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Abolish stretched as he turned a circle on the dumpster before hopping down onto the concrete below him.
His tail flicked idly as he took in his surroundings, casting his gaze to the throng of legs passing the entrance to the alleyway.
He stretched again, getting himself ready to start running.
Claws slipped out of dual-colored paws for a moment before sheathing themselves again as he stood straight.
Two taps of his paws to get his balance before he darted out into the crowd.
He much preferred moving around New York like this. Roofhopping got annoying, and occasionally the police got called on him, and the rifle case was a pain to transport.
But, anything that he was wearing got melded into the cat form, which included the rifle. Plus, he didn't have to push past people like he did in human form, so running through legs as a cat was much more preferable.
He darted around a small child screaming about something to its parent and jumped over a stray piece of greasy paper, most likely from a burger joint.
He wanted to get home sooner rather than later. Say hi to Carly, who was likely still working the counter in their tiny little witchcraft shop, head upstairs to get a snack, and then call Scott to see if he was doing anything tonight.
Unfortunately, his fantasizing about spending the night curled up in his boyfriend's arms and complaining about his coworkers caused a lapse in his awareness.
Which was how he ended up on a street he didn't recognize, with a woman who was very clearly an animal shelter worker staring down at him.
Oh, good. He needed to get adopted today.
He tried to run, but she was faster. She scooped him up, cooing nonsense at him as she carried him into the building behind her, completely ignoring his desperate squirming and clawing.
After a lot of work on the workers’ parts, he was placed on a metal table in what he could only assume was the ‘vet’ portion of the shelter. Another woman in gloves looked him over, spotting his pendant and examining it. He just barely kept down a hiss, instead butting his head against her hand.
He hoped that acting friendly would convince them that he was a pet, not a stray.
“He must have an owner,” he heard one of the nurses say. “I mean, look at him! Look how pretty he is!”
She gestured at his white side as he sat on his haunches to better survey the situation.
He could turn back here, but that would freak them out and cause more problems in the long run.
He needed to get them to call Scott.
“Do you have an owner, buddy?” One of the other nurses cooed at him, holding out a hand. He meowed and rubbed his face against it.
“We'll put him in a kennel for now and see if we can locate his owner,” said the head vet. The nurses nodded and grabbed him again.
As they walked to where he assumed the kennels were, they passed the front desk. Abolish spotted a business card and noted the phone number. A minute or two later, he was placed in a fairly spacious kennel with a cat tree, several sleeping places, and cat food and water bowls.
Wait. Water bowl.
Maybe… maybe they didn't have to call Scott.
He sat in front of the bowls and closed his eyes, focusing on the image of his boyfriend's face.
This was a lot harder to do without incense, or a proper cauldron, or much of anything, but he felt the faint connection between him and the vampire's minds.
He knew the link wouldn't be very strong, so he broadcasted a very simple message.
꧁⎝ 𓆩༺ ♱ ⛥ ♱ ༻𓆪 ⎠꧂
Scott nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Abolish's voice speak in his head.
It was faint, but it very clearly said *“please come get me,”* along with a phone number.
Scott leaned back from where he had been pinning a mockup of a skirt on a client. “Just a moment, please. I need to make a call.”
She nodded, and he ducked out of the room and into a storage room. He pulled out his phone and dialed the number Abolish had given him, pressing it to his ear.
Two rings before a woman picked up. “Mary S. Roberts animal shelter! How may we help you today?”
An animal shelter. Abolish was stuck in an animal shelter. Oh, this was gold.
Just barely holding his laughter behind his mask, he spoke into the receiver. “Hello. I believe you guys picked my cat up off the street.”
A pause before the woman responded. “We may have. What does it look like?”
“Half black, half white, split perfectly down the middle. Big yellow eyes, constantly looking like he's planning to kill you? And he's got a crystal around his neck.” He described Abolish's cat form, biting his lip to stop from snickering.
Another pause, and then the woman replied. “We *did* pick up a cat with that description. Are you able to pick him up now?”
“I'm working until 10:30, but then I can head over.” Scott offered, and the woman sighed.
“I'm sorry sir, we close at 9:00.”
Scott worried at his lip. Abolish had gotten better at holding his cat form in the 200 years since Oakhurst, but he wasn't sure if he could hold it all night. “Shit. When do you open tomorrow?”
“7:00.”
“Alright. I'll be over at 7:30 tomorrow morning to pick him up, if that's alright?” Scott said, and he heard an affirming noise.
“That will work, we can board him for the night. What's your name?” The woman asked.
“Scott Goldsmith.”
“And your cat?”
“Abolish.”
The sound of pen scratching against paper, and then she spoke again.
“Alright, see you tomorrow at 7:30, sir.”
“Thank you.” He replied, hanging up and returning to his client in the fitting room. “So sorry about that.”
꧁⎝ 𓆩༺ ♱ ⛥ ♱ ༻𓆪 ⎠꧂
7:30 on the dot, Scott fell out of bat form and examined the front of the shelter.
He rolled his eyes, pushing the door open and examining the front lobby.
It was actually a fairly nice shelter, all things considered. He could hear kittens directly forward and on the left-hand side and dogs further into the building.
All he could really smell was overwhelming amounts of animal blood.
He approached the front desk, putting on his most charming smile. “Hello, there.” He purred to the woman behind the counter, making sure to keep his fangs tucked carefully behind his lips. “I was informed, yesterday, that you guys picked up my cat?”
She examined him for a second before her eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh! Mr. Goldsmith, yes?”
He nodded, eyes sparkling. “That's me.”
She nodded, standing from her chair. “Follow me.”
He did so, and she led him into a separate room full of cats. Three of the four walls were lined with kennels, tall enough that if he were to step into one, he would only have to hunch a bit.
And in one of the ones in the back, a perfectly half-and-half cat stared at him expectantly from behind the bars.
He strode forward, spotting the latch and getting the kennel open easily.
Abolish leaped out of the kennel and into his arms, already purring. Scott pressed a kiss right between his ears, turning back around to address the woman. “Thank you so much for keeping him safe,” He drawled, holding Abolish close to his chest. “but my sister will throw a fit if I'm not back by opening time.”
The woman nodded, showing back to the front door. “Have a good day, Mr. Goldsmith.”
“You as well, ma'am.” He replied, tugging open the door and stepping out.
Abolish made a valiant effort to not turn back until they had ducked into a side alley, where he launched himself out of Scott's arms and landed, in humanoid form, face down on the concrete.
Scott giggled, leaning over him. “You alright, love?”
“Shuddup.” Abolish mumbled back, rolling over to stare up at Scott with those beautiful brown eyes.
“You wanna come back to the boutique with me?” Scott asked, holding out a hand to help the hunter up. “I wasn't exaggerating when I said Shelby would murder me if I was late for work.”
“Yeah, sure. I'll come.” Abolish muttered, allowing Scott to drag him back to his feet and adjusting the rifle case on his back.
“Off we go.” Scott said, placing a hand on the small of Abolish's back to lead him into the already busy streets of the city that never sleeps.