#catia ferrer

[thenickelportrust]

Cátia

So I put this up in January on Patreon and then forgot I put this up in January on Patreon when I had also meant to put this up the day after here as well. It may not be the day after, but enjoy a small short!

Wanted to write something short and fun and thought it might be fun to give a bit more background into Cátia Ferrer- Raf's mother!

Cátia Ferrer was a woman of poise. Too much poise, if you were to ask some of her coworkers, for they wondered if the woman was even capable of leaning over to pick up something that had fallen on the floor with how stiffly straight she held her back. It didn’t help that she seemed incapable of even so much as tripping, let alone dropping anything that would require a test of whether or not she really could lean down. Once, one of her coworkers had tried to ‘accidentally’ knock something off her desk to see if she would even be able to stop standing straight.

She had caught it before it hit the ground.

Cátia Ferrer was a woman of poise. Poise, and privacy. The general perception of her was someone who walked stiffly, straight back home, slept flat on her back, and then walked back to the office to work again. So it was easy to forgive the general aura of surprise, and dread, when she’s seen at her desk, back curled over protectively, an air of irritation clinging to her now inexplicably curved spine like a weighted cloak.

“You should talk to her,” A red-haired officer kicked the ankle of a far more unfortunate man who happened to keep the desk closest to Cátia. That made him, by default, the closest to her. After all, nobody really knew anything about the closed off, intimidating woman, so they had to settle for proximity as a general judge of friendship.

Proximity was usually a poor judge of friendship, proved by the man’s jumpy nature. “What? No way. She looks pissed and I like having a beating heart, thank you very much.”

The officer that had spoken rolled her eyes. She was new to the precinct, and had that rosy-cheeked fresh face of someone who wasn’t familiar with who to avoid within the office. “Fine, then I will.”

“Elena-”

Elena ignored his call, pulling up a chair next to Cátia instead, letting it roll until it bumped gently against the wheels of her own chair. The woman’s dark brown eyes snapped to Elena’s, a warning churning behind them. A warning that Elena ignored as she thrust her hand out towards Cátia. “Ferrer, yeah? I’m Asjes. Elena Asjes. Pleasure.”

The warning was blinked away like the crust of sleep from newly woken eyes. “What do you want?”

“To know what’s botherin’ you.”

“Nothing.”

Elena leaned her chin into the palm of her hand, “You know they said you were good at everything, Cátia, but I think I’ve found something you’re pretty damn awful at.”

Cátia turned her gaze to the woman, unspeaking, but with one brow curved up as if in challenge.

“Lying.” Elena clarified with a grin.

Cátia just looked away once more, straightening her back as if realizing her reputation was fluttering away by the second. “It is not something I would like to be good at. It is a despicable skill to have.” Her voice dips low and harsh. Elena just shrugs despite it.

“So someone lied to you?”

“...No.”

“You know they say practice makes perfect, and if you don’t wanna get good at lying, you’d had better stop practicin’.”

Cátia returned the sharp glare, head snapping to Elena- who continued simply to grin, as if the brightness reflecting from the fluorescent lights above onto the white of her teeth might have somehow dispeled the dark irritation around Cátia. It didn’t work. Instead Cátia’s irritation just took it as a challenge. Caverns carved next to her lips when she frowned. But just as Cátia wasn’t affected by Elena’s luminosity, neither did Elena dim under her blanket of anger. Tan hands drummed over the back of her chair as Elena hummed to herself, waiting.

Cátia exhaled, slow and purposeful through her nose, feeling the rush of warm air over the top of her lips. And then there was a crack in the cover she wears so defensively. Perhaps it was because she had finally met her match in stubbornness. Two equal energies crashed against each other and one of them had to break eventually. So Cátia took the fall, closing out of the document on her computer as she leaned back against her seat, hands folded onto her stomach. “... My son has fallen for someone.”

“Oh?” Elena perked up immediately, “That’s cool! I didn’t know you had a son, how old is he?”

Cátia huffed softly, “Young.” Unspecific- as if Elena had asked a deeply personal question, not just the age of her son. Something Cátia also seemed to realize as she shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. “He’s twelve.”

“Aww, kid crush. That’s cute. I remember my first crush.” Elena leaned heavier onto her palm, eyes drifting up as she reminisced, before snapping back onto Cátia. “So why’re you so worried then?”

“... He reminds me of me.” Cátia’s shoulders slumped, “Young and inexperienced, yes, but I was much the same way as he is.”

“Is that such a bad thing?” Red hair floated like a curly cloud around her face as Elena cocked her head to the side. “You seem to be doin’ pretty well for yourself, last I heard you were on track for becomin’ captain.”

Cátia scoffed, but didn’t deny it. “I did not say he was like me in work ethic- though he has been doing well for himself there, too… It is just… this matter that worries me.” She blinked, looking up as her eyelashes fluttered, “Why am I speaking to you? I do not even know you. I should not be sharing these things with a stranger.”

“Not strangers if you know my name. And it seems like you need to talk it out with someone.” But Elena’s helpful suggestion was met with silence and a cold, closed-off ignorance. This time it was the red haired officer’s stubbornness that broke, she tapped the top of her chair as she swung her legs over it, “Well… if you ever need to talk again- my ears are always open, Cátia.”

No response. Elena shook her head, but placed a hand on Cátia’s shoulder. “...Right, well, it was nice talking to you. See you soon.”

“...Right.” Ah, well, better than nothing! Elena still found herself smiling a bit brighter for what she could chalk up to a mostly-successful interaction as she trotted back to her desk. There were a few surprised stares caught on her back, but she didn’t mind. She just hoped that Cátia might take her up on her offer one day. After all, nobody deserved to suffer alone. Not in Elena’s mind. A little kindness can go a long way.

Hey! It had to have worked, too! After all, Cátia was sitting straight in her chair once more.

[thenickelportrust]

Fun Fact Friday

(ft. an extra two to make up for the two I missed while I was away.)

(And since there’s three I just decided to stick with a theme and do Raf's family.)

Fun Fact: Ayesha would’ve been 17 going to college because she skipped a grade in middle school- however she was then held back a year in high school because she failed a math class. 

Fun Fact: Trixie hates seeing Raf sad and though she knows cuddles often work as a pick-me-up she’s also a wholeheartedly believer in bringing dead animals as tributes and not understanding why it makes him more upset rather than less. Humans are silly. She just has to bring something bigger next time.

Fun Fact: Cátia likes to sing, she has a lot of songs from her childhood and will often hum or sing while doing small tasks like gardening or cleaning. She used to sing Raf and Ash to sleep when they were younger, especially if they had nightmares.

[thenickelportrust]

Did Mama Raf like the MC off the bat or did she give them a hard time

Cátia gave the MC a very, very hard time at the beginning. To her- nobody is good enough for her children, and they both deserve the best. Anything (and anyone) less than the best is simply unacceptable.

So she definitely put the MC through the wringer in order to see if they were worthy of her son. (Of course, they weren’t, in her eyes nobody could ever be, but she accepted them eventually.)