Work Text:
The alleyway had always been home.
It was consistently old and wet, the smell of rotting paper hanging heavy in the air, but from the moment she peered out over the top of the discarded box it was nothing if not a jungle of monochrome wonder. There was so much to see and explore, new things piled up every day from tin cans full of rubbish to boxes full of old magazines and sometimes even food. Sometimes two-legs came in but they never stayed too long. There was too much filth... but it was her filth.
Her little cave of warmth was insulated with a faded pink threadbare blanket, once littered with rainbow unicorns was long-gone. It left behind a matted mess of thread and fabric that was no longer the same colour it used to be. Over time other things were added to the box she'd claimed from her adventures. A doll without an arm and a missing button eye, some feathers from birds that flew overhead and some new scrap fabric that had blown in from the world outside.
It might not be the best place to live, other people like her came and went, the only consistency was her. This was her home and she'd defend it to the end even if her fur was filthy and her roars were tiny. In this jungle she was the mighty hunter, everything else was prey and no one would dare take it away from her, even the two-legs. Sometimes it was hard to understand them and the noises that they made. They called her unwashed, greasy and dirty as they walked on by with her people collared and leashed, looking proudly groomed, warm and adequately fed.
Sometimes as she slept curled up in her nest for protection from the cold, she would dream of being collared and warm, happy as well as content. When there was no food to be had and mice were scarce she would dream of a full tummy and a two-legger who liked to stroke her fur instead of kick her away. Even the unwashed misfits in alleyways and harsh jungles needed to be loved.
As the weather started to turn cold and the sky started to darken earlier she found herself thinking about another winter with only eating once or twice a week. She liked to think she was good at catching food, the only problem was that it became harder and harder when the weather went foul. Each season she was forced to go further and further and further out into the world beyond only this time it was entirely different.
A two-legger came into her alley, he was wrapped up with something around his neck and a dome of cloth over his head, muttering words she couldn't understand. Not that she ever could anyway. He opened a bin lid and lifted a black bag out, the blonde fur on his head was shiny and long. She thought about playing with it as she crept forward to investigate what he was doing. Maybe she needed to chase him away like she did with the rest, she was fierce in the protection of her home after all.
He shoved the bag back in the bin and her ears twitched when she heard a ping, the sound of something hard dropping and rolling to the ground. From where she was hiding she could see a wheel of metal travelling across the wet ground. Her tail jerked and she lunged forward, catching in in her paws only to slide across the ground, howling loudly.
A loud crash echoed through the alley after she slammed into a pile of discarded cans and boxes, sending them falling down on top of her. Dazed and slightly confused her body twisted as she tried to get out of the rubbish pile, something grabbed her from behind and she roared loudly, or as loud as she possibly could to order the two-legger to release her.
He chuckled. "Aren't you a dirty little thing?" His laughter grew when she tried to swipe at his face, his free hand coming up to take a paw between his fingers. "I bet you're really pretty if you were cleaned up and had a nice bath." His mouth pressed in a thin line and he glanced back at the entrance to the alley, "I wonder if Sho will say no to having a kitty cat?" he asked no one in particular. "He does like cats."
She hissed, his hands lifting her higher up in the air as if he was searching for something. "And you're a girl." His fingers lightly rubbed along her paw and down to the ground where he'd picked her up, "clever kitty. You found my ring. Now I don't have to tell him I lost it. It'll be our little secret." He took the fabric from around his neck and wrapped her in it so he could stop her from fleeing. "Right, one dirty kitty and one engagement ring," he grinned triumphantly after he’d picked the metal up off the ground. "Now quickly before Sho gets home."
She couldn't see much from inside the confines of the scarf, tempted the claw her way out of her new fabric prison, the thought went to the back of her mind when a particularly strong gust of wind blew through the street. Wherever the two-legger was taking her was warmer than her jungle but it felt so far away, she squirmed to try and get her face out, succeeding as they stepped into a big box. What was this? And why was it moving? It made her stomach feel like it was falling and there was something on the wall that had changing lights on it.
More steps and soon she found herself behind a thick barrier, one that prevented her from getting out and going back to her jungle. She yowled and tried to swipe at him only for him to laugh at her futile attempts. He doesn’t put her down, instead moving about and doing things she has no clue about until he goes to sit her down on the ground along with a bowl. She knew what this is, she’s had it before once or twice when someone was feeling generous; it was milk. But was it dangerous? Cautiously she looked up at the two-legger with the fuzzy golden fur on his head, his eyes and hands urging her to go and try it.
“You’re half-starved little kitty. Half-starved and in desperate need of a bath. Maybe you’ll scratch me up less when we get to the bath part.”
Tentatively she steps forward, eyes peering into the bowl as if something was about to jump out and attack. She pushed the bowl with her paw, waiting and waiting until satisfaction crept through her that she was safe. The first assault on her tongue was glorious, it’s sweet if not a little watery but sweet all the same. She starts lapping it up as if the milk were to suddenly disappear, it doesn’t, not in the way that she was to expect.
Her tummy feels full for the first time but really it was only a peace offering for what comes next.
Water...lots and lots of water. Of course she tries to fight the two-legger off, it’s almost like he’s trying to drown her. She almost feels bad for scratching up his hands...almost. Eventually when she escapes she doesn’t run or hide, instead jumps to the safety of a shelf above the dirty pool of death, pausing to lick her paws and glare triumphantly at him as if to say ha ha, I win.
