#meowing only gets you so far when it's the cat equivalent of baby talk

[halfbaked00q]

pondering how to introduce Q's cats into the catboy Bond mix and okay here's the working idea

catboy Bond feels Very Territorial about it all however since he has a human brain he also has to Reel The Instincts In and act cordially with Q's cats

the cats, meanwhile, LOVE him. they take to him like when cats take to & adopt in a new kitten. catboy Bond is very disgruntled about this but he's Not Allowed to hiss at Q's cats about this and also You're Above Such Kittenish Behaviors, Bond, behave, so he has no choice but to put up with the indignities of being adored by Q's cats. They keep trying to groom him 😩😾 and he obviously can't groom them back to assert his dominance what with his human-size tongue, so he has to figure out all sorts of hijinks to try to discourage them from doing so. (it does not work and he has to grumpily settle himself down to being the kitten of the bunch even though he is older than them combined by a goodly number of years, thank you very much 😾😾)

[fightingforcreativity]

The Other Earth

~~~Chapter 1:  A Whisper In The Night~~~

Notes:

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Iron Man (Movies) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov/Tony Stark, others, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanov/Tony Stark Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Steve Rogers, Barnes family - Character, Alpine the Cat (Marvel), OFC, baby winter Additional Tags: Amnesia, Presumed Dead, Family, Mystical Creatures, Fluff and Crack, bakery Au elements, Mirror Worlds - Freeform, Alien Culture, Alien Biology, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Avengers still being Avengers, oc child - Freeform, child named Winter, (OFC and Winter do not have a main role) Summary:

Bucky had a cat, had a job at a local bakery, and some odd jobs here and there. At night, he would look in the sky, trying to figure out the constellations, seeing the stars differently than he faintly remembered. At the same time on one of those stars far away, a star named Earth, Tony Stark held his baby boy, whispering, “One day, you’ll know you’re the world.[…]”

Notes:

This fills a square for @starkbucksbingo

Title: The Other Earth- A Whisper In The Night Collaborator Name: Fighting_for_Creativity Square Filled: B5- Didn't Know They Were Dating Ship/Main Pairing: WinterIronWidow Rating: Mature Major Tags & Triggers: Amnesia, presumed dead, Family, mystical creatures, slight crack (later), bakery Au elements, mention of alcohol abuse 

Summary:

Bucky had a cat, had a job at a local bakery, and some odd jobs here and there. At night, he would look in the sky, trying to figure out the constellations, seeing the stars differently than he faintly remembered. At the same time on one of those stars far away, a star named Earth, Tony Stark held his baby boy, whispering, “One day, you’ll know you’re the world.[…]”

Word Count: 2699

The reassuring click sound of his lock opening as he turned his key let Bucky smile. He had a couple of jobs a day and the city he lived in- Bucharest- had a burglar problem, or maybe every city had that in the cheaper neighborhoods. His lock still being intact meant that his things were still where they belonged. A low meow greeted him when Bucky stepped inside.

“I’m back, Alpine. Gimme just a few moments,” he said while shrugging out of his jacket and pulling his boots off, “I’ll renew your water and give you fresh food. ‘That is wonderful, Bucky! Thank you. How was your day at the bakery Bucky?’ Why thank you Alpine! It was stressful but the old lady from three streets down insisted on tipping me.”

During his little monologue, Bucky made his way to the kitchen, refreshing the water, rinsing the bowl before giving his beloved white cat fresh water. Then he gave her food and continued to tell her of his day, despite Alpine lazily blinking at him and doing the equivalent of a shrug before she dug into her food.

Smiling softly Bucky observed her for a moment before he made himself something to eat as well. While he prepared and then ate his spaghetti, he thought about his current life and the still amiss memories. Just yesterday he had remembered that his friend’s name had been ‘Stevie’ and that the blond had lived with Bucky, his ma, and his sisters for the most part of their childhood. Why that was though, Bucky still didn’t know.

What he had compiled so far was all safely stored away in a red leather-bound book. The book had a spider-like web in black, and the book ribbon was golden intertwined with a cerulean blue. Somehow the book called out to Bucky so he bought it. After his purchase, he had stared at the thick pages for quite a while until he got a memory of a faint male chuckle. He had scrambled to catch that sound, to describe it with every word he had relearned over the time he had been here, but it faded too fast for him to grab.

The first page in the book was filled.

More followed and now he had already written about half the pages. Sometimes it were scrambled notes, dreams fading too fast to note down. Sometimes it were memories so vivid that Bucky could detail every aspect of them. Such a memory was of him wanting a dog, after spending time with Rumko, the dog from his family’s neighbors.

Bucky had loved the dog next door back when they were kids. He had tried to argue with his ma over and over and over that he would take good care of a pet if he ever got one. But money was tight, and his sisters’ and Steve's health were more important than having a pet.

That had been another, rather saddening memory. Knowing that his family and he had struggled to survive on a daily basis recalling hushed conversations between his sisters about marrying a jerk just because he would pay for their lives and even give some good coins to his ma for them- yeah those memories he could have done without.

The memory of Rumko, though, was one of the happiest he had. Rumko had been a long-haired beast of a dog. He had jumped on Bucky whenever they crossed paths and they had played and romped around a lot when Bucky was young. Sometimes when his old neighbors, a greying couple, she with blue eyes and him with brownish ones, both always had a kind smile and a kind word of advice for him, were too ill to go with their dog, Bucky and later Steve would do it for them.

Mrs. Lie? Leg? Lee?- Bucky still didn’t remember perfectly- would bake a pie for all of them and Bucky’s sisters would squeal in delight when he brought them a piece. All in all, the brunet’s memories regarding a pet were overly fond.

So one of the things Bucky did once he remembered and was 'fine ' was looking for a dog. He hadn't expected to find a cat, but he loved her dearly.

There was no excuse as to how he found himself with Alpine, but he wouldn’t wish it any other way anymore. Sure the white furball was stubborn as they came and tended to ignore any and all attempts of Bucky to somewhat train her, beside the litter box, but she had a sixth sense for how Bucky was feeling and was often aware of it even before he himself was.

