Cat Parents
Ivy curses the bad weather. Walking home in the rain is not ideal. She contemplates asking someone to pick her up but only Lyf and Aurora have cars and both of them are in class currently if the schedules she’s memorized are up to date. She trudges on, coat protecting her backpack instead of her. She can get wet, her notes and laptop absolutely cannot. A noise stops her in her tracks though. A small cry. She strains to hear it better. Meowing, coming from the bush just ahead. She runs to it, and finds a small, grey cat huddled under the bush with its eyes closed, shivering. Ivy can tell that it’s old enough to not need to feed off a mother, and that it’s mother had abandoned it. She takes the small creature into her arms, ignoring the small claws as it searches for warmth in her coat. She runs home.
She opens the door and dumps her backpack onto the couch on top of a sleeping Tim, who wakes with a start. “Ow, what the fuck! Who’s there?” Ivy jumps, not having seen him. “It’s me, Tim.” “Oh, Ivy. Welcome home.” The kitten meows. “Ivy… did you bring a cat home?” “Yes. It was underneath a bush and abandoned in the rain. It’s grey and has its eyes closed, I think it’s blind.” Tim flaps his hands as he smiles, “Like me! The kitty is like me! Have you named it yet?” “No, I need to dry it off, and get it some food. What do we have in the fridge? It’s old enough for solids.” Tim thinks, I think we have some sandwich meat?” “Perfect. Can you text Aurora to pick up some supplies on her way home?” “Yeah, you go take care of the kitty.”
Ivy grabs a towel from the hall closet and wraps it around the small creature, drying it off. She grabs the meat from the fridge and tears it into small pieces on a plate as it cries out. She walks back to the couch, “Tim, can you hold it and feed it while I go change?” Tim nods excitedly and takes the kitten and the plate, letting it pick pieces off of it. Ivy goes up to her room and changes into warm clothes. She gets the kitten back from Tim and finishes feeding it. It seems to get sleepy and curls up between Tim and Ivy, dozing off. “Are you gonna name it?” “No, I can’t think of a good one. You should.” Tim bounces lightly with happiness and starts thinking. “What about Gunpowder? You said it was grey, right?” “Yes. That sounds good. Gunpowder.”
Aurora comes home soon after, the trunk of her car filled with cat supplies. Marius, who had been asleep upstairs, helps her bring everything in. ‘You two better pay me back by taking responsibility for this thing,’ Aurora signs and Ivy says for Tim. “We will!” Tim says, cuddling Gunpowder who has been found to be a girl. Ivy helps set up the cat things as Marius brings them in and Tim helps her give Gunpowder a flea bath afterwards. “I’ll take her to the vet tomorrow,” Tim says, and Ivy thanks him. “We’re cat parents!” Ivy laughs a little, “Cat parents.”