“And you’re a smug little shit too.”
Despite this, she can see her own fur for the first time in a long time, it’s a shade of light brown, less dirty, more natural and it doesn’t feel like there’s anything stuck in her coat. She lickes her paw again and proceeds to wash so she can ride her body of the fruit smell that now covers her. She doesn’t like it one bit.
Both of them hear a noise further but the two-legger doesn’t seem bothered by it regardless of her. “Babe I’m home, I got fried chicken. I don’t feel like cooking tonight.”
“Coming!” He slips the metal on his finger and gets up off the cold floor, red eyes focused on her as he motions for her to come down. “Come on kitty cat, there’s more milk where it came from and I think there’s some left overs from last night. There’s food and if Sho says we can keep you tomorrow we’re off to the vets.”
Whatever a vet was she did not like the sound of, but it was the offer of more milk and food that might have put her a little at ease. She wagged her tail and pounced, landing right on his chest with the intention of jumping again only for him to put his arms around her. “Don’t jump again little kitty, you’re safe here, I promise.”
She swatted his nose, not with her claws out this time but just the pads on her paws making him laugh. “Alright, alright, I’ll get you your food. Tiny dictator.”
He carried her back out to where the milk bowl was, a second two-legger occupied the space and he had her bowl in his hands. “Hizashi why is there an empty bowl of milk on the floor?”
“Because our new roommate was hungry.” He held her out in front of him so her legs and tail dangled in the air, “look Sho, she’s a cutie isn’t she?”
“What new room-” He stopped speaking once he’d turned around, eyes narrowing when he saw the two of them both wet and partially dripping on the floor. “You found a cat?” His eye was twitching in one corner but he didn’t look angry, he wore a...a look of fondness on his features at the other man holding her. “Hizashi, what are we gonna do with a cat? Where did you find it?”
“Her,” he corrected him. “I found her in the alley beside the apartment building. Gave her a bath, gave her some milk, I think we could keep her you know? So I’ve got some company whilst those troublemakers in your class keep you occupied. Can I please keep her?”
The bowl was sat down and he took a step forward so that he was within her reach, “a cat Hizashi? Really?” She found the black fur on his head completely fascinating as she reached out to swipe it, purring happily.
“See, she likes you!” he pouted. “Please Shouta, can we keep the cat? I’ll take her to the vets and everything!”
“And what are you gonna call her?”
He seemed to think about it for a moment or two but gave it no more thought than that. “Mews
His eye twitched. “You’re not calling the cat Mews.”
“Yes I am. You asked me what I was naming her, her name’s Mews. Just you wait, Shouta, she’ll be a member of this family in no time!”
Of course it didn’t take long for her to warm up to the other two-legger. Names were considered important to them so whenever either of them called out for Mews {usually with accompanying food}, she answered, trotting around her new jungle in the same way she moved about her old one. Of course it was customary to let them think that they owned it but she was only letting them think that.
They had their own names; the man who found her was called Hizashi and the other one was called Shouta. Mews found it odd that they liked to touch their lips together all the time, several times she’d tried to break it up and butt heads with them in order to figure out what they were doing. She came to the conclusion that they were possibly trying to attack each other, maybe they were fighting over dominance to see who could challenge her for ownership of her new home?
It even got so bad that one night Mews found them without their clothes on!
She’d never seen that kind of fighting before but it had to stop, her Hizashi and her Shouta shouldn’t fight and she tried telling them that after she bit one of them on the foot. Neither of them were very happy with her but the fighting stopped. After that they closed her outside and refused to let her in until they were red-faced and finished. Honestly, they were exhausting to look after.
The longer she was there the bigger she got, faster too. Hizashi always took care of her, Shouta too. The pair of them kept her safe and warm even with memories of her jungle fading away every day. Sometimes a smaller two-legger with white fur on her head would come over, she was called Eri but Mews wasn’t sure if she liked her because she took away the other’s attention and tried to dress her up. The first time she came over Mews hid under the lounge for three days until Hizashi lured her out with fresh fish.
Shouta had an armchair by the window that looked out over a forest of green he called a park, whenever he wasn’t sitting on it Mews liked to sleep there for hours and hours bathed in his scent. He only made her move when he wanted to sit there but even after that he let her sit with him, his fingers stroking absently through her fur as she purred herself to sleep.
Her favorite place to be though was curled up on Hizashi’s lap whenever they liked to watch the moving pictures. They’d sit there for ages, feeding her bits of food she’d never normally eat, when the pictures stopped moving they’d go to bed, Mews following them, weaving in and out as they got ready for bed. Most nights they’d let her sleep with them, other nights they shut her out until they were done fighting again {she was starting to think that that’s what Hizashi and Shouta did when they were angry with each other}.
When the next winter rolled around the little girl came to stay, but unlike the other times she didn’t go away and soon she had a place of her own. It was pretty and warm, full of bright colours and so many places for Mews to hide. Where Hizashi and Shouta didn’t have time for Mews, Eri did. She’d play with her and sneak her treats and when Eri cried it made Mews want to keep her safe.
Soon enough her favorite place shifted from Hizashi’s lap and Shouta’s chair to Eri’s bed. At night Mews slept curled up beside her, as far as she was concerned, Eri needed her more, keeping her safe was her priority.
Winter would turn into spring and spring into summer, the seasons would change, but for Mews, as long as her family stayed safe, there was nothing else in the world that she would ever want. She was happy and she was loved.
That’s all anyone really needs.