I’ve actually never felt like this before. It’s so intense. Back when I was younger, I thought I knew what love was, but it was nothing like this and I’m not even sure if this is that type of love. I do know that it's deep. It’s just that around her, I feel alive, free, and a billion other things that I can’t even put into words. If that other thing was love, then they can have it. I like this so much better.
Kim hardly noticed who she was about to walk by while she was strolling down the street with Josh Mankey. She was approaching Shego, who was sitting with Betty. The law enforcers were having lunch at a café because it was one of those accursed slow crime weeks. Shego frowned when she noticed her little monster with some random boy as far as she knew. Kim saw Shego when she was about two feet away from the pale woman.
“Shego,” the redhead smiled when saw took note of her master. She quickly hugged the green-skinned female before Shego got a chance to object to the public display. Shego did push her brat away after a few seconds; she did make sure not to put enough force in it to where Kim would lose her balance.
“Hey, Pumpkin,” the raven-haired woman grumbled as if she was not happy to see her pet. In fact, she just was not happy to see that boy in her munchkin’s company. Who was he anyway? He better keep his hands to himself, Shego thought.
“Oh, hey, Doctor Director,” Kim said to her owner’s friend. She felt a little more comfortable calling her “Doctor Director” than “Miss Betty” because it was still being respectful, but it did not make it seem like she was a little kid.
“Hey, who’s the kid with you?” Betty inquired rather curiously. The young pair did look like a couple to her, which she thought could prove a source of entertainment. Hey, it was a slow crime week, so she needed something to amuse her.
“Oh, this is Josh. Josh, this is Shego and Doctor Betty Director,” Kim introduced everyone.
“Pleased to meet you,” the artist said politely to both ladies. He then flashed them a cute half-smile.
“Where are you two crazy kids headed?” the one-eyed woman inquired.
“We’re not headed anywhere. We just sort of walked this way,” Kim answered.
“So, you’re just wandering around?” Shego inquired.
“I guess,” the girl replied with a sheepish look on her face.
“Kind of stupid, isn’t it?” the emerald-eyed woman commented.
“A little,” her pet conceded.
“You two do make a point. We’re by a movie theater. We could go check a movie or something,” Josh suggested.
“Okay, but I’m a little light in the money department,” Kim replied and she was about to request some money from her mistress, who was reaching for her wallet already because she was aware of just how broke her pet always was.
“I’ve got you, Kim,” Josh stated, which halted Shego’s movements and caused her to arch an ebony eyebrow. “I sold a painting a few days ago, so I’ve got money to burn for once,” he explained.
“Wow, you sold a painting? That’s just spanking,” Kim congratulated the boy and hugged him for such a feat. Josh smiled a bit, liking the acknowledgment of his achievement, especially since it involved body contact.
Shego scowled even deeper than what she was already doing, which was quite an accomplishment, considering the frown that she had already been sporting. She wanted to say something, but she was not too sure what it was she wanted to say. She just knew that she wanted to express a lot of negative notions and emotions toward Josh for a reason that she did not even acknowledge existed.
“So, you’re a painter?” Betty asked Josh as the redhead released him.
“Yes,” he confirmed.
“I could use some color around my house. Do you suppose I could see your work some day?” the brunette woman inquired.
“Sure, I could use the money. What days are good for you?” Josh countered.
“Can you come back this way tomorrow or maybe the day after tomorrow at this same time?” It was doubtful that she would have anything better to do than to sit at the café and probably pick on Shego from the look on her face.
“Sure, no problem. Kim, you ready to get going?” the artist asked.
“Yeah. Bye, Shego. Bye, Doctor Director,” the girl bid the two women farewell.
“Bye,” both law enforcers replied with no feeling at all.
“Nice meeting you,” Josh said.
The young pair walked off. The two city workers watched the duo disappear up the street and then they turned their attention back to their lunch. Shego knew that her friend was going to say something; it was just inevitable. Betty did have to say something; after all, her friend was frowning so intensely at the boy.
“He was cute,” Doctor Director commented.
“You’re about ten years older than he is,” Shego pointed out, knowing that was not the something that her smug friend wanted to say. She was aware that the something was still coming and she tried to prepare for it.
“But, that makes him just the right age for your brat. You know, I thought she had a thing for you, but I guess you kept her waiting too long,” Betty taunted her employee. She wanted to see what Shego would say.
“Shut up,” was the pale woman’s brilliant comeback.
“Are you jealous?” Betty teased her friend further. The way that Shego had been looking at Josh, she was surprised that the super-powered female did not just deck the kid for having the nerve to be with her pet.
“Shut up!” Shego barked. Of course was not jealous of some suave punk taking her twerp anywhere! Why would she be jealous? There was nothing to be jealous of, she told herself.
