He looked at the cat for a few minutes as it finished scratching his couch raw, before jumping on it and lying down. Looking around his apartment, in the cat's eyes, Arthur could see intelligence.
Slowly, a shiver was making its way through his body.
'How the fuck did she find me?'
______________________________
Laying down on his couch was what may seem to be a cat, but it was not. It was not a cat at all. And as if to prove a point, it spoke.
"I KNOW YOU'RE HERE, LITTLE MORTAL."
Arthur stayed motionless where he was, not even daring to breathe.
Rationally, he knew that she couldn't see through Fading, but the last time he met her was nearly deadly for him.
'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUUUUUCKKKKK.'
"SHOW YOURSELF BEFORE I DESTROY THIS LITTLE ROOM. IT IS CUTE, BUT I WILL NOT HESITATE TO TRASH THE PLACE."
Arthur sighed and deactivated his ability. He looked her in the eyes and asked what he really needed to know.
"How did you find me?"
'Did she lie about our deal and not take back her backdoor?'
She rolled her eyes and started licking her paws.
"STOP THINKING SO LOUDLY. I DID NOT LIE TO YOU. I TOOK BACK THE DIVINITY THAT WAS IN YOUR BODY. I DON'T HAVE A BACKDOOR IN YOUR MIND ANYMORE."
"YOUR MIND IS INVISIBLE. EVEN WHEN YOU "DEACTIVATE YOUR POWER," YOUR MIND STAYS INVISIBLE. IT'S REALLY SUSPICIOUS, LIKE A BLACK DOT ON A WHITE CANVAS. I COULD KNOW WHERE YOU WERE BY SENSING WHERE THERE WASN'T SOME FORM OF MATTER OR ENERGY."
"DON'T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT IT. AT THE END OF THE DAY, I ONLY FOUND YOU BECAUSE I KNEW WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR."
Her words didn't actually have the reassuring effect she wanted. Not at all. Arthur was pacing back and forth in front of the couch, thinking about the implications of this new discovery.
His power was seeming more and more magical in nature the more he discovered about it, the problem being that he had no magical knowledge. Sighing to himself once again, he muttered,
"I urgently need to go see the monks to know more."
"WHAT MONKS?"
He was startled by her voice, having forgotten this particular problem of his. Still, he continued muttering,
"And maybe the chieftain monks could take care of that as well."
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING "THAT," HUH, HUMAN?"
"No one, don't worry about it. So what are you doing here, Bast?"
She huffed at his tone but didn't bother interrogating him more.
"I WAS BORED AND CURIOUS, SO I CAME TO GRACE YOU WITH MY EXISTENCE. BE GLAD."
"Why not go talk to the Wakandians? They would be ecstatic to be graced with your existence."
She huffed with barely concealed disdain for her own descendants before gritting out,
"THEY ARE CONCEITED LITTLE ASSHOLES. THE LAST TIME I ASKED THEM TO PROTECT THE PANTHER, THEY KIDNAPPED THEM ALL. THEY KIDNAPPED ALL OF THE PANTHERS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD AND PUT THEM IN A PARK. I HAD TO APPEAR IN THE BLACK PANTHER'S DREAM DIRECTLY TO GIVE HIM A PIECE OF MY MIND."
Arthur didn't manage to hold back a snort at the absurdity of it. Panthers are solitary, fiercely territorial apex predators. Forcing them to coexist would trigger immediate chaos. They would quickly start killing each other, either to protect their territory or to eat.
The more he thought about the single most advanced country on Earth being this stupid, the more he understood why they didn't manage to gain an advantage over the outside world, even when they came out of hiding in the MCU. Bar a few, they were simply too fucking dumb to take over and gain control over even their part of the world.
He looked back at her, seeming to guess why she came here.
"You really don't have any friends, do you?"
Without realising it, she started hissing at him, her eyes narrowed. Even with her reacting like that, he continued his reasoning.
"You come here because you know that I will respect you but not prostrate myself before you, and I suppose you also must be curious about me."
She hesitated for a few moments before nodding, her posture relaxing. But when she responded, she completely ignored the first part of his theory.
"I AM CURIOUS ABOUT YOU, ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT AND WHAT YOU WILL DO."
"I HAVE THIS HUNCH THAT BEING AROUND YOU WILL BE MORE INTERESTING THAN STAYING FOCUSED ON WAKANDA. IF IT NEEDS HELP, I CAN ALWAYS FOCUS MY MIND BACK THERE."
"So you will just follow me?"
"YES."
"Can I refuse?"
She looked at him blankly.
"DO YOU THINK REJECTING A GODDESS IS A BRIGHT IDEA?"
"No."
"THOUGHT SO."
She seemed smug. This irritated Arthur, making him more determined than ever to go see the monks.
Still, he decided to at least give her some ground rules on how to live with humans. Feeling bold, in a single movement, he picked her up and held her at eye level.
"Okay, I accept, but for anyone visiting, you are a house cat, understood?"
She huffed.
"AS LONG AS YOU MAKE MY LIFE INTERESTING."
He nodded, setting her down on the couch. An hour later, he had done his homework, showered, and was cooking dinner, choosing to be a good host despite the circumstances. He cooked a little more than just his portion, putting a plate for the Goddess at the table. He called her to dinner.
"BAST, IF YOU WANTED TO EAT, COME NOW."
She hadn't moved from her spot on the couch, but when she heard him call for food, she jumped down and raced to eat.
In front of him was a full plate of lasagna for him and, across the table, a smaller one for her.
Since Gwen gave him the recipe, he had made it three different times in seven days.
'Fucking hell, I'm a simp for good food.'
"IT'S GOOD, HUMAN. WHERE DID YOU GET IT?"
He glared at her before muttering,
"I cooked it, stupid goddess."
He looked up from his plate to realise that she was gulping down her food as fast as she could. Feeling mischievous, he pulled out his phone and took a photo, which he sent to Gwen without explanation.
A few minutes later, he heard his phone ringing. Picking it up, he heard Gwen's voice.
"Since when do you have a cat? It's so cute. Is it a he or she? What's its name?"
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