flamekthunder | { songerein: inbox }

[He'll just nod before silently advancing towards the door. Slowly he reaches out to grab the door handle, and after giving Tifa one final look, he slowly opens the door.

Unfortunately, it's not a quiet opening, the door creaking for old age and much needed oil. Still, nothing seems to immediately jump out.]

[While he slowly opens the door, she prepares herself to grab whatever it is should it leap out of hiding and try to escape, but as they stand in the fully revealed doorway now, they're met with more silence and stillness at first. The room is dusty and a bit cluttered, filled with things that she knows she won't need, so there are plenty of spaces for something small to hide.

Carefully, Tifa steps around him and further into the room to start looking around, peeking underneath shelves and around boxes until—]

Huh!?

[She gasps out loud when there's a clatter behind her, and something small and striped dashes out from underneath another tall shelf to hide behind some boxes.]

[It was too much of a blur for him to see the details, but he can definitely say for sure—]

It's a cat.

[So that should at least bring Tifa some reassurance. ...How to catch it, though.]

...Do you want to try and catch it or just leave a window open for it to leave on its own?

[Tifa only looks at him silently, surprise written clear across her face, but she doesn't say a word. Not at first, anyway. Her eyes follow in the direction it had skittered off in, towards a pile of boxes in the corner of the room. She can hear scraping and shuffling, followed by the tiniest mewl.]

Neither. I think it's just scared. And small.

[She whispers it as she comes up beside him again.]

There anything we could give it? A toy... or some food?

[He's just going to stare at her.]

Tifa, I'm saying this now, but we're not taking in another cat.

[His treatment between dogs and cats is like night and day!! Well of course he doesn't mind cats and adores Clover, but guarantee if it was a puppy he'd be all over it.

Of course this cat being the reason why they were interrupted is not doing itself any favors—]

[She shoots him a woefully tired look because she knows that if this were a dog, he would be saying the complete opposite...!!!]

I didn't say we were. I just...

[Her eyes linger on the boxes where it's hiding, and likely shivering in fear.]

I don't want to scare the poor thing away if this is its home... We should at least try to get it out of the room. Can't stay locked up in here forever.

[A flat stare before he sighs and his eyes go to where the cat (kitten?) is still hiding.]

Even so, do we have anything? We didn't bring anything... But there are a few shops nearby.

[She sees that look and she chooses to ignore it.]

Hmm...

[She taps a finger thoughtfully on her chin. She doesn't want to go out to the shops to find something and leave this cat in here alone, so...]

Oh! [Her eyes light up.] Your quill might work...

My quill...?

[Just a quizzical look before he recalls Clover's many feather toys.]

No.

I won't let it get wrecked, I promise.

[If Tifa had brought hers, she'd use her own, but she fixes him with those pleading dog eyes she always tries on him.]

Just going to wiggle it around to see if I can get it to come out on its own.

[But...his quill...

He actually likes it...

...

.....

UugghGHhghghgh like he could actually say no to her eyes. Still, there's definitely some hesitation as he conjures the quill into his hand and sighs.]

[She thanks him with a grateful smile before she takes it from him and moves closer to the tower of boxes, and as she looks over them, a frown finds its way into her features when she realizes how dangerous this room is for a small cat. They're hardy and quick, sure, but one misstep and it could send the boxes or things on the shelf tumbling down over it, and how long would it have taken either of them to notice?

With a sigh to shake those thoughts way, she kneels down near the wall and lowers the feather to the ground. She can see small green eyes glowing as well as something pink shimmering behind it... curious, but her first priority is getting it out of there and taking it someplace safe.]

Hello...

[Her voice is quiet and sweet as she starts to wiggle the feather around, and she can see its eyes darken as its pupils dilate at the sight of movement, but Tifa can tell it's still shivering in fear.]

It's alright. We wanna take you somewhere safer, okay? And get you some food.

[It moves forward a little, and she can finally make out just how small it is. About as small as Clover was when Eustace brought her to Tifa. Maybe even smaller.]

Eustace... it's just a kitten.

[And as she looks at him over her shoulder, she misses the paw that darts out from behind the boxes to try catching the feather.]

[Kitten... He loosens up a little at that. ~~maybe he's the reason it's still hiding—~~

BUT TIFA HIS QUILL.]

Hey, watch it!

Hm?

[Before she can see much of it, the little paw dashes away again, but it's moved close enough to the edge of the shadows now that she can see its interest in the feather, as well as...]

Wings?

[As soon as she voices the discovery, it leaps out from behind the boxes in an attempt to catch the feather, but Tifa pulls it away just in time that it misses and it rolls around on the floor instead.]

