Chapter Text
“Wow... This is… certainly a building that a person could live in.”
Kat tilted her head, as her eyes glanced at the building and back to Crowley before deciding in the end to return to her cat form, it made moving around much easier to do.
“It's sarcasm, kitty cat. Don't worry about it.” Kat responded by placing her paw on Ophelia’s chin before removing it and side eyeing Crowley who had decided to speak again. “Isn't it delightful? Right, scoot inside now. There you go.” He said as he ushered the two girls into the building. “This should keep the elements at bay for the time being.”
Did we arrive at the same building? This thing could barely keep the cat at bay.
“Now, I should return to my research. Do try to find some way to busy yourself.” Crowley said before pausing as he was about to leave the building. “But don't let me catch you wandering the campus! Ta!” He said with a chuckle as if he had just said a joke, the door slammed behind him, causing a thick layer of dust to fall down from the ceiling.
“Gods, I thought he'd never leave.” Ophelia mumbled, waving the dust away from her face. “He's expecting us to clean this, isn't he?”
Kat tilted her head as she jumped from Ophelia’s arm, her paws landing on the floor as waddled over to the old couch, her right eye turning orange as she sniffed it before backing away, her tail puffing up as she let out a small hiss, as she moved behind Ophelia, a small amount of dust now on Kat’s face as she paws it off, unamused at what had just happened.
Ophelia grinned, picking up the cat and wiping the dust off of her nose with her sleeve. “Noted. Couch smells bad. We can dump that outside, it's basically unsalvageable anyway. Could barely get any fabric off this thing.” Kat’s tail slowly de-puffed as she went back to sitting in Ophelia’s cloak hood.
“I'm guessing that means I'm doing it alone.” Kat places her paw on Ophelia’s cheek before licking her paw clean from the dust that had clung to fur from when she had decided to check out the couch, she moves her paw away as she falls back asleep.
Ophelia gently pet Kat, looking around the room for any kind of cleaning products.
“I'm guessing you don't see anything?” All she got in response was the quiet sounds of the rain that had started to pour outside. “...didn't think so. Alright. You can stay there, just don't complain if you smell weird chemicals, okay, kitty?” Kat, tiredly jumped out the hood once she had spied an clean wooden chair, this time not bothering to sniff it, her right eye turning an yellowish orange colour as she curled up into a ball, as she watched Ophelia clean.
Ophelia sighed, picking up the broken glass and wood that littered the floor. “This house is barely safe for a human, let alone a cat. Then again, that Crowley dude didn't seem all human. He's certainly not sane at the very least.” Kat kept completely quiet as she listened to Ophelia mumble to herself, Kat’s eyes following Ophelia’s movements. “I mean, what kind of sane being sets a human and a… you… up in a house like this? Gods know the other dorms didn't get this.”
The sound of the chair rocking filled the air, as Kat returned to her human form. “Project cure…” she said quietly, her eyes not meeting Ophelia’s, as she messed with her hands, bruises and healing cuts covering them.
Ophelia glanced over as she dumped the broken glass out of the window. “Oh. Sorry, didn't realise you were in human mode… nor did I realise you were able to speak. Are you good? You look like you've just seen a ghost.” No words escaped Kat’s mouth, as she kept blankly staring at the window, her eyes watching the rain drops trickle down the window.
“...You're really not okay, are you? Do you need to, like, talk about it? I'd also accept it if you want me to just shut up and keep cleaning in silence. Sometimes silence is better.” Ophelia spoke again, clearly concerned about the cat girl. Kat didn’t answer straight away, her right eye becoming a pale yellow colour as she kept looking at the window.
“Why…why do you care so much…”
“Why.. haven’t you hurt me yet…” kat finally spoke out her voice quiet, barely audible from the heavy pitter of the rain against the window as she looked down at her hands, the cuts on her hands irritated from her messing with them, yet she made no movement to look at Ophelia.
“...gods, someone must've hurt you real bad. I care about you because we're in the same situation: stuck in a place we don't know and forced to live in a dump. I haven't hurt you because I'm not a horrible person. I'm not going to hurt you because I care about you.”
A small sniffle escaped Kat’s mouth as she quickly wiped away a tear that had formed in one of her eyes. “But.. I’m a monster” Doubt filling Kat’s voice as her tail wrapped around her legs as her ears flattened against her head, the rain outside pouring even harder as some water hits the wooden floor from the holes in the ceiling.
