Chapter Text
Ozzy, as usual, was feeling quite stressed.
Madison had disappeared – been taken – stolen from him, and Ozzy didn't know where she was. He missed her already, and it was lonely sitting under the big tree by himself. The sun was his weakness, other kids were annoying, and Ron wasn't exactly going to sit with him.
In addition to that, Madison had left with Penny. Everyone knew how dangerous that was, what if meant– those who got sent to the principal's office hardly ever came back, after all.
Ozzy remembered when Ron had visited it, returning seemingly unscathed but with a haunted look in his chestnut eyes. Ozzy remembered one of the old students making fun of Penny, the room darkening, being illuminated in red mere seconds after. Ozzy remembered– he– Madison–
His chest burned. Ozzy fumbled for his inhaler, digging it out of his pocket and shakily taking a puff of it. He sagged in relief as the odd taste hit the back of his throat, his lungs able to expand again.
He needed space, somewhere to think. Ozzy stumbled away from everyone else, his pace quick even as he tried not to rush himself too much, heartbeat fluttery and lungs feeling light.
There was a gate at the back of the playground. It easily opened with a slight push, and Ozzy followed the grassy path to a clearing surrounded by trees.
Ozzy liked trees. They made him feel calm.
Unfortunately, the green flower growing nearby them most certainly did not.
Ozzy scrambled away from it in alarm, flattening himself onto the school wall– right next to a dumpster. Ozzy wrinkled his nose up at the smell, conflicted between fleeing from the stench and approaching the flower he was deathly allergic to.
It was a hard battle to fight, really, but Ozzy could do it! He just had to take one step, then another, and ano–
"HEHEHEHEHEHEHE!"
Ozzy jumped out of his skin, an 'eep' noise squeaking out of his throat. His eyes widened in curiosity and fear, the former winning as he quietly walked back towards the dumpster, knocking on it politely. That was a voice ! It sounded too old to be Madison’s, but maybe the person who it belonged to would have some information on her whereabouts!
"Hello?" Ozzy said nervously, knocking a little louder and grimacing at the thought of the germs that must have gotten on his hands. Gross. "Is anybody in there?"
"Who's banging on my dumpster?!" Came an elderly cry, the lid sliding open to reveal a woman with crazy grey hair and purple rags hanging off of her green-stained pink shirt. She smelled horrible, she clearly didn't have any washing facilities, and her hygiene–
"Would you like to use some of my hand sanitiser?" He blurted out, unable to hold the request. "You seem pretty dirty."
"Oh. Well, that's a kind offer, child," the woman tilted her head, holding out a grubby hand. Ozzy tried not to seem too repulsed by it, squirting a big dollop of sanitiser onto the offending appendage. "My name is Agnes, and this is my dumpster."
Agnes sure was an old lady name, Ozzy thought.
"Well, it's, um. Nice to meet you? I'm Ozzy," Ozzy said, because that was who he was. In his opinion, Ozzy was not an old lady name. "Are you… Okay? No offence, but this seems like a kind of trashy place to live. Your safety's in constant jeopardy, you don't have any way to wash yourse–"
"Don't worry about that, child," Agnes smiled widely at him, showing off yellow, unbrushed teeth. Did she take no pride in her appearance? In cleanliness?! Did she even floss?!? "I'm more concerned about the food. Say, you wouldn't happen to have any on you right now, would you?"
"I think so," Ozzy confirmed doubtfully, fishing through his jumper pocket until he came across a bar.
A granola bar. One that Madison had given him that morning, as their three-month-and-two-days anniversary gift. The last thing he might ever receive from her again. Ozzy almost wanted to give it a kiss– just a small one!– before giving it to Agnes, but he knew all about the germs inside of his mouth. Yes, he took great care of himself, but he didn't exactly want to get Agnes sick! She didn't seem able to afford seeing a doctor, in any case.
"Thank you, child," Agnes said gratefully, taking the granola bar before scrutinising him closely. "You seem forlorn about something. Are you alright?"
"No," Ozzy frowned, and he didn't care if he was whining. He deserved to have a good whine to make him feel better, and lying to Agnes would be bad. "My girlfriend Madison was taken this morning, and I don't know if I'll ever see her again."
"Oh?" Agnes seemed worried. "Why? Is she a little rascal who got expelled?"
"No!" Ozzy denied immediately. "Maddie's sweet and smart and my girlfriend and she would never ! I promise!"
"Okay, okay," Agnes chuckled. She had a wheezy laugh, rasping in a comforting sort of way. She should probably get that checked out, Ozzy would advise. "I'm sure the little girl's okay. She'll be back soon, and then you can make daisy chains and frolic in the grassy meadows together all you want!"
Ozzy sniffled, brushing away his tears defiantly. "But what if she doesn't? What if I'm left all alone with just Ron ?! I can't deal with just Ron! It would throw my whole schedule out!"
Agnes tilted her head, calculating. "Do you like cats?"
"Wh– yes?" Ozzy replied bemusedly. She was supposed to comfort him more, not ask him about cats , even if they were fluffy and cute and– "Why do you ask?"
"I can't take care of all a' mine," Agnes smiled sadly, lifting up a tiny ginger cat. "And I don't want the little things to starve."
"Oh," Ozzy breathed, enraptured. "He's… Cute."
