Rodentia Adventures

CHAPTER 21: CLASH

Leslie Hanson had finished her morning routine, and headed off to work. As she stepped out through the front door, she said a quick goodbye to her pet lord of darkness, without even bothering to look to make certain that he was there. Despite the fact that she was was always an early riser, she was already running late. Still, she had considered taking a peek at her new tailless mouse which was still presently unnamed, but ultimately decided against it. Even putting her lack of time aside, the new pet was very strange. One naturally couldn't expect for random rodent off of the street to be immediately loving and affectionate, that wasn't the issue. There was just something unnerving about the way that it never stopped running, doing pull-ups against the roof of the cage, and hopping about on two feet, shadow boxing the empty air. It all felt very unmouselike, even if she didn't quite know enough about mice to confirm that theory. Clearly some Internet searching would be required to further understand the needs of her new pet. She wasn't too concerned, however, figuring that It must have just had a lot of pent up energy from being caged, safely assuming that it would calm down before too long. 

It wouldn't be a long walk to the law office where an infinite amount of paperwork awaited her, every piece of which she was assured was incredibly important, but far more often than not would simply end up filed away, never to be read by a single living soul, just like so many others over the years. It wasn't so bad, though. She spent the days fantasizing about covering the drab legal documents with glitter and star stickers, adding pictures with funny little captions. Not too funny, of course, as that would be distracting, just the sort of pleasant middle ground which might inspire a small grin, even if that smile doesn't quite reach the person's mouth. Still, you know that it's there. 

The woman's heels clacked against the sidewalk as she walked, and then nearly stumbled, as she barely prevented herself from tripping over the large grey cat which had stepped out in front of her feet. 

It tensed up, looking at her nervously with wide silver eyes. It didn't specifically fear humans, and knew that most of them were harmless. They were, however a wildcard, an extra variable best not dealt with, as if they did prove unpleasant, unlike most other creatures, fighting them wasn't really much of an option. 

The woman crouched down and spoke to the creature in a soothing voice. Fury could maybe understand one word of every five, it having been such a long time since he had been last spoken to with any regularity, but even though the words were largely unintelligible, they still felt comforting somehow. She extended a palm, which smelled very nice, and he stepped forward. It was pleasant being petted again, at least until she had petted the wrong spot. He winced at the touch of the large bump above his eye, the swelling having gone down considerably, but it still caused him a great deal of pain, both to touch and whether he tried to do anything foolish like looking anywhere but straight forward or moving his head even the smallest amount. 

She had recognized this immediately, looking closer at the injury, rubbing his other ear, and offering a soothing consolatory tone, to which he replied with a soft, contented meow. The human continued to speak, he listening, even if not really understanding, at least not until the magic word came up, the word that all cats were instinctively able to understand when spoken in any human language: Food. 

For the woman, work would have to wait. She had always had a soft spot for an animal in need, or in the case of Jerin, not so much in need, but rather just available. This scruffy, scarred and clearly injured creature, devoid of a collar and clearly unkempt, was both available and as much in need as any animal she had ever seen. Normally, the large feline would have freaked out over anyone attempting to pick him up, but there was something warm, soft and soothing about the human, and living in the car yards, this wasn't the sort of sensation that he had experienced particularly often. Warmth and softness were alien concepts to that cold and desolate place.