Chapter Text
It all starts when a small, yellow, insufferable creature decides to wreak havoc at his doorstep.
“Meow!”
He hears it meow a couple of times and, at first, Nanook opts to ignore the racket. After all, it’s none of his business, he doesn’t even own a cat. He’s just trying to play a game and unwind after a gruelling workday.
It’s been a while and he’s been looking forward to getting the group together all week. There’s no way he’s letting some meowing ruin that, he’s not moving even if there’s a nuke flying his way. And even then, what can he do? He may as well go out with the rest of them.
“Meow!”
Nanook unmutes himself, glancing over to see if everyone’s joined.
**NooktheDestruction**
“All right, team, everyone ready? Zeph? Phyntilia?”
**ZEPH1.**
“Ready.”
**YourPhanties69**
“oh, sweetie, I’m ALWAYS ready.”
**celeNOVA**
“Come on, we’ve barely gathered and you’re already starting at an eleven?”
Nanook chuckles to himself. Tonight is going to be a good night. The group seems to be in a playful mood, which means at least a few hours of gaming. After that, it’s anyone’s guess, the whole thing tends to escalate into chaos.
**AntiJoker777**
“Luxy couldn’t make it again?”
**NooktheDestruction**
“She said she had other stuff to do.”
**Ironmytomb33550336**
“Guys, can we finally start? I’ve been waiting what feels like for millions of years.”
Nanook squints at the change of tone. Irontomb always manages to bring down the mood. But he’s been on their team forever; it would be a shame to throw him out now.
**YourPhanties69**
“Aw, someone’s grumpy!”
**AntiJoker777**
“Fuck no, you two just don’t start it again.”
**NooktheDestruction**
“Okay then, team, if everyone’s ready, the drop-off today is going at—“
“Meow.”
“Highrise.”
“Meoooooow.”
“Tight formation, clear comms.”
“MEOW!”
Nanook slams his headphones down, annoyed that he can hear the incessant creature despite all the sound insulation.
“Boss?”
He’ll return to the game later, but first he needs to deal with this menace. In his hurry, he trips over some cables, nearly bringing down his entire setup. If he damages his 5k gaming PC just because of a damn cat—
Nanook throws the door open, wincing as it bangs against the wall. He really should be more mindful, it's almost midnight and he’s making way too much noise.
“What do you want?” he demands, staring at the tiny angry thing sitting on his doorstep. The cat appears to glare back at him with undiluted hatred, which, honestly, Nanook doesn’t deserve.
What on earth did he do to piss this little guy off?
“MEOW!”
Nanook flinches at the sheer volume of the screech. Okay, that must have woken up at least half the neighborhood. What exactly is this creature’s problem?
“Shhhh, can you keep it down? Are you— what, in heat or something? Why are you yelling at me?”
“MEOW MEOW MEOW!” The cat’s volume rises with each new “meow”, and Nanook is pretty sure his neighbors are already halfway on their way to calling the police. He truly wouldn’t care about them if they weren’t such insufferable assholes.
Aha always seems to have it out for him, waiting for any opportunity to give him a headache. And Xipe? That weird crystal lady will surely send him a note claiming her chakras have been pollinated. Or polluted. Heck if he knows.
And don’t even get him started on Aki—
“MEEEOOOOOWWWWW—”
“Fine. FINE!”
So Nanook does the only thing he can reasonably do: he grabs the cat, despite the clear warning signs that he could end up losing his face, rushes to his bedroom, and tosses the cat onto his bed.
“And stay there!” he snaps, slamming the door shut. He swallows hard when he hears the cat starting to wreak havoc on his belongings. The sound of frantic scratching means his pillows are most definitely under attack. He fears his mattress won’t fare much better but what’s one destroyed bed compared to an eviction notice?
Whatever.
Nanook sighs as he returns to his desk, and puts on his headphones, catching the commotion on the other end.
“It’s been like ten minutes now. Was he, like, killed?”
