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 Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:24 am
Guinevere had walked to Aodh and Niven's house today, partially because Kotatsu's old bike needed repairs, and partially because of something in the messenger bag over her shoulder.
Something squirmy.
Aodh and Niven had been really too kind to her, and she felt that the score was uneven. She hadn't done anything nice for Aodh besides talk to him, and she did that to plenty of people (though not everyone enjoyed it). So when she went to go return his cookbook, she had taken a moment to look for a gift, but found it was difficult to think of something to give someone she hardly knew. Her mother hadn't been a fan of horror novels, the most obvious gift, and the other things she could carry in a bag were all either things she needed or too personal to give away.
And then, for once in his overfed, pampered life, her cat had been useful, and given her the answer.
She knocked on Aodh's door. The bag squirmed while she did so.
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:33 am
Niven had recently taken an interest in the television. He would watch whatever was on, regardless of content or the target audience. They had just finished watching the morning news and had flipped over to one of the Harry Potter movies. It was the second or third, and Aodh could only appreciate it for the giant ******** monsters that were constantly trying to kill everyone. Niven seemed much more deeply involved. When the door rang, he didn't so much as flinch. Aodh just gave the boy a little pat on the head and went to answer the door.
Oh, good! Guin hadn't decided they were too strange for her liking and had actually returned to--well, he couldn't be sure why she was here beyond returning his cookbook. Maybe that was it. He eyed her squirming bag, decided he had seen much stranger in his time, and smiled to the girl.
"G'dafternoon!" he smiled, opening the door wider and motioning for Guin to enter, "C'min, c'min." Only now did Niven look up. He offered a little smile that disappeared again as soon as he turned back to the television.
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:05 am
Guinevere's face broke into a relieved smile as Aodh appeared at the doorway and didn't seem to mind her arriving unannounced. "Good day, Mr. Murray." she said amiably. She seemed to be in a much better state than she had been in the last time he saw her. More composed, more confident. Whatever had happened to her, she had gotten the closure she needed for it.
She let Aodh usher her in and waved to Niven as she saw him, but it was clear she wasn't about to wrest his attention away from the television. This made things harder. Her thank you gift had, admittedly, been mostly for Niven. She didn't think that Aodh would be quite as keen on it as a little boy would.
However, she stared at the television anyway. She had never had one as a kid, and they had always been unusual to her. This one was playing some movie, and after regarding it for a few moments, she managed to pull her gaze away before she got as absorbed as Niven. "Thank you!" she said abruptly to Aodh. "The reception went really well, I couldn't have done it without this book." She pulled it out of her bag and offered it to him, adding "I really feel like I owe you, so I brought a gift. I hope you don't mind, I'd be glad to take it back if you don't want it..."
The next thing she pulled out of her bag was a small black and white kitten.
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:11 am
"Mm, I'm just glad I could help," Aodh smiled, taking the book and letting it rest in his hand as his arm dangled at his side. He listened and watched, a little confused by it all until he saw the little wriggling furball. Hadn't Guin said something about having a cat? Had it had babies? It took him a moment to realize that this kitten was meant for him.
Niven had torn his eyes away from the screen at the sudden silence. It took him a moment to understand what was going on, and even then he couldn't be sure. He pushed off of the couch and approached Guin, eying the black fuzz in her hands.
Myaa!
Ohmygodthatwasakitten. The boy grinned and gently took the creature from the girl's hand, holding it to his chest and nuzzling its soft fur. Oh god oh god oh god it was a little kitty-cat. Aodh watched, brow furrowed. He'd never had a cat. He was pretty sure they liked eating birds, too, but just look at how happy his boy was. He couldn't say no!
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:20 am
"It was really helpful." she said, smiling broadly. "And everything's calming down now. I've got a job and all, so I think I'll be fine."
And it was true. Guinevere had been through three guardians in her life, and technically she could find another one, but she thought that it would just be easier to do it on her own this time. She thought she could probably handle it, just...
"Do you know how to do taxes, though?" she asked sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I never learned. I can ask someone else if it's a problem."
She was asking Aodh Murray how to do taxes. If someone told her she'd be doing this while she was reading his book a few months ago, she would have laughed at them and left.
