The tiny kitten had refused to budge. Eventually, Adder had given up and simply run home. For all of the kitten's size, apparent age, and logical exhaustion, the feel of claws tangled in the thick, coarse fur at the back of his neck and just above his shoulders never faltered.



Y'know, he could respect a stubbornness like that. It was annoying as all get out, and the kitten smelled of a dozen things he really didn't want to think about but if he shifted and made the scents weaker then those claws would be deep in his skin and he'd be just as unable to reach, but the kitten had decided on something and refused everyone else's attempts to change her course.



Even if that course was riding him. With no end in sight. Maybe he'd have to bribe her. Not that he wanted to give up food, but he could steal someone else's food. That might get her off him. Cats liked being clean too, didn't they? But not being wet. Maybe he could bury her in towels. Would that help? He could at least pull out towels without shifting. Keep his skin intact.



All the short blocks home, Adder considered and plotted.  The kitten purred from time to time, and squirmed a bit, but never let go and never  slipped.  And he couldn't turn to actually see, so all he could do was listen and feel.

He slipped back in through the back of the property as the rising sun finally made it over the buildings and trees, and wove his way into the building.  His pace quickened as the sounds of awake people grew, and pushed into his room with the success of going unnoticed.  Well, without seeing anyone.  There were people here who apparently couldn't stop noticing absolutely everything.  He didn't envy them, not now.

Okay.  Kitten cleaning and stuff.  Adder headed into the bathroom, nosing the door open and then carefully rearing up to hook the pads of one forepaw around the handle of the cabinet that had towels.  Just the right pressure at the right angle, and it swung open.  He gently set his teeth into the entire stack of folded towels and tossed them onto the floor behind him.

Throughout the contortions, the kitten just dug in her claws and muttered something in cat.

Time to see how she liked this.  Adder picked up one of the towels again, just by the edge, and flicked it over his back like he was going to dry himself off.  It covered the kitten completely, from the sound of very surprised squeaking and hissing.

OW OW OW THOSE CLAWS WERE NOT IN HIS FUR ANYMORE

Ears flat against the his head and tail miserably low, Adder went for his current stash of food.  Would kitten like sausage enough to STOP MAULING HIM?

...

The kitten took the towel with her when she dove from his back with eerie accuracy, landing directly on top of the half-eaten preserved sausage.

Adder had been eavesdropping on classes. This made Cafas unreasonably happy. Excited even, for the wolf boy's future. He was showing an interest in education. What father friend wouldn't be excited about that? Well, plenty, but that was beside the point.

Well, if Adder wanted to take classes, Cafas could arrange that. With a bit more leverage he may already have arranged it, but what was he going to do? The kid didn't have anything to be taken away, and any attempts to reason with him had failed. He just didn't have the same priorities as the X-man, it made it tricky.

Now though, now he had demonstrated interest by himself. So Cafas was on his way to try one more time to talk Adder around to actually getting himself a schooling. He arrived to find Adder's door ajar. The Pinkermint haired mutant tried to knock, but he was a little firm, and accidentally swung the door open with his knocking.

There was a wolf. That much he had been ready for. The wolf had a kitten. A kitten eating a sausage, while half wrapped in a towel. Cafas was pretty sure sausage didn't classify as kitten food. Way too much sodium. He coughed awkwardly at the sudden, and accidental, breach of Adder's privacy. Honestly, it could have been worse.

"Hey uh... I wanted to talk about classes and stuff. When did you get a kitten?" He was an awful father friend for not knowing that Adder had a pet. Awful. It had better be recent. Otherwise he was going to feel worse.

Okay, kitten was eating his food, it was his food! and not attached to him. Adder therefore had the opportunity to shift and give his head a sensory break, and also maybe grab the kitten with the towel??? Except she was purring (and kind of angrily squeaking) as she ate, and he really wanted to laugh at her, except then she'd probably attack him.

