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Puss had just been about to dig into his lunch when he felt a familiar presence and turned to see the figure of death looming over him.“¡¡Hijo de puta!!” He shouted as he fell from his chair.“Now is that any way to greet an old friend?” the wolf asked as he casually parked his keaster into the seat next to the one Puss had just vacated.“‘Old friend’??” Puss asked incredulously as he sprung back to his feet. “You were literally trying to kill me last week!!””Still hung up on that, huh?” Death muttered as he flicked a bug off the table.Puss eye twitched. “So what are you doing here now then? Come to finish the job?” He asked, readying himself for either fight or flight.Death merely chuckled darkly in response. “You’re so far off the mark it’s actually funny.”Puss only allowed himself to relax the tiniest bit at the words. “Care to elaborate?”Death locked eyes with the hero, a smirk upon his face. “Well, you are going to die today. Just not by my hands.” He informed lightly.Puss tried not to let his growing anxiety show as he asked his next question. “If not yours, then whose?”“Ah-ah.” Death tsked, wagging a finger side to side. “No spoilers.”Puss clenched his fist in frustration. “Why are you even telling me this? I did not think you were into the habit of giving warnings.”“You’re right, this is outside of my usual undertakings.” Death conceded with a wave. “But this is a special case, as I’m willing to step in to prevent it.“And why exactly would you be willing to do that?” Puss asked suspiciously. “I thought you wanted to see me dead.”“Oh that still rings true, but this upcoming demise of yours would be way too anticlimactic a way for you to go out.” The reaper chuckled. “And I wouldn’t be doing it pro bono. In exchange for my services you’d owe me a favor.” He finished with a grin.“What kind of favor?” Puss asked through squinted eyes; he wasn’t up for signing any kind of deal with the devil. And if it were something that could put his friends in danger? Well, he’d rather chuck himself off a bridge than accept such an offer.“Oh, I won’t choose anything that would go against your moral compass if that’s what you’re worried about.” The reaper informed with a condescending smirk.Puss considered for a bit before clarifying. “Do I have your word on that?”“Cross my heart.” Death drew an ex in the indicated area coyly.Oh well, what did he have to lose? But just before he agreed a sudden thought came to mind. “Wait, how do I know you aren’t lying? Just pretending I’m going to die so you can have a free favor?” He asked with a suspicious squint.“Good question. But I’ll do you one better: is that a risk you’re willing to take?” Death asked with a sly smirk.Dang it, guess he had no choice. “Alright, you have yourself a deal.” Besides, what was the worst that could happen if he refused to hold up his end of the bargain anyway? Couldn’t be worse than straight up dying, could it?“Glad to hear it.” Death rumbled lowly.“Okay, so now that’s settled, will you kindly inform me as to how I’m supposedly going to di-”He was interrupted by Death unceremoniously shoving his food off the table and onto the floor.“What the hell!” Puss shouted before peering around the wooden furniture to inspect the mess, quickly deeming it unsalvageable. “Por el amor de- that was my lunch!” He turned on the reaper.“It was also your demise.” Death placed an elbow on the table and rested his head against his fist. “Or at least, it was going to be.” He amended.At Puss’ nonplussed expression and silence he elaborated. “You are allergic to shellfish, aren’t you?” He said more than asked, already knowing the answer.“Yes, which is why I ordered it con pollo!” Puss stomped a foot in frustration.“Well then your order must’ve gotten mixed up with someone else’s. Take a look for yourself.” The reaper nodded in the direction of the ruined meal.Puss humored the deity and looked over the ruined meal, soon spotting some shrimp peaking out at him. Dammit. “Okay, you’re right. But you didn’t have to shove it to the floor! Why couldn’t you have just told me?” He huffed with crossed arms.“Well the answer to that is simple: this way was more fun.” Death replied with a shit-eating grin.Puss wasn’t going to dignify that with a response.“Anyway, now that that’s out of the way.” Death said as he stood. “I’m ready to cash in on that little favor you owe me.”“What? Already?” Puss asked incredulously.“Yeah, why not? I don’t remember specifying a timeline.” The reaper said as he pushed his chair in with a foot.Well, that was true. He just figured he’d have more time to process this whole thing before having to do his part. “Alright, let’s hear it.” He sighed in resignation. “What is this ‘favor’?”“Well you see, I have this little work function coming up. A get-together of sorts. Terribly boring affair honestly.” The cloaked figure rolled his eyes. “Less so this time though, as I’ll be having you accompany me to it.”What? He just wanted someone to alleviate his boredom while at a drawl event? “Is that all?” He had trouble believing it would be that simple.“Oh right, I left out one little detail.” Death said with a secretive smile blossoming on his face as he leaned down until his head was level with the cat’s. “During it you are to act as my fiancé.”… Did Puss actually just hear what he thinks he heard? Because this being some kind of convoluted fever dream seemed way more likely. He bit the inside of his mouth, and unfortunately pain followed the action, meaning this was really happening.Great.“Might I enquire as to why that would be?” He asked in a world-weary voice.“You can thank my coworkers.” Death informed as he straightened himself up to his usual height. “Those idiots wouldn’t stop pestering me about my ‘non-existent dating life’.” He said in a mocking manner, air quotes included. “And they are unbelievably annoying, so about a year ago I got fed up and told them I'd found someone. That thankfully shut them up for a while, but now they want to see this ‘partner of mine’ to make sure they ‘actually exist’.” He rolled his eyes. “So I figured if I brought someone as ‘proof’ that should keep them off my back for good.”Wow, never in a million years did Puss think he’d end up in such a situation. “Do I even match the description you gave them?” He enquired, as that might've been before they’d even met in that bar in Del Mar.“Eh, I kept things vague. All I said was that it was someone none of them knew. And you fit that bill.” Death shrugged.Well, he couldn’t argue with that logic. But “Won’t they think it odd you are fraternizing with a mortal?” He couldn't help but wonder aloud.“Not really. It isn’t actually all that uncommon for a spirit to take a mortal as their partner. Widens the dating pool and all.” Death informed.Okay, Puss was starting to wonder if this deal was even worth it. “And if I refuse?”“Well, I could always make sure that meal of yours doesn’t actually go to waste.” The reaper glanced at said meal and then looked pointedly back at Puss.The threat was clear as day, and Puss would really prefer not to die from an allergic reaction twice, so “Alright, just tell me what day, where to meet you, and I’ll see you then.”“Actually, it’s going to be a little more complicated than that.” The reaper just had to say.“How so?” Puss asked, dreading what words were to follow.“Well everyone thinks I’ve been with my partner for around a year or so, which means we’ll actually need to hang around each other to learn more about one another before the event, otherwise the ruse will be obvious and would take away the entire point of this exercise.” Death explained his devious plot. “The meet-up is in one week, which gives us plenty time to practice.”Yup, he was right to dread.“So, where we headed next?” The reaper asked.Oh boy, he was going to have a time explaining this to Kitty and Perrito. But before that he needed to go “Somewhere to get a new lunch; my last one unfortunately met an early end.” He said pointedly as he began to walk off.“Yeah, instead of you.” Death chuckled beside him.Puss didn’t know if he’d even be able to make it an entire week at this rate. ~•*•~ “You know, now that he's no longer trying to torment Puss to the point of insanity so he can eviscerate what’s left of his damaged psyche along with his body, this guy’s not actually so bad.” Kitty mused aloud while watching Death and Puss play a heated game of checkers. “Strange as that seems.”“Yeah no, I get what you mean.” Perrito easily agreed. “I was actually just thinking the same exact thing.”Kitty kind of doubted that. “Oddly enough, I don't think I’m going to really mind these next couple days.”“Yeah, I feel like I’ve gotten used to him by this point. I think I'm actually going to miss having him around when he’s gone.”“Eh, I don’t know if I would go quite that far.” But she would miss the pyromancer’s campfire starting capabilities.“The event thing is in three days, right?” Perrito asked.“Yup. I can hardly wait to hear how it goes.” Kitty smirked, sure it would prove to be an entertaining story. She then eyed the newly acquired knife held in her paw, thinking about how Death had bribed them into telling him stuff about Puss whenever the orange tabby got fed up with his antics and refused to talk to him until he had a chance to blow off some steam. Which hadn’t happened past the second day of Death playing fourth wheel; slowly but surely those two had actually kind of started to get along. Or at least started acting somewhat amicable around each other. Which she considered an unqualified success as it was.She then flicked the knife and watched as it sailed through the air smoothly before sinking into a tree, thinking that yes, it was totally worth those lies she’d made up about Puss. Hearing a clink she turned her attention to where Perrito was now playing with the spiked metal ball he’d been gifted, and wondered if she should actually let him play with it, as it was a rather dangerous toy for the dog, but he hadn’t poked an eye out with it yet, so she figured it was probably nothing to worry about. ~•*•~ Puss waited next to Death in a clearing where their ride was soon due to appear.He would say that the last six days had gone by more smoothly than he’d anticipated (after the first couple anyway, where Puss was sure the reaper had been purposely trying to rile him up), and by this point he no longer found himself wanting to maim the spirit. Which admittedly was a rather low bar, but Puss would still count it as a win.Just then a noise pulled him from his musings and he looked up to see a flying carriage landing close by. It basically looked like a giant black pumpkin with bat wings. And it was on fire.“Yeah, I’m not getting in that.” Puss deadpanned.“Do you have another form of transportation lined up?” Death mildled sarcastically.“… Oh alright, fine; I’ll ride the terrifying death trap.” Puss groaned in frustration, remembering that the place they were heading was on a different ‘plane of existence’ or some crap. “But if I die good luck finding anyone to fill in for me on such short notice.” He huffed as they made their way over to the vehicle.“You can sit on my lap if that will make you feel safer.” Death smirked at him as he opened the door and offered his hand.“Har har, I didn’t take you for a comedian.” Puss rolled his eyes, but accepted Death’s assistance getting on board the carriage (noting with relief that the flames surrounding the thing gave off no heat). He then crossed his arms as he plopped into his seat, Death taking his place across from him on the opposite plush bench.Shortly after they took off Puss surreptitiously peaked out the window and tried not to show how terrified he was suddenly feeling as they went up and up and up.This did not go unnoticed by Death, who luckily had just the thing to take Puss’ mind off the view. “Hey I almost forgot, I brought you an outfit to wear.”Puss looked over to see Death holding up a frilly pink dress in just the right size to fit his petite figure. “Oh, there is no way in hell I am wearing that.” He said with a disgusted face. “That shade would completely clash with my fur. Don’t you know anything about color theory?” Now if it had been of a hue that brought out the green in his eyes that would’ve been a completely different story, as the design itself wasn’t half bad.… Without moving his head Death looked at the garment in perplexment. He’d brought it as a joke, thinking Puss would object to the idea of wearing a dress in general. Did that mean if he’d packed an assortment the cat would’ve gone for it? Dammit, he should’ve been more prepared. “Well, no matter.” He said as he tossed the useless thing out the window. “You can just wear this instead.” He then held out a hooded cape, in black with a crimson lining, finer and longer than the one Puss was currently wearing. Much more befitting finery of one supposedly being courted by Death.“Ah, now that is more like it.” Puss said as he plucked the article from the other’s hold, then ran his paws along the plush fabric, soon coming upon a design stitched onto the middle of the back. “What is this?” He asked as he held it up, now able to see the two crossed sickles made out of silver thread.“It’s to signify you’re with me. In case anyone finds a lost mortal wandering around.” Death informed, lightly mocking in tone.Puss gave a non-committal hum as he removed his usual cape and replaced it with the one provided, the closure in the shape of a wolf head instead of a cat head not going unnoticed as he secured it. “Really? Are the sickles not enough?” He asked the reaper, gesturing at the glinting silver.Death merely smirked in reply, then decided to change the subject. “Hey, why don’t you teach me about this ‘color theory’ of yours?”

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“And that is why you never want to pair heliotrope and skobeloff with-” Puss was interrupted when their carriage came to a stop. “Are we there already?” He asked in surprise.“We could take another loop around the castle if you’re not ready to get off.” Death joked.“Oh no thank you; I am good.” Puss said as he made quick work of hopping out of the nightmare mislabeled as their ride, only to instantly trip upon making contact with the red carpet leading up to the castle entrance. He was saved from face-planting though, with a large warm hand under his chest.“Woah, careful there.” Death said as he righted the hero, gently setting him back on his feet.Puss tried to ignore how warm his face suddenly felt, as well as whatever was happening in his stomach in response to the handling.“Ah that’s right,” Death said as if just remembering something. “I forgot about it until just now, but gravity is a bit different here than what you’re used to. Might be about twenty percent stronger.”Puss had to clear his throat to regain control of his voice box for some reason. “Is that a lot?”Hmm, how to put this into terms the mathematically challenged feline could understand. “Let me put it this way: five sacks of gold coins here would feel like six down where you live.”“Oh, well that doesn’t seem too bad at least.” Probably wouldn’t even be noticeable for most activities.“Well, shall we?” Death asked, grabbing Puss’ attention, who then eyed the hand held out to him with some hesitance, before eventually placing his paw within it so they could walk to the entrance together hand in hand.It was a little awkward, as even with Puss’ arm fully extended Death still had to remain slightly bent to not break the hold as they neared the castle.As soon as they passed the threshold belonging to two giant ornate doors, a booming voice announced their presence.
“Death has arrived, along with his consort, Puss in Boots.”
… Puss slowly turned to glare up at Death. “Consort?” He asked the reaper in a voice that promised pain.“Their word choice, not mine.” Death released Puss’ paw to hold his hands out in a placating manner. “Although given the option I would’ve gone with the same thing.” He smirked.Puss gave him as nonplussed of a look as he could muster.
“And that concludes the arrival of our guests.”
“Wait, we were the last ones to arrive?” Puss asked.“I like to be fashionably late.” Death replied with a shrug.An assorted group of individuals all but flocked over to the latecomers and one of them spoke up. “Oh, is this him?” The question obviously directed at Death.“Indeed it is.” He confirmed before turning his attention on Puss. “Now why don’t you introduce yourself?” He then put a hand on the cat’s back and slid the hero in front of himself for everyone to see, almost as if in display. “Don’t be shy now~” He cooed.Puss directed a glare back at him that could only be seen by the reaper, before turning to face the small crowd once again and beginning his show with a suave smile.“Greetings lovely attendees, as you may have heard I am Puss in Boots, but you can just call me Puss.” He said with a polite bow. “You’ll have to forgive me for not knowing any of your names, but this is my first time attending any sort of event with my darling beloved. You see, he never takes me anywhere.” He finished with a put upon sigh that fell somewhere between forlorn and exasperated.Damn, he was good, Death couldn’t help but admit in his mind; Puss was playing the part while instantly endearing himself to everyone within hearing range, if the adoring looks the cat was getting were any indication. Then said cat turned his head just enough to give him a foreboding smirk before facing his audience once again. “I am beginning to think I embarrass him or something.” He said with a crestfallen slouch and a paw to his heart, which effectively had those adoring looks turning to glares as they were redirected at the reaper.Oh shit, he’d miscalculated.“You know what?” He spoke up as he stepped forward to put his hands on Puss’ shoulders, hoping to nip this little ploy in the bud. “We had a long flight, and I’m sure mi precioso here is all but famished, so how about us two get some refreshments before we really get into the introductions?” He didn’t bother listening to the murmur of reluctant agreements as he ushered his plus one away, all the while cursing himself for forgetting to account for the hero’s insanely high charisma modifier. #RookieMistakePuss smirked in self satisfaction as he was guided through the room from behind while Death was no doubt looking for an unoccupied area for them to talk. An enchanted silver tray full of glasses filled with a pink liquid flew up next to them and Puss turned to see it was labeled as punch, so he gave it a sniff before snatching a glass for himself. “Ooh, don’t mind if I do~”He’d downed the delicious beverage and gotten started on a second one by the time Death found a suitable area for semi-private conversation; not out of eyesight, but at least earshot of other guests. The reaper then turned him around, wearing a fake smile to make this look like an amicable exchange to anyone who might be watching.“Okay, I’m going to need you to stop that.” He began, unamused tone not matching his expression.“Stop what?” Puss asked innocently, batting his eyelashes.“Don’t play dumb; you’re trying to make me look bad.” Death said with a hand on his hip.“Trying? Or succeeding?” Puss asked with a smirk and a quirked brow as he leant back against a pillar.Death just stared at him for a few seconds before letting out a heavy sigh. “Okay, how about this? I won’t try to embarrass you, if you don’t make it look like I’m mistreating you.”“Hmm, very well; you’ve got yourself a deal.” Puss agreed, not wanting to push his luck.“Good.” Death nodded, satisfied. “Well, now that that’s hashed out, I actually could go for something to eat.” He turned and started off toward a food-laden table, Puss following along beside him.“You know, with the way you talk about your coworkers I didn’t think you actually cared what they thought about you.” Puss mused aloud, drinking more punch as they walked.“Oh, on a personal level I couldn’t give less of a shit,” Death confirmed. “It’s just that if they think I’m abusing my poor widdle fiancé I would never hear the end of it. It would be even worse than them pestering me over my love life.” Like two steps forward and ten steps back. Eugh, just imagining it made him want to groan.“Ah, that makes sense.” Puss nodded in understanding as the reaper looked over the edible offerings. He himself ignored the food for the time being, as he couldn't even see what was on the tables without hopping up onto them, and figured that wouldn’t exactly be appreciated. Plus he wasn’t exactly starving atm, so he figured he’d just wait until he found a stool to use.In the meantime he just nursed his sweet drink until he’d finished it and was brought another. He was only a small ways into it though when he noticed that his face felt a little funny. “Hey,” he directed at his tall companion to grab his attention. “Do you know what’s in this punch?” He asked as he looked at it suspiciously.Death looked over and plucked it from his hands before giving it a quick sniff and then sipping it. “Oh, that is spiked.” He said with amusement.“What? But I didn’t taste any alcohol!” Puss all but shouted, shocked.“Ahh, that’s right; mortals generally can’t taste this kind.” Death informed. “Nevertheless this one is rather strong. How much did you have?”“Uh, a bit over two glasses, I think.” Puss admitted, starting to get worried.“Oh-ho, you are going to be fucked up.” Death said while obviously fighting a grin, then finishing off the drink in one gulp.“That is not helping!” Puss hissed at him.“Okay, okay,” Death chuckled, setting the now empty glass down on an awaiting tray before turning around and piling bits of different food onto a small plate, then turning back and holding it out to Puss. “Here, this stuff should help absorb some of the alcohol.”“None of this is spiked too, is it?” Puss asked while eyeing the dainties suspiciously after accepting the offer.“What? No, that would be ridiculous.” Death scoffed at the absurd question before “Wait,” he turned around to sniff at the assortment of goodies lain out on the table before turning back to face Puss and plucking a square of fudge off the plate he’d given the cat. “Okay, now you’re good.”Puss leveled him with an unimpressed look. ~•*•~ Both members of the happy couple had had a decent enough amount to eat before Death had been pulled aside by three fellows claiming to be ‘horse men’ (which Puss thought odd, as they looked nothing like horses), who wanted to congratulate the reaper privately on the engagement, and Puss had gotten started on his proper introductions with the other guests.“You mean like, the karma. Like the force that punishes bad behavior and rewards good behavior?” Puss asked the gharial he’d just started talking to, eyes wide in awe.“The one and only.” She said with a chuckle, entertained by his excitement.“Well I must say it is an honor. I am quite fond of your work.” He said, recalling a few instances of someone being an asshole, only to immediately have misfortune befall them, like a loose brick falling on their head. It was always hilarious to witness.“Well I could say the same to you as well. After all, this is the first time Death has shown an interest in anyone, ever. You must be pretty special.”“Eh, I suppose I am rather one of a kind.” Puss preened, shrugging as if it were something that couldn’t be helped.Karma smiled before asking how the two of them met.Huh, come to think of it, he and Death had never thought to come up with an origin story. He then tried to keep his grin internal when a devious idea formed: Death never said Puss couldn't embarrass him. He was going to blame this probably stupid decision on the alcohol he’d accidentally consumed, and therefore could not be held accountable for what was to follow. ~•*•~ “So there I was, on my morning stroll, minding my own business when I spotted the oddest sight: someone with their head stuck in a log! Bet you can guess who that ‘someone’ was.” Puss said to Persephone with a co-conspiratorial smirk. “He was lucky it was I who happened upon him, as—utilizing my not-inconsiderable strength—I was able to free him. It was not easy, as he was wedged in there real good, but I eventually managed.” He inspected his claws vainly before looking back up at his current conversation partner. “Oh, by the way, I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to anyone else though, as he is terribly embarrassed by the event.” He expressed with a chuckle.“My lips are sealed.” She said with a chuckle of her own.-“My carriage driver got distracted and accidentally ran over the poor lobo. With all eight wheels, no less. I immediately jumped out to see if he was okay, and the rest is history.” He recounted to Candlejack with a wistful smile. “He is still rather traumatized by the affair, though, so if you would be so kind, I would prefer you not bring it up to him. Or anyone else for that matter.” He asided, getting a nod of affirmation in return.-“I was on a solo hunting trip when I landed a big one with a precisely aimed bolt. The creature did not go down right away though, so I hit it a couple more times to try to limit its suffering. That creature turned out to not be the moose I thought it to be, but instead my now fiancé. He is such a kind person though, we ended up having a good laugh over it and he forgave me on the condition that I not tell anyone about the incident. Oh… oops.” He chuckled with a paw over his mouth, pretending to have slipped up.“Don’t worry, dear; your secret is safe with me.” Iris said while miming zipping her lips, and throwing away the key for good measure.-“He came up to me out of nowhere and said I was the prettiest girl at the harvest moon ball. I’m certain he was drunk at the time, because this was at a wrestling event. Nonetheless I was flattered and told him he could stick around if he kept the compliments coming. He has yet to cease providing them, and so here we are.”-“I lost a bet.”-“High stakes round of Spin the Bottle, his turn was going to pair him up with a slime creature, I flung a coin at the bottle, it was pointed at me instead, we made out, he was so bad at it I figured he would never land anyone ever, I took pity on the poor sap and asked him out. Best decision ever.” Puss waxed poetic all epically.He received nothing but a blank stare and several seconds of silence from Anansi, before the spider god slowly raised his hand in question.“No he has not improved.” Puss answered before he could even ask.The hand went back down.-“Yes, nearly ev’ry day, which is why I bother keeping him ‘round. But ‘nough about me an my ball and chain, le’s talk about you.” Puss said, words beginning to slur as the alcohol began to hit, taking hold in earnest. “For instance, where did you get those fetching feathers? They have such a pungent color.” He spoke emphatically. “I can almost ssmell it.”“Pardon me; you don’t mind if I cut in, do you? I think I better explain to my fiancé how the games work before they begin.” Death said as he came to stand by Puss’ side after he managed to get away from his congratulators. After finishing their effusive praise, his apocalypse colleagues had asked how he and Puss met, and he’d told them it didn’t fucking matter. They agreed and said he was right, that what mattered was that he was happy. Eugh, they were so sappy it was painful.“Of course, you do what you need to.” Tecún Umán nodded to Death before turning back to Puss. “We will finish this conversation later.” He said with a stony expression before heading off, green scintillating feathers hanging nearly to the floor from his headdress.“Games? Wha’, like checkers? I hope iss checkers, cuz I always beat you.” Puss grinned lopsidedly as he turned to look up at Death.“No you do not. And to answer your question, also no; have you ever played croquet?” Death asked with a sigh.“You mean like that thing with the grass and the hammers and the loopies and the balls, and the grass?”“... Sure.” Death was fairly certain they were talking about the same thing anyway.“Then no.” Puss said as he slowly blinked out of sync.Oh boy. Death was regretting several of his more recent decisions right about now.

