cathrine had recommended earlier in the day, it was the shadow hunters clockwork series and Lyca’s already gotten halfway through and has become slightly obsessed with it, even sending the series to Subaru so he could start reading it as well.

“He has bonded🫶🏼✨🥰 with the Boss.🐈‍⬛🤝🥹👹”

Cathrine sighed as she sat up , resting her feet on the table as Ed readjusted himself so he could lay his head on her legs.

“It seems he’s bonded🫶🏼🤝with more👀 than that creature👹👫👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨”

He glanced at her slyly as she avoided eye contact, a slight blush on her face as she watched Rui and Boss duke it out over the apples. She bit her nails as she fell into deep thought.

“Weekends.”

She called out, jolting everyone out of their false state of peacefulness.

“What’s that beautiful?”

Rui asked, finally turning around to face her as his eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“The Boss stays here and I’ll come to stay on the weekends, I mean it’s not good for her to keep changing environments and my robots or experiments can be quite deadly and she seems to like this place more than the cathedral….”

She trailed off as they all stared at her in shock, she really loves Boss, that was clear enough from the past couple of days of the girls living there.

“We couldn’t…”

Rui was about to start as he put the apple crumbles into the oven, leaving a tiny slice for Boss, he really didn’t want either of them to leave…

“She’s your cat Catty…”

He cute a tiny bit of apple off, weighing it to ensure it meets her dietary plan.

He’s been curating a balanced meal plan for the Boss, he was going to pre-make them and bring them over to the cathedral…but if the boss was staying.

“It’ll be better for her!”

She announced smiling encouragingly at Rui, the Boss was like a therapy animal especially for her and Rui. It’s the first living thing he’s able to touch without killing, how could she take that away from him?

Plus it gave her an excuse to come visit more often and gives her the opportunity to study Boss’ curse and figure out where she even got it from. Ed theorised she saved a deity-like anomaly and got blessed, Cathrine’s still not too sure about that theory…

———————————————————

Rui was stressed, Jiro was laughing at him as he attempted to use the liquid nitrogen once again on the meringue. It was his promised date with Cathrine, he had organised a stay-at-home date where he’ll be making a molecular meal for the two of them, hence the presence of Jiro as he helped him organise and perfect his dinner, it had been two weeks since the events, they’ve barely been able to see eachother besides the short meetings during the weekends when Cathrine stayed over, both too busy and overwhelmed by tasks and missions assigned by Darkwick.

Haru and Romeo were taste testing the meal as they ate the cherry wine jelly he specially made for Cathrine, it being her favourite flavour of wine.

“This is excellent, the BB will greatly appreciate this.”

Romeo watched as Rui poured the the smoke over the whiskey based caramel cheesecake.

Haru hummed in agreement as he devoured the chocolate noodles with strawberry meatballs and a vanilla sauce, Rui was locked in, fully concentrating in preparing the taste menu before him as he brought out dish after dish, barely acknowledging them as Jiro acted as his sous chef…well this doesn’t bode well, Romeo couldn’t help but think.

“Although…there is something else you could do, something that’ll BHM.”

(Blow her mind)

Romeo leaned forward onto the desk, clasping his hands together as he looked thoughtfully at the panicked Rui.

“What?! RoRo, I’m all ears for ideas as long as Catty will like it!!”

He looked almost manic as he juggled dry ice and the emulsifier. Romeo devilishly grinned at him as he started to explain his grand plan.

———————————————————

Cathrine had been debating wearing heels for what felt like hours, if she wore them then she’d nearly be the same height as Rui, which she feels like he wouldn’t mind but what if he does then what should she do? It’s been a question she’s been debating for ages. She’s already tall but she does enjoy being taller and the boots were cute…they were hot pink cowboy boots with a 3inch heel, so they’re not too high…she slipped them on grinning and humming happily to herself as she did.

She was wearing a midi pink dress, it was a simple slip dress with floral patchwork embroidered at the bust, she had a white turtleneck on underneath and had a orange leather trench coat to pair with it.

She was extremely nervous and had been tinkering with her gift for Rui as she made her way to the dorms.

They always joked about going on a date but now that they’re actually doing it, her nerves were on fire, she hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything today leading to a snappy Yuri all day, even letting her leave as him and Jiro finished up the paperwork from todays last minute autopsys.

