Thank you to the 11 followers who have decided to follow this story. And shoutout to Random65 for first review!
Like I said, updates won't be consistent for this story, so to see it have such a following already is heartwarming.
Still open to cat name ideas. Please share if you think of any.
The flight back to Beacon had been rather uneventful, all things considered. Ruby had made a big show of hiding her new pet in the folds of her cloak and acting like an undercover agent with some highly classified document, which had the effect of making her seem obnoxiously conspicuous. But since it was Ruby, nobody thought anything of it, to Weiss' relief. In fact, hardly anyone spared the pair more than a glance or an eye roll as they threaded their way through the courtyard and hallways to their dorm room.
"Hahaha, we did it!" Ruby proclaimed in the safety of their room, extracting the cat from her cloak.
"Only because everyone thinks you're a weirdo."
"Nu uh! I'm not a weirdo!"
Weiss gave her a look.
"Okay fine, maybe a little." Ruby pouted, and Weiss hid the urge to smile. Instead, she set down the small paper bag of basic cat supplies she had procured at the local pet store after their alleyway excursion (forbidding Ruby to go in with her because 1) she had the cat who was supposed to stay a secret and 2) Ruby would inevitably want to buy everything, and while that wouldn't have been an issue with her budget, it would have been an issue carrying it all back without looking like total idiots).
"You. And you." Weiss pointed a finger at Ruby and the cat respectively, then pointed to the bathroom. "In the shower. Now."
"But Weeeiiiiss—"
"No buts!" Ruby snickered, and Weiss rolled her eyes. She is a child. A freaking child. "That is final."
"But she has to eat first! I gotta run to the cafeteria!"
"No. You're both cleaning off all that filthy garbage gunk before it gets anywhere else."
"But then who'll—"
"I'll go pick up some food at the cafeteria."
"Oh! Okay cool." Ruby grinned. "Serves you right, anyway, not getting any cat food."
Weiss chose to pointedly ignore that jab and took a different angle. "Otherwise, you would probably just end up feeding her cookies."
"I would not! I know better than that!" Ruby pouted indignantly.
"Didn't you feed your dog cookies once?"
"That was one time! And I was little, I didn't know any better."
"Still unexcusable."
"Hmph."
"Stop sulking and go shower already!" Weiss pointed again at the cat, who widened its eyes. "And you better be scrubbed sparkly clean when I get back. With soap. Got it?"
"You can't use soap, its cat shampoo."
"Soap, shampoo, whatever. As long as it has antimicrobial properties."
"But cats hate water! How am I supposed to get her clean?"
"She's your pet. That's your problem."
"Weiiiisss—"
"I'm not moving from this spot to get food until you and that animal are in the shower."
"But—"
"And I won't speak to you again."
"Come on, Weiss, help me! Pleeeease?"
If there was one thing Weiss possessed undeniable prowess in, it was ignoring people. After a few minutes of pleading and even puppy-dog eye attempts (to which Weiss simply closed her eyes, anticipating the move this time), Ruby gave up and took the kitten into the bathroom with her, snatching the small bottle of cat shampoo along the way. She set her on the counter and faced her.
"Alllllright kitty, we gotta get you cleaned up. You wouldn't happen to like water, would you?"
The kitten just stared, and Ruby stared back.
"Okaaay, I'll take that as a no." Ruby bit the inside of her cheek as she thought. "Well I'm not going to take you into the shower with me. That's just weird, and awkward, and…well you wouldn't like that, right?" Ruby asked the cat. The cat blinked at her.
"Yeah that's what I thought." Ruby looked around the bathroom until she spotted…the sink! "Oh, we can use the sink! I'll just run the water until it gets warm…and then plug the stopper. No wait, we need running water too, and the sink will get flooded…maybe the shower is better…but then how would I get you to stay…Gar, this is hard!" She hefted the small bottle of cat shampoo in her hand and looked back at the creature in front of her.
"Maybe I should Scrollsearch this."
The kitten mewed softly. Ruby smiled and pulled out her scroll.
Ten minutes later, Ruby had dumped out Weiss's pencils and pens onto the desk and rinsed out the plastic cup holding them to use as a bucket. Her spare towel lay next to her. She didn't have any sort of fancy brush, but she figured her fingers would do for now, and maybe it would help her new friend relax a bit.
"Okay. Oookay. We can do this."
Ruby turned on the tap until the water was just the right temperature and filled her makeshift bucket. She scooped the kitten into the sink and gently poured some water, using her other hand to shield the cat's face and ears. Ruby half expected the kitten to freak out and splash water everywhere, but it only shivered slightly.
"Aww you poor thing. You don't even have the energy to fight the water."
Gently, Ruby worked the shampoo into the kitten's fur, being careful not to rub her fur the wrong way. The kitten mewed weakly in protest, but otherwise allowed the girl to continue her ministrations. Ruby made sure to rinse her thoroughly before lifting her up and wrapping her in the towel. She set the kitten on the counter and touched noses. "There! All done. That wasn't so bad was it?"
The kitten stared back at Ruby, with only its face poking out from the towel, and sneezed. "Awww, you're such a cutie, aren't you?!" Ruby squealed.
"Mew."
"Let's see if Weiss is back already."
A quick peek outside confirmed that Weiss was still not back yet. Ruby grumbled to herself something about heiresses being late.
"I guess its my turn now. You, uhh, just stay there and keep warm. I'll be right out."
"Mew."