Ophelia sighed, taking off her jacket and wrapping it around Kat, putting the hood up to make sure she was safe from any roof leakage. “Sweetheart, you're no more of a monster than I am. I mean, hell, I talk to ghosts on a daily basis, I've gambled my life savings away on no less than three separate occasions, and I don't understand how regular humans function. You're not a monster just cause you're a cat girl. I don't know who hurt you in the past, but they're not good people, and you shouldn't take their words as gospel.”
Kat’s ears raised up slightly as she glanced over at Ophelia as she kept quiet, no words filled the air, the only sound was the heavy rainstorm outside. A small sniffle escaped Kat’s mouth as she wiped away another tear that had formed in her eye. “Thank you…” she said quietly to Ophelia, even though the doubt in her brain still rang deeply through her soul, yet she decided to listen to Ophelia’s words, as she quietly thought about them.
“...do you have a proper name? I've been calling you Kat this whole time. Just seems a bit mean. Like if you called me ‘human’ instead of Ophelia. If you don't, I can help you come up with one.”
Kat shook her head, her eyes glancing at Ophelia before looking back at the heavy rain. “Kat’s the only nice thing anyone’s called me, they normally just called me by my code name” she quietly answered back, her eyes looking at her palms of her hands the numbers 003 cut into her skin lightly, some of the scars nearly faded away while the others seemed fresh and irritated.
“...that won't do. I'm gonna help you pick a new name. 003 is too degrading and Kat just feels mean. Alright, let's think…”
Ophelia pulled out her lucky deck of cards, mindlessly shuffling as she thought.
“Name things you like. Could be anything. A food, a season, a toy. I knew a boy named Jester once, so don't feel like you'll be judged for picking something weird. Sky's the limit.”
Kat paused, as she tried to think of a name, her fingers poked at the scars on her hands as she tried to think of a name. “I don’t know” she said quietly, her right eye turning a pale blue colour as she felt disappointment in herself for not being able to think of a name to call herself. “I’m sorry…” she added quietly, feeling guilty for failing the task she had been given.
Ophelia knelt down in front of Kat, placing her hand on top of the cat girl's, in an attempt to soothe her. “Whoa, whoa, hey, hey, hey, it's okay, you don't need to apologise. You haven't done anything wrong. Sometimes questions are just hard to answer. You aren't going to get in trouble for not knowing.”
Kat flinched for a second before calming down when she realised Ophelia meant what she said earlier, she nodded her head as didn’t move her hand away from Ophelia’s, as her brain kept trying to figure out a name she wanted. “What’s a season?” Kat asked quietly, not making eye contact with Ophelia since she felt embarrassed by her question she had just blurted out.
“Seasons are how humans track the change in weather. Some people think it has to do with the planets, some people think it was farmers back in the old days. There are four seasons: the flowery season Spring, the sunny season Summer, the rainy season Autumn, and the snowy season Winter.” Ophelia explained without hesitating, not questioning for a moment why Kat asked.
Kat took a moment to let the information settle in her brain, before speaking again. “Summer…” she said quietly with little to zero context as she looked at the rain dripping on the floor.
“Summer is a name, you know. And it's a beautiful season too. I'm not the biggest fan of the sun, but I enjoy walking around, eating ice cream, and spending time with loved ones. It's a wonderful time… Honestly, I think Summer suits you as a name.” Kat quietly listened to Ophelia ramble about Summer time as she watched as Ophelia placed some buckets she had found underneath the spots where the rain was hitting the floor. “T..thank you” Kat finally said, her right eye turning back to being black as she slouched slightly into the chair she was sitting in. “Is that rain?” She asked as pointed to the rain outside, her right eye having a slight orange tint to it.
“Yep. That's what you're hearing outside. I'm putting the buckets down so we don't end up with big puddles on the floor. Rain is my favourite kind of weather: it's cold so you can bundle up, and the sound is very relaxing.” Ophelia replied as she pushed some furniture together, creating a makeshift fort for the two of them.
“There. It's not the best but it's better than a hole in the roof. Plus I found some mattresses and blankets that weren't totally disgusting so we have somewhere we can sleep.”
