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“Why am I the one who gets to take care of the bloody cat…”
Nano’s grumbling barely reached her own ears, much less the ears of her fellow shoppers as she walked through the store. She remembered exactly how she ended up taking care of her friend’s cat for the next month, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.
“Sooo I’ll be going away for a bit to visit family and take a vacation, but of course I can’t bring a cat with me.” Nano had rolled her eyes at her friend, who was clearly and not-so-subtly laying down hints for her.
“And what does that have to do with me, Nilesy?” She humored her friend for a bit, just to see how far around the bush he’d decide to beat before asking her straight-up.
“Well I can’t just leave poor Lyndon at any old place! He’s a rather spoiled cat, you know.” Nilesy had looked at Nano hopefully, doing his best to appeal to her soft spot for animals. “And he has taken a liking to you, as opposed to a disliking. So that’s a start.”
“Lyndon is just as friendly with Lomadia,” Nano had observed, playing oblivious to what Nilesy was asking of her for just a bit longer.
“But Lomadia has her birds, Nano! You know Lyndon isn’t good with birds.” At this point, Nilesy’s voice had taken on an almost begging tone, and finally Nano couldn’t take it anymore as she burst out laughing.
“Alright, alright, don’t worry yourself too much! I can take Lyndon in while you’re gone, as long as he promises not to tear my flat apart while he’s there.” Nilesy had assured her quickly that he could be rather well behaved when he wanted to, and immediately began to bombard her with directions on taking care of his beloved cat as soon as he’d gotten his appreciation across.
“Bloody ‘easy to take care of’ my arse,” she muttered, pulling out the list Nilesy had scrawled for her on the back of a napkin. Detailing the basic necessities of housing a cat, the list covered nearly the entire surface that it was written on, though that was partly the fault of Nilesy’s handwriting. Most of the things written down were coming straight from Nilesy’s place when he dropped off Lyndon in a few days, but there were a few things she had been sent to pick up regardless. Among those items were a bag of food and litter box filling, since Nilesy was running low on both. To his credit, he did offer to pay her for her cat-sitting services; Nano had, however, convinced him that just repaying her for the things she had to buy for Lyndon was more than enough.
Looking up from the list, Nano scanned the shelves in front of her, which were filled with various brands of dry cat food. Squinting to read Nilesy’s scrawl across the napkin, she continued to pace slowly down the aisle, glancing at the bagged food in front of her every few steps. She lit up for a moment as she found the brand she assumed Nilesy had written down for her, based on her best interpretation of his handwriting, only to sigh in defeat a second later when she realized it was sitting on the highest shelf.
For what wasn’t the first time, Nano cursed her short stature under her breath, looking around for someone she could ask for assistance. The only person in sight was an older lady rounding a corner who looked like she could barely push the trolley she had, much less help Nano with her predicament. She prepared herself to scale the shelves in order to obtain the cat food she had set out to get, placing her foot on the lowest shelf to propel herself high enough to hopefully reach the bag without dropping it on herself.
“Hey, do you need some help?” The voice came from beside her, startling her into a yelp and causing her foot to slip. It hit the floor with a soft thud, and she leaned backwards quickly to avoid whacking her head on the shelf in front of her.
“N-no thanks, I got it,” Nano stammered, turning to face the source of the voice. Her face was burning with embarrassment as she met the stranger’s questioning gaze. His blue eyes were alight with what could only be amusement, though to his credit he’d limited his facial expression to a raised eyebrow and a half-smile. He was tall, much taller than her - though that wasn’t exactly saying much, all things considered - with messy blond hair and… “Are those goggles?” Nano’s hands flew to cover her mouth, not having meant to say that out loud to the tall stranger. He laughed good-naturedly, a real smile spreading across his face.
“Yeah, though they get me some weird looks at times.” He pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants, pushing back what appeared to be a lab coat as he shrugged noncommittally. “I think they look cool. Though not as cool as those.” He inclined his head with a teasing grin toward her arms, which were currently covered in purple stains from her latest project. Nano blushed again, pulling them behind her back as best she could.
