Tin Man fic: Wake-Up Call
Title: Wake-Up Call
Author: Surreal
Characters/Pairings: Glitch/Cain
Rating: PG
Word count: 1226
Disclaimer: The characters and settings belong to L. Frank Baum and the creative minds behind Tin Man. I do not claim to own anything.
Summary: Total, insane, self-indulgent crack. Cain wakes up to...Glitch?
**
Wyatt woke to a soft, warm breath in his ear and he smiled sleepily, rolling over without bothering to open his eyes. He sighed contentedly as he reached for what he knew he would find; the beautifully naked form of Glitch sharing his bed.
When his hand was met with only empty space where Glitch’s hip should have been, Cain cracked his eyes open curiously.
And nearly leapt from the bed, an undignified squeak escaping that he would deny could ever have produced.
The small black cat blinked up at him lazily, the matted spikes of fur trembling violently as one long back leg came up and scratched under its chin.
Cain willed his heart to calm as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He slowly stepped forward and knelt on the bed, leaning forward to squint at the cat. “Glitch?”
The cat just looked back at him with disinterest then dipped its head down to lick between its legs.
With a shudder, Wyatt sat down. “Okay, if Glitch were a shapeshifter he would have told me. That’s not something you forget. Right?” He asked his companion.
He was answered with a yawn.
“Right. There’s no way you’re Glitch,” Cain chuckled weakly to himself, reaching over to scratch the cat’s head. “Where did he go, then?”
Giving a frustrated sounding snort, the cat crawled up on Cain’s lap and pressed a wide, flat paw right over Wyatt’s heart; a gesture that Glitch repeated every morning they had woken up together.
Cain swallowed thickly, grabbing the cat under its armpits and holding it up to his face. “Glitch? If that’s you, you’d better switch back right now.”
“Mrrr?” A furry foot batted at his nose.
“Oh, no,” Wyatt’s eyes widened in dread. “Maybe you forgot how. All right, don’t panic,” he said as he gently set the cat back down on the bed. “We’ll just go find Raw or Tutor or someone who can figure this out.” Cain threw on some discarded clothes, even more convinced that the cat was Glitch when he saw the other man’s clothes still scattered on the floor.
Picking up the cat with a firm but careful hold, Cain rushed from the room in search of help.
The first person he ran into was DG, who started to ask him about his new pet but was brushed off urgently. “Can’t talk now, have to fix Glitch.”
“Glitch? What’s wrong with him? Hey, Mr. Cain!” DG called after him, flustered and perplexed.
He ignored her calls as he charged through the Palace. Absently scratching the cat’s head as he walked quickly though the halls, he talked. “Glitch, just so you know, if this is something you can’t control then we’re going to need to have a serious talk about our future together. I love you, but I really can’t handle you turning into an animal in the middle of....” he shuddered again.
Thankfully, he rounded another corner near the front room and nearly collided with Raw.
Cain only realized after the fact that perhaps he should have wrapped the cat up in a blanket or placed it into a carrying box. Because at the first glimpse of Raw, who when you squinted and tilted your head kind of looked like a giant cat himself, the little matted cat let out an impressive hiss and clawed his way out of Cain’s hold.
“Ow, damn it,” Cain cursed even as he struggled to catch a part of the cat but it was too late. A streak of black tore through the foyer and managed to squeeze through the door past a surprised looking Ahamo, who had just been coming in.
“New pet?” Raw asked, blinking at the empty hallway.
“No,” Wyatt snarled, darting away in pursuit. “It’s Glitch. You....you stay here, don’t move, I’ve got to get him back and we need your help. He can’t seem to remember how to change back!” This last part was bellowed as he reached the door and followed the cat’s path.
Raw was left in the hall, more confused than ever.
Outside, Wyatt glanced around frantically, searching for any sign of his runaway. He finally spotted a distinctive black flash even as it flew up the side of a tree and disappeared into the full branches. By the time he reached the base of the tall oak, he looked up to see a pair of terrified brown eyes looking back at him.
“Glitch, you get back down here now!” Cain howled, the last of his patience finally slipping away.
A pathetic meow replied to him and Cain belatedly remembered Glitch having told him that he was afraid of heights.