The peace was soon interrupted as the front door slammed open revealing the eccentric headmage. “Good evening. In another gesture of my immense kindness, I have brought you dinner and some fresh clothes, truly, my kindness is unparalleled!” Crowley said, as Summer fidgeted with the sleeves of the ceremony outfit, some needle marks and bruises could be seen slightly but Ophelia’s jacket hid them from sight as she hid slightly from the loud man.
“...thanks. Is that all? Also, can you maybe learn to knock next time? You nearly gave me a heart attack.” Though Crowley just shrugged them off, his eyes glanced at Summer’s fetal position for a second before speaking again.
“So… are we going to be locked in this building for eternity or do we get to experience this college campus? I'd rather not be left in here forever.”
“Let me be clear!”
“Under no circumstances would I admit anyone to Night Raven College who has not been selected by the Dark Mirror!” He answered back defensively, as the feathers of his cloak puffed up slightly like an angry bird. “Nor do I intend to allow you both to freeload until you're able to return home.” Summer tilted her head at the word home slightly, but kept quiet not wanting to speak at the moment of time.
“...I'm not even going to touch that sentence because if I do, the gods will not forgive me.” Ophelia mumbled, shuffling her cards to distract her brain.
“Now, allow me to explain.” Crowley said, deciding not to listen to Ophelia’s words.
“It was the Dark Mirror that transported you here.”
“Therefore this school does bear some responsibility for your well-being.”
“So I will allow you to remain in this dorm, free of charge.” He paused letting his words get through to the two females. Summer blankly stared at the window, only slightly looking over at Crowley’s direction.
“However, you will need to pay for your own food, clothing, and incidentals.”
“As to how you will do so, penniless as you are... Ah. Ah ha. Yes, a fine plan.”
“Are we going to be informed of said ‘fine plan’?”
‘You needn't seem so alarmed. I'm simply going to ask you to do a few odd jobs around campus.”
“From what you've done here, I can tell you know your way around a broom.” Crowley said as he looked around the room they were in.
“That's debatable. I threw most of the broken glass out of the window.”
“So what do you say to you two working together as a janitorial team?” He said only glancing over at her, before deciding once again to not listen to her.
“If you agree to that, I will make a special exception and allow you two to remain on campus.”
“I'll also allow you to use the library, so that you may study, and research ways to return home.” Summer looked over at Crowley, her right eye purely an orange colour as her brain tried to figure out what most of the words he was saying meant.
“How soundlessly charitable I am.” He said, once again boasting about himself.
“Ah, but only when your work is over, of course!”
“What’s a library?…” Summer mumbled quietly to herself, so no one could hear her question.
“...am I- we- are we getting paid for this?” Crowley just nods his head.
“Enough to pay for the things you need. Does that sound like a fair deal?” Summer didn’t respond to the question as she looked at the rain with a blank stare as she placed her hand gently on the window after shuffling the chair closer to the window. “…cold…” she whispered to herself.
“I don't see how this is going to benefit us. If we're working our asses off to afford food, we won't have time to fix up the junkyard you've situated us in.”
“If you're not satisfied with my offer, I can arrange to have you thrown out.” Crowley said, with slight irritation in his voice. Summer looked at the window and sniffed it, her nose bopping against the window slightly. “…very cold…” she whispered to herself once more.
“...Summer? You okay with doing some cleaning?” Ophelia looked over at Summer, who seemed to be fascinated by the window.
No answer came from Summer as she looked at the rain outside. “…It’s raining still…” she answered back quietly, snapping out of her thoughts slightly.
“I know, hun, it's gonna keep raining for a while.”
Ophelia looked back over at Crowley.
“We'll take the job.”
“Wonderful. Then I beseech you both…”
"To work hard as the newest members of the Night Raven College's janitorial staff!" Crowley said as if it was the world’s most wanted job ever in history.
“Oh, goodie. A job I already have history with.” Summer didn’t say anything as she looked at the rain. “The rain is pretty…” she said mumbled to herself, completely unaware of the conversation Crowley and Ophelia were having.
“I shall see you both tomorrow.” Crowley said before leaving the building leaving the food and clean clothes in Ophelia’s hand, his footsteps could be heard in the rain before fading away.
