"You ok?" A cute face with a freckled nose and over-large front teeth popped into Kitten's view, forcing her back to reality.
"Huh?" Kitten blinked, forgetting for a moment where she was.
"Class is over and you're still sitting here." Boris grabbed a seat in one of the empty chairs next to her. "Did you do that badly?"
"Failed my ass off." Kitten admitted reluctantly. "Lexie is going to have me on punishment for a week."
"Me too. I missed by a point." Boris grimaced. "I hate lugging food."
"I just hope it's not dish-washing duty." Kitten gave him a weak smile before plopping her face back on her hand. "I hate washing up. Even if Ivan does feed us when we do it, the water still feels so icky."
"Nah I like it. The bubbles feel good." Boris giggled.
"Hey Boris, can I ask something weird?"
"Sure?"
"You have to promise not to tell anyone I asked though." She shot up to stare into his eyes. "Promise, promise."
"I promise." He spat in his hand and held it out to her. She copied the action before shaking his hand. "So what do you want to know? It's about how Dmitri drank that stuff we gave him the other morning right?" Boris grinned, almost laughing softly almost to himself.
"Huh? You mean that time when we mixed the salt with sugar?" She paused. "Why does he mix salt in his water anyway?"
"Dunno." Boris shrugged. "He just likes it like that."
"Ivan was really upset about that prank." Kitten giggled before shaking herself. "Wait, that wasn't what I wanted to ask."
"Oh?" The young rats' eyes blinked.
"Did you notice everyone looking at me weirdly this morning?" She slumped back on the desk she was sitting at. "It began in the wash-room but even in all the classrooms, they were all just... I don't know how to put this... Checking me out."
"Cause you took out Balco. It was amazing." Boris grinned. "I can't even take him and I've been here longer than you."
"He's that strong?"
"He's supposed to be but he moved stupidly today." Boris replied thoughtfully. "He normally doesn't fight like he did this morning.
"I don't know. He was still scary to me this morning." Kitten shivered.
"They're always scary when they're that big." She felt Boris pat her shoulder. "Hey, why don't we go celebrate your win? We have the afternoon off, remember?"
"We do?" Kitten's brow knitted as she tried to recall why they weren't training that afternoon. Aleksei always made them train or study.
"Captain has that meeting with the Grunts today."
"What about?" She bolted up. "Am I in trouble?"
"Nah." Boris giggled. "Every now and then all the captains gotta meet up with the Grunts to get special training or hand in reports. It's the only time they're allowed on floor five. Otherwise, that's for the adults only. You know," he leaned closer towards her and lowered his voice. "For the Teachers and the Grunts that watch over us and the island."
"Now that you mention it, what about the medical guys?" Kitten asked as her mind raced back to her stay on the island. "Do they stay on that floor too? I never see them go there."
"The Coats? They got their own floor five at the medical center. The Grunts and them can't stand each other." Boris touched his nose for a moment. "I heard someone say once that we were all muscle and the medical guys were all brain."
"That makes us sound dumb." Kitten looked down at the paper on the desk. "Now I don't feel bad about my test."
"Those guys are lucky they can even climb a wall." Boris grinned. "Dmitri knows lots of jokes about them. Like how many Meat-Sacks does it take to fight a Medic?"
Suddenly his face altered as he covered his mouth. "I'm sorry, I mean...I forgot."
"Don't worry about it." Kitten smiled, waving a hand dismissively at his fluke. "How many Meat-Sacks does it take to fight a Medic?"
"One. Cause the Medic is too busy trying to fix the wounds to notice his fighting."
"Awesome." She laughed. "At least there's someone else I can beat in this place."
Her laughter died as a shadow crossed the entrance of the classroom door. She and Boris looked up to find a gangly kid from of their rival teams come in, his focus on a book left behind at his desk.
He stopped in his tracks when he spotted them, his fists clenching at his side as he raised his head slightly.
"Rat." He snarled.
"Digger." Boris spat to the ground, shifting slightly to stand up.
"We were here first Digger." Kitten grabbed her pen, holding it as if it were a weapon. "So take your waste and get lost."
Diggers eyes narrowed. For one moment Kitten thought he was going to attack them despite the classrooms being a neutral zone. She shifted her legs so she could jump from her seat if he did. It wasn't like Boris needed her help fighting the jerk but she couldn't just sit on the sidelines if her friend was stuck fighting.
