Fic: Look For the Stars as the Sun Goes Down (the kitten AU)
Look For the Stars as the Sun Goes Down
Panic!kittens | 1600 words | G
Ryan starts to tuck up close to Brendon, muzzle pressed up against Jon's back, then he sits up suddenly and says, "Hey. Where's Spencer?"
So once upon a time I wrote Panic as puppies. This is even worse, I think. Blame goes entirely to harriet_vane.
Thanks to adellyna for the beta job, and to my flist for helping me decide the kitten identities of the boys.
Ryan is sitting in front of the open window, watching the leaves twitch on the tree outside and feeling his whiskers do the same. He knows a storm is moving in. Out of the four of them, Ryan is the one who likes to watch the clouds turn dark and the sky flash different colors of light; he thinks it's beautiful, while the rest of them, especially Spencer, think storms are more than a little scary.
He takes a deep breath and yawns, wondering if taking a nap right now would keep him from seeing the best parts take place. He curls his tail tightly around his front paws and considers his options (it wouldn't have to be a long nap, just long enough to drift into a nice dream about carpet and his claws being extra sharp), when Brendon comes tearing out of the laundry room and flings himself onto the windowsill beside Ryan. He smells like Downy.
"Ryan!" he says, breathless, eyes wide and buggy. "Ryan, Jon told me snakes hide in the laundry basket! He says they'll eat me unless I let the clothes cool off."
Ryan raises an eyebrow and looks down the hall and into the laundry room. He can barely see the edge of the blue plastic basket, and a gray tabby-striped tail sticking out of the clean pile of clothes.
He rolls his eyes. "Dude, how many times do I have to tell you, you'll never win when it comes to fighting Jon for the clean clothes, okay? He plays dirty."
Brendon frowns. His black fur is still sticking every which way due to the static electricity from the clothes. "But...the snakes, Ryan!"
"No snakes. C'mon." Ryan jumps down from the window ledge (he figures the storm can wait for a bit) and marches up to the laundry basket, where Jon is sprawled on his back over a set of flannel sheets.
Ryan leans through the slats in the basket and nips Jon's tail.
Jon squeaks loudly and bolts upright. "Hey!"
Ryan smirks at him. "Snakes, huh?"
He licks the end of his tail and grins sheepishly. "Um. So I've heard?"
"Right." Ryan nudges Brendon with his nose. "Get in there before it gets too cold."
"You're a cheater, Jon," Brendon says, attempting to sound grumpy, but it dissolves into a happy purr when Jon licks him and nuzzles his ear.
"I just don't like sharing the laundry, 's all." He beams at Ryan as he follows Brendon into the laundry basket. "But since everyone's here, I don't mind."
Ryan yawns again and stretches, thinking that nap sounds really good right about now. He starts to tuck up close to Brendon, muzzle pressed up against Jon's back, then he sits up suddenly and says, "Hey. Where's Spencer?"
Jon lifts his head and cocks an ear toward the front door. "I don't know, he was just here. I think he said something about a robin in the front yard?"
Brendon's eyes widen. "He went outside?" Spencer has never been shy about making his uneasiness about venturing outside known. He's followed Brendon out onto the front porch a few times, but that's all.
"He said the robin was making fun of him!" Jon starts to look more and more contrite. "I didn't think he'd, y'know, follow it out or anything." He jumps down out of the laundry basket, skittering across the floor as he runs from room to room, calling, "Spencer! Dude, where are you?"
Brendon and Ryan do the same, and soon the house is filled with overlapping kitten cries, each different in tone and cadence (Jon's meow stronger and mellower than Ryan's, while Brendon nearly drowns them both out completely).
The noise finally gets Zack's attention. "Jesus, what the hell has gotten into you guys?" he asks as he walks into the living room. He stares down at the three of them gathered at his feet and shakes his head. "Brendon didn't throw up a hairball on the sofa again, did he?"
"Spencer!" Ryan says. "He's outside!"
Zack tilts his head and rubs at his neck. "You guys have plenty of food, and your litter box is clean. What more do you want from me?" But he says it with an affectionate laugh.
Still, Ryan sometimes thinks humans are kind of dense.
Brendon finally takes it upon himself to run to the cat door attached to the main front door. "He's outside, okay? And probably freaking out!" he yells at Zack, and his meows are getting increasingly high-pitched and anxious.
