Straight-Up Not Having A Good Time At Night Raven College: Chapter 1

Chapter 26: Feelings Reconciled

"KAT!"
A paw with cold, slightly clammy toebeans touched her cheek.

Kat yelped, eyes snapping open with a shiver.
"ACK! Fuck-- wh-what the... AH-!"

She'd tried to sit up, but her head throbbed with pain.
She hissed, pressing her hand to the top of her head and lying back with a grimace.
"Ow....."

"H-Holy shit-- you're AWAKE!" She heard Ace say, letting out a long, shaking breath. "Fuck... You--"
He gave a weak, nervous laugh.
"You almost gave us a HEART ATTACK, you know that?!"

Kat grunted in response, rubbing her closed eyes with the back of her hand.
"Sorry....."

....Her face was wet.
Had she been crying?

The pain was fading away, and she sat up cautiously.
Her head still hurt a little bit...
But it seemed to be radiating from a spot a little above her left ear, not from the inside anymore.
That was probably just where she bonked her head when she fell...

She opened one eye, then the other-- okay, the light hurt her eyes a little bit, but nothing too bad.
Everything was pretty blurry, though...

She patted her face.
".....Where are my glasses?"

"Here," Deuce said from right next to her, pressing them into her hand.

"Thanks," she said, unfolding the arms and pushing them back onto her face.
"...What happened?"

"You passed out," Deuce said.
Even though she wasn't looking at him, she could feel that he had his hands raised, ready to grab her shoulders if she showed any signs of falling.
"After you used the housewarden's staff to break that thing's head, you got a faceful of that black stuff and just keeled right over..."

"...Oh," Kat said, pushing her glasses up and rubbing her eye with the heel of her hand for another second.

So that's what happened, huh...?

Well, it didn't feel like her airways had been damaged, which was probably the biggest concern...
Her eyes were okay too, besides still hurting a little.
Stupid sensitive blue eyes...

And they still felt a little tired. Maybe she really had been crying in her sleep or something?

"KAT!"
Suddenly, Grim pounced into her chest, hugging her around the neck and nuzzling his face into her collarbone.

"G-Geez--!"
He sniffled, a little muffledly.
"What'd you have to go an' do THAT for, huh?! You can't go makin' your boss worry about you like that, dangit!"

"Aw-- Grim," she laughed quietly, stroking him between the ears.
"I'm okay, don't cry..."

"I-- I'm not CRYIN'!" Grim protested, pulling back from her and wiping his eyes hurriedly on his paws.
"I was just--"
He sniffled grumpily, shaking his head. "--That nasty black smoke must've gotten into my eyes or somethin'..."

Kat exchanged a small, thin smile with Ace, who'd crouched down next to her.
"Whatever you say..."

She rubbed her cheek, looking around at the garden.
Yikes-- talk about a disaster zone...
It seriously looked like a tornado had passed through the hedge maze, ripping up chunks of ground and tossing stuff everywhere.

Shaking her head, she looked back at Ace, then down at Grim.
"Well-- like I said, I'm mostly okay, but... How are YOU guys? I mean--"

She turned to Deuce, giving him a worried look.
"Last time I saw you, it looked like that cauldron avalanche you pulled off took a lot out of you... Are you okay? And Ace, too-- I know you said you were fine, but getting sent flying like that couldn't have been very fun..."