Chapter 15
Once back at her room, Shego knew at once that something was different. The only problem was that she really couldn't quite put her finger on precisely just what was different yet. "So…what´s this new responsibility your buddy, Doc Director's, so geeked about?" she asked.
Kim smiled and looked over at Shego´s bed. Shego frowned then followed Kim's gaze over, suddenly seeing what exactly was 'up'. Something small, orange striped, and furry lounged contendedly upon the middle of her bed.
Shego slowly walked over and peered down, trying to see just what this odd orange mystery was. She gasped in undertstanding, and then looked back at Kim, trying very hard to hide the huge grin that threatened to appear on her face. "So…she's serious about this, right? I mean…the kitty's really mine to keep?" Shego asked in a quiet voice, questioning but hopeful.
"Well, d'uh! That is the idea, you know, Steph," Kim replied.
Shego looked back down at the little orange-striped tabby kitten that now laid upon her bed looking up at her with big curious green eyes. Shego reached her hand out slowly, allowing the kitten to sniff her hand. Apparently, she passed inspcetion, as the kitten then allowed her to gently scratch it behind an ear, which made the small cat purr. A moment later it butted its head against Shego´s trembling hand. "So…what´s its name anyway?" Shego asked, intrigued.
"First of all, it's a she…not an it," Kim corrected her. "And, secondly, we haven't given her any name as of yet. She's your kitten…you name her."
Shego looked down into the beautiful green eyes of the kitten, which looked back at her curiously. Those eyes showed nothing but kindness, innocence, and loyalty…eyes that Shego had seen once a long time before. "Oh, great! My conscience is never going to let me forget this," she grumbled, but smiled none the less. "Okay, I have decided on a name for her," she said and turned around.
Kim was curious, despite her inner misgivings. "All right, I'll bite," Kim said. "What's her name gonna be?"
"I´ll give you three guesses, Kimmie," Shego teased.
Kim frowned, looked from Shego´s mischevious eyes down to the cute little kitten. It was then that she suddenly realized that this particular kitten had reddish orange hair---just like she herself did. Now, granted the human Kim's hair was a good deal longer. Kim then frowned at this realization. And a pair of big green eyes---just like she did, Kim thought to herself. She looked up, then over to the grinning Shego, her eyes widening as finally caught on. "No way," she pronounced in soft denial.
Shego pretended to pout, but her grin returned only after a moment. "Way! She's mine, and I can name her anything I want to. You just said," Shego reminded her.
"Okay," Kim groaned. "In that case, my guess would be either Kim, Kimmie, or Kimberly."
"Bingo! So, Kim it is," Shego crowed, stroking the kitten's head.
"Kim, huh? Why not Kimmie, or even Kimberly?" Kim asked.
Shego continued to pet the purring kitten, which had now rolled over on its back, offering its tummy to be petted. "Well, Kimberly is too snobby," Shego explained, "and I just can´t call her 'Kimmie'…I mean, that´s your petname."
"Correction," Kim corrected her. "Kimmie is your petname for me. Trust me, you do not want to know just how many nicknames I currently have. Okay, let's see…I'm KP to Ron; Cheerleader to Big Mike, then I'm Kimmie-cub to---"
"KIMMIE-CUB?" Shego replied, busting out laughing.
"Grr, I´ll never forgive my Dad for that one," Kim groused. She looked over at Shego who still looked like she could erupt in laughter again anytime soon. "Okay, Giggles…what about you? What sort of nicknames have you been stuck with, Stephanie? Any nicknames from your parents, maybe?"
Shego stopped smiling, frowned, then looked down stroking Kim kitten´s fur. "Both of my parents died when I was nine. My brother Hego took care of us all from then on." Shego frowned, then grinned slightly. "Well, 'took care of' really is a bit of an overstatement, really…" she amended. She then looked down at the little ginger kitten that had somehow managed to find a way to hug Shego's arm with her front paws, her eyes closed, purring most contentedly. "You know, Kim…this is the first friendly hug I've gotten since I was nine."
Kim looked over at Shego, her eyes wide, clearly stunned. "Since you were nine? Seriously?" Kim asked in a quiet, serious voice.
Shego nodded, though saying nothing, still petting the purring kitten.
Kim sighed, not understanding what it must have been liked to have never been shown affection for so long.
"Um, shouldn't you, like be getting to the other villains?" Shego asked, clearly wanting to avoid that subject any further.
"Rats!" Kim exclaimed, looked up at the clock, softly swore again, then dashed off calling good-bye over her shoulder.
Shego smiled down at her new kitten, her responsibility. "Well, she was certainly in a hurry now, wasn't she?" Shego observed to the kitten Kim. The kitten purred softly as Shego continued to stroke her.
Shego didn't find the kitten so much a responsibility as a new friend, and it showed as she dutifully enjoyed playing with with the ginger kitten on and off until dinnertime.
Human Kim returned later to fetch her for dinner, and found Shego sitting on the floor, patiently rolling a little green ball back and forth over the floor, which provided the kitten Kim all the opportunity she needed to chase after it. "Well, it sure seems the two of you have hit it off pretty well," Kim deduced.
