Chapter Text
Vanya was crouching down in the front yard, hovering over her new flowers she planted recently. Five usually helps her, but he’s got the opposite of a green thumb. He tried keeping a plant in his room once, it was a succulent. He was either over or under watering it. Constantly. It slowly died and he threw it at the wall.
So he more and more watches Vanya plant, or he follows her instructions while they tend together.
But today he was looking at a new addition in the yard. A cat. It looked fairly ugly. Dirty. A random stray that had been out in the world for who knows how long. It didn’t seem afraid of them, instead curiously wandering around the yard.
It didn’t come close to them, however, keeping it’s distance.
“Five give me a hand here?” Vanya calls out and Five moves over to help her.
When they both turned around to go into the house, the cat was between them and their house. Five stopped before Vanya, who scared the cat by not stopping. The cat went from staring at them, to jumping up and sprinting in the opposite direction.
Towards their house, with the door left open.
“Shit, the filthy thing is inside now” Five curses.
“Oh hush it’s just an innocent kitty.” Vanya rushes over to the house to look for the cat. Placing the pot she was carrying on the porch and slowly peers in. She can’t see the cat, must have already hidden somewhere.
“What do we do?” Five asked, following her in.
She shrugs, “... Wait for it to come out?” She had other things to worry about than a stray, it was hot out, what if the cat needed the cool air conditioned house?
Five grumbles and follows her lead back inside. She brings the pot he carried in to the kitchen, running it under water. He heads the other way wordlessly and plops himself at his desk in his room. He opens a book and starts doodling in it idly.
He looks from the book to a stack on the desk and tidy’s the stack of books. Closing the book in front of him, it didn’t hold his interest for long. Nothing
really
did. Not for very long. He looks around his room, there were a few nicknacks now, an instrument or two. Fidget toys or small hand puzzles. He figured them out fast, he learned the instrument basics and would lose interest, or the colorful or other interestingly detailed nicknacks were… boring soon enough.
He sighs and pushes himself out of the chair, slumping over to his bed, lifting the comforter to slide in when he hears hissing.
Five stops in his tracks and listens, hears it again and jumps back from the bed.
“Euh?” He lets out and crouches, and sees the intruder… The cat from just moments earlier. “... You again?” Well, he can get rid of a cat. How hard would it be?
He sits himself on his knees and shushes the cat, “Here.. kitty kitty… It’s okay, shhh” The cat doesn’t look calmed in the slightest, only curling in on itself when Five scoots closer. The cat’s hair is sticking up in all directions, but raises more the closer he gets.
It’s letting out low gurgling sounds in the back of it’s throat as he reaches a hand.
“Shhh, don’t… don’t attack me now… Kitty kitty... “ He reaches closer and stops, slowing each time, scratching at the floor. Do cats like scratching sounds? He wouldn’t know. They never had pets, and
he
never saw any animals after the apocalypse. Maybe a rat if he was lucky. A few small rodents after a few years, burrowing animals that survived.
He saw a squirrel once.
Focus, Five!
He shakes his head, hearing his fathers words in his head. He was the smartest but- he was likely to get lost in his head a lot when he was younger. Dad would scold him often for that.
Closer and the cat.. Didn’t swat, just kept inching back into the wall and growling. He reaches his hand close to its head, how do you pick up a cat? He reaches past the cat’s head, the scruff? The chest?
It suddenly leans its head into his hand, gently, and rubs its face against his hand. Five freezes in place, watching the cat pet itself against his hand. All that noise for enjoying some affection? Maybe it will let him pick it up now? He reaches with his other hand-
“What’s that noise,” And the cat’s yowling and scratching him, he yanks his hands away and sees the cat curl back up on itself, hissing and growling. He turns back to see Vanya. “Oh, are you okay?” She noticed that she made the cat attack him.
He lets her lead him out of the bedroom to the bathroom to bandage his now bleeding wrist. The scratch hurts more than he expected? Not that much, but after it’s bandaged it aches and itches for a while. He sits in the living room with her talking instead of returning to the small
monster
in his bedroom.
He doesn’t know why he finds himself defending the cat when she suggests calling animal control. It was scared and was letting him touch it until she scared it.
“... The cat has to go
eventually
though.” Vanya said, leaning back in her chair. She didn’t look convinced though.
“It wasn’t bad of a cut… She was
scared
…” He trails off, looking at his bandaged wrist.
“...
She?
”
“He, it, whatever!” He groans out.
“Gendering it is the first step to wanting to keep it.” She smiles at him, as if this is some light hearted conversation about which colored shoe to buy. Which, wasn’t even an easy thing to decide either, if you ask him!
“
Keep
it?” He scoffs, “IIt mauled me!”
“I thought you said it
wasn’t that bad
” She quotes, “and that
she was just scared
.”
“Ugh. Forget it. Call animal control if you want.” He gets up and moves to the kitchen to retrieve coffee. It was too early for this. Too early for a cat.
She doesn’t call though. Is it a mutual understanding? Does she feel bad for the cat? Does she feel bad for
him?
He’ll throw the damn cat out the window if it’s sympathy.
Okay maybe he won’t.
He calls Allison to help get cat supplies the next day when he sees the cat glaring at him from on top of his desk.