Chapter Text
“Look what I got,” Melanie said as she tossed open the front door to Georgie and Jon’s flat. Jon jumped in his seat, and Georgie looked surprised as Melanie maneuvered her way between the two on the sofa. She pulled out a beanie from her bag and slapped it down on top of her head.
Jon snorted a laugh, and that earned him a glare. “S-sorry…” he said, amused. “Are those cat ears?” he asked, and he reached up to flick the ears on top of the beanie.
“They are,” she said with a huff, and Melanie whipped her head around to face Georgie.
“That’s so cute,” Georgie cooed, giggling. She reached up to adjusted the beanie more nicely on Melanie’s head, admiring her with such a loving look. The beanie itself was half sparkly black and half blue-red marbled yarn. On one of the pointed ears were two crossed safety pins, and dangling from the other ear was a star-shaped earring. “A little punk kitty cat!” Georgie cooed, and she kissed Melanie’s forehead through her smushed-down bangs.
Melanie blushed brightly, giggling. She leaned back against the sofa cushions and kicked her feet up onto the seat with her. “Yeah, that’s what kind of cat I am. Jon’s a calico, and I’m a punk kitty.”
Jon furrowed his brows at that, unsure. “I don’t recall a breed of cat called punk kitty,” he said, and slowly a grin grew on his face.
“I can show you what it means if Georgie lets me get claws,” Melanie threatened in the sweetest voice she could manage.
“No claws,” Georgie fussed, though. Melanie just smiled bigger.
“You have to be nice, Melanie,” Jon taunted as he got to his feet. He grabbed his bag from the table and slung it over his shoulder, and he checked himself in the mirror with a sigh. “After all,” he started in an attempt to keep his nerves down. “I doubt you want to end up in Elias’s office for a reprimand about bullying your boss.”
“I’ll go for that if you go in for a reprimand about dating your subordinate,” Melanie said with a smirk.
“I don’t think everyone needs to know that part,” Jon said, grinning. Melanie leaned over the arm of the sofa, so Jon leaned over to kiss her cheek. Melanie gave a fake gag, but it fell apart into giggles far too quickly. Jon rolled his eyes.
“Can you two behave today?” Georgie asked with a sigh. “Or do I need to call you every hour to make sure neither of you have caused a fight?”
“We can behave,” Melanie said, and she wrapped her arms around Georgie’s shoulders. “Don’t worry about us.”
“Mm, I might need to go see about giving Sasha my phone number just in case she needs to call me,” Georgie said. “For all I know, there might be two kittens running around in the archives hissing and fighting because they’re bad at affection.”
“I don’t know where you get such outlandish ideas, Georgie, honestly,” Jon said. He kissed the top of her head. “We do need to get going, though.”
“Yeah, if we’re gonna space out getting downstairs so no one’s suspicious, we need to go,” Melanie said. She kissed Georgie quickly and hopped to her feet.
“You two are seriously going to space out who goes downstairs first?” Georgie deadpanned. “Why are you doing that?”
“So that no one realizes we’re together,” Melanie said with a shrug. She adjusted her beanie and her bag as she fidgeted. “Like I said, Jon’s my boss, so it’s scandalous for us to be together.”
“Especially since the others think you hate me,” Jon said, snickering.
“Oh, I do,” Melanie said, but she couldn’t even keep down the grin on her face as she spoke. Jon rolled his eyes.
“You hate me so much, clearly,” Jon said, and he took her hand in his.
“You’re just the worst, clearly,” Melanie said.
Georgie sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t understand you two,” she said. “I thought after you admitted you like each other that you’d be nicer to each other…”
“What’s the fun in that, love?” Melanie asked, giggling.
“She could never give it up,” Jon said. “And it’s fun to pick on her.”
He winced when Melanie stepped on his foot.
Georgie got to her feet, leaving her tea on the table as she went to hug and kiss her partners. “Behave, try not to get eaten by spooky monsters, call me if the other one does, got it?”
“Got it,” Melanie said. “I’ll take pictures.”
“I’ll film it,” Jon said. He squeaked that time when Melanie stepped on him.
“So, you’re seriously going to wear that into the institute?” Jon asked as he and Melanie walked down the sidewalk toward the institute.
“What’s wrong with my beanie?” Melanie asked, a pout on her face.