"She's," Agnes corrected with a grin. "You can keep her, if you want?"
"Really?!" Ozzy exclaimed, a mixture of baffled and excited. "Thanks!"
He scooped the kitten out of Agnes' arms before she could change her mind, planning ahead a speech on why he should get to keep the cat for later. Its fur was so soft, even while matted with substances that Ozzy did not want to think about and she was definitely getting a bath when she got home. Home. Ozzy had a cat now!
He would hug Agnes as thanks, but there was no way that he was getting anywhere nearer to her. It was nothing personal– just a desire to not die from whatever bacteria were crawling all over her just then.
"It was my pleasure, sonny," Agnes said brightly, just as the bell began to ring. "You come talk to me again soon, okay? And bring more food!"
Ozzy laughed but nodded, holding the cat a reasonable distance away from himself as he left. It wasn't too hard hiding it from the staff and Penny (though she might as well have been an official faculty member by that point, honestly ), considering that both she and Danner were preoccupied with confiscating some new sketchy chemical that Felix had on him.
Ozzy was not going to get involved in tha t, thank you very much. Applesoft's creations only ever ended in disaster, so Ozzy decided to keep a good distance away from where the shuttle would inevitably land.
As he walked home, new child secured firmly in his arms, Ozzy contemplated name choices. "Hm… something important… Granola Bar? Eugh, no, ew. Sanitasertron? Maybe not… "
The kitten blinked baleful green eyes up at him, wide and adorable. Its ginger fur seemed almost golden in the sunlight, and Ozzy knew exactly what to call his new daughter.
"Ginger!" He declared proudly. He was so good at naming things. It worked because the cat was ginger! And he was ginger! He and his daughter had so much in common already. "That's your new name, okay?"
"Welcome home, Ozzy!" His mother opened the door for him, beaming. "I've set out some cheese and crackers for a sna– oh? Who's this precious little fella?"
“Little lady. This is my daughter, Ginger,” Ozzy introduced importantly. “And I can’t abandon her because that would be bad parenting and I love her.”
“I see,” his mom’s eyes did that thing where they crinkled slightly– the way that they did when Ozzy said something that she found funny, even if it wasn’t intentional. “Well, I suppose we have an obligation now, don’t we, sweetie? Where did you find her?”
“A dumpster woman gave her for me in exchange for the granola bar Maddie gave me,” Ozzy told her happily, then his face fell. “Maddie… I don’t know if I’m gonna see her anymore.”
“Why not, Ozzy?” she asked, concerned. “I can call her parents if you’d like.”
“No, no… She… Left with Penny. To the principal’s office. And people don’t– don’t really come back from there,” Ozzy admitted sorrowfully. “I’m gonna miss her if she doesn’t come to school anymore.”
“Oh, baby… Hey, why don’t you wait and see if she turns back up again tomorrow?” His mom suggested warmly. “That girl’s as bright as sunshine, as sweet as pie, and she loves you to pieces. I’m sure that she won’t be able to stay away from you for long!”
“Okay… Well, we need to give Ginger a bath. It’ll be a good distraction,” Ozzy decided firmly. “I will not have my daughter looking filthy!”
“Of course not,” the lady giggled in response, ushering him upstairs towards the main bathroom. “Start running a bath– lukewarm, not too hot, sugar. A shallow one, mind you. Goodness, I’m already a grandmother! I feel old!”
That was silly. “You’re not old,” Ozzy told her, confused. Agnes was old . His mom was… Middle-y.
“Thanks, sweetheart,” his mom laughed again, ruffling his hair. “You get that bath going and I’ll put the crackers in a tub for now. Then you can tell me all about how your day’s been! I’m looking forward to hearing how you met a dumpster woman.”
“She wasn’t that bad, actually,” Ozzy shrugged, traces of a smile on his face. “Her name’s Agnes, and she’s super old and dirty, but she gave me my daughter, so…”
“Of course,” his mother nodded in understanding, shooting him one last smile before heading to the kitchen.
Washing Ginger was… Harder than Ozzy had expected. He ended up a lot wetter than when he started, red hair plastered to his forehead and ginger fur scattered along the bottom of the bath. He’d worried about it at first, but his mom promised him that it was okay, and he trusted her. They picked out supplies, treats, dinner…
Even a chocolate bar for Madison and a few tins of beans and soup for Agnes! Ozzy thought that cold beans and soup would taste horrible , but apparently they lasted a while, so he just went with it. (If his mom saw him sneak in the extra packet of flying saucers for her, she didn’t mention it.)
“You should write a thank-you card to the nice lady for your present,” the lady said casually over dinner. “I’m sure that Agnes would appreciate it. I’ll be on a work call in a little while, so it might be best if you and Ginger stay upstairs and sort that out, okay?”
“Then can we watch another one of those nature documentaries with your special popcorn?” Ozzy asked hopefully. “I bet Ginger would like them!”
“Of course we can, honey,” his mom agreed easily. “It’ll be a good way to welcome her into the family!”
Sat at the dinner table, a ginger cat brushing sneakily past his legs as Ozzy offered down another equally as sneaky scrap, Ozzy didn’t feel as stressed anymore. He never did, not at home, but this? This was perfect .
Ozzy resolved to write that thank-you letter before he got to school the next day, a smile on his lips and a light in his eyes as he simply enjoyed being with his family.