That's when she noticed that Diggers eyes weren't focused on Boris. They were focused on her. Wandering over her in that strange, blank-eyed manner that she had been getting from all the boys the whole morning.
"Bugger off." She began standing up, pointing the pen at him. "Now."
He stayed still for a moment longer before grabbing his book and leaving. Kitten fell back into her seat, feeling her heart racing.
"Idiot." Boris muttered. "Thinking he could take us on."
"See," She moaned. "That's what I meant by weird looks."
"Huh?" Boris blinked. "Oh, the stare down."
"That's not a stare down." Kitten muttered. "That's more like a snake checking if he can eat me."
"Don't." Boris covered his ears. "I hate snakes."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Kitten reached out and pulled him towards her. "I totally forgot."
"It's ok." Boris wrapped his arms around for a quick hug. When he let her go, Kitten returned to her desk and began packing her things.
"So what do you want to do this afternoon?"
"We should do something to treat you." Kitten snapped back to Boris who was hopping from one foot to the other. "Something super special. You beat your first 'Cut'. We have to."
"Like stealing Ivans' cookies?"
"What? No. Something better than cookies." Boris paused for a moment trying to think. "Like how Ivan snuck me mac and cheese for my first time special."
Kitten laughed and continued packing her books. "I'm fine with cookies and milk."
She picked up her test so slip away and looked at the failed mark, her gut sinking once more.
"Hey Boris, what do you think the others did for their first time?"
"Tattoos."
"What!" She burst out, spinning back to the youngster. "That wolf pic on Lexie's arm and the Bear mark on Ivan's chest are marks from a fight?"
"If I remember right," Boris scrunched up his face as he's tried to think. "The Captain got his after a big fight. I think it was the fight where he became captain. Or it could have been when he got his cuts. I don't know when Ivan got his, no-one talks about it. They're all too scared too."
"That's stupid." Kitten rolled her eyes at the last remark. "I want to know what he did to get it."
"We could always ask him."
"Sure. And get more punishment for not minding our own business."
"Pass." Boris pulled a face before lifting up a finger. "Dmitri doesn't have tattoos. That stuff on his body just looks it. I think it's really cool. I want to do my body like that one day with marks around my neck and back like he has."
"That sounds like it's going to hurt."
"It does, a little."
"A little?" Kitten's eyes narrowed. She took a step closer towards him, prodding him in the chest with her finger. "Spill it Rat. You're holding out on me."
Boris opened his mouth before looking around and grabbing her hand. "Quit it."
"Tell."
"Fine, but you have to promise not to ever say anything." He began squeaking. "Dmitri will kill me if he found out you knew."
"I promise." She spat in her hand. He followed suite and they shook before he sighed.
"I have one."
"No way!" Kitten's eyes widened. "You have a tattoo? What is it? Why haven't I ever seen it? I saw the others."
"It's a little mouse." Boris blushed before admitting. "I like mice and rats. It looks like a triangle with big round ears and a tail. And I can't show it to you."
"Why not?" Kitten pouted. "I thought we were friends."
"Mine's on my leg. Boris giggled before pointing on his upper thigh. "I thought Dmitri was gonna kill me when I got it. Dmitri always said he would if I got one."
"For real?" Kitten's mouth dropped. She reached out and lightly touched the tattoo, running her fingers over the uniform material on her friends' leg.
"Yeah, only The Captain said it wasn't his call and I could do want I wanted. Dmitri was still mad about it." Boris replied, watching her. "He wouldn't speak to me for nearly a week."
"Sounds like a good deal." Kitten stopped and looked up. "Hey, is tattoos for 'Cut's only?
"Nah. Anyone can get it."
Kitten went silent for a moment, burning a hole in Boris's pants as she stared at the place his mouse was supposed to be.
"Can you show me where to get one?" She finally asked.
"Really?" Boris began bouncing in nervous energy. "You know what will happen if we're caught."
"Well, Lexie said it's our body." She hiked her bag over her shoulder. "And it's the perfect reminder to be proud of myself."
"Do you know what you want?"
"I'll figure it out. Are you going to show me or not?"
"Yeah." Boris gave her a toothy grin. "Come on. I know the perfect guy."