“The fuck are you even talking about? Why is that the first thing you’d assume?”
“It’s so boring with you guys. I should’ve gone to the club instead.”
“Never understood why you keep hanging out with these nerds.”
“Streaming?”
“Ah, right, forgot about that. How are the simps?”
“Pathetic as always.”
“I’m back,” Nanook announces, turning his attention back to the game, relieved that they’ve all been waiting for him.
[DROPPING IN: HIGHRISE AREA]
**NooktheDestruction**
“Thanks for not starting without me, guys.”
**CeleNOVA**
“What exactly happened over there?”
**NooktheDestruction**
“Nothing important. Let’s play. As I said, the drop is Highrise, keep comms clear.”
**AntiJoker777**
“Clear comms? With this group? You’re asking for a miracle, bro.”
**YourPhantyies69**
“I don’t know, comms might be clearer if Cele wasn’t whispering sweet nothings in my ear.”
**CeleNOVA**
“That’s because you’re half-deaf from blasting TOOL all the time.”
**Ironmytomb33550336**
“Ayo, I’m going solo if you losers don’t start soon.”
**ZEPH1.**
Already dropped
Nanook smiles as he listens in on everyone starting to curse at each other. Truly, there’s no better way to de-stress than in the midst of a complete carnage.
—
It’s around five o’clock in the morning when they finish the last session and decide to call it a night. Nanook stretches lazily as he gets up, then hobbles over to his room.
Yawning, he opens the door— only to slam it shut again.
“MEOW!!!!!”
Crap.
He completely forgot about that.
He can hear a thud agains the door and assumes that he just barely avoided certain death. How the fuck did he forget about the cat? Is he a complete idiot or something? Now he’s lost his place to sleep and will probably have to burn the entire apartment down.
Maybe imprisoning a tiny creature in his room wasn’t his best idea.
But what can he possibly do now?
Nanook glances at his phone.
“How to calm down a feral cat,” he types into Nouugle, scanning the results.
To calm a feral cat, provide food and water in a safe, quiet space.
Alright. He can at least do that. His bedroom is already safe enough, now he just needs some food and water. But what do cats even like? Fish? Sausage? He has no idea but he will have to try. He slumps over to the fridge, opens it, and lets out a deep sigh.
This really won’t do. There’s only half a pizza and some beer. There’s no way he’ll gain the cat’s trust with this junk.
“Shopping it is,” Nanook mutters, grabbing his jacket on his way out.
The nearest bodega is on the corner, and he’s sure they carry some kind of cat food. Still, it makes no sense that he hasn’t just thrown the wild thing out. What if it has a disease, like rabies? Maybe Nanook should call someone to take care of it? But the little fellow didn’t look sick, nor did it seem particularly aggressive.
Well. At least not before he had captured it and imprisoned it inside of his room.
So Nanook decides he’ll risk certain death than let anyone take the cat. The little fellow seemed like a real fighter and he can at least respect that.
“Good morning!” He’s greeted by an overly cheerful voice as he enters the shop. He flinches when he realizes it’s his most beloved neighbor, Xipe.
“Miss Xipe, wonderful to see you here.”
“Oh, pookie, please just call me Xipe.”
She’s normally a sweet, harmless lady, but don’t let her get started on the importance of family. And on some days all she does is talk about order— or the lack of it in the modern day society.
“Sure, Miss Xipe.”
“Oh, you’re so silly.”
Nanook nods and tries to slip into the next aisle, but of course, she won’t let him.
“Tell me, why are you up so early? I usually don’t see you before the afternoon, dear. It’s nice to see you awake in the morning, we should go on a walk sometime.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You know it’s important to keep a routine for yourself? I recently saw a video with this nice caring man who’s talking about keeping your room tidy. Have you seen it?”
Oh, here she goes. Must be one of those days.
“No, Miss Xipe, but I’ll keep an eye out for it. It truly is important to be orderly.”