One time, when Bucky had thought himself to feel fine, he came back from work, got Alpine her food, and then sat on the couch. At the very next moment, Alpine sprang on his lap, leaving her food for the moment, and pawed at his chest gently. For a second Bucky stared until he felt the first hot tear running down his cheek.

Alpine had stayed with him til no more tears came and he fell asleep.

After that time, Bucky tended to buy a little extra for his friend, and she kept close to him during the night, for the night was when he often felt a strange longing and sadness.

In the broad daylight, it was easy to forget that he didn’t belong here. Sure, Bucky had made some acquaintances. And yes, Bucky was most popular with the gals and some fellas as well, but the elder folk were mostly wary of him. Something about the way Bucky had been found made them uneasy. Honestly, Bucky couldn’t blame them; he had heard the whispers.

Apparently, he had been found bleeding out by a lake, left arm strongly mangled and thought to be a case for the undertaker. Suddenly though, he had recovered nearly completely, the only issues left were his memory and part of the dexterity in his left arm. A few shallow scars are the visible souvenirs of that.

So yes, Bucky could understand why they were wary. What he didn’t get was why the younger ones, weren’t and why Mrs. Halász insisted on hiring him for every kind of odd job there was, even in the beginning. After a few weeks, people talked about how well he worked and how much he could handle and thus he managed to get enough payment to rent himself a small apartment, pay off the debt for his hospital bills, and get new clothes and everything a human needed to live.

So all in all, his current situation could be summarized as stable - he had a cat, a job at the bakery, and a few odd jobs here and there - and financially well off.

That wasn’t the all in life for him though. Bucky was searching for his memories desperately. At night, he would look in the sky, trying to figure out the constellations, seeing the stars differently than he faintly remembered.

Today was one of those nights he went outside, climbing the fire escape upwards to the roof with Alpine perched on his shoulders. Bucky arrived on top and took a few steps to the center. Then he flopped down, sitting cross-legged and throwing his head back, gaze fixed on the sky. He felt how Alpine settled on his lap and absentmindedly sank his fingers in her fur.

The stars seemed to twinkle brighter whenever he looked at them, seemingly wanting to lure him in. In the silent moments Bucky spent on the roof, it was as if the stars tried to tell him pieces of his past. A soft scoff left Bucky’s lips. ‘As if. Only because you are hopelessly longing for something doesn’t mean that the stars will try to help you.’

Rationally Bucky knew that it was nonsense and stupid to believe otherwise, to think that the key for everything was out there in space. That the one star his gaze was constantly drawn to, held any significance to his memories. But somehow, deep down, Bucky couldn’t help feeling his heart throbbing to the beat of said star’s twinkling. Whenever the brunet concentrated on that particular star, he started to lowly hum under his breath.

A melody so ingrained in his flesh and soul, even his spotted memory recalled it the very first time Bucky had seen that star. While he hummed, Alpine would purr and sometimes Bucky thought he could hear that man’s voice, and a woman's laugh, and then his head would throb in pain.

But his heart… Well, Bucky’s heart would clench in yearning.

-----

Little could Bucky have known, that while he watched the sky, with longing in his heart, another brunet did the same.

At the same time but far away, on one of those stars, another star named Earth, Tony Stark stood on his balcony, surveying the land beneath before raising his gaze into the stars. In his arms, he held his baby boy, Winter. The boy was named after the season they had lost their third. Despite the loss they had experienced, Tony couldn’t feel more joy when he looked down again, grey steel eyes meeting with his golden ones. The babe made grabby hands, and Tony chuckled softly.

Holding Winter carefully against his chest, Tony fed him stardust from a bottle and whispered, "One day, you’ll know you're the world. One day, you’ll know you are a wise guy. But wisdom comes with age and until then you are just smart."

Because in Tony’s mind, there was no doubt that his child was at least as smart as him. It was in their blood. His father had been smarter than his grandfather who had already been smarter than his father, the founder of the Stark Space Travel line. Albeit their planet being highly advanced, technology-wise, their whole race had a glaring design fault. Their children needed stardust to survive and nurture. That itself was not a problem. The real trouble lay in the fact that so far only four stars had been discovered which held the right concentration of all needed elements.

So, no matter what your life brought you if you wanted to have a child, you needed to come back to one of those four stars. Tony had been born on Earth, like every other Stark. His mother, Maria, though had been from Xantha, his Dam, Peggy, from Asrir. So his parents hadn’t been sure where Tony would be raised best but soon found that the brunet got most nutrients from the stardust of Earth.

Wiggling startled Tony out of his reverie,  and he adjusted his grip on Winter. “Whoa! Watch it, little man. Don’t wanna make your mother mad by dropping you!”

The baby looked at him, blinked and then chuckled himself. Tony made sure that his boy settled again and was safely tucked in his arms when his eyes returned to the sky.  ‘One day, I will remember your name. Your name and your face and everything else about you. Right now I only have your voice and the sweet things you told us. Right now I only know despite not remembering, that Winter has your eyes. And one day, dear, I shall remember so I can tell our child everything about his Mod. ’

---

Natalia was with them, standing in the background watching them, knowing things she shouldn't.

She felt her own sorrow echoed in Tony’s heart. She heard the silent screams of her husband at night. She felt the confusion, the search for his Mod whenever Winter looked around. The child felt that there was a person missing. She just hoped her precious boy wouldn’t suffer as she had.

She hoped devoutly that her own curse wasn’t her boy's burden to share. Her own second mother, Dam Vanka, had pleaded with Natalia for forgiveness when she had been still a little child. Only a few years later and after her Dam’s death did she understand what she meant.

Natalia had tried to drown her foresight with alcohol, but it never lasted. Flashes of their world, their planet destroyed, burned, and scourged had plagued her since she was a small child.

A dystopia of pain and burning bodies. A world where they all destroyed each other. Foul soil and no more stardust to feed the babies. Women and men bare, even the three DNA’s not enough to fertilize an egg and have a child. She had always believed that she’d never find a semblance of happiness. Then she had met Tony and Clint and Phil and Steve and Bucky.