With a growl of annoyance, Cain took a few deep, calming breaths. “Glitch, I know you’re probably scared right now but if you don’t come down we won’t be able to get help turning you back into yourself. Just...you’ve got claws, right? You can slide down really slowly and I’ll be right here to catch you when you get far enough down to jump.” He swore he saw the cat roll its eyes. “I’m not waiting down here all day, zipperhead! You’ve got exactly ten seconds to start moving before I leave your furry little cat self up there!”
The cat settled more determinedly onto his selected branch and proceeded to groom its front legs.
Cain felt like pounding his head against the trunk.
“Hey, Cain!” Glitch’s voice called out cheerfully.
Cain’s head shot up, fully expecting to see his partner clinging to the branch. But he only saw the cat he had woken up with. “Glitch?”
“Raw said you were having some kind of mental breakdown and were last seen chasing after a cat you thought was me,” Glitch continued and Cain whirled around so fast he nearly fell over. There stood Glitch, who was right there looking up into the tree. “Oh, look! Milly’s gone up the tree again.”
Wyatt closed his eyes and counted silently to himself. “Milly?”
“One of the palace cats. Most of them are feral, but a few stick around when they realize the cooks will leave scraps out for them. Milly is a real troublemaker, she turns up in the strangest places,” Glitch grinned and tilted his head. He reached a hand up and just like that, the cat made its way down the tree and right into Glitch’s arms, purring smugly.
Cain pinched the bridge of his nose, a headache blooming fast and hard. “Glitch, I woke up with that cat in my bed. I thought it was YOU.”
Glitch choked on his laughter. “Why in all of the O.Z. would you think something like that? I’m not a shapeshifter!”
“I thought...maybe you forgot,” Cain admitted in a barely discernable mumble. “He...she looked like you and I just...”
“You assumed that I changed and forgot how to change back?” Glitch guessed, still grinning and scratching the cat’s ears. “Oh, Wyatt. That’s just...I can’t even think of what that is.”
“It’s annoying is what that is,” Wyatt huffed. “And just so we don’t have a repeat of this little early morning adventure, you’re sleeping on the couch until further notice.”
“What? Hey, that’s not fair! It wasn’t my fault you went insane!”
Cain ignored him, storming back down the lawn to the palace.
“But...but it’s my room!!”
**
End
Author: Surreal
Characters/Pairings: Glitch/Cain
Rating: PG
Word count: 1226
Disclaimer: The characters and settings belong to L. Frank Baum and the creative minds behind Tin Man. I do not claim to own anything.
Summary: Total, insane, self-indulgent crack. Cain wakes up to...Glitch?
**
Wyatt woke to a soft, warm breath in his ear and he smiled sleepily, rolling over without bothering to open his eyes. He sighed contentedly as he reached for what he knew he would find; the beautifully naked form of Glitch sharing his bed.
When his hand was met with only empty space where Glitch’s hip should have been, Cain cracked his eyes open curiously.
And nearly leapt from the bed, an undignified squeak escaping that he would deny could ever have produced.
The small black cat blinked up at him lazily, the matted spikes of fur trembling violently as one long back leg came up and scratched under its chin.
Cain willed his heart to calm as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He slowly stepped forward and knelt on the bed, leaning forward to squint at the cat. “Glitch?”
The cat just looked back at him with disinterest then dipped its head down to lick between its legs.
With a shudder, Wyatt sat down. “Okay, if Glitch were a shapeshifter he would have told me. That’s not something you forget. Right?” He asked his companion.
He was answered with a yawn.
“Right. There’s no way you’re Glitch,” Cain chuckled weakly to himself, reaching over to scratch the cat’s head. “Where did he go, then?”
Giving a frustrated sounding snort, the cat crawled up on Cain’s lap and pressed a wide, flat paw right over Wyatt’s heart; a gesture that Glitch repeated every morning they had woken up together.
Cain swallowed thickly, grabbing the cat under its armpits and holding it up to his face. “Glitch? If that’s you, you’d better switch back right now.”
“Mrrr?” A furry foot batted at his nose.
“Oh, no,” Wyatt’s eyes widened in dread. “Maybe you forgot how. All right, don’t panic,” he said as he gently set the cat back down on the bed. “We’ll just go find Raw or Tutor or someone who can figure this out.” Cain threw on some discarded clothes, even more convinced that the cat was Glitch when he saw the other man’s clothes still scattered on the floor.
