Title: The Cat's Meow (1/1)
Author: TheEileen   (TheEileen@yahoo.com)
Disclaimer: Joss owns these characters and is my
personal demi-god.  I own nothing except a lot of
much-read books so suing me will get you nothing,
except a lot of much-read books.  I hope that Aly and
ASH will forgive my use of their avatars.
Challenge: Andrea Toth-Strange Brew-Animal
Transformations
Distribution: Strange Brew if Andrea wants it.  All
other, please ask.
Summary: What, the Challenge doesn't help you figure
that out?
Feedback: Oh yes.  Please, sir, may I have another?
Spoiler:  S4 - Wild at Heart
Special Thanks To:  Monique for making this even
vaguely coherent!  
Rating: PG-13 to R

Note: This is my second fiction and my first try at a
1/1 piece.  I hope you enjoy!

- - - - - - -

"- Come!"
  
WHUMP!  There was a bright flash of light and the
smell of burnt feathers in the air.  Where once had
stood Willow Rosenberg, Wicca, now there was a only a
writhing bundle of clothes.  The bundle wiggled this
way and that and finally a small, furry head poked
out, "Meow?"
  
'Well, okay,' thought Willow to herself.  'That so did
not go the way I had planned.'  She looked at herself,
as best she could.  From what she could see, she was
now a small, ginger cat.  As for what she could feel -
well that was hard to describe.  She felt - different.
 Things looked different, things sounded different and
most certainly, things smelled different.  'Oh, man,'
she thought, 'my clothes are RANK.'  She attempted to
shove the rest of the way out of the clothes but got
her paws all mixed up, and she fell over.  
  
'Quit thinking so hard,' she scolded herself.  'This
body knows what it's doing.  Let it.  Just think of
moving and don't think how.'  She managed to get
herself on all fours again and made her way out.  She
sat and started thinking.  'Okay, so the spell to
summon a familiar has turned me into one.  Mental
note, ALWAYS double-check the Latin."  Absentmindedly,
she started grooming herself.  'I'm gonna need help
here and that means, dang, Giles.  And he only just
gave me a lecture about this last week.  He's gonna
kill me.  On the other paw,' she chuckled to herself,
'I don't want to be a cat for the rest of my life.' 
She heaved a sigh and said, 'Right, Giles it is.'
  
 - - - - - -
  
Giles was reshelving some of his books when he heard a
scratching at the door.  Then a thump and then some
more scratching.  Picking up his baseball bat, he
cautiously approached the door.  Before he had gotten
it more than a foot open, something brushed past his
ankles and into the room.  He yelped and whirled, bat
at the ready, but he didn't see anything at first. 
Then he heard it, "MEOW". 
 
"What the devil?" he asked.  "A cat?"  He peered
around his apartment but couldn't see it.  "Here
kitty, kitty, kitty," he crooned out.  "Nice cat,
let's get you back outside."
  
"MRROW!" came an emphatic cry.  He swung his head
around and saw it.  A small, ginger cat sitting on top
of one of his books.  He leaned in to scoop up the
cat, which batted at his hand.  Then it patted its
paws on the book and looked at him.  "Yes, nice
kitty," he said. He managed to pick it up this time,
ignoring the book, "Animal Transformations and Spells"
that it had been sitting on.
  
The cat gave a sharp cry, wriggled and was suddenly
free.  It bounded back over to the book and this time
nudged it with its head.  It looked at him again and
gave another "mrrow".  Giles reached for it again. 
"Look kitty," he said, "This building does not allow
pets, so you'll have to go."  The cat pushed the book
at him, and he barely caught it before it fell. 
"Naughty kitty," he scolded, glancing at the title and
then obliviously shelving it correctly as he came
around the side of the couch to get to the cat.
  
The cat was sitting there, just glaring at him with a
disgusted expression.  He shook his head.  What was he
thinking?  It was just a cat.  He reached for it
again, and again, it flowed backwards out of reach. 
He tried once more, and this time the cat went forward
right between his legs.  He looked behind him and saw
the end of the tail going into the kitchen.  He
followed it and found the cat sitting in the middle of
the floor.  Its paws were neatly together, tail curled
around its body, head cocked slightly to the side.
  
He chuckled when he saw that; it reminded him of the
way Willow had looked the other day.  She had stood
there just so, arms wrapped around her chest and her
head cocked to the side.  Willow would probably like
this cat.  He sighed.  "All right," he said.  The cat
perked up its ears.  "I'll get you some milk.  But I
warn you, I don't have any cat food."  As he reached
past the cat for the refrigerator door, he could have
sworn he heard the cat let out a frustrated sigh.  

But when he looked down, the cat just seemed to shrug
at him and then it rubbed its head against his leg.