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“¡Olé! ‘Ole in one!!”“That’s not a thing in this game, mi conchito~”Death had explained the rules to a heavily inebriated Puss about three times before giving it up as a lost cause, but still felt the need to point out such an egregious error in terminology.He’d popped outside where everyone was gathered for the game and made an announcement that Puss was feeling worn out from their long commute (all thirty minutes of it), so they would be sitting this one out, as he didn’t want everyone knowing that Puss had gotten absolutley smashed thanks to his negligence. Unfortunately said announcement was immediately followed by “What? No I‘m fine, let’s play!” by the cat in his arms, who he’d elected to hold onto after he’d very nearly walked into a wall.Of course he hadn’t dared to argue with him, lest he be painted as the bad guy, which is how he now found himself helping Puss control his mallet, standing directly behind him and covering the orange tabby’s paws (and entire arms) with his own hands. He let everyone think he was helping Puss because it was the cat’s first time playing (which to be fair it actually was), and not because the alcohol was affecting the hero’s motor functions to the point he couldn’t swing the mallet by himself without falling over.“Man, this guy is great!” Jack Frost, one of the other players in their game laughed.“Hey, if any of you want to switch places let me know!” A player from one croquet game over shouted, Death recognizing the voice as belonging to Sand Man.“In your dreams!” Karma and Fate from their game shouted back at the same time.“Why does everyone always say that to me?” Was the other’s barely audible response.While waiting for their next turn Death made sure Puss drank a cup of water, having to hold it up for the cat after it had immediately slipped from his grasp when he’d tried handing it to him. He couldn’t help but think Puss being this drunk was more bothersome for him than it was for Puss. He decided to keep a better eye out in the future to make sure this didn’t happen again.He then noticed a few people look in their direction with hands over their hearts at the sight, so it seemed to be improving his street cred at least.When the game was over it had been rather obvious the players in the lead threw the game so Puss (and Death by extension technically, since they were teamed up) could win and be awarded the prize.  ~•*•~ Death popped a canape into his mouth, chilling at a table near enough to Puss to keep an eye on the cat. Thankfully said cat had made it past the slurring stage by this point, so Death deemed it safe enough to let him chat people up again. With supervision. He watched as the hero took a few laps of his definitely non-alcoholic (Death had triple-checked) drink before Puss continued his conversation with Athena.“Hey, you’re wise, si?” The orange tabby asked, gesturing at the helmeted goddess with his third-full goblet.“I’d like to think so.” She replied with an amused smirk.“Okay, well there’s a question that’s been weighing on my mind recently, and I was wondering if you might have an answer for me.” Puss said with a paw to his chin.“Let’s find out. Fire away.” The armored warrior replied, always up for a challenge of the mind.“What sound would zero make if it wasn’t a number?”Not a second later Death was by his side, ushering him away with a quick excuse, leaving the goddess of wisdom and her look of consternation behind.Dammit. Guess it was still too soon.“Where are we going?” Puss asked as Death led him from behind.“Anywhere but where we just were.” Death deadpanned.“Where’s that?”“How about a nice little unoccupied table out of hearing range of the others so they can’t hear your drunken nonsense?” Death grumbled.“What’s that?” Puss pointed to something, the reaper having obviously lost him about six words in.“That is a sculpture.”“What does it do?”“It doesn’t do anything; it’s for looking at.”“Why?”“Because it’s art.”“Where do clouds go at night?”That’s it, Death decided to just ignore his inane questions.…“WHERE DO CL-”Death clapped a hand over the mouth of the cat that thought he hadn’t been heard, and resigned himself to answering said inane questions, lest Puss draw all the attention to them. “They go home.”“Where do they live?”“Behind the mountains.”“Why don’t crabs have eyebrows?”Death sighed heavily. This was going to be a long day. ~•*•~ “Where the hell did you get that?” Death asked when he saw Puss holding something that he definitely should not have been holding.“I found it.” Was all Puss supplied as he eyed Sand Man’s Pouch of Infinite Sand in wonder, batting at the shimmering thing with one paw while dangling it by the little drawstrings with the other.Death snatched it from the inebriated cat, spotted the magical item’s owner who was thankfully nearby, and planted it on the spirit without notice. That dealt with, he turned back to Puss only to see him now holding Fate’s Dice. “Okay, when did you grab those?” He hadn’t been away for more than a few seconds.“I found it.” Puss replied distractedly, focusing on the scintillating pipped cubes as he knocked them against each other.Death swiped the powerful polyhedrons before Puss could have the chance to drop them and possibly cause a natural disaster, then looked around for a certain currently diceless spirit, soon discovering she wasn’t even in the room as his visual sweep turned up fruitless.He turned to face the trying tabby again, this time seeing Puss pulling the next item from under his hat. He snatched the head covering off the cat to find it completely filled with baubles that the absence of which would definitely be noticed if missing for long.He found himself having to reverse-pickpocket the magical artifacts while also making sure Puss didn’t anti-reverse-pickpocket at the same time, and avoid drawing unnecessary attention. A task which took all of his not-inconsiderable skill, as he wasn’t able to just carry the damn cat, which would’ve been the most effective way to wrangle him, but was unfortunately too noticeable.It did not help matters that in the middle of this endeavor Puss had mumbled something, which caused Death to sigh and ask him to repeat while leaning down to better hear the vertically challenged feline, who appeared to be slightly hunched over.“My tummy is speaking to me.” Puss repeated with an arm around his middle before the reaper saw his green eyes suddenly go wide and his free paw fly up to cover his mouth.
Oh shit.
 ~•*•~ How Death managed to survive until the dinner feast finally rolled around, he would never understand. Moving past that, he elected to cut up Puss’ food for him so he couldn’t accidentally poke an eye out, and took what solace he could from the fact that he at least no longer had to cover for Puss, since the cat’s inebriation was finally waning, and it was perfectly acceptable to be tipsy this late in the day. “Hey, where’s the horchata?” The hero asked while looking around.“There isn’t any, chiquito.” Death informed him.“There’s not any horchata?!” Puss shouted loudly enough for everyone to hear. “What kind of Mexican restaurant is this?”That brought about a peal of laughter from all around the long table.“This is blasphemy! I demand retribution!”The laughter only became louder.Mother Nature, who was seated next to Death, nudged him with her elbow. “Oh Death, your fiancé is a riot!” she said between gasping breaths as she wiped a tear from her eye.“I could summon you some if you like.” Demeter offered soon as the laughter had died down.“You can do that?” Puss asked with wide eyes.“Just make sure it’s non-dairy.” Death interjected, not wanting to take any chances.“Alright, here you go.” Was said soon before a tall glass of the requested drink appeared in front of Puss amid a shower of sparkles.“I owe you my life.” He whispered while pulling it close with both paws.Death stuck a bendy straw in it before Puss had a chance to spill it all over himself.By the time dinner was wrapping up Puss had mostly sobered (thank the heavens; Death didn’t know how much more of that he could’ve handled), no longer loopy, instead just seeming worn out. They got pulled into several more conversations afterwards, but when Puss started to yawn Death jumped on the opportunity to use it as an excuse for them to call it a night.“Oh of course, don’t let me keep you.” The North Wind said, letting them go without protest. “See you two tomorrow.” He called out as Death led Puss away.“Wait, where are we going?” Puss asked, not recognizing this part of the castle. Then his tired brain caught up with the last words he heard. “And what the hell did he mean by ‘see us tomorrow’?” Weren’t they leaving the event?“We’re heading to our room, as this is a week-long function.” Death answered both his questions in one go.“… Excuse me?“ Puss numbed.“You’re excused.” Death replied with a smirk.Puss did him the favor of ignoring that. “What do you mean a week-long function?” He squinted up at the wolf.“A function that lasts seven days.” Death reworded. “Or one hundred sixty-eight hours, or ten thousan-”“I know how long a week is!” Puss saw fit to curtail the pontificating. “What I’m wondering is why you did not inform me of that little detail.” He asked the reaper through clenched teeth.“You didn’t ask.” Death shrugged as they came upon what had to be the door to their room, and gestured Puss in after opening it.Puss made no move to go inside. “Listen, pendejo, I did not agree to a multi-day affair.” He said hotly, crossing his arms obstinately.“Actually you did, as you agreed to join me for the event, I just didn’t specify how long it would last.” Death said with a smirk as he leaned back against the doorframe.… Puss couldn't argue with that logic, but he felt like he should. He also would’ve tried to strangle the reaper if he weren’t feeling dead on his feet. Instead he settled for sending a glare his way that could peel paint before heading in with a grumbled. “No puedo creer que ésta sea mi pinche vida.”Death closed the door behind them and lit the candles around the room with a snap of his fingers.Puss looked over the room and upon noticing a certain detail decided to check something out. He opened all the doors in the room one by one, finding a closet, a washroom, and another closet.Death watched the display and held back a laugh upon seeing the cat’s perplexed face. “A peso for your thoughts?” He asked instead.“Why is there only one bed?” Puss asked with a raised brow.Oh, that explained his odd behavior, the reaper thought with amusement. “Obviously it’s because we’ll be sharing.”“What?!” Puss shouted. “Why the hell do we have to sleep in the same bed?” Did they not have enough to go around here?“Because we’re supposed to be an item, remember? And engaged couples do generally tend to sleep together.” Death lighted.“But we are not actually a couple.” Puss protested.“True, but no one here knows that. Nor are they going to.” Death reasoned. “Besides, I don’t see why you’re so against the idea; I don’t bite.” He finished with a smirk showing a few too many teeth.Okay, that was the last straw. “Right. I’m going home.” Puss said as he headed for the door. He did not agree to this shit.“You sure about that?” Death asked, and Puss paused in the archway, paw on the handle to the now open door. Was the reaper going to threaten him again? “You really want to taint your honor by going back on your word?”Dammit, that was worse. He let out a guttural groan before kicking the door shut and stomping back into the room. “Fine, but you better stay on your side of the bed.” He pointed pointedly at the reaper.“Don’t worry, I’ll try not to roll over and squish you.” Death placated while obviously holding back a smirk.Puss had not been worried about that. But now he was. Oh, he was so going to get the reaper back for this. Tomorrow; he was much too tired to try to exact any sort of vengeance tonight. Speaking of which, why did he feel so wiped out? What did he even do that day? Most of what happened before about halfway through the dinner was a bit of a blur.Eh, must not have been anything noteworthy if he didn’t remember. And he figured it was probably just the alcohol and extra gravity tuckering him out anyway.Now there were a couple very valid reasons he did not want to sleep next to the wolf. First was that he usually had nightmares these days and didn’t want to embarrass himself if Death caught him in the throes of one. Second was, well, he couldn’t hold back the blush that crept onto his face, remembering his reaction earlier when Death had caught him right outside of their carriage. He figured the best way of avoiding a repeat of that would be to avoid touching him, especially in such a setting, and the easiest way to do that was just not use the bed at all.Now, normally in such a situation (which itself was an absurd thought because nothing like this had ever happened to him before, and he prayed it never would again) he’d just elect to sleep on the floor or something, but he was much too worn out for that right now, and felt like he all but needed something soft to lie on.Just then he came up with the perfect idea: he just wouldn’t sleep! He would just lie on the nice comfy bed with his eyes closed until morning, and then maybe find a way to get a power nap in sometime tomorrow. There, problem solved.With that in mind he walked to the far side of the bed, which he decided to claim as his. Then immediately ran into another problem: it was rather tall, and he was rather not. Groaning internally, he reached up and was just barely able to grab ahold of the edge of the mattress, then tried to swing his leg up to get his foot on top. A few times. To no avail.Ugh, this was much harder than it needed to be thanks to the increased gravity. And his body’s lack of alcohol tolerance. But he was going to mostly blame it on the gravity, as it made him sound less lame.“Need a boost?” Death asked from somewhere behind him, amusement clear in his voice.“No, this is nothing for Puss in Boots.” Puss gritted out. “I can do it myself, I just need a minute.”“If you’re sure,” Death replied with a vocal shrug.After a couple more extra effort-fueled tries he finally managed, now sat atop the bed on his knees. He then plopped down face-first onto it, intent on just testing it out. This did not work, as he instantly fell asleep upon hitting the mattress.Death whistled lowly, impressed; that had to be some kind of record. That alcohol must have really done a number on the cat.He then went over to the supplied bookshelf and perused the literary offerings, soon selecting one that looked interesting enough before heading back to where Puss was snoozing soundly. He came up close to him and lowered his head to be level with Puss’ peacefully sleeping visage, and couldn’t help but lightly blow in the cat’s face, only to receive no reaction whatsoever. Not even a twitch. Wow, he was out. Hmm, Death couldn’t help but wonder if this was Puss’ first time ingesting actual alcohol instead of milk, as he stood back to his full height.He then looked down at the still fully-clothed cat and gave a sigh as he set his book down on the nightstand; he really didn’t need Puss to accidentally choke himself in his sleep, so decided to at least take the cape off of him. He reached down and undid the clasp, pulled it off and draped the garment over his arm. Then figured he may as well get the rest of his outfit while he was at it.Once done with that, he hung the cape up on a coat rack and set the rest of the cat’s gear in a neat pile on the floor next to the bed. And finally since he didn’t want the hero catching a cold (because wouldn’t that be fun to explain to his coworkers?) he rolled him onto his back and put a blanket on him, tucking it in for good measure.He then picked his book back up and went around the room blowing out all the candles except for the one by the headboard, then settled into his side of the bed to read, as he didn't need sleep himself, even though the day had been a mentally exhausting hassle, especially having to deal with a drunk as a skunk Puss (which he did admit was partially his fault, so he couldn’t exactly blame the cat for his crazy antics earlier). Although he had to admit that it had been almost, kind of, a little bit fun. If you squinted. But mostly it had been annoying.Whatever, he cracked open his book and got started on the story.-Death was about halfway through the novel when he heard a noise from beside him and turned to look at Puss. When several seconds of nothing happening passed he was about to go back to his book when he heard it again. It sounded like a whine, and looking closely he could now see that the cat’s face was scrunched in discomfort. Puss’ breathing then started to pick up as the frequency of his whines increased.Oh, Death realized he must be having a bad dream as Puss’ head started to move side-to-side. Well, he didn’t want this to continue—as it would disturb his reading, and he just got to the good part—so he reached out and gently set his hand on the cat’s head to lightly stroke his thumb over the orange-furred forehead. The contact made the cat suddenly freeze, and Death paused, wondering if he’d accidentally woken him, but when Puss unstiffened, remaining asleep, Death continued, now adding shushing noises that he assumed came across as comforting (as he wasn’t used to doing anything of the sort), and it seemed to be working, the cat’s breathing gradually slowing down until it returned to a normal sleeping speed and whines quieting until they ceased altogether. He gave one last soft brush for good measure before retracting his hand.Huh, just then a thought crossed his mind. He couldn't help but wonder if maybe the reason Puss had been so against sharing a bed was because he was worried he’d have a nightmare that Death would notice and make fun of him for. Which was incredibly tempting, but it had already kind of been assholish enough of him to trick Puss into agreeing to even be in such a position, so—since he prided himself on not being 100% a dick—he decided to try to even things out a bit by keeping this little episode to himself.

