How Green Becomes Wood

Alec blinked in surprise. "Mine? Oh! I didn't realize... Why's it in another room? Could you not wrap it?" He was now highly amused and deathly curious. What could it possibly be? Today had already been so amazing, how could it get any better?

Xander took a deep breath and moved a little away from Alec to give him room and so that he could see his brother's reaction better. Then he realized maybe he should video this and pulled out his phone, getting it set up.
 
"Wrapping it would have been quite difficult, yes," Dark answered, leaving the room. Only moments later he returned with some large rectangular shape, which he carried cautiously in his two hands. Over it, he had draped a blanket to obscure the fact he was carrying a pet carrier, inside of which was a black kitten.
 
"What is that?" Alec asked, truly bewildered now. "What have you gotten me?" He glanced at Daizi and Cooger, seeking some indication of what this weird thing could possibly be.
 
Alec stood and went to Dark. Confused and curious, he poked around for a couple of seconds before finding the bottom of the blanket and lifting it up and off. The cat carrier was so unexpected that his brain didn't register what it was at first. Then he looked inside. Two golden eyes stared back at him. Alec goggled for a moment. Then gasped and paled in shock.

"Is that?" he gasped breathlessly. "Is it... No." He looked between Cooger, Dark, and Daizi, unable to believe what he was seeing. His voice came out as a squeak. "Is it... for me? If can't be, can it?"
 
"You have to pick a name for her," Dark told her, still crouched by the carrier and Alec. This still wasn't something he felt particularly thrilled about, he would have still preferred to wait, but... family was about compromise, wasn't it? And Cooger swore this was the most perfect cat for their family, even though she was only nineteen weeks old. She was the one, out of all the cats at the cabin, he had picked up and snuggled, claiming she was great. So. It would be fine. He supposed it would be fine. And, she was black. So she looked proper.

Daizi only beamed, lacking any of the concerns her husband still had. Alec was doing better, cats didn't take that much work, and anyway she liked to snuggle kittens. She was certain during the workday, that kitten would be sleeping in her lap. "What do you think, habibi?"
 
Alec fumbled the carrier open, started to reach in, and then drew back. He forced himself to sit down and wait. He didn't want to scare the kitten.

The kitten stared, highly confused and suspicious, but nothing particularly bad had happened in its short life - at least, nothing worse than some very confusing time spent in a cardboard box before being taken to cat paradise - so it cautiously stepped out and started sniffing around. It spotted a person and crawled up, curiously sniffing and poking its little black nose into him.

Alec carefully gathered the kitten up to his chest and held it there. It nestled in but still looked around while he held it, rocking slightly. "She's... She's beautiful!" he warbled out. He hunched over the kitten and started crying, unable to help himself. She was soft and fluffy and black and his! His kitten! "I have a cat!" he half wailed, trying to keep his voice down to not scare her.
 
"She is nineteen weeks old," Cooger said, "Actually she was one of the largest in her litter. Lex has one of her sisters. She's fixed and vaccinated and all that." In his arms, Ivy squirmed and then stared wide-eyed at the cat.

Moving closer to him, Dark rubbed his back, "Happy Birthday, Alec."

"You can buy her a new collar," Daizi said, wanting to move closer but not wanting to crowd the kitten, "But it needs to still have a bell, so I know where she is."
 
Alec hiccupped as he tried to get ahold of himself. He looked up at Dark, his eyes filled with more emotion than he could contain. "Thank you," he whispered, putting his whole heart into the words. He knew how hard this was for Dark. He hadn't always been as respectful of that boundary as maybe he should have been, but he understood, and he was so grateful he couldn't find the words. He looked down at the cat and rubbed her head gently. "Thank you."

The kitten looked up at Alec and at Dark. She opened her mouth, a tiny pink spot in the middle of the blackness, and gave the teeniest little mew possible. Then she looked at Alec and slow blinked, a tentative purr trembling her body.

Alec thought for sure he was going to pass out from this unfair level of adorability.
 
Alec had almost managed to stop crying, but Dark's hug set him off again. The kitten rode it out, still looking confused, but willing to stick around and see what happened. Alec finally got himself together and used his sleeve to dry his eyes. "Thank you, Ba. Very much." Then he looked at Xander, a spike of worry poking through his orb of delight. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Xander snorted. "They told me about it in advance so that I could whine and moan about the fact that I wasn't being given more responsibility before you got your cat."

Alec laughed and shook his head. "You are ridiculous!" He turned to his mother. "Would you like to hold her, Mama?" He stood awkwardly and very cautiously walked toward her, concious that every move affected the kitten.
 
"I would love to," Daizi replied, holding out her hands, "We have already met, during your school day once or twice we went over, after we decided. She is very sweet."
 
Last edited:
Alec smiled and set the kitten carefully in Daizi's hands. "Then I have some ground to make up!"

The kitten was still confused, but she did recognize Daizi a little. The glitter of her necklace and a bit of lacey fringe near Daizi's shoulder instantly caught her eye. She reached out, trying awkwardly to bat at the shiny things and the fluffy other thing. No claws, all paw, eyes wide in delight.
 
Daizi laughed slightly, feeling her bat around, and she spoke gently in Arabic and softly to the kitten, stroking her back gently with her long fingers. "Welcome home, habibti. What a big day you have had!"
 
"What are you going to name her?" Xander asked.

Alec frowned thoughtfully. Then he smiled and said, "Maybe Kikimora!" He looked at Daizi to see if she recognized the Russian folklore name. Then he looked at Cooger. "You found me a kitten? Thank you!"
 
"Kikimora is a very good name," Daizi murmured, lovingly stroking the kitten as though she had been here forever.

"I think technically Lex did," Cooger replied, "Remember when I sent you the picture of all them tiny tiny kittens? She was one of 'em."
 
"Really? This was one of those little ones? She's so big now and fluffy!" Alec said in awe. His hands were already itching to take her back, but he didn't want to be selfish or crowd her.

She was quite gangly, as kittens tended to be at that stage, and her thin black fur stuck up all over the place. She certainly looked like a tween, but a loving one instead of a grumpy one, as she nuzzled around Daizi's shoulders and chest, exploring and trying to understand more about all this stuff on the human. It was so shiny and folded and moved and smelled nice!
 
"I know, they grow even faster than this one did!" Cooger replied, bouncing Ivy, who had not taken her eyes off the kitten, "She's gonna need a lot of brushing, but she's pretty good about letting me. I'll show you the right way to."

Daizi just continued to coo at the kitten while stroking her gently, occasionally giving her head a little kiss when it came too close.
 
"Yes, please!" Alec requested. He frowned at Ivy. "How do I introduce Ivy and the kitten? I'm worried about doing it wrong and creating a bad first impression as well as, you know, whatever harm might happen because of that."

The kitten clambered up on Daizi's shoulder and started playing with her earrings.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top