She was almost at the dorms, texting Rui that she’d be there soon as she greeted the plants at the gates, she was stalling she knew she was but a sweet voice echoed out to her from the plant that grabbed her when she first came to the obscuary dorms.

“Good evening, is that the sun or the prettiest girl I’ve ever laid eyes on shining down on me?”

Rui’s voice was as clear as day as Cathrine cackled, already blushing as he poked his head from behind the plant.

“Oh my oh my, do my eyes deceive me? is that a supernova? Or is that the most beautifullest man I ever did see?”

Rui gaped at her, shaking his head giggling at her dramatics as she shielded her eyes feigning that he was too bright to look at.

But to Cathrine he really was.

He had a black long sleeve turtleneck, a magenta silk over shirt that had roses randomly embroidered into it, black ripped jeans with the chains hanging off them, he had styled his hair and was grinning excitedly at her.

“We’re matching Catty.”

He pointed to her embroidered flowers as she gasped pointing at his.

“We’re matching!! Great minds do think alike.”

He nodded as if she said some sagely prophecies.

“Shall we?”

He opened the gate, a nervous yet over excited energy buzzing off his very being as she swiftly hopped through, both nearly skipping to the dorm as Rui guided her into the kitchen.

“I thought we could make dinner together? And then it’s a surprise ✨ “

He winked at her as he set up the ingredients, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at them before widening.

“We making pizzas?”

She asked eagerly as Rui nodded, slightly nervous she’d hate it. Romeo’s suggestion was just to cook with her, if he went with the original idea he’d be hidden away in the kitchen creating this insane menu when he could just be with her, plus Cathrine loved to cook…

Sometimes Romeo had good ideas-

She placed the gift bag onto the table next to Rui as she went to hang up her coat.

“Er catty?”

He eyed the gift suspiciously as he glanced back at the maniacal girl.

“It’s something I’ve been tinkering with for a while, I thought today would be the best time to hand it over! We could test it out today if ya want…”

He gulped as a flurry of not-so PG thoughts hammered their way into his head as he tentatively took out the delicately wrapped gift, the thoughts being wiped away abruptly as he brought out a fluffy black rabbit hoody, staring at the insanely cloud like thing with a look of perplexion as Cathrine walked in giggling at his confused look.

“It’s er-I got the idea from the Boss, it’s so you could hug people, kind of, the paws on the hoody as well as everywhere else have nanos in it so you’ll still be able to feel everything as if it-“

She paused as he hurriedly went to put the hoody on, struggling slightly as she tried not to laugh at his crazed attempt, she went over to help him, pulling down the bottom of the hood as his flushed face revealed itself to her.

He pulled the hood up, rabbit ears perking up as Cathrine hesitantly went to stroke them, she made it so they’d respond to how he was feeling and she put the same piercings on them that he had so he really did look like a cute little bunny.

“Ha…that feels weird.”

Rui murmured as she trailed her hands to his waist, humming to herself as she kept checking to see if he was okay and if the hoody was working. He was staring at her with pure concentration, drinking in everything she was doing with a heated gaze as he stood rigidly, almost frozen fighting away the terror as she dipped a finger into the palm of his hand or paw-it felt like it was on his actual hand sending shivers down his spine as the unfamiliar-familiar feeling spun his head.

“You okay?”

She asked gently as she stepped slightly closer, Rui gulped nervously as he fiddled with the inner paw bit, he nodded shuddering as she wrapped her arms gently around him, the sensation setting Rui alight as his knees buckled beneath him, having to push both him and Cathrine against the kitchen counter as he held onto edge for dear life.

A series of thoughts swirling through his brain like a tornado.

She was hugging him.

She was okay.

She wasn’t dead.

He looked absolutely ridiculous.

Crying as he leaned all his weight onto Cathrine, who took it gladly, the only issue with the hoody was his face being unprotected so she had to rest her cheek on his shoulder in order to avoid accidently touching him, she held on with all her strength as the two stood there for quite some time, the only thing making Rui pull away was the surprise he planned, they couldn’t miss it, even though he desperately wanted to stay how they were for as long as possible.

“Can’t cook with paws…”

His watery smile matched hers as she gazed lovingly at him, he was still too scared to try touching her with the bunny paws on but maybe next time…

“No suppose not.”

He sighed as he took the hoody off, gently placing it near the observatory door in order to avoid getting flour on it.

“Shall we start!”

