#he's like a stray cat that he fed once and accidentally got attached to | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

royalswille · 3 years

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@ace-bookworm said Button House gets a cat and I said yes and then I wrote this, enjoy.

Buttons’ House

Alison and Mike Cooper had never intended to adopt a cat. After all, Button House was already full to bursting, what with the both of them, eight ghosts living in the main house, an entire village of plague victims in the basement, and the ghost of a pesky pigeon courtesy of their neighbour’s dog. Simply put, there was not enough space to add any more family members to Button House.

So the cat had taken it upon itself to move in.

It had started one morning while Button House was going through its usual morning routine. Alison had woken up, checked the bathroom for ghosts so that Mike could use it without fear, then started the stopwatch for the Captain’s run before putting on a record for Thomas to do his morning dance to. She had filled in a few words on Robin’s crossword, set up Pong for Julian, and put on a classic football match for Pat. In the next room, she had helped Mary with her phonics work, turned to the next page in Kitty and Fanny’s book, and then done the same for Humphrey (or rather, Humphrey’s head – god only knew where his body was). She had arrived downstairs in two minutes and thirty seconds to open the door for the Captain to run in, perfectly timed.

Everything was the same as usual.

“Two minutes thirty, Cap,” Alison said, stopping the timer. “Same as always.”

“Blast,” the Captain said frustratedly. “Are you quite certain of it, Alison? I could have sworn I shaved off a second or two, I really pushed myself on that last corner.”

She shrugged apologetically. “Sorry. I’m just going by what the timer says.”

The Captain harrumphed and peered out the door, beckoning Alison to join him. She did, looking out across the driveway to where he pointed at the gate.

“That’s my problem,” he said, waggling his finger. “The terrain switches from concrete to gravel. If you could just pave over the driveway then I’m quite sure I c– hello.”

The Captain’s tone changed abruptly and Alison raised an eyebrow. “Hello?” she replied, bewildered.

“No, no, not you,” Cap replied, pointing down the driveway again. “Look, over there. It’s a cat.”

Alison squinted and saw that the Captain was quite right. Trotting up the driveway towards the open door, mewing quietly, was a little cat. It was jet black with bright yellow eyes and looked a little tatty with its scraggly fur. As it got closer, Alison could see that its ribs jutted out from under its skin slightly. The cat looked happy enough, but it was very clearly a stray, or badly neglected at the very least.

It stopped just in front of the Captain and sat primly, looking up at him with its eyes squinted serenely.

“Can cats see ghosts?” Alison asked him.

“It would appear so,” he returned. With a painful-sounding cracking of his knees, the Captain crouched down in front of the cat and regarded it. The cat stared back, blinking happily up into the Captain’s face. It attempted to bat at the Captain’s swagger stick, which was hanging from his hands, but its paw went straight through.

“Yep,” Alison said, “it can see you.”

It didn’t appear the Captain was listening to her, because a moment later he pointed his stick at the cat and said, “Now you listen here. It is improper to try and touch a Commanding Officer’s person or belongings. Had you been a soldier – or indeed able to touch me – I should have you punished.”

“Captain, it’s a cat, it can’t understand you,” Alison told him.

He stood up again, knees creaking audibly. “Yes, well. That hardly matters – I am a senior officer and I– oh dear, good Lord, what is it doing now?”

The cat was purring, attempting to rub itself against the Captain’s legs lovingly, but simply passing right through, which only seemed to make it more determined to show the Captain its love. The Captain began to gag, reminding Alison of the ghosts’ inability to touch living things without feeling sick. Quickly, she scooped the cat into her arms and held it close – the Captain stopped his gagging, but the cat continued to purr, nuzzling at Alison’s face.

“It’s very affectionate,” she said through all the fur blocking her face.

“Quite,” returned the Captain, voice a touch more gentle than usual. “Do you think it has a home of its own?”

Alison stroked the cat and frowned. “If it does then it’s not a very good one. Look, you can see all its bones, the poor thing hasn’t eaten in ages. And look at its fur, it’s disgusting. And it stinks.” The cat stopped purring momentarily as if offended. “Sorry.”

“Well,” the Captain said, assuming his usual military-man stance, bouncing once on the balls of his feet, back straight, stick tucked under his arm. “If this creature is in need then perhaps we should provide a home for it.”

“What? No, we can’t do that. Captain, the house is more than full already, we can’t add a cat to the mix.”

“During the war we never left a soldier behind!”

“This is a cat, not a soldier. I’m sure it’ll find a home eventually, just not here.”

As she said it, the cat laid its head upon her shoulder, purring again, eyes closed. It appeared it had decided that in Alison’s arms was the perfect place to go to sleep. Alison had always been a cat person and wanted nothing more than to cuddle the cat, even though it was probably riddled with disease and it stank like rot, but she knew if she did that then the cat would start thinking that Button House was its home. It would start coming back and they couldn’t have that. So with a heavy heart, she gently placed it down on the floor.

“Sorry,” she said to it as it looked up at her sadly. “I’ll feed you just this once because you look like you need it, but that’s it. Right, Captain?”

The Captain muttered something under his breath as he often did when he felt put out, then turned on his heel and left, stretching the way he liked to after his morning run. Alison went the opposite direction, leading the cat to the kitchen to find it something to eat.

It was halfway through the plate of tuna she had laid down for it when Mike came in. He looked down at it, then to Alison, then back at the cat before saying bewilderedly, “I don’t remember getting one of those.”

“That’s because we don’t have one,” Alison told him. She watched fondly as it ate its food – it clearly hadn’t eaten in months judging by the way it wolfed the fish down. “This is a stray, it followed the Captain in this morning after his run.”

“Uh huh,” Mike said slowly, sitting down to watch the cat too. “So why is it in our kitchen?”

“I’m feeding it.”

“Yes, I can see that. Why though?”

“Because,” Alison said emphatically, picking the cat up as it wandered absently towards her, then turning it to face Mike. She held its paws in her hands and wiggled them back and forth like a bad puppeteer. “Look at it! It needed some sort of food otherwise the poor thing would probably die. It’s not like we’re going to keep it, I just wanted to make sure it lived.”

“You remember what happened to my Auntie Barbara,” Mike replied. “She accidentally adopted so many neighbourhood strays that her house was practically overrun with them. And then what happened to her? She died. Because she was allergic to cats and there was so many that it killed her.”

“I never understood why she fed them and stroked them in the first place if she was so allergic,” Alison returned, to which Mike shrugged. “But it doesn’t matter anyway. We aren’t keeping it.”

“We don’t get to decide that,” Mike said, “the cat does.”

The cat, from its place nestled on Alison’s lap, meowed in agreement.

“Well, if it shows up again, we just won’t let it in. Agreed?”

“Agreed. We can’t afford another mouth to feed. It is cute though,” he admitted.

“It is, isn’t it?”

Despite how adorable the cat was, Alison let it out the front door. She watched as it obediently walked away, tail a little higher than it had been before, looking healthier and perkier. She knew she shouldn’t have been hoping it would come back, but a little part of her didn’t want to say goodbye.

Luckily, she didn’t have to. The very next morning, she opened the door to let the Captain in from his run (“Two minutes and thirty seconds, Captain, but I think you knew that already.”) and hot on his tail came the cat, smiling as obviously as a cat could.

In spite of her better judgement, Alison took the cat into the kitchen again and fed it once more. She knew she shouldn’t have been, but she was already growing very attached to it. Despite its awful smell and awful condition, she felt a soft spot for it. Absently, she wondered if she should take it to a vet, just to get it checked over and see if it had a home. But she was snapped out of her thoughts by one of the loudest things known to mankind – Lady Fanny Button.

“What on Earth is that disgusting creature doing in my house?!” she shrieked, pointing wildly at the cat, which kept eating its food just as peacefully as before.

“Relax, Fanny, I’m just feeding it,” Alison explained.

“Whyever are you doing that? That creature is clearly a stray, probably riddled with fleas, and you’ve brought it into this house like it’s nothing! It’s going to defile this beautiful house and you shall be the one to blame for it, Alison. I want it gone at once!”

“Fanny, it’s not doing anything, okay? Calm down, look, it’s just having something to eat, it needs it.”

