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Almond scanned the area one last time, looking for any last remnants of wild magic or any more affected cookies. Once everything was to his satisfaction, he pulled out his walkie-talkie.
"Detective Almond to HQ. The situation is under control. No casualties to report. We're wrapping up cleanup as we speak."
"Excellent work, Detective! Once you finish up, your unit is done for the night."
"Understood." Almond put the walkie-talkie away, letting out a weary sigh. The shop where the magic mishap had happened was a complete mess; bottles of potions were shattered all over the floor, books had ruined and torn pages, and the poor shop owner was trying to salvage whatever she could. At the very least, it seemed nobody had gotten hurt, and all the problems that the magic had caused had been fixed.
"Ma'am, do you need any more help?" He asked, looking over the shopkeeper's shoulder at the plant she was scooping back into its pot.
"I'm quite alright, thank you, Detective. You and your team have done more than enough." She placed the plant back on her windowsill, turning back to him with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry for all the trouble. To think, just one little sneeze caused such a big mistake!" She sneezed again, covering it with the sleeve of her robe.
"Alright then, if everything is okay here I'll be going. You have a good night."
As he went for the door, he swore he heard something strange.
Was it a meow?
"Ma'am, you wouldn't happen to have a cat on the premises, would you?" He looked around under the counter and on the lower shelves, trying to locate the source.
"What? Oh, no! I'm terribly allergic!" The shopkeeper shook her head frantically.
"I could have sworn I heard something… gah!"
A black paw reached out from one of the shelves, batting at Almond's coat.
"Gotcha." He pushed a few books aside and pulled out the culprit: A black cat with a fluffy tail, glowing yellow eyes and… a tiny pair of bat wings?
The shopkeeper stared wide-eyed. "Oh goodness, how did it get in here!?"
"It must have wandered in and hid when it heard all the commotion. I don't see a collar or anything." Almond mused, holding the cat at arm's length as it tried to paw at his face. "What's with the wings?"
"They look to be some sort of magic, but it couldn't have been my spell. It doesn't have anything to do with giving something wings…" she stepped closer to get a better look, but let out another loud sneeze. "I-I'm sorry Detective, I can't. My allergies."
Almond took a packet of tissues from his coat pocket, offering them to the shopkeeper with one hand and awkwardly cradling the cat in the other. "That's alright, Ma'am. Do you know if there's an animal clinic around here?"
"There's one not very far from here," She sniffed, "But I think it's closed by now."
Almond looked at the cat tiredly. He wasn't a huge fan of pets, especially anything more difficult to handle than a goldfish, but he wasn't heartless enough to leave the poor thing on the street. "Guess you're staying with me for the night, little guy."
The cat emitted a rumbly purr at the news, nestling deeper into Almond's arms and nuzzling his cheek.
The shopkeeper laughed. "I think it likes you, Detective."
Almond just nodded, leaving the shop and carefully setting the cat down in the passenger seat of his car. It looked around in confusion for a moment, but once the doors were closed it began to relax, curling up on the seat contentedly.
"You know," Almond murmured, "Cookies usually tell me I have a habit of bringing my work home with me, but this is ridiculous…"
___
"Is that a cat?"
Almond smiled at Walnut. "Well hello to you too. Work was fine, thanks for asking. But yes, this is a cat."
Walnut gasped in delight, immediately reaching out to pet it. "It's so cute!"
"Walnut, careful." Almond warned her. Sure, the cat was friendly towards him, and it didn't appear to be sick, but who knows how it'd respond to Walnut?
But, just like with him, the cat melted into Walnut's touch, gently pushing its head into her hand and encouraging her.
"Awww, look! It's friendly!" She glanced at its back. "Why's it have wings?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Almond felt guilty as he broke the next bit of news to her. "Just don't get too attached, okay? I'm taking it to the clinic tomorrow. We're gonna see if it has a chip or something. If not, it'll go to the animal shelter."
Walnut continued to pet the cat,, but looked disappointed by this news. "Oh… Okay."
Almond set the cat down. "Alright buddy, make yourself at home… I guess."
The cat immediately leapt to the windowsill, tilting its head at the sight of a small potted succulent.
Almond narrowed his eyes. He was no expert, but he knew enough about cats to know what was going on there. "Don't you dare."
It stuck its paw out.
Almond stepped closer. "No."
A very slight nudge, pushing the pot dangerously close to the edge of the windowsill.
"I swear to the Millennial Tree-"
One final push and the plant fell.
Almond caught it just before it hit the ground, putting it up on a higher shelf and glaring daggers at the cat. Walnut stifled a giggle behind her hand.
