Utterly Mad

Minx and L stayed with Catnip for the rest of that day and a good portion of the night, talking and sharing. Over the course of the day, Catnip calmed and talked. She did a lot of talking at their behest.

She talked a lot about Kathrine. When Catnip had been spirited away, she had just been beginning her relationship with Kathrine. Except that wasn't right. Their relationship had really started the moment Kathrine had come stumbling out of the woods. It wasn't "love at first sight." Not for Catnip anyway. For Catnip, they were just friends. Somewhere along the way though they had somehow become more. When it happened, she couldn't say. Minx told her that that's how it worked. No one is ever just "in love." It's a thing that grows and creeps up on you until one day you realize you don't know what you'd do without the object of your affection. For Kathrine, they'd been a couple for a years. For Catnip, it had been only a short while. It was coping with the realization of her feelings that had taken her off guard before, made her hesitant.

"She makes me feel..." Catnip said, "I don't know. A little shakey and a bit woozy."

"You mean light headed?" Asked L. She glanced at Minx and the two of them shared a knowing look.

"I guess..." Catnip said, sitting up on her bed. She clasped her hands together and twiddled her thumbs while she explained how it felt to be near her. Even when she was going through withdrawal, Catnip had felt a kind of greatful adoration for the maid, bordering on dependence. She explained this to them, and broke down.

"I promised... Why am I collecting all this... This shit if I promised?"

Catnip sprang up from the bed and whipped off the blanket, then crawled underneath. She pushed bottles put, bottle after bottle. Whiskey, beer, scotch, bourban, rose', even a bottle of goldschlager. One after another came rolling or sliding out. Absinthe, moonshine, cheap ale, a six pack of lager, honey mead, champagne, and wine. Enough liquer to stock Pinky's for a month.

"Nip, Jesus what... Where did you get so much?" Minx said, shocked by the sudden change in mood and subject.

"I... I stole it."

"What!? You didn't take it from-"

"No... From chief street."

"And you weren't caught?"

Catnip shook her head while the rest of her shook in a different way. She wanted a drink, the other girls could see it. She wanted it and was resisting, but not doing very well. L told Minx to get someone to come get this stuff, and to be discreet. Pinky would have to know, but there was no reason to let it get any further than that. The blanket vanished into the dimness of under the bed and made the mechanic vanish. All but one tear gleaming eye and the tip of her long leathery tail.

---

The booze was gathered up and taken away without comment. Pinky knew it wouldn't be politic to chastise her for stealing. Besides, it gave her ideas. If Catnip could get away with swiping things as big as a six pack flat of beers, she may be able to get away with other things. The albino looked over the collection with a mixture of awe, sadness, and distaste.

"She's a hardcore alcoholic and a thief." Pinky commented while she looked over the bottles hiding the surface of her desk the next morning. It had been a busy one so far, and she wasn't even fully awake yet. Minx, get Kite to bring a pot of coffee up here, black, and an egg. Oh, and before I forget and end up having to do it myself..."

She fished an envelope out of her desk, wrote some simple message on it, put something in it, and gave it to Minx.

"Pay the girl for her stash."

"Woah Pinky, really? But it's stolen."

"I won't tell if you don't, she's had a hard night anyway. Make sure she understands she's being watched now though. If she keeps up this criminal shit, I at least don't want it coming back to my door. Oh, and get Kite to bring the stock cart for all this alcohol so he can put it in storage."

After minx had gone on her errand, Pinky picked through the bottles again and found the bottle of goldschlager. She didn't know that if given the chance and a total failure of her will, Catnip would guzzle the schnapps down like water, gold flakes and all. Pinky herself hadn't seen this particular beverage since her own pre-cataclysm club had been shut down what seemed like an age ago. She took it from the horde and carefully placed it next to the other high end drinks in her personal liquer cabinet.

---

Catnip was getting ready to go to work when Minx slipped the envelope under the door. Inside, she found twenty water marks, and a note. Two notes in fact. The first was from Minx, outlining all that Pinky had wanted her to pass on. The other though was simple and short. It said simply, "This is for the alcohol. Do not let me catch you stealing in my house. Have a good day at work chica."

Catnip flipped the marks like a flip book between her fingers. She hated the dumb paper money of Pricetown, but capital was capital. Also, Pinky hadn't said "don't steal." She'd simply said, "don't steal in my house." It made her feel a little better, but she wondered what would happen if she went directly to Pinky with what she took... No, that wouldn't work. She would have to think on it, and even consider if it was a path she wanted to take. Stealing was wrong, Kathrine told her that, but Catnip had grown up in the lab stealing. Stealing things from scientists, stealing things from security. Hiding things from those same people and even stealing from her brothers and sisters. They'd all done it.

"C'mon Nip, your going to be late." L said through the door, reminding her of her work obligation. She sighed heavily, a noise her assistant heard clearly, and began to dread work. Patrick would be there, and she didn't want to see him. She didn't want to be left alone with him either... L opened the door a little and urged her to hurry again, sticking her nose through in a way that made catnip laugh a little and banished a bit of her trepidation for the coming day. She still worried about Patrick though, about what she would do if he came at her again.

Fortunately, she didn't have to worry about Patrick. By the time she saw him again, she would have other problems.