 - - - - - -
  
Later that evening, Giles was relaxing on the couch,
with the cat sitting in his lap.  He leisurely stroked
her as she was lolled out in the pose of feline
pleasure.  He looked at the small scratch on his hand
and said, "I still can't believe you scratched me when
I was just trying to find out if you were a boy cat or
a girl cat."  The cat opened one eye and 'meeped' at
him.  He chuckled a little and continued to pet his
new companion.  "Whoever heard of a modest cat?"
  
He reached over and picked up a photo album, part of
his nightly ritual.  "Excuse me," he said to the cat
and moved it off his lap and to the side.  He began
turning pages until he reached the one he wanted.  He
sighed and the cat nudged her way under his hand to
see what he was looking at.
  
Willow 'meeped' again.  It was a picture of her.  She
looked up at Giles, who was looking sort of
dreamy-eyed and then back at her picture.  Why was
Giles looking like *that* at a picture of her?  A
picture she didn't even know he had.  There she was
sitting on a school bench, laughing.  She couldn't
remember him ever taking a picture of her.

He turned the page, and there was her prom photo, but
different somehow.  She watched as he reached out and
gently ran his fingertips over her face.  "Willow" she
heard him sigh out.  "So beautiful."  She ducked her
head and sort of buried it in his shirt.  She couldn't
believe it.  Giles?  Giles had - feelings - feelings
like that - for *her*!  Giles thought she was
beautiful?  She didn't know whether to run away or
stay by his side.  She admitted to herself that she
had totally been enjoying having him pet and stroke
her as a cat.  It had been a glorious feeling.  No
wonder cats were always after you to pet them. But as
a girl!  'Hmmm,' she thought, 'that wouldn't be too
bad as a girl either.  Oooh, bad Willow.  Bad'
  
She looked back at the picture again and now noticed
what was different about her prom photo.  Oz wasn't in
it.  It looked like that part had been cut off. 
'Hmmmm,' she thought again and looked back at Giles. 
He turned the page and frowned.  She looked at the
photo album, and there they all were, in a group shot.
 She was standing next to Oz and that was whom Giles
was frowning at.  "Stupid prat," he muttered.  "I
could kill you for hurting her."  
  
Giles was suddenly reminded of the cat when she went
"MROW" and jumped into his lap, right on top of the
photo album.  "W-what the," he started - only to be
interrupted by the cat rubbing its head along his chin
and then rasping its tongue along his cheek.  It sort
of snuggled up on his chest.  He laughed again and
held it there.  "All right, all right," he said. 
"Enough.  Time for bed."  He shoved the cat off his
lap and put down the photo album and headed up the
stairs, with the cat right behind him.

 - - - - - -
  
Willow felt her heart swell with the love she had so
long tried to repress when Giles had threatened Oz.  
Everyone else had kept telling her that it was good
for Oz to go away and that she should just give him
his space.  Giles, she now realized, had been
conspicuously silent.  Perhaps he was the only one to
truly appreciate how much his leaving had hurt.  How
much it had damaged her still fragile self-esteem.
 
Did Giles really care for her - in the same way she
had cared for him?  In the beginning, she'd had
feelings for him.  But, first and foremost, he was
Buffy's Watcher.   And then there was the whole age
thing - 'fired for statuatory rape' just did not look
good on a resume. She knew that made him out of
bounds.  And so she repressed her feelings for him.  
 
She had managed for two years to keep the thoughts of
loving Giles out of her head.  She'd done 'the right
thing', gotten involved with a boy her own age.  And
look where that got her.  Why did she always have to
do the 'mature thing'?  Why couldn't she have what she
really wanted, for once?
  
'Damn it,' she thought to herself defiantly, 'I can
have what I want.  I *will* go for it... Just as soon
as I stop being a cat.'  She decided to work on it
again, in the morning.  In the meantime, her thoughts
were definitely straying to new pastures as she
watched Giles get ready for bed.  He looked quite good
under all the clothes he wore.  All that working out
with Buffy and jogging seemed to be well worth it,
from her point of view.  And what a lovely point of
view it was.  Me-ow!
  
Giles found himself glancing at the cat over and over
again.  For some reason, he actually felt a little
self-conscious undressing in front of the animal.  He
couldn't explain it, and felt a little silly, but when
he stripped completely for his shower, he had to turn
his back.  He could have sworn the cat made some sort
of noise, but when he glanced sharply over his
shoulder, the cat was sitting there with an innocent
look on its face, grooming its paw.
  
When he came out of the bathroom after his shower, the
cat was curled up in the middle of his bed, having
made a little nest of his nightclothes. 
 
'Me-ow,' thought Willow again as he came out of the
bathroom.  'Goddess!'  She made a few mental
comparisons and found her thoughts straying even
further.  When Giles came over and tried to shoo her
off his pjs, she found herself trying to raise an
eyebrow at him, which doesn't work when you're a cat.
So she made a pat-pat motion with her paw on the bed.
  