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Puss groaned as he prized his eyes open, blinking a couple times at the light making its way into the room past the closed curtains. It wasn’t very strong, but it still bothered him, so he shut his eyes and rubbed at them with his paws. “Ohhh, my head.” He couldn’t help but whine. It felt like there was an elephant standing on his skull. And some hammers pounding away inside it.“Here, drink this.”Puss lowered his arms and looked to his side to see Death holding a mug out to him. “What is that?”“Obviously a liquid.” Death replied both obnoxiously, and unhelpfully.“How very specific.” He deadpanned before closing his eyes once again, intent on ignoring the annoying wolf and just going back to blissful unconsciousness.“It’s for your head.” The reaper supplied.Puss cracked one eye open and looked over at the reaper in an I’m listening fashion, waiting for him to expand on that.“It’s to help with hangovers.” Death succincted.Puss sighed and managed to push himself to a seated position with a groan. “Alright, give it here.” He relented. Then hacked as soon as he took a gulp.“Ugh, that is disgusting! What is wrong with you?”Death merely smirked before asking a question of his own. “How’s your head feel?”Huh? “... Marginally better, I suppose.” Puss said in surprise as he noted that the pounding seemed to have actually decreased in intensity, a little bit.“And you’ve only had a marginal amount, so drink up if you don’t want to keep feeling like shit. Or for outside to be painful.” Death persuaded.Puss couldn’t help but sneer at the thought of the sun in his current condition, so plugged his nose while he downed the majority of what liquid remained. He took a break to catch his breath and try to will the aftertaste away. While he was at it he stared into his mostly empty mug and thought about how he was grateful he at least wasn’t achy, and gave partial credit for that to the soft bed he was sitting on. Then his eyes suddenly shot wide as he realized he’d fallen asleep in said soft bed! That had not been the plan. And for good reason.He tried to calm his heart from the sudden adrenaline spike as he deduced that he at least hadn’t rolled onto the reaper’s side in his sleep, judging by how untangled his blanket was. But still he couldn’t help but wonder… “Hey,” he grabbed Death’s attention from where the wolf was putting a book back on a shelf. “I didn’t, uh, do anything strange in my sleep last night, did I?” He asked warily, trying not to let his trepidation show; sometimes his nightmares were bad enough that his involuntary whines would wake Perrito or Kitty, who’d help calm him down after waking him.“You mean like snore? Yes, yes you did.” The reaper replied with a smirk.“What?! Puss in Boots does not snore!” Puss immediately defended.“Tell that to my poor ears. I had to stuff cotton in them just to get some peace.” Death fake-pouted.“No you didn’t.” Puss knew the reaper was more likely to try to smother him with a pillow than do that.“Perhaps not, but that wouldn’t have been a bad way to go.” Death shrugged.Puss rolled his eyes and decided that particular conversation wasn’t worth continuing, but at least was relieved that he’d lucked out last night. Maybe he’d been too worn out to dream or something. But he couldn’t chance it a second time, so would try to figure out something for that night. Maybe he would just sleep on the floor on a pillow taken from the bed.He then idly downed the rest of what was in the cup he was holding, remembering a second too late what it was and nearly spitting it out due to the horrid taste. Luckily he refrained from that messy action and instead gave an involuntary shudder before setting the now empty mug on the nightstand.“Alright lazy bones, time to get dressed.” Death said as he made his way over to the side of the room and leaned against the wall next to the curtains. “Hop to it.”“What’s the rush? I just woke up.” Puss questioned/complained.“I’m hungry, and don’t want to be late for breakfast. Besides, I already let you sleep in, so hurry it up.” He explained.“Eugh, can’t I just have five more minutes?” Puss tried.Death extended his arm to the side and grabbed ahold of the far edge of the curtain (aka the only thing protecting Puss from the full force of the retina-searing light of the unforgiving deadly laser known as the sun), threat clear.While Puss felt immensely better now than before he’d had the nasty drink, he still wasn’t up for getting flashbanged, so “Alright, alright, you’ve made your point.” He conceded, flinging the blanket off where it was pooled in his lap before turning to the side so his legs were dangling off the bed. He then slid off it only to immediately trip and barely catch himself before he fell on his face. “Right, gravity.” He mumbled, having forgotten to compensate. He then looked over and felt some relief that he at least hadn’t tripped over nothing, as he spotted his gear. He made a mental note to stop throwing his stuff over the floor all haphazardly to avoid a repeat.He donned his hat, belt and boots before a quick trip to the washroom to freshen up for the day, reemerging to the sight of Death holding his new cape out to him.Puss silently accepted it and threw the thing on with a flourish before Death started for the door, but didn’t make a move himself to leave as a thought crossed his mind. “Hey, what the hell happened yesterday, by the way?” he asked the reaper, as he couldn’t remember shit. Just bits and pieces.“Nothing noteworthy.” Death shrugged as he opened the door.Puss kind of doubted that. Especially since he did remember that little surprise Death had dropped on him last night. A little week-long surprise. So he left the room with a devious smirk hidden by his hat, and one thought in mind: make the reaper regret ever having messed with the Puss in Boots. ~•*•~ “You two are absolutely adorable together.” Lady Luck all but squealed to Puss between bites of scone. “So, when can we expect the wedding?”“Oh, who can say?” Puss sighed dramatically, waving his croissant about in a shrug-like motion. “I told him we’d wait until he broke that nasty habit of biting his nails, but he’s still munching away.” He explained. “It is not his fault though, as he is trying; it’s just when you’ve been doing something for so very long, it can be difficult to stop.”-“Oh he is the sweetest, but he uses pet names for me so often he keeps forgetting what my actual name is. I’m waiting until he can remember it for more than a week straight before picking a date to make it official.”-“We are having difficulty finding someone willing to officiate our particular mixed-faith marriage. You see, I am a recovering Atheist, and he is a literal god. That’s about as far as he usually gets before someone slams the door in his face.” Puss explained with an amused smirk. “I’ve told him I can do the talking, but he is insistent I not do everything, and he has chosen this task as his part. Unfortunately he is not the best with words. In fact, his phrasing is rather abysmal, but I do not have the heart to tell him.”-“That wolf is as fussy as a toddler when it comes to fittings; no tailor thus far has been able to so much as get his measurements, so it might be a while before we can secure proper wedding attire.”-Conquest, War, and Famine had approached Puss and introduced themselves, apologizing for not having done so properly the day before, having been too eager to catch up with Death, then asked if Puss could tell them how he and the reaper met.“Do you really want to know?” Puss asked while plotting a devious answer.They all nodded effusively with wide eyes.“Okay, I’ll tell you, but only if you promise not to tell anyone else. Do I have your word?” Puss asked in a serious tone, being a bit more dramatic than was necessary.The nodding became more effusive.“Good.” Puss couldn’t help but feel this all seemed a bit familiar, but shrugged it off as he began to weave his next tall tale. “Okay, so I was in the waiting room of a clinic to be seen to, as I’d burnt my paws saving starving orphans from a fire, when in the wolf walked. He wasn’t feeling too good, but didn’t know what was wrong. I figured it out as soon as he turned around though, as his back was absolutely covered in leeches! Although difficult and rather painful due to the state of my paws, I began to pull the slimy suckers from him, as there was no time to waste; he was starting to get loopy from the blood loss.” Puss ‘recounted’ with big gestures, his captive audience not daring to breathe or even blink, in fear of missing a single detail.“During this task he asked if I was an angel and I told him no, but that I was probably the closest you could get. He asked if I could continue to grace him with my presence, then passed out, so after the doctor had seen to us both I dragged him home, and it kinda just went from there.” He finished with a shrug.“That sly dog.” Conquest slowly shook his head in impressment.The horsemen, knowing Death can’t be affected by blood loss like that, since he can self heal, but would’ve gone to the doctor to find out why he kept needing to replenish it, all totally buy it; figuring that when the reaper laid eyes on Puss there he must’ve pretended like he was actually ailing to keep interacting with him to try to win the cat over.“Yeah, that explains why he refused to tell us.” War agreed, thinking Death didn't want anyone to know how cheesy it turned out he could be.“We owe you one.” Famine thanked Puss for gifting them with such knowledge.-“I can see why he was so secretive about you,” Life spoke with a mischievous smile. “he obviously wanted to keep you to himself and wait until the engagement before showing you off, lest someone here try to snatch you up.”“Oh, you are too kind.” Puss said coyly. “Well, perhaps not too kind—as that does sound like something that would happen—but kind nonetheless.” He amended.“Alright, your turn’s over, shoo.” Death said as he suddenly appeared, butting in. He didn’t bother with any pleasantries with this particular spirit, as he knew she knew how he was. They’d been working together since their conception, after all.“You’re right, I don’t want to hog him.” She smirked. “See you two at the game!” She called back at them as she headed off.Puss waited a couple seconds before turning to look up at Death. “Okay I do not know what you have against these people; they are so nice.”Death rolled his eyes. ~•*•~ Puss stood on his toes so he could see into the basket of water balloons to pick one out, and a thought crossed his mind as he looked over the myriad of colored spheres. “So, if you’re going to be here for a whole week, then what happens to the souls that need reaping while you’re away?” He asked Death, who was stood by his side, before one caught the hero’s eye and he stuck his arm in the basket, trying to reach it.“Nothing, as time doesn't pass in the mortal plane while we’re here. It’ll be like we never left.” Death explained as he watched Puss struggle to reach far enough down into the basket to grab anything. He wasn’t even close.“Oh, that’s good.” Puss said, as that at least meant Kitty and Perrito wouldn’t be wondering what happened when he didn’t return the next day. “What exactly is this work thing for anyway?”“It basically acts as a forced vacation for spirits and forces, etc, to get a break so they don’t ‘suffer from burnout’.” Death scoffed, then witnessed Puss continuing to strain to reach. It looked like the cat was trying to grab a specific one too. He sighed, deciding to step in. “Okay, I can’t watch this anymore, which balloon did you want?” He asked as he crouched over the basket himself.“The viridian one.” Puss instantly replied, pulling his arm back out.Uhh, shit, Death was pretty sure that was a shade of… red? He grabbed what he thought was the right one and held it up to Puss, who merely stared at him, unimpressed.“That is vermillion. I said viridian.” Puss emphasized.“Okay King of Colors, mind informing me as to what viridian is?” Death asked, annoyed.Puss raised a brow, making a face as if he couldn’t believe he was actually being asked such a thing. “It’s a shade of green.”Why couldn’t he have just said that in the first place? Death swapped red out for green and offered that to the cat instead, who didn’t make a move to take it. Instead looking at him as if he were an idiot incapable of following the most simple of instructions. “No, that is skobeloff.” He enunciated slowly and clearly, akin to someone explaining a very basic concept to an imbecile.Well okay then, Death could play dumb. “My mistake.” He smirked internally as he tossed that one back in, only to replace it with another of the exact same shade. Hehe, that outta rile the cat up.“Perfect!” Puss chirped. “Gracias.” He thanked before plucking it happily from the reaper’s hand.Death couldn’t help but stare in confusion. Was Puss seeing something he wasn’t, or just messing with him, and being incredibly convincing? Death literally couldn't tell. Just then though Iris came up to the basket, rainbow train trailing behind her on the grass. Before reaching in herself though, she looked over at Puss, noticing what he was holding. “Ooh, viridian. Nice choice!” she said, getting a thanks from Puss, then grabbing the one Death had just put back and saying “I think I’ll settle for skobeloff this time.” before heading off.… Death wondered if they were playing a prank on him, because those two balloons were the same goddamn color.“Well, it should come as no surprise the goddess of rainbows would be able to appreciate a good color pairing.” Puss preened before turning to Death with his balloon held out in display. “You see, this tertiary shade compliments the ample puce around us.”Death looked around, trying to figure out what Puss was talking about. What the hell was puce? A type of shrub? “Which is…?” He asked after giving up.“You don’t know?” Puss asked in befuddlement. “Were you not listening to my color wheel breakdown earlier?”No, he’d kind of zoned out about a minute in, after he’d heard too many obviously made up words. Like the ones Puss had just started spouting again. “You can’t expect me to actually believe that ‘puce’ is a real thing. It sounds like vomit.” Death returned.“... I am beginning to think you are messing with me.” Puss said with a single raised brow, then saw Death’s eyes suddenly dart to the side hardly a moment before the hero felt himself being swept off his feet by two large hands around his middle. His eyes shot wide as his heart jumped into his throat and couldn’t help the spike of fear that ran through him. What was Death going to-That thought was curtailed when his ears perked as he heard a splash and turned his head to see a water balloon had burst against a tree, and he’d just been standing in its path of trajectory. He breathed a silent sigh of relief as he realized the reaper had merely been saving him from a watery demise, and internally scoffed at himself for even thinking Death would try to hurt him (what with all these witnesses around). But why would the reaper even bother stepping in? Wouldn’t he have much preferred to just watch Puss get waterlogged?He turned back to face Death once again and ask him just that, but the wolf responded before he could open his mouth. “Wouldn’t do to let my fiancé get soaked while I could prevent such a fate, now would it?” He explained with a smirk, which made Puss’ heart beat pick up again, but for a different reason this time, unable to help but notice their close proximity, and the warmth emanating from the hands on his torso.Puss merely gulped in lieu of giving an actual response.Death then lowered him back to the ground and let go, but didn’t retract his arms. Confused, Puss looked down only to note he was digging his claws into the limbs belonging to the wolf.“¡Mierda!” He exclaimed as he released his death grip as if burned. “Apologies, I didn’t realize I was....” He trailed off awkwardly.“Don’t worry about it.” Death waved him off as he stood back to his full height. “I could barely even feel those little nubs you call claws. In fact I’m surprised you can manage to scratch anything with them.” He said with an amused huff.“Excuse me,” Puss suddenly puffed up at the sound of such blasphemy. “I’ll have you know these babies can cut through glass!” He fully unsheathed the claws of one paw in show.“I’ll believe that when I see it.” Death chuckled as he took a couple steps to the side and bent to pick up the balloon Puss had dropped in the commotion. “What say we get to it, huh?” He said as he offered the liquid-filled sphere to the hero.Puss hesitated, looking to the side to see many of the things being hurled through the air back and forth, another landing not too far from them and popping on impact with the ground. “Ehh, I don’t know if I’m actually up for this game; I would rather not my fur get wet.” He said with a slight grimace.“Why don’t we just move further down to be out of errant projectile range?” Death suggested.Well, that would definitely solve one problem, but “Isn’t the goal to see how far apart from each other we can throw it until it pops?” That would still leave the possibility of Puss getting drenched.“Oh, I see what the problem is;” Death said with a knowing smirk. “you think you’ll flub a receive. Not good at catch, huh?”What?! “Puss in Boots is the best at catch!” The tabby defended hotly.“Then there should be nothing for you to worry about.” Death logiced. “Besides, the winning team gets a prize.” He informed.“Oh?” That caught Puss’ attention. “What kind of prize?”“I don’t know.” Death unconcerned.“Is it a secret yet to be revealed?” Puss asked.“No.”Puss raised a brow in confusion. “How can you know there’s a prize, but not know what it is?”“Because I don’t give a shit.” Death replied. “If we win it’s all yours.”Well Puss wasn’t going to argue with that.“So, shall we start walking?” Death gestured with his head to an area away from the DangerZone™.“If you’re ready to get outlasted by a pro.” Puss smirked.“We’ll see about that.” Death returned, electing to carry their ammunition as they started off. Then a thought popped up. “Mind telling me what puce is on the way?” He asked, looking down at Puss ambulating beside him.“It’s the color of the flowers in the trees here.” Puss informed lightly, looking over at some with a small smile.Oh, so it was a color? And one the cat had said paired nicely with that of his selected balloon, right? Death held the sphere up and couldn't help but think that it did actually look nice against the flowers. “Huh.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Death and Puss’ game of catch was something to behold. They couldn’t remember who started it, but nearly every throw was a trickshot of some sort which usually required a bit of acrobatics to even receive. Before Death even threw this next one Puss knew what would be needed of him just from the windup, and started to sprint up a nearby tree, launching himself backflip style off it at just the right time and angle to catch the water balloon while upside down, then continue to flip through the air during his decent, and finally to absorb the impact enough that the balloon wouldn’t burst, he slid down an angled structure and ended with an adroit somersault sequence through a soft patch of clovers.Once his momentum had finally ceased he stood to reveal the unpopped balloon, then moved to back up for his next throw, but noticed there was a wall in the way. He was about to ask Death what they should do now that they’d run out of room, when-“And we have a winner!!” Someone shouted, and the announcement was immediately followed by a round of excited applause.Huh? Puss looked to the side where the shout had come from, only to note that they had amassed quite the audience with their showy display.Turns out every other team had already popped their balloon and headed over to watch the spectacle. And since Death and Puss had maxed out on the available distance they didn’t even need to play until their balloon burst.Puss was a decent bit more wiped out from that bout of physical activity than he normally would be thanks to the extra effort he had to exert due to the increased gravity of the place. Luckily for him though, the next event happened to be a relaxing outdoor lunch. Deciding he still wasn’t done with his revenge on a certain reaper, he made sure to get in some more embarrassing fabrications during the potluck-style affair. ~•*•~ “I told him I want to move in with him first, but there’s been some delay on that front because I couldn’t stand the color of the inside of his place when I first saw it, and he insists on repainting it himself and it being a surprise, but he has proven multiple times that he has zero talent for interior design. So far he has not been able to select a color palette that does not make my eyes bleed.” Puss said with a pitying look. “By the way—on a completely unrelated note—do you know how to tell someone they are literally the worst cook in the universe, without hurting their feelings?”-“Hypothetically speaking, if someone has a bad night flatulence problem, how should one go about bringing it up to them gently?”-“We just love doing things together, but one of his favorite activities is chasing after birds in the woods, which isn’t exactly my location of choice, so I do sit out for that one. Which reminds me of something that has absolutely nothing to do with what I was just talking about: do you have any recommendations for a flea bath strong enough to take out the occasional deer tick? For a large animal?-“So first off, this is not about anyone either of us know personally, but do you know of a good way to remove large quantities of loose long undercoat fur before it sheds and ends up as big silvery-white hanks all over the floor, and also somehow winds up covering my boots, hat, cape, and even occasionally popping up in my food?” ~•*•~ By the end of the day Puss was quite tuckered out, having made the mistake of participating in a round of frisbee after lunch with the more athletic spirits, who’d felt up to another physical activity. And of course Puss couldn’t not show off, so he didn’t pull his stunts, doing plenty of acrobatic feats throughout the game (and getting plenty of awed looks for it). The effects of the heavy exertion got to him more as the day continued, and so he was rather relieved when he and Death finally retired to their room, the hero feeling ready to pass out.Puss allowed himself one longing look at the big soft bed before tearing his eyes away and heading toward the linen closet. He was extra reluctant to share a bed with Death tonight since he’d gotten that repeat he’d been hoping to avoid earlier, when the reaper had told him why he’d swiped him up from the ground while holding him up with those large warm hands, and he really didn't want to deal with a third instance. Plus there was still the whole nightmare thing, and despite having been in the clear the night before, it wasn’t a risk he wanted to take. - Death wondered what in the hell he had just witnessed. He’d seen Puss come out of one of the closets, throw his clothing in a pile next to it as he undressed, then go back in and close the door behind him.He gave it a couple minutes, but when Puss didn’t reemerge he went over and opened the door to the sight of the cat curled up in a small nest of blankets on the floor, already halfway asleep it seemed. “Nnng, what is it?” The tabby lightly glared up at him through tired annoyed eyes.“Mind telling me what you’re doing in the closet?” Death asked, already knowing the answer.“Well I was trying to sleep until someone rudely interrupted me.” The hero huffed, pulling some blanket over his head to block out the candlelight coming in through the now-open door.“Any particular reason you’re choosing this as your place of rest for the night?” The reaper asked with a raised brow that couldn’t currently be seen by his conversation partner.“Can’t a cat sleep on the floor once without being interrogated?” Came the grumbled reply from somewhere within the blanket pile.“Alright, well I just came to let you know I’m going to be camping out with a few coworkers tonight.” Death informed the hidden feline.“Huh?” Puss pulled back his covering and directed a questioning look at him.“I would’ve declined, but then they’d just keep asking.” Death rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I’m heading out. Feel free to use the actual bed if you change your mind about being weird.” He chuckled in amusement before leaving, extinguishing all but one particular candle with a simple snap on the way.Once he heard the door to their room open and shut, Puss untangled himself from his nest; he would much prefer to utilize the so-called ‘actual bed’ than the floor. And now that his reasons for avoiding it had just exited stage left, he happily made his way over to the large comfy rectangle.Death for his part stood just outside the door to their room, inspecting the small holes in his arm wrappings. Despite his diminutive stature—and what Death had claimed on the matter—Puss could actually do some damage with those claws of his, as he’d managed to stab into Death’s skin past the brown bindings when he’d grabbed the cat without warning (which looking back he could admit hadn’t exactly been the best decision on his part considering they’d just been all but arguing at the time). He made sure Puss didn’t know that though (healing up the punctures before they’d had a chance to bleed, and waving off his apology and all), or he might think Death would try to retaliate at some point, and he did not need the cat being wary around him; the sudden powerful spike of fear from Puss hadn’t gone unnoticed by him after all.Luckily no one else had bore witness to Puss’ frightened expression (there and gone again in a flash as it had been), but he didn’t want to chance another instance, as it wouldn’t look good if someone caught his ‘finacé’ getting scared or flinching when Death accidentally moved too fast near him or something, and since that wasn’t exactly something he could just tell Puss to stop, as it was instinctual (and would in fact probably make it more likely to happen again if he were to bring it up to the cat), so he’d figured his best bet was to just make sure Puss didn’t feel like there was any reason to fear him while here.He’d decided not seeming overly outwardly annoyed by things the hero did would probably help with that. And it would likely also help if he were to be just a little bit nicer to the cat (ugh). Things which he’d already put into play directly following the incident.Refocusing on his damaged wrappings, he incinerated them before summoning a new pair and putting them on. Much better. Then something else caught his attention; he sensed that Puss had already fallen asleep after moving his sleeping location. Wow, he must’ve really been as worn out as Death had assumed, which is why the reaper had tricked him into sleeping in the bed; he knew if Puss didn’t have something comfortable to lie on for the night he’d be feeling it tomorrow, and Death did not want to deal with a day of the cat bellyaching. He would prefer to avoid that at all cost, thank you very much. So he’d made up that whole camping thing (he’d never have actually agreed to such a thing no matter how much pestering), as he knew the cat likely wouldn’t be willing to sleep outside of the closet unless he thought Death wasn’t in the room at all.He gave it a couple more minutes before heading back in, then settling into his side of the comfy rectangle for another relaxing read, the single still lit candle giving off ample light for his keen senses to be able to see the words on the pages.-It was happening again. Puss had started whining and getting worked up in his sleep, but this time moving his entire body side to side rather than just his head. Death reached out and did the same thing he’d done the night before to calm the cat. An action that was made more difficult thanks to the tabby’s increased movement as compared to last time, but he still managed easily enough.-So, it turned out Puss was just plain a lot more mobile in his sleep in general when he wasn’t recovering from being absolutely wasted. Death tried not to growl aloud in annoyance as he felt the cat’s form press up against him. Again. It was a rather vexing several hours, as he had to keep moving Puss back to his side of the bed and fix the cat’s blanket so he wouldn’t know he rolled over to him, otherwise he just knew the cat would get weird about it. And he couldn’t even wait until morning and just do it once then, as Puss could randomly wake up at any time in the night. ~•*•~ Puss awoke feeling well-rested, but didn't bother to open his eyes or stretch yet; hoping to fall back under and get in just a few more minutes of precious sleep. But then he heard what sounded like paper rustling off to the side. Confused, he opened his eyes and looked over, only to be met with the sight of “¡Sangre de bestia!” a wolf who was not supposed to be there. “I thought you were supposed to be camping with your coworkers!” He all but shouted from his now seated position while trying to slow his heart rate from the unexpected surprise.“Eh, they were being annoying so I left about an hour in and came back here.” The wolf shrugged unconcernedly while not taking his eyes off the book in front of him.Honestly Puss was kinda disappointed in himself; he really should’ve been expecting something like this. He rolled his eyes then decided to check on something again. Looking down he was surprised to note that his blankets were once again untwisted, meaning he somehow hadn’t rolled to the wolf’s side in his sleep. Was it because the bed was so comfy his subconscious decided moving around wasn’t necessary or something? He was then pulled from further musing on that subject when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye that caught his attention. He turned his head towards the wolf once again and stared in confusion.“See something interesting?” Death smirked, still not looking away from his precious book.“You changed your wrappings.” Puss pointed out.Death paused and tried not to let his surprise show. How could Puss tell? Had the cat seen the damage on his old pair? He’d really been hoping to avoid that. He looked over at Puss with a single brow raised in question, hoping he’d get an elaboration.“They were umber, and now they are burnt umber.” Puss responded with a raised brow of his own.