Well, he should still shift. Because head. And also there was mud on his new pants and he needed to get it out so that they stayed new and -

Door. Noise. Adder turned as he shifted, and ended up looking up at Cafas from a sort of sprawled half-sit on the floor.

Cafas was saying something about classes and kitten. When? When did Cafas think? She was soaked in mud and starving! Did Cafas really think she'd get like that if she'd been here for a while? He huffed. Kitten paused eating, but had resumed by the time he glanced back.

... She was also making a total mess, with little bits of sausage flicked all around her. Was she being a klutz or picky? Why would she be picky?

"She kind of... climbed up my leg while I was out running," he said, dragging his attention back to Cafas. Cafas didn't need to know about the dogfighters he'd kicked. Although there might still be some nose-blood on his heel. He could smell a bit, but that didn't mean there was any visible. "And she bit me."

Actually, the backs of his hands were still bleeding a little bit, and his wrists. So that was probably what he smelled.

Okay so he hadn't missed it by too much. Adder was still bleeding from meeting the kitty for the first time. That was good. Not the bleeding, that he hadn't missed too much. He'd have felt awful to be that out of the loop with Adder's life. A life which had led him to be oddly splayed on the floor in muddy pants. Time for laundry it would seem.

"So, she just climbed up you, bit you, and you thought you'd take her in?" Honestly, it wasn't that far from how he'd met Calley. Calley hadn't bitten his hand though. Far less kind in bite placement.

"Okay well... That aside, there's probably too much salt in that sausage to be healthy for it. It needs proper cat food." Or milk. Was it weened? How should Cafas know? It looked like a kitten to him. He wasn't great with the aging process of cats. Calley's cat form hadn't seemed to age, so how could he be?

The kitten did need proper food. Shots too. Desexing. Oh it was going to be expensive. Adder was letting eat his food though.

Leverage.

It felt bad to use a living creature to convince his adopted son friend to go to school but he'd likely never get such a good opportunity again. He had to take it, if Adder refused to go of his own volition.

"And those pants probably need to go in the laundry."

"I couldn't get her off," Adder muttered. "I shifted so she couldn't bite me and she just climbed up more and sat on the back of my neck." He was pretty sure it wasn't just him thinking that kitten was now purring much louder.

Salt??? Too much??? Adder glanced back in the sausage. It didn't taste salty to him. And it didn't seem to be bothering kitten. And he'd get her water, so where was the issue? "How would 'cat' food be better? Sausages are good." And filling, and rarely mouldy, and even easily washed off if they got muddy or something. They were basically a super food.

And laundry? Really? He'd just got here, and Cafas was telling him to go do laundry? A faint grumbling growl grew at the back of his throat, rather offended, and kitten growled disturbingly agreeably. Maybe she just liked everything to be angry? That would honestly explain a lot.

"I just got in," he muttered, and then a bit louder: "and she needs it more." Not that he'd put her in a laundry machine. That would be very bad.

Cafas was never quite going to get used to Adder's combative nature. It was like dealing with... A teenager. Oh, well that certainly explained a lot. Hopefully he'd mellow out when he was older, for his own good, and everyone else's.

"Because cat food is made specifically to meet the dietary requirements of a cat." He spoke with all the confidence of a man that knew he was right. Clearly, salty sausage was no better for a cat than for a human. Potentially it was worse. Cat food, on the other hand, was very good for cats, because scientists had studied it. Yup, he was right, nothing more to it.

"And yes, she also needs a wash. Probably the cheapest thing she's going to need in the next short while." Was money really the path he wanted to take for leverage? No. Not really. It was probably one of the few he had though. Not that it could last forever. Cafas sighed internally. First he had to establish that Adder was actually keeping the kitten.

The X-man affixed a smile. He should be happy. He actually was happy. Just also a little stressed. "So, are you going to keep her? I mean, you're feeding her, so I guess you want to..."

Dietary... requirements?

