forum You Look Familiar // OxO // CLOSED

Started May 11, 2021 by @Fraust

tune

Claire woke not long after Atlas did, as she was usually a light sleeper. She slowly got up, careful not to jostle Magnolia too much. Taking the blanket resting on the couch, she covered Magnolia with it and was about to go change out of her work clothes when she heard sounds coming from the kitchen. Claire made her way there.
"Atlas?" she whispered. "What are you doing?"

"Hmm?" Atlas looked over his shoulder from where he was standing on the counter, a cabinet open in front of him. "Oh. I was hungry, and this is where the food comes from, right?" He pulled out a bag of chips and examined it curiously, trying to figure out what it was. "What's this called?"

Claire had to do a double-take when she heard Atlas's voice and saw a human on the counter instead of a cat. The fact that he was human now still hadn't quite settled in yet.
"U-um, yeah. Those are chips. You can have them, just be careful not to fall, okay? Humans can't easily land on their feet like cats can. Just tell me or Mag if you're hungry."
She stayed leaning on the doorway, watching him in case something happened.

"Okay!" Atlas held the chips close to his chest and closed the cabinet before jumping off of the counter. He stumbled a bit, not used to having worse balance, but managed not to fall over anyway. He wandered over to Claire's side and held the bag up to her politely as a way of silently asking for her assistance in opening it.

Claire jerked a little when Atlas stumbled, but relaxed when she saw he wasn't falling. She took the bag of chips with a sigh and easily opened it. Handing it back to him, she said, "Make sure to be quiet, Mag's still asleep. I'm going to go change and take a shower."
She leaned off the doorway and went to the bedroom.

"Mmkay, miss Claire. Thank you!" He accepted the bag and wandered off elsewhere, sitting on the floor so he could quietly eat the chips. He seemed to like them, even if they confused him a bit. He hadn't eaten anything quite like them before.

In around five minutes, Claire was back in her sleepwear, a light-colored tank top and soft pants, her now wet hair falling into her eyes. Wandering over to the kitchen, she got herself some crackers and a glass of water before returning to the couch. As she ate, Claire glanced at the clock, which read 8:15 pm. Had they really been asleep for that long? That certainly didn't happen often.
Glancing at the sleeping Magnolia, then Atlas, she didn't really want to disturb either of them. Besides, she planned to go back to sleep after a while, so she simply took out her phone and scrolled through it as she ate.

Atlas eventually seemed to be done with the chips and wandered back over to the kitchen, climbing onto the counter again so that he could return them to their proper spot. He managed to get the chips into the cabinet, but slipped on his way back down and hit the floor. He groaned softly and whined, holding his throbbing head in his hands.

Claire watched him carefully as he got up and went to the kitchen, and shot to her feet when she saw him fall. The thudding sound caused Magnolia to stir, and she sat up, groaning with confusion. As Claire rushed to Atlas’s side, Magnolia heard his whines and immediately followed after.
“Atlas!” Magnolia took him up in her arms. “It’s okay, it’s okay, we’re here. Where does it hurt?”
“I told you to be careful, bud…” Claire murmured, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry…!" Atlas hid his face in his hands, feeling a bit embarrassed that he'd fallen. "I-I'm fine, I promise! Just hit my head a bit… I'm sure it's fine." He looked away, fidgeting with his hands after he'd removed them from his face. He had a bruise forming on his forehead, but he seemed otherwise pretty okay.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Claire said. “Just try to remember next time. Or maybe don’t climb on the counter.”
Magnolia inspected the bruise, frowning slightly. “Are you sure? If it still hurts later, tell me and I can whip up a healing spell for you.”

"I-I'm fine…" Atlas insisted, his cheeks still a bit flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry I woke you up… it's late, right? I mean, I'm not generally asleep around this time, but you guys are… I guess I'll have to sleep at people hours now, huh?"

“It’s alright, you don’t need to be sorry,” Magnolia assured him, combing her fingers though his hair. “And it’s not super late now, but…” she paused to yawn. “But for a human your age will need to sleep more than us. Now would be a good time.”

"Mmm… okay…" Atlas relaxed a bit into the petting and closed his eyes, yawning and huddling closer to Magnolia. "Humans sleep less than cats do, though. Right?" He asked softly, glancing up at the two women.

“Yes, but children need more sleep than adults,” Claire said. She got to her feet, Magnolia picking Atlas up and standing as well.
“Do you want to take the couch? We can stay with you until you fall asleep,” she said.

"Anywhere is fine…" Atlas rested his head on Magnolia's shoulder after he was picked up, seeming to have calmed down from falling. "I-I don't wanna be in the way or anything. You guys can go to bed too. You don't have to stay with me if you don't wanna."