AN: Any of the characters that aren't normally part of the show are entirely fictional and are not meant to bear any resemblance to any living persons.

This story will eventually launch into the realms of the silly. Consider yourself warned for future chapters.

Anders was pleased with himself. This had to be one of his greatest conquests yet.

The woman sitting in the passenger seat of his car was one of the youngest MPs in Parliament; beautiful, witty, rich and sharp as a tack. In other words: in normal circumstances, she was a woman who would never, ever be idiotic enough to allow Anders to chat her up.

Anders tended to stay away from politicians; generally because it was too much of a hassle dealing with the inevitable media fallout that would arise from being seen with them. Also, the vast majority of politicians weren't exactly Anders' type. In addition, his powers to sway people with words were worthless on politicians because they were so used to stringing their own bullshit, and they were able to see through Anders' advances.

But this time, he had managed a combination of his Bragi powers and actually just being charming and likeable that Maria – Miranda? No, her name was definitely Samantha (he had to actually start paying attention to the news, he thought) – that by some stroke of luck and skill she had agreed to accompany him back to his place for a drink. Axl be damned, he wasn't going to let his baby brother stop him from securing a root of the highest calibre.

"You know, I actually had a few people say to me 'Annabelle – get Anders Johnson to help you on your campaign, he's a mastermind!'. You've impressed a lot of important people with your business." (Ahhh, Annabelle, that's right!) Anders was surprised. He knew he did a good job with his clients, but he wasn't aware that he was good enough to attract attention of people such as Annabelle.
"Wait, really?" Annabelle nodded slowly, reaching out and giving his knee a squeeze.
"You'd be a real asset to any political candidate, Anders," she replied softly.

It was no longer clear who was trying to seduce whom; Annabelle clearly had an ulterior motive for agreeing to go back to his place, and she was buttering him up with compliments and suggestive looks. But Anders had to admit, it was nice to have someone pursuing him for once. Plus, he was actually enjoying her company and talking to her. Ugh. He was turning into Ty.

"I have to say, you've intrigued me. Why don't you-" Anders was cut short by Annabelle letting out a shriek.
"OH MY GOSH, LOOK OUT!" Anders stepped on the brakes and his car screeched to a halt.
"Jesus, what's wrong?!"
"Look what you nearly ran over!" Anders looked out the windscreen where Annabelle was pointing. In the middle of the road, their eyes reflecting the strong headlights of Anders' car, were five very small kittens.

"Oh, God," Anders sighed; he thought he was about to kill somebody. He put the car into reverse and started backing up so he could drive around the kittens.
"What are you doing? Let me get out of the car for a second," Annabelle instructed. Anders obliged, but he was wary of what Annabelle's intentions were with the kittens. She climbed out, and went over to them, picking one of them up. They had clearly been abandoned. Anders slumped himself over the steering wheel tiredly. Would this prove an obstacle for his plans with Annabelle tonight? He should have known that somehow Axl's order would have a way in interfering in his life, even when Anders was so blatantly disregarding it.

He didn't lift his head from the steering wheel until he heard the back door of the car open.
"There you are, now why don't we grab your brothers and sisters as well," Anders heard Annabelle coo. He turned around to see Annabelle taking her jacket off and creating a little spot for the kittens to settle.

"Um, what do you think you're doing?" Annabelle shot him a dark look, and for the first time, he was truly seeing just how fiery a personality she possessed.
"We need to take these kittens so someone else doesn't run them over and kill them."
"I don't live at the fucking SPCA, Annabelle," Anders pointed out a little irritably. The idea of having five festering fleabags in his car wasn't exactly appealing, let alone his house.

"You don't have to keep them - we'll take them to the SPCA tomorrow. You can't expect me to leave them all vulnerable in the cold overnight, do you?" Her tone was dangerous.
"Whoa, whoa, overnight? I thought we were just dropping them off at the SPCA on the way home?" This night was about to take a very different course than what Anders had originally anticipated.

"It's after midnight; they're not open until the morning," Annabelle sounded as though she was speaking to a very petulant child. This fucking country, Anders cursed inwardly. Of course 24 hour dumping grounds for animals didn't exist in New Zealand yet. Perhaps he should send his MP an email to do something about it. Then again, he didn't need to; she was now settled back in the passenger seat of his car.

"It's a shame they don't have 24 hour animal shelters here in Auckland yet," Anders said nonchalantly, casually glancing her way to gauge her reaction. Annabelle rolled her eyes.
"It's one night, Anders. It won't kill you to care about other beings for once in your life." Ouch. He was beginning to dislike her; she was turning out to be a bit of a condescending bitch.
"And make sure you drive slowly, you don't want to hurt the poor kittens."

Anders looked back in the rear-view mirror to the backseat. The kittens were all huddled up, staring at him with terrified eyes. But they weren't making annoying noises like he thought cats tended to do. Swearing under his breath, Anders slowly started driving back to his house. Neither he nor Annabelle exchanged any words for the remainder of the journey; the atmosphere was rather frosty. Shit, if this was the kind of thing that Ty always had to go through with women, it was a miracle that he EVER got laid!

