What I was doing was absolutely insane. I was willingly following a hero, into his home, and he was fine with it. The pony in my head started screaming it was a trap again, but I knew even if it was I had to take the chance so I could get this kitten fed. Plus if he attacked me at his house at least this strange feeling would go away. At least I think it would.
“Soo, if Riptide is your real name, then whats your hero name?” I asked, trying to break the slightly awkward silence.
“That’s the funny thing, my hero name is also Riptide,” he said, a small smile forming on his lips.
“What!? How do people not know your you then!?” I shouted probably a bit too loud, and I scolded myself in my head.
“Simple, I wear a mask,” he responded simply “You would be surprised how different someone can look with a mask on or off, even if it just covers the eyes.”
Genuinely confused, I asked “Why would you wear a mask just to cover your beautiful blue eyes?” and as soon as the words were out of my mouth I blushed. Crap, that just came out. He turned his head to me, the same eyes I had mentioned wide eyed and staring right at me. I guess both of us had been caught off guard with that question. “I-I mean ugh..” I stammered, but couldn’t find any other way to rephrase what I had just said.
This time the pink in his cheeks were unmistakable, and the pink went surprisingly well with his sea-green coat. I actually had to hold in an “aww” noise, which I normally only reserved for cats and other animals. “U-uhm, well thank you, but I have to do it from people who have weird powers with eye contact control from getting me or something like that,” he responded, stuttering a bit himself. Okay now the fight was real, and I had to at least whisper “aww”, which he seemed to hear and blush more, speeding up and turning his head so I couldn’t see it. In my opinion that was even cuter, but this time I could contain it.
By the time we were almost there I had moved the kitten onto my back, it bouncing up and down as I trotted next to Riptide, purring loudly enough for the both of us to hear it. Riptide stole a glance at it, and smiled, his eyes softening even more just like they had after I had explained about the kitten. This in turn made me smile, knowing I had found another animal lover. Even if that animal lover was going to trap me in his house and beat me up, at least it would be someone who likes cats.
“What are you going to name her?” He asked suddenly, looking over at me. Caught off guard, it took me a second before I could say “I was thinking maybe cloud, because he is pretty fluffy and he is gray like some clouds, but considering his luck I don’t think he should be called rainy cloud but just cloud,” I said, looking back at Riptide and smiling a bit. He nodded smiling back, and we both looked back forward, the house appearing in the distance.
My hoofs hurt from all the walking we had been doing, and my mind was wasted from the emotional stress from earlier. All together I was a sleepy kitten-carrying reck. Unknowingly I began to get closer to Riptide, and he looked over at me, an eyebrow raised questioningly. I yawned, and got close enough that our bodies were touching, and he blushed again looking away. Even while my mind moved at the speed of molasses, I wondered if the kitten had given us some kind of disease that made the blood constantly rush to your face and make you blush.
The house was only a couple yards away now, and by now I was leaning on him. He didn’t seem to mind though, so I kept doing it. The warmth coming off his body was making me more sleepy by the second, and I yawned again. I didn’t even notice as I felt the ground beneath my hooves go from dirt and stone too wood as we stepped onto his porch. I did notice however when he opened the door to his house, and led me inside. It smelled… pleasant, inside. Like a combination of roses and cinnamon. I breathed in deeply, and the smell seemed to restore some of my energy and I stopped leaning on him.
To my surprise I thought I heard a quiet sigh when I stopped, as if he was actuely enjoying it. I smiled, and bumped the side of his flank with my own “You got any food we could feed this little kitten?” I said, adding a hint of teasing to let him now I heard. He blushed, and headed for the kitchen with me following. “I have some raw meat which I hadn’t cooked yet, and some fish so it could maybe have the fish or the raw meat to give it a good source of protien,” he said, looking over at me.
“Lets go with the raw meat for Cloud,” I answered, and in turn he got the meat out and an old looking bowl, putting the meat in the bowl. “I hope its old enough to eat meat, because I know i don’t have any milk,” I said worriedly, and he looked at me seeming surprised. I looked back at him, confused what I said to surprise him, before he remarked “I’m honestly surprised someone hasn’t gotten to a pretty mare like you,” and of course we both blushed.
“You know what I think is happening?” I said to him, a blush still painting my cheeks.
“What?”
“The cat gave us some kind of disease that is making us say things unplanned and constantly blush,” I answered, and he laughed, making me smile. “I never heard of a disease that does that” he said teasingly, and put a hoof to his chin as if thinking it over. I giggled, and nudged him with my head, saying “well mister disease expert, could you help me get this kitten off my back and wake Cloud up?”
He nodded, and together we gently moved Cloud onto the floor, the sudden coolness waking it up with a disappointed mew. Getting wobly onto its feet, it looked up at me, seeming confused as its tiny belly rumbled loudly enough for me too hear. My heart cringed, and reaching down I gently bit it’s scruff, earning a squeak as I moved and placed it right next to the bowl.
Its little pink nose twitched, and it peered into the bowl seeing the raw meat. It crouched down, its tail in the air and its eyes narrowed, and I stayed quiet, watching next to Riptide. Bemused, I watched as it pounced on the meat, mewing triumphantly before beginning to eat. I sat down, getting a bit closer to Riptide so our bodies touched, and he sat down as well. The feeling that i felt towards him was.. Getting stronger, and I couldn’t say I didn’t enjoy it. Thats when I realized something and groaned.
He looked over at me, an eyebrow up questioningly, and even the kitten stopped eating for a second. “This suit is the only thing I have, its almost dark and I have no other clothes to wear while here,” I moaned, putting my hoofs too my eyes as the pony in my head sing songed that I was stupid. That pony was a traitor, and I needed to find some way to get it out of my head. Then it shut up as Riptide put a hoof around me, and I blushed surprised “Well you can stay here for the night, and then I could go get you your clothes in the morning, then if you want you can leave with them,” he offered. “Although I was hoping you would stick around for a while,” he added, nudging my neck with his nose. That helped the blood rushing too my cheeks as much as a flesh wound would, or in other words it only made it worse as I blushed more.
In my mind though I knew I wanted to stay a while, so I simply nodded and leaned into him a bit. Then I got an idea, and took my hoofs off my face for a second and smiled evily “Oh alright, but I get to use the bathroom and shower first in the morning, and you aren’t aloud to peak~” I said teasingly, and he giggled. “I wouldn’t dre- okay thats a lie I would, I won’t peak don’t worry,” he said, his small joke earning a laugh from me as well.
I yawned again, and looked up at him “Do you have a guest room I can sleep in?” I asked tiredly. He nodded, standing up and began walking towards a room, which I shortly followed. I heard the kitten squeaking excitedly behind us, and paws against carpet as it followed us. He led me too a fairly plain room, a bed located in the corner with a small dresser next to it, which I immediatly retreated too. Slipping under the covers, I let the warmth envelope me, sighing happily. After a couple seconds, I felt sudden pressure on the side of my body and a vibrating sensation, I could tell the kitten had jumped up with me.
I smiled as it crawled forwards so it was right against my chest, and snuggled there, purring happily. I looked over at Riptide one last time and smiled, just before falling asleep.