Suddenly there's a loud rumble of thunder, followed by a bolt of lightning, and it immediately starts to rain.
"Crap," Jon says, running to the door. "C'mon, we gotta find him!" He jumps through the cat door, and Zack calls after him, "Jon, goddamn it, you'll get soaked, get back here!"
Brendon jumps out, too, which leaves Zack no choice but to follow after them. Ryan stays in the windowsill and keeps watch, paws against the screen, trying to spot a hint of orange out in the rain.
Not five minutes later, he hears Jon call from somewhere around the gutter under the mailbox, "Found him!"
There's a streak of black across the yard, and Brendon yells, "Spencer!"
"Oh man, Spencer, you're out here, too?" Zack squints down at the gutter and then leans down to scoop a wet little bundle of yellowish-orange fur into his arms. "How long've you been out here, little guy?"
Ryan breathes a sigh of relief as Brendon and Jon race back inside, Zack close behind. They're all sopping wet, and Zack says, "All right, everyone with wet fur into the bathroom, pronto."
They crowd into the bathroom, Jon and Brendon leaving wet paw prints into their wake. Jon's fur is plastered to his body, making him look a darker gray than usual. Brendon can't stop shivering, and the two of them huddle together on the bath mat.
Zack sets Spencer on the closed toilet lid. "I'm going to get some towels, no one move," he says. Spencer just curls in on himself, shivering, ears back and eyes closed.
"S-sorry, guys," he whispers. "I didn't mean to get lost like that."
"You scared the crap out of Jon," Ryan huffs, jumping up onto the toilet lid and launching into a full-blown mission to lick the cold water from Spencer's fur.
"Yeah?" Spencer laughs shakily, leaning into him. "But you weren't worried at all, right?"
"'Course not." He's too busy licking Spencer to acknowledge Brendon's, "Liar!"
Zack comes back with a thick, fluffy towel and wraps them all up in it, even Ryan, and scrubs their fur dry as best he can. "I am nailing that cat door shut, seriously," he mutters, rubbing his thumb over the top of Spencer's head.
Eventually Zack carries them all into the bedroom and tucks them all into their giant, squishy cat bed that Brendon calls "Cloud World," because he swears it's the equivalent to sleeping on a cloud. Zack puts a clean towel down and lets them all pile up on one another, soaking up each other's body heat. Spencer's in the middle, Jon's head pressed up under his chin, Brendon draped over his back, and Ryan curled into his belly.
"No more wandering off, you got me?" Zack says softly before leaving the room.
Jon mumbles, "Gotcha," into Spencer's chest.
It's not quite dark yet, although the storm makes everything gloomy, and the shadows flicker over everything in time with the rain pelting the windows. Lightning flashes intermittently; Ryan feels Spencer flinch.
"You're okay now," he whispers against Spencer's fur, licking a damp patch that's yet to dry.
"I know, but for a while there, I thought..." Spencer sighs, and Ryan can hear Jon purr a little louder as he snuggles in closer.
"You thought we wouldn't find you?" Brendon says. He stretches out a paw and lets it fall against Spencer's whiskers.
"Maybe," Spencer says.
"Remember than time Ryan got shut up in the linen closet for a whole day and none of us knew where he was?" Jon says, words muffled into Spencer's fur. "We spent all day looking for him."
Ryan had nearly mewed himself hoarse that day, and he'll never forget the relief he felt when Zack opened the door and the three of them had attacked him with exhausted glee. "Yeah, and I kind of thought I'd never get out of there." He can feel the rhythm of Jon's purring against his cheek, but Spencer has yet to relax enough to purr.
"But you did." Brendon leans over Spencer's body and licks Ryan on the nose. "You got out, and Spencer got found, and there are no snakes in the laundry basket. Everything is awesome."
Jon laughs softly. "No snakes in the laundry basket. Promise."
"Did I miss something?" Spencer asks, but there's a hint of sleepy contentment in his voice, and Ryan feels the gentle cadence of Spencer's purr starting up, like a slow, rumbly heartbeat.
"Nope, not a thing," Ryan replies, letting his eyes flutter closed. Another flash of light streaks through the darkness, followed by a loud crack of thunder, but it only makes them tuck tighter into each other. They each fade into sleep, one by one, and the last thing Ryan thinks before he drifts off is how storms can't possibly be all that bad when you have friends to save you.
