Last chapter:
"You speak." Sephiroth said dumbly. Internally, he thanked the elevator was empty.
"Yes." The cat answered. 'Duh' went unsaid.
"This makes things easier…" Sephiroth exited the elevator to the garage. He entered his car and sat the kitten in the passenger's seat. He looked at her, then at the seat belt.
"Before you manifest your thoughts, I advise you to not tie me to the seat. I refuse to wear a useless strap." The cat turned forward and sat down.
"Where did you learn to talk like that?" Sephiroth started the car.
"My vocabulary merely exceeds one's average expectations, there is nothing erroneous to that." The kitten huffed. After a moment it continued. "Hojo played tapes for me to listen, he obviously supported the opinion that the General needed an intellectual pet." She rolled her eyes. "I'm positive I will learn to talk like you in short time."
"I'm not complaining," Sephiroth chuckled. "I'm glad you're not some brainless animal."
"Are you going to name me?" The kitten asked suddenly.
"Name you?" Sephiroth pulled into the parking lot of the pet shop.
"I hope you aren't going to constantly refer to me as 'animal'." She said as she got picked up by Sephiroth.
"What would you like to be called then?" Sephiroth put her inside one of the carts and pushed along the aisles.
"I retain no knowledge of names, I do not know yours even." The kitty looked through the rows of dog's chew toys with a bored look on her face.
"Mine is Sephiroth." He turned at the cat's aisle. "Let's see…" he pointed to a small cat's bathroom. "Do you like this one?"
"I'm going to grow, remember?" She reminded him. Sephiroth walked a little until he found a suitable one.
"I hope when you grow out of this, you'll be able to go outside yourself, right?" He held a much bigger one. The kitten nodded. He figured she would be accompanying him everywhere, so he took another one to put in his office's bathroom. A few more feet further, he added some sand to the cart.
"Have you thought of a name yet?" the kitten asked from her perch on top of the items in the cart.
"My sword's name is Masamune." Sephiroth pondered. "Would you like your name to begin with 'M' too? Do you even know the alphabet?" He pondered.
"I know how to read and type if needed." She answered. "I think the letter 'M' has a nice tone to it."
Sephiroth took out a paper the scientist lady gave him.
"It says here all companions need proper identification. The options are a collar or a tattoo on the inside of your ear."
"Collar, please." She shuddered at the thought of needles.
"I thought so." Sephiroth steered the cart to the collar aisle. "Choose one."
She jumped off the cart and walked along the rows of collars. Sephiroth read the identification rules.
All animals must be properly identified. Two ShinRa-issue tags will be released per animal. One must remain with the animal, the other with the owner (If you choose to mark your pet's ears instead of letting them wear a collar, do NOT discard the second tag). On the tag must be written:
*Animal's name
*Owner's name
*Owner's rank
*Contact phone number
*Medical file number
Sephiroth looked up from the paper to see his companion's fur on end. Her tail was standing straight upwards and her back was arched. It was pathetic, really, but the equally small dog was cowering before her.
"Truffles! Truffles, where are you?"
Sephiroth groaned. He would recognize that voice anywhere. In seconds, Zack entered the aisle.
"There you are! Oh, you've met Seph's lil' friend already!"
"Zackary."
"Oh, hiya, Seph, how you doin'?"
Sephiroth sighed.
"This is Truffles." Zack picked the puppy up and held it to Sephiroth's face.
"I noticed. The whole store did." Sephiroth leaned on the side of the cart and watched his 'lil' friend', as Zack called her, look at the collars.
"Have you chosen a name for her yet?" Zack put the puppy down. It went to the kitten and started to sniff her. She looked at him with a very Sephiroth-ish expression on her face and touched her nose to Truffles'. They sniffed each other for a few moments. The kitten seemed to accept Truffles, as she turned back to the collars and Truffles bounced happily around her, talking about all the toys Zack was going to buy him.
"We've agreed on the first letter so far." Sephiroth said.
"Well?"
"'M'"
Zack rocked backwards and forwards on his feet.
"Mary? Mana? Moxie? Marshmallow? Moustache? Macintosh?"