What?

Death’s heart rate sped up; how the hell did Puss know he’d burnt them?? And what the fuck was ‘umber’? A type of wrapping material? Not wanting to confirm Puss’ words and admit to anything, he maintained eye contact with the cat with a perfectly schooled expression, certain he was doing an excellent job at concealing his internal panic while wondering if Puss had secret scrying powers he didn’t know about or something.At the wolf’s continued silence and humorously panicked expression Puss smirked and decided to elaborate. “One has an undertone of olive, the other cherry.”Wait, why… what did those foods have to do with anything?? Death didn’t know if he’d ever been so confused in his entire existence.Did Puss need to be more specific with the light-refractionally challenged wolf? Fine. “Raw is olive, burnt is cherry.” That outta do it.Death’s eye twitched. Was he having a fucking stroke?Rolling his eyes at the unusually taciturn wolf’s continued bizarre demeanor, “Whatever, it doesn’t matter.” Puss brushed it off as he slid out of bed, deciding he may as well get ready for the day since he definitely wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep now, and it was morning time anyway. “But this shade does compliment your fur better.” He threw back on his way to the washroom.Death’s spiraling thoughts came to a halt as he processed the tabby’s last words.Wait… ‘shade’? Had… had Puss been talking about colors??That, would explain why nothing he’d said made sense; the cat kind of got like that when it came to colors for some reason. He sighed in relief at the confirmation that Puss didn’t have hidden powers he could spy on him with, and decided to keep his sanity intact by just assuming Puss was talking about colors whenever the cat used nonsense words or said shit that didn’t make sense going forward.He then looked down at his covered forearms in puzzlement. So, Puss had been saying that these wrappings were a different color than those from yesterday then, right? Now he kind of wished he hadn’t incinerated that pair so he could look at them side by side with his current one to compare, because as far as he was concerned they were the same goddam color; he always went with dark brown after all.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Death was leaning against a tree, chilling in the shade while sipping at his drink when Persephone came up to him, asking him what Puss’ favorite color was. He easily provided the requested information, and with a thanks she headed off.Starting from yesterday people had occasionally been coming up to him asking some inane thing or another about Puss’ likes so they could gift the reaper’s fiancé with a little departing gift when the time came.He’d had no trouble with this, as he’d gotten plenty of pertinent information from a certain black cat he had bribed for it. In fact, most of his Puss Knowledge™ had actually come from her, as he’d kind of spent most of his time around Puss annoying the orange cat back in the mortal plane. He couldn’t help but smirk at the memory; that tabby was just too much fun to rile up sometimes. His musings were interrupted, however, when his ears picked up on a nearby conversation. Between Persephone and Iris, respectively.
“-is going to be a bit of a challenge to find the right flowers.”
“That’s for sure. Why that shade though?”
“Because it’s his favorite color.”
“Who told you that? Because I can assure you that is not the case.”
Okay, that did not sound promising; if someone knew more about Puss’ opinion when it came to colors than the hero’s feline friend, it would be the goddess of rainbows. After all, she’d had a few discussions about just that with the orange tabby. Which Death had been unable to keep up with past halfway through the first sentence when he bothered trying to listen in.Every time, without fail.Something was wrong with those two.But he wasn’t going to dwell on the fact that they started speaking a different language when talking about the damn hues right now, as he had something more important to attend to at the moment. ~•*•~ Puss had decided to take it a bit easier on the exertion today. Or at least that he’d try to anyway; it was kind of hard not to show off when you were as amazingly talented as he was, after all. So far it’d been easy enough though, as there really wasn’t that much you could do with cornhole to make it more extreme.He lightly tossed the bean-filled bag in his paw a couple times to test the weight before the wind-up, only for him to nearly fall over from overbalance when he thrust his arm forward with nothing to launch. He turned around in time to see Death chuck the sack somewhere behind him without looking. It ended up bouncing off the gleaming head of War’s immaculate warhammer and landing in someone’s drink who hadn’t been paying attention, who then took a sip despite there very obviously being something sticking out of it that shouldn't be, then commenting that it tasted better than it had a minute ago. That it had ‘more character’ now.Okay, that was funny enough to make up for him not getting to take his shot, Puss thought before turning to address the reaper who’d so rudely interrupted his perfect game. “Can I help you with something, mi elotote?”Death did Puss the favor of pretending he didn’t hear that moniker. “Your favorite color is humorous green, right?” He got right to the point.“What?? Eww, NO.” Puss looked so affronted you’d think Death had just insulted his ancestors or something “Why would you even suggest such a thing?” He asked with a disgusted sneer.Okay, that uh, that did not bode well. “Right, next question.” Death moved on. “Is sauerkraut your favorite food?”“… Is that a joke?” Puss perturbed.Shit. “In that case, I think we may have a problem.” Death admitted.“How so?” Puss raised a curious brow.Death proceeded to tell him of his bribery stint and exactly what information he’d been given by a certain black cat. Puss was clearly doing his best to hold back laughter by the end of the explanation, a couple chuckles still escaping. “Wow, she got you good. Masquerading the things I most hate as my favorites.” He wiped a pretend tear of mirth from his eye, thinking Kitty’s prank to be absolutely genius. He could hardly wait to tell her how effective it had been.“Yes, hilarious,” Death drawled. “now can you give me the proper answers so I can correct what I’ve told these vultures?”“Oh, it doesn’t work like that.” Puss immediately shot down the request.“What do you mean?” Death asked with a raised brow.“Unfortunately I will have to be the one to do the damage control here.” Puss said with a put-upon sigh.“Why?” Death didn’t understand how that made any sense.“Well first off, you would likely need some practice to remember something like ‘prismatic legacy’ for more than eight seconds,” Puss began, which Death immediately thought asinine; it was ridiculous to think he would even have trouble remembering a couple simple words (which he assumed were the name of some dumb color since it sounded fake), such as… primal lethargy. Pragmatic agency? Primate adjacent??... Okay, so Puss maaay have a point there, he admitted to himself. But that only applied to one question, so it didn’t count. “And even if that weren’t the case how would you explain you got it wrong in the first place? Regarding someone you’re supposedly engaged to?” Puss posed.“I'll figure something out.” Death protested. How hard could it possibly be anyway?“Okay, let’s give it a test run then. Pretend I’m Demeter.” Puss said, clearing his throat in preparation for an impersonation. “How could you possibly not know what your wonderful and amazing, precious little fiancé’s favorite food is?” He all but cooed.While Death wanted to be annoyed by the display, it actually sounded shockingly accurate of the harvest goddess. “It’s not that I got it wrong. You just misheard me.” He countered, going along with the charade.“I misheard lasagna as sauerkraut?” ‘Demeter’ said, voice dripping with skepticism.“... Obviously.”“Okay, that was terrible.” Puss said, dropping the impression.“No it wasn’t.” It just wasn’t… perfect.“Well okay then, if you want to give it a go yourself I will not stop you.” Puss said with a shrug as he bent down to select a bean sack from his small pile on the ground. “But I don’t want to hear any complaints from you when they start gossiping and your little ruse is immediately unraveled.” He warned before turning to face his mark once again, not overly concerned, as it wasn’t like the jig being up would exactly affect Puss himself much; if Death messed things up on his own that couldn’t be blamed on the tabby. He gave the sack a couple little tosses like last time before raising his arm up for the throw, only to pause when he couldn’t decide whether he should go for the cross shot, or if maybe the str-He was pulled from his thoughts and his heart started to beat a little harder as he turned his head to the side to see the large hand that was wrapped around his ammunition, as well as the paw—and half the arm—that was holding it; the silver palm warm against his skin. The clearing of a throat then prompted him to tilt his head back to look up at the face of the person belonging to said silver palm. The face that had an expectant look on it. ”Huh?” Puss said in lieu of anything more loquacious, a little thrown off kilter by their sudden close proximity.“I said, perhaps you have a point.” The wolf informed, words implying he’d already spoken that sentence, Puss figuring he’d been too distracted by his thoughts to have heard him.He then felt Death release his gentle grip, freeing the orange limb. “I do?” Puss asked absently, telling himself he definitely did not miss the warmth. Then he realized he was staring and quickly shook himself out of it, about facing while taking a couple casual retreatful steps back to return some distance between them. “I mean, of course I do!” He amended, trying to hide his flustered state. “So you’ve come to the proper conclusion that I am indeed way more qualified for this task than you?” He finished off with a prideful smirk for good measure.“Whatever helps you sleep at night;” Death returned “mostly it’s so I won’t have to talk to these idiots any more than I have to.” He drawled.… Okay, just for that Puss was going to throw in some embarrassing shit. Both because of the wolf’s ungratefulness, and for insulting these kind people; plenty of whom Puss would now consider friends of his. “Right. Well, I best be getting to it then.” He began as he stepped around the wolf. ”Feel free to finish the rest of my game if you wish.” He called back as he casually chucked the sack he held behind him without looking.Death watched as the projectile sailed through the air, smacking right into the upper branches of a tree before bouncing off a few of them during its descent, then sliding down a curved piece of wooden outdoor furniture, and somehow finally landing directly in the topmost slot of the cornhole board, even sticking partway out of it, meaning it was resting on a pile of sacks that had already made it into the same hole, which you could basically only get the sack in if you make a direct hit since there was another hole below it on the board as well. Death didn’t want to admit he was impressed, but he was rather impressed.Hmm, he picked up a sack from the few Puss had left behind and decided to give it a go himself. He copied the cat, giving it a couple little tosses before taking aim and giving it a good throw. It hit the same tree's upper branches and then… stayed there.ಠ_ಠJust then he noticed Puss talking to someone off to the side and opted to listen in.
“-hich is how I won that fight with both arms tied behind my back. Anyway, do you want to hear something funny I just found out from my adorably gullible fiancé?”
Well, that was all he needed to hear. He set the leftover bean sacks on fire and went to get more refreshments. ~•*•~ Death had just finished his drink when he gave a visual sweep to locate a certain orange cat, soon spotting him talking to Tecún Umán, and while a bit too far away for Death to hear his conversation with the none-too-impressed looking deity, he could tell the motion Puss made meant he was once again talking about the guy’s headdress feathers. A confused expression took over the cat’s face for a moment before he brushed it aside, finishing up his chat not too long after that.The reaper then witnessed the powerful being’s expression become somehow more stony than it had already been, when Puss started heading off after their conversation had come to an end, gaze following the cat for a bit, almost as if he were considering something. Death smirked, finding it amusing that at least one person here seemed to find the cat annoying.“The deed is done.” Puss said in greeting when he approached Death after the cat had been at the so-called ‘damage control’ for less time than the reaper had expected it would take.“‘Adorably gullible’?” He saw fit to quote back at the other with a raised brow, holding back on crossing his arms crossly like he wanted to.“Hey, I needed to sell it.” Puss returned with an unconcerned shrug. “Anyway, I casually brought up to a specifically selected few people you’d been tricked into thinking all my favorites had very recently changed as a prank from a close friend of mine, and naturally they will be spreading that info around, so we’re good on my side now.” He informed, leaving out the part where he’d said that was his friend’s thirteenth time soundly duping the wolf.Well, Death definitely would not have gone that route, and it was admittedly a solid strategy, so it was probably for the best that he’d agreed to have Puss do the talking instead of him.“As for your side, you’ll have to expect them to be coming to you for the corrections.” Puss pointed out, since these people wouldn’t want to hear it from Puss himself, otherwise they would’ve just asked him in the first place. It was probably supposed to be for some sort of surprise or something, he surmised.“Which I still don’t actually have.” Death saw fit to remind. “It would be best to go to our room about now to go over that, but they might get suspicious due to the timing.” He sighed in annoyance, this whole charade starting to feel like more trouble than it was worth.“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that;” Puss waved off his concern. “I already gave an excuse for us sequestering now.”“You did?” Death’s brows went up in surprise without his permission, impressed Puss’d had that forthsight and implemented it so swiftly as well. Then he spotted someone looking over at him with a pitying expression. What the hell? “What did you tell them?” He asked suspiciously.“That is not important.” Puss batted the question away. “What is important is that it worked; no one will be bothering us for a while, trust me.”Death dropped it, getting the feeling that he didn’t want to know.Puss smirked a secret smirk to himself as he took the lead; he’d told a few people that Death was overdue to have his glands ‘unglanded’.“Oh dear, that sounds… involved.” One of his targets had said worriedly.“Oh, believe me, it is.” He’d replied with a weary sigh.He’d continued, saying the wolf was always reluctant to get it done, and had been hoping to wait until after the work retreat was over, but it had already been a few months since his last time and he couldn't put it off any longer cuz it was really starting to get to him.“Oh, the poor thing,” Another had said.He’d finished up by saying that the sooner it was dealt with the better, and there was no time like the present. And Puss was the only one he trusted to do it, so he’d be heading off with the reaper.They’d all told him Death was lucky to have someone like him, and Puss had readily agreed.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Okay, so where should we start?” Puss asked as he scrambled onto the bed, taking a seat near the edge.“Why don’t we get your favorite food out of the way?” Death suggested, plopping into the armchair next to the bed to face the cat.“… Are you seriously telling me you already forgot?” Puss asked, disbelievingly grimacing in cringe.Uhhh, how could he forget the answer to a question he hadn’t even asked yet? They literally just started.“It’s lasagna, remember?” Puss supplied after his telling silence.Ohh, right, he’d said that during his Demeter impression. “You mean that wasn’t a joke?”“No, why would it be?” Puss asked in confusion.“Next thing I know you’re going to tell me you hate Mondays.” Death chuckled.“How did you know that?” Puss raised a surprised brow.“... Alright, let’s move onto the next question.” Death suggested.“No wait, it’s my turn.” Puss protested.“Come again?” Death raised a brow of his own.“Well won’t it be kind of suspicious if I don’t know any of my ‘fiancé’s’ favorite things?”“Doubtful. I don’t exactly share that stuff with them, so it’s not like it would matter.”“Okay, but I better not be receiving an angry letter from you in the future should someone present you with a bowl full of something you can’t stand because someone asked me what your favorite was and I had to make something up.”… Death sighed and reluctantly agreed; if Puss made a bunch of shit up now, that could come back to haunt Death later, like if he ‘suddenly’ hated something these people were told he loved.“Okay, what’s your favorite dance move?” Puss immediately asked after getting permission.Death tried not to glare in annoyance as he thought to himself that this was going to be an exhausting session.-After they’d gone through nearly everything they figured would be even halfway likely to come up, Death finally decided to ask the question he’d been avoiding, as he was dreading the answer, but knew it was a necessary evil. But the answer he received for it was not at all what he’d been expecting, and it rather shocked him. “You, don’t have a favorite color?” He asked the cat with more than a dish of disbelief.“Correct, I do not have a favorite color; I have favorite shades of colors.” Puss informed. “As in, I have a favorite shade of any given color, but do not have a favorite color in general.” He further explained, then seemed to notice something on his cape, and pulled the corner into his lap before starting to pick some lint off it.Huh, well that was somehow both less and more complicated than what Death had been expecting. “Was that one you said earlier one of them?” He couldn’t help but wonder aloud.“Huh?” Puss looked confused for a moment, before recognition took over as he figured out what the reaper was referring to. “Oh, prismatic legacy? Nah, that is my fourth favorite shade of red.” He revealed, continuing his idle task.Wow, he even had them ranked, Death thought with an internal chuckle, wondering how far that list went; did the cat have a top twenty-five of every color? And speaking of which, “What’s your favorite shade of red then?” He asked, curiosity getting the better of him.“Crimson.” Puss replied without hesitation. “Huh,” he said as if just realizing something, then tilted his head up to lock his gaze with Death’s. “Like your eyes.”The reaper’s breath caught in his chest and his stomach did something funny when pinned with that look mixed with those words, for some unknown reason, and he found himself frozen in place.Puss for his part felt pinned by the intense look the reaper was suddenly directing his way, heart rate picking up as their gazes remained locked.Death didn’t know why, but he found himself unable to look away, captivated as he stared back into the other’s gaze, and couldn’t help but think that whatever shade of green the cat’s eyes were, he kind of liked.Puss felt almost as if he were in a trance as the eye contact remained unbroken and he got a good look into the wolf’s striking windows to the soul.Realizing his staring probably wasn’t doing him any favors, but finding himself unable to tear his gaze away, Death decided he needed to say something. Anything. So “What’s up with you and eggs anyway?” He blurted out.The effect was immediate. Puss’ eyes went wide a moment before he tore his gaze away.The reaper let out a silent sigh of relief as the spell was broken. What the hell was that?“Oh,” the hero put a paw to the back of his neck. “uh… that is, kind of a long story.” He informed with a grimace.Death hadn’t really meant to ask that, but now that it’d been brought up he found that he did want to know what the deal was. Thing was, back when he was pestering tagging along with Puss and his friends, the orange tabby would pull a face whenever eggs were mentioned. Death hadn’t asked about it back then, as he'd just found it funny, but now he was curious (how could a dislike for eggs be a long story, after all?). “You did say you bought us plenty of time though, didn’t you?” He pointed out.“Oh, yes, I uh. I did say that, didn’t I?” Puss replied uncomfortably, looking to the side with a troubled expression overtaking his features; he didn’t know if he was up for telling the reaper such a personal story.Death, sensing the cat’s obvious confliction, gave an internal sigh of resignation; normally he'd keep insisting when faced with such a situation, to get what he wanted, but it was in his best interest to keep Puss more at ease around him—and it seemed like this particular tale was unpleasant for the tabby—so he decided to let him off easy here. “We can skip that one if you prefer.” He said, careful not to let annoyance slip into his tone.That got Puss’ attention, who looked at the reaper with a mixture of surprise and confusion; he hadn’t even voiced a reluctance to tell the story.“If you don’t feel like sharing with the class, that’s fine; I doubt anyone is going to quiz me on it.” Death said, giving an unconcerned shrug.Puss tried not to let it show how relieved he was at the wolf’s words; he’d been expecting a pushing of the issue if anything, not an offer to just move on. Oddly enough, it was the fact that Death was so willing to let it go that Puss felt comfortable enough to make this next decision. “Nonsense, it has been a while since I last recounted the epic tale, after all.” He began before getting into it. - By the end of the story, Puss was looking rather dour; the resurfacing of the memories from that time obviously having dampened his mood quite a bit, to the point of dismallity.Death decided now would be a good time to voice his thoughts. “You know, if I’d have been aware of all that before, I don’t think I would’ve tried to kill you.” He revealed.“What?” Puss said, looking at him in shock. “But why? What I told you doesn’t change the actions I made that you had a problem with.” He pointed out.“Perhaps not, but it does bring new meaning to the reason behind those actions.” He countered, and at Puss’ confused expression elaborated, saying that it was clear from the tale that Puss did know the value of a life, and was even almost annoyingly selfless. “It was like all those unnecessary lost lives were a cry for help.” He finished; he didn’t know exactly what had set it off, but with all this new information it was now almost obvious to him that the cat had been going through what was basically a mid-life crisis.“One that you answered, huh?” Puss replied with a wry smirk.Huh, now that he put it like that, “I suppose so, in a way.” Death agreed halfheartedly.“You know, odd as it seems, I think you gave me the kick in the boots I needed.” Puss said with a contemplative paw to his chin. “I needed to come back to reality, as I’d come to start living somewhere beyond it. If you hadn’t stepped in I probably would’ve been dead within a month; I couldn’t accept that I needed to chill on the theatrics. Not until I had my butt handed to me.” He huffed with a light chuckle. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I owe you a thanks.” He finished, pinning the wolf with a look that clearly displayed his sincerity.Death froze, shocked at the words he couldn’t quite fathom. He was being thanked, for hunting Puss down and trying to kill him? He found himself at a loss for words, not knowing how to respond to such a ridiculous sentiment. Especially not while pinned by that intense gaze the cat was giving him.