Bucky and Tony had already been in something. No one could answer her what kind of bond those two had forged and how it came to be, not even Rhodey and Steve, the respective best friends of Tony and Bucky. Later, way later, she found out that a common love for pets had gotten them to talk. Then, in the secret of a joined bedroom, under the covers with eyelids heavy from sleep, both had confessed to her that they’ve been prisoners of the Kree at the same time.

That they had done things together, just to survive, which they regretted with every fiber of their heart. But it also had united them. A few weeks after their confession Natalia had confessed how she had always seen things. How she always knew things, bad things would happen before they did. How she had killed a man because she knew he would kill his wives and his children.

But how those visions had not been hers. Neither her ideas, never her wishes, nor thoughts.

"These aren't mine" she had said over and over when the doctors viewed her mind, they never believed her. She had said it still when BARF showed Tony her innermost secrets. Unlike the doctors, they believed her. They believed in her. Bucky and Tony supported her, made her feel fine and alive for the first time in so long. How could she not have fallen in love?

These days though, even her other friends looked strangely at her.

Besides Tony, everyone judged her. Believing her to be cruel and to want the visions, the destruction. But she didn't. The boy in Tony's arms was proof of that. On silent soles, she made her way into the kitchen to cook the chicken soup the way her mother taught her.

On her way there she detoured to the gear room. They might be benched for as long as Winter needed to be fed Stardust on an hourly basis, but that didn’t mean Natalia would let their equipment get dusty. She entered the spacious room, lights turning on automatically thanks to JARVIS.

Purposeful she strode towards her Black Widow bites and checked their charging. Then, without asking, JARVIS provided her information on the repair status of the latest Iron Man suit. Another reason they were benched, the real reason, to be honest, had been Tony’s near-suicidal maneuver the past few missions before he was injured badly enough to need the cradle.

Selective amnesia had been the result.

Natalia sighed deeply. Not long before that mission, they had rediscovered a parachute- glancing to the side her gaze found it. The parachute of their friend and lost lover. It had been found floating on a lake not far away. Steve and Rhodey had suggested they all went out for a while, letting Winter see some animals and plants. Natalia had bit her lip, a headache overcoming her as she saw flashes of the same parachute and her precious boy crying. At that moment she hadn’t known what exactly would happen, but she’d known their little excursion wouldn’t end all daisies and roses.

Stepping out of the room again Natalia finally went into the kitchen, cooking the soup and thinking, ‘If the myths were to be believed, then that lake led to a world beyond. To a star far away. Maybe even the star Tony was looking at. A star Bucky hopefully now lived on, amongst the mythical creatures, cats. He always loved animals, and those creatures are said to be one of the most elegant cohabitants for people.’ ~~~~~~~~~~~

[justgottafinishthischapter]

An Example in World Building

Not long ago, I put out a post on The Five Visitors, a guide of tricks and tips on world building. However, something I see a lot of writing blogs do that I don’t understand is that they give advice without giving a proper example and showing you how to use the steps they showed you. So, I’m going to take my own advice. I’m going to come up with a loose concept and workshop it into a functioning world using my system.

So the first step is creating an interesting world. I like the Warriors Cats series and I happen to be a cat person, so I think I’d like to try to work with this idea. I want to make a fantasy world inhabited by sentient cats that live together in a society. And a way of making it more interesting, big cats like lions, tigers, and leopards are considered to be the nobility and upper class, while housecats are the common people.

Okay, so now my world has a loose concept. I have sentient cats. The first visitor I’d be welcoming on my fantasy land is The Biologist. He’ll come to me with questions like: Do the cats walk on four legs or two? Do they have opposable thumbs? Where do they fall in terms of anthropomorphism? I think for my setting, I’d like them to be able to walk upright but also on all fours, they have something akin to an opposable thumb, and they’re basically just cats with higher thought and the ability to speak. They still have night vision, are able to squeeze through small openings, use their whiskers to balance, and still have claws. And with cats as sentient animals, are other animals anthropomorphized? I’d say yes. There’s no such thing as “a mindless animal” in my world except possibly humans. But I haven’t decided if they’re included in my world.

Okay, so I just brought in one of the extra people that’s not formally a part of the main Five, but it was relevant to an aspect of the story, understanding the biology of my non-human species. So next I’ll move on to History. The Lions have always been the ruling species of the cat culture from Leonidas the Undaunted to Aleser the Relentless. In the past, they used the cruel act of declawing to mark a cat as property, and many housecats had their claws removed and forced into slavery for the nobility. The practice has since then largely fallen out of style after the housecats revolted in the Kitten’s War of 483 when a battalion of housecat kittens, hidden to be spared the pain of declawing, banded together to revolt against their oppressors. These days, declawing is only used on prisoners whose crimes were violent or heinous in nature.

Next, I’ll evaluate economy. Because cats have a tendency to live in societies that share resources, it can be assumed that they’d live in something similar to but maybe not exactly a socialist society. I have a feeling cats would live in sort of a bartering type of society where they perform services rather than exchange money. If you want some mice that another cat caught, you might fix their fence, mow their lawn, or trade them something of equivalent value which is controlled by a formal bartering system in place that has clearly laid out the value of equivalent exchange for any two things, thus ensuring that no two people can ask for different amounts of birds as payment for rabbits. Within this society, due to the divide in upper and lower class, food typically eaten by big cats is equivalent to fancy foods in our own world, so for a housecat to eat antelope, wildebeest, or zebra is a high class luxury, while eating mice, squirrels, birds, and rabbits is considered “lower class” food, though rabbits are the best of these lower class meals.

