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“Alex!” Kara cried out. “What is that?” She pointed out the kitchen window to a furry black creature wandering around outside their house.
Alex joined her at the window to see what she was talking about. “Oh, that's a cat,” she explained. “Let's go see if he's friendly.” She grabbed Kara’s hand and tugged her out the back door.
“What if it's not friendly?” Kara worried.
“Then we'll leave it alone,” Alex shrugged.
The Kryptonian knew that wild animals could be dangerous. She pulled the human to a stop. “I don’t want you to get hurt!”
“It’s OK, Kara. Lots of cats are friendly, and they like to be pet. Here, kitty, kitty!” She made kissy noises and reached her hand out.
“What’s pet?” Kara asked.
The cat trotted happily over, it’s tail straight up in the air, with a little hook at the end. He sniffed Alex’s hand and then rubbed against it.
“This,” Alex said, stroking the cat’s head and back.
Kara watched in fascination. “What does he feel like?”
“He’s soft,” Alex smiled. “Touch him.”
“I’m afraid I’ll hurt him,” Kara worried. “I haven’t got full control of my powers yet.”
“Here,” Alex took Kara’s hand and pulled her down to the cat’s level. He sniffed her hand and rubbed against it, just like he had with Alex.
“Oh!” Kara beamed. “He is soft!” She held still while the kitty rubbed against her hand. Then Alex used her own hand to push Kara’s along the back of the cat, letting her feel the full softness of his fur. The feline emitted a low rumble from his chest. “What is that?” she worried.
“He's purring,” Alex explained. “That means he likes you.”
She smiled a mile wide, and Alex grinned back at her. “Oh my goodness! I love him!”
Alex chuckled.
“Will you help me learn to be able to pet him on my own?” she begged.
“Of course,” Alex replied easily.
Kara smiled and hugged the human. “Thanks, Alex!”
“Oof!” Alex grunted at the strength of her hold.
“Sorry!” She loosened her grip a bit before letting go.
“It’s OK. I know how you get when you’re excited.”
“Sorry,” she repeated.
“Stop apologizing.”
The cat meowed and rubbed against their legs.
“Let’s get him some food,” Alex suggested. She tugged Kara back into the house, and they dug around in the cupboards and came back out with a can of tuna fish.
The cat chowed down on the tuna and when he was finished, he ran out to the ledge overlooking the water and layed down to start cleaning himself.
Kara watched him in fascination, first as he ate, and then as he bathed and went to sleep. After he’d been asleep for a few minutes, Alex took her hand and lead her back inside.
“Come on, Kara, I’ll help you learn to pet the cat.”
She followed her human ambassador inside. Once they were in the living room, Alex turned so they stood face to face, then she held out her arms.
“We'll start with a hug. I know you love those,” Alex smile gently.
Kara nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, you give the best hugs! Oh! Don't tell your mom I said that. She might get her feelings hurt.”
Alex smirked. “I won't tell her. Come here.” She wrapped her arms around the blonde and pulled her in. Once Kara’s arms were around her, she slowly stroked Kara’s spine from her neck to her lower back, again and again.
The Kryptonian hugged Alex a little tighter. “Ooh, no wonder cats like this,” she nuzzled into Alex’s neck, making the human giggle. “I would be purring too, if I could!”
Alex giggled again. “OK, now you do that to my back too,” she directed.
Kara shook herself out of her pleasure-induced stupor to obey. She mimicked Alex's stroking, moving her hand up and down her spine.
“Softer,” Alex urged, still moving her hand in tandem with Kara’s.
Kara adjusted her strength and stroked Alex’s back with a bit less force.
“That’s a good pressure for a human, but you have to be a little gentler for a cat,” Alex encouraged.
Kara tried to be softer.
“There,” Alex patted her. “That’s probably about perfect. Do that some more, so your muscle memory picks it up.”
Kara stroked Alex’s back over and over again, enjoying the way her human was practically melting into her while they petted each other’s backs. There was so much peace and comfort in this. She didn’t want it to end. She lost track of time as they stood there in the middle of the living room stroking each other.
Before they knew it, Jeremiah was coming through the front door, home from work for the day. “Hey girls!” he greeted them cheerfully.
Alex jumped back in alarm, disturbing their quiet embrace. “Uh, hey, dad!” she answered.
“Everything OK?” he asked.
“Of course,” Alex replied quickly.
“I saw a cat!” Kara told him jubilantly.
Jeremiah smiled, “Oh? Where?”
“He was running around our backyard,” Alex explained.
Kara beamed, “He’s so soft! I love him so much!”
“Hmm, I wonder who he belongs to,” Jeremiah said.
Alex shrugged. “I don’t know that he belongs to anybody. He doesn’t have a collar or anything, and he seemed pretty hungry.”
“You think he’s a stray?” Jeremiah inquired.
“Yeah, maybe,” said Alex.
Kara frowned, “What’s a stray?”
“It means he doesn’t have a home,” Jeremiah explained.
Kara’s heart clenched. “You mean he’s all alone?”
“Maybe,” he confirmed.
Tears started running down Kara’s cheeks, “I don’t want him to be alone!”
“Aww!” Jeremiah put his arms around her. “Don’t worry, cats are good at taking care of themselves.”
Jeremiah’s arms were not nearly as comforting as Alex’s. She reached out for her human, and Alex held her and shushed her.
“It’s OK, Kara. If we see him again, we’ll make sure he eats and gets plenty of love, OK?”
“You promise?” she sniffled.
“I promise,” Alex assured.
This appeased the Kryptonian, and she started to calm down.
“Tell you what,” said Jeremiah, “Why don’t we run up to the grocery store and get a little bit of cat food, just in case he comes back?”
Kara smiled through her tears, “Can we go right now?”
“Sure, kiddo,” Jeremiah smiled back at her. “Come on,” he lead the girls out to the car, and they headed to the grocery store.
Kara was amazed at all the different kind of food they had for cats, and she was glad that Jeremiah and Alex were there to help her choose. They picked out a few different flavors of canned food and headed back home. They put the cans in the kitchen pantry and agreed to feed the stray black cat, if he came to visit again.
Much to Kara’s delight, the cat came back day after day, usually around dinner time. She would feed him every night, and every night, she got Alex to practice petting with her. After a couple of weeks, she was finally brave enough to touch the cat all by herself. He purred, just like the first time, and it made Kara’s heart ache with love. When Alex told her she was proud of her, Kara couldn’t have been prouder herself. She beamed at her human ambassador. This was one of the first times since she’d been on earth that she actually felt… human… instead of alien. The only other thing that ever made her feel at home on this planet was Alex. It was nice to have this now. Kara named the cat Streaky because of the way he always ran around the grass in the backyard chasing grasshoppers and things. Alex didn’t like the name, but she didn’t care. It was her cat now.