"Hasn't anybody ever told you not to bite the cookie that feeds you?" He asked, sternly pointing to the cat.
As if spurred on by the mere mention of being fed, the cat began to meow loudly.
"Wait a second… you haven't been fed, have you?" He asked, his look softening at the realization.
"You didn't feed it!?" Walnut cried, looking to the cat with a worried expression. "The poor baby's probably starving!"
"I didn't have anything to feed it! Hold on, I think we have some canned tuna…"
He put the tuna in a bowl, and got a separate bowl of water (if the cat was hungry, it was probably thirsty too, right?). As soon as he set them on the floor, the cat ran over to eat. Almond was pretty sure it didn't even come up for air.
"Woah, slow down," He chuckled, "nobody's gonna take it away from you."
"Are you sure we can't keep it, Dad?" Walnut pleaded, "I'd help take care of it and everything!"
Almond shook his head sadly. "We don't know if it belongs to someone else or not. Even then, a pet is a big responsibility, kiddo. I'm away at work all day, and you have school. It'd probably be alone most of the time. And they're expensive to take care of. I'm not even talking about feeding it, playing with it and cleaning up after it. We'd have to get all sorts of supplies, pay vet bills, we'd probably have to get it fixed-"
"Get it fixed? Is it broken?" She asked.
Ah, the innocence of youth. "Erm, not really. It's more like… It's kinda… look, I'll tell you when you're older. The point is, it's a lot of work."
But even as he said it, he couldn't help but feel bad himself. Part of him thought about what it'd be like to have a pet in the apartment. It had been just him and Walnut for a while now. Maybe having something to take care of would be good for them…
No. He had to stand his ground. The cat would stay for the night, but that was it.
As it got late, Almond soon found himself faced with another problem: where was this cat going to sleep?
He found an old blanket and an extra pillow in the closet, arranging them on the floor in a sort of makeshift bed. The cat sniffed at it curiously.
"Go ahead," Almond urged it, "It's for you."
It prodded at the blanket, giving it another sniff before turning its nose up and going back to Almond, bumping its head against his legs.
"Okay, maybe it's just not tired yet…" Almond knelt down to pet between its ears.
Behind him, Walnut yawned. "Well, I am. It can come to sleep in my room. C'mere, kitty!"
But the cat stayed put, staring up at her with its glowing yellow eyes.
"Please?" She tried to pick it up, but it squirmed out of her arms and nuzzled at Almond again, much to her frustration.
Almond snickered, shaking his head at the whole thing. "Sorry, kiddo. They'll sleep when they're tired."
Walnut pouted, but seemed to admit defeat. "Fine. Goodnight dad, goodnight kitty."
"Goodnight, sweetheart."
When she was in her room, Almond finally felt the exhaustion catch up with him. Once all the lights were out, he went to the bathroom to get ready for some well-earned sleep.
"Oop!"
He stumbled over something, barely catching himself on the doorframe. He glanced back. He could barely make out anything, but he could have spotted those eyes from a mile away.
"A little warning would be nice." He grumbled. He'd definitely have to get it some sort of bell collar, just to make it easier to-
Wait. Right. He wasn't keeping the cat. No need to worry about something like that. It was just his sleepy brain on autopilot, nothing more.
Even while Almond brushed his teeth, the cat followed him, sitting dutifully by his feet and watching him. It eventually got distracted by a bug crawling along the floor, chasing after it excitedly. That was fine with him, at least it was occupied.
Almond had never been more relieved to get to bed. He closed his eyes, ready to drift off quickly and be well-rested for the next day.
That is, until he found himself startled awake by a sudden weight on his stomach.
"Ah!" He cried out, cracking an eye open, "Walnut, what did I tell you about-"
But all he saw was a pair of wings and a fluffy tail that swiped across his face.
Of course.
The cat turned around a few times, pawing at Almond like it was kneading dough. It was almost relaxing, oddly enough, but he wasn't any less annoyed.
"You can't stay here." He said, as if the cat would listen.
It began settling down, curling into a ball and placing its head right beneath his chin.
"Hey, are you deaf? Don't get comfortable." Almond nudged it gently, pushing it off his stomach and trying to move it off the bed. That lasted all of a few seconds before it jumped back up and onto him once more.
Perhaps a compromise was in order.
"Okay, here's the deal," he shifted to the side, leaving an open space next to him, "this is my side of the bed, and that's your side. You can stay on the bed, but you gotta stay on your side. Okay?" He pulled his half of the blanket back over him, trying to finally get some sleep.
Within a minute, he felt that tail brush over his face again.
"That is not your side of the bed."
Almond turned as best as he could, seeing the cat snuggled up to his side and fast asleep. Even in its sleep, its tail twitched slightly, occasionally smacking at him.