“Accident in the studio,” she mumbled, her brown eyes flicking in every direction but where the stranger was standing, before settling on the floor at her feet. The stranger chuckled, calling her attention back to his face. “What?”
“It’s not a bad thing. Like I said, I think it looks cool. And purple is a good color.” He gestured to his shirt underneath the lab coat, which was a rather nice shade of purple, if Nano did say so herself. She noticed a name tag pinned to the shirt, boldly proclaiming the stranger’s name was Lalna; she wondered briefly if he was a pharmacist worker, with the lab coat and all. “Though unless the coolness of the purple gives you some magical ability, I still think you could use some help.”
“H-hey!” she sputtered indignantly, crossing her arms in attempt to seem tough. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lalna laughed again, gesturing toward the shelves above her.
“You were trying to get a bag of cat food - this one, was it?” He pulled the bag she had been trying to get down from the higher shelf, seeming like he didn’t even have to make an effort to reach it, and placed it in her trolley. “There you go.”
“Oh, um, thanks.” Lalna waved in acknowledgement of her gratitude, using the gesture as a farewell as he grinned and walked away. Nano watched his retreating form, noticing the laid-back confidence his stride conveyed as he disappeared around the corner of the aisle. She shrugged to herself, grateful that the random encounter had saved her the disgrace of falling or dropping the bag on her own head, and continued on her search for the rest of the items on her list.
Trolley full of cat food, litter box fillings, and other assorted items, Nano approached the checkout lanes, realizing another predicament she had to take care of. She hadn’t considered — among other things such as the difficulty of reaching certain items — how she would carry said items home, particularly the slightly heavier bag of cat food. She sighed again as she paid, debating calling Nilesy to come and help her, but knowing that it would mean waiting for at least an hour till he got to the store.
Stubborn as always, she packed as many of the smaller items into a bag as she could, shouldering that to leave her arms as free as possible. She scooped up the rest of her load into her arms, already groaning at the thought of the moderately long walk back to her flat. She dragged herself out of the store and towards her home, cursing Nilesy and Lyndon under her breath as she went, though without any real hatred.
Nano had barely reached the corner of the current block she was walking before she had to take a break or risk dropping everything. She shuffled to the side of the flow of people, placing the heavier items down carefuly with a wince. Bloody hell, she thought to herself. These things are heavy. After a minute she convinced herself to be on her way again, shouldering the bag once more, despite the protest of her sore shoulder.
“Hey, you need some h- ah, it’s you again.” The stranger from earlier — Lalna, as his name tag had read — was standing next to her again, this time giving an open chuckle as she huffed indignantly.
“Do you just look for people to help or something?” she accused, squinting at him to show she was only half-joking. He shrugged, a gesture that seemed to be of common use for him.
“Only if they’re purple and in need of it,” he teased, picking up the bags of cat food and cat litter filling. Like getting the bag of food down from the high shelf earlier, he made carrying the two heavier items look like a breeze. Nano ducked her head in thanks, switching her burden to the opposite shoulder.
“You have an uncanny ability to be around when I need it most, then. You just saved me from being in pain for a week.” They set off at an easy pace down the street, Nano nearly taking two steps for one of Lalna’s longer strides. “So Lalna, is it? I saw your name tag earlier,” she explained at his questioning look.
“Oh, right. I had just finished my shift when I saw you. Pharmacy worker,” he continued, wrinkling his nose like he’d caught a bad smell. “Not the best job in the world, but it does what it’s meant to do for now. And you…? Well I guess it’d do to ask your name first, since you already know mine.”
“It’s Nano. I’m an assistant at a sound studio nearby.” Talking to him was easy, like being with an old friend. “We were re-painting today, which led to the purple incident.” Lalna chuckled again at the reminder of her purple-stained arms, earning him a quick glare from Nano. “I wouldn’t be talking, mister science goggles!”
“Fair enough,” he conceded, though still let out another stifled laugh as they continued on their way. They traded general stories about their past as they went — Nano talking about her history moving around due to her parents’ careers when she was younger, Lalna relating how he had gone to school for an engineering major that he’d yet to do anything with.