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Jon said, snickering. “It just seems like you’re taking a chance on not regressing, and that’s not a chance I’d take.”
“Well, maybe I’ve just got more willpower than you,” Melanie said with a huff.
“Which is why the fastest way to make you a kitten is jingling a bell near you?” Jon asked in a teasing tone. Melanie glared at him, and she considered the consequences of biting him.
“Anyway,” she started when she decided biting Jon wasn’t worth it. “Are you going downstairs first, or do you want me to?” she asked.
“I suppose you can go down first,” Jon said with a shrug. “I was going to run to the donut shop down the road and see if I can get a dozen apology donuts.”
Melanie gasped, her eyes lighting up. “I want a chocolate maple donut,” she said, bouncing on her toes. Jon laughed so brightly, amused.
“You’re not the one I’m apologizing to, if you’d remember,” he teased. Melanie glared at him, cheeks puffed up in annoyance. “Plus, if I get you a special donut, then wouldn’t that be suspicious, my dear?”
“You want to break up with me,” Melanie deadpanned.
“That is not what I said!”
“You hate me and want me to be disappointed forever.”
“Melanie,” Jon laughed. “I’ll get you a chocolate maple donut, for Christ’s sake.”
“That’s more like it.”
The two of them stopped in front of the institute, and Melanie sighed as she looked at the imposing building. “Alright, I’ll go in and get settled…” she said. She leaned over to kiss Jon’s cheek, which surprised him for only a moment as Melanie headed toward the building.
Melanie took the stairs down to the archives with a rhythm to her steps. She practically hopped as she went, landing both feet on the same step before going to the next. As she made it to the bottom, she saw the lights already on down the hallway, which meant Sasha and Martin were already in the office. She braced herself as she headed toward the offices, past the archival storage, and she crashed down at her desk.
“Morning, Melanie,” Sasha said, practically singing as she leaned over the partition wall that separated hers and Melanie’s desks.
“Morning, Sasha,” Melanie said. She unlocked her computer and considered that good enough for the morning. “Have you heard anything from Elias or Jon yet?” she asked, feigning ignorance.
“No, we haven’t heard anything,” Sasha said, shaking her head. She giggled, and those giggles turned to a full-belly laugh for only a short moment before she stopped abruptly. Melanie had learned just to let that go; if the only side effect of the Spiral that Sasha experienced was some memory loss and a strange expression of emotion, that was more than okay.
“He has to be coming back soon, right?” Martin asked as he came in from the breakroom. “I-I mean, it’s been nearly three months, yeah? And the police dropped the investigation, s-so he should be back in the office?”
“I dunno, I guess he got spooked after Daisy nearly killed him and another guy,” Melanie said with a shrug.
“Morning, guys,” Tim grumbled as he came into the office. Sasha whispered a little ‘good morning’ back to him as he threw himself down in his seat. Tim tossed his bag down on the floor, and he leaned back in his seat to look at the ceiling. “Nothing from Jon or Elias?”
“No, not yet, apparently,” Melanie said. Tim groaned, and he sat up, which was when he noticed her beanie.
“What’s with the cat ears?” Tim asked, a little grin forcing its way onto his face.
“I thought it was cute,” Melanie said. She flopped the ears back and forth with a grin on her face.
Tim snickered and shook his head. “Not what I expected, but it works for you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
From the hallway, then, they all heard Basira talking to someone. Then they heard Jon’s voice, and the effect was immediate. Sasha perked up, maybe a bit more excited than she should have been, while Martin and Tim tensed up for entirely different reasons. Melanie didn’t react, but she thought she should have.
Basira came through the door first, dropping her bag on her desk while Jon came in with a box of donuts.
“Hey, boss…” Tim said in an attempt to be cordial for Sasha.
“What’s all this?” Sasha asked, hopping to her feet to meet Jon. He sat the box on top of the printer and opened the lid, earning a big gasp.
“Well, I figured after all that’s happened to everyone down here, I owed all of you an apology,” Jon said with a sigh. “I-I know that this doesn’t even begin to make up for everything I put you through, but I hope you can at least enjoy.”
“Thank you, Jon!” Sasha said, and she giggled happily as she took a blueberry donut back to her desk.
“That’s very nice of you, Jon,” Basira said, swiping a plain glazed donut.
