Chapter Text
A streak of golden dawn was spilling in through the blinds, illuminating the room in a dim glow. Yolanda lazily cracked one eye open and glanced at the clock: 5:15am, her circadian rhythm was permanently wired to awaken her at the ass crack of dawn. She groggily turned her head toward Trinity who was still sleeping blissfully with a little fluffball curled at her side. Trinity was holding onto the front of Yolanda’s shirt, one hand in a loose fist, while the other was splayed out closer to the kitten, fingertips buried in its fur. Yolanda shuffled closer across the mattress, clinging onto her and wrapping Trinity in her arms. Neither of them had to work this weekend so she tried to get another few hours of sleep.
A shrill reowww coming from the doorway woke Yolanda up, not that she managed to achieve REM sleep again anyway. She shifted and propped herself up, trying not to jostle Trinity awake, in an attempt to look at the source of this meowing. Now at 6:45am, apparently the kitten was getting restless too. There’s one thing they had in common. A soft rumble erupting in her own stomach signaled that maybe the kitten was pawing on the door for the same reason. Wow, now there’s two things in common. Maybe they could get along after all.
Trinity stirred, making some unintelligible sound as she pulled Yolanda back down with a hmmph. Trinity would never willingly wake up before 10am if she could help it.
“What time is it..” Trinity mumbled, pulling herself up and half on top of Yolanda, burying her face in her chest.
Yolanda brought her hands up and slid them under Trinity’s shirt, gently running her fingernails across her back.
“It’s still early, mi amor. I think your kitten is getting hungry.” Yolanda planted a soft kiss that disappeared into Trinity’s hair.
Trinity lifted her head then and looked at Yolanda with droopy lids. The rays of sunlight caught her eyes, highlighting every speckle of gold and emerald mingling in her irises. Her eyelashes fluttered, brown hair glinting auburn in the daybreak. Yolanda’s whole being was consumed, and that was an understatement. She could stare into the curious eyes peering at her forever.
“You got a staring problem, Yo-yo?” Trinity nudged the side of her jaw, taking it in her palms as she pulled herself up completely on top of Yolanda.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to waking up next to you.” Yolanda whispered, barely above a breath. Three years ago, admitting something like that would've made Yolanda want the ground to swallow her whole. Now, lying here with Trinity tangled around her, the words came frighteningly easy.
Trinity gave her a soft smile and instantly flushed, a crimson shade streaking the tips of her ears too. She shied away for a second, momentarily breaking the eye contact that was suddenly overwhelming, before she grabbed the front of Yolanda’s shift in a fist and whispered “You’re so corny.”
Yolanda chuckled at the back of her throat as Trinity dove down to kiss her. She brought her hands up behind Trinity’s shoulders, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. Trinity collapsed on top of her and Yolanda rolled them over, never breaking apart. Yolanda pulled her own shirt over her head and discarded it somewhere on the floor.
“Dr.Garcia…so impatient first thing in the morning.” Trinity tutted once, tone tantalizing, but she lifted herself up slightly to strip her own shirt off too.
Trinity brought one hand up, grabbing a fistful of Yolanda’s curls that were falling in her face and pulled them back, holding her hair up behind her head.
“How do you look so irresistible as soon as you wake up?” Yolanda tilted her head, leaning into Trinity’s palm at her temples. She slid her own hands up and down Trinity’s chest, deliberately slow and teasing, earning a low whine from her wife below her.
Trinity’s hair was mussed from sleep, honey colored locks draped across the pillows. Her cheeks were painted a deep burgundy, that same color tinted across her chest. Yolanda just wanted to kiss Trinity all over till her pale skin was tinged maroon.
Yolanda dove down and took one of the hardened peaks into her mouth, biting down before smoothing it out with a swirl of her tongue. She positioned one of her legs between Trinity’s thighs, lightly pushing a knee up toward her aching core. It elicited a sharp gasp from Trinity and if Yolanda could only hear one sound for the rest of her life, that would be it.
“Yoli..more” Trinity breathed, her voice low and gravelly.
Never mind, this is the sound Yolanda would choose instead.
Yolanda licked a stripe across Trinity’s chest, leaving open-mouthed kisses across her collarbone before taking the other nipple into her mouth. Trinity ground her hips up on Yolanda’s thigh, a low groan escaping her lips. Yolanda moved up to kiss her, swiping her tongue across Trinity’s teeth. Trinity immediately reciprocated, dragging Yolanda’s hand down toward the heat at her center.
Yolanda had barely even dipped her fingers below the waistband on Trinity’s sweatpants before pitch black fur stumbled into their view. The kitten had climbed up onto the bed again, paws so light that there was no weight of her on the mattress. She blinked at Trinity and Yolanda and they both turned their heads sideways to meet her gaze, pausing their movements.
