Blake sighed as she walked, seeing her street coming up. School had been very exhausting the past week, and she couldn't wait to get home and drop on her bed to get some well-earned rest.
She heard faint noise coming from the alleyway beside her and stopped, listening. She heard it again a moment later and sighed when she recognized the noise.
"Oh come on." She whined aloud, turning on one foot towards the alley.
She walked over, stopping by the dumpster that the noise was coming from. Bending down, Blake got to one knee and moved low enough to look underneath. Two yellow eyes, smaller but similar to her own, stared back.
"Great" she muttered, hearing the creature under the dumpster mewl again. She reached a hand towards it slowly, but the creature backed away in fear. Blake sighed, sorely reminded of her own skittish nature. She retracted the hand. "Come on, I'm not going to hurt you."
She waited, watching, until the creature slowly shuffled towards her a little bit, before stopping and sniffing. It almost looked confused.
Blake rolled her eyes, "Yes, I know, I don't smell like a human." She said dryly. The creature seemed to be encouraged by the smell, and it slowly made its way out from under the dumpster, revealing a tiny black kitten, with big yellow eyes. It looked up at Blake cautiously, head tilted to the side slightly.
"You don't seem like you're hurt, that's good." She said to herself, looking over the kitten. She went to reach out for it again, but it jumped back. She sighed.
Reaching up, Blake undid her bow and pulled it off, revealing her own cat ears to the small kitten. Its ears perked up when it noticed, taking a curious step towards Blake.
"See, I'm kind of like you, I'm here to help." She told the kitten.
This time, she merely held a hand out part way, allowing the kitten to slowly approach her before it rubbed its head against her outstretched palm. She scratched its head and then under its chin as it shuffled closer, earning a faint purring.
Within a minute or two, the Kitten seemed to have relaxed as it brushed up against Blake's legs and let her pet it. Unknowingly, the small animal won over his new companion.
Once she thought it'd be okay, she carefully scooped up the kitten, holding it to her chest. It squirmed a bit, but didn't freak out. She took it as a good sign.
"Come on, we can go somewhere much nicer than this dump." She told the kitten, before groaning as she realized what she'd just said. "Damnit Yang."
Once she'd walked the short distance down to her apartment, she went down the hall and opened her apartment door, closing it behind her before she let the kitten down.
It landed on all fours and paused, looking around at its new surroundings, before it turned its head to look up at Blake, tail swishing.
"Well, welcome to my apartment." She said, reaching down to scratch between its ears. It arched its back and purred as she did so.
Now that she was home, Blake went into her bedroom, grabbing a pen and paper off her desk before sitting down on her bed. The kitten seemed content to follow on her heels, and it set about exploring her room when it realized she wasn't going to leave.
Blake started writing down a list of what she'd need to buy to take care of a cat. It wasn't exactly something she'd been planning on, but she'd always liked cats, possibly since she was, in fact, part cat. Hearing that kitten in the alley just hadn't been something she could ignore.
"You are going to be a very expensive addition, kitten." She muttered, glancing over the side of the bed, where the kitten was pawing at the side trying to climb up. She smiled faintly and reached over, pulling the kitten up on to her bed. It padded around for a while before laying down at Blake's side, making her grin. "Maybe worth it, though."
A week later, her new friend was all settled in.
"Gambol! Stop scratching the doorframe!"
The little Black kitten shot off like a bullet into the kitchen, escaping Blake. She groaned when she saw the little marks on the wood. "Least you're not fully grown yet. We'll get you to stop eventually."
Blake looked around to make sure her apartment was relatively clean. Yang was coming over to hang out today, and Blake hadn't told her or anyone else about her little addition. She wanted to see the look on their faces.
As if summoned by that thought, she heard a knock on the door. Walking over, she saw Gambol poking his head out from the kitchen to see what was going on. She looked through the peephole to see that it was in fact Yang at the door, and then unlocked it, pulling it open for her.
To Blake's surprise and despair, Yang wasn't alone, and she watched as her and Ruby's Corgi, Zwei, trotted inside in front of Yang, freezing and locking his eyes on Gambol. Zwei barked, and made to take off after Gambol, who shot away down the hall.
Blake managed to grab Zwei and he tried to dart past, pulling him up off the floor. "You didn't tell me he was coming." She said, shoving the dog into Yang's arms and wiping herself off.
"Uh Blake, was that what I think it was?" Yang asked, staring down the hall.
Blake rolled her eyes, closing the door as Yang stepped further inside, getting a better grip on the squirming Corgi in her hands.
"Yes Yang," she said, "That was a kitten."
"And why is there a kitten in your apartment?"
She gave Yang a blank stare, "Because I have a kitten now?"
Yang stayed silent for a moment, almost looking sorry for bringing Zwei, before her mouth turned up in a sideways grin, warning Blake of what was coming.
"I guess it makes sense, I mean, you always have been a cat person."
"Oh shut up, and get your mutt under control while I go get Gambol." She groused, turning and heading towards the hall.
Yang said something in reply, but Blake had tuned her out already. She went down the hall, and peeked into her room first, knowing that was one of Gambols favourite spots. She saw him pacing in the middle of the room, and he stopped and turned to her when she pushed the door open.
"C'mere Gambol, it's alright." The kitten dashed towards her, happy to accept the comfort, and Blake lifted him up, holding him in her arms.
"Blake," she heard Yang calling from the main room, "I put Zwei in your spare bedroom for now. Can I meet the kitty?"
She sighed, looking down at her pet. "I'm really sorry for her, in advance." She told the kitten, giving it a sympathetic pat on the head.
Blake walked back out, waving for Gambol so he would follow her. The kitten stayed a good distance behind her, keeping his eyes peeled for the intruder.
"Aw! He's so cuuuuute!" Yang exclaimed, grinning and throwing her hands in the air. She'd sat down on the couch. Blake sighed.
"Yang, meet Gambol." She gestured to the kitten, "Gambol, this is Yang."
Gambol took a long moment to stare at Yang, who patted her lap encouragingly, before he waltzed over and hopped up, sniffing at Yang's hands as she started to pet him. Blake smiled, "I guess he doesn't mind you." She said, before adding, "Even if you brought your little devil here."
Yang made an amused noise, "Zwei isn't bad, you're just a scaredy cat"
"Not funny, Yang."
"Oh come on!" her friend laughed, "You just make it too easy, how am I supposed to resist?"
Gambol, in the meantime, had stood up on his hind legs and rested his paws on Yang's collarbone, stretching up to nudge her chin with his head while she was looking at Blake. Yang felt it and looked back down, narrowly avoiding a mouth full of fur.
"Look at you, kitty!" she grinned, scratching under Gambol's chin and earning a purr from the kitten, who nuzzled her face in return. "How long have you had a cat, exactly?" she asked, glancing up at Blake.
"Only about a week. He was a stray, I found him in an alley and couldn't convince myself to leave him be." She smirked, "Today was to show him to you and see the look on your face. I have to say, your reaction was priceless."
Yang chuckled, "Ruby is going to freak out, you know that right?"
"Yea, which is why I'm showing you first, so I don't have to deal with the both of you at once."
Her friend pouted, "I'm not that bad, am I?" she asked.
Blake rolled her eyes in response. Looking down at Gambol curling up in Yang's lap though, she figured he was worth having to deal with Yang and Ruby.