Panic!kittens | 1600 words | G
Ryan starts to tuck up close to Brendon, muzzle pressed up against Jon's back, then he sits up suddenly and says, "Hey. Where's Spencer?"
So once upon a time I wrote Panic as puppies. This is even worse, I think. Blame goes entirely to harriet_vane.
Thanks to adellyna for the beta job, and to my flist for helping me decide the kitten identities of the boys.
Ryan is sitting in front of the open window, watching the leaves twitch on the tree outside and feeling his whiskers do the same. He knows a storm is moving in. Out of the four of them, Ryan is the one who likes to watch the clouds turn dark and the sky flash different colors of light; he thinks it's beautiful, while the rest of them, especially Spencer, think storms are more than a little scary.
He takes a deep breath and yawns, wondering if taking a nap right now would keep him from seeing the best parts take place. He curls his tail tightly around his front paws and considers his options (it wouldn't have to be a long nap, just long enough to drift into a nice dream about carpet and his claws being extra sharp), when Brendon comes tearing out of the laundry room and flings himself onto the windowsill beside Ryan. He smells like Downy.
"Ryan!" he says, breathless, eyes wide and buggy. "Ryan, Jon told me snakes hide in the laundry basket! He says they'll eat me unless I let the clothes cool off."
Ryan raises an eyebrow and looks down the hall and into the laundry room. He can barely see the edge of the blue plastic basket, and a gray tabby-striped tail sticking out of the clean pile of clothes.
He rolls his eyes. "Dude, how many times do I have to tell you, you'll never win when it comes to fighting Jon for the clean clothes, okay? He plays dirty."
Brendon frowns. His black fur is still sticking every which way due to the static electricity from the clothes. "But...the snakes, Ryan!"
"No snakes. C'mon." Ryan jumps down from the window ledge (he figures the storm can wait for a bit) and marches up to the laundry basket, where Jon is sprawled on his back over a set of flannel sheets.
Ryan leans through the slats in the basket and nips Jon's tail.
Jon squeaks loudly and bolts upright. "Hey!"
Ryan smirks at him. "Snakes, huh?"
He licks the end of his tail and grins sheepishly. "Um. So I've heard?"
"Right." Ryan nudges Brendon with his nose. "Get in there before it gets too cold."
"You're a cheater, Jon," Brendon says, attempting to sound grumpy, but it dissolves into a happy purr when Jon licks him and nuzzles his ear.
"I just don't like sharing the laundry, 's all." He beams at Ryan as he follows Brendon into the laundry basket. "But since everyone's here, I don't mind."
Ryan yawns again and stretches, thinking that nap sounds really good right about now. He starts to tuck up close to Brendon, muzzle pressed up against Jon's back, then he sits up suddenly and says, "Hey. Where's Spencer?"
Jon lifts his head and cocks an ear toward the front door. "I don't know, he was just here. I think he said something about a robin in the front yard?"
Brendon's eyes widen. "He went outside?" Spencer has never been shy about making his uneasiness about venturing outside known. He's followed Brendon out onto the front porch a few times, but that's all.
"He said the robin was making fun of him!" Jon starts to look more and more contrite. "I didn't think he'd, y'know, follow it out or anything." He jumps down out of the laundry basket, skittering across the floor as he runs from room to room, calling, "Spencer! Dude, where are you?"
Brendon and Ryan do the same, and soon the house is filled with overlapping kitten cries, each different in tone and cadence (Jon's meow stronger and mellower than Ryan's, while Brendon nearly drowns them both out completely).
The noise finally gets Zack's attention. "Jesus, what the hell has gotten into you guys?" he asks as he walks into the living room. He stares down at the three of them gathered at his feet and shakes his head. "Brendon didn't throw up a hairball on the sofa again, did he?"
"Spencer!" Ryan says. "He's outside!"
Zack tilts his head and rubs at his neck. "You guys have plenty of food, and your litter box is clean. What more do you want from me?" But he says it with an affectionate laugh.
Still, Ryan sometimes thinks humans are kind of dense.
Brendon finally takes it upon himself to run to the cat door attached to the main front door. "He's outside, okay? And probably freaking out!" he yells at Zack, and his meows are getting increasingly high-pitched and anxious.