As Niven came up and seized upon the kitten, she gave a little mental 'awww', because, like most girly girls, Guinevere found little children holding kittens adorable. And no matter how sensible she tried to act, Guinevere was most definitely a girly girl. "Do you like it?" she asked. "Pucci came in last night with a bunch of them and, well, I thought that Niven might like one."
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:32 am
"Of course I do--" Aodh began, but he was cut off by a happy chirp from his son.
"Yes!" Niven chimed. Aodh could only laugh. It really was a cute thing to see. A kitten couldn't be too much work, right? Feed them, clean their litter box, and all was well in the world. What could it hurt?
"Pucci?" he asked, turning back to Guin, "It's a boy cat?" Well, there went the thought of it having kittens under the front porch or something. He eyed the kitten again and tilted his head.
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:12 pm
"Well, he's a boy cat, but he brings around kittens every now and then to show off or something, I have no idea." Pucci was one of the few things in life that Guinevere didn't even bother to try to understand. He came and left and demanded food, and she didn't think much more about him than that.
"He's a bo- Oh, the kitten? It's a girl. What'll you name her?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:18 pm
A girl? Well, at least now the gender ratio in the house would be even, right? He looked down to Niven and poked him in the foot with a worn dress shoe. The boy looked up, eyes wide.
"Umm!" He had never named something before, and he knew that his father was no better. "Eun" sounded like a wonderfully elegant name for a bird until you were told it was indeed Scottish Gaelic for "bird". "PiscÃn" was "cat" in Gaelic as far as Niven knew, and he was not naming anything "pishkeen". What was a nice name for a kitten? Fluffy? Buttons? Boots? All much too cute for his liking. He looked down at the kitten, concentrating hard.
Myuuu~
"Myu"? Nah.
"I...I don't know," he said, looking up to Guin with an expression like worry on his face. Aodh snickered behind his hand. Such a big deal this was to the boy!
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:45 pm
Guinevere was just as bad at naming things as a child, only she suffered from overcreativity. She really didn't think that any of the names she had dreamed up for her future cat as a young age would really cut it for Niven, and she would not suggest he name it Ravenfur Moonblade even if he was her worst enemy.
"Well, what are some things that you like?" she asked helpfully. "Maybe name her after something you like?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:49 pm
Candy? Storm? Rain? Thunder? Those were all incredibly lame names for a cat, let alone an adorable mewling kitten. He pet the baby's head and sighed. Oh, think, think, think.
Angel? No, that was too cliched. He looked toward the TV. Voldemort? No, that was just silly. ...oh!
"Oh, I know!"
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:51 pm
Guinevere leaned in curiously for the big reveal. "What is it?" she asked. He had looked at the TV...
Surely he wasn't going to name the cat Television, though.
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:56 pm
"I'll name her Guin!" Niven chirped as if he'd just made the made the best discovery in the world, "Guin the Cat, so we won't get confused." He looked up to Guin the Person then, absolutely beaming. See, Guin the Person? He liked you. He wanted to name his kitty after you. After all, you'd given it to him.
Aodh just smirked and winked at Guin.
"Sounds like as good a name as any, to me."
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:27 am
Guiinevere blinked then laughed. "Thank you, Niven!" she managed, looking at Guin the Cat and offering it a hand. "Nice to meet you." she added.
"I've been told it's a pretty good name," she admitted to Aodh. "I hear that it's awfully hard to spell, though."
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:58 am
The cat looked down at the offered hand, and then back up at the girl it was attached to.
Myyyyyao!
Niven giggled, and Aodh just shrugged.
"Well, it's "gwin" and not "gwen", so I'm simply assuming g-u-i-n-e-v-e-r-e? Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but that doesn't seem hard to me."
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:24 pm
"Some people would have a hard time spelling their way out of a box these days," Guinevere replied offhandedly. She had seen the internet. She was not impressed.
She smiled down at the cat and picked it up. "Also! Um. I'd, um, suggest you keep her indoors unless you don't want, um, to be drowning in kittens. If she takes after her father." she said, looking embarrassed. Guinevere was prim and proper and cursed with the most virile cat in town. It was always a horrifying subject for her to bring up, but she thought that Aodh's bird would probably be uncomfortable if Guincat started making more.
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