"What?!", Jasmine widened her eyes in horror, and Gordon replied, "You can still do it when humans aren't looking, they ain't here, and besides, I am next door, but I can't see you. And if I heard right, there are also covered litter boxes that humans get for their pets.".
Jasmine groaned lightly, "Great...", and Gordon chuckled, "But humans clean up your dirt either way, and throw it out in the trash. I'm getting tired, we can talk more in the morning...Good night, youngster.".
"Jasmine...Call me Jasmine. I think the humans call me Princess, but my human name is Jasmine.", Jasmine replied, and Gordon called out, "Honored to meet you, Jasmine. Sleep well.".
Jasmine whispered, "Sleep well, Gordon...", with a quiet sigh before looking at the litter box, and sighed, and went to do her business before cleaning and washing herself and fell asleep.
The next few days, Gordon did the best he could to at least try to bring Jasmine up to speed with the current day and age of New York and all that was very different compared to what she had known in Agrabah, along with some finer points to being a cat, in order not to draw too much attention to herself.
It had been four days by the time she had been brought to the humane society shelter when her life would take for a better turn when two people walked into the shelter.
She hated being vaccinated, and x-rayed, but to her relief, she wasn't spayed properly as the boys concluded that it wasn't harming her at all by not having eggs, and she got medicated for ticks and fleas before mewing good-bye to Gordon who wished her luck, and she was put into the adoption center of the humane society shelter.
She had never heard so much noise, many cats meowing and dogs barking, eventually getting used to it after the morning, and many humans has glanced at her, but passed her despite being on her best behavior.
Jasmine sighed, bored while batting a rattle ball when she heard the clamor of cats and dogs once more, signaling the arrival of humans, and she didn't move, exhausted from trying to be a normal cat all morning when she heard footsteps, flicking her ears, and glanced over, seeing a pair of bright brown eyes looking at her in a young face, a curious smile.
The young 10-year-old boy stared at her for a few moments before he gently put his hand forward to get his fingers closer to the cage lining; so, he could be able to interact with the animal within just a bit. Jasmine was a bit hesitant when she saw the boy trying to partially reach in as he kept giving her a warm smile.
"Come on, I won't hurt you, I just want to give you a little pet.", the boy smiled as Jasmine waited a few moments before finally deciding to take a few steps forward and got close to the cage's edge before she could feel the boy's finger starting to scratch her head.
Jasmine purred softly, feeling the motion of the gentle scratch/rub on her head, leaning in as the young boy's fingers rubbed her ears, cheeks, and back of her neck.
"Look at that, Peter...She likes you.", chuckled a warm voice as a human leaned down, kneeling near the young boy, showing a middle-aged man, and the boy blinked, "It's a she?".
The man smiled, "Yes, look at the note right there. Says that her name is Princess. Have been on the streets for a while before getting rescued. Pampered and polite yet sassy and vocal when she's in the mood. Loves fish and being brushed. Socialized with cats and dogs but prefers her own space to rule...And partially spayed...Huh, that's weird...That's a peculiar statement.".
Peter replied, "Can we try her in one of the rooms, please, Uncle Ben? I wanna see how she is with me outside the cage.", curious and excited as Uncle Ben surprised him when they got here after he picked him up from school, and apparently, Aunt May approved.
"Alright, just slow it down though, Peter...", Ben chuckled. "I know you're excited and full of energy, but she might not be.".
Peter gave a small nod as Ben went to get one of the helpers and then in a few moments, Jasmine found herself out of the cage and being taken into one of the rooms where those wishing to adopt the animals could get some one-on-one time; testing to see if the animals would be alright with them and able to be taken home.
Peter smiled at Jasmine, "Hello, Princess. I'm Peter...", and Jasmine blinked before sniffing his fingers, smelling the scent of books, dirt, and markers, before leaning her head up against his hand, purring softly as he petted her gently yet happily.
One of the helpers handed him a brush, "Here, brush her. She loves it.", with a smile, and Peter smiled, brushing her, and she purred loudly as she settled in his lap, feeling the slight excitement in the brushing, but was still gentle and good.
One of the guys who rescued her came in, "Heard that Princess might be getting adopted...I thought she would get adopted quickly this morning, but zilch, and she tried her best behavior...", with a warm smile.
Ben replied, "You rescued her, then?", and the guy nodded, "Yes, the name is Ricky. Gave her the name, and I think her previous owner named her that as she was used to it already, considering that she wasn't definitely a stray.".
"She is definitely not. What did the note mean by partially sprayed?", Ben asked, and Ricky replied, "Well, when we checked to see if she got spayed, the scar you usually see in spaying was off and wrong...It was usually straightforward and all, but the guy behind it must have been a do-it-yourself guy, and did it the other way, across her belly instead of straightforward, and ripped out the parts of the eggs. There was no damage to the womb, miraculously, and she didn't get infected as the stitches were really rough from the looks of it.".