"Zackary…"
"Madame Phloy? Mafalda? Magnificat? Miss Puss? Min…OUCH! Motherf…"
"Although it begins with an 'M', I dare you to finish that word." Sephiroth pried the kitten from Zack's hair.
"Stop saying stupid names!" She said.
"Y-you think m-my n-name is stu-stup-pid?" Truffles sobbed.
The kitten stared at him.
"Even though you asked me, let's not go there, shall we?" she turned her back to the wailing puppy and led a sniggering Sephiroth to the collar she wanted. It was higher up, so she couldn't reach it. She had chosen a simple black one. Instead of fastenings, it had to be tied to a lace. It looked like leather, but Sephiroth noticed it was a more comfortable material.
"A silk ribbon?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Anything against it?" the kitten retorted.
Sephiroth chuckled and kneeled down. The kitten held still while he pulled the silk ribbon through the hole in the tag and tied it to her neck. He secured it with a pretty lace and made sure it wasn't too tight.
"It looks good on you." Sephiroth picked her up.
"Thank you." She answered politely.
"Now we just need a name." Sephiroth sighed and went to the register, Zack and a wailing Truffles behind them. "How do you like Meirei?" He asked as he paid for everything.
"Meirei…" She tested it on her tongue. "Meirei… Meirei… I like it. Does it mean anything relevant?"
"Order, Command." Sephiroth smiled at her.
"Well, that suits the General's pet…" Zack muttered.
"Should I comment?" Meirei looked at Sephiroth.
"Don't bother." He took Meirei and the groceries to his car.
"You two deserve each other!" They heard Zack yell at them over Truffles' sobs.
"Oh, well. He'll get over it." Meirei sighed.
Sephiroth chuckled and drove back to ShinRa. He took everything to his apartment and sat on his couch.
"I have the rest of the day off." Sephiroth said thankfully.
"Is this where you live?" Meirei was looking around the living room.
"Yes. You can go look in the rooms, this is your house now too." Sephiroth went to his bathroom and poured sand in her new little bathroom. He saw her enter the bedroom.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked. Sephiroth shook his head. "Boyfriend?" Sephiroth grinned, but still shook his head. "Closet masturbator?" Sephiroth burst out laughing.
"Sorry to disappoint, but no." He sat on his bed and looked at the clock. It was already 8:00 PM. He could catch up on some sleep. "Are you hungry?" He asked her.
"A little. What do humans eat?" She followed Sephiroth to the kitchen.
"Well…anything really. I'm not too hungry either, so I'll eat a fruit. Do you want one?" Sephiroth took a green apple and bit into it. He saw Meirei looking curiously at the green orb. He took a knife out of the first drawer and cut a small piece for her. She leapt on the counter and took the piece Sephiroth held in his fingers into her mouth. She munched a little on it, then swallowed.
"It's…different." She licked her paw and ran it over her mouth.
"But do you like it?" Sephiroth asked.
"I don't really have anything to compare." Meirei watched as Sephiroth took different fruits from the fridge. He cut a little piece from every one, and put it in front of her. After explaining what each fruit was, and her tasting a bit of each, Sephiroth concluded that she liked every fruit he had at home, but preferred sweeter ones, like strawberries and peaches.
Sephiroth left Meirei by herself to take a shower. She roamed around the house until she knew where everything was, then jumped on the bed and curled on the pillow. When Sephiroth exited the bathroom wearing pajama bottoms, he smiled at the kitten. He pulled the covers back and settled himself underneath them. Since it was cold, he was using two comforters. Meirei snuggled closer to him in search for warmth. Sephiroth smiled wider and poked the small freezing cat awake with a finger. It squirmed a little and peeked one eye open at him.
"Come on." He lifted the comforters, exposing his bare chest to the cold. She stood up and walked sleepily to settle against Sephiroth's chest. She put both her front paws on his chest and started massaging him, just like little kittens do to their mothers. Sephiroth saw it as a sign she was comfortable and happy. He hid his arm from the cold and petted her. He could hear her purring, and feel the vibrations on his chest. He smiled contentedly and let it lull him to sleep.