Well, at least one of them was comfortable.
"Eh, forget it." He pulled the other half of the blanket up to cover the cat, and simply laid there, watching it. The slow, steady rhythm of its breathing was soothing, and he felt his eyelids getting heavy…
___
Almond woke up with a mass of black fur in his field of vision.
"Uh… good morning?"
A furry face came into view, and he felt the purr more than he heard it. The cat had made itself comfortable on his chest once again.
"Alright, time to rise and shine. Let's go. Up." Almond tried to sit up, but the cat was pretty solidly pinning him down.
"C'mon, move it."
The cat put its head down again, ready to fall back asleep on its new favorite perch. This called for drastic measures.
"... you want some tuna?"
The cat flicked its ears at the promise of food, and in one leap it was off the bed and at the door, mewling at Almond until he got up.
Once the cat was fed, he went to meet Walnut at the kitchen table. Like usual, he wouldn't have time to eat anything before he left, but he could spare a few minutes to spend time with her before the school bus came.
"So are you taking Marzipan to the vet today?" She asked.
"Who?"
She pointed at the cat.
Almond pinched the bridge of his nose in his frustration. "You named the cat?"
"Uh-huh. It's a cute name, isn't it? I wasn't sure if it was a boy or a girl so-"
"Walnut, that's not the point! You can't name it, or else you're gonna get attached to it! We don't even know if it has an owner!" He explained. As much as he understood her enthusiasm, he knew it'd be worse for her to get her hopes up.
"Well what else am I supposed to call it?"
"Nothing! Because it's not our cat!" Almond looked at his watch. "Crap, I'm gonna be late. I need to get to the clinic before I have to be in for work. Finish your food quickly so you don't miss the bus, okay?"
"Can I say goodbye to the cat first?" Walnut knelt on the floor next to it.
Almond felt that guilt settle in again. Walnut was just being a kid. He couldn't blame her for getting attached to the cat so quickly. Even he had to admit he'd be a bit sad to see it go…
"Okay. Just make it quick." He said.
Walnut hugged the cat close, pressing her cheek to its fur and visibly trying not to cry. "Bye, Marzipan. I'm gonna miss you… don't forget about me, okay?"
It meowed quietly in response, like it was trying to answer. Even Almond was getting emotional just looking at it.
"... Alright kiddo, we gotta go." He gently took the cat from Walnut, giving her a peck on the forehead right before he stepped out the door.
It was a cold, brisk morning. Almond shivered, buttoning up his coat. He heard another soft mew, barely audible above the wind. The cat was huddled against him, trying to shield itself as best it could.
Almond couldn't just let that happen. Damn his paternal instincts.
"C'mere." He unbuttoned his coat just far enough to place the cat between his chest and the warm fabric. Once he buttoned it back up until just the cat's head was poking out, the meows stopped, replaced once again by satisfied purring.
Well, he wasn't gonna say no to a little extra warmth either.
___
"Alright sir, you said you found a stray cat?"
"Sure did." Almond pulled the cat out of his coat and set it on the examining table. "I didn't find a collar or anything. Figured I'd come here, see if it's chipped."
The vet hummed in thought, carefully examining the cat and gently lifting a wing. "And the wings?"
"Some kind of magic, don't know anything more than that. It was like that when I found it."
"Well, strictly from eyeballing her, she doesn't appear to be sick or pregnant. And she certainly doesn't match any missing pet reports, I feel like I'd know if someone reported a missing cat with bat wings." The vet said, letting go of the wing.
"Huh, so Marzipan's a girl…" Almond whispered to himself. Maybe he should have checked for that earlier.
"How do you know the cat's name? I thought she wasn't collared."
"Huh? Oh!" Almond shook his head, "No, no, that's not her name. That was just what my daughter called her."
"I see… well, the examination may take a while. I wouldn't want to hold you up any more than I have to, I understand you need to be at work soon. I normally don't do this, but you can leave the cat here for now. We'll run some tests on her and see if she has a chip. If we can't get in contact with an owner, I'll take her to the shelter."
"Sounds good to me." Almond pet the cat's head again. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, huh? Be a good girl for the vet."
Just as he got to the door, he heard a quiet "No, don't-" and she was right behind him.
"I've gotta go, I'm sorry!" He told her.
The cat meowed in defiance, clinging to Almond's leg. He winced when he felt claws dig into his skin.
"I'm so sorry, sir, let me just grab her." The vet gently pried her off of Almond, lifting her back onto the table. "Take care."
Almond tried to focus on work, but he kept thinking back to the cat. He thought about the way she never left his side, the way she purred whenever he was near her. He'd never experienced an animal being so attached to him, almost like a child to their parent.