“Y-yeah, this is very nice, Jon!” Martin said, far too excited. He grabbed a raspberry jam-filled donut and shuffled back to his desk.
Tim groaned as he got up to look over the donuts.
“If I remember correctly, your favorite was always the cookie monster donut,” Jon said, gesturing to one of the donuts covered in sprinkles, chocolate frosting, with googly eyes and an Oreo in the center. “You liked the googly eyes, and you liked that you got a whole Oreo with it, too.”
“Can’t believe you remember all that,” Tim said as he took the donut.
“I try to remember details about my friends,” Jon said. That earned him a look from Tim, but at least the man didn’t say anything. Jon thought he might puke if Tim said a word.
“Thanks,” was all Tim said as he went to his desk.
Once everyone settled down, Melanie hopped up to check for her donut. Jon grinned, and he pointed it out for her. “I remembered, don’t worry.”
“My favorite,” Melanie cooed as she picked up her chocolate maple donut. “For what it’s worth, I think it’s going well,” she whispered.
“Thank you,” Jon whispered back. He closed the box and set it to the side. “I’ll be in my office,” Jon said a bit louder before he headed to his office and shut the door.
Once the door clicked shut, Melanie went to sit down at her desk. She pulled up Microsoft Teams to find Jon’s name, and she pulled up the gifs option to scroll through cat gifs to send him.
“At least it seems like he’s in a good mood?” Martin said, and Melanie perked up.
“And that’s after he nearly died. Twice,” Basira added.
“At least he doesn’t seem like a paranoid freak that’s going to stalk us and maybe murder someone,” Tim grumbled.
“He didn’t murder that old man,” Martin said with a sigh.
“I know, but…” Tim sighed. “Whatever, it’s fine, he didn’t murder someone, yippee…”
“It seems like he’s genuinely sorry, Tim,” Sasha said. It seemed like her mood finally passed, and the old Sasha settled into her skin. “This place is changing everyone, but the more we fight with each other the worse we’re going to make it.”
“I know, I know…” Tim said. “Sorry, I’m just…” He sighed. “I don’t know if I forgive him, but I can move on, okay?”
“Okay,” Sasha said so quietly. “You could get a second donut?”
Tim snickered, and he got to his feet. “Yeah, I like the way you think, Miss James.”
Melanie selected a gif of a cat biting someone’s wrist to send Jon. When it showed he saw the gif, she typed out a quick message. It’s going well out here, btw. Sasha’s getting Tim to not be angry or something.
The message showed as read immediately, then Jon responded with an emoji. 😿
Melanie hopped to her feet immediately. “Jon wants to talk to me, I’ll be back,” she said as she scooted off toward his office.
“Good luck,” Martin said so genuinely as she disappeared into the room.
“Jon,” Melanie said as she shut and locked the door.
“Sorry,” was all he managed out from his place frozen in his seat.
“Hey, it’s okay, Jon, you’re okay,” Melanie said. She made her way around the desk to stand in front of him. “I said it’s going well out there. No one’s angry, no one’s being mean about you, and Tim even went for a second donut.”
Jon nodded, but still he seemed seconds away from a full-blown panic attack.
“Can you tell me what’s making you scared?” Melanie asked. Jon shook his head. He used up the last of his words on apologizing, and Melanie felt sad for him like this. “Do I need to call Gigi?” she asked. Jon shook his head. “No? Are you sure? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind picking you up, kitten…”
“N…no,” Jon managed out. He needed to be clear. He didn’t want to leave, not when he just barely sat down at his desk.
“Alright…” Melanie had an idea, then. She took her beanie off her head and tugged it down on top of Jon’s. He looked up at her with big, bewildered eyes. “Think you can stay here for just a few minutes, kitten? I brought some catnip tea to keep here, and I’ll fix you a cup if you’d like?”
Jon nodded. He tried to get his words up, tried to speak, but he only managed out a little “Mmm…”
“I know, you want milk in your tea,” Melanie said, rolling her eyes just for some normalcy. “It’s not like I’ve never made your tea, dumbass.”
Jon stuck his tongue out at her for that one, and Melanie grinned.
“I’ll be right back, promise.”
Melanie slipped out the door, thankful that everyone seemed absorbed in gossip so that she could sneak into the kitchen. She started the kettle to boil while she searched the cabinets for her prize: a mug with a calico cat swiping at a goldfish in a bowl. The handle was the cat’s tail, and the fishbowl was a little bit 3D on the side of the mug, and the whole thing was clearly handmade.