He quickly recovered or more like pushed down the slight breakdown at being able to hug someone, as he rolled up his sleeves and pulled on elbow length gloves, not missing the blush that bloomed on Cathrine’s face as she watched him.

“See something you like catty?”

He purred out watching as she expertly started making the dough, practiced hands grabbing everything she needed as Rui started making the sauce.

“Maybe…”

She winked at him, flicking a little bit of flour at the flirty man, who flicked some back…before an all out flour war could commence, the thunderous sound of little paws running down the stairs met their ears, Cathrine prepared herself for Boss’ leap, the cat fitting well with the new diet they had her on and they’ve got her down to 20KG, just another 5KG till she’s healthy weight-according to Jiro. The Boss clung to her not wanting to let go which almost made Cathrine topple over, she was purring uncontrollably as she nuzzled into her owners neck.

“She missed you.”

Rui cooed at them, grabbing the tiny apron he had made the Boss for when she helps in the kitchen. (By help he means tries to steal as much food as possible and knocking down anything of Ed’s.)

The Boss obediently got down from Cathrine, hearing the tiny bell chime out from the apron as she waited for Rui to put it on her.

“It’s only Wednesday but…do you wanna stay the night.”

He took a deep breath as he asked, glancing up at Cathrine as he fitted the apron onto the Boss, it was all black with maroon bows attached to it.

The staying over during the weekends have worked well but their busy schedules and life have made it hard for the two of them to see each other or for Cathrine to even see the Boss.

“How bout five nights~I can make it work! I’m at my lab Thursday and mortkranken Friday~”

She chimed out making Rui’s head snap up at her as he finished fitting the apron on Boss.

“Really?!?”

He couldn’t hide how ecstatic he was about it, boss meowing to be picked up at Rui, the man scooping her up hugging her close as he rested his head on top of Boss’.

“Mhhhhm, I’ll try my best to be back as early as I possibly can baby.”

She cooed at Boss, the cat licking her hand in affection as Cathrine grinned up at Rui.

“And of course for you too.”

She giggled as she turned to start rolling out the dough, Rui held Boss with one hand as he tested the pizza sauce, nodding in approval as cathrine finished the bases sliding them over to Rui as he started spooning it on the bases.

Cathrine asked Rui what toppings he wanted, easily manoeuvring around the kitchen grabbing everything as she grabbed her own choices as well.

She started prepping the topping as Rui and Boss watched in awe. Rui placed Boss down, grabbing some of the leftover dough to make a mini pizza for the Boss, grabbing some of her freeze dried treats and dinner to put on top of it.

Once all three pizzas were done, they put it in the pizza oven, an anomalous one that Rui was able to swipe before that new food truck got wind of it or the diner.

Rui told cathrine to wait with the Boss as he set up the area, grabbing the wooden block he’s placed all the pizza on as he grabbed the bottle of wine from the fridge, it was a black cherry one that he was saving for a special occasion, this being an extremely special one.

The observatory had a special corner section with a clear ceiling that allowed you to look at the sky above, there was a large sofa in the corner, a velvet red one that Rui has draped with soft blankets and huge pillows, the coffee table had a plethora of snacks to go along with their pizzas and they were surrounded by the nicest smelling plants he had. It was dim lighting with tapestries on the wall next to them, it looked more like a Witches apothecary than a observatory, the sofa was a pull out so he already had it out, for extra comfort of course. He filled the wine glasses and called for Cathrine who gasped as she entered the room, the observatory was one of Rui’s private spaces, allowing her in was like inviting her into a part of him he kept secured.

“Holy Shit Ru~i”

Cathrine was awestruck at the mini lab around her, tables full of different species of anomaly plants and even cross-species were all placed gently on the table, the walls were covered in intertwining vines that held onto trinkets the creature seemed to like. She walked more deeply into the room, trying to find Rui in the jungle that was the observatory, until her eyes landed on the beautiful man. The dim lighting shone a halo on his head as he hurried around, he noticed her almost immediately, his soft gaze poured out pure adoration as she suddenly felt embarrassed by the power of it as she made her way to him.

The Boss wasn’t allowed in the room due to the meat eating plants so she stayed in the kitchen, laying in her bed as she left her owners to it.

“There’s-every three months there’s a meteor shower over the dorm, we don’t know why but this…”

He gestured to the area he had set up for the two of them.

“Is the best place to watch.”

