Plans For A Picnic

"A picnic?" said Edie, with every evidence of disbelief.

"Come on- you're sounding like you've never gone on a picnic before!" chided Walter, still trying to jolly her into agreement.

The silver cat regarded him suspiciously. In fact, she hadn't- her family hadn't been the picnic sort, and there weren't that many parks where she came from in the first place, but she didn't want to begin explaining this, as he might start feeling sorry for her, which would be far too exasperating. "Then- why now?"

"Because it would be fun, and because you've been cooped up in here for days. Just because you're not back at work doesn't mean you have to be a hermit, you know. I just thought it would be fun," he repeated.

Edie considered this. It was true- she was bored. Maggie had been visiting, but hearing about her ever-impeding plans to go frolic with her 'rough crowd' was getting frustrating. One of the reasons it was hard to hear about that stuff was the timing: Edie's EI was coming on, coloring everything with an edgy, tense overtone of unrequited lust, and this made a proposed picnic with Walter seem like a seriously misguided idea.

But she was very bored, and properly groomed, and wasn't worried that the deodorant would give out, and anyhow it was apparently in the open air, or as open as you got on Aquarius. "And where were you figuring on having it?" she asked.

"It's been a long time since I was there, but there's this hillside that they did very nice- you can get to it from underside, through sort of a warehouse for parking maintenance machinery when they're working on the area. Naturally, they picked an out-of-the-way spot for it, without much of interest nearby."

Edie quirked an ear. "And the reason you want to take me to an out-of-the-way spot is...?"

"Now hold on there!" said Walter. "Haven't I been good? You've been very clear about what you wanted, and you know I respect that." He harrumphed. "Cats! What am I supposed to do, huh? Don't even start with that, Edie. I'm one of the good guys, remember?"

"Oh, how I know it," remarked Edie, and wondered how Maggie was getting on.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" replied Walter, and Edie realised she'd screwed up.

"Um, what I mean is... you're... Oh, I'm sorry! I don't give you nearly enough credit, and I'm really sorry. You are a good guy, and I get too cynical and... and complicated to appreciate it..." Edie prattled on, thinking as fast as she could and trying to stay ahead of the conversational chessgame, while Walter eyed her, his hackles slowly lowering as he saw how frantically the little catgirl was trying to appease him.

Finally he harrumphed again, and regarded Edie levelly. "Okay, okay. Whatever. Just- will you do one thing for me, Little Miss Complicated, if it isn't too much trouble?"

"What?"

"Come on a picnic," said Walter, and his eyes twinkled as he presented this horrible fate.

Edie phewed, and said, "Okay!" and squeaked in startlement as she was abruptly swept up in a wolfish hug. Just as quickly, Walter let her go, and looked her over. He was beaming, but the pleased look drained away from him rapidly.

"You're sure not fooling about being complicated. I admit it might be harder, but do you think you can tell me what on earth is the matter? Your reactions are just... Edie, I'm okay with whatever works for you, but you act like you're walking through a minefield. Are you like that with everybody?"

Edie sighed, feeling trapped. She tried to think of how to phrase it. "Um... there are some times that are not easy for me. I don't really want to get into it, but if you need to know more about it, I can explain the matter..." Beside her, her tail twitched and flickered with nervous energy as she came closer to admitting her dilemma to the wolf that haunted her libido.

Walter unexpectedly darted out a hand- and grabbed the flickering cat tail, and held it. The contact sent a jolt through Edie, and she could only stare at him, bristling with shame as her body kicked into gear, overwhelming the deodorant with a fierce waft of cat-heat and causing her vision to go distinctly rosy and fuzzy. She knew that she would present for him if only he asked, and the knowledge humiliated her but further inflamed her, and yet he just kept looking in her eyes.

Finally, he said, with great seriousness, "Edie- good isn't the same as stupid." With this, he let her tail go, and she grabbed it defensively, and just about curled up in a little ball, but she had to listen to him, and hear what he had to say.

"Do you think I don't know where you're at? That I'm some dim Fido to be conned by self-control and a lot of stinky deodorant? And that's right," continued Walter, "I said stinky deodorant- I hate that stuff- it smells like chemistry sets and drain cleaner and all it's for is to cover up the smell of you, which is something specially wonderful. Why? I mean, I know why, it's because you're trying to get rid of a sexy cat scent. I suppose you've got some notion that you don't want to make things harder for me, is that it?"

Edie stammered, "I didn't realize..."

"No, you didn't! I'm sorry, I'm getting too excited. And that's another thing about how complicated you are- your body seems to like that, but you don't. All of a sudden, when I've lost patience with you, suddenly you're in overdrive. I'm gonna leave you alone to deal with that, because I know very well that you don't want me dealing with it for you, but mind explaining why you can't agree with yourself there? Huh?"

After a brief silence, Edie said weakly, "I can't."

"Can't, or won't? Help me out. I swear I'm one of the good guys, I told you. I like to do the right thing. Well, it's like, with you there is no right thing. That can't be right. That can't be true."

"Maybe it is true," said Edie, touched by Walter's obvious concern. She wiped her eye absentmindedly, and realised she'd been crying without noticing.

Walter growled softly, distressed. "No. It is not true."

Edie had no reply to this.

Walter shifted in his seat, uncomfortably. "Damn it, the last thing I wanted to do was upset you. I wanted to cheer you up. Okay, I told you I wasn't stupid, let me try to be smart here. I'm gonna assume that even though you're, well, desperate right now, you don't want me to make love to you. No, wait, let me put that another way that's even less stupid. Whatever's getting in the way is still very much in the way. Is that it?"

Edie nodded, unhappily.

"Okay, understood. I'd better be brief because I need to leave you to your own devices, pun intended- from the scent of it, that must hurt..."

"No shit it does." said Edie. "You've known all this time?"

"No, of course not. But I figured it out. You've got everyone acting all furtive about it as well, even Maggie, which I wouldn't have believed was possible. I just can't understand why. I can see it, I can see how important it is to you, but I don't understand what's making things so complicated for you. Look, I can be perfectly well-behaved around you, whether or not you use stinky deodorant... and it looks like that comment didn't help at all, did it? Something about that you didn't like."

The little silver cat, aching with heat, didn't deny this. She felt helpless to resist as Walter got closer and closer to the truth- but then, unexpectedly, Edie was let off the hook. Walter got up, breaking the tension.

"This is no good, I can't be grilling you like this. I'm really sorry, Edie, I'll be going... huh! You are the most complicated feline, suddenly you look unhappy that I'm leaving! Jeez, I'd give you a hug if you weren't such an unexploded cat right now. For what it's worth, I am damned well going to be your friend, no matter how complicated you are. That okay with you?" asked Walter, with exasperated humor.

Edie nodded. "Yes!" she replied, and Walter visibly brightened.

"Then are we still on for the picnic? I was going to suggest today, but not right now. How about tomorrow? Meet me at the main sub dock? Thrash your tail about once for yes, and bite me on the leg for no."

Edie giggled, in spite of everything, and grabbed her flickering, telltale tail. "I'll be there." she purred. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have matters to attend to."

"Oh, how I know it," sighed Walter, and he winked, and departed.