Not a phrase Adder was familiar with, but he thought maybe... Diet was something rich people used when they were eating, but it seemed to be about limiting their food (which was rather silly, in his opinion). Requirements. Well, was Cafas talking about having to limit food?

He glanced at kitten. A lot of it was the muddy, wet fur, but she looked skinny and was very clearly hungry. Why would he want to limit food for her? Assuming she let him. She hadn't exactly indicated a lot of flexibility in will so far.

There was something more important, though. "If she eats it, then that just means I don't have to share." He did not like sharing, especially his food. This right now was a special case. This was bribery to get her off him.

Wait wait wait, cheapest? Adder's ears wavered a little bit. But she had shelter here, and the mansion provided him food, so what else..?

Also, why was Cafas asking about 'keeping' her? "Pretty sure she'd just attach herself to me again if I tried to get her to go back where I found her," he muttered. "Why can't she stay here?" There were other animals-that-weren't-shifters around. Some he only smelled, but he saw plenty. Not-cop-face-shifter had that giant annoying dog. Salt softy had a bunch of tiny fish. He'd smelled mice quite a few times, so kitten could even be more useful than any of them.

Plus more useful than most of the bratty kids here.

Good, cat food was established. Cafas was almost worried when he'd argued. The poor cat really did need proper food. Cafas would go look into that, actually. Needed to get her something actually good for her, not just marketed as such. Adder continued, but drove Cafas' mental note out of his head with confusion. Apparently Adder and the English language weren't fast friends.

"She... Can. I was just asking if you wanted to keep her. I'm pretty sure you do though." Something about the way he jumped to the defence of her right to do so was the final confirmation for Cafas. It was an interesting development, and one he wasn't entirely sure Adder was prepared for.

"So, it looks like you're going to need to learn how to look after a kitten," He started casually. "Don't think there're anything specific we offer, but it probably wouldn't hurt to do some biology. You'll need some math, english, and a grounding in general science to do that." Cafas offered a finger for the kitten to sniff before he pet it. "Probably wouldn't hurt if you learned to cook to. Preserved sausage is really no healthier for you than for the kitten." The kitten he was casually detaching from his hand. A pinch on the neck scruff and light tug did the job.

"Feisty. Training her not to do that would be a good idea too. It's cute now, not when she's older. Looks like you're gonna need quite the education if you're going to keep her happy and healthy." The X-man examined the bleeding scratches, and teeth indents, the kitten had left on his fingers. "Gotta take her for shots, speaking of healthy, and to be spayed."

Cafas smiled warmly at Adder. He knew only about half of that had made any sense to him. The X-man was not above using his greater mastery of language to trick Adder into agreeing to going to school.

There was that want again. Thinking about that was best left for later, though. Sometime when he was alone and could think it through, if that was what he ended up doing with it, and there wasn't anyone to watch him and interrupt him and make him guard his expression against them.

Wait wait wait wait WAIT

Adder's ears slid farther and farther back as Cafas rambled off thing after thing after thing. Not angry-back, but definitely... very, very overwhelmed. Kitten biting Cafas too helped a tiny bit, but then Cafas just... took her off, with basically no repercussions. Adder had tried doing just that and she'd mauled him even more!

Clearly Cafas knew what he was talking about with kittens. Adder didn't want to admit that it was almost certainly superior to his plan, but on the other hand, giving in to this meant that he wouldn't have to share his food with her. So there was that.

Adder did his best to consider. He couldn't really consider the specifics of what Cafas was offering, since he wasn't sure what it was, but he could consider whether or not to trust Cafas' experience, knowledge, and opinions. So. Cafas had gotten him out of a fight. Given him food. Got him set up here, all without anything weird or dangerous. He'd given him stuff to do, and their Danger Room training, name notwithstanding, was honestly pretty interesting, and made him feel better. He'd bought him new clothes, including the awesome fuzzy sweater that was tucked safely away because he'd been out running and he only wore the sweater when he was sure it would stay clean because apparently it shouldn't be cleaned too much or something; Adder didn't remember the exact wording. And the phone he still couldn't really figure out, but had yet to admit to Cafas.

