A/N: Got bored, thought I would write. I was inspired by the kittens that made residence for a while under the porch of my house. Also, I'm feeling a little off today, so that is probably what caused the ending.
Warning: Animal death, sad, ect.
Pet
"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms." -George Eliot
-x/-
Stefan never really thought about owning pets.
He kind of saw dogs and cats in a different light from other animals. Not in the way of food, but other heads to take care of. Cats were independent and tough to control, seeing as they would do their own thing. And dogs have too many personalities and temperaments to keep tabs on. Plus, both of the species were unpredictable.
It was like taking care of a child, in Stefan's eyes, and he had too much problems to be dealing with an animal. Plus, Damon was pretty unpredictable, Stefan didn't want the poor animal becoming one of Damon's victims if Stefan managed to piss him off.
Also, Damon was never good with animals. The crow was a prime example. If anything, he might compel Stefan's cat to his bidding. Or the dog.
Pets were not Stefan's thing. Period.
Yet, when a stray cat made residence in the cellar, Stefan was forced to change his mind about pets.
The cat was a mangy little thing, hissing and spitting at Stefan whenever he would get close. As a vampire, he was used to this reaction from animals. But, that cat wouldn't remove itself from the dark corner between the blood bag freezer and the self.
Actually, Stefan gathered from the swollen belly of the cat that it was a she.
And both her and Stefan were going to have to look after some kittens sooner or later.
Stefan would really have to have a word with Damon about leaving the door open during the days.
-x/-
Stefan started feeding the cat down in the cellar the night he found her. Damon and Elena still didn't quite notice his behaviour yet, which Stefan was grateful for. Though, he got a few weird looks when Damon would catch him coming back up from the cellar, an empty can of cat food in hand.
He also wouldn't let his brother or Elena down in the cellar. He was worried that Damon would see the cat and make fun of him for taking care of it. Or worse, he would hurt it somehow.
Though, the first answer seemed more "Damon".
It was more of an embarrassment thing with Elena, even though she was a little slower to pick up on Stefan's odd behaviour. Her mind was on her new found vampireism and how to deal with it. Damon was a good help, too. Still, it was stressful for Stefan and the cat was a nice distraction from time to time.
Stefan didn't name the animal, which he knew that once he did, he would probably grow attached. There was no way that the cat would stay in the cellar after the kittens grew old enough to be on their own.
The kittens. Stefan had no idea what to do with them, he would probably call animal control or something. But, there was a small part of him that didn't want to see them in a pet store.
Still, he had to get his cellar back sometime.
-x/-
It was about a month later that the cat gave birth. Only Stefan was in the house at the time, Damon was out helping Elena with her blood lust, and Stefan was sitting down in the cellar, making sure that water was within reach of the howling cat.
It was a couple hours later that there was a litter of kittens in the cellar. Stefan sat a few good feet away from the mother and her babies, the mother cat still not too sure of him. Though, she was much more trusting of him once he started feeding her.
Stefan started to worry about what he was going to do now, he couldn't keep kittens a secret for very long. He was sure Damon or Elena would find them, or someone else. Still, he brought down food for the mother cat and liked to watch when there was time.
Stefan kept the animals a secret the best he could, but Caroline was the first person to find out.
Elena wanted to see her for a while, her ties with friends had been cut slightly since she became a vampire. Caroline spent the night at the boarding house, and stumbled across the kittens.
"Do you know that there is a family of cats living down in the cellar?" she asked Stefan, standing a few feet from the hissing and spitting kittens.
Stefan chuckled slightly, "yeah, I took care of the mother."
And from there on out, Caroline was on board with helping Stefan with the kittens. Even after the mother left, the both of them not sure where she went. But, after searching the house, they assumed she managed to get out.
And yet, five kittens remained. Two of them were charcoal black, bright little eyes standing out in the darkness of the cellar, and two others were multicoloured. There was one orange cat, his face and paws white.
He was the one cat that remained after he and Caroline managed to get someone to come pick up the others. Stefan didn't really want to get rid of the cat, he was the first one of his brothers and sisters to let Stefan hold him.
So, naturally, he introduced the kitten to Damon and Elena the next night.
-x/-
Stefan named the orange kitten Ace, because once he would get out from one of the rooms, he took off like a shot. Though, he never left the house. No matter what room Stefan was in, the kitten would find him with a rather loud and satisfied meow.
Damon and Elena eventually grew used to the cat, which Stefan was grateful for. Damon even let him sit on his lap once. Or maybe more, Stefan only caught him petting the cat once.