Puss for his part found himself once more transfixed, and as he continued to stare into the crimson orbs he couldn’t help but feel as if he were truly seeing the reaper for the first time.

An icky feeling welled up in Death’s stomach at even the thought of accepting Puss’ gratitude for tormenting him, but felt like he should say something in return. Then realized he could offer words of thanks himself. Puss didn't have to put all this effort into making sure Death’s charade wasn’t found out; he could have easily pretended he didn’t know what to do and just let the reaper flounder after all, so “And I guess I should probably th-”

He was interrupted by a knock at the door, followed by someone informing them that the dinner feast was about ready. Huh, he hadn’t realized it was that late already.

“Well I don’t know about you, but all that talk has made me hungry.” Puss said as he scooted to the edge of the bed, ready to slide off it.

“Gravity.” Death absently reminded just before Puss took the plunge.

A look of confusion took over the cat’s face as he started his descent, which quickly turned to one of realization, and he braced properly just in time so his knees didn’t buckle from an unexpectedly heavy landing. “Oh, thank you.” Puss said with relief.

There were those words again.

~•*•~

While Puss was scoping out what seats would put them in the best position to easily reach the kind of food they preferred, someone approached Death and asked him if he was ‘feeling better’.

“… Sure.” He replied before walking over to where Puss was as the cat beckoned him. He’d ask Puss what the hell that was about, but figured he was probably better off not knowing.

Death and Puss found themselves electing to chat with each other a couple times throughout the dinner, now actually having things to talk about.

~•*•~

“Oof, I think I ate too much.” Why did they have to bring out the lasagna after Puss had already stuffed himself? Asshole move if you asked him.

“If you’re going to vomit in the middle of the night, just make sure to do it on the floor and not the bed, okay?” Death drawled.

“No need for you to worry about that; if I can hold my milk I can hold my spaghetti flavored ambrosia.” Puss assured.

Death decided to forgo mention of the ‘my tummy is speaking to me’ incident as a counter-argument; if Puss didn’t remember that little mishap, he wasn’t going to remind him of it. Best if it stayed buried.

“But I better go make a push to be on the safe side.” the cat unfortunately continued, letting it be known that he was gonna take a dump.

“... ‘Make a push’?” Death increduloused. Why was that so disgusting? And more importantly, “Where did you learn that?”

“Perrito taught me that one, and it bugs the hell out of Kitty, so I save it for rare occasions.” Puss chuckled with a shit-eating grin before slipping into the washroom.

Something was wrong with that cat. Death decided to go select a book instead of dwelling on it though.

-

After emerging from the washroom, Puss looked between the bed and the linen closet, considering his options. Hmm, he would admit that he actually felt more rested than usual, and Death had yet to mention anything about nightmares, which Puss thought odd, as it was rare enough for him to go even a single night without one, let alone two in a row. He was beginning to think that perhaps because this place existed outside the mortal plane he didn’t get dreams while here or something. Well, whatever the case, there hadn’t been an incident so far. Plus he hadn’t even rolled over to the reaper’s side, so he figured maybe it wasn’t something to avoid so vehemently. Not to mention it was one of the most comfortable beds he’d ever slept on.

Well, that settled it; bed it was tonight! Speaking of which, his full stomach was making him sleepy already, so “Ugh, I’m gonna go ahead and pass out now.” He announced to the wolf who seemed to have finally made his literary selection.

“Suit yourself.” Said wolf said as he cracked said literary selection open.

Puss removed his cape and chucked it towards the coat rack. Then he removed the rest of his gear and dumped it in a pile against the far wall so he couldn’t trip over it again. He ran into a problem when he approached the bed though, so he turned around to scan the room for something he could use.

“Looking for something?” Death asked upon seeing the cat’s odd behavior.

“Just something to stand on; I don’t really think jumping is the safest idea at the moment.” He didn’t want to chance upsetting his stomach with strenuous movement any time soon. Ugh, why did they have to make these things so damn tall? What was this, a bed for giants?

Huh, judging by the cat’s words it looked like Death wouldn’t even have to trick him into sharing the bed tonight. That was promising. “Why bother with that when you have a perfectly good fiancé to help you up, if you’d like.” The reaper offered only somewhat cheekily.

Hmm, yeah Puss was too sleepy to find an alternate solution, so “Eh, sure. Why not?” He accepted and watched as the reaper nearned, coming to stand right beside him. So was the wolf going to put his hand down as a step for Puss to use, or-

He gasped as he was lifted by the scuff and set atop the bed. “Hey, what’s the big idea; there’s like a billion other ways you could’ve helped me up and you pick that one?!” He bristled while trying not to blush out of embarrassment. How could Death think he’d be cool with being picked up like a kitten??

“I don’t see why you’re complaining; you’re on the bed now, aren’t you?” Death returned with a badly concealed smirk.

Puss was too tired to argue at the moment, so he settled for flipping the bastard the bird when he had his back turned, before settling in under the blankets. Thanks to his full stomach making him extra sleepy Puss passed out pretty quickly after that.

Death looked over at the already snoozing cat and wondered how Puss could sleep with all the candles burning, as that was a fair amount of light. Then figuring that now was as good a time as any, he decided to settle in for the night himself.

-

Death was so engrossed in his book that he nearly jumped when he felt Puss all but slam into his side. He lifted his arm enough to get a good view of the still-sleeping cat, who then shuffled around until he was pressed more snugly against him before settling back down. Death figured it was Puss unconsciously searching out the nearest heat source, since the cat never rolled to the other side of the bed.

The reaper then considered that, while bothersome in its own way, letting Puss just stay cuddled against him until morning would be less so than forcing the limpet to his own side and fixing his blanket a thousand times, and since there hadn’t been an incident of Puss waking up and freaking out the night prior, that didn’t seem to be a concern. With that in mind he decided to save himself the energy and just move the cat once when dawn came, then went back to his book.

-

As was half expected, Puss ended up having a bad dream in the middle of the night again, judging by the tabby’s sudden tensing and whines. Death moved a hand from his book to the orange-furred head, managing to calm the cat with soothing motions alongside accompanying placating sounds before Puss had a chance to really get worked up. Death waited until the cat’s breathing had returned to the deep relaxed inhales and exhales indicative of sound sleep, then found himself keeping up his ministrations for another minute. To be on the safe side.

Then after a moment of contemplation Death pressed his arm along the sleeping feline’s back, sandwiching Puss’ small form between the wolf’s side and arm, figuring that the added warmth might help stave off a second incident (despite that not having been a concern, as Puss hadn’t had more than one each of the previous nights). You could never be too careful after all.

That was his excuse anyway.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Death had decided a bit after the sun rose would be a good time to get up and move Puss back to his side and fix his blanket. Unfortunately it seemed he jumped the gun on that one, as out of the corner of his eye he saw the tabby rolling towards the now-empty side of the bed. He sighed put-uponly and went over to correct the cat’s position before he woke and made a big deal out of things.He was in the process of straightening out the blanket when “What are you doing?” he froze for a second and looked down to see Puss staring up at him with a look of wary perplexment.Uhh, shit. What was a good excuse for leaning over someone like a creep while they were asleep? Oh wait, duh. “I thought I saw a spider.” He lied as he straightened himself.Huh, Puss wondered if the big bad wolf was afraid of spiders or something as Death turned away—as he’d looked out of sorts when he’d glanced down at him after Puss grabbed his attention—having given up on his search it seemed. Puss then stretched and sat up, almost shocked at just how well-rested he felt. Like he’d gotten a really good night of sleep. He wondered if it perhaps had something to do with the bed. But he'd slept on the same sleeping surface the last couple nights as well and hadn’t felt this good the previous mornings. Or perhaps he should only count yesterday morning, considering his hangover the morning before.Whatever the case, he got on his knees and started kneading the mattress with his paws, trying to see if it felt different from before.“You making bread over there?” Death asked, amused smirk obvious in his tone.“Perhaps I’m looking for a certain creepy-crawly a certain wolf is concerned about.” Puss threw back cheekily.“I was only ‘concerned' about it, because I thought it might crawl into your ear and lay eggs, and then I’d have to listen to your screams when all the little spider babies came rushing out.” Death returned.“...” Puss pressed his ears flat against his head with his paws, wishing he could unhear that. Was that actually a real concern? Did this place have more spiders than the mortal plane did? Was he going to have to ch-He was pulled from his spiraling thoughts by a gentle prod to his side, and he turned his head to see the wolf looking at him expectantly. He uncovered his ears. “Yes?” He prompted.“I was trying to ask if you’ve ever thrown a discus before.” Death said. There was no need to go over the rules of the game everyone would be playing that day, but Death figured he'd gone a bit far with the spider thing, and putting Puss’ attention on something else would be a good way to distract the cat from the admittedly horrifying image. ~•*•~ “Wait, you’re seriously telling me you’ve never eaten the crust? That’s like the best part.” Puss increduloused to an amused-looking wolf.“Feel free to take it off my hands if you like it so much.” Death responded, thinking it funny the cat had such strong opinions on the subject.“Well that’s an offer I am too smart to refuse.” Puss said as he happily relieved the other’s plate of the unwanted food, before taking a bite. “Yup, definitely the best part.” He said with his mouth full, then broke off a piece and waved it at Death temptingly. “Are you sure you don’t want to try just one bite~?”Death looked over at the little piece of crust up for offer, and made sure to keep his shit-eating grin internal before making his next move. “Alright, you’ve convinced me.” He gave in before leaning closer and taking it straight from Puss’ paw with his mouth, making sure to lick a wet stripe across the cat’s palm while he was at it.“Eww!!” Puss all but screeched before wiping his paw roughly on Death’s cloak as the reaper tried to hold his laughter in. “What is wrong with you? You were just supposed to grab it from me with your hand!” He complained.Instead of responding to the rhetorical question, Death hummed in consideration as he chewed what was now in his mouth. “Huh, you’re right, it’s actually not half bad.” He admitted upon tasting the crust, ignoring the cat’s ire entirely.Puss wasn’t going to let him off that easy though. “You are not getting the rest back,” The tabby said, moving his plate further away from him. “and as recompense for your transgression I will be taking this as well.” He informed before snatching up the last strawberry from Death’s plate.“With the same paw I just licked?” The reaper asked with a smirk.“As if I haven’t eaten while covered head-to-toe in mud.” Puss shrugged unconcernedly before biting into the sweet red fruit.Okay, but now Death was curious as to how that came to happen. ~•*•~ Puss swore this weird frisbee thing weighed almost half as much as he did.It was agreed that since Puss was a mortal, and therefore at quite a disadvantage, he would be allowed to throw the discus in whatever way he wanted, and they would count where it came to a stop as his score, rather than where it first made contact with the field. They also said he could start them off by going first.Since it was now time, Puss set his discus down several feet behind the limit line, then backed up a ridiculous amount before charging forward, jumping from obstacle to obstacle along the sidelines, picking up speed with each leap, then sliding down a sloped railing to get up to a ridiculous speed, then catwheeling through the air towards where his discus was lying, picking it up when he was upside-down directly above it, then with an impressive maneuver and perfect precision he flipped and transferred all his momentum into the discus, launching it down the field, at a higher angle than was usually recommended, and also sideways instead of flat-wise, which was thought by the onlookers to be an accident, until the reason for its odd axis was made clear as it hit the ground and kept going as it rolled on down the field until finally coming to a stop an impressive distance down the play area.He received a good bit of applause and a few awestruck whistles for his efforts. “Thank you, thank you, you’ve been a wonderful audience.” He gave a showy bow to his adoring fans. Someone then told him everyone gets three attempts each and gets scored for their furthest throw.Oof, Puss was already feeling rather exerted, as the discus was heavy, and with the extra gravity, just that one go took a lot out of him. He didn’t want to sound lame though, so “One shot is good for me, thank you, as that throw was flawless. To make another attempt would be an affront to such perfect execution.” He ran a couple fingers along the brim of his hat in a motion of suaveness.They said that was a good point, and it was suggested Death go next, ‘since he was Puss’ fiancé’.The reaper agreed, preferring to get it done sooner rather than later anyway, and stepped up to the line. He didn’t even bother to turn a circle as he made his throw, angle even higher than Puss’ toss, which was odd, as that was in no way optimal for distance, but then Puss’ eyes went wide as it started its nearly purely vertical descent and he realized where it was headed.

