For anyone just wandering here, that still hasn't checked out onedivinemisfit's art on Tumblr, you're missing out. (And you can find the two fanarts that I based Cat!Obi and Cat!Shirayuki off of, so that might help with visualizing them here.)

For onedivinemisfit, I am so tempted to call you by your name on Discord, but I haven't decided whether I should on here yet. Either way, I hope you like this chapter. It's the first conversation between Obi and Shirayuki! (There's a tiny bit of sadness in it, but it's mostly resolved by the end.) So, hopefully, the story manages to remain pretty lighthearted and happy. I hope you love this chapter as well! And that it brings a smile to your face. I hope you have a stellar and amazing day too!

Her grandmother isn't home; Grandpa grabbed the car keys and rushed away late last night. Shirayuki is home alone; it's hard to imagine that this isn't a reversal of the day that she came to live here, the rush of being scooped up and set in a car, trying to not fall down from the soft seats as her dad drove like mad far away from the only home she ever knew.

It's then with paws curled beneath her, not hungry at all, not with the way her stomach rushes with nausea, curling up near the window, that that alley cat slinks by, pausing perhaps by the fact that she doesn't move.

"What's the matter?" He can speak; she'd never considered what an alley cat may sound like. He doesn't have the slow drawl of the cats back at her first home, the memory like firefly light in her mind, gentle and homely. His voice is a bit rough around the edges, though almost smooth.

She wiggles onto four paws, suddenly aware that she needs to stand strong like her dad had taught her once, "Nothing."

He sighs, laying down outside, perfectly relaxed far closer to a home than she figures he should be, but he's gentle too, not like the way she imagined he'd be every time he walks by. So, she lays back down, letting herself relax with only a pane of glass between them.

"My grandpa half carried Grandma out of here last night." She admits finally.

"I thought they were parents?" He suggests, but it isn't rude, just inquiring. He must have lived out on the streets his whole life.

"Not for me." Shirayuki tells him, "I lived with my parents when I was a kitten, in the mountains somewhere." She smiles as she remembers it, the lazy days with some of the best people she's ever known.

"Ah." He smiles, "I hope your grandma's fine, then." He leans up, half in a stretch, to leave.

"Wait." Shirayuki calls to him, standing up too; it's too soon for him to just wander off like that, "I'm Shirayuki."

"I'm Obi." He smiles lazily, cat swagger already half in place, and then he's moving, black paws as quick as shadows beneath him. Maybe he'd be by here again another day.


The quiet of the apartment is finally interrupted by the sound of jostling keys and the door opening up. Her grandpa and her grandma had returned. Her grandma had something that she clung to now; it had four tennis balls for wheels and a couple connected metal handles. She moved slowly as if unused to walking yet.

Something had clearly went wrong before. Shirayuki brushed up against her ankles, carefully, only backing away when her grandpa shooed her. Suddenly, it's as if not eating for a whole day finally caught up with her. She felt light and empty and rushed over to her food dish.

It's a relief to taste her food; familiar as each small bite paves the way to the last bit of normalcy left. Sometimes it feels as if change ate her life, leaving nothing truly together anymore.