Litter Duty

Kain carried the bag out to the garbage bin, dumping the litter into the large container outside the dorms. He brushed off his hands; he really hated cleaning up after his little illegals. But ever since the Havoc incident, Fuery had been forced to be even more careful. Which meant covering smells. Which meant doing the litter box more. Which meant an unhappy Master Sergeant.

He marched back into his dorm room. Even Fuery had to admit that his room was absolutely overrun with animals. He couldn't help it. It's not like it was his fault that he was good at finding strays and bad at saying no to 'puppy dog eyes'. He didn't care that it was breaking (or bending, as he preferred to say) the rules about no pets. He didn't care that when he entered his room, it would be crawling with creatures. He didn't really care right now, he was so tired.

Carelessness is a grave mistake.

He swung the door open, softly calling, 'hello' to all his pets. Unfortunately, one of the kittens he was nursing back to health saw the loose thread on his uniform pants and darted toward the string, ready to play. The kitten tumbled into the hallway, jumping at the dangling string. It didn't know that kitties weren't allowed in the military.

Behind Fuery, someone gasped. Fuery's spine tingled, his eyes widened in horror. He'd been caught red-handed. Again.

He slowly turned to face the witness, scenarios frantically running through his head. Could he explain this? Was there any way for him to coerce this person into ignoring his violation of policy? And—for goodness' sake—who on earth was the person who had every right to expel him from the military?

Who indeed. The face that met his eyes was unfamiliar, belonging to a woman in her early twenties. Her jet-black hair was neatly cropped around her face; random freckles flawed her otherwise perfect complexion. Green eyes were framed by thin wire glasses. She wore the female uniform and carried a clipboard. At the moment, however, the clipboard lay on the ground, replaced by the kitten she was now stroking lovingly. The cat purred contented in her grasp.

Fuery met her intense gaze hesitantly, unsure of what to expect from the—er…cat lover.

"You're not supposed to have a cat in the dorms," she said in a monotone. His expression darkened. He should have expected as much. Well…there went his entire military career.

"But," he looked back into her emerald-green eyes, "I won't tell." She grinned mischievously.

He could hardly believe what she said; his eyes widened, shocked, before a giddy smile slid across his face. The smile seemed to brighten the entire room.

"So, what's this guy's name?" she asked.

"Ne?"

"The cat."

"Oh…Helix," he stated. "It's 'cause his tail was broken; his tail sort of swirls now."

"I see."

Fuery reached over to take the kitten out of her arms. He lifted the cat out, stopped to thank the woman for swearing not to snitch; he was shocked to find the girl blushing. His courage rocketed, and on a whim, he blurted.

"Would you want to go out with me?"

She stared, horrified at what he said. He looked at his feet and began apologizing, "I-I'm sorry. I don't know what came over m-"

The woman cut him off, "NO! Idloveto! Er…I mean…" she blushed scarlet. "I'd love to."

From that day on, Fuery began the old saying, "If you're lucky, you'll do the litter box."

A/N: sorry about the delay; I do have a reason. Two, actually. My editor had some sport stuff and couldn't get to the computer...and then yesterday fanfiction wouldn't let me upload anything...

yeah...this chappy was FueryxOc...the boy needs love too, right? don't worry--next story'll be Royai...I think...