After economics, it’s time to discuss culture. If there were to be a religious figure in their society, it’s not hard to assume that it’d be a lion. However, while cats can be affectionate and care deeply for community and social bonding, cats are also far more independent than dogs. Thus, their faith may more closely resemble Buddhism where the faith is directed inward on making the self better rather than venerating the external outside of the self. Due to the many times the news has covered stories of cats taking in animals of other species, it’s not hard to imagine that within this society, it’s considered the right thing to do to house, shelter, and nurse any child no matter the species for as long as it needs a home regardless of blood relation. Although some cats do, it’s not commonplace for cats to have a single mate for life, and as such, inheritence laws would be nearly non-existent. Due to cats being more focused on the community than the self or the family, when a cat dies, their belongings might not necessarily go to their offspring, but instead to those in the community who may be in need, and these items may or may not be bartered off by the surviving relatives. However, due to big cats being more wealthy than housecats, most housecats cannot afford to barter for more luxurious items when big cats die, making it harder, but not impossible, to gain pricey items. Even something as important as the throne is not passed from father to son necessarily so much as passed from strongest to strongest, placing the best warrior on the throne, rather than the nearest of kin. Big cats are stronger than housecats, and as such, they are more gifted as soldiers, athletes, and builders in general. It’s not common to see a housecat playing at big cat levels on a professional team. Lions tend to dominate sports like football, baseball, and basketball, while Cheetahs dominate in soccer, lacrosse, and track and field. Housecats however are rather equal in terms of intelligence with big cats, and job fields such as teachers, lawyers, and doctors sees a fairly regular mix of the two. Especially in more hostile and eat-or-be-eaten types of work environments like law, it’s very common for race tensions to escalate among co-workers.

If humans came to their world, they would be utterly ineffective as diplomats. Due to cat languages being highly complicated uses of sounds and non-verbal body language, humans would need to be spoken to in the most basic and dumbed down form of communication: meowing. Effectively baby talk, this form of communication is so simple and watered down that it’s the equivalent of speaking pigeon English.

Finally terrain, and since housecats don’t really tend to live in the wild and when they do run away then still tend to live within cities, it can be hard to really peg what type of environment housecats would want to live in. However, given that most big cats have evolved to live in just about every climate, it’s safe to assume that the geography of the world could be as vast and diverse as our own and have cat settlements all over. Still, it’s safe to assume most cities would be well off in a savanna type environment, or something otherwise temperate as that seems to be one of the preferred climate types for cats. Maine Coon cats and other subspecies with equally thick coats get excellent barters for the fur they shed as jackets for shorter haired cats living in cold environments.

While this is in no way a fully finalized draft or fully realized concept, as it didn’t build a plot or story, I do hope that it gave people a good idea of how to take a simple idea and expand upon it to create something. Hopefully this demonstration showed you something useful, and will be helpful as you explore the ideas of your own world.

[winryofresembool]

Fic: Kittens and grandparents

Summary: Al and Mei visit the Curtises with Ed and Winry’s kids and encounter a cat problem.

A/N: /Finally/. @finalcam, here’s your giveaway fic! You wished for Izumi and Sig baby sitting the Edwin kids, with hints of Al and Mei, and I tried my best to do it in quite few words. This has honestly more Almei focus than Sig and Izumi but I still hope you enjoy! Once again I have @randomlyopeneddictionary to thank for this idea. What would I do without your help? As usual, comments are very much loved. 

Characters: Al, Mei, Sig, Izumi, Edwin kids Alan and Emma (no Ed or Winry tho WHAT IS LIFE?)

Words: 1650+ (more than planned but since I made you wait, I guess that’s OK)

Genre: general, a tiny bit fluffy (because of the cat :D)

warnings: none

“Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”

Two kids, a 4-year-old boy with golden hair and equally golden eyes and a 2-year-old girl with a slightly lighter shade of blonde hair and azure blue eyes, were getting impatient. Only a little while ago they had been so excited to get onto a train with their aunt and uncle who were spending the summer in Rush Valley as their family’s guests. However, based on the amount of seat kicking and bickering about the smallest things, they seemed to have forgotten about the excitement already.

The kids’ parents had seemed visibly relieved when Al had suggested he and Mei would love to take the kids with them to see “granny Izumi” in Dublith. It didn’t take Al too long to understand why; the two Rockbell-Elric children could be angelic when they wanted to be, but they were just as stubborn as Edward and Winry were, and also impatient. They had only been on the train for an hour, but this was probably the third time Emma and Alan started chanting the question that was familiar to a lot of traveling parents in unison. Al had hoped that maybe a good meal at the restaurant car would help, but it seemed to make the kids even more energetic than before. Two more hours to go. Thank goodness they didn’t have to travel to Dublith all the way from Resembool…

As the large buildings of Dublith finally started to show, both Al and Mei sighed of relief. At least when they’d make it to the Curtis household they could trust the kids to behave well because they seemed to respect Izumi in a way that neither them or Ed and Winry could never reach. Besides, Sig had a habit of sneaking an extra piece of the kids’ favorite sausage on the sandwich when they were acting nice (as long as they wouldn’t tell Izumi), and it seemed bribery worked pretty well on Emma and Alan too.

Once the kids had gotten their stomachs full (Al and Mei wondered how they could fit all those sandwiches there after the proper meal on the train), they went to take a nap, giving Al and Mei a good opportunity to go outside to see all the familiar places where Al had wandered as a child. Devil’s Nest seemed to be empty at that moment, and Al felt chills in his core as he remembered some not so happy memories from that place. Sensing what he was feeling, Mei squeezed his hand to pull him back from his thoughts, and he smiled at her gratefully.

Continuing their walk, Al noticed that Xiao-Mei who was sitting on Mei’s shoulder seemed to get irritated by something she saw. Her ears went flat and she emited small hissing sounds. The reason for the panda’s reaction became clear soon; Al heard a tiny “meow” behind a box someone had left on the sidewalk. The small furball peeked at them nervously, probably wanting to run away but not knowing to which direction it should go.

“Mei? Could you… make sure Xiao-Mei doesn’t run anywhere? I’m gonna… try to talk to this little pal.”

Mei wanted to protest but put the tiny panda into her bag and saw Al starting to approach the cat. He walked really slowly, not wanting to scare it away, talking to it in a calm and quiet voice. Somehow, he managed to gain the kitten’s trust and soon it was sitting on his hand while he was petting it with the other one.

“Alphonse?” Mei asked carefully. “You do know that someone might be looking for that cat, missing it dearly?”

“But look at it! It’s so small and alone, and it’s gonna be cold tonight. I can’t leave it here!”

