Something Something cats

[karappo]

[It had been about two weeks since he'd found himself in this shelter. There were animals of all sorts, but mostly they took in cats and dogs with cats being kept in their own area more securely inside as opposed to where the dogs were. Small cage-like kennels that they stayed in until they were adopted or fostered, this sort being a no-kill shelter.

They just had no clue, somehow, that one of the "cats" that a family had brought in to them was no cat at all.

Karamatsu would say that, overall, he didn't really mind this place too much. Sometimes it got loud and he got very lonely without his family, but it was something like an extended vacation, wasn't it? That's what they'd told him, anyway. And being too young to really understand it as anything else (while knowing his parents were too big to actually get inside such a small kennel with him), he wasn't too bothered by knowing they weren't immediately with him. After seeing his fellow kennel mates and other cats being taken away every day, it brought him to the realization that the only way to find his family again would be to get someone to take him out.

That's how Karamatsu learned to start making himself as obvious as he could, strutting in front of the cage bars and meowing as loud as he could, though...people didn't seem to react well to his attempts at being cute. He didn't meow so much as yowl, and it wasn't very appealing to prospective adopters. He had an unusual coat, too- orange/yellow with dark black stripes, white patches on his belly and neck...he was really odd for a cat.

But he wasn't going to give up. Someone would come along, if his parents didn't first.]

Comments

[karappo]

[The ruffling makes him chirp, and he ends up lifting a paw to bat at Ichimatsu's fingers.]

And you don't live together anymore? Did something happen?

[ichimyatsu]

[He looks a little unsettled by the question, frowning.]

...not especially, we just grew up. Humans don't live with their families forever.

[karappo]

[It's perhaps ironic...and a little sad, seeing how tigers live similarly. They definitely don't live in groups or with their families all their lives. Karamatsu just never got the chance to experience what that sort of thing was like, seeing how he was given up far too early.]

Sounds...lonely.

[ichimyatsu]

[His mouth quirks again.]

...also quiet, and way more likely to not have your shit messed with or your food eaten and actually have the time to decompress and have you-time.

[karappo]

[......nope, just sounds lonely to Karamatsu. But the mention of eating food is enough to have his stomach growling again, to which he growls in response and curls over Ichimatsu's arm.]

Huuungry...

[ichimyatsu]

[A snort, and he carts them into the kitchen, setting Karamatsu on a lone chair there while he opens the fridge.]

I guess you just eat meat raw, yeah? I gotta look up if I can feed you vegetables and starches and stuff, I know rice and carrots are good for domestic cats but I'm admittedly tiger-stupid.

[karappo]

Meat, yeah!

[He chirps, immediately standing up on all fours in the chair when Ichimatsu plops him onto the seat. He goes even further to prop his forepaws up on the edge of the table, trying to peer over at Ichimatsu over it.]

No crunchy stuff!

[ichimyatsu]

[A thoughtful hum and he brings a styrofoam shrink-wrapped container out of the fridge with four or five chicken breasts in it, rolling up his sleeves and washing his hands to open the container and put them on a cutting board. He cleans three of them of fat and cuts them into neat little cubes, washing his hands again before pulling down a bowl and dumping most of the cubes into it sideways off the cutting board. He then moves with the bowl to the other side of the fridge, holding it out and then setting it down for Karamatsu.]

[While the cub feasts, he cleans and cuts the other pieces and puts them in containers, one in the fridge and one in the freezer, and tosses the remaining cubes into a pan to cook for himself.]

[karappo]

[Karamatsu starts devouring the chicken almost immediately, so quickly at first that it's a wonder he's even tasting it at all. It's clear he hasn't had a decent meal in a while, judging by the quickness with which he's eating on top of a near constant growling he makes while chewing.]

Nyaaa-haha! It's so good, Ichimatsu!

[ichimyatsu]

[He multitasks between watching Karamatsu chow the fuck down and cooking his own chicken, tossing some mild seasonings into the pan for flavor, and pops open a small rice cooker when he's done to plop a small round of rice into the bottom of a bowl that the chicken is placed on top of. A moment later, he's leaning on the counter with a pair of chopsticks feeding himself, a faint smile to his eyes as he nods to the tiger.]

I'm glad.

[karappo]

[It isn't very long at all before Karamatsu's eaten everything and even licks the bowl clean before stretching out flat on the cool floor, his paws splayed out as he drops his head between them.]

Ahh....

[He probably ate that way too fast, but at least he's happy.]

[ichimyatsu]

[As long as he doesn't make himself sick or give himself indigestion, Ichimatsu doesn't mind to let him eat way too fast in excited baby syndrome. He chuckles, sinking into a crouch with his bowl and reaching across the space between them to scritch between his ears.]

[karappo]

[The scratching has an immediate, expected affect. The tiger goes boneless, making soft, pleased sounds and pushing his head up against Ichimatsu's hand. He hasn't been this happy in weeks, even with his parents missing.]

[ichimyatsu]

[He balances his bowl on his knee and continues the scratching motion on Karamatsu's head, still eating slowly with his other hand.]

I guess you can sleep on my futon with me, I haven't really got much else to offer unless you wanna lay on the pillow by the table I was on earlier.

[karappo]

Eeehh?

[Karamatsu seems a little surprised by that, his ears swiveling to face Ichimatsu as he tilts his head up to look at him.]

You mean I don't have to sleep in a cage?

[ichimyatsu]

[He makes a face at him, tilting his head and quirking an eyebrow.]

Well for starters I haven't got a cage to put you in, but I mean if you're that dead-set on it... [He's grinning, clearly kidding.]

[karappo]

[He gasps loudly, then whaps Ichimatsu with his paw...slowly...oh god he's so full.]

Non!

[ichimyatsu]

[He snorts and then chuckles quietly, taking his paw between his thumb and forefinger and shaking it gently like he's shaking hands with him.]

I was kidding. It's dumb to keep pets in cages, especially when you're gonna get huge.

[karappo]

[He seems quickly pacified by this, his paw wiggling a little in Ichimatsu's hand without actually being pulled out of it.]

Yeah. I should be sleeping in a futon, too!

[ichimyatsu]

Or... outside, or something, I dunno what tigers usually sleep on, or in, or... I'm actually not prepared for this at all, but such is my dilemma. I have to sleep with a tiger.

[He finishes his bowl of food and releases Karamatsu's paw, standing to rinse the bowl out and set it in the sink. A moment later he does the same with Karamatsu's bowl.]

[karappo]

[Meanwhile, Karamatsu stays perched at Ichimatsu's feet, looking up at him and watching as he washes the dishes. Right now, the top of his head barely clears his ankle, but soon he'll be able to see over the counter-top.]

I can stay inside. Like a human!

[ichimyatsu]

You'll have to go outside to take a shit, I don't think human toilets can support the weight you're gonna wind up.

[He is having concerns.]

[karappo]

Oh...I can do that!

[Or you could get him a litterbox the size of a bathtub.]

[ichimyatsu]

[He doesn't want to scoop tiger poop. Nor does he want to smell it.]

Good, 'cause the reaches of my care only go so far.

[karappo]

[The tiger stretches his paws out in front of him, claws extending for a moment before he does the same with his back feet, then toddling over to rub his head against the side of Ichimatsu's leg.]

I'll do whatever you want me to!

[Maybe then Ichimatsu will be more like to, you know. Keep him.]