ALL NOVEL 93. Not Newly Ascended (Tess)
It was mid-morning when I finally drifted awake, after my tiny Goddess girlfriend kept me up half the night celebrating our almost-anniversary. The tiny temptress in question was still sound asleep, curled up in front of me. She was still in her 'very smol' form, which left me torn between letting her sleep or waking her up so we could have some more fun together.
Then I noticed the smell of fresh-brewed coffee coming from elsewhere in the apartment, along with some quiet voices. I wasn't awake enough to be curious about the voices, but the coffee was calling out to me. So I decided to let the little Goddess sleep while I slipped out of bed.
Despite being half-asleep I still remembered to pull on a nightgown before emerging from our bedroom. I shuffled directly into the kitchen, where I found the coffee maker all ready and a couple mugs set out on the counter.
I barely needed to look what I was doing as I fixed myself a full mug of the good stuff. I had a deep sip of the hot life-giving liquid, then turned and headed for the sofa in the living-room. I stepped around the small cat that was lapping up some cream from a saucer on the floor next to the dinner table and settled down at one end of the sofa, cradling my big mug as I got myself comfortable.
After another deep sip of coffee I finally focused on the figure sitting in the love seat across from me. Then with an eyebrow raised I said, "Good morning Raven. Thanks for making the coffee. I'm surprised to see you here so early though. I assume there's some emergency and you're waiting for Amy to get up?"
The goth angel replied, "Not exactly. I sensed the arrival of another God and came to investigate, but apart from that I was actually waiting to speak with you."
I frowned and had another sip of coffee before looking over my shoulder at the little torty who was licking the saucer as if trying to coax a few more molecules of cream out of it. Then I turned back towards and Raven and asked "You gave them cream?"
"It was a bribe, to keep them quiet. So they wouldn't disturb the two of you," Raven responded calmly, as if it was a perfectly normal thing for her to do.
"You know that's a goddess right?" I asked. "Not a cat."
The angel nodded, "Even if I couldn't sense their divinity it wouldn't have been that hard to figure out. They weren't very subtle about it."
"I was too!" Siggy protested as they finally abandoned the empty saucer and jumped up onto the sofa next to me. "I meowed."
Raven kept a perfectly straight face as she stated, "You said the word 'meow' in a distinctly human voice. That is not the same as meowing."
I looked back and forth between the cat and the angel, then sighed and focused on my coffee instead. After another deep sip I muttered quietly, "It's way too early in the morning for this sort of thing."
"My apologies Theresa," the goth said. Then she glanced at the small cat who was now getting comfortable on my lap and asked, "How long have you had a cat? I didn't think pets were permitted in this building."
"They're not," I rolled my eyes. "And we don't have a cat. They're not ours."
Siggy finished curling themself up on my lap, then nudged my hand with their forehead in a blatant demand for pets as they stated "That is true, I'm not theirs. Amethyst and Theresa are mine."
I knew I should probably try and argue that, but considering I'd already given in and started stroking their fur I had a feeling any complaints would be ineffective. Instead I just sighed and had another sip of coffee, while the tortoiseshell kitty on my lap began to purr.
Both the cat and the angel were quiet for the next few minutes, while I continued to enjoy my coffee. When I drank the last of it I said, "Ok cat you'll have to move now. I need more coffee."
"I'll get it for you," Raven offered as she got to her feet.
I stared at her, almost too surprised to respond. She took the empty mug from my hand and went over to the kitchen where she rinsed it out, dried it off, then fixed me a fresh mug just the way I liked it. A few moments later she handed it back to me, before settling into the love-seat again.
"Thanks Raven," I finally spoke. "You didn't need to do all that, but I appreciate it."
"Me too," Siggy added happily. They were still purring, while my left hand continued to stroke their fur and gently rub their fuzzy little ears.
The angel just nodded once, but didn't say anything else.
After another sip of coffee I finally asked, "So you said you were here to see me, right? What for?"
"I was contacted recently by one of my colleagues," she replied. "They asked if I happened to know anyone in the supernatural communities who had experience with therapy. They're looking for a therapist who's familiar with the supernatural and was comfortable taking on supernatural clients. Or clients who's issues might stem from supernatural encounters. And needless to say, you were the first person I thought of."
She continued, "However I felt it best to check with you first, before I started recommending you to people. Would you be comfortable seeing nonhuman clients? Or helping people with problems that may originate from esoteric or supernatural experiences?"
For the next few seconds I sat there quietly staring at Raven while my brain started to race. The angel's question did more to wake me up than the coffee, as I found myself thinking about what that might be like, acting as therapist to various supernatural clients.
The first thing to cross my mind was the practical concerns, such as keeping my boss and coworkers from discovering or being exposed to any sort of supernatural situations. And that led to the next concern, which was safety. Even though Amy gifted me some magic I was still only human, so if I was seeing supernatural clients odds were I'd be taking on patients who were a lot more powerful and dangerous than the average human. I'd need to ensure that didn't put me or any of my colleagues at risk.
Another thing was my experience, or rather lack of it. I'd only just graduated after all, and didn't have much practical experience working with human clients much less nonhuman ones.
That in turn went back to the concerns about other people at work. Bev was my supervisor and she'd be reviewing my case notes. We also had weekly staff meetings, where both Emma and I could talk with Bev and each other about any difficult or problematic situations we were working on. That's also where Bev would be asking us any questions she came up with after reviewing our notes.