“Fine,” Mei gave in. “But just for tonight. You will start looking for its owner tomorrow, will you not?”

“Sure thing, my princess. But just because she’s insisting,” he whispered to the kitten, lifting it close to his face so he could snuggle his cheek against the soft fur.

“Meow!”

…

Some time later, the couple returned to the Curtises to find Al’s nephew and niece already awake. Alan, who was already good at reading people’s emotions, sensed that Al was hiding something, and asked:

“Uncle Al? Why do you look so funny?”

“Yes, Alphonse-dear, do you have something you would like to share with the kids?” Mei asked slyly, and Al had to pull the kitten from his pocket.

“Kitty, kitty!” Emma yelled excitedly. From very early on she had showed interest in animals. The new dog at home had gotten more pats from her than anyone else in the household, but for some reason her parents didn’t let her get a cat.

“Shhh, Emma, please don’t be so loud… If Izumi hears…” Al said, clearly very nervous about his old teacher’s possible reaction.

“If she hears what?” Sig asked, entering the room at a critical moment. Al felt like a school kid again when he tried to push the tiny cat into his pocket, but not before Sig saw what he had in his hands.

“Alphonse, aren’t you a bit too old for that already? You know how Izumi feels about cats. Especially after your brother managed to talk her into keeping that one when you lived here…”

“Did daddy have a cat?” Alan asked curiously when he understood they were talking about Edward.

“Well, he helped me get one when we were little…” Al answered, still looking a bit awkward.

“It was quite a funny story too. Do you kids want to hear it?” Sig asked, smiling at the memories.

“YES!” they shouted in unison.

“Fine. Once Edward and Alphonse found a kitten on our neighbor’s backyard and overheard the neighbor wanted to get rid of it. When she left the house for a moment later that day, the boys snuck the cat into their room even though they knew Izumi would be mad if she found out. Apparently she had had bad experiences with cats as a kid. The neighbor was of course very happy when she couldn’t find the cat anywhere, but my wife got suspicious when she heard they had disappeared. You just don’t keep secrets from her, especially if you’re living under her roof.”

“Anyway…” Sig cleared his throat. “Not much later, she found the boys hanging out in their closet instead of doing their homework, and… it was pretty scary, even for me. But Ed didn’t budge. He had seen how important the cat was to Al, and he wanted his little brother to have this one nice thing, even if it meant he’d get his, um, butt, kicked for it. So, when Izumi asked, why the boys had hidden a cat in their closet, Ed looked her straight into eyes with a very serious expression, and said: “All is one, one is all, that’s what you taught us. We are learning about the circle of life by making it eat the mice in the closet.””

Emma looked a little bit upset when she heard the cat ate other animals, so Sig continued quickly: “Anyway, Izumi just stared at him for a while, before bursting into the loudest laughter I had heard in a long while. Then she just shook her head and mumbled something about the nerve the boys had, but after that the cat was never talked about again. It got to stay in our garage until the boys left back to Resembool. After that we searched a new home for it.”

“Sig? Why are you telling them about the only soft moment I have ever had?” a woman’s voice suddenly said behind the group, and Sig’s ears turned bright red.

“No reason, honey!”

The kitten in Al’s pocket decided to start meowing in that moment, and Izumi rolled her eyes.

“Alphonse, have you still not stopped picking random cats from the streets? Who knows what illnesses they might carry…”

“But teacher… I mean Mrs. Curtis… It’s so small, and it’s gonna be a cold night…” Al stuttered. Mei wondered what exactly had happened during the brothers’ apprenticeship that made an adult man so nervous. He hadn’t been that nervous in front of her father, the previous Emperor of Xing, when she had introduced Al to him.

Everyone was surprised when the little Alan stepped in: “Granma Izumi, it’s not…” he struggled with the words a bit, “… eqi… equivalent exchange if we get to sleep in our warm beds but the cat has to sleep on a cold street!”

It was the first time anyone had ever called Izumi a grandma (the kids had called her that at home but never in front of Izumi herself), and that alone was enough to soften her heart. But she also realized how much the boy reminded her of his father, using alchemy phrases and all, and couldn’t help but smile a bit when she answered:

“You know what, Alan? I guess you’re right. He may stay here tonight. Just tonight, though. Tomorrow you will try to find his home, right?”

“Alright,” Alan agreed, and Izumi patted him on his head.

Watching the kids (and Al) having fun with the kitten later that day, Izumi felt the weird kind of happiness in her chest that she didn’t remember feeling after the boys had left Dublith. Finally, she managed to name the feeling; she was grateful and proud that Ed and Al had managed to go so far in their lives; Alphonse was back in his body, living with a girl he would soon marry, still loving kitties as much as he always had. And Edward’s two children were happy and healthy (and dare she say, quite nosy already), and if they were anything like their parents, they would do well in this world. And that was all she could hope for.

[vodkabite]

Our Little Secret - preview pt.2

It took a bit of work to actually summon up the drive needed to push this inexplicable attraction to the alpha towards the farthest region of her mind. In the hopes, now that they would forever be linked through the stepmother-stepdaughter role, that it would disappear and never return. Enabling the start of something new and safe. Because what semblance of a normal life could be lived if she still harbored these secret feelings. How every time she would coincidentally walk into a room at the same time as Nicole, a spark of heat would begin to fester beneath the surface of her skin like a flame being snuffed out, only to fight back with its last dying breath and grow hotter.

Nicole was going to be a difficult household presence. Better to just stay away from her, Waverly mistakenly and naively thought as she stood at the front door of the homestead with Wynonna and Willa in tow. A homecoming of sorts to welcome their mother and Nicole back from their honeymoon. Shaking her head, the brunette would bitterly laugh later on at how blind she was to her own denial. Nicole and Michelle walking through the door and as her mother hugs her tight (always missing the baby of the family most of all) she rests her chin on the older woman’s shoulder and stares at Nicole. The skin of her hands, her chest on full view with that wide-open button-up, even the soles of her feet the weather still warm enough to permit the use of sandals, are pristine and impeccable. As if they had never touched a rough surface in the entirety of her existence.