"So basically, she can't get impregnated by any of the neighborhood cats, essentially?", Ben asked as Ricky nodded.
"That would be our best guess... still, it's weird about what happened, maybe someone was trying to be cheap or trying some sort of new veterinarian surgical theory. Either way, though, she's certainly all ready to go home now if you so wish to take her with you.". The young man smiled, "Seems your nephew's taking quite a shine to her.".
Ben glanced to see Peter smiling as Jasmine climbed into his shoulders, keeping her claws in, not wanting to hurt him, as she is growing fond of Peter, the first human kid who ever met her officially, purring as she rubbed her face and cheeks into Peter's hair and side of his neck as she lounged on his shoulders, causing him to giggle, "That tickles, Princess!".
Jasmine mewed warmly as she licked his nose, and Peter giggled more before smiling, "I think we're gonna be friends, Princess. Wanna come home with me?".
Jasmine purred loudly, rubbing her head under his chin, and Peter smiled, "Okay!", before carefully getting up, and walked to his uncle and Ricky, petting Jasmine on the cheek, "Can we bring her home, Uncle Ben?", with a bright smile.
"Well, that fully depends, Peter...", Ben paused. "Do you promise to care for her, look after her, feed her, clean up after her?". Ricky rolled his eyes with a small grin on his face as he heard that line from plenty of parents and guardians in the past when letting their kids get a pet. Peter bobbed his head rapidly for a moment as he was practically ready to bounce off the walls with how excited he was.
Jasmine purred, rubbing her ears against his cheek, and Ben chuckled, "I need more than a nod, Peter Parker.".
"Yes, I swear it, Uncle Ben! Double pinky promise!", Peter proclaimed with his hands curled into pinkies to Ben who smiled, taking his pinkies with his own pinkies, with a firm grip.
"Alright then, let's officially sign the adoption certificate and all for Princess, unless you want another name for her?", Ben smiled.
"Nope. She is my Princess!", Peter smiled affirmatively as he rubbed his face against Jasmine who purred the loudest that she could, rubbing him right back.
Ben chuckled. "Alright then, she'll keep her name then. Peter, keep playing with her and letting her get used to you while I fill out the paperwork so we can take her home, alright?".
Peter blinked, "Can we go to the pet store? I want her to pick out stuff she likes. I want her to be happy!". Ben smiled, "Well, if you insist, it wouldn't hurt, and besides, the pet store got that fancy tag machine. You need to learn how to hold her firmly yet gentle if we're bringing her inside.".
One of the helpers replied, "I can teach him, sir. Is that okay with you, big guy?". Peter smiled as he nodded, "Yes, I want to be the best owner I can for her!". Ben rubbed Peter's head as the older man chuckled.
"You'll do fine, don't worry, Peter.", Ben then nodded to the helper, willing to let Peter get some quick instructions on how to better hold Jasmine.
An hour later, Jasmine was in one of the small metal beasts, remembering that Gordon called them cars, and she sniffed around as she walked across the cushioned seats as Peter climbed in, smiling, "You're smelling everything, huh?".
Jasmine mewed before flinching at the sound of doors closing, and she mewed curiously yet frightened as she heard the muffled roar of the car and yowled in surprise when the car started to drive out, and she ran to Peter, shivering as she hid herself against Peter's side.
"Aww, it's okay, Princess, it's just Uncle Ben driving. Here, we're just going faster than four legs, see?", Peter gently pets her, and lifted her up into his knees, level with the closed car window.
Jasmine watched as the world around her was moving by fast... or as fast as one could do in New York City since the traffic was always terrible, one way or another. Still, it was much faster than walking or taking the subway, Ben had thought so that's why they had driven over.
They made it to the pet store in reasonable time, and Peter firmly yet gently held Jasmine as the two boys walked in, and Jasmine blinked, smelling and seeing so many things as she mewed in surprise yet curiosity, and looked up at Peter who smiled at her, "This place is full of goodies and all for a pretty cat like you, Princess.".
Jasmine purred with a lick at his chin before looking around in Peter's arms as he brought her to the cat section.
She sniffed and looked, glad that she somehow still has the human effect of seeing all colors in her eyes, and she mewed, pawing at a blue collar and harness. She ain't going to be stuck in a house, intended on exploring with Peter around when he's not busy with school. She had enough of being a prisoner.
"Peter, I think she might be familiar with a place like this if what that man back at the place said was true, about her being quite the pampered princess beforehand.", Ben chuckled as he was looking around while Peter continued to hold Jasmine.
"Maybe she's gotten stuff from here but never been inside it... she seems almost in awe of the place.", Peter responded with a giggle and a smile.