With her mug in hand, Melanie grabbed the canister of tea and the infuser. She added a few bits of leaf to the infuser, and she poured in the water to steep the tea. While that steeped, Melanie grabbed the milk from the fridge and poured in a heavy-handed amount for Jon. She left the infuser in the sink, not wanting to take the extra time when she could be passing the mug off to Jon instead.
“Are you making your weird tea again?” Basira asked as she came into the room.
“What?” Melanie jumped. “I’m just—yeah, yeah, catnip tea. S’not bad, you know.”
Basira didn’t seem convinced. “It’s not for you, is it?” she asked. “You like fixing tea for Jon, too, just like Martin?”
“I wouldn’t say I like doing it,” Melanie said. “Not something I want to make a habit of, that’s for sure.”
“Is there something going on with you two…?” Basira asked, then, and Melanie wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole.
“What? Ew!” she said instead, though. “I tolerate the asshole at best, Basira,” she said, and she shuffled out the door past her.
“Mhm…where’s your beanie, then?” Basira asked. Melanie cursed under her breath and hurried to Jon’s office. She tossed open the door and slipped inside before anyone out in the main office noticed her.
“Here, kitten,” she said, and she sat the mug down by Jon’s hand. “I know it’s not in a baba, but it’s better than nothing, yeah?”
“Thanks…” Jon said quietly. He took the mug with both hands and took little sips. At least having something familiar and comforting seemed to settle his nerves. Jon slumped back in his chair, head lulled to the side.
“Are you gonna be okay in here by yourself?” Melanie asked. She came over to his side and leaned against the desk.
“I’ll be okay…” Jon grumbled. “Not like I’ve never done this before…”
“But last time you were in here, a bunch of bad shit happened,” Melanie fussed. “It’s okay if you’re freaking out because of all that.”
“You worry too much,” Jon fussed, which Melanie thought was entirely unfair.
“You’re an asshole, how ‘bout that?”
Jon rolled his eyes, so at least he wasn’t losing his mind entirely. Melanie swiped her beanie off his head and fixed it back on hers.
“It’s cuter on me,” she said, and Jon snorted a laugh. He sipped his tea a little more, then he set it down and gestured for Melanie to lean in closer. As she did, Jon adjusted the beanie so it didn’t smush her bangs too terribly.
“You’re right, it is cute on you,” he said, and he kissed her forehead. “I’m okay, Melanie, really. Thanks.”
Melanie stood upright with a blush on her face, and she avoided Jon’s eyes. “I’m still telling Gigi about this,” she fussed. Jon rolled his eyes. “If you regress again, I’ll make Gigi come get you.”
“And if you stay regressed?” Jon questioned. Melanie huffed, and she stomped out the door.
She marched all the way over to her desk and swiped her phone out of her bag, ignoring when Martin asked her how it went in Jon’s office. She pulled up Georgie’s messages and quickly tattled on Jon to her. jons mean gigi
“Melanie did you hear me?” Martin asked, and he tapped her shoulder, making Melanie jump nearly a foot in the air. “Sorry!”
“What!” Melanie had to suppress the urge to hiss at Martin. She could only hiss at Jon, and only when he deserved it. Her phone buzzed, but Melanie kept her eyes on Martin. “What did you ask?”
“I asked, uh, how it went in Jon’s office?” Martin tried again. “Seems like it didn’t go well…”
“No, it was fine!” Melanie insisted. She saw Basira come back in the room, and she blushed brightly, turning back to her computer. “Just welcoming me onboard, that’s all.”
“I’m sure,” Basira said, and Melanie wanted to hiss at her, too. Instead, she checked her phone.
you two can’t seriously already be fighting, kitty cat…
can you try to get along just for today, for me?
…Why did Gigi have to be so persuasive? Really, it wasn’t fair. Melanie messaged her back quickly. i can be nice if jons nice. but jon was a kitten bc he got scared n i said i would tell u
Georgie thanked her for telling her about Jon, and Melanie smiled proudly. Gigi was proud of her, and that meant the world to her.
…At this rate, Melanie didn’t know if either her or Jon would be able to get home on their own. She thought maybe they should run away to the cat café not too far away. Gigi could come get them, surely.