“It is a very small step from eating to… to defecating, young lady!” Lady Button retorted. “I shall not have that thing in my house, ruining everything! Take it away.”

“I thought you liked animals,” Alison tried. “You had Dante when you were alive.”

“Dante was a well-behaved, loving, healthy, clean dog. He was not some stray we just picked up off the street one day because we felt like it!”

“Well,” Alison said, “to be fair, we haven’t picked up the cat because we feel like it, it kind of invited itself in.”

“If anything that makes it worse,” Fanny yelled, sounding appalled. “Not only does it smell ghastly and look unseemly, but it is rude as well. It clearly has no manners. I will not ask again, Alison, take the cat out of this house!”

At that moment, the cat finished eating and turned around to try and bat at the hem of Lady Button’s dress. Though it couldn’t touch it (for obvious ghostly reasons), Fanny screamed and took a few paces back. She started yelling more nonsense at Alison, something along the lines of ‘get it out’ and then ran straight through the wall, out of the kitchen.

Sighing, Alison heaved the cat into her arms, took it through the house again and let it out through the front door just like the previous day. She watched it wander away once more, though this time it stopped in the middle of the driveway to wash its leg briefly. She shut the door behind it and got on with the rest of her day.

It wasn’t until the next day, day three, that Alison realised that the cat situation was likely going to become permanent. When she opened the door for the Captain, he did not run in as usual, so she peered out of the door and saw him crouched in the middle of the driveway, attempting to pet the cat but failing miserably because each time his hand passed right through and he gagged.

She watched for a minute, stifling her laughs so that the Captain didn’t hear her and realise she was watching which would likely make him stop. Soon she was joined by someone else.

“Good morning, Alison,” Kitty said, bounding up to her, smiling as brightly as ever. “How are you today? Oh look – the Captain has made a friend!”

Alison chuckled. “He has. It looks like they’re getting on very well.”

Kitty gasped excitedly then said, “It’s a cat. That means it’s a kitty, just like me!” And without further ado, she skipped over to join the Captain and the cat. The Captain looked mildly disgruntled, their moment having been interrupted, but he smiled as soon as the cat started purring, trying to bat at his swagger stick again and jumping at the bows on Kitty’s dress.

A moment later, Mike joined Alison. He looked out at the cat, watching as it jumped and played with what would seem like nothing to him.

“Are there ghosts out there with it?” he asked Alison.

“Yep,” she returned, popping the ‘p’. “Cap and Kitty. They’ve really taken a shine to it.”

“Well, like I said,” Mike replied, “it is really cute, I don’t blame them. Have any of the others met it yet?”

“Only Lady B,” Alison told him. He raised an eyebrow and she continued, “She wasn’t a fan.”

Mike hummed and a silence fell between them. Alison had been thinking more frequently that they really should take it to a vet. Even though it was happy and eating properly when she fed it, getting it checked over wasn’t a bad idea. It didn’t mean they had to adopt it – it just meant that they could have peace of mind knowing it was alright.

She was just about to say this to Mike, but he got in first and said, “I think we should keep it.”

“What?” she replied, shocked. “Why? Two days ago you were worried it was going to kill you.”

“No,” he said, “I just suggested that it’s a possibility we can’t rule out. But you clearly like it, and I think it’s cute, and if the ghosts like it then maybe it’ll – I don’t know – like, placate them a little.”

“They’re not dangerous, they don’t need placating,” Alison said. “Is this just the same as when you said we should get Netflix to ‘appease’ them after they’d finished watching every DVD we own?”

“No,” he said, sounding too affronted to be telling the truth. “Plus, we won’t be caring for it on our own, will we? We’ve got eight extra pairs of eyes to keep a lookout for it. So we can all look after it, it won’t be just us.”

“Only one of those ghosts can touch anything,” Alison told him. “We’ll still have to clean up its poo and stuff like that. And you’re terrible with poo.”

“Yeah, that’s why you’ll be on poo duty.”

“No. If we’re adopting this cat then we’re sharing poo duty. That’s the price you have to pay.”

The both of them turned to watch the Captain and Kitty playing with the cat again. It jumped up to try and grab the feathers in Kitty’s hair and she giggled delightedly.

“Alison,” she called, “it’s so lovely! Come and play with us, please!”

She turned to Mike. “Okay. We’re keeping it then.”

He tore his gaze away from the cat and smiled. “Yeah. Why not? Let’s do it.”

“Great,” Alison said, clapping her hands. “I’ll call the vet, see if they can get us an appointment to make sure it’s all healthy and see if it’s microchipped. I hope it doesn’t already have a home.”

“If it does then we can just get another one,” Mike said, slipping an arm around Alison’s shoulders. “There’s a shelter not too far away.”

“I like this cat, though. I want this one.”

“Well, we’d better get that vet appointment to see if we can have it then, hm?”

And so, not four hours later, Alison and Mike made their way back to Button House from the vets, the kitten nestled comfortably in the back seat. Their appointment had gone very well – the cat was in surprisingly good health for a stray, they had got it up to date on its vaccinations, and they had determined the cat didn’t have a home. So, to the couple’s delight, it was allowed to stay at Button House.

The house was unusually quiet when they arrived back. That normally meant that all the ghosts were assembled upstairs partaking in one of Pat’s clubs or another. There was the faint sound of scattered applause as Alison walked through the front door – one of them had probably finished giving a speech.

She gently put the cat down on the floor as Mike shut the front door behind them.

“Right, missy,” she said. The vet had also confirmed that the cat was a girl and about six months old. “Welcome home!”

The cat meowed and trotted off down the hallway, seemingly in search of the source of the clapping. Alison wandered after it, and the cat led her upstairs to the common room. She found the ghosts all gathered around together, most of them on the sofa, Julian and Robin by the chess board, and Thomas in full view of all of them, bowing even though their half-hearted applause had long since ceased.

Lady Button was the first to notice the new arrival and she didn’t seem best pleased.

“Alison,” she shouted, standing up and pointing at the cat furiously. “I told you to get rid of that vermin, that vile creature, I do not want it in this house!”

“Now listen here,” interrupted the Captain, brandishing his swagger stick. “That cat happens to be in dire need of our assistance. I think it only right that Alison has brought it inside.”

“And it really is a sweetheart, too, Lady Button,” Kitty gushed.

“You’d probably think a grizzly bear was a sweetheart,” Fanny retorted.

Robin shook his head, saying, “Grizzly bear never sweetheart. Grizzly bear kill my uncle. Was very funny actually.”

“Excuse me,” interjected Thomas, “I still have four more poems I want to perform!”

As happened far too often to be endearing anymore, the ghosts all started yelling over each other, some insisting they get rid of the cat, some insisting it stayed, and Thomas insisting he be allowed to finish his recital. Alison watched them fight, the cat sat at her feet, watching bemusedly too, before finally stepping in after Julian and Thomas started squaring up to one another.

“Alright, alright, enough!” she shouted.

Shouting only worked about half the time, sometimes the ghosts’ arguing would be so loud that Alison couldn’t even hear herself over it – luckily, this time around the ghosts fell silent and looked towards her expectantly.

“Okay,” she said, “everyone just listen to me. Mike and I decided that we’re going to adopt this cat–”

“Outrageous,” interrupted Lady Button. Alison ignored her.

“We’ve taken her to the vets. She’s in perfectly good shape and she doesn’t seem to have a home, so we’re taking her in. She might need a little TLC before she starts looking…”

“Less like a toilet brush?” suggested Julian, eyeing the cat.

Alison frowned. “Before she starts looking herself. But we’re keeping her, no objections. Okay? She really is lovely, I promise you all.”

“No, no, no,” shrieked Mary, standing up and joining Lady Button as far away from the cat as they could get. “Al’son, you can’t keeps the pussycat.”

“Why is that, Mary?” Alison asked, trying not to sigh.

“Because you’ll’s be branded a witch!” Mary explained, sounding as if it should have been obvious. “If a woman have a cat then she be a witch! They’ll burns you at the stake! I’d know.”

“Mary, lots of people have cats now and they don’t get burned to death. Alright? And you know I’m not a witch.”

“Oh,” Mary said. “Right. Okay then.”