In all of that, the only negative that stood out was Cafas' lingering expectation (and intimidation) of stupid shoes. One negative, and even on that Cafas had eased up, and wasn't trying to make him wear them much, just have them. And hadn't even pushed that part yet.

"Okay."

Okay...

That was easy. Too easy. Cafas was prepared for an argument about it. He was going to be all cheery and reasonable. He was going to logic Adder into going to classes. Instead... Okay.

"Okay." His smile grew an inch. He'd done it! He'd totally dadded! Adder was going to go to class, and everything was going to be great, because he'd get an education and it would open up so many doors for him. This called for a college fun. Actually.. Maybe he'd give that a year. No, no, college fun, but he'd self manage it and then just change it to trust fund if he didn't want to do college. Yeah, that made sense.

"Well, we'll get you enrolled in that after little miss takes a bath. Don't need a wolf nose to smell that." If the dirty fur hadn't tipped him off that she was a stray, that smell would have. Where on earth had Adder picked her up? Oh well, he was attached to her now, and it meant he'd go to school. Cafas supposed he'd just live wit the fact Adder had done with the cat what Cafas had done with Adder. Hopefully he could have similar success with the kitten.

Wait, did I say Dadded?

"Come on miss. Let's get you cleaned up." The X-man used his already scratched hand as bait. It took a couple more gouges, but he got hold of the kitten's scruff to pick her up. Once she was detached, he put the bleeding hand under her butt to support her weight. The scruff was fine, but it had to hurt.

Well, Cafas certainly seemed... happy. And relieved. About what? Had he been expecting Adder to be illogical and ragey or something?

Harrumph.

"It's worse with a wolf nose," he did admit, rather dismally. At least the kitten was out of reach if she decided she didn't like his tone - hey! She was going to get cat food, she didn't need to scarf down his sausages so fast! She'd already made a big enough dent in that one, and now she was starting on another?

Adder fumed quietly until Cafas magicked her into the air, and then absently scratched at his own starting-to-scab-over scratches. Like thorn-scratches. Everywhere and itchy.

"You know a lot about cats," he said, somewhere between hesitantly, casually, and curiously, as he followed Cafas. From behind the metal manipulator, he flashed a grin at kitten that was only slightly evil. She was going to get clean whether she liked it or not, and she could just try to convince Cafas otherwise!

Cafas pushed the bathroom door open. The kitten protested, but couldn't find purchase to scratch him. She appeared to be having some trouble overcoming her natural inclination to be compliant. Only some though. He could feel Adder in tow, less actual senses, more just an instinctual idea that he was being followed.

Too much time watching my back...

"You date someone that spends more time as a cat than a person, you learn a thing or two." The pinkermint haired x-man shrugged far more casually than he would have felt possible. Calley had been something of a sore topic for ages. He supposed their visit had at least done him some good. He knew Calley didn't just hate him, that helped. "He was catish even in his humanish form. HE never really went fully human, always kept the ears and tail. So yeah, I have some experience with cats."

Cafas motioned to the sink with his head. "Throw a plug in the basin and run some warm water into it. Not hot, just warm." Cafas stood back with the angry kitten that seemed far to aware what was about to happen to her. So far, Cafas didn't think she was impressed by the prospect. Well, it was a good thing he wouldn't be giving her a choice. She could scratch and bite all she liked, Cafas was so used to pain it barely registered.

Need a towel too.

Angry angry kitten. This was going to be good.

Cafas had dated a shifter? A cat shifter, no less. That would explain why he hadn't ever batted an eye at Adder's handful of unplanned shifts in his presence. Since he'd never intentionally shifted in front of him, other than shifting back to human since he dealt with Cafas as human. Salt softy got wolf, but sometimes human now if he wanted to talk. She wasn't scared of him after all!