Laughing like they’d met weeks ago instead of just that day by the time they arrived at Nano’s flat, she dug out her keys and invited him in for a bit, offering him a cup of tea and her thanks once more. He followed her inside and set down his burden where she directed him — a small open space to the side of the dining room — before following her into the kitchen, where she set some water to boil.
“So, I can’t help but notice the distinct lack of a cat,” Lalna commented off-handedly, his curious gaze following Nano as she flitted around the kitchen. She opened a few cupboards, searching for the tea leaves her mum had sent her from home, before turning to place them in a strainer and in the boiling water.
“I don’t have a cat,” Nano replied, earning a confused laugh from her companion. “I have a friend who’s going away for a month, and he needed someone to take care of his cat. So I offered to do it.” She went on to explain her prior conversation with Nilesy, to which Lalna nodded with a chuckle.
“That’s kind of you. Though you might need someone with experience if that cat is even half as pampered as he sounds.Thanks,” he said with a nod as she handed him a steaming cup, lifting it to take a sip.
“Oh trust me, he is. Careful, that’s hot,” Nano warned him just as the tea passed his lips, and she burst into a fit of giggles as he yelped in surprise and his eyes began to water. Much more prepared for the temperature of the fresh drink, she blew lightly before taking a cautious taste from her cup. “I don’t suppose you’d have any suggestions on it then?” Catching the moment of confusion as he recovered from burning his tongue, she clarified, “With taking care of a cat, I mean.”
“Well, if you want, I could help,” he supplied almost hesitantly, his demeanor changing almost instantly to something near being shy. “I mean, I’ve got a cat — well two, actually — of my own, so I know a good bit with taking care of them and all, and —“ He cut himself off, his face going slightly red as he realized he was rambling. Nano giggled again, giving him a bright smile.
“Would you really? I mean, for all I know you’re a crazy scientist who wants to experiment on the poor cat,” she joked, taking a jab at the lab coat he was still wearing.
“How about I prove that I’m not?” Now it was Nano’s turn to blush again at his playful grin, though she attempted to hide it by rolling her eyes. “We could start with lunch?”
“S-sure?” she stammered, tripped up by his sudden offer. She collected herself before speaking again. “I mean, I’ll humor you and take you up on that offer. No harm, right?”
“I’m holding you to that,” Lalna warned her with a grin, carefully finishing his tea and passing the cup when Nano gestured for it. “Thank you.“
“Welcome. And thanks for helping me today, twice.” She flashed him another bright grin, which he returned easily.
“Of course, anything to help the lady in distress,” he teased, chuckling.
“H-hey! Just because I’m short doesn’t mean I’m a damsel in distress!”
“Hm, I guess ‘damsel’ is a bit too dainty for you.”
“Wow,” she replied, drawing out the word with a sarcastic laugh. “I’d say you’re far from being a hero either!” she shot back.
“Well I am a mad scientist, apparently,” Lalna conceded, sending Nano into a fit of giggles again, though even she couldn’t pinpoint exactly why.
“I think you’re okay, mister mad scientist.” She led the way back to the door, opening it for him. “Though I think I’ll still need help with the whole cat business.”
“Consider it done. You could be my apprentice!”
“Apprentice of a mad scientist? Sounds dangerous.”
They laughed at the idea, pausing in the doorway to look at each other. Paired with Nano’s smaller stature, Lalna’s above-average height had her looking up at him, her own joyous smile reflected back at her. The two complemented each other in the strange way of opposites, a way that even they couldn’t deny; though at the time, they didn’t know it.
“I get off of work at noon tomorrow, so we could meet in front of the store, if you’re free?” Lalna suggested, admittedly excited at the prospect of being able to see Nano again the next day. “I’ve got the perfect place for us to try.”
“I have the day off, so that would work,” Nano agreed, already looking forward to the meeting. “I’m always up for an adventure for lunch.”
“Oh, it will be,” he assured her with a chuckle, taking his leave with a last farewell and word of thanks from Nano.
And what an adventure it turned out to be for them both.