Without further hesitation she crouched down and smiled at the little cat. It purred and tried to bat at her apron. But it appeared Mary took that as an attempt at attack, so she yelped and ran, hiding behind Kitty.

“You can keeps the pussycat, Al’son, but please keeps it aways from me.”

“If you’re quite finished with the witchcraft nonsense,” said the Captain, stepping forward, “then might I ask if this cat has a name?”

“Oh,” Alison said, “well, Mike and I were going to brainstorm later this evening–”

“That seems hardly fair,” Cap returned. “We all live here, we should all name it.”

“Yes,” said Kitty, bouncing up and down. “I think we should call her Princess Snuggles.”

The Captain laughed. “No, thank you, Katherine, that’s a silly name. I was thinking something more like Major Fuzzyboots.”

“And how, pray tell, is that any less silly than Princess Snuggles?” asked Thomas flatly.

“Well, I don’t see what’s wrong with any classic cat names,” Pat said, peering down at the cat. He stretched his hand out to scratch her head, then looked as if he had to hold back vomit, and withdrew his hand. “Something like Luna or Shadow. Something simple, like.”

“Boring,” Robin remarked. “Should call it Cat. Save trouble.”

“No offense, guys, but I think I’m just going to talk it over with Mike,” Alison decided – the ‘all these names are terrible’ wasn’t spoken aloud but was heavily implied and she was sure they got the picture. “We’ll come up with something. Come on, missy.”

Alison hoisted the cat into her arms and was about to head back downstairs with her, when Julian’s voice piped up from behind and said, “Why not call her Buttons?”

The other ghosts made noises of agreement, which was rare.

“Buttons?” Alison said, looking at the cat. “Well, I suppose she does look like a Buttons. And it’s like Button House! Oh, I love it, nice one, Julian.”

He straightened his tie and suit jacket. “Yes, well, if anyone was going to be the one to solve this – uh – cat naming crisis, well then, I suppose it only makes sense that it were me. It’s not the first crisis I’ve solved, not by any stretch of the imagination. Did I ever tell you all about the time, back in eighty-three, when I…”

Alison didn’t stick around to hear the rest of whatever godawful story Julian was planning on telling. She left the room and headed back downstairs to get Buttons some food and tell Mike they’d decided on a name.

Over the next few weeks, Buttons’ presence in Button House seemed to be almost completely accepted by everyone living there. There had been a few unfortunate incidents and teething problems, but nothing that wasn’t fixable.

The first real problem came two days after Buttons’ adoption. Nobody had been able to find Humphrey’s head, which was predictably detached from his body. Kitty remembered placing it down on the kitchen table, but all they found there was Buttons. Everyone had been searching the house (including Mike, though he couldn’t see Humphrey, and Humphrey’s body, which couldn’t see anything at all) but it hadn’t been until Alison had picked Buttons up that the head had been discovered.

It turned out that Buttons had taken quite a liking to Humphrey and decided to sit on him. The problems arose when Buttons obviously couldn’t sit on Humphrey and instead ended up in him, which obscured the head from view completely. And it didn’t help that Humphrey was allergic, something that apparently hadn’t changed in death. His face was red and his eyes were watering when Alison finally picked up Buttons and freed him.

“Oh, thank goodness for that,” Humphrey breathed. “I’ve been shouting for hours, couldn’t anyone hear me?”

“You must’ve been muffled by Buttons’ fur,” Alison suggested. “Sorry Humphrey, I’ll try to stop that from happening again.”

“Oh, don’t trouble yourself, Alison. It’s alright, really. Well, apart from the allergy, and the sick feeling from having something living touch me. But really, no need to go out of your way.”

Another issue was that Robin just didn’t seem to get on with Buttons. She loved him, clearly – in fact, Buttons seemed to adore everyone in Button House (except Mike, for reasons unknown to anybody) – but one day Alison had walked into the common room to see Robin yelling at the cat.

“Oh, you think you so big, so clever. I kill mammoth. I can easy kill little cat!”

“Woah, hey,” Alison said, approaching the two. Buttons was stood on the chess table, gazing up at Robin with nothing short of adoration in her eyes. “Why are you threatening to kill my cat?”

“Ruin chess game,” Robin huffed, jabbing a finger in Buttons’ direction. She tried to pat it and he grumbled, “Go away.”

“She’s just a cat, I’m sure she didn’t mean to.”

“She did. She jump on table and hit all pieces off. Little guy and horsey on floor, me no pick them up!”

Alison did it for him, picking up the chess pieces and placing them on the squares Robin instructed her to. Buttons quickly lost interest, hopped off the table and left the room.

“And stay out!” Robin called after her.

Thomas didn’t seem to be the cat’s biggest fan either. Alison had a sneaking suspicion that his hatred towards her stemmed from the fact that he had been trying to recite yet another unwarranted love poem to Alison but she’d not been paying attention, instead playing with Buttons. She had caught him seeking his revenge later that day, leaning over Buttons as she slept on the sofa, and whispering what sounded like a demand for her to duel him. Alison had decided to avoid that situation altogether and quickly backed out the room.

The only other ghost who wasn’t totally enamoured with Buttons was Julian, who seemed very indifferent on the whole subject. Though Alison did once catch him practising one of his speeches on the cat, who seemed surprisingly attentive.

But for the most part, Buttons was adored. Many a time, Alison came across the Captain or Pat pretending to stroke her or sitting by her as she slept. Kitty and Mary would play with her (though Mary was still a little wary and periodically asked Buttons if she was a witch in disguise). Even the plague ghosts adored her – she had managed to sneak down to the basement when Mike left the door open once, and the ghosts had tried their hardest to adopt her for themselves. They were happy with the agreement they reached with Alison though, that she would let Buttons down there once a week to visit them all.

The biggest surprise of all came one lazy evening when Alison had been on her way to bed, a sleepy Mike in tow. They had passed through the common room where a fire was dwindling in the fireplace. Buttons was curled up in front of it, sleeping soundly, and watching her with a fond expression on her face was Fanny.

Alison smiled and cleared her throat. Fanny looked round, looking a little startled and embarrassed to be caught gazing at the cat she had been so against.

“Alison,” she said, but didn’t seem to have any words to follow it up with.

“Is she growing on you, then, Fanny?” Alison asked, stifling a yawn.

Fanny turned away, facing Buttons again, and said, “Well. She’s certainly no Dante. But I can admit now that she is rather sweet. I suppose it’s alright that she stays here.”

Alison watched as a small smile grew on Fanny’s face, watching the gentle rise and fall of Buttons’ chest.

“Goodnight, Lady B,” she said.

“Goodnight, Alison.”

From then on, all the residents of Button House treated Buttons as if she were all that mattered, even Robin and Thomas, whose grudges quickly wore off. It seemed that despite the fact that Button House was already full to the brim, adding little Buttons made the house a home.

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jensungf · 4 years

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𝐂𝐀𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐄? ฅ 𝐥.𝐣𝐧

summary: your mother always told you a lot as a child — about how you should always be kind to others, to always watch out for stray kittens in dark allies on your way to school and most importantly, to not judge a book by its cover. you didn’t always listen to her. yet you would have to say your biggest weakness would come in the form of cats. and maybe lee jeno as well.

pairing: shy!reader + badboy!lee jeno genre: high school!au, fluff<3 word count: 1.8k warnings: language, mentions of disease

author’s note: another one of my blurbs that accidentally turned into a really long drabble hehe i hope the anonnie who requested this enjoys! <3 as always constructive criticism is appreciated and you can request after checking my prompt list.

just like every other caring parent, your mom went on and on about what she deemed to be important life lessons during your childhood, and even now — about how you should always be kind to others, to always watch out for stray kittens if you pass by the alley next to the flower garden on your way to school and most importantly, to not judge a book by its cover.

you tried your best to listen to her. you really did. but sometimes, people had weaknesses and besides your more than often bouts of procrastination and incessant affinity for watermelon sour patch candies —

(“if i was your dentist, i’d probably hate and love you,” jisung snickered as you shot him a look of confusion. “‘cause you must have hella cavities but that would mean i could charge you more money! i’m so sm- ow, that hurts (y/n)!” you rolled your eyes after picking up the bag of watermelon sour patches you had thrown at his forehead and ripping it open to pop one in your mouth)

— yet you would have to say your biggest weakness would come in the form of cats. cute, fluffy, insanely adorable stray cats.

although you had your fair share of friends, you preferred to stray away from human interaction (honestly, it was too much of a hassle, you were never really the type to approach people first anyways, your shyness getting the best of you and you preferred it that way), you preferred the company of much smaller, fluffier animals. although your mother always warned you about the dangers stray animals possessed, whether it be how they could carry rabid diseases or put you at risk of bad luck, you stopped hesitating to bring some snacks for the poor, small kittens years ago on your daily walk to school.

you paused as soon as you heard a small mewl followed by some rustling and shuffled your feet forward, peering into the dark alley before you felt something nudge against your leg. you jumped back, but let out a sigh of relief. you crouched down, holding your hand out for the tiny kitten to nuzzle against.

you cooed and reached into your backpack, bringing out the cubes of watermelon you had packed earlier before gently offering a piece to the black and white kitten.