Neither of them said anything. The kitten titled her head. Yolanda stared back.
“...This feels slightly inappropriate” Yolanda retreated her hands out and rested one on the bed, holding herself up with the other.
Trinity sighed, “Cockblocked by a cat. What a morning.”
Yolanda let out a soft laugh and leaned down to place a chaste kiss on Trinity’s lips before sitting up and pulling her up too.
“I’ll make it up to you.” Yolanda winked. “Let’s get her some food first, I think she’s hungry.”
“Now that you mention it, I’m pretty hungry too.” Trinity mused.
Yolanda grinned, “How about you go shower and I’ll get breakfast started for the both of you.” She stood up, Trinity and the kitten both trailed behind her.
“Are you saying I smell bad?” Trinity tried her best to look fake-hurt, hands gripping her heart. But she knew she should shower anyway, she was too tired yesterday and just collapsed into bed instead.
Yolanda rolled her eyes but her lips were curled upward, “Yes, you’re stinky. We should have showered you with the cat last night.”
Trinity pushed her shoulder back lightly. Then, she turned around and bent over, taking her sweatpants off with intent. “Guess I’ll go shower then.” She threw her pants at Yolanda before heading into the bathroom, a sly smile plastered across her face.
Yolanda looked at Trinity, then looked down at the kitten waiting at her feet. With a groan, she decided that the kitten’s needs should be tended to first and Trinity had already shut the door behind her.
Yolanda sighed and walked out toward the kitchen, the kitten padding behind her, steps faltering every so often. She pulled out her bowl and put some of the kitten food in. The kitten immediately ran towards it and buried her face into it. Yolanda crouched down to make sure it wasn’t too much and decided to try her luck while the cat was distracted. She ran tentative fingers down the kitten’s back and it turned around to meow once before diving right back into the bowl.
“So you only tolerate me when I’m feeding you, huh?” The meow didn’t sound half as begrudging as yesterday, so Yolanda took it. A win is a win.
Now that this was done, she stood up, heading back towards the bedroom and stripped her own clothes off. She slipped into the bathroom and cracked the shower door open, stepping in and sliding her arms around Trinity’s waist, turning her around.
“Now, where were we?” Yolanda pulled her closer and Trinity wrapped her arms around Yolanda’s neck.
“Took you long enough.” Trinity dragged Yolanda under the water and kissed her hungrily.
Then, she glanced over Yolanda's shoulder. "Did you shut the bathroom door?"
Yolanda paused, "...No."
A tiny mrrp echoed from somewhere outside. Trinity dissolved into laughter.
Someone might've argued that they were wasting water, questioning just how much actual showering had taken place. By the time they finally stepped out, both of them were pruned beyond belief and still grinning, cheeks flushed. Technically, though, they'd conserved water by sharing the shower and, perhaps more importantly, prevented the kitten from being exposed to emotional scarring before eight in the morning.
One thing that had never been casual about them was sharing every article of clothing they owned. About two months in, Trinity began leaving clothes scattered across Yolanda’s floor and Yolanda slowly stopped separating them in the laundry. Eventually, a pair of scrubs each found its way into the other’s closet, undershirts mixed up without realisation (until someone at work called it out.)
Now, freshly showered, Yolanda and Trinity slipped on some comfy sweatpants and hoodies, no one knew what belonged to who anymore, but Yolanda loved wearing Trinity’s UCLA hoodie, just as much as Trinity loved seeing her in it. As they made their way to the kitchen, they paused in their tracks, eyes going wide.
Sometime in the 30 minutes between Yolanda heading to the bathroom and now, the kitten had caused an absolute ruckus in their living room. She had stepped, or more likely fallen into, the water bowl because there were small puddles all over, leaving an incriminating trail of the tiny wet paw prints tracking across the floor in every direction. Picture frames that had once sat neatly on the side table now lay face-down beside the couch, as though someone had inspected each one personally before discarding it.
Before Yolanda could even properly take in the destruction, Trinity stepped in front of her, hands wrapping around her shoulders.
"I'll fix it," she said quickly. "I swear. Just... don't freak out." Trinity held her gaze.
Yolanda blinked, she wasn't going to freak out. It was water and a couple of picture frames. They'd be cleaned up in ten minutes. Then her eyes drifted toward the bookshelf. All she could do was stare, mouth agape, while Trinity kept repeating that she’ll fix it.
Yolanda had a huge collection of plants, all of them impressively looked after. But her best, and most precious one, was a beautiful heartleaf philodendron. Three years ago, Trinity had surprised her with it after a particularly awful month at work. It had been no bigger than the span of Yolanda's hand at that time. Since then, she'd carefully nurtured it until long jade vines spilled gracefully over the edge of the highest shelf, leaves so healthy they practically glowed in the afternoon sun.