Ace was notorious for attacking people who weren't Stefan. He was more lenient with Elena and Damon, but he had a bit of a split personality when it came to them. He was cuddly and friendly one moment, then he would claw at the hands holding him and dash from the room.
Ace never seemed to care who was a mortal or a powerful vampire, if they walked into the boarding house, a sneak attack would follow.
There was one instance where one of the Originals decided to pay a visit, Elijah wanting to know about Elena's progress. Ace was quick to act, springing from at top of the landing on the stairs, barrelling down the steps and wrapped his little paws around Elijah's ankle, giving it a few bats and a bite before scurrying upstairs.
Damon looked amused, while Stefan and Elena fought to fight their embarrassment.
-x/-
Things started to get bad between Stefan and Elena, Elena claiming that the memories she was remembering of Damon were starting to think about her bond with the both of them. Stefan, not willing to get defensive or angry in front of her, told her to take her time.
He gave her space, thinking that Elena would be able to make her own decisions.
Then the whole Klaus in Tyler's body issue made itself known, giving everyone a shock. More so with Elena and Caroline, who found out that their friend Bonnie was the one who allowed Klaus to possess Tyler's body.
Each week seemed to put a strain on Stefan and Elena's relationship, Stefan rotating between working on how to get Klaus out of Tyler's body and giving Elena her space. Her friendship with Damon seemed to rekindle, Stefan knowing that there was something more there.
Though, Ace was always there. To jump on his lap when he would be pouring over a spell book or a book in general. To annoy him when he tried to sleep and the cat would pounce on his feet under the blanket, and to amuse him in the middle of the night when he would hear Damon walk down the hall, open Stefan's door, deposit the cat onto the floor, and close the door behind him again.
It was one week, though, that Stefan noticed that Ace wasn't around. He decided that he got outside and that Ace would return back on his own. Though, after three days of no return, Stefan grew concerned about where he was.
"I don't have time to keep tabs on your cat, Stefan," Damon said after Stefan asked him if he had seen Ace anywhere. Stefan just left the room without another word, telling himself that he wouldn't be one of those people to put up 'Lost Cat' posters all over town.
It wasn't until Stefan went into the woods that he found out what really happened to Ace.
-x/-
Stefan smelt blood, though it was fading and probably not fresh. He was trying to keep consistent with his animal diet again, and was out hunting. He started to walk towards a tree where the smell was coming from, usually he would just leave something like this alone.
Another animal must have left a carcass laying around, but something was calling him forward. He stopped at the trunk of a tree, his face falling into one of mild shock for a few moments, and then one of sadness crossing his face.
Ace lay in the dirt by the side of the tree, his orange fur dirty with mud and dried blood. Some sort of animal must have got him, and Stefan didn't want to admit how attached he had grown to the cat.
"Oh no," he muttered, bending down beside the tree trunk. He cursed himself for not being more responsible, he should have been watching Ace and making sure he didn't get outside the house. But, it was far too late to do anything for the cat.
He sat there for a bit, feeling like things just couldn't get any worse. He didn't know if it was his pet's death, or everything on top of Ace's death that did it, but he shut down for a bit. He sat at the bottom of the tree trunk, watching the dead animal there.
He would miss him, the cat was someone who didn't make fun of him or judged him. Ace was just there, a comforting presence in the middle of a building storm. And now he wasn't there anymore.
Stefan wasn't aware of how long he sat there, but he managed to gather himself again and stood. He looked down at Ace, a frown crossing his face. He wasn't comfortable leaving him there for other animals to scavenge.
Stefan, being a vampire, didn't really need to worry about getting sick. He was already dead. He picked up the limp body of his cat, starting to head back towards his home.
He dug a small hole in the soft dirt outside the rim of the house, placing Ace down in the hole and buried him carefully. He placed a rock on top of the small grave, so he would know where it was.
Stefan let out a small sigh, that sinking feeling still with him. But, it was lifted slightly now that he knew what happened to his cat and that he wasn't rotting away in the woods. Stefan turned and headed back inside the house.
He ran into his brother and Elena from coming out of the bathroom after washing the dirt off his hands. Elena gave him a questioning look, Stefan just looking at the two of them blankly before nodding and walking towards the parlour.
"What's wrong with him?" Elena asked quietly, looking at Damon.
"I don't know," Damon said with a shrug, a slight smirk playing at his mouth, "I think he misses his cat."