“what do you think you’re doing?” a gruff voice asked, causing you to flinch and jump back. your head snapped up, only to find the source of the voice to be someone who scared you a lot more than you liked to admit.

lee jeno.

everyone who knew anyone knew that lee jeno fit in with the cliche archetype of a bad boy. he hung out with his troublemaker friends in a group of seven (including jisung, but how you still managed to be friends with that giant noodle without encountering his friends, you will still never know), with rumors spreading like wildfire amongst your peers of them always being late to school, stirring up mischief with their motorbikes and causing ruckuses during detention.

you didn’t expect him to be here out of all places.

he was never the center of all of the attention, preferring to stay behind his loudmouth friends and observe quietly, laughing whenever donghyuck or jaemin would make a joke and joining in with his friends’ antics whenever he felt like it. but make no mistake — the moment anyone saw his muscular arms and the glint in his eye, they knew he wasn’t going to be one to mess with.

you realized he was staring you expectantly, waiting for an answer but your brain seemed to short-circuit from surprise. you opened your mouth, desperately trying to rack up a response with your pea-sized brain (stupid y/n, why did i have to forget how to speak an entire language right at this very moment?, you groaned internally) before closing your mouth and averting your eyes to the very interesting concrete ground.

“cat got your tongue, sweetheart?” he teased, smirking almost flirtatiously. (you never noticed it but jeno’s ears flushed red, not knowing where this sudden confidence came from. he usually wasn’t the type to flirt… at least not like this in broad daylight with a random pretty stranger. he’d be damned to say jaemin was finally rubbing off on him.)

you bit your lip, unsure what to say back and cursed yourself for being so awkward. you glanced briefly at his figure, his broad shoulders donning his signature outfit of a black leather jacket, low cut almost hawaiian-looking shirt and ripped skinny jeans (it was literally so sunny outside, how was he not sweating in that? also, did he ever wash that jacket? you could’ve sworn you had never even seen him without it) before pressing your lips into a firm, thin line.

your eyes fluttered down to the kitty, ignoring him, yet you were struggling to remember how to breathe properly. your friends had always called you shy, albeit approachable, but you never realized how difficult it was for you to just simply talk to someone you actually sort of wanted to talk to until this very moment. why was just saying a single word so hard? and why did it have to be the school’s notorious bad boy here with you out of everyone in this town?

he frowned, not used to girls blatantly ignoring him, but it wasn’t the first time it happened. he tried to search your face for any sign of recognition, but you were too invested in the cat, or rather, his cat to pay him any attention.

(he’s never been jealous of a cat before but he’d never admit that at this moment, he would’ve liked to switch places with nal. what a nice life it must be for a cat to be fed watermelon all day and be coddled with attention and affection from a pretty girl.)

“how’d you know she liked watermelon?” he asked before bending down. your eyes flickered up until you realized how close he was to you, only a few mere inches away from your body. you shrugged, not trusting your voice to speak.

“nal,” he whispered, bending down to your level, whistling to coax her towards him. she meowed, licking the last bit drop of watermelon juice on her paw before pouncing towards jeno, her fluffy tail looping around his beat-up hightops. his usual stoic expression curled up into a boyish grin as he started petting her and murmuring praises of how adorable she was.

you could hardly believe your own two eyes. lee jeno, everyone’s picture-perfect example of a bad boy who looked like he walked straight out of the cheesiest teenage rom-com flick was ... a softie for cats?

never in a million years would you have pictured this in your mind.

you tried to stifle the laughter bubbling in your chest, but jeno looked up to catch your eyes. heat crept up your spine and consumed your face, causing you to look back down at the kitty who was nuzzling against him again.

“what’s so funny?” he asked, cocking his head and raising his eyebrows.

you couldn’t help it if your heart decided to do somersaults seeing his innocent expression, resembling that of a confused five-year-old child.

you shook your head before softly asking, “she’s yours?”

he bit back a grin at finally hearing your voice and reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a silver chain collar with a charm (engraved with “nal”), the silver bell attached to it lightly jingling. how ironic yet fitting, you thought.

“i can’t take her home with me because i’m allergic, so i let her roam around here and visit every day until i can find a place for her to stay,” he explains as he scratches her behind the ear, earning a delightful meow before slipping the chain over her head.

you took a step back, mentally taking a snapshot of this moment. you couldn’t help but giggle lightly once you realized that jeno and nal looked almost exactly alike, as if nal was jeno in cat form, with her black and white fur adorned with a chain collar looking exactly like his usual monochromatic outfit and worn black leather jacket, not to mention the silver chain bracelets and necklace he wore all the time.

jeno’s head snapped up once again to watch you laugh.

his heart thumped a little harder than he would’ve liked to admit.

“bad boys don’t take care of stray cats,” you say, finally locking eyes with jeno. “especially the bad boys who are allergic to cats,” you smile.

he shrugged, his boyish grin still etched on his handsome face. (screw handsome, you couldn’t lie — you’ve wondered on more than one occasion how blessed his parents must be to have a son whose looks could rival a professional model’s face.)

you couldn’t help but notice how different he seemed now, looking more like a carefree and lovable child rather than a reckless troublemaker.

“don’t judge a book by its cover, sweetheart,” he said before giving you a wink, starkly contrasting with the way he tried to hide how he scratched his reddening nape afterwards.

he gave one last gentle rub to nal’s head before standing up, getting on his motorbike. he looked back, with a glint of something in his eyes. “need a ride, sweetheart? or the cat still got your tongue?”

you froze in your spot, feeling your face turn hot with embarrassment. you weren’t used to this. it was the school’s bad boy after all.

but you could get used to it.

mustering all the courage inside of your shy mighty heart, you look down at nal and gave her a gentle kiss on the top of her head, letting her nibble on one last piece of watermelon.

“my mother always told me not to judge a book by its cover,” you mused, a hint of playfulness in your voice. “i guess i was wrong about you.”

“i’m y/n,” you added shyly.

jeno’s eyes crinkled into crescents, a genuine smile forming on his face.

“jeno.”

you walked hesitantly up to his bike, and took a seat behind him gingerly.

you let your arms fall to grip the sides of the seat, before jeno shook his head and lifted your hands up to wrap your arms securely around his toned torso. “hold on tight.”

guess your mother was right after all.

+ bonus blurb!

#jeno scenarios #jeno imagines #jeno fluff #jeno x reader #kwritersworldnet #nct dream scenarios #nct dream blurbs #nct scenarios #nct dream imagines #nct dream fluff #fluff #jeno drabbles #drabbles #high school!au #badboy!au #i love badboy!jeno so much THIS WAS SO CUTE #leyna writes #hehe if anyone cant tell the symbol is a cats paw

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sammysdewysensitiveeyes · 4 years

Text

Today I started thinking about what thecorteztwins’ Alt-Marauders would be like as cats, because that’s a good use of my time. Imagining the fursonas of comic book characters. And I don’t mean characters from the musical, I mean actual house cats. So I typed it up and now you all have to look at it. Breeds are based either on the character’s appearance or their personality (ex. Shinobi is Siamese because they are very vocal and demand attention, Sebastian as Maine Coon because they are big and furry).