"Her old owner probably was afraid that she might freak out at the noises if she went in, but look at her, she's quite behaved yet vocal about what she wants.", Ben hummed as he grabbed the blue collar and harness in Jasmine's cat size, putting them in the cart.
Peter continued on, with Jasmine meowing and pawing at things she wanted; a scratching post, a cat tower, cat-sized bowls, a silken soft cat bed, a brush, bath bottles, fish-scented treats and cat food, a covered litter box, and a cuddly stuffed tiger. It's not Rajah, but it has to do.
At the tag machine, she paws at a gold-varnished crown tag. "A crown... fitting.", Ben gave a small laugh. "Clearly she knows what her name means.".
"She's a smart cat... aren't you, Princess?", Peter scratched her head again as Jasmine purred. Jasmine was proud that she got the cat part down pretty quickly, through there will be some things she'd love to know when Peter and the others are out, like reading and watching the box with colorful pictures. There was one in the staff room when she was introduced to the other staff, and Gordon said that humans call it a tv.
After a few minutes with the tag machine, Ben quickly set everything up and the two of them checked out with everything before they were back in the car. "Peter, would you like to place her collar on?", Ben handed the collar to the young boy. Peter nodded and smiled.
"Here you go, Princess... just hold still a bit... this might feel a bit weird for a little bit...", Peter said as he gently placed the collar around her neck.
Jasmine blinked as she walked a bit, getting used to the feel of the fabric...it's not quite like clothes, but it's sufficient, and the jingle of the tags is pleasant to her ears, almost like her former jewelry. She mewed to Peter as she walked back across the seats and purred, nuzzling his cheek as she put her paws on his knee.
Peter resisted the urge to go 'awww' at the sight as he continued to gently scratch her head as Ben started the car back up and the three of them returned to the Parker home.
"May! We're back!", Ben called out as he had brought in a few things while planning on getting the rest of what they had bought on a second trip.
Peter smiled at Jasmine as he just put the harness a few minutes ago as he saw the familiar road name, and leashed the hook of the harness, "Ready, Princess?".
Jasmine mewed as she jumped and landed on the dirt of the small parking lot next to a humble yet quaint house, looking and sniffing.
Jasmine obviously was quickly trying to take in her surroundings; for starters, the area felt already a bit safer compared to the other part of the city she was taking refuge in for a while, not to mention feeling strangely well protected by Peter; similar to a palace guard in some ways though in this case she was obviously more like Rajah in this scenario.
"You like it?", Peter asked. "This is home... it's not much, but... it's certainly better than some other places.", with a fond smile. 'Like those subways...' Jasmine thought to herself.
Jasmine mewed and purred, nuzzling his leg, making Peter smile at her, "Come on, Princess, the inside is warm and nice, and I bet you'll like Aunt May. She's the best cook ever!".
Peter walked in with Jasmine, keeping her close before they walked up to the middle-aged woman who was currently already prepping dinner. May took one look at Jasmine and already the transformed cat woman could tell that the lady was certainly admiring her. "Oh, Peter, she's so beautiful, did you pick her out?".
"Yep... well, sort of, I think she picked me first when she saw me...", Peter chuckled as Jasmine meowed before May scratched her head.
"Certainly a good cat you found... listen, I'm still preparing dinner, why not show her your room since she'll probably be sleeping in there?", May smiled warmly.
Peter smiled brightly, "Okay!", as he freed the harness, and gestured, "You're gonna love it.", with a wide smile. "And wash your hands after you show her around, young man!", Aunt May called out.
"Yes, Aunt May.", Peter sighed as he first made a detour to the bathroom and put Jasmine down. "Just stay right there... it'll only take me a minute.", he told her before he turned on the sink, scrubbed his hands and then dried them before picking Jasmine up again.
"Alright, Princess... this is my room.", Peter opened the door to his bedroom and Jasmine's eyes widened at the sight. It looked fairly normal for an adolescent boy of his age, if not a bit of a mess, considering young Peter's hobbies. "Sorry, Princess, I'll clean up a few things for you... Aunt May usually hounds me for the mess I leave sometimes...", he blushed.
Jasmine decided to help Aunt May with that particular chore when she would notice, and she mewed as she was put down on the floor, and she walked around, sniffing and checking things out as Peter went to get a couple of things straightened out, and got the cat bed from Ben, settling it on his toy chest at the foot of the bed.
"There you go, your bed is ready for you. What do you think?", Peter asked as Jasmine hopped up, looking around from her spot, realizing that it's like her balcony, and purred as she adjusted little Rajah on the edge of her cat bed, and ruffled the fabric underneath to her satisfaction, and flickered her ears as it's almost right, but something's missing.
She mewed at Peter, and he blinked before gasping, "I know, be right back!", running out of the bedroom, calling out, "Aunt May, do you still have that old quilt scrap?".