Description

Panel One: Cal is sitting up in bed, staring in surprise at a striped cat, loafed happily on his lap. In the background, DJ is at his desk. He's turned to look at cal and he says, "Hey, you're up! Sorry about her; I must not have closed the door all the way last night." SFX: ~purr~

Panel Two: DJ is by Cal's bed, bending over to give the cat a scritch on the head. He's smiling as he says, "The school has lots of cats wandering around."

Panel Three: A close-up shot of the kitty, purring happily with her eyes closed. DJ's hand is in the frame, and scratching her ear. From off-panel, DJ says, "This is Mar~a! You love laps, don't you? You're so cute!" There are hearts and music notes indicating a sing-song tone (you know, the voice you use when you talk to animals). SFX: ~purr~ ~purr~   ~purr~ ~purr~

Panel Four: Cal's POV. DJ is now crouched beside the bed and still petting the cat. He says, "She's a sweetheart. She loves it when -"

Panel Five: Same view as before, except now DJ looks concerned. "Are you okay?" he asks.

Panel Six: Cal is hiding behind his blanket, peeking over the edge, and his eyes are wide with terror. "NO!" he says, "I'm allergic!"

Author Note

Yep, DJ's a cat person!

The kitty there is one of our kitties, Mara, who has a near-pathological need to be on someone's lap at all times. She's also incredibly soft, so I figured that she would make the perfect kitty ambassador to introduce the Yersinia Academy cats to Cal!

Time to wash your masks!
- Bran