Thump

It landed directly beside the one Puss had thrown.Well color him impressed. He let out a low whistle to show as much.Several people put their hands over their heart, thinking it adorable how Death obviously didn’t want to look bad in front of his fiancé, or show him up, so he aimed for the same distance.Like Puss, the reaper declined any further throws, then seeing as they were both done they walked off to get some refreshments, chatting with one another on the way.“I have to admit,” Puss began. “that throw of yours was nearly as impressive as mine, if less visually stunning; landing such a precise mark is no easy feat.” He praised.“I’ll try not to let such effusive adulation go to my head.” Death responded with a smirk. “And speaking of feats, have you used that fancy little technique of yours before?” He couldn’t help but wonder.“Nah, that was just something I came up with on the spot.” Puss informed with a wave.Okay, that was impressive; pulling off a spur of the moment maneuver as complex as that—especially in one’s first go—was no easy feat itself, after all. “Well, gotta say, it wasn’t half bad for a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of shot.” He admitted.“‘Wasn’t half bad’?” Puss increduloused, clearly affronted. “More like it was one and a half good.” He corrected.“That… doesn’t even make sense.” Death returned while trying to hide his amusement, wondering how Puss even came up with such lines.“You don’t even make sense.” Puss crossed his arms and stuck his nose into the air all snooty-like.Death valiantly withheld a laugh at the cat’s lunacy, unkeen to encourage him and his ridiculous antics. - A decent chunk of the roster had taken their turns—some electing to stay by the launch area to watch more players have a go at it, others milling about or getting refreshments—when Bellona was up.She was currently on her third attempt, and was readying herself with a big windup. “Alright, I’m gonna make this last throw count. Get ready to eat my dirt, Jerkules!” She taunted the other goddess of war present, despite the moniker sounding absolutely nothing like the tactician’s name.Beside her Jack Frost sprouted a sudden mischievous grin. - After having downed a few snacks, the resident ‘happy couple’ had taken a drink each with them to stand beneath a tree in the shade to chill and shoot the breeze, Death eventually heading back to the drink table solo for a refill, as he tended to go through a glass much faster than Puss due to being about fifteen times the cat’s size, and such was the case here.He was just making his selection when he heard a certain annoying goddess loudly jeering, and rolled his eyes; that idiot was way too competitive for anyone’s good. He didn’t know how Puss could even tolerate some of these people, much less like them.He was reaching for the pomegranate juice when he heard a sudden yelp and looked back up to see what appeared to be a discus bouncing off objects by the edge of the field while people shouted and ducked. He was then in the middle of wondering what single digit number of brain cells the lot of them shared amongst themselves when the pinging object flew away from the play area, and his eyes shot wide as a realization hit him.
That’s where Puss was.
Heart rate spiking, Death turned just in time to see the metal object heading right for the hero. Time seemed to be going in slow-motion as he saw it make direct contact with the side of Puss’ head, knocking him harshly to the ground. He dropped his glass and was by the cat’s side the very next second.-Puss had no idea what was going on; he’d heard a commotion, and had been turning toward where the sound was coming from when he suddenly found himself trying to catch his breath from a harsh impact with the ground. He then heard what sounded like muffled talking and pried his eyes open to the sight of Death kneeling beside him, hands hovering near Puss, looking like maybe he was awaiting an answer to a question Puss hadn’t quite heard. He took another breath, then tried to ask the reaper to repeat himself, but all that came out was a strained groan.Next thing he knew he was in the reaper’s arms, held against a warm chest as he felt himself being carried off somewhere.Why did his head feel numb?Death made a beeline for the first aid room inside, moving as fast as he dared with the injured cat in his arms, not wanting to jostle him any more than necessary, but needing to get him there stat. Unfortunately they were a bit of a ways out from the castle, so it was going to take longer than he would’ve preferred, but there was nothing for it.Pain then started to make itself known through the numbness and Puss couldn’t help the whines that escaped him, getting louder as the pain grew.Everyone looked on in silent shock as they heard the plaintive noises Puss was making as Death carried him off at close to a run.Death clenched his teeth at the noises he did not like hearing come from the cat, and picked up the pace just a bit.Soon pain was practically all Puss could feel—it having completely replaced the merciful numbness from before—and he started crying out in earnest, unable to hold back the sounds due to the sheer intensity of it.Death heard Puss’ breathing pick up alongside his sounds of distress, and the tabby was all but wailing by the time they’d made it to the reaper’s intended destination, so he wasted no time as he went straight for the potion he knew should do the trick. He then popped the cork and held the opening to Puss’ mouth, only for the hero to flinch away from it with a startled cry, not wholly present by this point.He then noticed the tears leaking their way down the cat’s face, and though they stabbed straight into his heart, he did his best to ignore them for the time being, instead putting his focus on getting Puss to drink the elixir. He needed Puss to drink it asap, but he didn’t want to hurt him further by forcing him, so he went for a different approach.“Puss, listen; I need you to drink this.” He tried in a gentle yet firm voice, but unfortunately it didn’t seem the injured hero heard him, still making distressed noises and now wiggling about in his hold a bit.He tried again. “Puss trust me, this will help. You just need to calm down and dri-.”He didn’t even get the full sentence out when he was interrupted by a pained whimper. Getting desperate, what came out next was “Puss, please.”That seemed to do it, as Puss gasped and looked over at him, eyes squinted as he was obviously doing his best to focus through the pain and discombobulation.Huh, ‘third time was the charm’, he guessed.Seizing the opportunity, “I need you to drink this.” Death said, gesturing to the small bottle he was holding.Puss followed his gaze, took a second to register what was in front of him, then looked back at Death and gave a small nod, indicating he was now on board. Not a second later Death tilted the bottle and Puss did his part, drinking its contents.Soon as it was emptied Puss’ eyes shot wide before almost immediately clamping shut at the intense sensation of the damage being healed in fast forward, and he reflexively dug his claws into the nearest surface while riding it out. Said nearest surface happened to be both Death’s chest, and one of his forearms; the knife-like claws were digging deep into his flesh, but Death easily allowed it, knowing that it was nothing in comparison to what Puss must’ve been feeling right then.After another few seconds of being taut as a tightrope, Puss suddenly went limp, eyes remaining closed. Death gave it a few beats before “Puss, you okay?” he asked cautiously. When he received nothing in response but some heavy breathing, however, he began to get worried. “Puss talk to me.” He prompted.Puss let out a small groan and opened his eyes a sliver. “Did anybody… get the number on the carriage that hit me?” he managed to grind out.Death let out a huge sigh at the words, shoulders sagging in relief. “Any pain still?” He asked, needing to make sure.Puss had to think for a second; not entirely sure right off the bat. “No, I don’t think so. Just feel, wiped out I guess.” he settled on.“Understandable;” Death began. “the potion uses the drinker’s own energy to help the healing process along. For spirits, that doesn’t tend to have a noticeable effect, but I suppose it makes sense a mortal would be feeling the drain.” He informed.“I think I’d like to… sit down for a bit.” Puss said, taking a slow, tired breath.“Sure thing.” Death turned around and walked them over to a plush settee, gently setting the hero down on the soft surface and taking a seat beside him on it.Death was shocked to note his hands were lightly trembling as he looked at the silver appendages. He casually set them on his thighs, and squoze, hoping that would fix that problem.“I do not think I am up for any other physical activities today.” Puss spoke up after a minute, grabbing Death’s attention.“I’d be surprised if you were.” The reaper huffed with a wry smile, glancing over at the orange cat, then double-taking when something caught his eye.Puss looked to the side when he saw something white in his peripheral, and “Huh?” he questioned upon noticing the handkerchief being offered to him. What did he need that for? His nose didn’t feel runny.“Your eyeliner got smudged.” The reaper said in way of explanation.“Oh,” Puss said before starting to reach up for it, noting his arm was shaking just from the effort of raising it, and when he tried to pull the cloth from the reaper’s hold he was stopped by a large palm covering his paw, lightly trapping it between both of Death’s hands. Puss looked up at him in question.“Allow me,” the wolf proposed.Well, Puss was definitely too tired to argue with that, so he gave a small nod and felt his arm being lowered back down to his side, followed by a finger under his chin tilting his head back and toward the wolf to give him a proper angle for the touch up. Judging by the movements of the cloth against his fur, Puss figured the reaper was likely only making it look worse, but he didn’t really care at the moment, feeling like he might just fall asleep any minute.Death slowly tilted the cat’s head a little further to gain access to Puss’ far eye, before he very gently wiped at the black streak, and was so focused on this task he nearly jumped when Puss suddenly spoke up.“So, uh, what the hell happened back there?” The tabby asked, indicating with his head in the opposite direction from where they’d come, but Death knew what he meant, so didn’t bother pointing out that little error.“You got beaned in the head with a discus because an idiot was being idiotic.” He succincted, absently figuring he should probably consider them lucky that it had been a ricochet and not a direct hit, at least.Just then there was movement at the entrance to the room and Death looked over to see a contrite looking pair consisting of one goddess of war, and one spirit of season stopping at the threshold. “Huh, speak of the devil.” The reaper said, sending a cool glare the warrior’s way. “What do you want?” He asked as he laid his arm across the back of the couch behind Puss, leaning a little closer to the orange feline while he was at it.“Well, uh, for one, to return this,” Jack Frost meeked, pulling a certain gold-plumed cavalier hat out from behind his back as the pair entered the room, it having been knocked from Puss’ head by the discus.“And to explain what happened.” Bellona followed up evenly, then noticed something in Death’s hand catch fire as his eyes narrowed at her dangerously. “Along with an apology, of course.” She quickly amended, not wanting to get any further on the reaper’s bad side than she already no doubt was.The two trouble makers then proceeded to explain that Bellona had gotten a little overzealous with her competitiveness, as was usual, and Jack Frost, in an attempt to mess with her for annoying everyone and disturbing the peace, had iced the ground at her feet just before her final throw, causing her to slip and launch the discus in a random direction, which was how it unfortunately found its way to Puss.“And I’m really really really really really sorry.” Jack said with his hands clasped together after they’d finished recounting the event.“I offer my sincerest of apologies as well.” Bellona intoned with a slight nod.“Well, it’s obvious you meant no harm, and I’m all fixed up now.” Puss responded. “Apologies accepted, Jack, Bologna.” He finished tiredly.Jack’s eyes shot wide open right then, and he glanced worriedly between the goddess and cat a couple times, wondering whether he should take a step forward, or back.Death for his part tensed in preparation, ready to deal some damage to the warrior if she tried to strike out at Puss for the misnomer, as she was known to obliterate anyone who called her that.Finally the individual in question just stared at Puss for several agonizing seconds before her face broke into a smile and she chuckled amusedly. “You are very kind, Puss in Boots. I owe you one for your generous forgiveness.” She said with a polite bow.Jack nearly collapsed beside her as he let out a deep sigh of relief. “Yes, thanks Puss, I owe you one as well, so if you ever need a favor just let me know!” the frost spirit offered, setting the hat on the little table in front of the settee.Then, sensing they were just about to overstay their welcome, judging by the look the reaper was giving them (who they correctly assumed had not forgiven them for their transgression), they made themselves scarce after a quick farewell.“Oh, that reminds me,” Puss spoke up soon after they’d left. “Thanks for what you did, I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been there, and acted so quickly.” He thanked the reaper for saving him.Death couldn’t help the wave of guilt that welled up inside him at the words, as it was technically his fault Puss had even been in a position where he could've gotten hurt in the first place. He opened his mouth with the intent to apologize for dragging the hero along to this event, but “Hey, listen I’m-... I didn't get the chance to thank you yesterday.” He clenched his fist in frustration, having chickened out. “For fixing my mistake and giving me the correct info. You didn’t have to go through all that trouble.” He finished, mad at himself for failing such a simple task as an apology. After all, it was just proven that two idiots were even capable of such.“Oh, that was no problem.” Puss waved away the thanks—having had his fun embarrassing the reaper once again while he'd been at it, after all—but was kinda surprised and impressed that Death was going as far as to thank him. He should really give the guy a ‘Not as Much of a Jerk as You Could Have Been’ award, he thought with an internal snicker.Feeling like a subject change might be nice about now, Death decided to point out something he thought was flummoxing, yet amusing. “Hey, did you notice how people have started to refer to me as your fiancé, instead of the other way around?” He asked with a wry smirk.“What can I say? I tend to become the star of the show wherever I go.” Puss said with a coy shrug, before giving a small, but exhausted sigh, reminding Death of what had gone down to put the cat in such a state of low energy.The reaper wasn’t entirely certain why, perhaps as an attempt to make up for the situation, but he found himself asking “Hey, want to hear an embarrassing story about someone?”“I doubt the answer to that will ever be no.” Puss looked over at him in interest, wanting the tea to be spilled, stat.Death was in the middle of regaling Puss with the story of how Sandman got stuck between dimensions for the better part of a year because he’d sneezed on a plume of his sand in the middle of teleporting from one to another, when he felt the cat tip over onto his lap, having fallen asleep it seemed.Looking down at Puss’ peacefully slumbering profile, resting bonelessly upon his leg, Death's stomach suddenly felt like it was doing flips for some reason, and after a bit he gently scooped the tabby up into his arms once again, intent on taking him to their room and settling him in to get a nice little catnap where he’d not be disturbed.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Death glanced over to where Puss was peacefully snoozing on the bed as he himself sat in the nearby armchair, having read the last page five or so times, and couldn’t help the memory that flashed through his mind of the cat writhing and mewling in pain in his arms.He considered how he was rather grateful for his lack of need for sleep, all but certain those plaintive whines would haunt his dreams were he to bother with the act, and couldn’t help but wonder why the event had bothered him quite so much.Whatever the case, he decided to keep a closer eye on the cat during any potentially dangerous activities here going forward, as that had been an uncomfortably close call, and he did not want to chance a repeat.And he’d also make sure the imbeciles here would practice more caution around his plus one. Or else. - Puss groaned as he woke, lightly stretching under the blanket as he blinked his eyes to clear the blurriness from his vision.“Hey, how are you feeling?” He heard asked softly from off to the side, and looked over to see Death sitting in the armchair, holding a book.“Mm, pretty good; just a bit tired still,” he said with a small yawn. “but that nap certainly helped. How long was I out?” He asked, curious.“A couple hours. Think you’ll be up for dinner with the others, or would you prefer I have something brought to us?” The reaper asked.“No, I think I’d like to join everyone.” Puss replied as he sat up.“There’s no need to get up quite yet;” Death spoke up. “dinner isn’t for a while.” He informed.“That’s okay, I’d like to chat with the others beforehand, let them know how I’m doing now, in case they’re worried.” Puss said as he stretched the sleep from his limbs, letting out a hiss when his neck suddenly twinged.“Something wrong?” Death asked as he set his book aside, getting ready to stand.“Eh, not really, I think I probably just strained my neck tensing too hard during the healing earlier or something.” Puss explained as he rubbed at it, eyes scrunched in discomfort, letting out another hiss when he moved his head a certain way.“Sounds like a knot.” Death mused aloud. “I can work that out for you if you’d like.” He offered.“Huh? Oh sure, thanks.” Puss accepted, really preferring he not have to deal with it during the dinner.“Alright, both sides, or just one?” Death asked as he stood and made his way over to the side of the bed Puss was currently occupying.“Just the left side.” Puss informed.“Okay, go ahead and lie back down, but on your front, with the pillow under your chest so your head is hanging over the top of it.” The reaper instructed.Puss did as told and soon felt a large warm hand on him.Death anchored his hand by loosely wrapping his fingers around Puss’ far upper arm, then began massaging the hero’s left trapezius using just his thumb, unable to help but notice how very tiny the cat was, and how his little neck felt so small and fragile under the silver hand that dwarfed the tabby’s entire head while he was at it.Puss for his part couldn’t help but feel like he was turning into pudding under the wolf’s ministrations as he easily worked out the knot. Who knew the reaper was so good with his hands?…Shit.Puss suddenly felt more alert, mind only now able to realize how intimate a position they were in thanks to the suggestive nature of the double-meaning of the thought. And just to make matters worse, the memory of the wolf tilting Puss’ head up with a finger under his chin to wipe at his face with the handkerchief decided now was a great time to resurface, and he did his best to hold in a blush, having been a bit too out of it when it was happening to have realized how intimate a gesture that had been as well.And of course he just had to let out an embarrassing groan right then when Death’s thumb dug into a sensitive group of nerves.The reaper immediately pulled back. “Oh, was I being too rough?” He asked.Puss’ breath caught at the question. Oh why did the wolf have to use that particular wording? It was not helping matters.Getting slightly concerned after not getting a reply, Death leaned his head down and softly prompted the cat once again. “Puss?”The tabby all but shivered in response to the word being murmured barely above a whisper right next to his ear, feeling the wolf’s breath ghost across his fur. Knowing he needed to reply, but not trusting his voice to come out as anything other than a squeak at that moment, he elected to shake his head in lieu of a verbal reassurance.“Did you want me to keep going?” Death asked in the same manner, not having moved.Puss gripped the sheets with all his might and cleared his throat. “Actually, I think you already fixed me up good! Gracias por sus servicios.” He managed, hoping the reaper wouldn’t notice his odd behavior.“Alright, if you're sure,” Death said as he stood up straight and stepped back.Puss then shook his head in an effort to clear it of any lingering dirty thoughts as the wolf walked off.Death soon turned back after returning his book to its place on the shelf and froze when he was met with the sight of Puss in the middle of a Stretch™, shocked by the display of sheer flexibility (did the cat practice yoga for crying out loud?), and unable to stop his mind from going south. He’d been too busy making sure Puss was okay for his thoughts to go that way during the massage, but obviously that moment had passed, as he couldn’t help but think about how he’d just had his hands on that warm pliant body; how it would’ve been so easy to just get on the bed, climb over the hero’s small form, bracketing it with his own, then lean down and-He shook his head to clear it of the dirty thoughts; he did not need to be having them about his fake fiancé. Especially since after this week was over they’d probably never even see each other again. Well, at least until Puss kicked the bucket for a final time, but he preferred not to think about that.He was then pulled from his thoughts when he noticed movement once again, and turned his focus to where Puss was rolling to the bottom end of the bed, which he found highly amusing, and slightly concerning. What the hell was that crazy cat doing now? He walked closer, wondering if Puss would want help down, but just then witnessed ten fine lines coming into existence as the cat used his claws to slow his descent, tearing through the sheet from the mattress to the floor.Well, that was certainly one way to do it, Death thought amusedly. At least that now frankly shredded area was towards the bottom on Puss’ side, a section that was not utilized anyway, seeing as the cat only slept on the top half of the bed due to his diminutive stature.After his successful dismount (having still felt too wiped out to get down the normal way without potentially eating shit), Puss slipped on his boots and belt before heading into the washroom to check on something, not bothering to shut the door. Upon coming into view of his reflection he cringed. Okay yeah, there was no way in hell he was going out looking like this, face unsalvageable. He was going to have to wash it all off and start anew. That wolf didn’t know the first thing about proper makeup application, and it showed; botching something as simple as smudge mitigation.Death went ahead and collected the cat’s hat and cape from the coat rack, figuring he might as well while he waited for Puss to finish up in the washroom. While he was at that he happened to see Puss standing on the counter in the washroom, in front of the mirror. What, in the hell was he doing? “What, in the hell are you doing?” He asked the clearly insane feline as he approached the entrance to the room, stopping just outside, as he did not want to chance spooking or accidentally bumping the cat.“How do you mean?” Puss casualed, not pausing in his current task.“... The sword you’re holding up to your face.” Death all but growled out through clenched teeth.“Uh, I’m using it as a guide for my eyeliner?” Puss replied as if Death were being obtuse on purpose. “You’d think that would be obvious.” The tabby mumbled under his breath.“And is this ‘guide’ really necessary?” Death asked, not wanting to deal with a second accident on the same day as the previous one.“What, you want me going out there with crooked lines?” Puss asked as he threw a glance the reaper’s way. “I’m too tired for freehanding it to be viable at the moment.” He informed before moving on to the other side.But it seemed he was fine with switching hands, Death noted with an eye twitch. Wait, don’t tell him this cat was ambidextrous. “You’re too tired for drawing without a guide, yet you’re not too tired for holding a sword less than an inch from your eye to not be a bad idea as well?” He tried to reason.“Uh, it’s not like I’m going to poke one of them out; I said I was tired, not inept.” Puss scoffed with an eye roll. “Besides, it’s not like I could come to you for help with the application.” Puss chuckled.“What’s that supposed to mean?” Death wondered aloud with a hand on his hip.“Just that you clearly do not have an eye for makeup; I saw how you botched the cleanup.” Puss gave him a withering look.“I did not botch it.” Death rebuffed. “I removed some of the eyeliner, didn’t I?”“You mostly smeared it around, is what you did.” Puss informed. “I looked like a pinche raccoon.” He finished with a grimace, thankful that at least only two other souls had bore witness to that mess, in all likelihood.