Sebastian:

(This one looked sufficiently grumpy)

A mixed breed, but most prominently Maine Coon – he is big and hairy, with a long, thick coat, brown, grey and black tabby. Indoor-outdoor cat. Was born a stray, but spent many years as a factory cat, fed and cared for by employees because he kept the plant free of mice and rats. After the plant closed down, he wandered around, at one point siring Shinobi. His “owner” (not that Sebastian could ever be “owned” by anyone), began leaving out bowls for food for him, and eventually he deigned to venture inside the house. After all, it was warm and dry, free from predators, and had lots of soft places to sleep. Although he was willing to come inside, he was not willing to stay inside – a very independent cat, Sebastian insists on coming and going as he pleases. He roams outside and will sometimes disappear for two or three days at a time, but always returns. Unbeknownst to his owner, he actually has a few different houses that consider him to be “their” cat, as he will show up to eat whatever food they leave out. (Why attach himself to just one house when he gets food from several? It’s only logical). He’s not a very playful, vocal or affectionate cat. He won’t attack at random, but anyone picking him up, or petting him the wrong way will get bitten or clawed. If he is in an extremely mellow, sleepy mood, he may allow his owner to scratch his head and under his chin. He likes to believe that he dominates the house when he’s inside, but that’s actually Haven. At most, Sebastian just smacks down St. John and Shinobi when they get too rowdy. Madelyne will stand up to him, and he leaves Haven and Claudine alone. He has a favorite chair, ornate, expensive, and beautifully upholstered, and will plant himself right in the middle of it when he is inside. He is a ruthless and efficient hunter, although he doesn’t really need to do it. He spends most of his time wandering through the house and neighborhood like a king surveying his territory. Outside he mates with any female cat he runs across, inside Haven won’t let him touch Maddie or Claudine, so he just perches on his chair silently judging everyone.

St. John:

Mixed breed, short-haired orange tabby, scrawny with long legs and big ears. Originally a stray, spent some time “working” as a ship’s cat before eventually being adopted. Boisterous and energetic, an indoor-outdoor cat that needs lots of activity to be content. Shreds curtains, climbs the Christmas tree, knocks things off shelves (accidentally), loudly bounds around the house at 3 AM, jumps up on the TV stand to bat at the screen when someone plays a video game. Most likely to be featured in a viral Youtube video missing a jump or crashing into the wall. Too loud, clumsy and impatient to be a good hunter, but will proudly bring home “trophies” when he actually manages to catch something. He and Shinobi routinely chase each other around the house, play-fight, and sleep curled up together. Sometimes clashes with Sebastian, and the two will have to be separated. Also clashes with neighborhood cats, and will eventually get locked-in at night to avoid that. Not much of a “lap-cat,” and doesn’t care to be picked up, but enjoys being petted, and will voluntarily snuggle up to his owner on the couch. (Don’t touch his belly, though. That is a trap). Will nip and bat at hands, but is mostly play-biting, and will only bring the claws out if he is really frightened. Very friendly and curious, will come right up to strangers, and will follow his owner through the house and poke his nose into whatever they are doing. Even the bathroom is not safe, he’ll hop right into the shower. A very chatty cat, not as demanding as Shinobi, but he’ll meow back whenever a human speaks to him, and purrs like a motorboat. Likes to sleep in patches of sunlight wherever he finds them.

Madelyne:

Mixed breed, a short-haired calico, the smallest of the group. Had a comfortable life with a family, but was callously abandoned during a move. Went through several bad experiences as a stray, which left her skittish and unfriendly. Like Sebastian, the owner had to lure her in from outside with food, and it took even longer in Madelyne’s case – for several weeks she would bolt at the sight of people. Slowly, very slowly, the owner got her to warm up to them, and eventually she began venturing inside the house. It took even longer to for her to concede to being petted without lashing out and running away. However, once she began to feel safe and regain her sense of trust, she proved to be a very affectionate and loving cat. The owner still tries to avoid picking her up (unless absolutely necessary) or startling her, but she will willingly crawl into their lap. She dislikes strangers, and will generally hide whenever anyone else is at the house, but may eventually come out if the new person is there for several days. She especially likes hanging out in card board boxes or underneath tables, where she can watch everything but still feel secure. She also clashed with the other cats when she first arrived, especially St. John and Shinobi, who were too boisterous for her. But she quickly realized that they were not going to hurt her (even faster than she did with the human), and she now regularly plays with them. As her confidence grows, she can be adventurous as St. John, but not nearly as much of a dumbass. She is much more graceful, and manages to run around without crashing into things or knocking things over. She enjoys roaming around the house with Claudine, and cuddling up to Haven, and even manages to get along with Sebastian. She is the only cat besides Haven that can get away with smacking Sebastian around. She is fierce, but also extremely loving. Sometimes at night she will wander around in the dark meowing in a kind of mournful wail, as if she is looking for something that she lost. But if the owner calls her name, she will run back to join them. Although originally indoor-outdoor, she ventures outside much less than she used to, and tends to stay close to the house. She’s found a safe, happy place where she is loved, so why would she want to go anywhere else?

Shinobi:

His mother was a purebred Siamese, and his looks resemble her the most – long, slender and elegant, with cream and brown coloring. Was raised in a rich household, and was given every luxury, but his owners saw their cats as essentially decorations and status symbols, so he wasn’t given much affection. Eventually given up for adoption because his demands for attention became inconvenient. He is the absolute diva of the household, and he is loud. Mostly likely to lay across the owner’s keyboard, book, puzzle, video-game controller, etc. When not given sufficient attention, he will deliberately knock things off tables and shelves, jump up on the TV stand and block the view, meow at the top of his lungs. Constantly underfoot, but wails like a banshee if he gets stepped on. Indoor cat only, he tried going out through the cat door one hot summer day, and immediately fled back inside, for air conditioning, soft cushions to lie on, and his cat-fountain water dish. He doesn’t hunt – why bother when food comes so easily? He only accepts the best in toys, food and treats. Extremely affectionate, he will lay across any available lap, and cuddle up to the owner while sleeping (or lay across their face). He is eager to be petted anywhere, and will only protest if the person doing the petting is too rough or awkward. He rarely bites or claws people, he just meows or runs away if upset, usually pausing to look back at the offending party like, “How could you?” He usually hides from strangers initially, letting St. John be the friendly welcoming committee, but once he sees that it is safe, he will come out and flop down at people’s feet, expecting them to lavish affection on him. Tries to follow St. John around the house at night, but sometimes gets “stuck” in high places or gets lost in the maze of furniture, and will wail until he is rescued. Shamelessly steals food off his owner’s plate. Once nearly drowned getting his head caught in a glass of water. Will never sleep on the floor – only couches, beds, cushions, and his luxury cat bed.

Claudine:

Mixed breed, pure white short-hair. Indoor-outdoor. Was used in unscrupulous medical experiments, but managed to escape out an open window. Much like Madelyne and Sebastian, she had to be lured in with food, and eventually comes to see the owner’s house as a safe place. She doesn’t really lash out the same way Madelyne does, but she doesn’t become very affectionate either. She will endure petting by the owner, and will simply walk away when she loses patience, rather than biting or scratching (but she will scratch if threatened). Very mysterious, she frequently disappears for hours on end, but reappears very quickly when food is served. The owner has never been able to find her hiding spots, but it seems like she is never very far away. She wanders silently around the house at night, like a ghost or a shaft of moonlight. She is a much better hunter than St. John, as she is patient and quiet. She only clashes with the other cats if they get too aggressive, but is otherwise indifferent to them. She seems to enjoy Haven and Maddie’s presence, and will sometimes walk around with Maddie or sleep curled up next to her. She doesn’t tolerate strangers at all, and will make herself invisible when anyone else is at the house. When feeling comfortable, she likes to sit at the top of the stairs and observe everything happening around her. At her most affectionate, she might jump up onto the bed while the owner is sleeping, and curl up at the foot.