“Hey, Summer. We have fresh clothes and food. We'll need to find somewhere to stockpile. If it doesn't fit you, I can tailor it. I keep a sewing kit on me all the time.” Summer nods her head as she stood up, her limp more noticeable now in her human form as she took the clothes Ophelia had given to her, she got changed into her new outfit. It was a long, muted blue dress with an off white button up shirt. The bishop sleeves wrapped around her arms, secured snugly with beautiful white buttons. Summer looked at the dress, her hands gently brushing the skirt as she did a small twirl. It fitted her, her eyes filled with awe at the skirt, before quickly going back to the ceremonial robes so she didn’t dirty the new clothes she liked so much. “They fit,” Summer said to Ophelia who had just tried on her outfit (some warm burnt orange overalls and a white turtleneck).
A small growl comes from Summer as she places her clothes neatly with the other clothes so they didn’t get dirty when she was cleaning.
“You're hungry. Here, I'll dish up the food. I found some clean plates while I was looking for the buckets. Do you mind eating with your hands?” Summer shook her head.
“That's good. Whatever cutlery was left looked gross. Alright… Crowley brought us some salad, some chicken and some crackers. Oh, and water bottles too. That's good. At least we don't have to drink rainwater.”
Summer looked in confusion as she looked at the salad, chicken and crackers not used too seeing anything like it before. Summer watched as Ophelia dished out the food onto the plates, the sounds of rain slowly fading out.
“You alright there, hun? You look confused. Do you want more?” Summer shook her head, as she looked at the food on her plate confused, slightly poking at the chicken, salad and crackers. She sniffed the food, her right eye completely orange. “What is this?” She asked, confused and holding a piece of the salad in her hands.
“It's salad. Lettuce. It's good for you. Trust me. It tastes good too.” Ophelia smiled, pushing the salad towards her.
“I’ve never had salad before or any of these foods before” Summer said quietly before slowly nibbling on some of the salad, she ended up eating her portion of food in silence as she fidgeted with her hands.
“It's always good to try new foods. How is it?” Ophelia asked, curious.
Summer slowly glanced over at Ophelia before answering. “Good... it’s good, I’ve never had anything like it before…” Summer quietly said as she stood up so she could start helping out with cleaning. Summer began to dust the furniture and room with an old piece of fabric she had found on an old coffee table.
“Looks like the rain is cleaning up. We'll be able to sleep with clear skies. That's good… Thanks for helping out, Summer. You're doing a really good job.” Ophelia smiled, doodling a smiley face on a piece of paper she'd found and offering it to her.
Summer tilted her head in confusion as she took the piece of paper, her left sleeve rolling up slightly revealing some recent needle marks in her skin, bruises seem to trail up her arm, around her wrists were some burn marks, the mark of something being tied on her wrist earlier could be seen. The burn mark on Summer’s neck seemed more irritated as she quietly placed the note on her pile of clean clothes to keep it safe, her limp was getting slightly worse as the broken glass in her feet digged into her skin as she kept cleaning away the dust, determined to do her self proclaimed job.
Ophelia was perceptive, noticing all the bruises and the broken glass.
“Hey, hun, how bout we take a break? You're gonna hurt yourself with all that broken glass on the floor.”
Summer shook her head, she didn’t plan on stopping until she had finished her job. “I..I’m fine” she said quietly as she carried on dusting, forcing herself to carry on.
Ophelia sighed, putting her hands in her pockets. “...alright, darling, I'm gonna be super nice about this. I can tell you're in pain. You're forcing yourself to keep going and ignore the pain. I want you to take a break.”
“But I haven’t finished my job yet” Summer said, confused as she glanced over to Ophelia, her hands gripping the fabric she was using to dust the room and furniture.
“Yes, you have. You're all done. Your next job is to take a break and clean up your wounds. I can help you if you need it.”
Summer kept quiet as she nodded her head as she placed the fabric back onto the coffee table she had found it on, she sat back on the chair she was sitting on before as she looked out at the window, her eyes glancing at the puddles that had formed from when it had rained.
Ophelia picked up the broken glass Summer had been stepped on, making sure there was none left.
“Hun, take the glass out of your feet. You need them to be cleaned. When we get paid, I'll buy you some shoes. Good quality ones.”
Summer didn’t react as first, her right eye turning an slight yellow colour as her tail wraps around her legs, as her fingers poked at the glass shards, before pulling out an glass shard from her foot as she flinched in pain, an thick coat of blood coating the glass shard, she slowly placed the glass shard next to her, before looking back at the window, not wanting to feel the pain of the glass shards leaving her feet again, some blood trickling down her foot, covering some bruises and burn scars that covered them.
