#re:kittendrop

[constantinepayne]

😹 - Little wobbly but lovey, can’t walk in a straight line and runs into everything

Outside of the Indian restaurant Constantine often visited, there was a cat that walked by, slipping into the alleyway by itself. He watched as the animal moved, wriggling in between the iron bars that prevented humans from getting in, but it was a cursory span of attention. The cat was soon replaced by the mixture of spices that guided him inside the building and away from the creature that was surely just looking for scraps. By the time he walked out, he had forgotten about it until hearing the high-pitch cry from behind the metal gate.

With tufts of white and orange fur, the kitten pawed at the bars before falling backward–victimized by its own tenacity. There was a sympathetic smile, even if somewhat amused, that crossed Con’s face before walking towards it. The cat he had seen must have been the mother, but why she wasn’t there with this one was unusual. Stooping down, he got a better look at the wild-haired kitten, who looked at him with slate blue eyes that were reminiscent of Emory Light. The comparison almost made him grin before picking him up.

“No one has fed you much, have they?” he asked quietly, feeling the lightness of the body and the bones that the fur had hid.

In spite of it, though, he could feel the chest vibrate, purring as if happy to have the attention. By then, it was too late to just turn it away, and after a stop at the pet shop for some food, it was being washed in his sink to get rid of the alleyway smell New York had gifted it. The poor animal looked outlandish as soon as the water gentle spilled over it, accentuating its slenderness and the ears being entirely out of proportion, but it didn’t seem to mind as much as he figured it would.

Jean and Cosette were temporarily confined to their own room while he let the kitten trot away in the living room. He kept watch of how it tumbled around. It would take several steps forward before nearly diving head first into the floor, and when it avoided that obstacle, it misjudged its height and hit the couch. It was like watching a bumper car going around his place, completely unfazed by its challenges but always finding a way to get more of them.

“THAT IS LIKE THE CUTEST MOST ADORABLE KITTEN I’VE EVER FREAKING SEEN,” Eva yelled through the screen of his phone, face-timing the current adventures. “GAH! I want. I want I want I want. Tell me I can have them.”

Constantine moved back to have the camera face him instead of the kitten. “That was pretty much the idea.”

“YASSS!” Eva beams before her eyes really light up. “They will forever be known as Lucille now!”

“After the baseball bat, right?”

“Oh my God. I don’t even know if you’re serious right now or not but no!!”

“They keep hitting into everything, so don’t pretend it didn’t fit.”

“Just no. No. After Lucille Ball! Cause wow, just look at that orange hair and slapstick! It’s like… the most perfect name ever.”

Just then, the newly christened Lucille skidded into the glass wall that overlooked the city, causing a quiet thump in the background.

“Yeah,” Con’s blue eyes slowly slip back to Eva’s face. “Well, she’s all yours now.”

[sir-fabian-bishop]

😽 - Licker, licks everything, nothing is safe, ever

Drop a kitten on my muse!!

The sound of a kitten's tongue is as distinctive as the high-pitched mew of a newborn. Dropped in front of his apartment's door earlier in the day, Fabian has already been well-trained in a Pavlovian fashion with his ear perking up at the sound of that noise. It reminded him of a fast-paced trickle of a leaky faucet. One drop after another hitting a porcelain basin, but instead of clean water it's saliva with the stench of the animal's breath and of course instead of being met with the sink, it's anything and everything that catches the feline's attention. Heaven help him.

"No!" the English lit is being strained by the word that has now been uttered hundreds of times since the arrival of this unwanted pet. Fabian's hands wrap around the white fluff ball, picking her up instantly and hauling her away from an open pack of thumb-tacks. "Stop this at once! It will be an utter miracle should you happen to reach next week."

The cream-colored paws are settled down on the floor, where she takes it by storm, strutting over to the leather couch with her tongue already out. Soon enough, she's tasting the piece of furniture before batting it once the flavor doesn't meet her approval. Everything is a game if it isn't food, apparently, and Fabian releases a desperate sigh with his hands on his hips. He has been running after this creature since morning like a toddler on the rampage. Before he can reach her, though, she slips underneath it.

"Blasted!"

He kneels in front of the piece, looking for any sign of her, but nothing stares back at him in the darkness of the furniture's shadow until the blue, globe-like eyes suddenly appear with her tongue at the ready. She pounces lightly, threatening to lick Fabian's nose after landing in front of him. She would have succeeded had his reflexes hadn't caused his head to jerk back at the surprise attack.

"You are nothing short of being a menace," he mumbles under his breath before taking possession of her small frame again. She's so light in his hands, and it's astounding that something this small can be this much of a whirlwind in his life.

"I've come with food!" Fergus' voice calls out into the apartment, followed by the door closing behind. He soon finds Fabian getting up from his knees with the kitten against his chest, making him grin. "How's Penelope?"

"Penelope?" he repeats. "You've gone ahead and given it a name? We are not keeping this hellcat."

Fergus goes on to pop the can of cat food, which makes the kitten wriggle in Fabian's hold at the smell before the food is brought to her face. "She's starving. Look at her." Indeed, the face is buried deep into the can with that all-too-familiar sound of the tongue clambering away at chicken pate. "I'm glad she likes this one. There was a sale."

Those words strike fear in Fabian's heart when he hears them coming from Fergus' mouth. The man is incapable of restraint, particularly with his dwindling funds. "You didn't purchase much, did you?" By now, the food is gone and the kitten is having a chaser in the form of Fabian's fingers, but in spite of the squirming of his stomach from the touch, he doesn't miss the lack of an answer. "Blackburn, how much of a purchase have you made?"

"It's not a problem," he finally replies. "She'll eat it."

"We are not keeping her. She's neurotic. While you were gone I had to pull her away from licking an electrical outlet, and she has been shedding on my attire since the beginning. Please, tell me, at the very least, this is the only bag you've brought."

Fergus' bottom lip is bitten with eyebrows raised and eyes drawn towards the door. "It's not that much."

Fabian sets Penelope down on the floor as he follows the other, leading them to see the numerous bags of food for her taking up the width of the outside hallway. The kitten is already there, climbing the grocery bags before licking at the contents inside of them.

"I bet someone's found the Alaskan tuna!"