Episode Two Hundred and Three: Healing Truths

He knew what Indigo was talking about, and this, this I wouldn’t budge on. I needed to know what the Cat had done.

“What does Indigo mean?” I asked, this time a little softer.

The Cat paused his eating and glanced up at me, his green eyes glowing brightly for just a moment. Then he let out a sigh.

“I might have helped him out,” he said, before going back to his breakfast like it wasn’t a big deal.

My hands trembled, and I clenched my coffee mug, before setting it down in front of me.

The Cat wouldn’t look in my direction.

He’d healed my dad. He’d used magic, and healed my dad. Somehow, he’d done it. I didn’t even have a chance to find something in my books that might help him, besides the tea that Betty had pulled out of storage.

The words kept repeating inside my head, then a burst of warmth came from my stool.

I patted the countertop to settle Betty, and nodded my head.

“Thank you for helping him.” All I wanted to do was grab the Cat in a hug and not let go, but I resisted. For some reason, he didn’t want me to know what he’d done, and Indigo, being Indigo, had said something.

“He’s much better,” chirped Indigo as she flapped her wings before eating another bit of her French toast. “Can visit again now.”

“Maybe, we’ll see,” I said, trying not to think about what the Cat had done to pull all of this off. The cabin in the woods, sending them a message and making it so Indigo hadn’t been outed.

It was one heck of a Solstice gift. More than I possibly could have expected.

The more I studied the Cat as he ate, the more I noticed how tired he was. His tail lay flat on the counter and barely moved. His fur didn’t seem as shiny as usual, and his whiskers drooped. The only normal thing was his bright eyes, but even those weren’t quite right.

“How about we watch a movie today?” I asked, but really told, the two of them. We all needed some time together after the last bit with my family. Hiding what you were wasn’t easy, and everyone had done that, including Betty. “Something cheerful for the rest of the day…”

And easy.

Indigo’s eye grew wide, and suddenly she scarfed the rest of her plate within minutes. Her dainty eating completely vanished.

“Popcorn?” she asked.

“Of course,” I said with a smile as she wiggled in a happy dance.

The Cat finished eating and I stepped closer to him and picked him up carefully. He wasn’t as warm as normal, and he set his head on my shoulder.

“Betty, I love this cabin, but can we have our living room back?” I asked tactfully.

Indigo and the Cat stared at me, but I meant it.

“I love our living room. We have the comfortable couch, and the nice tv screen, plus the forest right outside the windows. It’s perfect.”

Indigo nodded and chirped a few times before heading to the microwave. A bag of popcorn appeared inside, and she tapped the popcorn button carefully with a claw.

It all suddenly made sense.

“You really should put three minutes on the timer instead of the popcorn button,” I said, stepping closer and still holding the Cat.

“But button?” she asked.

“See how it put 5 minutes on the timer? 3 is the correct amount of time.”

“I will stop at 2 minutes.” She glared at the popcorn button on the poor microwave. “Dumb button…”

“It won’t burn this way,” I added.

Indigo always burned the popcorn, but that made sense since she hadn’t read the instructions on the box and used the popcorn button. I’ve never had a microwave where the button didn’t burn the popcorn.

At least now she knew.

I snuggled the Cat close and headed up the stairs, even though they weren’t the correct stairs. Still, at the top the entrance for our living room waited for us. I stepped inside with a smile.

It wasn’t as bright as the downstairs currently was, even though it had the same amount of windows. That’s because the dark forest stood outside with an overcast sky. Snow fell lightly from the gray above, and it just made the room feel more cozy.

The same went for the crystals in the fireplace. They provided a soft glow.

I took my favorite spot on the couch, and the screen automatically descended from where Betty and I had hung it.

“Thank you for your solstice gift, it was perfect,” I whispered to the Cat.

He nodded and remained in my arms as he started to purr. 

I used the little remote to come up with a few family friendly suggestions to watch. A new release on one of the streaming services popped up about a K-pop band. It looked interesting.

Chirps came from the open doorway as Indigo flew in with a bag of popcorn.

It didn’t smell burnt at all.

She dropped the bag on the couch, and a bowl appeared on the table.

“Can you?” she asked as she landed on the couch.

I emptied the popcorn into the bowl. Fingers were much better for that than claws.

Indigo practically climbed inside the bowl as she chomped down on the snack.

I turned the movie on and patted the Cat lightly, finding him practically asleep.

A few minutes later, a second bowl of popcorn appeared next to me.

This was perfect.

#

Even after eating breakfast, this body lagged. Healing Sable’s father had taken more out of me than I thought it would. Sleep helped, but not enough. Being this close to Sable felt good. Safe.

I could rest, and they wouldn’t mind.

The shop worried about me, but its excitement as Sable declared her love for the living room yet again made it so very happy.

That was good.

Sleep overcame me as music played in the background. At least we had no more visitors for the moment, and maybe I could recover.