Picking up the cat with a firm but careful hold, Cain rushed from the room in search of help.
The first person he ran into was DG, who started to ask him about his new pet but was brushed off urgently. “Can’t talk now, have to fix Glitch.”
“Glitch? What’s wrong with him? Hey, Mr. Cain!” DG called after him, flustered and perplexed.
He ignored her calls as he charged through the Palace. Absently scratching the cat’s head as he walked quickly though the halls, he talked. “Glitch, just so you know, if this is something you can’t control then we’re going to need to have a serious talk about our future together. I love you, but I really can’t handle you turning into an animal in the middle of....” he shuddered again.
Thankfully, he rounded another corner near the front room and nearly collided with Raw.
Cain only realized after the fact that perhaps he should have wrapped the cat up in a blanket or placed it into a carrying box. Because at the first glimpse of Raw, who when you squinted and tilted your head kind of looked like a giant cat himself, the little matted cat let out an impressive hiss and clawed his way out of Cain’s hold.
“Ow, damn it,” Cain cursed even as he struggled to catch a part of the cat but it was too late. A streak of black tore through the foyer and managed to squeeze through the door past a surprised looking Ahamo, who had just been coming in.
“New pet?” Raw asked, blinking at the empty hallway.
“No,” Wyatt snarled, darting away in pursuit. “It’s Glitch. You....you stay here, don’t move, I’ve got to get him back and we need your help. He can’t seem to remember how to change back!” This last part was bellowed as he reached the door and followed the cat’s path.
Raw was left in the hall, more confused than ever.
Outside, Wyatt glanced around frantically, searching for any sign of his runaway. He finally spotted a distinctive black flash even as it flew up the side of a tree and disappeared into the full branches. By the time he reached the base of the tall oak, he looked up to see a pair of terrified brown eyes looking back at him.
“Glitch, you get back down here now!” Cain howled, the last of his patience finally slipping away.
A pathetic meow replied to him and Cain belatedly remembered Glitch having told him that he was afraid of heights.
With a growl of annoyance, Cain took a few deep, calming breaths. “Glitch, I know you’re probably scared right now but if you don’t come down we won’t be able to get help turning you back into yourself. Just...you’ve got claws, right? You can slide down really slowly and I’ll be right here to catch you when you get far enough down to jump.” He swore he saw the cat roll its eyes. “I’m not waiting down here all day, zipperhead! You’ve got exactly ten seconds to start moving before I leave your furry little cat self up there!”
The cat settled more determinedly onto his selected branch and proceeded to groom its front legs.
Cain felt like pounding his head against the trunk.
“Hey, Cain!” Glitch’s voice called out cheerfully.
Cain’s head shot up, fully expecting to see his partner clinging to the branch. But he only saw the cat he had woken up with. “Glitch?”
“Raw said you were having some kind of mental breakdown and were last seen chasing after a cat you thought was me,” Glitch continued and Cain whirled around so fast he nearly fell over. There stood Glitch, who was right there looking up into the tree. “Oh, look! Milly’s gone up the tree again.”
Wyatt closed his eyes and counted silently to himself. “Milly?”
“One of the palace cats. Most of them are feral, but a few stick around when they realize the cooks will leave scraps out for them. Milly is a real troublemaker, she turns up in the strangest places,” Glitch grinned and tilted his head. He reached a hand up and just like that, the cat made its way down the tree and right into Glitch’s arms, purring smugly.
Cain pinched the bridge of his nose, a headache blooming fast and hard. “Glitch, I woke up with that cat in my bed. I thought it was YOU.”
Glitch choked on his laughter. “Why in all of the O.Z. would you think something like that? I’m not a shapeshifter!”
“I thought...maybe you forgot,” Cain admitted in a barely discernable mumble. “He...she looked like you and I just...”
“You assumed that I changed and forgot how to change back?” Glitch guessed, still grinning and scratching the cat’s ears. “Oh, Wyatt. That’s just...I can’t even think of what that is.”
“It’s annoying is what that is,” Wyatt huffed. “And just so we don’t have a repeat of this little early morning adventure, you’re sleeping on the couch until further notice.”
“What? Hey, that’s not fair! It wasn’t my fault you went insane!”
Cain ignored him, storming back down the lawn to the palace.
“But...but it’s my room!!”
**
End