“You are jealous,” the older woman said as if she was in complete shock. She had not really expected the younger woman to be jealous of that kid. After all, her brat was just a brat and Shego had a man, so there seemed like there was nothing to be jealous of. But, the way that Shego was acting and the look in her eyes told the truth.
“I’m not jealous. She’s just a pet and nothing more.”
“Whatever. You’re jealous.”
“Fuck you.”
Doctor Director only smiled; her friend could not even make a proper argument. She was now fully aware that her good friend was jealous of that boy, if not for his possible romantic involvement with her pet, then just for the fact that her pet was paying someone else some mind, taking necessities from someone else. Shego was supposed to be her brat’s world, but it seemed like someone else was attempting to take the limelight. Betty wondered what her friend was going to do.
“Is that woman serious about buying a painting from me?” Josh asked Kim; they were still on route to the movie theater.
“I think so. She’s got a few nice paintings hanging in her house,” the hero answered.
“So, how do you know them?” he asked curiously. He thought that he was going to hear a story about one of Kim’s adventures, but he got a short, simple answer that he was not expecting.
“Oh, Shego’s my mistress,” the redhead replied as if it was nothing. Honestly, who would expect that answer?
“Your mistress?”
“I’m her pet,” the girl explained with a shrug. It had never been much of a thing to her, but now, it was seriously nothing to her. Being a pet was a part of who she was at the moment.
“Her pet? Your sex life must be so much better than mine,” he remarked with a bit of a laugh.
“We’re not like that.”
“No? I thought you liked girls too, though.”
“I do and I like her a lot,” Kim replied.
“So, what’s the deal?” he asked because he was not following the mistress/pet relationship, especially if it was not sexual. Although it did explain the collar around her neck, which he had thought was some weird fashion thing that Monique might have talked her into.
“I guess she likes me, but not like that. I’m a pet just like a dog or a cat is a pet,” the redhead elaborated.
“Really? How long has this been going on?”
“Well, we just started up again, but when I graduated college, I met her a little while after that. I stayed with her for like a year,” Kim answered.
“What? And I’m just hearing about this now? Why?” he inquired as if he was bit hurt to not be in the loop.
“I never thought of it as a big deal, so it never crossed my mind to tell you,” she replied with a shrug.
“Come on, we’re supposed to be pals,” Josh playfully complained.
“We are. It’s so not the drama.”
“My pet Kimmie. Why didn’t I think of that? You could’ve been my pet.”
“Nope because you would’ve had to put me down after I found you in bed with Bonnie,” she pointed out. She realized that Shego was very special to her because she would have never agreed to just be anyone’s pet and even though, she had started out with Shego trying to repay a debt, it was much deeper than that now. She doubted that she would ever have that with anyone else.
“I would’ve asked you to join in, but I know how you feel about her,” he joked.
They had come to a point in their relationship where they both felt that they could be the bigger person, which was why they were comfortable being friends. They respected each other and they accepted the things that the other did. Josh respected that Kim suddenly had to dash off to do certain things and Kim accepted that Josh was not built for a monogamous relationship. They got along very well in a platonic relationship where they tended to feel that they did not owe it to the other person to change and act a different way, not that either of them had done that when they were together.
“I don’t know what you like about her,” Kim said, referring to Bonnie.
“Your taste in women and my taste in women are obviously different,” Josh retorted.
“Are you kidding? I would definitely date me if I could,” Kim remarked.
“That makes both of us,” he commented and they both laughed.
Shego came home to be greeted with a tight hug from her little monster. She rubbed the girl’s head before retreating to her room. She sat down and tried not to think about the one thing that had been plaguing her mind all day long, namely her pet being out with that boy and likely going on a date with him. It should not bother her that her twerp had a little punk boyfriend, she told herself. It did not bother her that her runt had a boyfriend, she told herself.
All right, she conceded, she was a little stunned that Kim had a boyfriend. She did not think that the girl was straight, after all. She was aware that Kim was attracted to her; it was not like that was closely guarded secret or anything. Every now and then, when they watched television together, Kim would make a comment that she had dated a girl that looked like someone on television; so, Shego had concluded that the girl was a lesbian through and through. Obviously, she had figured wrong.
She attempted to let the thoughts out of her mind, telling herself that she did not care if her munchkin had a boyfriend. So what the kid had seemed charming? So what he had been a little bit cute? So what he had taken her pet to the movies and did not care about paying the poor girl’s way? And so what her monster had the nerve to hug him right in front of her like that? None of that mattered to Shego. She did not care, she promised herself.
The pale woman decided to do some exercises to get her mind off of her idiotic rascal. She went into her occasionally used gym/office. She had a heavy bag that she started kicking around; she had to be very careful not break it. She worked on the bag for a few minutes before Kim came in.
“Hey, are you coming out to the living room?” the redhead inquired.
“Why?” Shego exhaled, continuing her workout.
