Blake and Weiss were on their way to the animal shelter to pick out a new friend.
Originally, Weiss had wanted a dog, but due to Blake's allergies, she decided she didn't mind getting a cat instead. A kitten, even.
Weiss has had little background with pets before, the most she'd ever had as a child was a fish or two, and perhaps a boa constrictor, but those pets were far less demanding than a four-legged mammal.
They entered the shelter, which was filled with the familiar noise of barking and the scent of antiseptic and dog food.
The receptionist at the desk greeted the two of them, cheerful and eager-looking. "Hello there, you two! Are you here for a visit? Or maybe you just wanted to take a look around?"
Blake gave the woman a small wave while Weiss answered vocally. "Good morning. I—Hmm, Blake, did you wanna look around the shelter first?"
"I sort of just wanted to look at the cats, if that was okay. Not that dogs aren't cute, it's just.. Yeah."
Weiss turned back to the woman, "Which way are the cats?"
The woman smiled and got up from her seat to show them the way to the side room. "We keep all our kitties back over here, because they get stressed out easily with all the dogs barking and the people walking by. It's relatively quiet in here, as you can see, and this is also where we schedule visits with the little ones."
Blake and Weiss followed the worker into the back room, which was filled with crates of different cats and kittens. One particular kitten caught Blake's eye, a little black one with white paws. The worker took noticed and opened up the crate, gently handing the kitten over to Blake, who handled the kitten as if it were made of crystalline glass.
As she cradled it in her arms, Weiss scratched the kitten a little, causing it to mewl and stretch.
Blake couldn't help but smile at the little thing. "Aw, Weiss, he's so smol.."
. . .
Weiss paused her movements, her brow furrowing in concentration. She looked to the right, then left, then to Blake. "He's… what?"
Blake repeated. "He's smol!"
… Weiss still couldn't figure out what the hell was coming out of Blake's mouth. She covered her eyes and shook her head slightly, "Smol?"
"Yes, smol."
"… What is smol, Blake?"
Blake protectively held the kitten closer to her chest, "I-I don't know, it's just something I heard Ruby say! It's supposed to mean like, small and cute, right?"
Weiss didn't know whether or not to laugh or groan. She turned to the worker, mentally preparing to try and understand this strange word later on. "Okay! Well, um, thank you, I think we actually might be adopting this kitten after all!"