"Having a tail as a human must get annoying," Adder mused, trying to imagine it. Especially with how most people sat. Maybe this cat-ex crouched like he did, though. That would solve that problem. Pants would be a problem, though. How could he keep pants on without squishing his tail?

Oh right, Cafas' hands were full of angry!kitten! Adder slipped forward to grab the rubbery plug that smelled faintly of chemical and slime but felt dry, and crammed it into the hole at the bottom of the sink. As for water, well, he had proven a little too well that blue was cold and black was hot. Hm. Maybe it wasn't actually black. Colourblindness, right? Hm. What colour could it be? Probably red, if it wasn't black.

Once the water was running and Adder, at least, was satisfied with the temperature (a little bit shy of bare-skin-scalding), the wolf shifter stepped back and crouched to dry his hands on one of the towels still half piled, half scattered on the floor. Heh, he could still see some of the dents from his teeth in that one.

"Never seemed to bother him much." Cafas waited for the basin to start filling up. The amount of steam coming out of it seemed excessive. He'd have to test it before putting the kitten in, that was for sure. Adder went to dry his hands, Cafas stepped forward and dipped and elbow into the stream. It was retracted pretty quickly.

"Ah, still too hot. Don't worry, I'll just..." The X-man shook his head and isolated the metal from the cold tap. He was glad he wasn't trying to do it blind, as the tap twisted and more pressure was put behind the stream. It would have to do. "So have you thought of a name for her?" Why was he so sure the kitten was female? Maybe Adder could recognise it somehow? Probably smell, he did have a much better sense of smell.

When the sink was satisfactorily full, he twisted both the taps again, conscious that the washer wouldn't put up enough force for him to notice it was at risk before it broke. He'd done that before, using his power to be lazy. He just hadn't noticed the extra effort it took to twist. The difference in energy levels just hadn't tipped him off. When he could have thrown the tap through several walls at supersonic speeds, there was just no appreciable difference.

Mansion maintenance must hate me...

"Hopefully, if you manage to housebreak her, you shouldn't need to wash her again. She should take care of that herself. It can happen though, if she gets something in her fur. This is probably more the temperature you want." Cafas lowered the angry kitten to the water. She very much did not want to be in it. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't large enough to put up a fight. Still she hissed and mewed unhappily. Keeping hold of her scruff, Cafas stopped supporting her butt and used his free hand to gently wash her fur.

Cat-ex must have some trick. Or maybe it had something to do with cat tails being so wiggly. Kitten didn't have much of a tail, although with the mud he hadn't noticed if it were mostly missing or just smushed up. He didn't really care either way, as long as she wasn't hurt. And she was complaining about everything else, so she was probably okay.

Adder straightened up, half-folded towel sort of fluffed in his arms, and used it as a cushion to lean against the far edge of the counter. He wasn't even balanced to bolt without warning, for once.

"Name?" Adder tilted his head a little bit at that, ears and eyes flicking between kitten and Cafas. Why would he have a name for her? Wait, think-of. Correction: why would he make up a name for her? Also. "I don't need a name to make her different. She smells like her. And mud. And angry." Lots of angry, more angry than mud even. So much angry.

The tap turned but no one had touched it. Adder glanced at Cafas again, black-lined eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Also metal manipulation, yes, but not quite what Cafas had shown before. A good thing to remember, that fine control.

And immunity to kitten-anger. Adder stifled a tiny, not-even-snarky laugh. And then hesitated, because he couldn't remember doing much of that. And also he had managed to automatically cover it in towel.

Aaaaaaanyways... "She probably got herself all gross just to harass someone." She was trying to twist around to bite Cafas' other hand. He huffed at her, and she hissed at him.

And the cleaner she got, the stronger the angry-smell seemed.

"I don't think she does not-angry."