Work Text:
It had been about a month since The Good Guys got released from prison.
With the governor supporting them, they could've lived essentially anywhere, but they still chose to stay at their old hideout. It was familiar, it was safe, it had sentimental value- They weren't just gonna ditch it.
However, because Wolf had returned all of their stolen items, they had to get new furniture. So, their first month out had been largely dedicated to finding law-abiding jobs, building up money (Diane had given them a small fund after their release but that would only go so far), and getting new furniture.
Once they finally all had mattresses to sleep on, they were finally able to relax, something they hadn't truly felt since they were The Bad Guys.
It had been a long day at work (turns out retail jobs are literal hell) and Wolf got home late, so he pretty much immediately walked over to his mattress and collapsed. He didn't immediately knock out or anything, no. His mind was always far too active to immediately fall asleep, but he was sure he wouldn't be able to move his body for at least two more hours.
The other guys hadn't gotten home yet, so he was alone... Or, so he thought.
Right as he was contemplating what to do about feeding himself, he felt a sudden weight on his chest. Halfheartedly, he reached up to feel what it was and felt the familiar softness of Kitty's fur under his paw.
"Hey, Kitty" he muttered, pleasantly startled by his pet's sudden affection. Kitty had always been closer to him in comparison to the others because he had been the one to save her, but she was still a little skittish around all of them, so it was always a nice surprise whenever she decided to be affectionate. "It was a long day at work today"
"Meow"
"Yeah, you wouldn't believe this one customer" he replied with a smile. And he went on like that for a good hour, just ranting about his day while the cat sat attentively on his chest.
He felt like the luckiest dog in the world to have a pet like that.
Snake had always been a bit annoyed by the cat.
He didn't even have a real justification for why, especially since he'd gotten over all the drama with Wolf- He just didn't like it. It annoyed him, marginally more than everything else annoyed him.
So, one day, he gets home from work (fast food) early and is greeted with an empty hideout. So, he sighs, grabs a Push Pop out of the freezer, swallows it whole, and slithers up onto their kitchen counter to try and get some rest and also think.
He's perfectly content like that until a loud noise outside the window sends him into a panic- He'd always been jumpy around loud noises because they reminded him of his less-than-ideal childhood.
He falls off the counter and quickly slithers to his mattress, hiding under his blanket. He feels safe like that until suddenly something is pulling up the blanket. He lets out a yelp but then stills when he sees it's just the damn cat.
"Go away" he hisses at it. It tilts its head, not understanding his words, then goes up to him and lies against the middle of his body. "Don't you- Oh"
"Meow"
"This is actually kinda nice" he mutters. "Alright, fine, you can stay, but if you start clawing at me, you're out"
"Meow"
"Glad we got an understanding goin' on"
Piranha was usually very wired and full of energy. Some called it "ADHD", some called it "craziness", some called it "a constant state of mania"- He didn't care what the cause was. It was just how he was.
So, imagine his surprise when, after getting a job at McDonald's, he starts to feel exhaustion for the first time in his life.
Endless hours of standing still, taking people's orders, enduring abuse from customers, hardly a break- It was truly some form of torture, but he couldn't just steal money anymore, so it was a necessity.
He came home, exhausted. The other guys were in the corner, playing some sort of card game. Shark called him over, but he dismissed the offer, saying something about how it had been a long day at work before collapsing onto his mattress.
As he quickly began to drift off, he felt a form settle up against him. "¿Qué? (What?)" he asked, confused before it processed in his mind what the ball of fur was. "Oh" he smiled, mind relaxing again as he began to drift off once more. "Hello, Kitty"
"Meow"
"Que buena criaturita… (What a good little creature...)"
Webs had gotten a basic sales job.
She thought it was gonna be fun. After all, she loved technology, and the job essentially just consisted of typing on a computer and answering phone calls all day, but she quickly realized that the job wasn't what it was all cracked up to be.
She also hardly got proper rest because of how much work she had to do. She was very close to just quitting and working retail, but she wanted to stick it out, holding onto the hope that it would get more endurable with time.
She lied on her mattress late after the boys had all fallen asleep. She had only just then finished up her latest workload at the bright and early hour of two in the morning, and she felt like someone had just clocked her upside the head with a keyboard.
She hadn't expected Kitty to come over- The cat had always been a bit freaked out by her due to the whole eight legs thing, but the sudden indents in the mattress and purring proved this assumption that Kitty wouldn't ever check on her to be false.
"Hey, girl" Webs muttered, voice slurred with exhaustion. "Have you come to sleep up here with me?"
"Meow"
"That's nice..."
Shark's time in the world of employment had been a bit better than the others.
See, after their failed heist to get The Golden Dolphin, he realized he had a real knack for drag and promptly found a job at a local drag club once they were all free citizens again.
It paid pretty well- Lots of the people there tipped him extra for the whole shark aspect of his show- And all he had to do was dance and lip-sync to generic pop music and act like a hooker for a few hours at a time.
It was fun. He enjoyed his job.
When he got home one evening, he took it upon himself to make dinner for the others- Whenever they did meals from home because they couldn't afford to eat out, he would often be the one to cook because he was the only one aside from Piranha who knew how to cook, and he was also usually the only one awake enough to do it.
He didn't mind- He liked helping his friends and it was a nice way to relax after the loudness of his work day.
One of these evenings, he was cooking up a basic meal of Kraft mac n cheese and chicken nuggets- Hardly anything fancy, but it was a safe food for all of them (they all had sensory issues- Piranha and Wolf with their ADHD and himself, Snake, and Webs with their Autism) and easy to make.
As he was serving their plates, Kitty jumped up on the counter with a content expression on her face.
"Hey, Kitty" he smiled, looking over at her bowl to make sure she had food. "You already got food, so none of this for you, sorry"
"Meow"
"Aw you're too precious" he smiled, grabbing a treat out of the small bag they had bought for her and placing it on the counter for her to eat. She quickly went to gnawing on it with a low purr. He chuckled and patted her on the head before he picked up the plates of fine cuisine (mac n cheese and dino nuggets) and brought them over to the table where his exhausted friends waited.
Kitty was a blessing to them, even if they hadn't realized it until later in their ownership of her, and they were all very glad to have her around.