Work Text:
Tarzana, California
“I didn’t know you have a cat.” Sky says, looking down at the rather thin cat sitting on her lap. Last Saturday she visited Viktor, his apartment floor wasn’t covered in cat biscuits.
“I just took her in.” Viktor answers as he goes to sit next to his girlfriend on the couch. “Don’t worry, Rio doesn’t bite.”
Trusting his word, Sky gently pets the cat’s head. Rio purrs in response to the touch, laying down on the woman’s lap before closing her eyes.
“See? She likes you.” Viktor says with joy, happy that his girlfriend and cat already get along so well. “Want some coffee, miláček?”
Sky only nods in response but is way too focused on Rio’s appearance. The cat is thin, really thin. Almost like she has been starved by her previous owner and is in desperate need of food. The lack of fur on her tiny body doesn’t help, with only the tip of her tail having a few hairs.
Something definitely happened to the poor creature.
“How did you get her?” Sky asks Viktor as he exits the kitchen with two cups of coffee in his free hand. He sits down, letting his crutch rest against the couch before handing one cup over to her, having heard her question. “She doesn’t look healthy.”
“Oh, I, uhm, managed to take her from Singed…” Viktor answers, looking a bit uncomfortable. He doesn’t exactly like telling that story, but Sky deserves to know. While it all ended well, the images of poor Rio being experimented on still haunt Viktor to this day. “He used her as a test subject, you know…”
“And you took her away from him?” Sky asks, quickly changing the subject upon noticing her love’s discomfort.
“Thank goodness I did.” Viktor says as he pets Rio, a smile appearing on his face again. “Singed was busy with some new experiment, so I just took her and ran.”
Sky’s frown changes into a smile as well, relieved that it all went without any major issues. Rio is the luckiest cat in the world to have a hero as her owner.
“You hear that, Rio? Your owner saved you.” Sky says to the cat, making Viktor blush a little. “How old is she?”
“The vet told me she’s around fourteen years old.” Viktor answers, looking at the cat purring and lying on Sky’s lap. “This is her home until her time is up…”
“I’m sure she’s loving it here.” Sky says, glancing at Viktor while Rio rests her front paws on the assistant’s left arm, leaving only her right one to hold her coffee. “You think she will get up soon?”
“No.” Viktor answers jokingly, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend’s waist and gently pulling her a little closer, letting her head rest on his shoulder. “And neither am I.”
Sky can’t help but chuckle, taking a sip of her coffee as she relaxes against her boyfriend while petting the cat on her lap.
What good has she done to deserve them?