Greetings, everyone. And Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. I hope the days have been well for you all. I come bringing the start of a new arc, coming off of my still shookedness from one of the newest Steven Universe episodes. ...But don't worry. Nothing like what happened in the episode I'm talking about happens here. Instead, I plan for this arc to be fairly cute in nature. Curious about what I mean? Read on to find out, my loves. =)
'I got the milk, bread, bacon, chicken... ...And I think that's it,' Bayley thought as she did a quick inventory over her groceries. The ponytailed brunette had been having a fairly mellow and lazy Saturday back at home. With Roman and the others having gone to "take care of some business"-as Dean called it-Bayley had been left at home with not much to do. So, after taking a quick look in the refridgerator and seeing that there were some things that were almost out of, she decided to take a trip to one of the local grocery stores to pick up what she needed. 'OK. Just gonna stop and get something to eat from somewhere, and then it's back home I go!'
Walking along the sidewalk, Bayley thought over what she'd get to eat when she made it to the convenience store. Having finally decided on what she wanted just as she reached the store, Bayley stopped in her tracks when she saw something quite peculiar outside of the store.
"Aww, a cat!" Bayley excitedly said as she knelt down in front of the cat. "I've never seen you around here before. You must be new to these parts, huh? I hope you don't get into too much trouble. It'd be pretty bad if something happened to a cutie like you. I'm about to head inside to get something to eat, so hopefully, I'll see you when I come back out." Heading inside, Bayley said "Hey, Emma. Hey, Brandi."
"Hey, Bayley. What brings you to these parts today?" Brandi, a brunette with lightly tanned skin, asked while Emma responded with a wave of her hand.
"Just did a light grocery store run today. And, that's about it," Bayley said with a laugh. "How have things been for you guys here today?"
"Not too bad. We've been off-and-on busy today. Which I think is good since Em's been waiting for something," Brandi said with a grin.
"Waiting for something? What could she be waiting for?" Bayley asked, feeling a bit confused.
"Don't say it, Brand!" Emma blurted. "Please. Don't."
"Fine, fine. I'm just saying, you're not doing yourself any good looking at your phone like an anxious little kid every few seconds," Brandi shrugged.
Not having anything to say in response, Emma moaned and rested her forehead on the glass countertop while Brandi let out a chuckle.
Still feeling confused, Bayley simply said "Riiiiight" before getting back to her objective at hand. "Is ...now a good time for me to place an order?"
"Sure, Bayley," Brandi said with a laugh. "What would you like today?"
"Umm... I think I'll just have a few muffins and a cup of hot chocolate to go, please. You can surprise me with which muffins you choose," Bayley finally decided.
"All righty. I'll have that to you in a few minutes," Brandi said as she went about getting what Bayley ordered.
As she waited for her order, Bayley was just about to take a walk around the store and see if there was anything else she might want when the automatic doors of the store opened to reveal-
"Hey! What's a cat doing in here?" Emma asked upon seeing the feline entrant.
Turning to see for herself, Bayley saw that it was the same cat she saw outside. "Hey there. What brings you in here? I don't think you should be, since animals aren't really allowed in here."
"Huh. Never seen that cat around here before," Emma remarked. "Especially not a cat that looks like that."
"Really, Em?" Bayley asked. Seeing the blonde nod, Bayley looked back to the cat, that had made its way to where the brunette was standing, and she could definitely see what the older teen meant. The cat was a fairly average size covered in slightly dirty, mostly blondish fur-save for around its paws, where the fur was a shade of brunette-and, most notably, had a long bushy tail that was mostly the same blondish shade, save for patches that were the strangest possibly reddish ('Wait, does the cat have pink in its fur?' Bayley thought) shade.
Coming back to the front counter, Brandi saw the cat standing near Bayley. "Aww, Bayley. Why didn't you tell us that you had a cat?"
"I ...I actually don't," Bayley began. "I just happened to see this cat outside, and it just followed me in here."
"Well, it looks to me like it's taken a liking to you from the way it's sitting near your feet," Brandi pointed out.
"Yeah, it certainly seems to have," Bayley said with a light giggle when she felt the cat's tail brush against her ankles.
Letting out a laugh herself, Brandi said "At any rate, here's your order."
"Yay! I can't wait until I'm back home so that I can enjoy these," Bayley chirped as she walked up to the counter. Paying for what she ordered, Bayley waved goodbye to Brandi and Emma, with the two older teens replying, and left the store to head back home.
As Bayley walked along the sidewalk with her bags and cup in hand, she began to have a feeling that she was maybe being followed. Thinking that it was probably either Brandi or Emma bringing her something she might've forgotten in the store, Bayley turned around...only to be surprised by the sight of the cat from the store following her. "Aww, did you want to come home with me?" Bayley asked as she knelt down to the cat when it came to a stop in front of her.
Simply looking up to this brunette child, the cat let out a simple "Mrrowr".
Feeling excited about this, Bayley was almost set to tell the cat that it could come home with her ...until she thought about what Roman and the others and even her dad would probably say. 'I can't just leave it out here. Something might happen to it. Or maybe it has an owner that's out looking for it. Ohhh! What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?' Bayley thought, her mind going between a number of possible options.
Seeing the look on this child's face, the cat padded over to her and purred and nuzzled its face on the back of the child's hand.
Feeling this contact from the cat, Bayley let out a light laugh before finally making up her mind about what to do about the cat. "I know this is probably going to get me in trouble, ...but how would you like to come live with me? At least until I can find your owner or somewhere better for you to stay."
Hearing this, the cat nodded its head and let out an excited "Mew!"
"Aww, great!" Bayley chirped. Rising back to her full height, Bayley continued on her way back home with her potential new pet following beside her as she began to think about just how she'd take care of the cat while also trying to figure out a way to tell everyone else about her new feline friend.
Aww, isn't this lovely? Bayley seems to have possibly found herself a new pet. This mystery cat sure was eager to follow Bayley along, but it does remain to be seen as to whether or not it has an owner. Then there's the prospect of the other Gems finding out about their new feline houseguest. It certainly looks like Bayley's possibly going to have her hands full. Just what will come of Bayley possibly having a pet in this mystery cat? Find out over the course of this arc. Until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)
(Fun fact: The title of this arc is loosely based on the title of an episode of Teen Titans, said episode called "Can I Keep Him?" ...But don't worry. Nothing happens in the arc like in that episode. ^^, )
(Random bit of shiki94 fangirling here: Again. I'm still shook from one of the newest episodes of Steven Universe, and I know I can't be the only one. ^^, XD )