“Of course it is. There was once a friend of mine who always reminded me about the importance of order. Oh, it’s been so long since she’s been gone. Sometimes, I can still hear her voice…”
While Miss Xipe wanders down the memory lane, Nanook manages to slip into one of the aisles. He browses row after row of junk that nobody in their right mind would ever need— flypaper, bulbs, washing powder... ah, finally, he spots the cat food on the top shelf.
“Tuna chunks.”
It sounds delicious, but it costs more than his own dinner of a discount pizza. There’s no way Nanook is going to spend more on this stray than on himself. Instead, he looks for some cheap chicken pâté that costs only a couple of credits.
Like this one.
He picks up a can labeled “Liver” and shudders at the thought of the taste. But cats love this kind of stuff, don’t they? So this should be good enough.
“Oh no, those are so unhealthy. Is it for your new kitten?”
Nanook feels like he’s lost half his life when he turns and finds Aha there instead of Xipe.
“Meow meow?”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Nanook groans, pushing the annoying guy away. He silently vows never to go out in the morning ever again.
“I don’t have a cat.”
“Want me to be your cat?”
“Thank you, but no.” He grabs the can. For some inexplicable reason, his hand reaches for the more expensive one. Well, he does want to earn the cat’s affection and not to piss it off even more.
“Aw, someone’s in a bad mood.”
“Please, just leave me alone.”
Of course, Aha doesn’t leave him alone, trailing after him all the way to the counter.
“Why is the great Nanook buying cat food if he doesn’t have a cat?”
“For myself.”
Nanook groans and pulls some credits from his pocket, visibly irritated. For some reason, the guy is obsessed with him and seems to have the best time annoying him.
“Are you turning into a meow-meow?”
There are days he would like to destroy everyone walking this earth and beyond. He swears the universe is a mistake but he has no way of proving it. It probably doesn’t help that all his friends wholeheartedly agree with his judgement.
“Like SOME people deserve to die.”
But Asat is a bit of a psychopath.
“Whatever you want, boss, just say the word.”
Zaphyro? Too loyal for Nanook’s comfort. He really needs some better influence.
Nanook sighs as he leaves the bodega, Aha still hot on his heels.
“Please don’t follow me.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s annoying.”
“Is it now?”
He rushes to his apartment as quickly as he can, slamming the door in his neighbor’s face. Sometimes he swears he’s trapped in a simulation and everyone around him is insane.
He slumps against the door with a sigh before he glances at the can in his hand. Okay, well, he might also be insane. What the actual fuck is he doing?
He doesn’t even want to think what his friends will say about his newly acquired cat. Or maybe he’ll just never tell them. It’s not like he’s planning to keep the creature.
“Here, meow meow,” Nanook beckons as he opens the bedroom door, carefully peering inside. He’s set out a bowl of fresh water and dumped the tuna out of the can. If that thing doesn’t like his offering then—
Nanook blinks when, instead of being attacked, he is met with complete silence. He peeks in and finds the monster sound asleep on his half-destroyed bed.
“Huh. I guess you were tired,” he mutters, stepping inside to survey the damage. The room is mostly intact, but of course, nowhere near Xipe’s standards.
His bed has taken the brunt of the destruction: his pillow shredded, the mattress in ruins. And in the middle of the chaos sleeps a cat, its fur white with yellow patches.
“Uhhh—” Nanook sits next to it. The little guy doesn’t even stir. He seems to have given his all to escape before finally giving up.
Or maybe, once it wakes up, it’ll try to murder him again. Nanook doesn’t know, but at least for now, he’s content to sit beside the sleeping creature.
Its fur is filthy and some chunks are missing. The poor thing must have been through quite a lot.
And yet.
“What the hell am I going to do with you?” Nanook sighs, shaking his head. He’s never had a cat before, so why would he start caring for one now?
“Maybe one of my friends will know someone who wants a feral cat.”
—
tbc?