I'd have to self-censor any supernatural information from my notes, which in turn would make it harder for me to keep track of those details from session to session. Or if I kept accurate notes, I'd probably end up exposing the supernatural to my boss and coworkers. And I really didn't want to have to do that.
A furry nudge against my hand made me realize I'd got so lost in thought I stopped petting the cat, so I gave them more headpats and earscritches. I took another deep sip of my coffee then came to a short-term decision.
"I'm not ready to become known as 'therapist to any and all supernaturals' just yet," I finally responded to Raven. "But if you have a friend who's in need of help I'm happy to work with them. Maybe after I've got some more experience under my belt, both in general and with one supernatural client, then I might be willing to expand and start seeing more."
The angel nodded, "Thank you Theresa. I will pass that on to my colleague. I'm not sure when or if they'll pay you a visit, but I'll make sure they understand not to spread your contact information around regardless."
With that matter apparently settled I looked down at the torty on my lap and asked, "And what brings you back here so early in the morning?"
"Amethyst promised to help me figure out how to find new worshipers," they replied, as they slowly turned over and exposed their furry little tummy.
I sighed as I started rubbing and stroking their belly. Then after another gulp of coffee I shook my head, "That's not how I remember it Siggy. I distinctly remember you asking, and Amy said maybe. And either way, it's early. It's only mid-morning here, it's probably just barely dawn out west."
The small furry goddess sounded like they were pouting as they admitted, "I got lonely. And I knew Amethyst was going to spend time with me today anyways, so why not come and wait here?"
I frowned as I had another sip of coffee, then I looked over at Raven. The expression on the angel's face made it clear she didn't want to get involved, but I also couldn't shake the suspicion that she was at least a little bit amused by the situation.
"Siggy," I said as my attention returned to the small purring bundle on my lap, "You remember when we first met last week, Amy told me about your other friends? Why haven't you tried to be a cat for any of them? I understand the problems you talked about, being a cat for humans. But you had four friends all along you could have stayed with, why did you pick us instead?"
They sighed, "If they found out I was more comfortable as a cat they'd never let me live it down. One time we met at Moira's place and Fergus yelled at me? I accidentally turned into a cat and hid behind the sofa. It took seventeen years for them to stop teasing me about it."
"I'm sorry," I frowned. "If they don't respect you then why do you hang out with them?"
The small cat sounded like they were pouting again as they replied, "Because for the last couple hundred years they were the only friends I had. I've known Ida the longest, and met the others through her."
That left me feeling almost sorry for the small enby goddess. Or enby god. Godby? I made a note to ask about that some other time, but I didn't want to distract them or change the subject just yet.
Instead I asked, "How did you know me and Amy wouldn't tease you as well? I know you didn't intentionally reveal yourself to us, but you had to know it was going to happen sooner or later."
"You're human," Siggy replied. "And Amethyst acts more like a human than a god, especially when she thinks there aren't any other gods around. Plus I can usually tell which humans are safe? I knew you would be, and I figured if you were with Amethyst and she acted human too, that probably meant she was safe as well."
I noticed Raven frowned when the cat mentioned Amy acting more human than god-like, but she didn't say anything.
The cat obviously noticed that as well, they commented "Don't worry angel. I won't tell anyone your goddess is newly ascended."
Raven's frown got deeper as she responded, "My Goddess is not newly ascended."
"I know that," Siggy said as she twisted around and looked at the goth sitting across from us. "No new god would have an angel as independent as you are. Most new gods wouldn't have an angel at all. But she definitely acts new. I'll bet it's got something to do with how she 'reinvented' herself?"
The angel looked even more uncomfortable but this time she stayed quiet, rather than try and argue with the small cat on my lap.
"Siggy? What are gods supposed to act like?" I asked as I continued rubbing their tummy.
They replied, "Honestly I think Amethyst is doing it right? Other gods should try and act more like her."
"Unfortunately a lot of them can be kind of stuck-up," they added. "Or aloof, that's another good word. Stuck-up, aloof, secretive, and entitled. I guess that's how I'd describe a lot of gods."
I frowned, "Even your friends? Like Ida and Lenz and the others?"
The small cat admitted, "They can be. Maybe not as bad as others I've seen. Some gods are really insufferable."
I wanted to ask something else but was distracted by a noise from the direction of the bedroom.
All three of us turned to look. A moment later my girlfriend emerged from our room. She was obviously still half-asleep, and I had to admit she looked adorable with her long silver hair all mussed up and her pretty purple eyes half closed.
It was equally obvious that she didn't realize we had guests over, because she was still completely nude as she shuffled towards the kitchen in search of coffee. For that matter she hadn't even restored herself to her normal size after our fun the night before. Rather than her usual five-foot-two she'd shrank herself down to less than four and a half feet tall.
I felt my cheeks starting to warm up as I waited for someone to say something. Or for Amy to realize that both her angel and the small furry tortoiseshell goddess were getting a good look at this fun-size version of my girlfriend.
So the three of us watched in silence as my tiny adorable girlfriend fixed herself some coffee using the other mug Raven left out on the counter. When it was ready she stood there and enjoyed a deep sip, then let out a long happy sigh. At long last her eyes fully opened as she turned around to come and join me on the sofa.
And that's when she realized Raven and Siggy were both staring at her tiny naked body.
Amethyst's eyes slowly widened, and the powerful immortal goddess squeaked, "Eep!"
Then teleported herself back into the bedroom.
