"Swan?" Killian called from downstairs. He had come bearing coffee and bear claws as a surprise for his love this dreary and chilly morning. Of course, it's not really considered a surprise anymore as its shifted into a daily routine. But, the sticky sweet danishes… those were out of the ordinary.
"Up here!" He heard her yell from upstairs.
His brow raised and a smirk became present as he ascended the stairs. "Is someone in need of a wake up call this morn?" He asked in his velvety voice, rounding the corner to the master bedroom. His smirk fell when his eyes were met with a ball of fur. "What in the bloody hell is that?" he asked repulsed.
"Mmmmm, bear claws!" she pulled one from his hook, (because, let's be serious for a moment, how else was he supposed to carry them?) and took a huge bite as she adjusted the black and white ball of fur in her arm. "You know me so well." she mumbled around the food, spitting a few morsels as she spoke.
Killian was still too preoccupied with the thing in her arm to care about her disgusting eating habits. "Swan, what is that?" he asked again.
"Oh, this?" she asked, raising the kitten in the air.
"Aye." he answered sarcastically. "That."
"This is Figaro." she shoved the bear claw back onto his hook, Killian giving her a raised brow sideways glance as she did so, and licked the icing from her fingers. "It's a gift for August. Trade you." Ignoring his meaningless protests, she took the coffee transporter from his hand and replaced it with the kitten.
He raised it up, checking it over like it was some new cutlass, and finally gave a shrug. "He would have made a fine addition to my crew."
"Seriously?"
Giving a nod, and tucking the cat in his arm, he continued, "Many rodents find themselves on board my ship, in particularly the galley. Smee even happened to be one of them at one point in time. Sometimes it's unavoidable to have a cat on board. I had one before, but eh-" he trailed off, as he entered the room. "That was long ago." he finished.
Long ago. Codename for Milah. She'd love to get to know more about his little feline friend, but decided against it. "So, anyway-" she plucked the coffee from the holder and motioned for him to follow her downstairs. "Marco asked me to keep our little friend here for a few hours while he situated everything at home."
"He couldn't just shove it in storage somewhere?" he asked, raising the cat up again.
"What! No!" she replied with a laugh. "You can't just shove a cat in a closet!"
"I did it all the time. Tossed it down in the storage to catch the rats and then brought it back up to the cabin."
"Yeah, well storage on a ship is different than a closet in a house."
"They're bloody well the same thing." he argued, placing the tiny creature on the counter in the kitchen. He crinkled his nose and skewed his features at the amount of fur on his hand and clothes, and sighed. "Never really cared for cats." he muttered.
Emma rolled her eyes as she placed the coffees down and pulled the bear claws from his hook. "You just said-"
"No." he stopped her. "I did not. I said I used them for rodent catching purposes. I never said that I liked them."
Her eyes went wide and she held up her hands. "So sorry." she apologized sarcastically.
"The damn thing was so bloody annoying. Always meowing for attention. Always purring by my head as I slept. Would walk all over me maps, leaving little footprints of ink in his wake. Almost threw the damn thing overboard. But, Smee, among others, took a liking to Butterball and-"
Emma spewed coffee from her mouth, leaving her jaw hang open in shock. The coffee had landed all over Killian's face and vest. His eyes were closed, hand still in mid air from his tale and his mouth formed a thin line. "Uh… i'm so sorry." A finger came up to wipe the dripping coffee from her lip before moving to grab a towel.
Killian's hand slowly came up to wipe his face while he sighed deeply. "Did I say something amusing?" he asked slowly, taking the towel from her hand to clean himself up.
She bit her lip while scratching Figaro's chin. "Captain Hook, the fiercest pirate in all the realms…. Had a cat named Butterball?" she couldn't help but giggle as it sounded so hilarious coming from her mouth.
His tongue darted out to flick against the corner of his mouth as he tried not to smile. He had to admit, it was pretty funny when he thought about it like that. "Alright, love. You got me there. But, it wasn't my decision!" he argued. "I didn't want the name. I was out voted."
"Wait." she held up her hands, smiling widely. "Pirates actually voted on a name for a cat? Just so it could catch mice?"
"Bad luck not to." he replied with a shrug. It wasn't abnormal for ships to have a cat or two on board. Black cats especially, were good luck for sailors, and sometimes loved ones back home would have a black cat for luck to bring their sailor home.
"Go on." she bit into her bear claw again, leaning on the counter, watching as Figaro played with the strands of golden hair falling around her shoulder.