The car ride finally came to an end as they reached Anders' house. The pair of them climbed out and Anders went to the front door and waited impatiently for Annabelle to remove the kittens out of his car. She threw him a dirty look.
"If you took your jacket off, you could help carry them inside a bit more quickly. I can't carry five kittens inside in one go," she suggested shortly.

"Are you fucking insane? Do you know how much this jacket cost? Or is this some backwards roundabout way of getting me to take my clothes off?" Anders asked in a hopeful voice.

"You won't find out until you get that jacket off and help me out." Annabelle had a hint of a smirk on her face, which made Anders' esteem for her climb back up a few notches. There was a potential for him to recover the chances of getting her into bed with him. Anders walked back over to his car and stood beside Annabelle a little uncomfortably; he had had little experience holding animals or babies (basically anything that would wriggle or make a huge mess). Annabelle picked up one of the kittens; a little ginger one who was extraordinarily fluffy and placed him into Anders' hands.

The kitten looked up at him with wide blue eyes and Anders was momentarily stricken. He wasn't normally one to bandy about the word 'adorable', but there was no other way to describe the little being in his hands. There was a trust in the kitten's eyes that Anders had rarely seen anyone give him. Annabelle had a similar look in her eyes as she watched Anders gaze at the feline in his hands. This was the first time she had seen a proper ounce of humanity in Anders. She knew of his reputation and what she had signed up for when she agreed to go home with him, but actually seeing that he had the capacity to care for something was refreshing.

"I think I can manage the other four if you could shut the door behind me?" Not taking his eyes off the kitten he was holding, Anders shut the door of his car and locked it. He then walked very carefully to his front door and opened it, Annabelle following slowly behind him with the other four.

"Is it alright if I settle them on your couch?" Anders wrinkled his nose; he wasn't keen on the idea of having animals walk all over his furniture, but there was a higher goal that he valued more than his furniture. He nodded.
"Sure. Can I offer you a drink? Wine? Coffee? Vodka?"
"A wine would be lovely." Annabelle had settled onto his couch next to the kittens and fondly watched them roam about.

Anders still had the ginger kitten in his hands as he opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses of his favourite sauvignon blanc. Annabelle watched him struggle slightly with the preparation of the drinks one-handedly.
"You know that you're allowed to put the cat down, now?"

"Ah, Annabelle, you'll soon learn that pouring drinks isn't the only thing I can do with one hand," Anders remarked as he brought two wine glasses over to the couch, handing one to his guest. He settled his kitten onto his lap, where the kitten comfortably curled up. Annabelle was no longer trying to hide her smirk; this incensed Anders slightly. She had been expecting him to reject the kittens, but he would show her. The little kitten who had taken such a shining to Anders he would name Vali, after the god of revenge. Because the perfect revenge against Annabelle would be to prove that he was actually quite comfortable with animals. Vali was purring, and this attracted the other four to wander over to Anders curiously and also climb into his lap.

Anders tipped his head against the back of the couch with a sigh, and took a sip from his wine glass. It wasn't the scenario he had been anticipating, but he had to admit that he was quite content with the five kittens and a beautiful woman beside him who was stroking one's head with a dreamy look on her face.
"Normally kittens don't take to strangers so quickly; there must be something about you that they like."
"What can I say, I always get pussy," Anders quipped, tilting his head so he could look at Annabelle. She had completely dropped her smugness and was now looking at him with faint admiration. Who knew that cats were a way to a girl's heart?

The pair of them didn't move for the hour or so, save for Annabelle getting up to grab more wine. Anders eventually abandoned the hope of having sex with Annabelle and instead allowed himself to get to know her properly. It was proving to be less boring than he thought. He would have preferred some hanky-panky of sorts, but as the kittens were proving to be an obstacle, he had to make do with the best of his situation.

Sadly, his night with Annabelle was about to end. Her phone rang, and she pulled it out.
"Shit, it's the Prime Minister; I'd better answer this." She got off the couch and stepped into the bathroom to take her call. Anders took another swig from his wine. He gave little Vali a scratch behind the ears as Annabelle stepped back into the living room, an apologetic look on her face.

"Anders, I'm going to have to leave – something's come up and I have to go into work," she said ruefully, pulling on her jacket and her shoes.
"What? You've got to be kidding me. Are you just going to leave me here with these?!" Anders sounded panicked. Annabelle giggled at the slumbering kittens in his lap.

"You look like you've got it under control. Don't worry; I'll give you a call sometime once I have some more spare time." She stepped over to him and kissed his cheek.
"Night, Mr Johnson." And without another word, she made her way out the door, shutting it softly behind her. Anders wanted to follow after her, but he was in no position to move. And out of his depth with five living beings asleep on top of him (this had to be a record for him!). So, he did what he always did when he was in a bind. Anders fished his phone out of his pocket and hit number 2 on his speed dial.