Haven:

A purebred Ragdoll, she is huge and extremely fluffy, with a brown and white fur pattern. Was a pampered show cat for many years, but was given away for adoption after her retirement (after she was no longer useful to her owners, in other words). Strictly indoor. As with many Ragdolls, her personality is extremely relaxed, affectionate and calm. Although St. John, Shinobi and Madelyne can all be very affectionate, Haven is the most patient. She easily puts up with toddlers and small children pulling her tail and lugging her around (generally just going limp in their arms). She never bites or scratches – at most she will cry out and run away if someone hurts her. A lap cat, she will lay on her owner for hours, purring contentedly, but also never seems to get jealous or upset when put aside. She does not loudly demand attention, she will just quietly snuggle up to the owner or any other person in the house whenever possible. She gets along extremely well with all the other cats, and was the first one that Madelyne accepted. Although never violent, she is the undisputed matriarch of the household. She will hold down and groom any other cat, even Sebastian, who will growl softly as he puts up with it. Her grooming is often a way of breaking up fights, or settling down the wilder cats like Madelyne and St. John. When she’s not cuddling with people, she sits curled up and stares into space, looking oddly wise and serene. Her favorite spot is a back windowsill where she can see out into the backyard, and the other cats tend to keep it clear for her. She enjoys watching the birds, but never seems interested in harming them. She doesn’t hunt at all, and will treat any small rodent that enters the house like her own kitten.

Special bonus: Fabian Cat-tez.

All of Shinobi and St. John’s bad characteristics, combined and amplified. He’s always on the wrong side of every door, but doesn’t have any of the Rum Tum Tugger’s swagger, and only wishes he could rule the neighborhood like Sebastian. Whenever he does something stupid, he will stalk away and angrily start grooming himself, pretending nothing happened. In fact, he spends more time grooming himself than any of the other cats in the household. Big floofy orange tabby.

Btw, I realize that it’s generally better for cats to be kept indoors, both to protect them from danger and protect local wildlife from their murder sprees. But I couldn’t imagine some of the Alt-Marauders as indoor cats. Let’s just assume the owner is trying to transition them all inside.

#thecorteztwins cinematic universe #I can't believe felt the need to type this up #housecat au for x-men characters #this is ridiculous and I am weirdly obsessed

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legaylity · 5 years

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I finished the Angst fic!! BEHOLD!!

Two Strangers in the Night

Finally it was over, after all these months of panic and fear the threat of "Carnage" was finally over. Watching the last tendrils of the Grendel symbiote burn away from Kasady's body Eddie finally felt like he could breathe. With Grendel gone so was the threat of Knull's awakening. Now things could return to normal. Before that could happen, however, he needed to retrieve Dylan.

"Spiderman!" He shouted. The hero finished webbing together the remaining peices of Grendel that had been controlling people and jogged over. "Everything okay over here Eddie?"

"Yes it's burned completely now. I'm sure the Avengers will contain the ashes just to be sure though. Where did Dylan go?"

"Oh I think he went with Normie to try and find that weird cat from earlier. He seemed kinda upset that it was gone."

Of course he would be out looking for Sleeper. Sleeper had saved him and Normie from the other symbiotes and to repay him Eddie had locked him out of the bunker. It was just too risky, he told himself, he had seen Knull take control of symbiotes and if that had happened with Sleeper inside the bunker, it was just too horrible to imagine. He was probably fine he was resourceful, even if he was being hosted by a stray cat. Obviously the condition of his host was unimportant.

Turning away from the furnace Eddie began to make his way out of the bunker. Dylan couldn't be far and Captain America wouldn't let two children wander very far alone. Looking around outside he was about to ask Cap where they were when he heard someone call out "Banner!!" Quickly turning to look he saw Dr. Banner picking his way over the rubble and heading towards where the Avengers had gathered. There was no sign of the Hulk or of the symbiote. They had left Eddie just before the final confrontation with Grendel. They had said something about "Needing to fix their mess" and that Eddie "Couldn't do what needed to be done". He never expected them to attach to Banner much less awaken the Hulk. He still felt a sliver of fear leftover from the first sight of the beast that combination had made. The remaining Avengers had joined Banner at the edge of the debris pile and were firing questions at him. "Are you alright?" One asked. "Where did you go?" Went another. Eddie hurried over and Banner looked up from where he had taken a seat on a section of wall. He waved off the concern of the others "I'm fine all things considered. I'm assuming Carnage is finished?"

"We were able to trap him in the furnace and burn him away." Cap answered. "We were worried after the symbiote bonded to you. Where is it?" He asked.

"I suppose I should explain" Banner said taking off his glasses to wipe the lenses. "After they bonded to me we all agreed to let them stay. Joe, Hulk and myself thought they could help and they did. I know you all probably saw us tossing around Carnage until they got distracted. I think something was calling to them. Next thing I know the Maker is there holding a weird cat and trying to tear it's spine out. So we tore off his head." It made sense that the symbiote would want to kill The Maker seeing as he wanted to destroy all of thier spawn and was then threatening Sleeper to their face.

The Avengers grimaced at this and Eddie remembered how it felt to crush a skull between those dagger-like teeth. A brain the size of the Maker's would keep the symbiote fed for months. Banner shrugged and continued his tale. "I think they talked to the one in the cat but they didn't let me hear. When I came around again the cat was on our shoulder and we had a capsule with the other symbiotes in it. They sensed that you all had defeated Carnage and they said to thank you all for them."

"Is it still with you?" Eddie interrupted.

"I was getting to that. They thanked me for allowing them to stay but said it was too cramped in my head for that to be any more than temporary. They separated from Hulk and followed the cat to the old cathedral. I think I heard them say something about a ship being there." Then he looked Eddie dead in the eyes "Also Brock, they wanted me to tell you goodbye. Sounded almost like they were asking me to deliver divorce papers. The kids were looking for that cat too so they're probably at the church."

This confused Eddie but now he knew where he needed to go. Thanking Banner he started towards the nearest church.

As he neared the building he recognized it as Our Lady of Saints, the place all this had started so long ago. With all the mixed emotions stirring in his chest he started calling for the boys and the symbiotes. Distantly he heard Dylan's voice call out "Eddie! Over here!" He followed the sound to a hole where the doors had once been that was most likely caused by the crazed symbiotes trying to reach former hosts. Inside he could see Dylan and Normie coming towards him and close to the altar was a small alien ship. That must have been what Sleeper used to return to Earth he thought.

"Eddie they're leaving!" Dylan panted as he reached his side "you've gotta talk them out of it!"

"Leaving? What do you mean?" he asked.

"We came here looking for Sleeper and he was already here with his parent. They were talking and Sleeper was telling them they need to go to space with him and they said they would and that since they got all the other babies back they would take them along even if Mania decided to stay and go back to Andi. But they're leaving with all of their spawn because you're an asshole." Dylan let out in a rush.

"He's quoting the symbiote." Normie said "my mom doesn't like it when I swear so I'm covering for you."

Eddie looked back towards the ship now filled with worry and confusion about the turn this day had taken.

Now that his eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness he could make out shapes moving around the ship. Sleeper was carrying containment tubes that appeared to hold five of his siblings, where Scream had come from Eddie had no idea, into the ship. Then he spotted them. His symbiote with it's ever present spider emblem was tracing patterns on a bell that had fallen into the sanctuary when the wall was destroyed. Slowly making his way down the church aisle towards them he tried to think of what to say. So much had come between them in the past few months he wasn't sure where to start. Pausing a few feet away from them, unsure of how they would react he simply asked "What are you doing?" It came out in more of a whisper but he was glad it didnt sound like an accusation.

"It's so strange to see these while they are quiet. They're actually quite beautiful when they arent hurting me." They said without turning to face Eddie.

"You haven't talked like that in a long time."

"Being in Banner's mind helped to repair most of the damage done by Price. Banner was kind to me. Understood what I was trying to do."

"What was that?"

They sighed more to express their feelings than any need for oxygen. "Eddie, I started this. My carelessness is what caused Carnage. I realize that it was Grendel controlling Cletus but Knull would never have chosen him if I hadn't abandoned my first child. I had to make that right. On top of that most of the people that got hurt in this were targeted for being my hosts I couldnt let anyone else die because of me."

"You stopped fighting Carnage to go after The Maker. That's when people died." Now it was an accusation. All this talk that reeked of nobility and sacrifice was pissing Eddie off. What had they risked when they abandoned him and Dylan just to go after some evil scientist Hybrid. Finally they turned to face Eddie and he was surprised. They appeared to be hostless but were holding a humanoid shape, it reminded him of Carnage a bit with how emaciated and bony they looked.