Shego smiled as kitten Kim noticed her human namesake, and sauntered over to rub herself against the girl's leg. "So, let me ask you this…just how am I supposed to be able to feed her?" Shego asked. "Where do I get food for her?"
"The same place as you, Stephanie," Kim replied. "C'mon, pick her up…it´s dinner time…for the both of you."
Shego was puzzled by this, but shrugged, and gently lifted kitten Kim up into her arms and followed after Kim herself. Once they arrrived at the dining room, Kim turned toward Shego. "Now, before we go in…I have, um, a little gift for you…well, for her, really, but you understand. Here," Kim announced, retrieving a small grey box from her pants pocket, then opened it to show the dark-haired girl beside her. Shego just gaped what she saw: a bright pink collar from which hung a small round golden tag. On that tag 'Kim'---in small, block letters---had been engraved. Shego smiled and took it from Kim, asking her kitten to stay still while she slipped the collar over her head.
Kim led Shego and her kitten inside, and once within the room, both girls could see that every villain had been assigned a pet of their very own.
Drakken could be found sitting, looking down at a friendly, yet enormous, Golden Retriever, ironically named Blue (LOL sorry i coud´nt resist). For some unknown reason, both Drakken and Blue got along very well with Shego and her new kitten, Kim.
As Kim looked over at Lord Fiske, a.k.a. Monkey Fist…his new pet selection came as no surprise to her. A small Spider Monkey, one he had named Louie, sat docilely upon Monkey Fists shoulder…that is, when the little show-off wasn't impressing them all by doing some pretty remarkable acrobatic tricks.
DNAmy, on the other hand, had been provided with a cute white rabbit, which she promptly named Snowy. The genetics whiz was currently petting the friendly, curious rabbit upon the head, gently stroking its long ears.
Duff Killigan was beside himself with happiness, bonding with a small black Scottish terrier he, of course, named Scot. The small excited dog loved playing with nearly everything, it seemed.
Andrea Lynn smiled almost giddily at the snow white, cockatoo she had named Polly. The parrot-like bird arched its crest which showed bright pink feathers when it did so. Andrea was trying patiently to get her new pet to speak. Apparently she was having very notable success, as it did so with with two things: great volume and obvious relish. "SQUAWK! Freaky! SQUAWK! What will she do next? SQUAWK! Embarrass Kim Possible on live TV! SQUAWK!. (To those of you who havent seen the Andrea Lynn episode, this is a few of Andrea's favorite lines and she uses them all the time!) Everyone assembled there laughed at the cockatoo's antics.
"Well, you can at least dream," remarked Kim´s voice from the door. She, Ron and Dr. Director had arrived, and now joined them for dinner. The GJ agents served a veritable banquet…to both the humans as well as their pets. Kim the kitten sat contentedly under Shego´s chair, eagerly consuming a huge salmon, one bite after another. Surprisingly enough, the deceptively small kitten somehow managed to polish off that enormous fish, and then began to meow and rub Shego's leg for more.
"My, you were hungry, weren't you?" Shego told her feline buddy, then beckoned for the GJ guards to please give her cat some more food.
Monkey Fist meticulously ate his dinner while all the while, Louie consumed several bananas…one very happy monkey indeed.
DNAmy seemed to disregard her own meal, choosing instead to feed her little rabbit carrot after carrot, which it enjoyed quite thoroughly…at least that seemed to be the case by the sheer quantity of carrots it made disappear.
Both Drakken and Duff Killigan chatted as they watched their dogs gnawing contentedly on big beef bones, both dogs wagging their tails back and forth as they chewed happily.
Andrea, her own dinner consumed, had fun entertaining everyone else with the aid of a very talkative Polly. "All right Polly…what do you say?" Andrea prompted the gorgeous white bird.
"SQUAWK! Food please! SQUAWK!" Polly demanded.
Andrea lifted some birdseed in the palm of her hand, and then held her hand up. "C'mon. C'mon, Polly, come and get it," she urged. With a small squawk, Polly flew over to Andrea's shoulder and alighted. She then edged her way across the back of her shoulders and up her extended arm, where the seed was. Polly wasted no time in demolishing the seed in Andrea's palm. "Now…what do you say, Polly?" Andrea asked proudly.
"SQUAWK! Thanks for lovely food! SQUAWK!" Polly returned, making everybody laugh. A very pleased Andrea stroked Polly's feathered head.
"Must you always be in the center of attention, Andrea?" Shego mused, shaking her head.
"Who, me?" Andrea asked, lifting an eyebrow. "Look who´s talking, little Miss Angel Voice!" There was another bout of amused laughter after Shego blushed quickly, then stuck her tongue out at Andrea.
It was then that Kim suddenly realized something. Was it just her, or did it really seem that these ex-villains were finally beginning to understand what was really going on? By now, they had to know they could´nt behave villainous anymore---even if they had wanted to---but, strangely enough---that didn't seem to bother them all that much. Kim smiled at that, shaking her red-haired head. And, most impressive of all, this all occurred only after the very first day. Who would of ever thought it?