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Nine was sitting in his usual spot at the desk, the glow of his laptop reflecting off his glasses in the dark. It was mid-afternoon, but the clouds outside were grey and heavy. It was no surprise when the sound of rain hitting against the window joined in with the clicking of the keyboard. Endless lines of code flashed across the screen as he worked at a pace too fast for most people to be able to follow.
The sound of the door opening and the lights flicking on did nothing to break Nine from his concentration.
"Hey, we're back," Twelve called from across the room. Nine simply hummed in response.
Mew.
That got his attention. Nine paused in his typing and turned around in his seat to stare at the at the others.
"What was that?"
"What was what?" Twelve's confused expression was too innocent to be genuine, and the damp hair that hung over his forehead didn't do enough to conceal the mischievous glint in his eyes. Lisa stood just behind him, shifting her weight as her eyes avoided Nine's icy stare. She looked more uncomfortable than usual, maybe even a little nervous.
Meow.
"That." Nine's eyes narrowed as he stood. Lisa flinched back as he approached, but there was nowhere for her to go. As he got closer, he noticed the tiny ball of black fur in her arms.
"Now Nine, hear us out," Twelve began, his held up towards his friend in a placating gesture.
"No."
"We found her all alone, shaking in a puddle outside in the rain. She looked sick, we couldn't just leave her there!"
"No, you definitely could have." Nine's face remained stoic, unaffected by Twelve's words. "It's illogical to take in a pet. It serves no purpose. We already took in Lisa, we don't need anything else to take care of."
"I can take care of her," Lisa broke in.
"See? Lisa will look after her. It won't even affect you at all. Come on, look how cute she is." Twelve's grin showed just how much he was enjoying Nine's annoyance. He probably allowed Lisa to bring this kitten home just for the pleasure of messing with him. Still, her eyes looked so hopeful. The creature in question blinked up at them, its whole body shaking from the cold and the rain.
Mew.
Nine sighed, long and loud. As stupid as it was to keep it, he wasn't about to condemn a kitten to death. God damn it, this was literally Lisa all over again.
"Don't expect me to help with it. And keep it out of my way," Nine said harshly. He returned to his computer, back to furiously typing from where he left off.
"That's right, you can stay here where you'll be safe," Lisa cooed. "You're gonna be part of the family now."
Nine's fingers slipped up as something cold ran down his spine.
After the first two weeks, it seemed apparent that the kitten would not be staying out of his way.
True to her word, Lisa had been doing most of the work when it came to taking care of it. She looked after fed it, bathed it, played with it. She even cleaned the litter box. Twelve helped out occasionally when it came to food and games, but Nine suspected that it was just because he found the whole situation amusing.
However, despite their best efforts, the cat kept following Nine. Despite the fact that Lisa spent most of her free time fawning over it, it seemed to want to spend its own spare time bothering him. When he tried to stand from his place at the desk, he would find himself nearly stepping on a small black mound of fluff. When he walked, he would have to take care not to accidentally kick the animal as it walked alongside him. When he stood in the kitchen getting himself lunch, it would rub up against his ankles, the kitten still too short to reach his shins. He even had to start closing his bedroom door at night after one memorable morning when he woke up to something small and far too warm curled around his head.
"You were supposed to keep it away from me," Nine said one day, as the kitten napped in a sunny spot that just so happened to be beside him on the couch. It wasn't cute, not at all.
"It's not my fault! I have no idea why she doesn't want to come to me," Lisa replied, her jealousy over the cat's affection apparent in her voice.
"Cat's do as they please," Twelve supplied. "There's no explaining it. They're cold creatures. That's why I prefer dogs, they actually like you back."
"Well, dogs are probably more useful animals in general," Nine agreed. "Although I don't think I'd want a dog either."
Meow.
Twelve chuckled. "You've got the thing answering you now." The corners of Nine's mouth twitched, just a little.
A few days later, Lisa and Twelve came home from the grocery store to find Nine working his laptop, the kitten curled up in his lap. Lisa beamed. Twelve tried to hide his laughter with his hand.
"Just admit that you love her already," Lisa teased.
"I'll concede that she's not as troublesome as I first anticipated," Nine answered carefully. "And she's quieter and better company than either of you." He absently stroked her head, causing her to purr. Twelve just laughed harder.
"I can't believe that cat finally won you over," Twelve said.
"Now that she's finally got Nine's approval, can we finally name her?" Lisa asked, her excitement evident. "Then she'll really be adopted into the family."
Twelve caught Nine's eye as the boy's whole body went rigid. The kitten startled and jumped down onto the floor, allowing Nine to stand up and start towards his room. Twelve whispered something to Lisa that he couldn't hear before he followed him inside and shut the door behind him.
"What's up with you?" Twelve asked calmly. Nine stared down at him in shock. How could he not get it? Him of all people should understand.
"Doesn't it bother you too?" Nine asked in lieu of an answer.
"Doesn't what bother me?"
"She keeps using that word, calling us a family. We're not a family, Twelve. Family was something that was taken away from us, something that we don't get to have. Who is she trying to fool?" Nine's rare emotional outburst left Twelve at a loss for words, and his apparent confusion only spurred Nine on. "We don't even have real names, we have numbers. Names are a gift to children with families who love them. That alone should be proof enough."
"For someone so smart, you can be really stupid sometimes, you know that? We chose to keep our numbers as our names. We made that decision together, after everything that we went through."
Nine kept his gaze focused on the wall just to the right of Twelve's head, refusing to look him in the eye. He knew the other boy was right, he remembered the conversation well. They had discussed picking names for themselves, but despite the multiple aliases they've used they had decided to refer to each other as Nine and Twelve. It was partly out of respect for the other children, and partly because that's just how they've always known each other. That's how Lisa knew them now. Had a number really become a name?
"There are different kinds of family, Nine. This is our chance to build one of our own, to get back something that was taken from us," Twelve continued. "It's our chance to have something even slightly resembling normal."
There are different kinds of family. If he really thought about it, Nine knew that his bond that connected him and Twelve, and now even Lisa, went beyond a typical friendship. Could they really be family?
"Fine, let's just go name the stupid cat."
"Remind me why I agreed to this again?" Nine asked as he followed Twelve down the street. The shorter boy was walking quickly, excitement causing him to ignore the blazing heat.
"Because I let you get a cat even though I prefer dogs and it's only fair. Besides, I'm sure Sphinx would like the company," Twelve answered.
"You let me get a cat? You practically dropped the thing in my lap!"
"Yeah well, I knew you were a cat person. I was being considerate."
"What are you eve-"
"We're here now so you can't back out!" Twelve interrupted as he opened the door to the animal shelter and started dragging Nine towards the distinct sound of barking.