The Cat

4

T.W.: mild panic attack

"Put me down!" Virgil yelled.

"No! You're so soft!" Roman said.

Virgil hissed, trying to struggle out of Roman's grip. Patton watched them fondly. It had been a few weeks since they took Virgil in.

"There so adorable." Patton sighed.

"I agree, but," Logan said, "we need to report the person who had Virgil."

Patton frowned, "but hes come so far. What if asking him that triggers something and he gets worse-!"

"Patton." Logan interrupted, "he will be okay. We'll still be there for him."

Patton nodded, "yeah, I guess you're right."

"Dad!" Virgil gasped, running behind Patton, "Roman's trying to strangle me!"

"It just a hug!" Roman whined, "you're so soft!"

Virgil hissed at Roman, pinning his ears back.

"Virgil, we need to ask you some questions." Logan said.

"About what?" Virgil asked, his ears perking up.

"About the person who had you before." Patton explained.

Virgil's ears and tail drooped, "o-oh..."

"Are you okay with that?" Patton asked.

"Y-yeah. I-I'm safe with you guys now." Virgil nodded.

"Alright." Logan nodded, "do you know their name?"

Virgil shook his head, "I only knew his code. 4955."

"At least that's something." Patton smiled, "did he have any other nekos?"

Virgil nodded, "he had a lot of nekos. We were all kept in cages. I only went outside when he took me to the market."

"The market?" Roman asked.

"There were so many nekos there..." Virgil whispered, "th-they were all in cages or chains. The masters would sell us and hit us if we talked. W-we couldn't eat and s-sometimes they t-took our c-clothes."

"Do you remember where it was?" Logan asked.

Virgil shook his head, choking on a sob, "N-no. Please dont let me go back. I dont wanna go back!"

"You're not going back." Patton said, hugging the neko.

"And Virgil," Logan gently pet Virgil's ears, "thanks to your information, we can save all those other nekos."

"R-really?" Virgil whimpered.

Logan smiled and nodded, "I'm going to make a report to the police."

"How about we watch a movie while Logan's out?" Roman smiled.

Virgil gave him a small smile and nodded.

"I'll make some tea and cookies." Patton giggled.

Roman scooped Virgil up, carrying him to the couch, "so, what do you want to watch?"

"Nightmare before Christmas!" Virgil giggled.

"Alright." Roman laughed, starting to set up the movie.

Once Roman sat back on the couch, Virgil immediately crawled into his lap.

"Virge, are you okay?" Roman asked.

Virgil nodded, his tail curling around Roman's wrist.

"Are you worried that he'll take you again?" Roman sighed.