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Noé found the cat wandering through the woods by the manor. Its fluffy white fur was matted, dirty and disheveled, and the look in its multicolored eyes was one of great disgruntlement.
And it did not want a bath.
Noé had always been rather good with animals. Well, not so much good, just that he thought he was good with them, and that was enough. Once he found a wild raccoon, said “Look Teacher, a cat burglar!” and ran up with hands outstretched so it could receive its helping of pets.
This cat, however, was less keen on pettings than the raccoon.
It did not want to be petted or stroked, it did not want to come inside for a bath, or be otherwise relieved of its dishevelment.
Noé was determined, and did not halt in his pursuit. “Giving up” wasn't really in his word bank.
After Noé spent far more time than most children would chasing it, this cat came to realize that he was not going to win such a battle against a determinedly kind and loving vampire—(who had become extra fond over the course of the chase)—and so ultimately found himself (much to his chagrin) arriving at the front door of a manor in the little vampire’s arms, his legs flopping down, revealing his fluffy belly.
How humiliating.
Noé grinned, and asked Teacher if he could keep him. Teacher, leaning down to observe the cats expression—(it made a noise at him that sounded like a warning, not a growl, not a meow, and not a purr, something in between)—said that the question was indeed could. If he could keep it, then he may as well.
Both Teacher and Louis—(“Look, Louis! Look what I found in the woods today!” “Mmm. You really are so weird.” Louis folded his arms and looked away, determined not to betray the fact that he rather liked cats)—leaned against either side of the bathroom’s doorframe as Noé tried to wrangle the creature into bathing. He’d recruited Dominique to help, but even together, and even though the cat knew it wasn’t escaping, they made little progress, and received a lot of scratches.
After a good half-hour of scratches and struggling, (and Teacher and Louis chuckling in the background), Louis sighed, abandoned his post at the doorframe, and walked up to the trio. The cat stared at him, sizing him up, making that grumbling meow-growl-purr sound—(meow-purr...'Murr,' perhaps it could be called?)—once again.
"You are going to have a bath, or you’re going to [REDACTED] [REDACTED]. So, which’ll it be?”
Noé and Domi bristled in horror at this, too stunned to even berate him.
The cat seemed to have somehow understood him, for when Louis calmly and brusquely reached out to wash him, (however reluctant), it sat and let him do so.
Domi and Noé collapsed onto the floor, feeling exhausted and betrayed—(by the cat, or by Louis, they weren't quite sure).
As Teacher wrapped bandages around his scratches, he looked into Noé’s face and asked gently,
“Are you really sure you want to keep him, after all this?”
But Noé nodded, looking towards the cat and Louis. He had decided the moment he saw the cat in the woods—wild and stubborn yes, but also lost and abandoned, (and furthermore he knew that there really was a little prince in there)—that it belonged to him.
“Well if you’re going to keep him you ought to give him a name.”
Noé smiled like he was hiding food in his cheeks. He already had a name picked out.
“Murr.”