This is from a few months ago now, but I realized I never posted it to this journal! So this is a response I wrote for a prompt from the last
openveinwriting Comment Fic Party. The prompt was, "Stray cat won't leave character alone."
It was like she was cursed.
"No, stay! Stay! I said stay. Stay there."
Seriously. None of this bullshit ever happened to Christian, or Lucas, or Deb or Leia.
"I said STAY."
The others thought this kind of crap was fucking hilarious when it happened, and of course they would. It wasn't like it was happening to any of them.
"Jesus, you stupid cat, I said fucking stay!"
Kat flipped around to see the stray cat still trailing behind her. It would heed her demands to stay for a brief moment, then resume walking the same path toward the shelter that she was.
It wasn't that she didn't like animals. She did like them. A lot, in fact. But she didn't have time for this, they had already taken in a stray dog at the shelter, and once an animal wormed its way into her heart she was screwed.
The problem was she loved them too much. And it destroyed her when their time was up.
So she didn't let herself get suckered in with those sappy eyes and wagging tails. She didn't stop to pet them. She didn't even look at them too long. She didn't commit.
Fuck, she even had commitment issues with animals. Nevermind, she'd deal with that later.
"You've got to be kidding me." Kat ran an exasperated hand through her hair, messing it up as she did so. It was late in the evening and the sky was turning from pink to black. The roads were quieting down as people settled in for the night. That was why she liked taking her break around this time of night. The sidewalks were usually pretty empty and it was cool enough that she could walk around without getting heat stroke.
And tonight would have been no different. Take a break, leave Chris or someone else to hold down the fort while she was gone, have a quick smoke, and be back in fifteen minutes or so.
But this fucking cat.
It was sitting there on the sidewalk so patiently, just looking at her. It had pretty golden eyes and a little pink nose. Its tail slowly waved back and forth, very casually. It looked odd because its tail was stark white and its fur was dark gray and peppered with little white and black spots all over.
Hmm. Pepper. That would be a cute little name for this--
"No! No, no, no." Kat groaned. "I am not doing this."
The cat simply looked up at her curiously.
Kat turned around and took a few steps. She peeked over her shoulder and saw the cat still trailing behind her.
With a sigh, Kat turned around and crouched down to the cat's level. The cat stopped. "Alright, look, little guy. You're cute. You're cute as shit, and you know that. And you know I know that. And you probably know that I know that you know that. Yeah, that's right. I'm onto your cute little bullshit. I know how you work. Trying to butter me up with those cutesy eyes and those stupid little spots. Well it's not going to work, buddy. I'm not getting suckered into this."
The cat blinked its pretty golden eyes, still sitting and staring quietly, patiently. Waiting.
"Don't look at me like that. I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work. You think I haven't played this game before? Well I have, many times, probably with some of your long lost relatives. Yeah, there was this old tom that used to live around my apartment building that liked to hump everything that moved. You're probably one of his. God, that cat was an asshole."
Still sitting, quietly. Unwavering patience in its eyes.
"Fuck, now I'm having complete conversations with cats. Okay, that's it. Look, you've gotta stay, okay? Someone'll take you in but it can't be me. I'm sorry. Really. But that's how it's gotta be." Kat rose to her feet and removed her cell phone from her pocket to check the time. She was already due back at the shelter. "I've got to go, but you have to stay here, okay?...got that?...me go, you stay. You. Stay. Me. Go."
She started taking a few steps backwards, still facing the cat. The cat stayed where it was, still sitting very calmly on the sidewalk, its tail slowly moving back and forth, back and forth.
"Good! Good bo--er, cat. Hey, are you a boy or a girl? No! Fuck, nevermind, I don't want to know, forget I even asked! Okay, so just... stay there." Kat took a few more experimental steps backward, pleased to see the cat was still sitting where she had left it. Finally, she turned and started walking back toward the shelter, and this time, when she looked over her shoulder, the cat was nowhere to be seen.
A few minutes later the shelter was in sight, and she waved to Christian who was standing outside against a cinderblock wall smoking a cigarette. Kat reached into her pocket and removed her own pack, sliding one into her mouth and lighting it in seconds. She walked up to the wall, hopped on top of it, and took a big drag from her cigarette.
"What happened to, 'be right back, Chris'?" Christian smirked, blowing a puff of smoke through his lips.
"Hey, look, I'm sorry, alright?" Kat took another drag and blew the smoke out in one long exhale. "I just went a few blocks down to take a walk, and this stray cat saw me and started following me all over the place. Took me forever to finally lose it."
"Uh-huh." Christian held his cigarette between his fingers, watching the end slowly burn. "I bet that's all it was." His tone was teasingly accusatory.
Kat rolled her eyes. "Well I certainly didn't finger anyone in that short of a time span."
Christian chuckled, putting his cigarette out in the ashtray beside them. "I didn't say you did, Kat. God, everything's always got to be about fucking with you, doesn't it? Except this time you claim it was a different type of pussy that was chasing you."
"Fuck off, Chris," Kat muttered, tossing the stub of her cigarette on the ground. She stomped it out and made no move to pick it up and place it in the ashtray. She'd do it later. "I'm not in the mood."
"Just fucking with you, Kat," Christian grinned, patting her on the back. "So, uh... what kind of cat was it?"
"What difference does it make? It was just a stray cat."
"Aw, c'mon, don't leave me hanging. You know what they say, 'curiosity killed the'..."
"Don't you fucking dare."
"Alright, alright. So, this cat... let me guess. Was it... dark gray, black and white spots, big, long white tail?"
Kat stared at him in disbelief, reaching into her pocket for another cigarette. "Lucky fucking guess."
"Nah, I didn't guess," Christian smiled, "it's just sitting right behind you, that's all."
Kat flipped around to see the cat sitting there on the wall beside her, its white tail waving back and forth happily.
"Oh, for fuck's sake."