The Raging Wildcat {1} (Catman)

Chapter 5- "Ah-hah! I Got It!"

Neither of these fit the scenario he felt radiating off the brunette beside him, though. What he saw was that body paralyzing type of fear; the kind that only would exist due to a past as dark as his eye makeup.

He could not fathom why he would care, but nudged the girl slightly anyway. No matter how aloof he claimed himself to be, he refused to let this girl be consumed by whatever had gripped her mind.

The simple touch seemed to be enough as Rory snatched her eyes away from the monitor and turned towards the Demon, startled. The moment had effectively broken her fixation on the monitor and instead turned it towards the tall man.

To most, it would seem as though the Demon was giving her a stare of aggression as he squinted his eyes down at the girl, but somehow Rory was able to see deeper. She was embarrassed when she realized he had caught her in her moment of fear. She was thankful, though, when she realized he had purposefully saved her from her spiral.

In silence, she subtly nodded her head once in thanks, careful not to catch the attention of anyone else in the room. With a shrug and a grunt blowed from his nose, he turned back towards the screen, and Rory followed suit. The Demon, reluctantly, was thankful for the brunette. He found it quite surprising that she easily discerned that he would not want a public display of her gratefulness.

What an odd girl.

Across the room a little ways, watching the witch became too much for two others, though. Contradictorily to the brunette who had someone to put a stop to her impending panic, Scooby and Shaggy did not have the same luxury. This caused Scooby and Shaggy to cower and run away from the monitor as if it was the witch herself.
Unfortunately for Rory, she had been in the way.

Again.

Zooming past, the two knocked into Rory and she tumbled to the ground at the Demon's feet. The breath was knocked straight out of the girl when she hit the floor. Catman grimaced from across the room when he saw that he hadn't been near enough to catch the brunette this time around and walked over to assist her back up, unaware to the amused starry eye watching his every move.

"Obviously you've done this before" Demon states as he quizzically watches Catman help Rory back onto her feet. The brunette simply huffed in reply to the Demon's quip.

Rory tried her best to ignore the tingles that started once Catman held her hand as he lifted her back onto her feet. They were pleasant, but she didn't want to admit yet that she was enamored by the guy who had her hand in his grasp.

"Thank you," she finally managed to get out as she gathered enough courage to look up into his eyes.

"You're welcome," Catman responded with a smile that completely turned Rory's insides into mush. He released her hand after a moment as she turned back around to face the monitors, but as soon as Rory reminded herself to breathe normal, he placed his hand on the small of her back to ensure that she wouldn't topple over again.

How does breathing work again?

In an attempt to regain her composure, and take the attention off of her two frightened friends, she  finally thinks of an 'appropriate' response to the Demon's earlier remark.

"You know it. I've been knocked over loads of times. It has become quite of a tradition for mystery solving."

Fred face palms at his small friend's awkward comeback.

"Rory, sweetheart, remember how we talked about how you should be careful and think about what your words can sound like?" Daphne patiently asked the brunette who had looked at Fred cluelessly after his reaction.