And then when Michelle lets go, eager to bring all of their bags to the living room, she is left standing there—those eyes, those bright honey-golden eyes, fall upon her with a kind gaze. And an even kinder smile. Before returning to Wynonna’s endless, nonchalant, I’m so casual blabbing of bringing Nicole up to speed with everything that has happened in her absence.

Waverly shoots her a wicked glance. The alpha is beyond exhausted and could use some rest but remains standing in the entryway just to listen and let Wynonna talk her ear off.

From there life continues on this fascinating slow and awkward crawl.

Three weeks later, the entire Earp household is getting used to Nicole’s presence. No longer having to be surprised or even politely say hello when she rings the doorbell and is let in.

She has her own key, her own closet, her own dresser—not only is Nicole another living heartbeat, but she brought in another of her own in the shape of a large, orange, furry and moody little beast by the name of Calamity Jane. True to her name, Calamity Jane, or “CJ” for short, is as much of a menace to their daily life as an irritable Wynonna is during an incoming rut.

And just like Wynonna, the best way to combat the unbearable temperamental behavior in an effort to save oneself’s sanity and peace of mind, Calamity Jane is easily won with food and affection.

Like now, the homestead is overrun with usual early morning hustle and bustle, the Earp girls are busy getting ready for school—technically, Wynonna is having slept late from staying up all night watching some new horror show with poorly done special effects—Michelle is still home surprisingly, making breakfast instead of sending the girls off with both breakfast and lunch money. Waiting for them to finish and be taken to school, Waverly sits on the living room couch sighing for the tenth time and looking at the clock on her phone for seventh, with Calamity Jane sprawled on the brunette’s lap, belly up and limbs spread while she scratches the soft white fur there.

CJ meows happily before suddenly shooting up and hopping off her lap. Waverly shrugs her shoulders, thinking nothing of it, probably the cat having gotten bored with her. That is until she spots the cat meowing for attention and walking around Nicole’s left leg in circles, rubbing herself against it. Said alpha, in complete exercise attire: blue and black Nike running shoes, matching running tights hanging low on her hips with the waistband dipping haphazardly low beneath the sculpted v-line, or Adonis belt. Neither the pair of dark running shorts and it’s drawstring do anything to hinder the alpha’s waist.

Running her eyes upwards, cheeks inflamed and red much like the oversized strawberries Curtis grows in his backyard, Nicole (a bonafide exhibitionist and no one will convince the omega otherwise) is on the phone with Officer Dolls while doing a few stretches twisting this way and that, her bare stomach following suit tightening and defining itself clearly with sculpted lines only a master artist would dream of replicating onto a blank canvas. Sweat crowns Waverly’s forehead with thick droplets and she quickly wipes it away with the sleeve of her sweater.

She feels faint, scratching at the inside of her wrist with enough ferocity itching away the tips of her fingertips to start a wildfire, Waverly taps her foot impatiently against the floor and goes as far as to get up and steps around Nicole to basically yell for her sisters to hurry up. Not wanting to embarrass herself in front of Nicole.

But no, the universe isn’t in her favor today because Wynonna is forced back up the stairs to look for her backpack with a piece of toast hanging from her mouth. Michelle then sends Willa up the stairs after her because there’s no way in hell Wynonna will able to find it underneath the mess mountain that is her room on her own. The two start to bickering and Michelle is yelling for them to stop just as Nicole hangs up. Turning to Waverly who hadn’t stepped out of her line of sight.

“Morning Waves.” Nicole greets with a blindingly white smile.

“M-Morning.”

She mentally kicks herself for that slight stutter and just as she rears her proverbial foot back for another, just for good measure, Nicole raises her arms above her head and stretches them until there is a satisfying crack. The omega’s mind reeling as she follows the movement and is inexplicably given an eyeful of the alpha’s sports bra covered breasts. The zippered front pulled a few centimeters down just to give a scintillating and incredibly tempting view. An inch or two lower and there will be more than enough for Waverly to faint and be driven into a coma.

She’s thirteen-years-old and is nearing death far faster being in the presence of a half-dressed Nicole Haught.

Only to be saved when Wynonna comes barreling down and makes a beeline for Nicole, eyes wide and hopeful: “Hey Haught! Mind taking us to school in your Camaro?”

Nicole grins sadly, not wanting to dash the younger alpha’s hopes and Waverly bites down the selfish relieved sight when she hears sees Nicole shake her head. “I’m sorry, Wyn. I’m going for a run and then I have to head straight for work.”

“Oh, well okay.” Wynonna then does what she always does. Shrug her shoulders and pretend to not care, pretend to not show her disappointment, to not show that she had her hopes up. To not show emotion.

“That’s fine.”

Waverly’s bottom lips quivers and a wave of guilt washes over her like a brutal tidal wave reminding her of the part she played in silently hoping Nicole would say no. Rejecting her sister’s wish. The brunette wants to slip away to some deserted island until the older alpha pipes up with a sweet smile.

“Well, you’re fourteen now, right? How about when I come home from work, I teach you how to drive.”

“Seriously!?” Wynonna all but yells happily, before clearing her throat and deepening her voice. “Seriously?”

Nicole casually shrugs her shoulders, that wicked grin still on her face. “Absolutely. Unless you don’t want to.”

She’s teasing, and Wynonna falls for it instantly, face heating up before realizing and crossing her arms. Scoffing in that usual rebel tone. “Yeah. Sure. Whatever.”

Nicole responds with a quiet smirk before Willa comes up behind them, followed by Michelle ushering them all to leave quickly if they wanted to get to school before the first bell.

Perhaps Waverly was suddenly so out of breath because of some early onset congenital heart murmur ready to plague her for the rest of her life. Or, maybe it was because the equivalent of a violent fist slams into her stomach at the sight of Michelle kissing Nicole softly.

Affectionate and warm, two things missing in the older omega’s life that hadn’t been seen in years. Not even during the few lapses in judgement where Waverly was sure her parents would remarry. It’s different with Nicole, and there, she can feel her hands go slack. The semblance of whatever was to become of their friendship fades away.