Suddenly there's a loud rumble of thunder, followed by a bolt of lightning, and it immediately starts to rain.
"Crap," Jon says, running to the door. "C'mon, we gotta find him!" He jumps through the cat door, and Zack calls after him, "Jon, goddamn it, you'll get soaked, get back here!"
Brendon jumps out, too, which leaves Zack no choice but to follow after them. Ryan stays in the windowsill and keeps watch, paws against the screen, trying to spot a hint of orange out in the rain.
Not five minutes later, he hears Jon call from somewhere around the gutter under the mailbox, "Found him!"
There's a streak of black across the yard, and Brendon yells, "Spencer!"
"Oh man, Spencer, you're out here, too?" Zack squints down at the gutter and then leans down to scoop a wet little bundle of yellowish-orange fur into his arms. "How long've you been out here, little guy?"
Ryan breathes a sigh of relief as Brendon and Jon race back inside, Zack close behind. They're all sopping wet, and Zack says, "All right, everyone with wet fur into the bathroom, pronto."
They crowd into the bathroom, Jon and Brendon leaving wet paw prints into their wake. Jon's fur is plastered to his body, making him look a darker gray than usual. Brendon can't stop shivering, and the two of them huddle together on the bath mat.
Zack sets Spencer on the closed toilet lid. "I'm going to get some towels, no one move," he says. Spencer just curls in on himself, shivering, ears back and eyes closed.
"S-sorry, guys," he whispers. "I didn't mean to get lost like that."
"You scared the crap out of Jon," Ryan huffs, jumping up onto the toilet lid and launching into a full-blown mission to lick the cold water from Spencer's fur.
"Yeah?" Spencer laughs shakily, leaning into him. "But you weren't worried at all, right?"
"'Course not." He's too busy licking Spencer to acknowledge Brendon's, "Liar!"
Zack comes back with a thick, fluffy towel and wraps them all up in it, even Ryan, and scrubs their fur dry as best he can. "I am nailing that cat door shut, seriously," he mutters, rubbing his thumb over the top of Spencer's head.
Eventually Zack carries them all into the bedroom and tucks them all into their giant, squishy cat bed that Brendon calls "Cloud World," because he swears it's the equivalent to sleeping on a cloud. Zack puts a clean towel down and lets them all pile up on one another, soaking up each other's body heat. Spencer's in the middle, Jon's head pressed up under his chin, Brendon draped over his back, and Ryan curled into his belly.
"No more wandering off, you got me?" Zack says softly before leaving the room.
Jon mumbles, "Gotcha," into Spencer's chest.
It's not quite dark yet, although the storm makes everything gloomy, and the shadows flicker over everything in time with the rain pelting the windows. Lightning flashes intermittently; Ryan feels Spencer flinch.
"You're okay now," he whispers against Spencer's fur, licking a damp patch that's yet to dry.
"I know, but for a while there, I thought..." Spencer sighs, and Ryan can hear Jon purr a little louder as he snuggles in closer.
"You thought we wouldn't find you?" Brendon says. He stretches out a paw and lets it fall against Spencer's whiskers.
"Maybe," Spencer says.
"Remember than time Ryan got shut up in the linen closet for a whole day and none of us knew where he was?" Jon says, words muffled into Spencer's fur. "We spent all day looking for him."
Ryan had nearly mewed himself hoarse that day, and he'll never forget the relief he felt when Zack opened the door and the three of them had attacked him with exhausted glee. "Yeah, and I kind of thought I'd never get out of there." He can feel the rhythm of Jon's purring against his cheek, but Spencer has yet to relax enough to purr.
"But you did." Brendon leans over Spencer's body and licks Ryan on the nose. "You got out, and Spencer got found, and there are no snakes in the laundry basket. Everything is awesome."
Jon laughs softly. "No snakes in the laundry basket. Promise."
"Did I miss something?" Spencer asks, but there's a hint of sleepy contentment in his voice, and Ryan feels the gentle cadence of Spencer's purr starting up, like a slow, rumbly heartbeat.
"Nope, not a thing," Ryan replies, letting his eyes flutter closed. Another flash of light streaks through the darkness, followed by a loud crack of thunder, but it only makes them tuck tighter into each other. They each fade into sleep, one by one, and the last thing Ryan thinks before he drifts off is how storms can't possibly be all that bad when you have friends to save you.