"It was unanimous. Half the crew including Milah, wanted Butterball. The other half had other names chosen, but I… I was partial to Winston."
Her face fell as her eyes met his. "Winston?"
"It's a wonderful name!"
"For a cat?"
"And Figaro is any better?" he tested.
"Touche." she muttered before going back to her bear claw. "Just- out of curiosity," she started, "What color was this… Butterball?"
"It was smoky in color. Matched Milah's eyes."
Ignoring the unwanted detail of information about his dead ex-girlfriend, she asked, "And… you wanted to name him Winston?"
"Aye."
"You do realize that Winston Churchill made a movie about a grey cat? It's called Pet Cemetery."
"Who did what now in an animal graveyard?"
With a roll of her eyes, she waved her comment away. "Never mind. So, you gave a grey cat the name Butterball? Wouldn't that have been a better name on a tabby?"
"Trust me, love. I had some choice words to say about the matter. But, as a Captain with a code, I had no choice but to oblige. So, Milah had her bloody cat and named it, too."
Emma picked up Figaro to bury her nose in his fur. "When we get a pet, you can name it Winston."
His brow rose as he perked up. "When?"
Her eyes met his, while smirking behind the kitten. "When." she agreed.
"Not a cat."
"Doesn't have to be."
"A dog?" he asked eagerly.
"Mmm...Oh! A lizard? I was watching this show a few weeks back, it's hilarious. Called Galavant. There was this King who wound up with this lizard that he thinks is a dragon and called him Tad Cooper. Seriously, the funniest thing ever."
"As humorous as that sounds-" His eyes narrowed. "I'm not taking care of a creature who's related to a damn crocodile."
Giving a small laugh, she adjusted the kitten in her arms, giving tiny scratches to his head. "Ok, no reptiles."
"You know, Swan," Killian stepped around the counter to slide his still sticky hook in the belt loop of her jeans, and gently pulled her side into him. "It's among tradition to gift a Princess with a pony."
"I'm a little big for a pony." she snorted.
"Aye. That may be true." He brushed the hair from her shoulders, letting his thumb trail along her jawline before resting his hand on her neck. "A stallion on the other - well…" he nodded towards the hook he had unlooped from her jeans, "You know." He smirked wildly as his brow rose in seduction.
She rolled her eyes and giggled softly. "How is it that you're so gifted in making innuendos?"
"I'm gifted in many things, love." he whispered before placing a kiss among her lips. Emma's eyes widened at the sound of clawing and pulled away. Killian's eyes fell to the cat who was climbing up the lapels of his duster, "Bloody hell!" he bent down as the kitten made its way to his shoulder and attempted to climb on his head. "Swan, if you please?" he begged.
"What's the matter, Hook?" she asked with a smile. "Can't handle a tiny kitty?"
He attempted at grabbing the bugger, but it had decided on other things. Figaro started clawing it's way down his back, making Killian spin around and glare over his shoulder at Emma. "Swan!"
"You're on your own!" Emma laughed as she picked up the rest of her bear claw, along with her coffee, and skipped from the room.
"Bloody serious, Emma? Swan. Swan!" he glared at the black and white kitten as he became perched on his shoulder again. "I despise you." he muttered.
Emma ventured into the den about a half hour later, after finishing her donut and coffee, and found Killian lying on the floor with Figaro. He had a piece of rope tied around his hook and was chuckling at the kitten's attempts at catching it. 'Some fearsome pirate this is.' she thought to herself. Instead of interrupting this oddly precious moment, she watched on.
"I suppose you're not completely horrid." he muttered to the kitten. "I find meself feeling overly underwhelmed by your name, though." he raised his hook and watched as Figaro jumped for the rope and attached himself to it by his claws and teeth. "You don't seem like a Figaro, at all." he scooped the cat off the rope and lifted him to his face. His nose brushed against the fluffy fur as the kitten purred, and hummed to himself in thought. "I once knew a man by the name of John Silver. He served in the Royal Navy and managed to lose his leg to Lord Edward Hawke one brutal evening." he placed the kitten back down where it jumped up onto his shoulder and perched. Giving a chuckle, he ran a finger down the kitten's chest and continued on with his tale. "He eventually obtained this annoying parrot of a bird who was insistent on being on the man's shoulder and proceeded to call him Captain Flint. It was for some jest, but really i think he was just horrible with the task of name calling. Either way, the damn thing never seemed to enjoy my company. Always nipping at my hand and squawking obscene testimonials in my direction. I threatened to run my hook right through him and have a meal out of him. However, Silver wasn't too keen on that." he gently nudged the kitten with his head when Figaro rubbed his cheek. "I see you fancy my tales." he stated with a smile. "I've many more where that came from." grabbing the spot behind his neck, he lifted him from his shoulder and placed him back down in front of him. Figaro jumped right back to his place on his shoulder making Killian chuckle. "Perhaps I'll rename you Flint. Don't be going off and meowin' that to Emma. Wouldn't want her to get the wrong impression of me."
