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Frank was very happy.
He had gotten 5 retired cats from the nice cat lady, and he was enjoying their company immensely. They were all old and slow, which meant he could catch up to them for cuddles way easier than the younger, more energetic kitties he’d come across. However, he’d had the cats for around a day now and he was starting to realise that he may be doing something wrong, the cats came up to him willingly now, which was very nice, but it was to paw and yowl at him. Cuddles and pets didn’t seem to get them to stop being upset, and a couple were now laying very still, only sleeping and softly breathing all day.
It was after a while that he managed to realise what was wrong, seeing one of the younger, still lively retirees pounce onto a mouse. They had no food. He’d put down some little chipped bowls he’d found and filled with water, but he’d forgotten that kitties also need to eat. A little panic started to set in, and he wrung his hands together as he realised they’d need food soon to not starve. Pacing on the spot and looking around for something to feed them, he came to the conclusion that he’d need to surface for a trip to the local pet store.
Snatching up one of the more forlorn looking of the cats, he quickly scaled the ladder to the manhole with it tucked under an arm, almost colliding with an oncoming car as he stumbled out and across the road. The person driving shouted something at him that he ignored as he ran as best as he could across the street, p-mart now in sight.
He nearly took the doors off of their hinges as he stumbled in, almost dropping the little malformed tabby he now clutched in both hands, holding it under its front legs like a baby. He whipped his head from side to side, desperately looking for the cat food when he was interrupted by a shout.
“Hey! The hell are you doing?”
He turned towards the voice, a lady behind the counter. She was very pretty, but he could tell she wasn’t happy, her face was twisted up with that same mixture of anger and disgust most people showed him. He started to sweat, trying to mumble something about cat food before his earlier running caught up to him and he had to double over into a coughing fit, spittle flying over both the poor cat he held and the floor. Charming.
Tracy’s expression softened just a touch, becoming more confusion than anything as she looked at the strange man(?) and his cat. He held it up again, it’s sad wet eyes looking into hers. Poor thing, it looked starved, this man clearly wasn’t a good carer. She left her spot at the counter, approaching the man and grimacing at the worsening smell with each step forwards, reaching her hands out for the cat.
Frank handed the animal over, wheezing out a few words;
“They need…the kitties need food…”
He hacked out a couple more coughs before straightening up as much as his posture allowed, nervously fidgeting with his hands.
“Kitties? Oh god you have more than one, are they all this..filthy?”
Tracy could feel anger bubbling under her skin, another disgusting, neglectful ‘pet owner.’ ugh. How she hated that term. She should take this cat off of him right now.
Frank cleared his throat to speak again,
“Frank was not ready for so many kitties, the lady- *coff* the cat lady…we took them from her..*huff*..”
Tracy’s anger died down a little, looking at the cat she held and then back to Frank.
“You took cats from that crazy animal hoarder? Well- you’re not doing the best job but I guess I can’t be mad at a fellow activist in the making.”
Taking a closer look, the man seemed to be a little cat-like himself, a few patches of fur on his skin and a tail that seemed to be part of his body. He was also now looking at her with the same pathetic, wet eyed expression the cat was. Maybe she’d misjudged, and this..creature wanted to help the animals he was related to.
“Right uh- give me a moment.”
She carefully handed the cat back to him before rushing around the shop, pulling a few bags of food off the shelves, as well as many other items of cat paraphernalia such as toys and bowls. Pushing the collection of items over to him with a huff, she stood back, admiring the pile with her hands planted on her hips.
“There. It’s not perfect but it’ll get you started.”
Frank felt a lopsided smile spread across his face, tail thumping against the shelf he was next to as he looked at the lady and all the things she’d gotten for him, but the tail wagging and smile started to fade as he remembered something.
“Frank..does not…we do not have any money.”
Tracy snorted;
“Who cares, just take it. I hate this place anyways.”
He looked back up, slightly bewildered, before his smile and tail wagging returned. Before Tracy knew what was happening the cat Frank had been holding was suddenly smushed between the both of them as Frank grabbed her in a slightly-too-tight hug. She was lifted off of the ground momentarily, legs flailing before pushing him off and stumbling back to her feet.
“Don’t- don’t fucking grab me! And the cat, you squished her!”
Frank flinched backwards, shrinking in on himself as his face settled back into a frown. The cat was now on the floor, Tracy crouched down next to it and tenderly checking if it was hurt, cooing at it. Sometimes Frank wishes he could be a cat. He shuffled backwards and attempted to make himself even smaller, embarrassed at his blunder, face pink.
Once satisfied the cat was ok, Tracy stood to hand it back over to Frank, the slightest twinge of guilt in her chest as she saw his hunched posture and wounded expression.
“Look- it’s uh.. it’s all good man. Just go care for those cats and take in some more when you can.”
She didn’t usually feel this awkward after yelling at people, fists clenched and teeth grit as she awkwardly shuffled back to her spot behind the counter.
“There are shopping carts outside, take one. I don’t care.”
Frank stared at her again, still looking slightly rejected, before taking the cat outside and gently placing it into the cart. He had to make a few trips to grab everything else, but soon he was pushing his haul back home, the cat happily tearing into the side of one of the food bags as they went.
It was tricky to cross the road, and he almost tipped the cart a few times trying to get it back onto the sidewalk, but he managed. Everything now safely in the sewers and all of his new cats were fed. He wasn’t sure how much food to give them at first, but he was now pretty sure it was less than a whole bag a day, because they were all rather round.
He lay on the floor and stared up at the ceiling, replaying the interaction with the store lady over and over in his head. He kept feeling a little nauseous, like bugs were squirming around in his stomach. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was embarrassed, or because she was very pretty, or both. He would have to go back to that store all the time now, to feed the kitties.
Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.