What... is this? Some kind of fairy... cat?

[Eustace also stares...and is a little more wary than before, but also curious.]

Given the nature of this world, I more or less suspected it would be.

[Not many "normal" animals around here, that's for sure.]

However that means we need to treat it with more caution as we don't know what kind of magic it could use, if at all.

Seems pretty harmless right now.

[It rights itself and rolls back onto all fours and stares at the two of them just as warily as Eustace eyes it, but its mewl when its eyes land back on the feather is so small that it squeezes gently at Tifa's heart.

... Not taking in anymore cats. Not taking in anymore cats. Not taking... in anymore... cats...

And then it leaps up to catch the feather that Tifa is waving around. It doesn't catch it, but Tifa looks back over her shoulder at Eustace with pleading eyes—]

[OH NO HE SEES THAT LOOK AND WHAT IT MEANS.]

Do you even have enough time to take care of another animal?

[...

.....

.......

She chews on her lip as they exchange glances with each other, and she sees that look and knows what it means.]

Well...

[Tifa begins slowly. Does she have enough time to take care of another animal, with the corgis and Clover? But if she's going to be spending a lot more time here, along with them...]

Maybe... And if this is supposed to be a place to home strays...

[He doesn't mean to seem so harsh, really. He can understand how she wants to take care of it, just like how he is with dogs. But he really is thinking of the practical issues, the current one being—]

Maybe so, but we're not even set up. You haven't even decided how you want the interior of the main floor to look like.

[A soft mew from the kitten makes him glance over, and yes, he has to admit it is fairly cute.]

...I'm not saying we have to kick it out. But I don't know if we'll be able to keep it in our home—we barely have enough space as it is.

[It flaps its small, pink wings when Tifa looks back at it and wiggles the feather some more, and the way that its bright green eyes stare up at it in wonder like it's a bird only makes her heart ache even more. Eustace does make several good points—they are so far from being set up downstairs and even upstairs, and the house is so crowded with the dogs, Eria, Clover, and now Lyria, another animal would just mean more chaos.]

Yeah... maybe not at home, but...

[It tries to jump and use its wings, but they must not be fully developed just yet so it only leaves an inch or so off the ground before it falls again.]

If it can stay here, I can still make sure that it gets food and water. Who knows how long it's been since it's had a proper meal...

[A sigh as he runs a hand through his hair and down the back of his neck.]

In fairness, it may already consider this building its home if it was here to begin with. Let's see if it's made some kind of den here.

[Well, with the kitten out, she doesn't need the quill anymore, but as she hands it back to him, its eyes follow and it looks like it's about ready to pounce after it, its wings flitting again on its back as it lowers near the floor... but the slightly stern look that Tifa shoots over her shoulder has it straightening again.]

Yeah...

[But she can tell he's getting a bit frustrated, so she lets her hand rest quietly on his arm, giving it a light, reassuring squeeze before she briefly scans the room first.]

... I wonder if there might be more of them around here?

[He knows he's a bit more harsh than he should...and as he takes the quill, he looks at it before looking at Tifa and letting it disappear, much to the kitten's disappointment. ]

If there were, they would have come out by now.

[That...does make him frown a little as he looks at the kitten with some concern.

...It is fairly small...]

But let's take a look.

Mm... yeah. Must have left...

[Her voice fades, but her disappointment rings clear. It's at least old enough that it wouldn't need its mother anymore, but the kitten is still a kitten. Young and vulnerable and probably scared when two people came wandering into the only place that it thought was safe. It seems a bit skittish still—the feather as nice, but when Tifa leans down to reach a hand out for sniffing and checking, it backs up a little and stares at it.]

Still a bit spooked, but that's fine... We're going to make sure you're comfortable, alright?

[With that, Tifa starts to lift those boxes away one by one to check the back corner where the kitten hid, but there's nothing but dust back there.

After some searching, what they will find is a spot behind a shelf with a small bed of old, tattered dish towels that are covered in fur and... sprinkles... and the kitten mewls loudly and leaps into the spot and starts to pat its paws on the blanket.]

[Given how it's reacting to them, it's very likely it hasn't had much human contact... Yet even as young as it is...]

It doesn't look too malnourished, so it must have been able to feed itself somehow. Granted since it's a fairy, its diet may be different than a normal cat.

[Which they'll have to figure out... But Eustace is studying it, noting its health before helping Tifa in looking around. And when they find the dish towels that were clearly placed there—]

Looks like there really has been someone looking after in some way.

[...But what's with the sprinkles...]

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