A grumpy sounding man answered on the other line.
"What the fuck do you want?" the man asked groggily.
"Ew, Ty, what are you doing over there? Dawn has work in the morning!" Anders chastised his younger brother. He wasn't aware that Ty and his assistant Dawn were at the sleeping at each others' houses phase of their relationship.
"I was sleeping before you had the lack of courtesy to call," Ty hissed in a quiet voice.

"Where's Dawn? I need to speak to her. It's urgent."
"She's asleep. And it's always urgent with you. Let the woman sleep, or I'll convince her to resign." That was an empty threat from Ty – Anders knew that Ty tried to get her to quit roughly once every week. Anders could always talk her out of it.

"What's going on?" Anders could hear Dawn ask on the other line.
"It's my dickhead brother trying to ruin our lives," Ty responded, and Anders rolled his eyes. Ty was such a drama queen at the best of times.
"God, Anders, what do you want?" Dawn asked crossly, having taken the phone from her boyfriend.
"You need to get over to my house right now. I can't move."

"What do you mean, you can't move?" Dawn asked sceptically.
"I mean, I'm physically stuck and I can't move. And you're uniquely equipped to help me out. Please. I really need your help." There was a pause, and then Dawn let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine. I'll be there in 15 minutes." Anders could hear Ty's protests in the background, and he couldn't help but chuckle. Ty was so easy to wind up. Thankfully, they arrived promptly. Anders heard them coming up the stairs, Ty complaining as per usual about how Anders was a prick and exploitative and a complete wanker. When they entered the living room and saw Anders sitting there on the couch, he thought that Ty would implode with anger.

"You're stuck?!" Ty fumed. "For fuck's sake, Anders, did you drag us out of bed for nothing?!"
"Shhh, you'll wake them!" Anders hissed, pointing at his lap. Dawn and Ty walked around so they were in front of the couch, and then noticed just exactly what had made Anders 'stuck'.

"Where did they come from?" Dawn's voice was instantly softer as she stepped over to the couch and knelt down to examine the kittens.
"It's a long story. But I first need you to remove them so I can go to the bathroom." Ty and Dawn had identical looks of disbelief on their faces.

"Please! I'm not qualified to lift sleeping kittens." It was the genuine look of pleading on Anders' face that persuaded Ty and Dawn to listen. They each picked up two kittens and gently sat down with them. Anders was then able to pick up Vali without disturbing him from his slumber.
"I'm going to put you down, Vali, and then I'll be back, okay?" Oh, how he cherished the thunderous look on Ty's face. Not only was Vali the god of revenge, but in Norse mythology Vali had been born for the sole purpose of killing Ty's god, Hod. Anders settled Vali down on the biggest cushion on his couch before going to the bathroom. He returned to see Ty and Dawn curled up with all five kittens on their laps, as they whispered to each other tenderly.

"Don't get too attached, Dawn, you'll make your own cat jealous," Anders said, taking Vali from Dawn and sitting down in another chair.
"I don't have a cat, Anders," she retorted. "Did you want me to take them to the SPCA before work tomorrow?"
"No, it's okay, I'll handle it. They can live here for a little while in luxury before I send them off to new homes." Anders answered absent-mindedly; Vali had woken up and was purring contentedly, distracting Anders from his guests.

"Why don't I send Axl and Zeb around tomorrow to come and pick them up; I'm sure they'd be happy to find homes for them," Ty suggested. This captured Anders' attention. He stared at his brother suspiciously.
"Why would you do that?!"

"You're kidding me, right? You of all people can't just keep five kittens."
"Who says I can't?" Anders said defensively, covering Vali's ears to protect him from Ty's blasphemous words.
"The universe? You don't even let women stay for more than a night," Ty pointed out.

"Now that's where you're wrong; I'll be going on a second date with Annabelle Langham in the near future," Anders said triumphantly. He found the shocked looks on Dawn and Ty's faces to be rather insulting. In fact, their entire attitudes to him this evening had been quite offensive. He was perfectly capable of both wooing a politician AND looking after these kittens; they were very happy in his house.

"I think you've made your points, you can leave and go back to bed now." Dawn nodded at Ty, and they lifted the kittens and placed them on the couch.
"I'll be coming in to work late tomorrow, Anders," Dawn warned. She was expecting Anders to talk her into coming in early, but surprisingly her boss just nodded.

"If you could just pick up some cat supplies for me, Dawn, that'd be great, and then you can come in at midday." That was the best deal Dawn was going to get from Anders, and she took it.
"Deal. You sure you're alright with them? If they get hungry, you could always feed them your fish." Ty let out a delighted laugh. He enjoyed the annoyed look he finally managed to provoke from his older brother.

"Alright, time to leave now. Bye-bye." Ty and Dawn took the hint; they left Anders' house hand-in-hand. Ty sent a text message to Axl telling him and Zeb to get their arses round to Anders' house in the morning, however – he figured Anders would be bored of the kittens by morning, and his younger brother and his flatmate seemed suited to give the critters a home.

Anders left the four unnamed kittens on his couch to sleep, but he took Vali and gave him a prime sleeping spot on his bed.
"They think I can't deal with cats? Well, Vali, you and I will prove them wrong."