“It hurts too much…” Summer finally spoke out, as she looked back at the window.
“I know, hun, but it's what's best for you. I'm not trying to hurt you, I promise. I'm trying to help.” Ophelia crouched next to Summer, showing she was serious about not wanting to hurt her.
“But, it hurts so much….” Summer replied so much as she looked at the glass shard she had removed from her foot, her eyes avoiding making eye contact with Ophelia, her eyes glanced at her feet she had managed to remove one out of eight shards that were in her feet, but the other ones seemed more difficult to remove, for an second she thought about pulling out another one, but deciding last minute not to.
“I know. I know. Listen, I'm gonna help you. You're gonna hold my hand, and I'm gonna get them out of your foot. If it gets too painful, I want you to squeeze my hand, okay? As hard as you need. Don't worry about hurting me.” Ophelia held out her hand.
Summer nodded her head as she slowly took Ophelia’s hand, self consciously making sure not to squeeze to hard as Ophelia carefully removed the glass shards from her foot, it took awhile for most of them to be fully out, after what had seemed like an decades the last glass shard had been removed.
Ophelia pulled some bandages from her pockets, cleaning up the wounds and wrapping them up.
“There. All done. Now, I want you to stay off the floor until I get all the glass cleaned up, alright? Keep an eye out, let me know if the weather starts to change.”
Summer nodded her head, as she turned to face the window as she let go of Ophelia’s hands, her eyes glancing over at the bandages over her feet before going back to keeping an eye out the window, making sure not to miss any sudden changes in the weather she might miss. Her ears twitching with every sound she could hear, but she didn’t make any effort to look away from the window.
Ophelia put the bandages left back in her pocket, picking up the rest of the broken glass and tossing it out of a window. She made sure to grab every last bit. She didn't want to risk another injury.
The room was now mostly clean, now safer to make it to the other rooms in the building, for the time being the weather was calm.
“Alright, Summer. Floor should be safe now. How are you feeling?”
Summer glanced over at Ophelia, not sure what to say as she fidgeted with her hands, before coming up with an answer. “I’m okay” she answered slightly unsure of her answer but deciding to stick with it, as she made sure none of her hair touched the burn scar on her neck, her movements sluggish now from pain and tiredness as she looked back at the window.
“You look exhausted, hun. How about we call it a night? We've got the little thing set up, so we have somewhere to sleep. It should be big enough for both of us, but if not, I can just sleep on the couch.”
“I’m fine on the chair…” Summer said quietly as she got into the pjs Crowley had given her, she quickly got changed into the light green dress she had been given, before sitting back onto the chair she was on.
“Nope, you're gonna sleep on the mattress. I want you to sleep comfortably.”
“But the chair is comfortable,” Summer answered back, quietly as she slowly moved into the mattress, hesitant to go onto it.
“I want you to sleep well, hun. Think about it for a second. Would you be more comfortable on the chair or the mattress? If you think the answer is the chair, I won't push. Ultimately, it's your decision.”
Summer glanced over back at the chair, as she quietly poked the mattress to check how it felt, before ultimately deciding to pick the mattress, her right eye completely orange as she slowly sat on the mattress, her tail puffing up slightly as she slowly moved into an curled up position, her tail wrapped around her leg as her hands softly grabbed the edge of the mattress not wanting to let go.
Ophelia quickly changed into her own pyjamas, another light green dress, before curling up next to Summer.
“If you don't want physical contact, that's fine. Just let me know.”
There was no answer from Summer, as she had already fallen into a deep sleep, her hands clutching the edge of the mattress, her body trembling slightly from the pain she was in but other than that she seemed peaceful right now. Summer kept sleeping as she curled up slightly more into the ball, her hands still clutching the mattress, some of the 003 that had been cut into her skin seemed to have reopened earlier but right now she was too far into a deep sleep to care.
Ophelia took a moment to assess the wounds, softly bandaging what was left on her body. She asked no questions, just made sure she could comfortably sleep without pain. She sighed as she pushed some hair from Summer's face. She cared about this kid. She couldn't deny it. She had so many questions, but as she laid down next to the sleeping Summer, she pushed them all aside, knowing her questions didn't matter. Summer was a person, and one Ophelia wanted to take care of.