"The Avengers were awake by then and my child needed me. The Maker had suppressed the others and was going to kill them all starting with Sleeper." They took a step towards Eddie and looked him in the eyes. Quietly they said "Do you know what it is like to hear your child scream out for you? Not knowing if you can reach them in time?" They took another step. "You would if you hadn't locked him out of the bunker."

Eddie took a step back "I had to, Carnage was too close to getting in. I had to protect Dylan."

"I know. Dylan is your son but you seem to have forgotten that Sleeper is as well."

Eddie wanted to change the subject uncomfortable with what they were implying.

"Dylan said you were leaving. You can't do that."

They snorted and raised what would've been an eyebrow on a human. "Why not? Are you going to stop me?"

Eddie had to think quickly. "I need you here. I didnt know what to do without you when I thought you were dead. I can't lose you again."

"You dont need me Eddie. You don't even want me why else would you believe I would do those terrible things to you?"

For quite a while Eddie had believed that the symbiote was manipulating his memories along with worse offenses. Inventing a sister and an uncle, erasing a memory of accidentally killing his neighbor and even assaulting Anne and creating Dylan were just some of the things he had thought. Now with his codex cleared of Knull's influence Eddie knew it had all been false. He did have a sister and uncle, he had been the child hit by a drunk driver and Dylan was not the product of a violation of Anne. Just an inadvisable night of emotion and old memories while the only thing the symbiote violated was a bucket of chocolate ice cream hidden in the back of Anne's freezer.

"I know that wasn't real now." He said taking a step back towards them feeling a desperation set in. He felt so weak on his own and there was no way to know just what other horrors were lurking to take advantage of that weakness. "We've come back from worse. I sold you remember? I..I tried to kill you but you forgave me."

The symbiote looked away towards where a broken stained glass window made a colorful pattern on the floor.

"You are right. We did come back from that." They seemed to be searching for the right words. "I forgave you because I loved you Eddie. I've found that I'm able to forgive almost any horrible thing that happens to me. That's how I am but Eddie this is so so much worse than all of that."

"How? What's changed?"

Now their anger was starting to show through. "I have never once lied to you!" They hissed then seemed to rein in their emotions. "You thought I made up lies to keep you from leaving me. You used my mindless body as an attack dog. You thought I raped your wife." They said softly as they reached out and took Eddie's much larger hand in their own.

"I thought it couldnt get much worse than that but then it did. You left our child in danger. You abandoned him when he needed you most. I know I don't have the best record for protecting my children but you," It sounded like they choked back a sob "you were supposed to be better. You promised him you would be."

Eddie remembered making that promise. Holding the newborn symbiote against his chest swearing to it with all the love in his heart that he was going to be better, better than Carl.

The symbiote continued "He nearly died while begging for his father to come save him and that is the one thing I cannot forgive. That is why I am leaving you Eddie." They let go of his hand and started to turn away before he caught their arm.

"Darling I'm sorry..it's just..I haven't been thinking right. I was so scared with Knull coming and Carnage after me and Dylan I didn't know what else to do. I'm not myself."

He felt desperate now knowing how serious it was. They had left before but this time...this time had an air of finality to it.

Gently shaking off his hand they looked at him again.

"Now who's making things up? You know you did this Eddie. Not Knull, not Carnage, you Eddie Brock." For a moment he thought he saw what may have been a semblance of tears in their eyes. "I don't know who you are anymore Eddie. I can't recognize this man you've become. All I know is you aren't the man I married and you certainly aren't the man I loved. It's over."

Now he was sure those were symbiotic tears trickling down their face. They mirrored the wetness running into his own beard. He felt hollowed out hearing those same words that Anne had used when she had left him. Why did he keep changing in ways that hurt those he loved, he wondered. The symbiote stretched their maw into a sad smile and reached up to kiss him one last time. He wanted to grab them, promise he would be better and never let them go, but he couldn't. They wouldn't believe him and his promises meant nothing.

As they pulled away he could feel tiny cuts on his lips from their teeth, any time before those cuts would've been healed instantly but no more. He felt unmoored as the symbiote patted his chest gently and walked towards the ship. Stopping to pick up a final containment chamber that held a small red symbiote they glanced back at him. "Goodbye Eddie Brock. Have a nice life." They said and then walked up the ramp and into the ship.

Eddie took a shaky breath. This couldn't be real it had to be a lingering trick of Knull's. Desperately looking for anything that might help him he saw Sleeper making his way towards the ship. He must have left the church to reclaim Tel-Kar while Eddie was talking to his parent as he was humanoid once again and had a normal cat on his shoulders. Eddie ran to catch up to him before he entered the ship.

"Sleeper wait!" He said grabbing his arm. Sleeper stopped moving and stood as if he were frozen. Eddie stammered for something to say but Sleeper beat him to it.

"Get away from me." He said with a coldness that nearly stopped Eddie's heart.

"Sleeper I understand you're upset but I'm sorry. You have to understand none of us could take the chance of letting you in. If Knull got control of you in that bunker we all would've died."

"Oh I understand perfectly." He said with the same coldness but now there was a hint of something else in his voice. It sounded like something between rage and heart broken grief.

"Then why are you both leaving? Please explain it to me Sleeper. Your parent and I can work things out and you're my son I lo..." he was cut off as Sleeper whipped his head around to stare down at him.

"Do not lie to me." He spat and jerked away from Eddie. Taking a few steps away he spoke again. "You are not my father! My father was not a coward like you he would have sooner been locked out of that bunker himself than leave me to die." The careful control Sleeper had on his emotions cracked and the grief became obvious as he continued.

"My father would have come for me. He would have saved me no matter the danger to himself. He would have heard me screaming for him! He would not have slammed that door in my face...unless he did not care." Sleeper's shoulders shook and the cat jumped down to scurry into the ship where his parent was watching. "I know how much my father loved me so for him to not be there for me he must be dead." He finished quietly and looked down at the floor.

Eddie walked slowly in front of Sleeper to see his face. He was surprised by the sight of human tears rolling down the young symbiote's face and into the holes in his cheeks. "I'm so sorry Sleeper." He whispered. "I'm so sorry but I'm here now. I'm not dead."

Sleeper looked up at his words "You are to me."

Eddie staggered back as if he'd been hit. "Sleeper!" He gasped.

Now it was the rage that took over "I am not your son isn't that what you want to hear! You made it apparent that's what you think of me! I was only good enough when you didn't know you had a human son, a "real" son!!" Sleeper pointed angrily towards where Dylan and Normie were still watching. "There he is, the one you love the most!! The one that looks like you, and talks like you and isn't half malicious parasite!!" He shouted.

Turning away from Eddie he stormed up the ramp of the ship. He paused at the top and seemed to deflate as his anger dissipated as quickly as it had come only to be replaced by the ache of sadness again. "I would rather have a dead father than a father that stopped loving me for things I can't control."

He looked back at where Eddie stood frozen in place. "Go then. Be a good father to him I know you are capable of it. He is a good child he deserves to be loved. I hope our paths never cross again." He stepped inside and started to close the hatch. Just before it sealed Eddie heard Sleeper's faint final words to him

"Goodbye...Father."

As the ship's engines powered up Dylan ran over and hugged Eddie, possibly feeling as though what had happened was his fault. Eddie could vaguely make out Sleeper and his parent through the main viewport and knew that this was likely the last he would ever see of them both. The ship lifted off and rose into the atmosphere and as Eddie's heart broke he felt like he couldn't breathe.

---

It didn't take long for Earth to practically vanish behind them. The symbiote couldn't believe they had finally done it, they had left Eddie for good. They were currently in the small bunk area of the ship trying to distract themself from the hollowness they felt by checking on their children. Lasher, Riot, Phage and Agony were all in one containment tube huddled together. They were still frightened by the entire ordeal but their parent hoped they would calm down soon and relax.

Scream was in her own tube next to her siblings, it had been so long since she had seen them along with her first host having killed all of theirs that Sleeper had thought it best to contain her alone for now. She was sleeping now which they thought was good so they left her alone.