Emma smiled, stifling a laugh.
He made to stand, and upon hearing the claws dig into his leather duster, he slowed his movements as to not scare him. "Now, now." he soothed. Emma had a bright smile on her face and a hand on her hip when Killian turned around. The shock on his face was completely priceless. "Swan!" he rubbed the back of his ear, noticing the rope still swinging from his hook. "Eh… how long-"
"He's not completely horrid, huh?" she teased.
Killian ripped the rope, that was usually used to practice the skill of knot tying, from his hook and shoved it back into his vest. "You didn't think to mention your presence?" he asked slightly annoyed.
"Killian… it's okay. You can admit it."
He scoffed. "Admit what?"
She motioned to his buddy on his shoulder and smirked. "That you like Flint here."
His face became reddened as he avoided her gaze. "No. I'm tolerant of him. It's completely different."
"Uh-huh. Sure." she walked over and placed a kiss to his lips. "Then you won't mind if we take him to his rightful owner?" She smiled at his fallen expression. "Come on, tiger. Time to say goodbye." she raised the kitten to his face and batted her eyelashes as Killian looked to Figaro, then to her, and then to him again.
He gently took the kitten from her hands and turned his back to her, looking over his shoulder. "If I must." he muttered before turning his attention to the furball again. "You'll be a fine rodent tracker one day, Flint. Much more useful than that bloody demon of a cat I once had, I'm certain."
"Say it." Emma urged playfully. "You know you're going to miss him."
"Aye, perhaps." he admitted with a shrug.
With a roll of her eyes, she made her way to the front door. "Marco is waiting for him."
Killian sighed softly and nestled the kitten's head before turning and following, putting his full 'Captain Killian Jones persona' back on display. He handed off the kitten as he passed her in the doorway and made his way down the stairs. "Good day, Swan."
She raised a brow as she followed him out. "Wait, you're not coming?" she asked confused.
"I'm afraid not. I have more pressing matters to attend to." he started down the sidewalk in the opposite direction that she needed to take and gave a wave. "See you soon, love."
"Okay, then?"
Emma returned home later that day, sans Figaro, and entered her kitchen. She stopped in the doorway, seeing Killian Jones leaning against the refrigerator with his arms folded. Her eyes narrowed as she questioned his presence.
"You don't seem overly thrilled to set eyes on this dashing pirate…." he stated with a smile. He pushed off of the appliance and passed by her with a smirk. "Follow me, Swan."
Again, her eyes narrowed as she followed him through the house and up the stairs. The bedroom door was shut, which was unusual. "What did you do?" she asked in accusation.
Killian turned on his heel, his duster swung around his legs, and grabbed the handle of the door. "Why must everything I do automatically turn negative to you?" he questioned, opening the door. A tiny little meow could barely be heard as a black Bombay kitten came running out to greet them.
Emma gasped at the tiny fluffy creature with bright blue eyes and bent to pick it up.
"Meet Tad Winston Cooper Jones."
"I'm so sorry." she whispered to the kitten.
"Why are you apologizing to our cat?"
"Because no one should have to live with a name like that." she teased. "And I'm not sure how I feel about having a girl cat named Tad…."
"Then what do you suggest?"
"I promised you Winston, so…." she hummed to herself as she cuddled their new kitten. "Winnie?"
"Winnie?" his face scrunched. "I don't think so."
"Oh, what about that sea goddess from your story? Uh… what was her name? Something about Davy Jones?"
"Calypso?"
"Yeah! Calypso Jones. I love it!" she smiled as she lifted the kitten to her face. "Hello, Calypso. Meet the man who's going to get you very well acquainted with your litter box." she passed her off to Killian and bounced down the stairs.
"Wait." his face fell in seriousness. "Swan, are you being serious? She's your cat, as well- we're already well acquainted! Emma-!" he sighed heavily when she gave a wave as she rounded the corner. "Knew I should've gotten the bloody dog."