Chapter Text
Grumpy had agreed to help his mom with her pop-up at their local mall’s Artist Weekend. Which he didn’t mind! He didn’t have anything else he needed to do that day, and it was a nice change of pace. And he was being super helpful!
For the most part, he just sorted through boxes and got his mom whatever the customers wanted. Sunday Shop would make a nice profit from the day’s work with how many people came to buy, she’d said, and Grumpy had agreed seeing as almost all of their boxes were empty.
His mom had decided to leave early, so she could go home and prepare more boxes of products for the next day. Grumpy had told her that he wuld stay behind and close up the stall.
It was only an extra hour of work. He didn’t mind at all, with the nice music from the indie artist next door on one side and the vibrant colors of the painter to the other to entertain him. There weren’t many customers left, but most of them had been very nice to him. Except…
“I’m allergic to cats,” the woman continued on, as if Grumpy hadn’t said anything at all. “I can’t even be near them for more than a minute.”
Grumpy wondered if he should tell her he was, in fact, a cat. But he was a dutiful worker, and so he plastered on a polite smile.
“There’s no need to worry about an allergy to cats with Sunday Shop’s cat plushies,” he told the woman. “The material is all cotton. No cats were harmed in the making.”
“I should hope not! I would hate to support a company that harms animals,” the woman sniffed.
Grumpy hoped she wouldn’t sneeze. Then he’d have to disinfect everything on the table. Again, because earlier that day Gray’s soda had overflowed after a little too much shaking. At least the man had had the heart to look apologetic and buy the still-wet pillows.
Luckily she didn’t sneeze, and to Grumpy’s relief the woman stopped talking. He was finally able to ring her up and send her on her way, and he did so quickly. He sank against the wall as she strode away, and took a deep breath, a memory coming to him.
His newest owner was a young man who’d just finished college, or so he told the cashier at the counter.
“He’s going to be a birthday gift for my girlfriend,” he said. “A joint graduation-birthday gift. She loves cute things, and he’d be perfect for her. Our new apartment even allows pets. He reminds me of my sister’s cat, honestly.”
The kitten’s tail waved a little. The man thought he was cute! He’d done something right. He hoped the man’s girlfriend was nice. She sounded like someone who was nice.
The clerk rang him up, and put the kitten inside a store carrier, along with a few basic necessities, and then the man took the entire thing to his car. The kitten was in the front seat, by the man’s shoes, but he didn’t mind that he couldn’t see the view. He was cute! He had a new home! He couldn’t wait.
Light rock came from the radio far above his head, the man humming along to some song the kitten didn’t recognize. Though that was to be expected, considering the pet store had a specific set of songs they played over the radio and his previous owners had preferred television shows to pure music. The man seemed to enjoy the genre however, and so the kitten tried to listen well so if they were ever played at home he would know them. He wanted to be a good kitten for his new owners, and surely that meant knowing the things that they liked. Right? He’d known the shows his last owners had liked to watch–the news, a trivia game show, and travel documentaries. The kitten had listened to all of them with his owners. This man seemed to like listening to music, so the kitten would learn the songs and could listen to them with his new owners.
The car finally stopped after what felt like forever to the excited kitten. In reality it was only around fifteen minutes judging by how many songs had played, but the kitten didn’t care. It was almost his time to shine, and impress the man’s girlfriend. He quickly groomed down the fur on his front paws and hoped the tufts of fur on his head were lying flat.
The man got out of the car, and came around to pick up the carrier. The kitten watched through the bars as the view of a brick-walled apartment filled his field of vision. It was a modest place, but the kitten didn’t mind. As long as he had some toys and a nice window, he’d be fine.
And then he saw her. A pretty young woman, coming towards the man. The kitten thought she looked very nice in her jean jacket and light pink dress. Her long dark hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, and as she came closer, the kitten could see she had on a pair of star-shaped earrings.
“Selena!” The man called excitedly.
“That was a quick trip. You made it sound like you’d be longer,” the woman said. “What do you have there?”
“Your birthday gift, of course! And graduation, to celebrate the end of a long four years,” The man raised the kitten’s carrier. “I know you love cute things, so…”
“You got me a…” The woman bent down to look inside, and the kitten tried to make himself look as cute as possible. Big eyes like his brother, a cute meow like his sister–
The woman’s face fell.
“A…cat, oh, he’s a darling…” she sighed. “But…Jeremy…I’m allergic…”
The carrier was lowered slightly. “Oh no…I didn’t realize…Selena, I”m so sorry, I didn’t realize…”
The woman straightened up, and came closer to her boyfriend, though she steered clear of the carrier and the kitten’s viewpoint. “It’s alright, honey. I know you meant well, but–”
“I can return him. I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize–I’ll get you something else instead, another cute plushie for your collection–”
The kitten’s ear dropped, and he barely registered anything else the couple was saying. He only realized what was happening when his carrier was opened and he was put back into the familiar display cage once more, the sound of the man explaining what had happened to the clerk in the background
He hadn’t even gotten a name before he’d been sent back.
The kitten curled up in the cold cage, alone once again.
“--Grumps? Hey, hello, you there?” Bang’s voice brought him out of the memory, and Grumpy blinked as the Sunday Shop pop-up stall came back into focus. “Event’s over for the day, are we going to that cafe or not?”
“Huh? Oh, right.” Grumpy said as he pushed himself off the wall. “Yeah, we can go.”
“Good. I’ve already cleaned up, so get your stuff and let’s go,” Bang said impatiently. “Mo said that this cafe has a cat corner and it’s been Luna-approved. I want to check it out and see how nice the cats are.”
“Are you a cat critic now?” Grumpy asked as he put away his apron.
Bang scoffed. “Of course!”
“That was a joke…” Grumpy muttered as he started to look for the cashbox, but Bang held it up.
“C’mon, let’s just go already!” Bang said, and Grumpy followed her as she led the way out.