“Because I want to lay my head in your lap,” the girl pointed out the obvious. Her usually thoughtful mistress was throwing off her routine by not being in the living room by now. What Shego was doing just could not be good pet care, the hero believed.
“You’ll have to wait,” the pale woman countered. In the back of her mind, she knew that she was trying to punish her pet for being with that boy, but she did not recognize that as the reason for why she had decided to workout instead of going to lounge on the sofa like she typically did. She told herself that she just wanted to exercise a bit and she did not feel like spoiling her shrimp at the moment.
“Come on!” Kim whined.
“Wait.”
Kim sunk to the floor as if she was boneless and Shego knew what was coming before it even began. The redhead started rolling around on the floor while continuing to wail about wanting to rest her head in her owner’s lap. The actions eventually got on Shego’s nerves.
“Shut up!” Shego hollered.
“No,” Kim replied, hoping that she was making some progress.
“Why don’t you lay your head in Josh’s lap,” the green-skinned female suggested in a huff.
“Ew!” Kim shuddered in disgust on the floor. She could not believe that her master would even utter such a thing out loud.
“Ew?” A raven-colored eyebrow rose in confusion.
“Definitely, ew.”
“Why ew?” Shego inquired curiously. She thought that Josh was her elfish monster’s man, but it seemed that the assumption was not right on the money.
“Who knows where Josh has been. Besides, I’m not his pet. I’m your pet and I want to lay my head in your lap right now!” Kim whined while banging on the floor with her fists and feet.
“Stop acting like that,” the elder woman ordered. Whoever lived underneath her probably thought that she was insane when her pet pitched a tantrum.
“Can I lay my head in your lap?”
“Let me take a shower first,” Shego sighed.
“Yes!” Kim cheered; being a crybaby definitely paid off sometimes, she believed.
Shego went to take a shower from her brief workout and then went out into the living room to resume their routine. Kim was waiting on the couch and as soon as Shego sat down, she cuddled up to her warm owner. The olive-eyed hero sighed contently once she was close to Shego. She inhaled, loving the way her master smelled after a shower.
“This is great,” the redhead mumbled. It was really relaxing just lounging on the sofa with her emerald-eyed mistress.
“Is it?” Shego asked in a skeptical tone. At the moment, she did not believe that her brat enjoyed being with her so much.
“Well, it could be better,” Kim replied and Shego knew what the girl was hinting to. The pale woman began to caress her pet’s head and Kim sighed again. “Now, it’s perfect,” the petite girl commented with a purr.
“Do you do this with everyone you’re with?” the green-skinned woman inquired with a bit of an attitude. She was not sure why she asked that question, but it was out now and she awaited her answer.
“No, just you. I mean, I’ve only ever been your pet,” the redhead answered. She guessed that her keeper thought that she had been a pet before. She had never even thought about such a thing before she met Shego. But then again, who did think about being a pet?
“So, no one else has ever made your purr?” Shego asked as if she was teasing, but like the question before it, she did not know where it came from.
“Only you,” the redhead replied. She knew that she would have been much too embarrassed to do such a thing in front of anyone else, but she had never thought to do such a thing. Only Shego could touch her and make her mew like a happy, pampered kitten.
“Interesting,” the raven-haired woman commented. She had never purred in her life and she never attempted to make someone do so, but knowing that she could make her pet do such a thing made her a bit proud. She quickly shut that emotion down, though, by pointing out that there was no reason to be proud that she could make her little monster happy. Any good pet owner made her pet happy.
“What, you thought I purred for everyone?” Kim asked.
“No.”
The redhead decided against saying anything. She knew that the older woman had to think that she mewed for more people than just herself because she had asked the question. She did not mind that; she was glad that the matter was cleared up. She stretched against her mistress, like a satisfied feline.
“I only do it for you,” the girl purred.
“Keep doing that and I’ll throw you on the floor,” the owner commented, referring to the movement her pet just made.
“Oh, sounds promising,” the hero smiled mischievously.
“Keep it up,” Shego said and she stopped her attention to Kim’s head, causing her brat to whimper in disappointment.
“I’ll be good!” Kim promised because she did not want the petting to stop.
“Okay then,” the elder woman said and she went back to gently scratching the girl’s head. “So, the painter kid another one of your goofy friends?” the raven-haired woman inquired.
“He’s different from my other nutty comrades,” Kim remarked.
“How so?”
“High school crush,” the redhead answered.
“What happened?” Shego asked curiously. It never occurred to her that her monster had a high school sweetheart or anything like that. She realized that she hardly thought that her twerp had a past or had a life outside of her and those missions that she ran around on. She really did not care about that stuff, but did not mind listening if her girl was willing to talk about it.
