She ran up the steps, panting and holding the kitty to her chest while Cheshire scrambled after her.

“Gimme!” her rudest sister screamed.

“No!” Crochet yelled back even as she hugged the kitty closer. The moment she reached the top of the stairs, she rushed towards Big Sis’ room, shoved the door open with her shoulder and ran in.

She could hear Cheshire reaching the top of the stairs, which meant she didn’t have much time. Still, if time was lacking, weapons were not. Miss Cottontail (and she was still holding back giggles at the name, since the big bunny was actually a polyester mix) jumped up and placed herself between Crochet and the door. The frumpled blankets on Big Sis’ bed took to the air like a giant shield and Crochet’s neat bundle of sewing and knitting supplies exploded into the air, needles poised like snakes ready to strike.

Cheshire slid into the room, then waited, knees bent as if she was ready to pounce and eyes all narrowed and angry. “Where’s the...” she locked onto the kitty. “Those are my ears.”

“You can’t kill the kitty,” Crochet said.

“Sure I can. It’ll be easy.” She smiled, fangs on full display and the kitty in her arms started to squirm, claws digging into Crochet’s arms and tummy and shoulders as it tried to escape. “You heard Remedy. She’s just gonna melt the kitty’s brains and then I’ll have new ears.”

Crochet let go of the kitty and it jumped over her shoulder and scampered off under Big Sis’ bed. That was good. Under Big Sis’ bed was the safest place.

She turned a victorious smile towards Cheshire. “There. Now you can’t get the kitty without messing up Bis Sis’ bed.”

Cheshire growled, and her hands balled into fists. “But I need biostuff to make me some new ears,” she said.

“Just use poop. That’s what’s between your ears already.”

Cheshire glared even harder, then her lip wobbled a bit. “B-bitch! You’re the poop head here!”

“Am not!” was Crochet’s rebuttal.

Cheshire growled, said a few things that would have had Big Sis smacking her behind the head, and stomped off. “Fine, keep the kitty.” She crossed her arms and scowled extra hard.

Crochet felt like she should have been intimidated, but she could see the wetness in Cheshire’s eyes and the wobble on her lower lip as she pouted. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothin’,” Cheshire said right away. She sniffed and placed both hands on her hips. “You takin’ my ears is what’s wrong.”

Narrowing her own eyes, Crochet allowed all her needles and the blankets to fall a little. “Don’t lie. You know how Big Sis doesn’t like that.”

“I ain’t lyin’,” she said.

“You are,” Crochet said right back. “Why’d you want cat ears anyway? Your costume has some already.”

“Because they would make me more cool. Duh.”

Crochet huffed. “More cool than who? You’re already the least cool of Big Sis’ little sisters.”

Cheshire’s hands tighten by her sides and her upper lip peeled back to show her teeth. “I-I know that already, okay!” She stomped her foot. “So I’m gonna get cool ears, and a cool tail, and then Big Sis will think that I’m the coolest and she’s going to give me more headpats instead of bein’ angry all the time.”

“That’s not how it works,” Crochet said. “Just changing your wardrobe or getting some ears won’t change everything.”

“Yes, it will!” Cheshire said. She spun around and stomped off. As soon as her slightly bigger (just three inches!) sister was out of sight, Crochet jumped forwards and closed the door, all her needles and cloth and Miss Cottontail floating back down while Big Sis’ blanket returned to her bed.

She sighed and got to her knees next to the bed. “Come out, kitty, please?” she asked. She could just barely see the glow of the kitty’s eyes in the dark under Big Sis’ bed.

After a minute of trying to sweet talk the kitty out, she reached for her back of crafting supplies, tossed aside some half finished projects and found her secret stash of snacks. She opened an oatmeal bar and placed a piece next to the bed before sitting back and leaning against the mattress while she ate the rest.

“I’m sorry about my sister, Mister Kitty,” she said. “Cheshire is just a little enthusiastic. But she’s a good sister when she’s not being a pain in the butt.”

She finished her bar, taking it apart with tiny little bites so that it would last a little longer. When she was done, she pulled out Big Sis’ costume from her bag and let it expand before her. It was really bright, just like Big Sis, with neon green cloth for the pants with purple pockets sewn all over it. The top was a bit simple, just some darker grey spandex-y material that would cling to Big Sis and show off her silhouette.

The magazines she read said that that was very important for a model to do. It was even cut open under the breasts to show off Big Sis' tummy. Boys that were Big Sis age were supposed to like that according to what Crochet read. So Big Sis would get lots of boyfriends and then there would be kissing, and then everything would fade to black and then Crochet would have lots of little nieces to play with.

The mask was just a simple cloth with holes carefully cut into it and stitched all around. The entire thing was decorated with her best attempts at stitching in flowers and rainbows and pretty patterns. She could tell how much better she got at it just by practicing from all the little mistakes she could now spot.

The cloak was still a work in progress. It needed lots of material, and all she had had on hand were some old curtains from the attic. They were a dark navy, which was nice, but not colourful enough for her Big Sis, so she had sewn ribbons into it, with tiny unicorns and fairies and flowers and other cute things.

Surrounding her Big Sis with cute things would make her so much cuter.

A soft brush against her arm had her looking down, and she beamed when she found the kitty pushing its head against her elbow. “Hi, Mister Kitty,” she said as she let the cat climb onto her lap. Its claws poked hard and it hurt a little, but then it settled and started purring and that made it okay.

“Do you like the costume I made for my Bis Sis?” she asked the kitty. It didn’t say much on the matter, just purred as she petted its head. “She’s going to be so proud when I show it to her. I can't wait!”