Or at least they had.
Now the terracotta pot lay in jagged pieces across the floor. Dark soil had exploded over the hardwood, one vine stretched halfway across the living room like the aftermath of a miniature landslide.
And sitting squarely in the middle of it all: the kitten. She looked up at Yolanda with enormous, entirely innocent eyes. A single philodendron leaf protruded from the corner of her mouth, tiny teeth still clamped around the stem she'd been enthusiastically chewing.
Silence settled over the room. Very slowly, the kitten took another bite.
Trinity squeezed Yolanda's arm. "I'll buy you another one," she said quietly. "I know it won't be the same, but I—"
"Trin." Something in her voice made Trinity stop. Yolanda wasn't looking at the shattered pot anymore, she was staring at the leaf still dangling from the kitten's mouth.
"Heartleaf philodendrons are toxic."
The words seemed to hang in the air for a beat. Trinity's eyes flicked from Yolanda to the plant, then to the kitten. She dropped to her knees so quickly the kitten startled, the leaf slipping from between her teeth. Trinity carefully cupped the tiny face in her hands, gently easing her mouth open to check for any remaining pieces.
"Hey, sweetheart," she whispered, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. "Come on. Let me see."
The kitten let out an indignant little meow, more offended than distressed.
"Did she swallow any?" Trinity asked, glancing up.
"I don't know." Yolanda was already moving. She snatched her phone off the kitchen counter, fingers fumbling over the screen as she searched for the nearest emergency veterinary hospital.
"They contain calcium oxalate crystals," she muttered more to herself than anyone else. "They can irritate the mouth causing drooling, vomiting..."
Trinity’s stomach twisted. "She's so little."
The kitten answered by attempting to chew on the drawstring of Trinity's hoodie.
Yolanda finally found the number and hit call.
"Hi," she said the second someone answered. "We have a kitten, she's maybe eight months old, and we think she may have chewed a heartleaf philodendron..."
As the receptionist spoke, Yolanda nodded rapidly, already reaching for the car keys hanging by the door.
"Mhm... yes... no, we don't know how much she ingested."
She glanced toward Trinity. "We're on our way."
The call ended. "They want to see her immediately."
Trinity didn't hesitate. She scooped the kitten into her arms, cradling her securely against her chest and grabbed the fleece blanket they'd bought less than twelve hours ago.
Yolanda grabbed her wallet and slipped her feet into the first pair of shoes she found. Only as she reached for the front door did her eyes briefly pass over the living room.
Water still glistened across the hardwood. Picture frames remained scattered where they'd fallen. Dark soil covered nearly half the rug, and the shattered terracotta pot lay abandoned beside the bookshelf.
But she barely registered any of it. The plant could wait. The mess could wait. Even the heart that had sunk at the sight of the broken philodendron would have to wait. Right now, all that mattered was the tiny black kitten tucked safely in Trinity’s arms as they hurried out the front door.
The waiting room at the emergency vet was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday morning. Trinity hadn't stopped stroking the kitten's head since they'd left the apartment, absentmindedly whispering little reassurances every few minutes despite the fact that the kitten looked perfectly content bundled up in the blanket.
The receptionist smiled as they hurried over. "What's brought you in today?"
"We think she chewed a heartleaf philodendron," Yolanda explained. "She's only a few months old."
The receptionist nodded sympathetically and began typing. "Okay. What's her name?"
Yolanda and Trinity looked at each other.
“Uhh..well..” Trinity started.
"...Pluto," Yolanda blurted.
Trinity's eyebrows shot up, but before either of them could question it, the receptionist had already typed it into the computer.
"And Pluto's about six-seven months old?"
"I think so," Trinity answered. "Around that."
A few minutes later they were sitting in an exam room while the veterinarian gently examined the kitten. Other than being thoroughly offended by having her mouth inspected, she seemed entirely unfazed by the ordeal.
"It looks like she only managed to chew on it," the veterinarian said after finishing the examination. "I can't see any significant irritation, but I'd like to give her something to settle her stomach just in case. She should be absolutely fine."
The relief that washed over both of them was almost tangible.
"While she's here," Yolanda said, exchanging a quick glance with Trinity, "would it make sense to get her vaccinations done too?"
The veterinarian smiled. "I was actually about to suggest the same thing."
The kitten objected loudly to the injections, voicing her complaints with a series of dramatic little meows before immediately accepting the handful of treats she'd been offered afterwards. By the time they were checking out, she was happily crunching away in Trinity's lap as though nothing remotely upsetting had happened.
"I think she's recovered remarkably quickly," Yolanda murmured.
