Ollie’s eyes snapped open wide when he realized what it was, crying out in horror, “BUGS!”
Rushing from the secret room back into his private library, he remained focused on the sound, spinning around as he tried to pinpoint it.
“Ollie, this is the opposite of focusing!” Red snapped as he followed him.
“There are bugs in this room!” he said, then added, “Near my books!” just so his cat clearly understood the dire circumstances.
“You can deal with it?—”
“Now! I can deal with it now!” Ollie spun around, listening. “THERE!” he growled, as he pointed toward the far corner to his right, on the same wall as the door to the hall.
Scurrying over, he began to pull books out, setting them on a small table nearby, as he looked for the noisy little fiends, before shouting in triumph when he spotted the two beetles. But as he looked at the duo, he hesitated.
Ollie knew what he needed to do…but…what if they were a family?! WHAT IF THEY WERE IN LOVE?!!
Red eyed Ollie’stense back and sighed heavily, as he knew exactly where this was going. “Ollie…”
His witch looked sharply over his shoulder at him, his eyes already glossy with tears.
“Do you need me to do it?”
Ollie spun, pressing his back protectively against the bookcase, his arms out wide as if to ward him off. “How could you? They are afamily!”
Yep…that was exactly where he thought it was going… Well, at least one of the possible directions. Really, it all depended on how many bugs Ollie happened to find.
Red took a deep, calming breath before asking, “Do we have to have this conversation every time you find some sort of vermin in the library?”
“What do you mean every time? We have never had this conversation!?”
He snorted. Well, his witch had gotten him on a technicality, he’d give him that. “Yeah, only because I couldn’t talk before now. But I was certainly present as you had the exact same conversation with either yourself or one of the other librarians and/or staff here.”
Ollie started to glare, as his bottom lip popped out into a pout. Briefly glancing back at the beetles, the man huffed defensively. “Well, it needs to be said, because killing is not always the answer! And it’s not the answer now, as these are beetles, and beetles can fly, and there is a perfectly good window in the kitchen. I just need a cup and some paper…”
He stared blankly, and his witch stared right back, his gray-blue watery eyes wide and begging behind his rounded glasses.
Red sighed again and gave in. “Fine, fine, I’ll go get them.”
Ollie smiledas he watched the beetles fly off. “Have fun, you two,” he giggled as he shut the windowpane.
“Okay, bugs taken care of. Now, back to work, Ollie,” Red grumbled as they started walking back to the secret library within his private one.
“Okay, but I did hear pretty well, right? That was what you wanted me to do?” he drawled as they reached the secret room, before giggling again when he spotted the ghost kitten and rushing over to her. Crouching down, Ollie started to rub her belly as she flopped over onto her back.
“You did successfully manage to unlock your enhanced hearing. But we should try one of the others next. My suggestion, as it’s a bit easier in this setting, would be smell. We can try sight later tonight, as it’s the best time to practice when it's dark.”
“Aren’t you just the cutest little thing,” Ollie cooed as he tickled her belly, ignoring the biting cold of her fur.
Meow!The kitten responded cutely as she batted at his hand.
“Ollie…” Red ground out.
Eyeing the kitten, he gasped in realization. “I haven’t given you a name!”
“Ollie, focus!”
He let out a groan. “I’m focused…on what I want to focus on right now. And like, if we are practicing tonight, do we really need to keep going right this very moment? Besides, I need to name my kitten. Also, I still need to figure out how to help that diner ghost. And doing that technically would be practicing, right?” He looked toward Red with a hopeful smile at the last part.
His familiar stared, his face full of judgement, before rolling his eyes and, with a sigh, saying, “Fine, fine…but you aren’t getting out even a minute early tonight!”