"Look cat," said Giles.  "Get off my clothes."  The
cat seemed to shake its head and patted the bed again.
 If a cat could be said to look coquettish, this cat
would be that cat.  He sighed and then just grabbed
the edge and yanked.  The cat yowled as it went
tumbling. He was able to get his pants on before it
came bounding back.  It stopped at the edge of the
bed, looked up at him, sniffed and then wandered off
and arranged itself by his pillow.  All the time,
exuding a cat-like disdain.  
 
He shrugged and got into bed.  He turned off the light
and settled down.  About two seconds later, the cat
curled up next to him, its head resting lightly on his
stomach.  He scratched its head for a few minutes and
then drifted off to sleep.
  
   - - - - - -
 
Willow shivered a little.  Her head was on something
warm but the rest of her was chilly.  She blinked once
or twice and tried to figure out where she was and why
her pillow was moving.  The memories of yesterday and
last night came to her in a rush.  'Oh thank heavens,'
she thought at first.  'It was a temporary spell.  I'm
not a cat.  I'm a girl again.'  But then the
realization of where she was and with whom hit her. 
'I'm a girl again, and I'm in Giles' bed and this must
be...' She went completely still and then slowly
lifted her head, 'Giles' stomach.'
 
Carefully, she moved back so that she was sitting up,
staring at Giles while he slept.  He looked different
when he was asleep - younger, more vulnerable.  The
love she felt for him - the love she could finally let
free from her heart - made her eyes shine with unshed
tears.  She reached out and gently stroked his cheek.

She thought back to the decision made just a few hours
ago.  

She still felt the same way - she still wanted him. 
Wanted to love him. Wanted to be with him.  She wasn't
a child anymore.  If he cared for her the way she
thought he did - she wasn't going to let anything
stand in the way of their being together.   Not her
shyness.  Not his shyness.  Nothing!  

She put on her 'resolve' face and carefully slid under
the covers and snuggled up to Giles.  She placed a
tender kiss on his cheek and whispered, "I love you,
Rupert Giles."  He 'mmm-d' and sighed, "Willow" in his
sleep.  Willow smiled contentedly. He was dreaming of
her.
  
Giles shifted as he came awake.  The warm body next to
him wriggled a little closer.  He started stroking,
and it only took a few moments for the fact that is
was skin, not fur, that he was touching penetrated his
sleep-fogged mind.  "Mmmmm," he heard a feminine voice
sigh near his ear.  His eyes snapped open, his hand
stilled on - on  - he refused to complete that thought
and he turned his head.  Deep green eyes smiled at
him. Her hand was on his bare chest, making lazy
circles and causing him to shiver slightly. 
  
"W-W-Willow?" he asked.  She nodded and her hand
drifted down towards his stomach.  "W-Willow!  What
are you doing?"
  
"What does it feel like I'm doing?" she asked.
  
"Gah, I mean, what are you doing here?  In my bed? 
And are you-you n-naked?"
  
"Mm-hmmm." She nodded.  "You let me in last night. 
Don't you remember?"  

Her hands were making micefeet of his thinking
process, but he was able to grasp onto the phrase
'last night'.   "L-L-last n-night?" he asked.  "L-let
you... Y-you w-w...?" 
 
Willow nodded and smiled.  Then she rubbed her cheek
along his jaw and then gave a little lick to his
cheek.  "Cat got your tongue?" she asked seductively.

She leaned forward to give him a kiss.  
 
He drew back, "Willow! W-what are you doing?  I've
t-t-old you not to do those s-spells without checking
with me first.  They could have s-serious
side-effects."
  
She wriggled a little, causing his hand to slide to
her waist.  He made a small "yelp" noise.  "This is no
side effect, Rupert Giles.  I've just finally decided
to 'carpe' you - I'm going to get what I've always
wanted," She leaned forward and captured his mouth
with hers.  Giles knew he should pull away, but she
tasted so good, and he'd wanted this for so long. 
Maybe he'd regret it in the morning, although he
doubted it.
  
When they broke for air, Willow continued, "And you
are going to get what you want.  You can't hide how
you feel, Giles. I saw you last night, remember?  And
I'm not going to hide how I feel any more.  We're not
student and teacher any longer."  Her hand drifted a
little further south. "So, do you really think this is
the time for a lecture?"  
  
Giles looked into the eyes of the woman he'd loved for
so long and found her gazing back at him with a depth
of emotion he'd only dreamt of. "No," he shook his
head.  "Lecture later."  He rolled over and trapped
her beneath him.  As he kissed her again, he thought
to himself, 'Much later.'

End The Cat's Meow

The Eileen