"I think she's just incredibly food motivated." Trinity laughed and kept stroking the kitten.
The drive home was easier, the air was less charged.
The kitten had tired herself out after thoroughly protesting her vaccinations and was now curled into a sleepy little ball in Trinity's lap, one paw draped lazily over her wrist while she absentmindedly scratched behind her ears.
For a while, neither of them said anything. It wasn't until they stopped at a red light that Trinity finally broke the silence.
"...Pluto?"
Yolanda glanced over. "Hm?"
"Out of every name in the world..." Trinity smiled. "Pluto?"
Yolanda huffed out a quiet laugh. "I kind of panicked. I just... said the first thing that came to mind."
Trinity tilted her head, studying her for a moment.
Yolanda continued, "When I was little, my dad bought me one of those glow-in-the-dark solar system kits. We spent an entire afternoon sticking all the planets to my bedroom ceiling. I used to lie awake every night looking at them."
Yolanda's eyes stayed on the road, though the corners of her mouth softened.
"A few years later everyone was talking about how Pluto wasn't a planet anymore, and I remember crying because I thought they'd... kicked it out."
Trinity laughed quietly. "You cried over Pluto?"
Yolanda deadpanned. "I was ten."
"I'm not judging." Trinity smirked.
"My dad told me it didn't matter what scientists decided to call it. Pluto was still out there doing exactly what it'd always done." Yolanda shrugged one shoulder. "I don't know why I remembered that then."
Trinity looked down at the tiny black kitten sleeping soundly in her lap.
"I like it."
"You do?"
She nodded, "It's small, stubborn, and somehow ended up exactly where it was supposed to be."
Yolanda smiled. "...Yeah."
"I think Pluto suits her." Trinity whispered. Yolanda reached across the centre console and intertwined their fingers.
When they finally got home, the apartment looked exactly as they'd left it. The puddles had begun to dry into uneven patches across the hardwood, tiny muddy paw prints still wandered across the floor, and the shattered remains of the terracotta pot lay scattered beneath the bookshelf. Yolanda crouched beside it, gently lifting one of the trailing vines from the soil.
That plant had never just been a plant. It had been the first thing Trinity had ever bought her, back when they were still figuring each other out, and she'd spent the last three years watching it grow alongside everything else they'd built together. Every new leaf that unfurled after that reminded her of another season they'd made it through together.
She should've been devastated.
Instead, she found herself looking over her shoulder. Trinity was sitting cross-legged on the rug with Pluto sprawled in her lap, smiling as the kitten lazily batted at the drawstring on her hoodie, blissfully unaware she'd nearly given both of them a heart attack this morning.
The pot could be replaced, she could even salvage cuttings from the vines. As long as Pluto was okay, the rest of it didn’t seem nearly as important anymore. It was only so special because Trinity had given it to her. And right now, Trinity was sitting ten feet away, smiling down at the tiny life they'd somehow managed to rescue together.
This, Yolanda thought, was worth far more than any plant because some gifts simply grew in different ways.
Yolanda brushed the last of the soil from her hands before carrying the salvaged cutting into the kitchen, setting it carefully in a glass of water. It would either take root or it wouldn't, she'd worry about that later.
When she wandered back into the living room, Pluto was wiggling in Trinity's lap, her tiny body curled against her stomach while Trinity scratched beneath her chin. Yolanda lowered herself onto the floor beside them, stretching her legs out with a quiet sigh before leaning sideways until her shoulder rested against Trinity's.
Neither of them said anything. Trinity simply tilted her head until it came to rest against Yolanda's, never taking her eyes off the kitten.
Pluto stirred at the shift in position. She blinked sleepily, gave a dramatic little stretch that extended from the tips of her ears all the way down to her tail, then reached one tiny paw forward.
It landed, almost unintentionally, against the side of Yolanda's thigh.
Yolanda looked down at it as though the kitten had just handed her the keys to the city.
"Trin," she whispered.
Trinity followed her gaze and smiled immediately. "Look at that."
"She touched me." Yolanda could barely conceal the excitement in her voice.
"She did." Trinity softened at Yolanda’s candor. Who knew Dr. Garcia would be so soft for an annoying little kitten.
Pluto didn't so much as open her eyes again. Her paw remained draped lazily across Yolanda's leg while the rest of her stayed sprawled over Trinity’s lap, purring loud enough that Yolanda could feel the vibration through her pants.
Very carefully, as though any sudden movement might change her mind, Yolanda rested one finger over the tiny paw.
Pluto didn't pull away.
Trinity bumped her shoulder lightly against Yolanda's.
"See?" she murmured. "She's coming around."
Yolanda smiled, her thumb gently stroking the top of the kitten's paw.
"I'll take what I can get."