This is Waverly Earp’s life.

Constantly being shaken by the tethers that keep her close to earth, forced to stay quiet and bite her tongue until the coppery metallic taste of her own blood stings her tastebuds; reminding her of the role she will forever play. Casted there by a cruel and unforgiven director content on seeing her wither away and suffer.

“Have a good day at school girls!” Nicole calls as they exit, stage right and out of sight.

[fuzzballsheltiepants]

Name Games

Inspired by this amazing post by @andrews-nothing.  Neil’s cat is sick, so he brings her to the vet.  A meet-sort-of-cute ensues.  Read on AO3 if you prefer. 

The waiting room was a cacophony of nonverbal vocalization, barks and plaintive meows and the insistent screaming of some sort of parrot.  Neil sat in the corner where he could see the whole room, working to keep his hands still in his lap.  People in scrubs bustled in and out, sometimes taking a pet, sometimes delivering one, or guiding a human-and-animal through the door that led to the exam rooms.  He had long given up on concentrating on his phone with all the noise and movement.

Only one other person was as still as he was, a short blond man with a blank face and sharp eyes that watched everything.  There was something about his body language that had shoved him immediately into the threat category, though Neil had not heard him say a word.  He didn’t even know why he was there; he had been there when Neil had appeared a half hour ago and handed King off in her carrier to one of the technicians along with answers to a long list of questions.  As far as he could tell, the man hadn’t moved once aside from an occasional blink and the slow rise and fall of his chest.

There was a brief burst of excitement in the form of the parrot in its cage being carried toward the treatment screaming “Help!  Help!  I’m innocent!” while its mortified family followed.  The blond man’s face didn’t change as he stared after them.

A bouncing golden retriever on a flexi-lead zoomed over to the blond man and dropped his bedraggled stuffed toy into his lap then waited, wagging excitedly.  The dog’s family began apologizing profusely and reeled the struggling dog in, scolding him.  As soon as they turned their backs the dog bounded back to his toy.  Neil watched through his eyelashes as the man glanced around, then handed the toy back with a quick ear rub before going back to his impassive facade.  The dog sighed and rested his drooly chin on the man’s knee, and Neil bit back his grin.

The door swung open and a dozen pairs of eyes looked towards it in unison as an irritated tall man in scrubs entered.  “Will the owner of, um,” he looked down at his empty hands as if he expected the information to be there, then back up at the expectant room, “the cat with the stupid name please come with me?  Your cat just mauled the doctor.”

Neil sighed and got to his feet.  King was usually a sweetheart, but she hated having her feet touched.  He probably should have warned them but he hadn’t thought about it.  It was with some surprise he realized the blond man had joined him in front of the vet assistant.  The assistant, Kevin according to his name tag, looked between them.  “Okay, come with me.”  

They were shown into an exam room and then Kevin the surly assistant left.  There was only one chair and the blond guy took it, which was fine.

“What’s your cat’s name?” Neil asked after several minutes of silence.

He didn’t expect to get an answer, not with the look of disdain he received, but after a long pause an unexpectedly pleasant voice answered, “Sir Fat Cat McCatterson.”

Neil laughed.  “Okay, I know why you think it’s your cat, then.”  He waited but got no response.  “Mine is King Fluffkins,” he offered.  It only seemed fair to share.

“I don’t care.”

“She was peeing blood in my sink.”  Nothing.  “I’ve only had her for a month.”  Still nothing.  Neil didn’t usually talk much to strangers; he didn’t know why he felt the urge to keep talking.  Maybe it was the secret kindness this man had shown the dog out in the waiting room.  Or maybe it was the way the hazel eyes stayed locked on his face, but not on his scars.  “My friend gave her to me, he said I shouldn’t be alone so much.  He named her, too.”  He smiled a little at the memory of Nicky appearing at his door with a screaming cat in a carrier and a mountain of supplies.

“I’ve lived with people for years and not learned this much about them.”

Neil’s retort was cut off by the entrance of a large snarling gray-and-white ball of fury being held by a heavy-glove-wearing Kevin.  The cat was deposited unceremoniously on the examining table and whirled, lightning quick, to swat out, claws snagging in Kevin’s gloves for a second before Kevin yanked free.  The cat hissed and Kevin drew himself up, looming over the table.  The two glared at each other, unblinking, until the door opened again.

A woman with short dark curly hair and fresh bandages on her arms entered, a strained smile on her face.  “Mr. Minyard?” she asked, looking between the two of them.  The blond man stood up and she held her hand out towards him, carefully out of reach of the enormous cat who had crouched down on the table and was emitting ominous growls.  “I’m Dr. Wilds.”  The man didn’t shake her hand but nodded again.  “Well, we got the piece of bone out of his mouth, he should be much more comfortable now.”  Another nod.  “He was fine while I removed the bone, but attacked me afterwards.  I guess he took exception to me touching his tail.  Is he current on his rabies vaccine?”

The man—Minyard—just said, “Yes,” with no apology or hint of guilt.  The assistant bristled at him but Dr. Wilds just went on.

“And he needs to go on a diet, he’s at risk for diabetes right now.  I’ve written down a feeding program for him to help.”

Minyard took the paper she was holding out and barely glanced at it.  The doctor continued to review some things that Minyard gave no indication he was listening to, and concluded with a small laugh, “and don’t feed him bones.”

Minyard gave another slight nod.  The vet gave a small, involuntary shrug and turned towards the door.  “Wait,” Neil said, “do you have an update on my cat?”

Confusion flickered across her face.  “You’re not with Mr. Minyard?”  Neil shook his head.  “Then why are you in here?”

“Your assistant said the cat with the stupid name,” Neil shrugged.  “Mine qualified.”

Dr. Wilds glared at Kevin who didn’t seem to care.  “What is your cat’s name?”

“King Fluffkins.”  

Kevin rolled his eyes and muttered, “Idiots” under his breath, earning himself another glare.

“Oh, yes, what a sweetheart.  I’m running a urine test on her right now, I should have the results soon.”  