Okay, Death clearly wasn’t going to win that argument, so he went for a different tactic. “Couldn’t you just not bother wearing it for the dinner?” It wasn’t like anyone would even notice the difference, right?Pussed gasped at that. “Okay, I am going to need you to take that back.” He all but ordered as he sent a glare the reaper’s way. “I have an image to uphold. Me going without this art on my face would be like you going without your signature cloak.”Huh, “So if I take this thing off you’ll put the sword down?” Death asked as he grabbed ahold of the hem of his riding cloak and started to pull.Puss’ eyes suddenly shot wide open when he saw the movement, and “No Need!” he protested a little too quickly (and loudly), not wanting Death to remove what essentially functioned as his shirt (i.e. the only thing covering his bare chest). “As I am finished now.” He said while trying not to blush. He then sheathed his rapier and threw a mournful look at his reflection as he thought ‘or at least close enough, anyway’, internally bemoaning the curtailing of his titivation, before hopping down from the counter and heading out of the washroom, taking the articles of clothing Death held out to him after the reaper stepped aside to let him past.Death watched as after not more than a few paces, Puss paused mid-stride and looked back at him; or rather, his cloak. Seeming to be staring at it in consideration for a couple seconds before shifting his attention to Death’s nearest forearm, then scrunching his face in perplexment and looking up at the reaper with a raised brow, opening his mouth like he was about to say something, but then deciding against it with a resigned shake of his head, and continuing on his way, donning his cape and hat while he was at it.Okay, so not only had the wolf changed his arm wrappings again, but also his entire cloak now? They’d gone from burnt umber to hickory, and from pitch to obsidian, respectively. Puss didn’t seem to recall the reaper stocking any extras anywhere, so did he just get rid of them and get new ones anytime he felt his got dirty? He supposed that made enough sense, but even so, him changing in the middle of the day was odd to say the least.But the wolf himself was odd, so he decided it wasn’t exactly worth bringing up. Especially since he seemed to get weird when questioned about it for some reason anyway.Death clenched his fists while following the hero out of the room; don’t tell him there were different shades of goddamn black now (that cat was too darn perceptive for Death’s own good, hstg). He’d incinerated the punctured cloak without hesitation, then just the one of his wrappings that’d met the same fate, as while he double-checked to make sure they looked exactly the same to him, he kept the undamaged one to check with someone else should Puss point out that it was somehow, in fact, not actually the same color. Which seemed to consternatingly be the case. Again. - The only reason Puss didn’t get completely smothered by worried well-wishers wanting to check in to see if he was okay, was because Death took it upon himself to play the part of a guard dog, glaring at anyone who approached if more than one or two people were already talking to the hero, causing them to back off until a spot had been freed up.“Here.” Bellona said when she’d seized the opportunity to talk to Puss, holding out a small box to the cat. She explained that she’d gotten a redo for her final throw and ended up winning, but decided Puss should have the prize, since it had been a throw of her’s that had injured him. “Besides, I’m pretty sure this asshole threw the game anyway.” She said with a squint, indicating to the reaper at Puss’ side. “I think he would’ve won had he actually tried, loath as I am to admit it.” she finished with a huff.Puss looked up at Death questioningly, who merely shrugged non-committedly in response.Huh, just how strong was the reaper anyway? - Death pulled out Puss’ chair for him and gave the cat a hand up, ears perking when he heard what sounded like a squeal, but when he looked in the direction from where the sound had emanated he saw Persephone covering her mouth with her head turned away, obviously pretending like she hadn’t just been watching. He raised a single brow, but moved on, deciding it wasn’t worth any further thought.“I’ll be right back.” He said to Puss, getting a thumbs-up from a cream-colored paw before heading over to Connquest.“Hey, are these the same color?” He got right to the point, pulling out the old arm wrapping that hadn’t been damaged, and holding it next to one of his forearms, which bore a wrapping from the newest pair.“Um, yes?” the horseman answered, wondering if he was being tested on something.Huh, Death didn’t know whether to feel relieved or not at that answer. If the color hadn’t been different this time around, then how the hell had Puss still noticed a difference? He’d been pretty sure the cat had been too out of it between the healing and his nap to have spotted the tiny punctures, after all.“Wait, are you just asking if they’re both dark brown, or like the same exact shade?”Oh great.“Because lemme see,” He leaned in a bit closer with a squint, and after a few seconds of looking between the two, “Okay yeah, this one’s a little lighter.” he said while pointing at one of them. “I think. It’s hard to tell. But they definitely are different shades.” he confirmed with a nod.Death let out a low frustrated growl and incinerated the extra wrapping.Taking his reaction in stride, Conquest suggested that if he needed help with anything color-related, then he could always go to Iris.Death merely scowled at his colleague and started heading back to his seat. - “Hey, did you want to retire to our room early tonight?” Death asked a Puss whose eyelids were starting to droop.“Huh?” Puss asked with a blink, pulled from his stupor. “Oh, yes, that is probably for the best, as I would rather not fall asleep in my soup.” He said as he turned to face the wolf.Death didn’t bother pointing out that the dish in front of him—which he’d just been staring into for the past few minutes—was not actually soup, but pudding; electing instead to get up, then help steady Puss after the cat wobbled upon sliding off his chair. - Puss placed his paws against the side of the bed, bracing himself. He’d already gotten undressed and everything, and now the last step was just to get into the bed. Or rather onto. Which was currently feeling like an insurmountable task, as tired and worn out as he was from the day’s ordeals, despite his lengthy catnap earlier. Ugh, why again did these things have to be so damn tall again? Just then he heard the sound of a throat clearing and turned his head in its direction—almost feeling as if he were seeing afterimages even from the simple movement—to come face to knee with the reaper. Huh, it probably took him longer than it should have to notice the god directly beside him. He slowly tilted his head back to aim a questioning look at the other’s face.“Care for another boost?” Death asked softly.Puss reflexively scrunched his back, remembering the scruffing from the day before. ”Ah, no thanks; I’ll figure something out.” He said before beginning to attempt a visual sweep of the room to see if there was something he could drag over to stand on (not that he felt up to such a strenuous task at the moment, but it was better than just giving up).Judging by his reaction, Death knew where the cat’s hesitation came from, and found that he actually felt kinda bad about how he’d gone about helping him up last time. “I’m not going to pick you up by the scruff this time.” he assured.Puss turned his attention back to the reaper, making sure he didn’t see a mischievous glint in the crimson eyes, but while trying to make his decision Puss felt his legs start to shake from the exertion of just standing, and since he would really prefer not to pass out on the floor, he relented; nodding his assent, as he didn’t feel up to wording if he didn’t absolutely have to. Not a moment later he saw Death bend down and lower his hand near him as if it were a step.Death watched as Puss raised a foot and stepped on his palm, but seemed to have trouble even exerting the effort needed to stand on it, so he just carefully raised his hand up so Puss wouldn’t have to struggle, lightly pressing against the orange-furred back with his other hand so Puss couldn’t fall off backwards, basically acting as an elevator for the cat.Once atop the bed Puss gave an exhausted sigh, breathing out a “Gracias” before tipping onto his side, and falling asleep instantly upon hitting the mattress once again.Death couldn’t help but stare at the hero’s unconscious form as his small chest slowly rose and fell, unable to imagine how most of the day must’ve felt for him, as the reaper didn’t feel pain the way mortals did, and definitely didn’t experience the fear of his life being forfeit. Can’t exactly have been a pleasant day for the cat. Maybe he’d try to find some kind of way to make it up to him.
If that were even possible.
Sighing, he gently scooped Puss up with one arm, pulled back the covers, and tucked him in. Then, since he didn’t have anything else to do, he figured he may as well turn in early himself. He didn’t bother with a book this time though, not feeling as if he’d be able to focus on it that night.Instead he ended up thinking about the recent happenings of his time spent up here. How he didn’t despise it as much as he usually did. In fact, he could admit that it (barring a couple incidents here and there) had actually been rather enjoyable.
Thanks to a certain cat.
He turned his head to look at said cat, his sleep-relaxed visage reminding Death of the night before, and how he actually thought it felt kinda… nice to have Puss cuddling against him throughout it. He wondered if Puss would be doing it again that night (and while he’d never admit it aloud, he was actually… hoping for that outcome), but figured the hero was likely too worn out from the day’s activities to move much in his sleep that night, considering how the first one had gone, when he was recovering from being turnt af.…He considered just plain pulling Puss over to his side, but cast aside the thought immediately, as it just didn't feel right.Interestingly enough, while Death had originally thought the cat would be a nuisance at worst, and someone fun to rile up at best during this shindig, it turned out he was actually a good conversation partner, and enjoyable company, when they weren’t at odds. Which it kind of seemed to him like they no longer were. In fact, strange as it was, he found himself actually looking forward to the next day, and what they’d be getting up to. Maybe he’d ask Puss about that whole eating-while-covered-head-to-toe-in-mud story, all but certain it would prove to be an interesting tale.Eventually the expected happened; Puss started to get fussy. Even mumbling in his sleep this time. “No, no,” the cat whined as he moved his head side-to-side, face scrunched in distress. So the reaper reached out, ready to work his magic, when “You can’t. I- I’m still alive,” Death froze, feeling like someone had just poured ice water down his back.There was no mistaking it; the nightmare was undoubtedly about him.Now, of course he’d been all but certain that was the case since night one, but having it confirmed? It forced him to confront it, and a wave of guilt washed over him; just what level of cruelty was it to make someone sleep next to what was literally the thing of their nightmares?He pulled his arm back, but Puss’ whines just increased until they sounded downright pitiful, and not wanting the cat to wake himself up—or to hear any more of him begging the reaper to stop—Death gave in and placed a calming hand on the orange-furred head. “Shh, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.” He murmured softly for good measure. “You’re safe here, I promise.” He assured, intending to make good on his words. As soon as Puss was sufficiently calmed Death went to retract his arm, but the cat let out a complaintive sound as he snatched the reaper’s hand and pulled it to his chest. Death carefully tried to get the cat to let go without waking him, but Puss only whined in protest and dug his claws in, so Death gave in and decided to just let Puss cuddle his hand like a stuffed animal for the rest of the night.And made a decision then that he would implement the next day.So much for looking forward to it.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Puss let out a big yawn as he sat up and stretched, having just woken. He smacked his lips a couple times and turned his head to see Death’s side of the bed oddly lacking in wolf, but figured he was just in the washroom or something. Memories of the day before then started to seep in, and Puss couldn’t help but think about how Death had been rather… considerate as of late, and oddly enough found that he was actually looking forward to hanging out with the reaper that day. He then did his best to hold in a blush when he remembered the pre-dinner massage, and cleared his throat as he decided on trying to distract himself with something else, like perhaps the game of the day. “Hey Death!” He called out, assuming the reaper would know what it was.When a couple seconds passed without a response though, Puss leaned over only to see the door to the washroom was ajar, and there were no noises emanating from it, so it was highly unlikely the reaper was actually in there. Huh, he slid out of bed—actually prepared for the landing this time—and checked it just in case, then the two closets, only for the wolf to be nowhere to be found. Huh, that was odd, to say the least. He just shrugged and started to get ready for the day himself then, figuring that perhaps Death had merely already gone to breakfast and had been letting Puss sleep in or something, and that he’d see him out there. ~•*•~ Puss was munching away on a danish when someone sidled up to him.“Hey, word is you’re jumping right back into the fray with the games today. Don’t you think that’s rather bold considering what happened just yesterday?” Some blonde guy decked out in golden armor said, sounding impressed.“Yes, well ‘bold’ might as well be my third middle name, as it is one of my defining character traits.” Puss preened in between bites with a coy helpless shrug.“Is that so?” The man said with an appraising look that went unnoticed by the tabby. “You know, I don’t believe I’ve yet had the honor of a proper introduction with you. The name’s Fortune.” He informed with a small polite bow, bent arm across his midsection in a semi-formal gesture. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He said with a grin.“Nice to meet you as well,” Puss said, always up for making new connections. “I am P-““Oh, there’ll be no need for that;” Fortune cut him off. “I know who you are; it would be hard not to notice such a shining personality, after all.” He informed while straightening himself.“Ah, I see my reputation precedes me.” Puss replied with a smirk as he adjusted his hat. “That is fortunate, as I feel introducing myself too many times might come off as vain.”Fortune chuckled in response, grabbing an apple from the food-laden table behind them and taking a bite from it. “So, you and Death, huh?” He asked conversationally.“Yup.” Puss replied, popping the p.“I can’t help but wonder how that matchup came to be.”The personified force mused aloud, knowing the reaper to be one to keep to himself.“It was as much a surprise for me as anyone else, I’ll say that much.” Puss said with a wry smile.“Say, how serious would you say this little engagement of yours is, anyway?” The guy then asked.“As serious as a food allergy.” Puss chuckled lightly at his own comment, remembering how this whole charade had begun.Fortune’s brows creased in confusion, having no idea how serious that actually was, considering it wasn’t exactly something gods and spirits experienced themselves—or even dealt with in general—and he opened his mouth, about to ask for clarification, when-“Hey Puss!” Iris shouted from halfway across the room. “Check this out!”“If you’ll excuse me.” Puss quickly said to the blonde before turning and “Be right there!” he shouted, then started to head towards his friend, thinking nothing of the conversation.But the cat had caught the spirit’s interest. After all, you know what they say about Fortune and the bold. - “Interestingly enough, it is much more the muscle memory than regular memory that you have to work on to master them.” Puss informed an enthralled Mnemosyne.“Would you kindly demonstrate another?” the goddess of memory asked.“But of course!” Puss easily agreed. “The seething sea ceaseth and thus the seething sea sufficeth us.” He rattled off the tongue twister with ease.“I thank you for this knowledge.” Mnemosyne said before heading off, mumbling one of the challenging sentences to herself over and over, intermittently sprinkled with curses when she messed up.“Wow, you’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” The voice of Fortune said from nearby with an amused lilt, Puss turning to face the spirit. “Unmatched skill at the water balloon toss, exquisite technique at the discus throw, and now a talented tongue? Just how many tricks have you got up that proverbial sleeve of yours?” The blonde asked with a smirk and quirked brow.“My talents are many, and varied.” Puss replied as he inspected the claws of one paw, always glad to have his feats get the recognition they deserved.“Now that is something I can appreciate, being similarly gifted myself.” The god informed, before a mischievous look overtook his features. “Hey, seeing as we have so much in common, what say you dump that fiancé of yours and marry me instead?” He suggested with a good-natured smile.Puss chuckled in response to the comment. “I was not aware you were such a kidder.”“Well I have been known to liven up a crowd with a well-timed joke,” Fortune admitted. “but humor me here; say I wasn’t kidding. What then?” He asked with an amused smile.“Then I would say I am flattered,” Puss put a paw to his chest, going along with the hypothetical. “and that it is understandable someone would want to steal me, as I am quite the catch, but-”“Does Death know that?” Fortune interrupted, jocularity slipping from his voice.Puss blinked at the sudden shift in tone, and looked over to the spirit questioningly; what did he mean by that?“Because I can’t help but notice that he doesn’t exactly act like you’re the love of his life.” The armored one pointed out astutely.Puss’ heart rate suddenly picked up, and “Uh, well, he has his own way of showing his affection.” he all but stuttered out, worried Fortune might have caught onto their little ruse, but definitely not wanting to admit to anything and blow it.Fortune then bent down to lean in close, until their faces were mere inches apart, and “But I’d have a better way of showing it~” he lilted with a roguish smirk.Puss took a stunned step back, caught off-guard; wait, was the god actually interested in him? He suddenly felt uncomfortable, not quite knowing what to do with that information, and so “I, uh, have somewhere to be.” He said before turning to make a tactical retreat, only for his momentum to be ceased thanks to a strong grip on his paw. He looked back to see it held within Fortune’s grasp—the god’s hand dwarfing the cream-furred appendage—and couldn’t help but note that the few others occupying the room were not exactly close by, and no one seemed to be paying them any mind, which did nothing to quell his growing anxiety. He then saw Fortune switch his grip so that Puss’ digits were sandwiched between the spirit’s thumb and forefinger, then lean down and place a gentle kiss to the back of his paw.“Until our paths cross again.” He said with a smirk before releasing his hold.Puss snatched his arm back and made quick work of taking his egress from the area, suddenly very intent on finding Death. He turned a couple corners with no luck still, and ‘where the hell was that wolf?’ he wondered as he took a look behind, making sure he wasn’t being followed by a certain gold-armored god, when “Oof!” he bumped into something solid and ended up falling on his rear. He tilted his head back to come upon the sight of one none-too-happy looking Técun Umán.“There you are;” The stony-faced man spoke in his deep timber. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.” He said before reaching towards Puss. ~•*•~ “Hey, I could use your help with something.” Death spoke after approaching Morpheus, asking if he had anything that could stop someone from having nightmares.“Perhaps,” the god of dreams replied with a contemplative face. “But perhaps not.” He finished enigmatically.Death was about to ask what the hell he meant by that, but luckily the bastard continued without the need for prompting.“I’ll need a little more information first.” He informed. “What are these nightmares about?”Death thought for a moment, figuring a way to phrase it without giving away too many details. “A recent traumatic event.” He settled on, thinking that was close enough at least.“Ah, I was afraid that may be the case.” Morpheus said with a hand to his chin and a wrinkle to his brow.“And why’s that?” Death asked, trying not to worry.“Well, the thing is, I am able to influence dreams—good or bad—if they are about something the mind is making up. Like a nightmare consisting of something like, say, spiders with octopus tentacles for legs and a frog tongue, trying to use a can opener to break into your house.” He said, causing Death to raise an eyebrow at how quickly the spirit had come up with such a specific (and odd) example. “However, if the dream is about a real life event that took place, then it is unfortunately out of my hands, as it is less a conjuring of the soporific imagination, and more a memory popping up in one’s sleep.” He explained. “For which I would suggest therapy.”Death cringed internally, figuring the best one for such a role was probably that dog friend of Puss’, considering he’d been the one to calm the hero down when Death had driven him into a full-blown panic in the woods during the quest for the wishing star (which now that he thought about it, he felt kinda bad about doing in the first place, as clearly Puss was a good person, and didn’t deserve being tormented just because he’d inadvertently annoyed Death. Ugh, if only he could go back in time.), and not only that; he had actually managed to get Puss to open up about his fears and problems… and Death had taken him away from the dog. For what was going to amount to an entire week. He grimaced.“That being said,” Death was pulled from his thoughts and looked over to see the god pull a dream catcher from the sleeve of his robe. “with a little enchantment,” he waved a hand across it, causing it to shine for a moment. “this can modify regular nightmares to be pleasant dreams instead, and could possibly even help with a memory-based nightmare, but only if the dream is quite creative in that it changes a considerable percentage of the event’s details, to where it isn’t so much a reliving of the incident, but a nightmare influenced by it.” He explained. “Hang it up in the room of the afflicted.” He instructed—thinking that Death was talking about the discus incident, where Puss could very well have died, and how that would likely affect the both of them—and held the item out to the reaper.Death, figuring it was at least worth a shot—seeing as how Puss was a creative individual—accepted the enchanted item with a “Much appreciated.”, then moved onto his next objective. ~•*•~ “And that is the story of how I acquired my 75th golden camel.” Fortune said, tale finally coming to its conclusion.“Mm-hmm,” Puss hummed in acknowledgement as he nodded in consideration a couple times, before “I did not ask.” he informed, then took a casual sip from his drink, feeling less out of sorts this time around, as the room was filled with people, so he was fairly confident the guy wouldn't pull anything like he did during their previous encounter.“Which is why I saw fit to bring it up myself.” The god responded without missing a beat. “Now you have some idea of my vast wealth, which is objectively a desirable quality in a partner. Now, tell me, what exactly does that reaper have to offer?” He asked with a smug smirk.Luckily the tabby was saved from further conversation when “Hey Puss! Lunch is nearly ready, wanna eat together?” Persephone called out to him.Saved by the belle.“I would love nothing more!” Puss enthused, immediately heading over.-When they were about halfway through the meal Persephone said “Oh right, I meant to ask, where’s Death? I haven’t seen him yet today.”Puss resisted his gut reaction to cover for the wolf by saying something along the lines of “His IBS is acting up something awful today, pobre lobo. But he insisted I not miss out on anything on his account.”, and instead settled for telling her Death was working on a project, and that not even Puss himself knew what it was, because the reaper wanted it to be a surprise.And speaking of the reaper being MIA, Puss asked the goddess of spring if she knew what the game of that day was, and when it was supposed to be held, hoping it would be a little later in the day so the reaper might be around by then, as Puss would prefer if Death were able to join in on the festivity. After being informed that it was set to be held shortly after the meal was over, and that it was chess, he asked who he could talk to if he wanted to suggest switching it up, hoping to at least push it back a few hours, if not change what the game was entirely—hitting two birds with one stone—as just plain chess sounded really boring.Persephone tells him it was Narcissus, and that Puss probably wouldn’t have much luck with that cuz the guy was very proud of his ideas. Puss smiled mischievously, knowing exactly what to do to get his way. - “Someone would be extolled as a creative genius if they were to enact such a cleverly conceived activity.” Puss said after finishing with his explanation of the game he had in mind.“You know what? I’ve decided to change up the game!” Came the anticipated words from one narcissistic Narcissus. “To something much more exciting than boring old chess.” He said with a wave of his hand, as if shooing away the very thought of something so ordinary for an event meant for gods and spirits.“Wow, that is a great idea.” Puss replied, smirking internally.“Indeed it is. Glad I thought of it~” Narcissus said with a flick of his hair.#InceptionSuccessful ~•*•~ “Hey, Syphilis was it?” Puss called out to someone walking nearby. “You’re strong, right? Think you could please move this rock?” He gestured to a giant spherical boulder that seemed totally out of place where it was. “This field is going to be the play area for today’s game and it’s in the way.”Sisyphus didn’t bother to correct Puss’ butchering of his name, giving him a pass since he just saw him as a dumb little cat anyway, and “Indeed I am quite strong, and it would be no problem at all.” he easily accepted the request.“Great! Much appreciated.” Puss said before getting started on setting up the game, having volunteered, to make sure it was done the way he imagined it.The once-king of Corinth looked around to note the only viable area he could move the boulder was up the hill to the side, then shrugged and went for it, but had to go slowly, as the grass was a bit slippery, so did not offer much traction.After meticulously setting up the hoops, Puss turned and called out to a Sisyphus who had nearly reached the top of the hill, and asked if everything looked straight, as he would have a better view from up there.Sisyphus turned his attention down to the play area, looked it over, then—smirking secretly—told Puss to move a hoop a bit to the left, then the right, then a little more left, just a bit more left, then a tiiiny bit right, then “Okay, perfect!” he shouted when it was back in the exact same place as it began, and gave the hero a thumbs-up.“Great, thanks!” Puss called out before heading back to the game supply room to grab the next playing pieces needed.Sisyphus then chuckled to himself before realizing the boulder was rolling away since he’d let go with one hand, then “Oh, blast it all!” chased it down the hill, barely managing to catch it before it reached the bottom and ruined the meticulous setup.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Puss was in the middle of digging through a box when “Wouldn’t you say him putting his symbol on your cape is a little gauche?” he heard before feeling said cape being grabbed, then turning his head to see none other than Fortune inspecting it closely. “I mean like, overcompensating much?”Puss snatched it back, yanking it from the pestersome god’s hands with a quick jerk. “I’ll have you know I happen to like it.” He huffed, and was a little surprised to discover he actually meant that, despite having said it just to contradict the guy.“Speaking of uncouth wolves, I can’t help but notice that Death’s been strikingly absent today.” Fortune pointed out.“That is simply because he is working on a project.” Puss said snootily while crossing his arms, luckily already having an excuse prepared this time around.“And what project, pray tell, could be more important than you~?” The gilded one lilted with a smolder.Okay, Puss didn’t even know how to respond to that lame line (or look). So he didn’t bother. Instead turning back to the box of supplies and grabbing a game piece he estimated was of the proper size for his needs.Which of course wasn’t enough of a deterrent to get the god to leave, who chose then to speak up again. “Say, since that reaper’s away, why don’t you let me fill in the position as your knight in shining armor?”“Excuse me?” Insulted, the heroic tabby whirled around to face the one wearing said ‘shining armor’. “Puss in Boots does not need a knight!” He contested hotly. In fact, he himself acted as one often enough to those in need of his services.“Really?” Fortune questioned with a smug smirk and single raised eyebrow. “Cuz that’s not how it seemed yesterday.”Puss gasped, feeling like he'd been slapped, and could do nothing but stare in shock, hardly believing the other’s words.“Oh, wait, I take that back.” Fortune backtracked with a grimace, realizing he’d gone too far; using yesterday’s traumatic incident against the hero. ”I didn’t mean it.” He added for good measure.Puss’ shocked stare quickly morphed into a harsh glare as he recovered, before he whipped around with a mind to storm off, but was once again stopped by a hand on his wrist.“Come on; it was a slip of the tongue. Now will you please accept my apology?” The god cajoled.Puss took a deep breath before schooling his expression and turning back to face the blundersome blonde. “Hmm, I suppose I could find it within myself, if you do me a favor.” He said with a contemplative look, not bothering to try to pull his paw free yet (or point out the fact that the pendejo hadn’t actually apologized).“Sure, anything that is within my power. Which is indeed vast.” The spirit couldn’t help but brag with a prideful smirk.“Alright then:” Puss said with a faux smile in a sickly sweet voice. “leave me alone forever.” he finished in a deep monotone while dropping the smile.“Ooh,” Fortune sucked air in through his teeth with a hiss. “now that is too tall of an order, I’m afraid.” The god of course replied. “Perhaps you should ask for something easier, like world peace.” He suggested. “But in the meantime, how about this for a peace offering.” He said before moving his free hand over the cat’s limb still held within his grasp.Puss felt something cool and hard be pressed into his palm pad before he was then free of both hands. Finally. He looked down to see shining metal formed into the shape of a rose. Dusty pink flower, with a thin yellow stem that came to a sharp point. So, a hat pin. Wow. He didn’t even have a use for such a thing, as his hat fit perfectly, and it’s not like he had hair to ground the pin with anyway. Not to mention “Any particular reason the flower part isn’t also aureolin?” He asked, wondering what the point of the different hue was if it wasn’t even something striking, like scarlet.Not sure what that even meant, Fortune decided to cover all bases by responding with “That’s because it’s literally ‘rose gold’.” while adding a suave smirk, as if he expected Puss to be impressed or something. “Just a small sample of what you could have were you to choose me; I would treat you the way you deserve to be treated: like a king.” He said in a low voice as he stared deep into emerald orbs.