“Well, he crushed our relationship. When I first started school, college I mean, I wanted to stay close to home. You know, I was really young and it scared me to be far from home, my family, my goofy friends, and who I thought was the love of my life. So, I went to Middleton College and I was able to stay with them. But, they just didn’t offer the classes I wanted and needed. So, I transferred to a way better school and had to go away. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it was. It did get a little tough on our relationship since he was still in high school and still in Middleton. I mean, I was way out of state. I came into town one day, though for a surprise visit, trying to be the thoughtful girlfriend and everything. His mom let me in the house, I go down to the basement where his room is and I find him in bed with a girl I can’t stand,” Kim explained.
“Damn, that’s mighty low of him,” Shego commented.
“Yeah, but that’s how Josh is,” the girl said with a slight shrug. She was over resenting him for what he had done obviously; although it had taken her a long time to get over it and even though they were friends now, she still had not forgiven him for what he did.
“And you still hang out with the little bastard?”
“I accept Josh for what he is now. He’s not boyfriend material, but he’s intelligent, insightful, and funny company. He’s not somebody I’d want to see everyday, but when I do see him, we have fun for the most part,” Kim answered.
“You’re good. I dated one guy that cheated on me and it didn’t end pretty.”
“You kicked his butt, didn’t you?”
“Up and down the fucking street until a concerned citizen called the cops, who had to call for backup,” the pale woman answered.
“Well, this is life…or something like it. You live, you learn. I don’t mind learning, although I could’ve done without Josh’s lesson. At least I figured out that I didn’t love him like I thought I did. I mean, if I did love him, I would hate him for what he did. But, I don’t hate him. I don’t think we would’ve worked out anyway. I mean, I can only stand Josh for a certain amount of hours before the guy he is starts to come out full force.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s quietly conceited and swears that he could have any woman he wants. Even now, he wants to be friends with privileges and thinks that if he smiles enough, I’ll hop into bed with him. Well, that ain’t happening. Besides, between you and me, he’s a rotten lay,” Kim remarked with a laugh.
“You slept with him?” Shego inquired. She knew that her pet was not as innocent as her smile would lead one to believe, but it had never entered her mind that the girl had had lovers. She ordered herself not to be angry with that boy for touching her pet, even if it was before Kim was her pet.
“He was my first. I’ve really only got one other guy to measure him up against, though.”
“You’ve slept with two guys in your whole life?” Shego asked. Okay, maybe her pet was more talk than action.
“Yup. Why, how many have you slept with?” the eccentric hero inquired.
“You’re asking too many questions again. Well, what about girls? You’re interested in girls, right?”
“Well, yeah. I thought that was ferociously obvious. I’ve been with just as many girls as guys. I’m not that comfortable with people really quickly, so I haven’t been with a bunch of people, you know. I’ve dated a lot of people, but never really committed. Nobody’s really willing to sit and wait around for me,” Kim said with a sort of forced giggle, trying to make light of the situation.
“What do you mean?”
“Eventually, everybody gets fed up with me having to run off for a mission or something like that. Sometimes, they hate how easily I get distracted. They all act like they can deal with it in the beginning, but no one can really deal with who I am. They all leave in a huff, some a lot quicker than others. Josh was the only one that didn’t leave in huff. He was really the only one that could stand me, the real and complete me, but I can only trust Josh to be Josh, which is just like not trusting him at all. It’s a vicious cycle, I guess. Every time I meet somebody, I already know how it’s going to end. They’ll eventually leave me because of at least one of about three or four reasons. That’s probably why I like both guys and girls. I figure with a wider net, I’m liable to meet somebody who can put up with all that comes with me,” Kim explained with a bit of sorrow in her voice.
Shego looked down at her little monster. She never really thought about how the runt’s hobbies might affect her social life. It had to already be hard for her to find someone to connect with since she was so different, but the things that made her different had to be factored in too. The girl was a genius, from a family of geniuses, she was curious and adventurous, she was heroic and helpful, she saved people, she saved the world; she could do anything and that had to get to people. She did dangerous things for fun, not even for fun and profit, but just plain fun. She ran off at the spur-of-the-moment to do all sorts of dangerous things; some people had to not want to get close to her just out of fear that they might not see her again one day. The redhead was totally unique and people had a hard time dealing with things like that, as the green-skinned woman was well aware of. Shego just never considered such things might actually bother her seemingly happy-go-lucky rascal.
The pale woman cradled her girl a bit more, hugging Kim to her. The girl was not sure why she was getting the extra affection, but she was glad for it. She hid her face in Shego’s chest, just in case her eyes actually misted over from talking about a fairly touchy subject. The elder female did not say anything and when she finally found words, they shocked her and her pet.
“It won’t end like that with you and me. I don’t care how much you run off or how easily distracted you are. If you keep coming back, my door will always be open to you,” Shego vowed in a whisper and she kissed Kim’s cheek.
Next time: Kim makes an important scientific discovery and Shego is forced to interact with Josh. With luck, she won’t kill him.