The vet left with her assistant, and Sir Fat Cat McCatterson stopped growling like a switch had been shut off.   He gave Neil a suspicious glare but appeared to decide he wasn’t a threat, turning to face Minyard and rising up on his hind legs to bop his human on the chin with his head.  “You worthless piece of shit,” Minyard murmured, but his hand came up to stroke the cat’s cheeks gently, eliciting a frenzy of purring nearly as loud as the growling had been previously.

“He attacked the wrong person,” Neil said with a grin.  “He should’ve gone after the assistant instead of the vet.”

There was a glimmer in the man’s hazel eyes that might have been amusement.  He shifted to rubbing under the cat’s chin, and Sir Fat Cat closed his eyes in bliss.

Neil wasn’t sure why Minyard was still there, since his cat had been returned.  “What do we do now?”

“We wait.”  Neil’s confusion must have been evident, because Minyard gave a long-suffering sigh.  “I am not taking him out of here without his carrier, and presumably you want to learn why your cat is peeing in your sink.”

“Right.”  Neil started looking at the various posters that were on the walls about assorted different diseases.  The one behind his head was a Body Condition Chart, with silhouettes of cats ranging from a skeleton with skin at 1 to one that looked like a bowling ball with ears at 9.  Neil glanced back at Sir Fat Cat.  “I think he’s about an eight.”

Minyard glared at him.  “He used to be a nine.  I’ve had him on a diet since I got him.”

Dr. Wilds entered again.  Her forehead furrowed as she looked at Minyard.  “Is there something you need?”

“My carrier would be nice.”

“True.”  She stuck her head through the door and said something to someone in the hall, then turned to Neil.  “Well, Mr. Josten, it looks like King Fluffkins has a urinary tract infection.  I’m going to dispense ten days of antibiotics, she’ll need to take one pill a day, and I want you to put her on an all canned diet if she’ll eat it.  A high moisture diet makes them less likely to have bladder problems.”

“Oh.  Okay.”

“And we need to see her back in two weeks to check another urine sample, we need to make sure she clears the infection.”  She talked for a moment more, until a thumping sound against the door made her pause.  Kevin entered with two carriers and Dr. Wilds excused herself.  

King’s carrier was shoved into Neil’s arms and he turned it so she faced him.  “I’m sorry, baby,” he cooed at her, sticking his fingers through the door so she could rub on them.  “We’re going to make you better.”  

He looked up and saw the other two men staring at him.  “What?”

Kevin shook his head while Minyard plopped the carrier in front of his cat and opened the door.  Sir Fat Cat looked into the opening, then back at Minyard.  “You want to stay here with these assholes or go home and watch TV?”  Lashing his tail, Sir Fat Cat marched into the carrier and Minyard shut the door behind him.

Neil thanked Kevin, who responded with, “Why did you name her King?  She’s a tortoiseshell, she’s obviously female, she should be Queen Fluffkins.”

“Why do you think the cat subscribes to human gender constructs?” Neil asked, setting the carrier down and crossing his arms.

Kevin rolled his eyes.  “Whatever.”

“It’s a valid question,” Minyard said, a razor’s edge to his voice.  “Why should they conform to your notions of gender?”

“We don’t even know if King identifies as female,” Neil said.  “We may be insulting King by using the wrong pronoun and not even know it.”

“Not to mention, ‘queen’ is the generic term for a female cat.  Perhaps they would resent the idea of being named the cat equivalent of ‘bitch’.”  There was a small twitch at the corner of Minyard’s mouth as he finished that Neil would have sworn was a smile.

“Oh my god, forget I ever said anything,” Kevin said, gesturing the two of them out into the hall.  “Follow me, I’ll check you out.”  He tapped a few things into the computer and then frowned at the screen.  He looked up at them, then back at the screen and clicked the mouse.  “Uh…Okay.  Mr. Minyard.”  He read out his total and accepted the card he was handed.  After Minyard had signed, he picked up his carrier and turned to Neil with a sarcastic two-finger salute before disappearing through the door.

Kevin turned to Neil and gave him his total, still looking baffled.  “What?” Neil asked as he handed him his card.  

“You guys have separate accounts.”

“No shit,” Neil said; evidently it was his turn to be confused.  

Kevin took in his expression and shook his head.  “Never mind.”  

Neil signed and took his card back, snagged one of the business cards sitting next to the checkout and jotted something down on it, then gathered up his paperwork and his carrier and shoved his way outside.  The parking lot was full of cars but devoid of people, except for Minyard, who was standing next to Neil’s car smoking.  He stepped aside so Neil could put King in the passenger seat.  When Neil turned to go around to the driver’s side, he found himself blocked by Minyard’s back.  “Why are you still here?”

“I’m not going to expose the cat to second hand smoke he can’t get away from,” Minyard said over his shoulder, as if it was obvious.  Neil was sort of trapped, and he leaned against his car and waited.

“That was kind of fun,” he said after a minute.

Minyard ground out his cigarette and turned to face him.  “You need help if that’s your definition of fun.”

Neil shrugged.  “I don’t know, I kind of enjoyed ragging on that assistant.”

“Like I said.”

“Is that some sort of invitation?” Neil challenged.

Minyard stepped closer.  “No.”  He waited just a breath too long then got into his fancy car and started it.  Neil grinned at him, returning his two-fingered salute as he backed out of the space.  

Neil’s phone dinged as he pulled into his parking spot.  how tf did u get that card in my pocket

I’ve got skills

ur an idiot

what’s your name

andrew

Neil

thats what the card said

There were three dots indicated another text was coming.  Neil got out of his car and fished a mournful King out.  He had just reached the stairs when the next text came through.  wanna get a drink

I don’t really drink

a coffee then

Sure

A time and the address of a coffee shop followed; it was only a couple of blocks away.  Neil gave King her first pill with only a moderate amount of difficulty, then petted her until she was purring and kneading on his lap.  He smiled a little as he looked down at her, then around the apartment, sparse except for the cat tower, scratching posts, beds, and toys.  Maybe Nicky was right about the benefits of cat ownership after all.