It was probably just because she was a stray, he figured. She didn't want to be left alone, especially not by the cookie who'd taken her in for the night and given her food and a warm place to stay. He was only snapped out of his thoughts by a call from HQ, calling him out to inspect a mishap at the library.
The cat would be taken care of at the shelter. He was sure of it. And that was assuming that there wasn't a worried (if not somewhat irresponsible) owner looking for her, searching high and low for their beloved pet.
And yet there were no missing pet posters. Nobody in the area asked if anybody had seen such an odd looking cat. Surely someone, anyone , was looking out for this cat, right?
"What's with you, Detective Almond? You kinda seem off your game today…" a concerned rookie had piped up when they saw him.
"Everything's fine," he assured them, "Just… thinking about a tough decision…"
But it shouldn't have been a tough decision. It should have been so easy. If the cat had an owner, she'd be reunited with them. If not, she'd be taken care of at the shelter until she was adopted into a loving home. A loving home with some other guy, and maybe a child of his own, and she would be fed and cared for and the kid would hug her tightly and maybe she'd be allowed to sleep on the bed as long as she stayed on her side-
… shit.
He could hardly wait until he was dismissed for the night. But this time, he wasn't looking forward to heading straight home, having a warm meal with his daughter and getting some sleep. He found himself punching the number into his cell phone at an alarming speed.
"You've reached Doctor-"
"Hi, hello. I was the one who brought in the cat?"
There was a pause.
"... The one with the bat wings." He elaborated.
"Ohhh, her! She was a bit of a handful, but we managed to get her to stay still for the tests." The vet laughed.
"Is everything alright?" Almond asked, no longer caring about masking his concern.
"Oh yes, she's fit as a fiddle. She wasn't chipped though. And nobody came to pick her up…" they sounded sad as they said this, and that made Almond even more frantic.
"Really? Nobody?"
"Not a soul. This sort of thing happens all the time. Especially considering the spell that was cast on her… My guess is that some wizard was using her as a test subject for a spell, then put her out on the street when she wasn't useful anymore. Poor thing…"
Almond felt his hand ball up into a fist. The absolute nerve, for someone to just mistreat a defenseless animal and then throw them out like a broken toy! He didn't even want to imagine what else could have happened to her, or what could happen to her...
At that moment, something inside him snapped.
"Is she still at the clinic?" He kept his voice measured despite his anger.
"Yes, we just called someone from the shelt-"
"Tell them not to come. She's coming home with me."
"What? But you said-"
"I know what I said," he cut them off impatiently as he got into his car, "But I've changed my mind. I'd rather not take my chances of her not going to a good home. As far as I'm concerned, she has a home, and it's with me. Please just keep an eye on her until I get there."
"I… Okay, sir. I can do that."
"Thanks."
When he hung up, he let out a deep breath.
He was wrong before. This was an easy decision.
___
The cat was overjoyed to see Almond, jumping into his arms the second he was in the door.
"Haha, hey Marzipan. You miss me?" He scratched behind her ears, her delighted purr like music to his ears.
"Ugh, tell me about it." The vet grinned wearily. "She wouldn't stop meowing the second she heard me talking to you."
"Geez, my own kid was never as clingy as you," he teased, "but I get it. You don't wanna be left alone again, huh?"
Marzipan stared at him, the adoration clear in her eyes. It was a look of pure, unadulterated happiness. The look of someone who knew that she was really, truly home.
Or maybe she was just excited to get fed again. But Almond could dream, couldn't he?
He held her closer, almost afraid to let go. "Don't worry Marzipan. You're not gonna be left behind anymore. Never again. I promise."
___
It didn't take long for Marzipan to make herself at home once again. Walnut freaked out, as expected, but mellowed out considerably once she was actually tasked with taking care of the cat. Except for litter box duty. Almond wasn't that cruel.
It wasn't perfect. Going from completely pet-free to having a cat overnight was a huge adjustment. A pretty expensive adjustment, but nothing Almond couldn't handle. There were days when Marzipan would break something, or get dirty paw prints all over his paper. And that wasn't even counting all the mornings he woke up with her butt right in his face or a hairball on his sheets.
But in his mind, they were secondary to everything else. The peaceful nights spent reading on the couch with Marzipan curled up in his lap. The morning rush where she acted as a living alarm clock, yowling outside Almond and Walnut's doors until they were out of bed, only to then demand pets for her job well done. Even something as simple as watching her play with a toy or dutifully guard the house from bugs.
Maybe Almond was going soft. Maybe he should have just brought Marzipan to the shelter that night.
But he was glad he didn't.