A/N: Hey there guys and gals. Sorry for abandoning this prompts thing. I'd say I have a good reason, but I don't. So yeah, this is a thing again now. Thanks to Nanami for this prompt, hope I captured your artistic vision. If you have a prompt, pick a ship and drop it in the review along with the situation you want them in, and I'll crank it out as quick as I can. Peace.
Story 8: Cats, bags, and voluntary overtime.
Dave looked up from his monitor as the door to the pet shop slid open with a high pitched beep. He watched as young girl, about his age, bounced in through the doors, dragging a larger man by the hand. Even from his station at the desk, he could hear her enthusiastic chatter. Which wasn't a very good indicator, as he was about seven feet away from the entrance, and therefore could hear every word.
"C'mon slow poke! We're here! We're here!"
"Yes, I know that Nepeta. I am the one who drove you here, after all."
"Shush, Equius. I know"
The odd pair made their way up to the desk. Dave closed the shitty comic he was mid way through drawing, and looked up at them. Shit, she was cute. Short reddish orange hair, a flushed face covered in a spray of freckles, and big green eyes staring at him over the top of the counter. It took him a view seconds of staring to realize she was talking to him.
"Oh, what? Sorry, zoned out there for a second. What?"
Shit, you fucked it Strider. He expected her to get mad, but instead she just giggled.
"It's ok. I said, I'm just going to look around for a bit?"
Dave scratched the back of his head, and nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, that's fine. Yeah"
She gave him a huge grin, and skipped off, with the larger man trailing behind her. Dave smiled after her, and went back to his comic. Or at least, he tried too.
Instead, he spent the better part of an hour watching her bounce back and forth, letting out little squeals of excitement. If you'd shown him that outfit on anyone else, he'd have thought it was tacky. But on her, it was just sickeningly sweet. A short pink skirt, a pair of leggings covered in paw prints, and an off white blouse, topped off with a pair of out of place blue converse and a blue hoodie, with a pair of cat ears atop the hood. Christ, what was with the cat theme. It suited her though, she certainly seemed quite feline in nature. But not the fat lazy kind of feline, like Rose's cat. The jumpy, adorable kind of feline, and as she leaned over to cat and bumped her nose to it, he decided he needed to talk to her. Desperately. And so, hidden behind his screen and his shades, he waited for his opportunity.
It came after yet another half an hour of excitable giggling, as the tall man looked down at his watch.
"Ah, I apologise Nepeta. But Aradia wanted me to take her to the archaeology exhibit. I will need to leave now if I am to get there on time. Are you fine to carry your choice back to the house?"
She didn't turn away from the cat she was aggressively cuddling, and instead waved him away distractedly.
"Yeah! Yeah, that's fine. Oooooh, you're so fluffy!"
Equius just gave a hrmph of approval, and made his exit. Seeing his chance, Dave slipped around the counter, and walked up behind her. Walked, not snuck. Snuck? Sneaked? Whichever it was, it wasn't what he did. Not at all.
But even with his purposeful lack of sneakage, he made it right next to her before she noticed he was there. Alright open up a conversation, all those employee inductions have readied you for this.
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
On the other hand, the inductions didn't teach you not to startle someone with an armful of cat. Or maybe they did, he hadn't paid much attention.
She let out a surprised, and cute, "eep!" and tightened her grip on the cat. Which proceeded to lose its shit and claw its way out of her arms, vanishing back into its box, hissing and spitting.
"Oh shit! Are you ok? Shit, that wasn't smart" Nepeta held her left arm, which had faired the worst, and was marred with a pair of deep scratches, that even now were oozing blood. Dave's face went white, and he started flapping his hands around, even as she tried her best to convince him she was fine.
"No! I mean, yes, I'm alright. It's ok! No, I'm fine, look-Ahh! That hurts. I mean, I'm fine. Hah?"
Dave stood for a second, and she tried to give him her best reassuring smile. Dave's heart proceeded to do several backflips and keel over dead. But luckily his brain was in gear.
"Oh, I think we have some Neosporin for these kind of things, give me a second"
Before she could protest, he dragged her away and over to the counter, where he rummaged behind the desk for the neosporin and some bandages and wet wipes.
"Ok, alright. They covered this in basic first aid Strider, it's all good" He held her arm and wiped off the worst of the blood, treating her very carefully. Nepeta, for her part, was slightly confused, and very embarrassed, but also kind of flattered. He was certainly a good looking boy, and he was very gentle. He pulled off his glasses, muttering about shitty lenses and the inability to see. She couldn't help but gasp, and he looked up at her, eyes widening with concern. The bright orbs of crimson stood out massively from his pale face.
"Are you ok? Did I hurt you?"
"Oh, no, no. I just...Your eyes are really pretty"
They both blushed, and Dave looked down at his lap.
"Huh. Thanks, most don't think that. But I'm happy you think so. You're pretty too"
Nepeta did the same, before hissing as he sprayed Neosporin onto her wounds.
"Sorry"
"It's ok"
He wrapped bandages around her arm, and they both sat for a second.
"Erm...Thanks for helping me out. It was really nice of you"
"Ah, no problem. It was kind of my fault in the first place. What with me sneaking up on you and all"
"Well, yeah!" She gave a little giggle. "Oh right!"
She stood, and ran off into the shop. And came back a little while later, bearing the basket containing the cat that had started this whole fiasco. she placed it carefuly on the counter.
"I want this one!"
Dave laughed, a genuine laugh, not his usual ironic snort, and raised an eyebrow.
"You sure about that?"
"Hah! Yes! He's a little fighter"
"Ok. Just don't sue me if he scratches you. Or eats you, I feel like that's a pretty big risk here, given what we're dealing with"
Nepeta stuck her tongue out at him. "Hush you! He has proved himself. I will name him Arqius. And he will be mine"
Dave shook his head, and put it through on the computer. As he did, he noticed.
"Shit!"
"What?"
"I should have left an hour ago!" He stood up from the desk, and fumbled his phone out of his pocket. He looked out the door to find it was already near dark.
"Fuck, I really don't want to deal with Bro right now..."
"Huh?"
"He gets real antsy when I'm home late. And normally, antsy for him is a duel to the almost death on the roof of our apartment building" He was halfway through the door when an "Um" stopped him. He turned back to see Nepeta looking at him, cradling Arquius. And blushing.
"Erm. Well, if you don't really want to go home..." She scratched the back of her head, looking away.
"Yeah?"
"Well. You could come to my house if you want? Just to spend the night. It's already dark and stuff..."
Dave looked away for a second, pretending to think about it. but really he was just hiding his grin.
"Yeah. I'd like that" He followed her out the door, locking up and beginning the trek.
"Do you want to carry him?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah!"
Dave took the basket, and when she was safely looking away, leaned close and whispered:
"Thanks man. For the opportunity"
The cat gave a knowing whine, and Nepeta turned to grin at them.
And Dave smiled right back.