Then they came to the one that most worried them. The final tube contained all that was left of Red in the world. From what they had been able to peice together a small part of her had been revived when Grendel infected Norman Osborn. She had survived when her parent killed Osborn and Sleeper had recovered her from the corpse. She was so small and afraid, they could hear her quietly calling out for Cletus and it broke her parents heart. They would tell her what happened, one day after she had recovered and grown strong again. They just hoped she could forgive them.

Leaving Sleeper's new cat to curl around the tubes they walked to the cockpit to check on their youngest. "Sleeper?" They said as they entered.

He didn't turn to face them "Yes parent?"

"Are you alright?" They asked taking a seat next to him.

He was silent for a minute as he engaged the auto pilot, where they were headed the symbiote did not know nor did they care.

"No. I am not." He said and he started to cry. The sound of it only added to the ache they felt in their core and they pulled him close. He rested his head on their shoulder and cried, not even caring that he sounded exactly his age. Their own form of tears joined his as they let the pain of the past few months truly settle in their mind.

After a while Sleeper choked out "Some birthday. Instead of getting a gift I lose my father and nearly die." The symbiote remembered now, that very day marked exactly a year since Sleeper's birth. The stark differences between then and now only made their grief worsen.

"I am so sorry Sleeper." They tried to think of anything that would comfort their heartbroken child but it was a struggle. Finally they settled on what they had done before he was even born.

They started to hum an all too familiar tune that had once done the trick even if now it was bittersweet. Eventually they sense Sleeper giving in to rest and finished their song but with a small change to the final lines.

Looking sorrowfully at the tiny speck that was Earth they sang "Now it's all we are...two strangers in the night."

#venom #venom comics #the venom symbiote #eddie brock #Sleeper #Dylan Brock #venom fanfic #im so sorry #but i had to #ill make it up to you all if you are sad #feel free to tell me how you feel #just please dont be mean because i am also sad

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serenecatbird · 7 years

Text

Kitty's Bitty Shelter. A Bitty Beginning.

This is my story of how I began taking care of abused and neglected bitties. I am Kitty Ginger, and I run a shelter for bitties. It all began when I was tending to my flower garden, taking care of the damage the stray and abandoned cats would often do when I discovered what I first thought was a dead, partially eaten squirrel. It turned out to be a tiny skeleton monster, a Papyrus to be exact. He had very little HP left and if I had let him be, the cats would surely dust him. So I carefully picked him up and took him into my house. I found it odd that this Papyrus was wearing fur clothes made of several types of rodents. Papyruses usually wear doll clothes or tiny "battle bodies". Never dressed like tiny cavemen. I removed his outfit to clean and tend to his wounds. He had a few broken bones and was covered in bite and claw marks. But soon I put tiny splints on his broken limbs and his ribs and found the tiniest bandages for his other wounds. As I swaddled the tiny skeleton I heard him mumble something. I think he was calling out for his brother, but he was too weak to speak any louder. I then placed him in a small shipping box I had prepared as a nest for him to recover. It had some old, clean towels and a heating pad to keep him warm. I then covered the box with a hand towel and went to returning my gardening tools to the shed before fixing dinner. I didn't forget about my little patient. I made sure he was fed first before I ate myself. Although he appeared unconscious, he still ate what I fed him. I used a clean eye dropper to feed him some milk. I watched as a tiny translucent tongue lapped up the milk like a kitten and appeared to be holding the dropper with his good hand. I gave a sad smile, trying not to get attached to the little monster as I continued to feed him. I didn't have much hope of him surviving. I soon left a tiny cup of water and a bottle cap full of peanut butter in his box in case he woke up. I soon ate my own dinner and tried to go to sleep. The next morning, I checked on him. He hardly moved. I saw that he appeared to be breathing and muttering as if he was taking in his sleep. I went to the kitchen and got a clean unused popsicle stick and began trying to feed him the peanut butter I left for him last night. Once again, I saw his tiny tongue lap up the food. I heard him mutter "more" and I continued feeding him until all the peanut butter was gone. He licked his teeth and appeared to smile. It was hard to tell since he was a tiny skeleton. I layed him back into his bed and went to the kitchen to get him some more peanut butter and a little bit of milk. The next day he was awake. As I uncovered the box, I saw him sitting in his bed eating the peanut butter on his own. He looked up at me and spoke. "GOOD MORNING, HUMAN." I was surprised by how friendly and unfearful he was. I wanted to pet him and I reached down to touch him. He leaned into my finger, I had petted him while he was unconscious, but quickly stopped thinking I was making him nervous. I was even more surprised that he actually enjoyed it. He begged me not to stop. Then I accidentally touched a sore spot and pulled my hand away when he yelped. "I'M SORRY, HUMAN." He said. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO SCARE YOU." " I should be apologizing to you." I said. "I hurt you." "I'M OKAY, NOTHING A GREAT HUNTER CAN'T HANDLE." The tiny skeleton said joyfully. "You are a Papyrus, aren't you?" I asked. The little skeleton nodded. "I'M THE GREAT HUNTER, PAPYRUS TO BE EXACT." He once again gave me what appeared to be a smile. I had never heard of a hunter Papyrus before. I had heard of a swap Papyrus, a fell Papyrus and even of a merPapyrus but never of a hunter type. "Are there many of you?" I asked. Papyrus shook his head. "NOT MANY HUMANS KNOW WE EXIST." He replied sadly. "ME AND MY BROTHER PREFER TO LIVE IN THE WOODS. BUT SOMETIMES IT GETS SO COLD, I CAN ACTUALLY FEEL IT FREEZING MY BONES." I tried to avoid any jokes thinking Papyruses hated jokes. "CAN I HAVE SOME MILK, PLEASE." He asked. "YOU DON'T HAVE TO PUT IT IN THAT BOTTLE YOU'VE BEEN USING TO FEED ME." I was mildly surprised that he was aware of me feeding him with an eye dropper, but I nodded and went to the kitchen to get a soda capful of milk for him to drink. As the days gone by, Papyrus healed quickly. He seemed to enjoy me bathing him in a soup bowl of warm water and being petted as I changed his bandages. I soon began feeding him small pieces of fruit and learned he actually liked berries but he hunted small animals during the fall to make in to jerky for surviving the winter. He even told me that sometimes his brother would even raid bee hives and steal nuts squirrels bury to supplement their diet. I almost felt sorry for him, living such a life. On the seventh day, I returned him to the woods where he told me he hunted. But as I told him goodbye, he begged me not to leave him. I began to run telling him he wouldn't be happy living in a house always surrounded by cats. I almost got lost in the woods, but thankfully I returned to my house. I, however began to feel bad about the little Hunter Papyrus I left in the woods. I tried to convince myself I did the right thing, returning him to his native habitat. But I continued to feel guilty, like I had abandoned him. Like I was leaving behind a precious little baby to fend for himself. I couldn't sleep for the next two days,thinking about him. Then on the tenth day since I found him, I saw Papyrus sleeping inches away from my face on my pillow. I watched as his eye sockets opened up. He looked into my eyes as tears streamed down his cheekbones. "PLEASE LET ME STAY." He begged."I-I LOVE YOU." I just couldn't say no to him. I decided to let him live with me. Then I heard the sound of a plastic cup fall to the floor. I got up to investigate as Papyrus scrambled up my arm to ride on my shoulder. In the kitchen, I saw another tiny skeleton, he had on a cloak made from a chipmunk pelt and wore tattered doll clothes. He appeared to be eating ketchup out of a restaurant packet I had put away. He almost ran away until he noticed Papyrus riding on my shoulder. "I'M SORRY ABOUT THIS, HUMAN." He explained. "I INVITED MY BROTHER TO STAY AS WELL." I couldn't complain. I was just as happy to let a bitty Sans live with me since he and Papyrus were brothers. And since there were other bitty skeleton monsters out there like them, I decided on a nickname for them. I began calling Papyrus Squirrel because of his squirrel-like outfit and Sans Chipmunk because of his clothes. They were both happy about their new names. And I was happy to finally have company.

#bittybones #bittybones FanFiction #sans and papyrus #bittybones papyrus #underhunt #my stories #undertale fanfiction #undertale #bittybones sans #squirrel papyrus #chipmunk sans

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