“Yeah, not interested.” Puss rolled his eyes, not even hesitating for a second.“What? I’m sorry, are you saying you’re not interested in being treated like royalty?” Fortune asked, uncomprehending; he’d never come across anything of the sort before.“That is exactly right. In fact, if I could abolish all monarchies, I would; I simply do not agree with them.” Pusss said with a helpless shrug. “And with that, I shall take my leave.” He turned to start on his egress, then held up the multi-hued golden bauble as he walked away “This totally clashes with my color scheme, by the way.” and casually tossed it to the side without looking, where it hit the bullseye of a dartboard that was lying around haphazardly.“Wow, you just get more and more impressive by the minute, don’t you?” Fortune breathed almost reverently once Puss was out of hearing range, only more interested now that the tabby had proven to be a challenge to attain, which was a rather novel experience for the force of nature, with how things usually just plain went his way. Well, since flaunting his wealth obviously wouldn’t work, he decided to come up with a new plan. ~•*•~ “Hey, does this seem like a good size to you?” Sisyphus heard from knee level, and looked down to see Puss holding something out to him.“Here, let me see.” He said before grabbing it and giving it a couple light tosses to test its weight. It was perfect. But just telling him that would be no fun, so “Hmm, hmmmmm, I don’t know…” he said while squinting at it and biting at his lip in a worried-looking manner, chuckling internally all the while, before his eyes shot wide when he felt the boulder shift “Actually no here it's perfect!” He quickly tossed it back to Puss—who gave him a polite thanks before heading off—and tried his best to steady the giant rock, but it was too late, and it started to roll right on back down the hill despite his best efforts.Bemoaning his rotten luck, he raced it to the bottom once again, barely managing to catch it just before it could wreak havoc on the meticulous game setup.Puss was in the middle of wondering what to do next—as he didn’t exactly want to go back to the supply closet to gather more of the same playing piece he’d selected, considering a certain pestersome golden-armored god might still be lurking there—when“Hey Puss!” Persephone called out to him.He looked up to see a few people approaching along with the spring goddess. “Oh hey, what brings you all out here?”Karma spoke up. “Well Persephone here mentioned she was of a mind to help you with today’s game setup and that you’d volunteered, and we decided to come along and see if there was anything we might do to aid in that as well.”“Yes dear, we wouldn’t want you to have to set it all up by your lonesome.” Demeter chimed in.“Plus it’s more fun with friends!” Persephone excited.Well, Puss definitely couldn't argue with that. “Thank you, that is so kind for you all to offer, and I actually could use help.” And it was perfect timing to boot. “I need all the rest of these that are this size.” He said, holding out the game piece he’d grabbed. “And I also want to make them and the hoops glow. Anyone know how to go about that?”“Oh sure! Hephaestus here should be able to help you with figuring out the glowy stuff while the rest of us go grab the other game pieces.” Persephone suggested, immediately heading off to the storage room with Demeter and Karma, revealing the final member of their party, who had been hidden behind them and had yet to speak up.“Why hello there.” Puss said in greeting to the man who was rather hunched in on himself. “So you specialize in ‘glowy stuff’, huh?” He said to break the ice.That actually got a chuckle out of the god, who then stepped closer. “Actually, I’m a weaponsmith, but I figure I should be able to modify whatever you need to your specifications.” He held his hand out and Puss passed him the playing piece, which he then looked over. “What exactly did you have in mind?”-Puss was acting as Hephaestus’ assistant on a pile of the game pieces the others had brought over before going back for more, when a thought came to mind. “Hey, how come I haven’t seen you playing any of the games?”Hephaestus paused in his task for a moment, then got right back to it, answering without looking up. “Eh, I stay out of any of the physical ones thanks to this bum leg of mine.” He gave his heavily twisted ankle a wiggle in indication. “Plus I don’t really like to draw attention to myself.” He finished with a shrug.Huh, Puss hadn’t even noticed the ankle deal until then. “Oh, well that shouldn’t affect your ability to play this game. You should totally give it a try.” He encouraged, then remembered the second thing the weaponsmith said. “And why do you not like to draw attention to yourself?”That gave Hephaestus pause again and he actually looked up at Puss that time; eyeing him critically for a few seconds before deciding that it was a genuine question. “Because I’m ugly.” He informed matter-of-factly.Puss raised a brow at that; like sure the guy looked a bit shaggy, but plenty of people went for that look on purpose—sometimes even putting a good deal of effort into it—so he didn’t see what the god was talking about. But he also knew changing someone's mind about themself on such matters wasn't as easy as throwing out a simple ‘no you’re not’. Luckily he had another method though. “Ah, so you are saying that if you were more attractive you would not mind drawing attention to yourself?” He asked.“What?” Hephaestus asked, perplexed af, then recovered enough to answer the odd question. This cat sure was an interesting one. “I… suppose one could put it that way, yes.”“In that case you are in luck, as attractiveness isn’t based solely on looks, but also how one holds themself; if you are going for the rugged caveman look, own it! If you present it as such, others will see it. Confidence is key, as I like to say.” Puss finished with a raised finger, as if telling a cool fun fact.Hephaestus merely stared at him in response, speechless. Where did Death find this guy? Before he could quite formulate an actual response though-“Here ya go!” Persephone dumped more game pieces onto the pile of unmodified ones.-the others were back with the rest of the supplies.“Would you like an horchata to keep yourself hydrated?” Demeter asked Puss, adding her load to the pile as well.Puss gasped and looked at the goddess in awe. ”My dear Dementor, are you a mind reader?” He had no idea how she could possibly know he was a fan of that specific drink, as that one hadn’t come up when he and Death were exchanging info about their favorite things, since it was his second favorite.“Call it a lucky guess; it is a little warm this day, after all.” She replied, summoning a tall cup of the stuff; it would make sense he’d be wanting a drink about now after working outside this long. And luckily she knew he liked horchata from the dinner on day one of this year’s retreat.Puss did not understand how she thought that specific drink related to the weather that day, but shrugged it off; not about to look this gift horse in the mouth. “I owe you my life.” He opted for instead, bringing about a round of giggles and chuckles, all four of his helpers unable to help but find his antics endearing.“I suppose she shall have to add it to your tab then.” Karma ribbed with a good-humored smirk, remembering him giving the exact same response last time.“What was that?” Puss said, lowering the cup from where he was all but chugging the liquid ambrosia. He had a milk an horchata mustache.“Nothing, dear.” Demeter reassured, restraining another giggle as she pulled out a handkerchief and bent down to wipe the drink from cream fur.Puss froze for a second before he realized what was happening and a warm feeling welled up in his stomach, reminded of his mama Imelda.“Hey, how about after we’re done with the setup here we join the garden dance? It should be starting up around then.” Persephone suggested to him.“Well that definitely sounds like an activity worthy of an appearance from me.” Puss replied with a light smirk. “I look forward to capitalizing on your wonderful suggestion.”“Great!” Persephone smiled before gathering up the readied supplies with her mom and Karma to go put them where needed, leaving Puss and Hephaestus to finish modding the rest.“Oh right,” Puss said, remembering what he and the weaponsmith had been talking about earlier “have you changed your mind about skipping the game this evening?” he asked while preparing the next item.Hephaestus paused and looked up to study the preoccupied tabby for a long moment, before eventually nodding to himself, deciding that if Puss could be brave enough to jump right back into these frankly dangerous games after incurring a grievous injury—while being a mortal no less—that he could muster some bravery himself. “... Yes. Yes I have.” He replied, finding a small smile winding its way onto his face as he got back to work.Puss glanced up and couldn't help but smirk to himself in self-pride; man he was good at this. “Glad to hear it.”A sudden shout from off to the side then pulled their attention over to where Sisyphus was chasing the boulder he’d been tasked with relocating, and catching it about halfway down the hill.… Puss raised a brow in confusion, shocked the guy was still at it. “He has been working on that for, uh, a while. Do you think he needs help?” He asked the weaponmeister.Hephaestus merely tried to conceal a smirk while saying he was sure Sisyphus had a handle on it.Puss was fairly certain he faintly heard the rock roller grumble “I thought I was supposed to be getting a break from this shit!” to himself, which only confused him further.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Jaunty tunes wafted through the air as spirits, gods and Puss laughed and danced about however they pleased under the slowly dimming sky. A very casual affair. Puss jumped over to where Iris was, and did the macarena while having a jovial conversation about what color flowers they would choose for a bouquet to give to someone they wanted to passively aggressively say they hated. Puss went with pumpkin and magenta. Iris mock gasped, saying that she didn’t know Puss to be one for such cruelty, causing them to both break out in a fit of laughter.Puss wiped a tear of mirth from his eye, turning to ask if Death had a color combo in mind (if just to see the wolf have to conceal how very badly he did not wish to take part in such a conversation), only to come up short when instead of a furry silver wall, he was met with empty air and a feeling of disappointment. Oh, right, MIA. Huh, seemed he’d gotten so used to the wolf just being there, that him suddenly not hanging around him all but constantly was rather jarring.”Is something wrong?” Iris spoke up just then, pulling him from his thoughts.“Huh?” He turned back to face the goddess, who wore a look of concern. He couldn’t help but notice that she’d stopped dancing, then belatedly realized that he himself had stopped as well. He gave himself a quick mental shake to recover. “Oh, no, I was just wondering how Death’s project is coming along, as it’s getting closer than not to time for today’s game. In fact, I better go check in on him to make sure he hasn’t gotten stuck or anything.” He finished with faux helpless exasperation.Iris gave a chuckle before replying. “Well, in that case I won’t keep you any longer. Good luck with that.” She said with a smirk.“Much appreciated.” Puss said with a reciprocal smirk. “Just like this dance.” He gave a quick bow before heading off, waving goodbye to the other event-attenders on his way out.Only once he was out of both ear and eyeshot did he allow his frustration to show. “When is that pinche lobo going to show his face?” He growled out, tail whipping back and forth a couple times, fed up with Death’s lack of communication (even a simple heads-up would’ve sufficed). In fact, if Death didn’t show up soon Puss was going to stop even trying to cover for him in retaliation for such an affront. After all, it was going to get hard to convince people that nothing was up if Death couldn’t even be bothered to attend a dance with his supposed fiancé.Actually, now that he thought about it, wasn’t it kind of odd that nobody he talked to had seen Death since yesterday? He couldn’t help the bit of worry that accompanied the thought, wondering if perhaps the wolf might be in trouble of some sort, then another thought stopped him up short; was it even possible for him to be in danger? Like, he was the Grim Reaper. He was probably the biggest threat of anyone here, right? Before he had time to put any real thought to the idea though, something caught his eye and had him stopping in his tracks.A colonnade.“Hmm, maybe just a quick peek, then back to looking for my missing pendejo.” Puss muttered to himself, making his way over to the standalone structure.“Wow, the years were not kind to this colonnade, it would seem.” He said upon coming close enough to see its dilapidated state; weather worn and broken in places as it was. He brushed off some dirt to get a better look at what was underneath. This unfortunately had a cascading effect, however, and debris began to pour out from connected cracks traveling up the shaft of the column and spreading to the entablature above. “Uhh,” Puss said as he tracked the progress with his eyes, getting the distinct feeling that was not a good thing. He backed up as the structure continued to deteriorate to the point where it was clearly becoming unstable and found himself shouting “Someone help, it’s going to fall!”Just as the bottom section of the main column broke apart and fell away, a figure ran over and jumped in at the last second to take its place before it all came down, supporting the remaining portion of the main column on their shoulders, effectively stabilizing the colonnade.“Jeepers mister, you’re really strong.” Puss said in awe; that thing had to weigh a ton. Or a few.“Well thanks, but I'm actually used to much worse.” the man said with only the tiniest bit of strain to his voice, making Puss keen to believe his words.“In that case, can you hold that while I go grab someone who can fix it?” The tabby asked, not wanting such an old and interesting piece of architecture to be lost.“Sure thing.” The man easily agreed.“Okay, I’ll be back as soon as I can!” Puss called out as he took off, soon coming upon a building. Just as he took a sharp turn to enter it he suddenly tripped and nearly faceplanted before he was caught at the last second by none other than Fortune, leaning over him as he held him in a low sweep, hand under him as he supported the tabby from the small of his back.“Woah there. Guess it was fortunate I was here to catch you, huh?” The god smirked cheekily.Cringing at the basic af wordplay, Puss tried to check what he could’ve possibly tripped on, but before he could quite turn his head far enough to see, he was suddenly pulled to his feet. “Anyway, now that you’re here, I have something I want to show you.” Fortune continued.“Well that is unfortunate for you,” Puss began, starting to turn around to rid himself of the other’s presence. “as I do not want to see i-“ his sentence was cut off when he was pulled in another direction.“Oh come on, don’t be like that; I have a feeling you’re going to like it.” Fortune said as he led Puss along the outside wall of the building he’d barely made it more than a step into.“And I have the distinct feeling I won’t.” Puss protested through gritted teeth as he was pulled by the wrist, digging deep grooves into the dirt with his boots as he tried to stand his ground, very unsuccessfully; Puss may have the strength of a legend, but this mofo had the strength of a god (which was totally unfair in Puss’ opinion. Especially since Puss had to earn his and he very much doubted the same applied to Fortune) and didn’t even seem to notice the extent of his resistance.At least the pendejo wasn’t crushing his wrist, Puss thought, likening the grip to a padded manacle that he couldn’t unlock with his claws. Despite his attempts. ಠ_ಠ Damn those leather gloves he could’ve sworn the god hadn’t been wearing earlier.They soon came upon a door Fortune threw open with a flourish, revealing to Puss a room with rose petals all over the floor.Wow.“Tabbies first, I insist.” Fortune said before sliding Puss inside and shutting the door behind them.Now inside, Puss noticed there were also several long tables arranged around the room strangely, and an enchanted harp playing a soft tune in the corner with no one there to pull its strings. He gave a heavy sigh and barely even bothered asking “What is this?” About the situation in general.“Not my best work, I’ll admit, but it was done in a rush.” Fortune shrugged. “See, when I saw you dancing and that wolf wasn’t with you, I knew what I had to do; pull up his slack and show you what you’re missing out on.”“A headache?” Puss deadpanned.“You know, makes me think,” Fortune continued as if Puss hadn’t said anything. “Death being absent just when you catch my interest, the universe must have divined this.”Puss’ brow twitched at that. “I told you he is working on a project.” He growled out through gritted teeth.“And I told you that whatever it is, you are more important.” He insisted, before smirking. “Allow me to prove it.” He said before raising a hand, and with a snap the music suddenly changed to a more intense tune, making Puss’ ears perk. “So here’s the thing,” in one swift movement he knelt in front of Puss, with one hand on the small of the tabby’s back and the other holding one of the orange-furred arms out to the side by the wrist, before Puss could even react. “I could be a better boyfriend than him” he sung in a low voice, looking deep into emerald eyes.Puss let out a gasp as he was then lifted into the air and spun around before being set upon one of the tables, still held in the god’s grasp, who continued the refrain. “I could do the shit that he never does” then with a quick movement spun Puss like a top across the table, who let out another gasp as he fell off the end, only for Fortune to catch him in a low sweep and use the momentum to swing him around up onto another table “Up all night, I won't quit, thinking I'm gonna steal you from him, I could be such a gentleman”Puss tried to pull away, but was forced into a tango-esque dance across the table “I don't need to tell you twice, all the ways he can't suffice, if I could give you some advice I would leave with me tonight~” Fortune finished the verse with a smirk while dipping a scowling Puss over the edge of the table.So done, Puss shoved at the table with his booted feet, trying to kick himself off it and out of the incorrigible god’s grasp, but unfortunately Fortune just used the momentum to spin them both around as he began the next refrain, unbothered. “I never would have left you alone, there on your own, never would have left you alone, for someone else to take you home” he wound Puss’ arm around and spun him out just after setting him on the final table, positioned in the corner of the room “I could be a better boyfriend than him” He finished the verse and the music suddenly stopped as Puss’ back made contact with a wall, then Fortune boxed him into the corner, palms flat against the wall on either side of Puss’ head, then smirked. “Plus all my capes would fit~” He finished in a sultry murmur.While the position made him uncomfy—stuck in a corner by an unwanted pursuer as he was—Puss did his best to hide it under a thick layer of annoyance. “Are you finished?” He unimpressed, arms crossed.“That depends; you ready to lose that woesome wolf and upgrade to me?” Fortune asked.Puss narrowed his eyes, getting tired of this charade. “I have given you my answer.” He bit out through gritted teeth.“Yes, but it seems to be an ill-informed one;” Fortune brushed off the words. “I have it on good authority that Death doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body, whereas I give Eros a run for his money.” he said with a prideful smirk. “Besides, Death has had, what was it? A year to realize what a catch you are? And yet he is still willing to let you out of his sight? In fact, AWOL during a dance session? It’s almost as if he doesn’t mind you being stolen away from him.” He posited.Puss felt his breath stutter at the words. Could Fortune actually see through their ruse? “That is ridiculous!” He scoffed back, playing it safe.“Almost as ridiculous as you refusing to give me a chance?” The armored god lilted.Puss was too thrown to even try to formulate a response to that.“Here, let me do us both a favor and tell you just what would be in store for you if you were to come to your senses and let me do the courting.” Fortune continued. “Now, I know you may not like the idea of sitting atop throne, but you take me as someone who can appreciate the finer things nonetheless, such as caviar in bed - served by yours truly with a golden spoon; trips to anywhere you can think - Paris, Italy, Uganda; lavish balls, only the finest garb to attend them in, intimate dances, the most romantic nights out,”Puss couldn’t hold back the grimace that settled onto his face at the mere thought of any of that with the bothersome blonde, and was in fact doing his best to tune the guy out when-“followed by massages that would reduce you to a puddle,” the god gloated.Puss all but gasped as he was suddenly reminded of that recent incident with Death where exactly that had happened, and he couldn’t help as his mind then imagined those activities Fortune had just mentioned, but done with the reaper instead, and felt a weird fluttering in his stomach as he found himself suddenly liking the imagined scenarios.Wait, he didn’t have… feelings for the wolf, did he?? (Real ones, that was.) But no way, that was ridiculous… right? Before he had a chance to really think on it a chuckle pulled him from his thoughts, and he looked up at a smug Fortune. “I seem to have lost you. Busy imagining the splendor of it all?”It took Puss a moment, but he mentally shook himself and scoffed. “Busy imagining being anywhere but here;” he corrected, thinking on his feet, “all this talk bores me.” He finished, casually inspecting the claws of one paw in disinterest as he tried to calm his internal maelstrom.Fortune paused, eyeing Puss assessingly a moment before shrugging. “You know what, you’re right, actions speak louder than words, after all. Allow me to demonstrate~” He purred, leaning in until his forearms were pressed along the wall, bracketing Puss, then grabbing the cream-colored chin and tilting the tabby’s head up.Puss’ arms were faster than his mind in that moment, throwing themselves up to press against a gold-plated chest as the god slowly closed the distance, the tabby’s pulse and breath picking up when his limbs felt useless in the face of the god’s casual ungodly strength and it was made abundantly clear that he was trapped. He had trouble wrapping his head around the reality that this was actually happening. Before he had a chance to freak out too much though, he pulled himself out of it as an idea formed.Fortune gave an approving hum as he slowly leaned closer and it seemed the tabby was hardly resisting. But then he saw Puss’ eyes suddenly dart to the side, looking over the god’s shoulder, before the tabby let out a gasp as he seemed to recognize a threat of some sort, judging by the way the cat’s eyes shot wide and his ears pinned back to his head in fright as he shrunk away from whatever it was he was looking at.Fortune instantly released him and whirled around to face this new threat, drawing his sword while calling out authoritatively “Stay behind me, I’ll protect you from…” he trailed off when he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in the rest of the room. He shrugged and resheathed his sword, turning back toward Puss. “Well, whatever it was, it appears to be-” his eyebrows shot up when he saw a plain wall where Puss had just been. “... gone.” He then noticed a trail of petals settling down from being disturbed, leading out the room's back exit, and couldn’t help but be impressed. “Tricking a force of nature, huh?” A slow smile crawled onto his face. ”‘Bold’ indeed~” ~•*•~ “The nerve of that pendejo” Puss seethed as he stormed through the hall leading away from the room he’d been serenaded in against his will. “‘I’Ll pRoTeCt yOu’” he quoted in an unflattering impression before turning his head to make sure the god wasn't following him. “Voy a tomar esa estúpida espada y metérsela por el cu-OOF!” The breath was knocked from his lungs and he fell on his rear after colliding with something solid that had not been there a moment before, and wondered if perhaps the blonde had indeed come after him, displeased with him for that stunt he pulled.His heart rate spiked at the thought, unsure if he’d be able to handle a pissed off version of the spirit, and—holding his breath—he slowly shifted his gaze to look at the figure before him… then let out a big sigh as he deflated in relief when he was met with not shining gold, but black and silver.“You know, it’s generally considered a good idea to look in the same direction you’re stomping.” Death offered lightly.Annd that relief suddenly turned to anger. “Did you know there’s this thing called a ‘heads-up’, that would’ve been really nice to get if you were suddenly going to be gone more than half the day?” Puss all but yelled, now glaring up at the wolf.Death gave a small smirk, amused by the tabby’s outburst, before reaching down to help him to his feet. “I didn’t want to interrupt your beauty sleep.” He lied in way of explanation.Puss’ heart stuttered at both the words, and the feel of the wolf’s hand around his paw and forearm as he allowed himself to be uprighted by the canine, noting how very different it felt from the golden god’s grip, which had all but made his skin crawl, whereas this… seemed to both calm and excite him, somehow. Before he had a chance to give it much thought though, he realized he was staring, and swiftly pulled his limb from the gentle hold, crossing his arms as he about-faced to hide his sudden blush. “Well you could’ve at least left a note! What were you even doing?” He huffed.“Working on a project.” Death shrugged, not wanting to delve into the details.“What kind of project?” Puss asked, turning back to face the reaper again.“It’s a surprise.” Death said with a wave indicating he didn’t plan on providing any further context.Wow, Puss was actually impressed with himself for calling that one. “Well it better be an impressive surprise.” he grumbled, thinking about what he’d had to deal with thanks to the reaper’s absence.Puss’ words gave Death pause, noting the genuinely displeased tone. “Why, did something happen while I was away?” he couldn’t help but wonder, considering Puss had been acting… off since he’d shown up just a minute ago. Come to think of it, Death had smelled a strong waft of fear coming from the cat, who had then calmed upon noticing him, seemingly relieved at his presence. Which, didn’t really make sense.Puss stiffened at the question, “Uh, well…” He glanced back in the direction he’d come from, hesitating a moment before “YEAH; what happened is that things look suspicious if my supposed fiancé is absent for hours on end!” He snapped, deciding it wasn’t worth bringing up… all that.Oh, was that all? “I’m sure you had it under control.” Death brushed off both the words, and his concern, figuring the cat’s odd behaviour could be chalked up to the tabby’s general quirkiness.“That may be true, but it doesn’t matter how amazing I am at what I do if you aren’t pulling your weight,” Puss huffed with his nose in the air, internally glad that he wasn’t being questioned further. “so you need to stick around going forward if you want this ruse to last the rest of the trip.” Plus that would likely be a good deterrent for the pestersome blonde that seemed to be getting bolder by the minute, as he only seemed to pull shit when the reaper wasn’t near.Death studied the cat for a long moment, just a little thrown at him requesting the reaper’s presence, rather than being vocally happy to be without it. “Very well then.” He agreed with a nod. "And now that that’s settled, why don’t we head off for today's game?” He suggested, hoping the delay thanks to the game being changed was at least worth the wait.