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“You want me to what?” Asami asked in absolute confusion, looking between the two friendly faces grinning at her expectantly. A muscular girl with tan skin and short hair along with her younger, more muscly friend looked at each other, thinking of another way to explain themselves. Asami had been sitting on a bench outside her dorm building, reading a book, when the two strangers sat near her, whispering frantically and trying to quiet the mewling kitten in their arms. The girl had pointed to Asami, grinning at her friend and that’s when they had approached her.
“We want you to help us sneak Pabu into the dorm building.” The girl repeated, holding the orange kitten in front of Asami’s face, “You know about the no animal rule.”
“Yeah…?” Asami said slowly, “Why do you need me to help you break the rules though?”
“We need you to distract the RA that sits at the front desk.” The guy said, “That way Korra and I can slip to the elevators.”
“So why can’t one of you do the talking and the other smuggle the cat in?” Asami crossed her arms, feeling like their plan would 100% fail.
“Because Pabu won’t stop making noise,” The girl named Korra said, “Bolin and I will walk in making loud conversation to cover the noise.”
“Yeah Korra would look even weirder if she walked in talking to herself.” Bolin said with a smirk, dodging the smack Korra had coming his way, “By the way, what’s your name before we trust you with this awesome responsibility?”
“Asami.”
“So what do ya say Asami?” Korra said with a grin, holding Pabu over her face, “Oh please help me get upstairs kind stranger, I’d be ever so grateful.” She said in a high pitched voice, wiggling the kitten’s paws. Asami felt heat rise to her neck when she couldn’t decide if the girl or the kitten was more adorable. The two’s faces looked so hopeful that Asami’s will finally broke.
“Just a quick question before I agree to anything,” Asami said, “Why are you trying to sneak this cat into your dorm anyway?”
“We found him on the side of the road, no mama cat in sight,” Bolin said dramatically, snuggling Pabu’s face against his cheek, “We couldn’t leave him there to be smashed by a car or carried away by bloodthirsty vultures!”
“More or less yeah,” Korra said, “The RA on our floor is super chill about animals. The guy next door has a chiuaua.”
“Well its not like you can put him back on the streets,” Asami mused, absentmindedly scratching the purring kitten behind the ears.
“Plus if you help us, you can be Pabu’s honorary godmother.” Korra added, flashing a dazzling smile and putting the kitten in Asami’s arms.
“Yeah you’re already great at it,” Bolin said with admiration, “He hasn’t been this quiet since we found him.” The kitten was now purring contently, his eyes squinted in pleasure as Asami scratched under his tiny chin.
“Okay fine I’ll help,” Asami said, “Only because you guys are very convincing and I have a soft spots for cats.” Korra and Bolin beamed at her, high fiving each other. Korra took Pabu from Asami’s arms to which the kitten immediately started bawling. Korra tried to scratch him behind the ears as Asami had but he kept fussing, ignoring the contact. She looked helplessly at Asami who gently took the kitten from Korra’s arms and cuddled him against her chest. Pabu began to purr again, tucking his tiny head into Asami’s palm.
“Wow he really likes you,” Bolin grinned, “That’s great! Okay new plan!”
“New plan?” Korra and Asami said together.
“This time I’ll woo the desk clerk,” Bolin explained, “You two rush to the elevator and take Pabu to the dorm. I’ll meet you up there once you’re in the clear.”
“It’s worth a shot,” Korra shrugged, looking at Asami, “Even with Bolin’s horrible skills with girls I guess we have a chance.” Bolin look disgruntled at Korra’s remark but went into the building ahead of them to chat up the clerk. Asami pulled the left side of her jacket open and placed Pabu inside, resting him against her other arm.
“Does it look obvious?” Asami asked, moving left and right for Korra to see.
“No… it looks...really great.” Korra said slowly, her eyes lingering a bit longer than necessary, “You ready?”
“Finger’s crossed.” Asami said with a smile. They walked through the automatic doors, Korra laughing loudly as if her and Asami had been having a pleasant conversation this whole time.
“And then I snapped my hockey stick in half!” Korra laughed, “You should’ve seen the referee’s face! He gave me double time in the box!”
“Oh yeah,” Asami said, not knowing a single thing about hockey, “I bet that really boosted your chances of winning the game…?” Korra smirked at Asami who blushed in embarrassment. They were only a few feet away from the elevators when Asami suddenly gasped in pain.
“What’s wrong?” Korra said, glancing back at Bolin who was nearly halfway over the counter, the clerk leaning away in disgust.
“Pabu won’t hold still,” Asami whispered frantically, trying to still the wiggling mound in her jacket, “He’s climbing up my shirt!” To both of their horror, the kitten’s bright orange head popped out of Asami’s jacket collar. He scrambled up onto her shoulder, giving a loud meow of indignation. Korra began to cough as loud as she could while Asami stuffed the kitten back into her jacket.
“Oh no Korra!” Asami practically shouted, “You must come upstairs and get some medicine for that dreadful cough!”