He could literally see the smoke burst from Cathrine’s head as she buzzed with pure excitement.

“A METEOR SHOWER?!??”

She squealed as Rui nodded in confirmation, sighing in relief at her excitement.

They quickly went to sit down, enjoying the meal as Rui and her chattered away, they almost finished the whole thing, including the bottle of wine before the shower even started. Rui bolted to get his hoody and another bottle as he sheepishly smiled at her as he put it back on.

“We could cuddle Angel, whilst they rain above us…”

He saddled in next to her, patting his lap as she seemed to be in deep thought, to be able to cuddle under the meteor shower-under the stars with a girl he likes again is setting him alight, unable to contain himself, he fears now that he’s started being able to at least have the comfort of her close to him, he’ll become far too greedy and mess up in the worst catastrophic way.

“It’d be risky if I sat in your lap but you could sit in mine…”

She patted her lap as a cheeky smile spread across her face, it’d be too tempting to kiss the handsome man if they sat like that, not that it wasn’t tempting now…not that she just wanted to grab him and make out with him against the sofa or if she let her mind wander dangerously far, do other things on the sofa that would literally kill her.

“You just want me to sit on your lap, don’t you cutie~”

She spread her arms wide as Rui filled the wine glasses up, his bunny ears drooping slightly in disappointment at not being able to be the big spoon.

He took a sip of wine before reluctantly falling into her lap, that reluctance quickly being wiped away as she tightly wrapped her arms around him, pressing her cheek to his shoulder as he felt her hum happily behind him. Her thumbs rubbed circles against him, the effect dizzying him as it all felt too much.

She was a blazing fire enrapturing him with every touch, every movement, he doesn’t think anyone else would be able to electrify him this much, wouldn’t go this far as to build something just for him, just so they could have a moment of warmth together, he felt the tears pricking up in his eyes again and his hands trembled, man sized paws lightly brushing against hers as lightning shot through Rui for every moment of touch. Cathrine let out a shaky breath hiding her face as she felt the pads caress her hands, she could just stay there clutching onto Rui for the rest of her days.

“You okay il mio principe?”

She snuggled into him, attempting to pull him closer if that’s even possible and attempting to hide her red face as the nickname slipped out of her. Rui seemed to be struggling, she didn’t want to overwhelm him with too much…

“We can stop if you want or take a break if it-“

Cathrine was about to unwind her arms when Rui clutched onto them, shaking his head as he sighed.

“Please don’t let go.”

Cathrine lightly gasped when he said that, voice thick with emotion as it cracked from the strain. She guided him to lay down, so they were actually spooning now, it was easier to look up and see the meteor shower that way or that was the excuse they both gave eachother.

Rui huffed out a laugh as they both flopped over, he was glad he prepped the blankets and everything as he shuffled closer to Cathrine. Her warmth radiated into him as they both gazed at the sky, he gulped as he shakily went to grab her thigh, his pawed hand clumsily gripping onto her and pulling her leg over his waist.

“Oh?”

She questioned a gentle smile on her face as shaky hands rested under her knee, she wrapped that leg tighter around him as she heard Rui gasp in delight.

“It’s starting…”

He pointed at the sky as the beginnings of the meteor shower began, streaks of lights slowly danced across the purple sky, Cathrine could feel her heart drumming out of her chest and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the meteors or because of the man wrapped up in her. His eyes sparkled at her as they watched the stars and meteors above them, making sure that Cathrine was locked around him as he tried not to lose his mind, Cathrine looked at him in pure adoration as she pulled a blanket around them.

“Sei cosi bella che le stelle sono gelose di ti”

She whispered, causing Rui to shudder as he tried to figure out what she said. Cathrine shocked at herself with her words, as the two become blushing messes, intertwined under the stars as Cathrine explained why meteor showers happen and everything to do with stars, unable to stop herself once she starts as she gave Rui a mini science lesson.

When Rui asked Romeo a couple of nights later what was it that Cathrine said?he looked at Rui in disgust and claimed he was surprised Cathrine had such a romantic streak in her, he refused to tell him at first but once he was drunk enough the words spilled from his lips causing Rui to feel like his face burst into flames as he rapidly texted Cathrine, who was not doing any better after being caught out by Rui and Romeo, Yuri yelling at her to get off her phone as the flames erupted on her face.

“You’re so beautiful, that the stars are jealous of you…”

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