“That would be swell!” Korra shouted back in the best croaky voice she could manage, “Why don’t go to my dorm?” They entered the elevator, jamming the UP button as frantically as they could. The doors finally closed, sealing off their view of the lobby. Asami lifted Pabu out of her jacket and grinned at Korra.
“Wow I can’t believe we pulled that off.” Korra sighed, patting the kitten on his head, “Luckily Bolin trying to climb into that lady’s lap kept her distracted.”
“Where to now?” Asami asked.
“C’mon, our dorm is on the third floor,” Korra said as the elevator gave a shuddering stop.
“No way me too,” Asami said, “How have I never seen you guys before?”
“No idea,” Korra hummed, “Bad timing?” They turned left out of the elevator and walked a ways down the hallway. Korra paused in front of room 3007 and dug around in her hoodie pockets for the key. She unlocked the door and stood aside for Asami to go in first.
“I can’t believe it,” Asami laughed, pinching the bridge of her nose, “You guys live three doors down from me.”
“You’re kidding!” Korra said, “It’s amazing you haven’t been woken up by us at least once.”
“I probably have,” Asami said thoughtfully, “Were you guys the ones that caused that big fire panic a few months back?”
“That was us indeed,” Korra said proudly, “Bolin mixed up the hot pockets instructions and microwaved it for almost thirty minutes.”
“I wanted to strangle whoever did that honestly,” Asami said, “I was in the middle of writing my finals paper.”
“Hopefully we’re on good terms now?” Korra said, flipping on the light and tossing her keys on the unmade bed to the left of the room. Asami closed the door behind her before letting Pabu out of her jacket. He padded across the thin carpet, sniffing everything within reach. Korra filled a small plastic bowl with water and set it beside the black mini fridge in the corner.
“Guess you’ll have to go out and get some supplies huh?” Asami observed, crouching down to pet the kitten pawing impatiently at her shoe.
“Yeah, I wasn’t exactly expecting a new roommate.” Korra said with a laugh, “Man, he really likes you.”
“I had a goldfish once when I was eight.” Asami said, “Must’ve given me natural maternal instincts.”
“I’m just glad Bolin has a soft spot for animals or Pabu would’ve had to stay on the street,” Korra said, “Speaking of roommates what’s your’s like?”
“I don’t have one,” Asami shrugged, “She dropped out the day I moved in and they never gave me a new one.”
“What?” Korra sputtered, “You’re so lucky!”
“Trust me, I know that.” Asami said with a smirk. Pabu mewed loudly, irritated at the lack of attention being paid to him. Asami and Korra sat next to each other, taking turns holding the kitten and feeding him bits of a leftover hamburger Korra found in the fridge. They had just finished arranging a bed for him when Bolin came bustling through the door, his arms full of bags from the local pet shop.
“Santa has arrived!” He announced, setting the bags down with a huff.
“So that’s where you’ve been,” Korra said, “I thought the clerk lady called security on you.”
“Har har,” Bolin said sarcastically, “Excuse me for thinking ahead and getting a ton of cat supplies.”
“Not bad Bolin,” Korra said, rummaging through the bags, “You even picked up some toys.” She took a fake mouse from its package and rolled it towards Pabu who pounced on it immediately. Asami looked down at her phone.
“I should probably get going,” Asami said, getting up from the hard floor, “I’m glad I could help you guys out.”
“Aw you’re leaving?” Korra said with a frown, “You’ll come back and visit again right? Visit Pabu I mean.” She blushed slightly, looking down at the kitten.
“Of course,” Asami said with a warm smile, “I can’t deprive Pabu of seeing his honorary godmother now can I?”
“No you cannot!” Bolin said, “Seriously come back anytime!”
“Cross my heart,” Asami said, waving goodbye and walking down the hall to her own dorm.
Around 1 in the morning, there was a quiet knock on Asami’s door. Confused, she opened the door just a crack to see a very tired looking Korra waiting in the hall.
“Korra?” She asked, puzzled.
“Asami yes thank you,” Korra sighed in relief, “We need your help again.”
“What happened?”
“We can’t get Pabu to be quiet and you’re the only one that shuts him up.” Korra explained with a sleepy voice, “Can you come lull him to sleep maybe?”
“Lead the way,” Asami said, closing the door behind her. Korra unlocked the door to her own dorm, beckoning Asami to enter. Bolin had his face shoved in his pillow as Pabu stood on his back, making an absolute racket of shrill meows. The kitten spotted Asami and dove off the bed, circling around her legs in adoration. She picked him up and stroked her fingers down his back, making him purr loudly.
“Oh my God thank you.” Bolin called in a muffled voice, beginning to snore moments later. Asami and Korra sat on the floor near the bed they made for Pabu, making sure he fell asleep completely. Asami snuggled him into the bed, giving him a few more pats before pulling away. Thankfully he stayed quiet and asleep.
“You’re a lifesaver,” Korra whispered, rubbing her eyes, “We’d be screwed without you.”
“Not a problem at all,” Asami assured her, “I won’t be able to stay away from this little guy.”
“He really is cute isn’t he?” Korra said, giving Asami a sleepy smile.
“Yeah.” She said, not clear on whether she was talking about the cat or Korra, “Very very cute.”