fandomhighdorms | The Roof, Saturday Evening

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The Roof, Saturday Evening

Really, there were probably a hundred-odd other things that Jono could be doing right now to make better use of his time. He was going on that break trip, and so there was packing to be done, after all. But why pack, when procrastination was so much more appealing?

He could have brought his guitar up to the roof, but that had seemed a bit too much like effort for him this evening, too. Instead of effort, he'd made his way up to the roof with a book (Vonnegut) and a portable CD player (playing Pearl Jam), and he was taking advantage of the last few daylight hours to lose himself in a bit of both.

[Open roof, open post! I haven't been out nearly enough this week, poo.]

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Jono gave his head a little shake. There were far worse things that could happen to his clothing than an affectionate kitten, after all. One of those things being himself, actually.

//She's not doing any real harm, I suppose. I just wasn't expecting her to come right up t'me like that.//

Little shrug. Not much of one, as it had become imperative that he start scratching Yei gently behind the ears. Awww, kitten.

Awww, kitten! Kitten who was going to be in dire threat of falling over if she didn't quit paying so little attention to her footing and so much attention to her purring and his hand. Snuggles! He was a good person! Could she keep him?

"She's not--shy," Hinata said, and in a way it was a bit embarrassing that her kitten was so much braver. "The world, in her mind, revolves around her and... it is a friendly world."

She wished she could visit it.

Really, so did he.

//I suppose when everybody she meets ends up showering her with affection, that's the way th'world would appear,// Jono noted, cupping his other hand around Yei's other side in order to help hold her up. Silly cat. //I can't imagine she's ever had any reason to think otherwise, really.//

She was too cute to kick, after all.

Too cute to kick and anyone who dared to try would be facing a very, very angry Hinata. Who was mild until severely provoked and then reacted much like an avalanche.

"If I have a say," she said, smiling because she did, in this. "Then her world will stay as it is. She is certainly in no hurry to grow up."

Two years a kitten. Hinata didn't need to know animals well to be aware that that was unusual.

Yei? Puuuurring. Life was fabulous.

//No? How long have you had her?// Jono regarded the warm fuzzy thing with a hint of curiosity, now. Far be it for him to want to hurry a kitten into becoming a cat either, really. Especially one as tiny and snuggly and... And...

Well, the purring was kind of endearing. At this rate, he'd end up asking if he could kitten-sit for Hinata sometime in the future. Maybe arrange playdates.

Affection like this wasn't really something that he got much of.

"Two years and counting," she said, taking a seat on the roof edge and keeping an eye on the two of them. "Wh-Which I understand is quite unusual."

He could absolutely kitten-sit! Or playdates! Though Hinata might pause for a bit before asking if he had an animal as well...

//I wouldn't know,// Jono mused. //I've never really kept a pet.//

He'd never really had the chance to settle in any one place long enough for it to be fair to the animal, unfortunately.

//Are they terribly difficult to take care of...?//

... Affection aside.

"Not really," she said, trying to decide how much of that was simply having the practice and how much of that was truth. "I don't think, so... their litter needs to be changed frequently, they need to be fed and their water changed. A vet, to make certain they're healthy..."

She shrugged a small bit.

"Mostly affection and care. They will let you know, in their own way, what is needed."

Like Yei. Who was going to mew at him. Surely he could pick her up?

The vet thing... that would be problematic, back home.

... Not that Jono was contemplating a kitten. That would be absurd.

//They're fairly communicative little things, then,// he noted, blinking down at Yei for a moment before shrugging and giving in to her mewly demands. Bossy little critter she was, wasn't she? //I suppose that makes it easier, to some degree.//

And now he was going to cuddle her up against his shoulder. That seemed like the safest way to go about it, really.

"Yes," she said, smiling as Yei purred like only a kitten could purr and went into puddle-of-kitten mode where bones seemed to be optional.

Hinata hesitated. "Are you... thinking of one?"

Perhaps? Maybe?

Yei was just going to purr.

The purring was kind of making it difficult for Jono to reason his way out of one. There was logic to be put to use here! Responsibility!

... Kitten fur was kind of tickly. Especially against what little bit of cheek he had left. Bugger.

//I'm trying not to think of one,// he admitted after a moment. //It would be easy enough to take care of one while I'm here, but after graduation, things would get a little harder.//

She nodded thoughtfully. It was... pretty obvious what he was referring to, in some ways.

"I don't suppose," she said carefully, "that simply taking your cat to a vet here would be feasible after graduation? Most alumni visit..."

//Here...?// Oh, Hinata. You were making his iron resolve melt away into malleable kitten-soluble goo. //I suppose... that could be an option, yes.//

There was purring in his ear. That was not helping matters any.

"If they're healthy," she continued, smiling slightly. "They need only a check up every now and then. It is not much of a hassle."

Not for someone that loved and purred and snuggled with you.

//But they don't stay healthy forever,// Jono noted. Because here had come that part of the evening where he found himself grasping at straws.

He could write an essay. 'Reasons I am not allowed to get a cat.'

Mostly it would veer off-course into things like his own insecurity, and how he was meant to always be alone, and... And...

He had to pet the kitty some more.

"Nothing lasts forever," she said, quietly. "But the price they ask is a small one for what they give us."

//I'd be worried,// he admitted. //Th'time an alumni gets on the island might not be enough.//

And there, right there, that was probably where it became abundantly clear that he was scrabbling about the bottom of the barrel for excuses not to get a cat.

//I mean, if something were to happen.//

Her eyes gentled.

"I am sure, for that, that no one would begrudge you extra time on the island."

//No,// Jono sighed, //I suppose they wouldn't.//

If he had a cat that was half as adorable as Yei, here, then it would take a soulless bastard to turn him away at the causeway.

Hinata cast her smile up towards the sky as Yei yawned happily.

"Then... why not?"

Okay, the yawning kitten? That was cheating. That was absolutely cheating.

//... I would break it. I don't even know how, and I know how bloody absurd it must sound, but I'd find a way without even meaning to.//

Yei was happy and warm and in true kitten fashion was all tuckered out from her grand adventure! Yawning was normal!

So was the fact that Jono was going to have a kitten sleeping on him in another minute or so. Sleeeeeeepy. Little sleepy purrs, even.

"I think," she said, not sure if it was her place to say anything. "Th-The fact that you think you would m-means that you care enough to work towards not doing so."

Jono watched Yei in silence for a moment, one finger still idly scratching behind the kitten's ear.

//My good intentions don't usually end with anybody being done any great favours,// he said, quietly. //But I suppose yer right. I would at least try.//

"They do not expect you to be perfect," she said, glancing at him. "Trying, and listening to them: that is what they want."

Perfection, after all, was impossible to obtain.

//That, and a shoulder to nap on, and a leg to sharpen their claws on,// Jono mused. //I suppose I come equipped with th'requisite body parts, at least.//

Wasn't that good to know?

"You do," she said, smiling slightly. "Though toys are advisable as well. Bells and catnip mice and a scratching post..."

//Well, naturally. I'd run out of trousers otherwise,// reasoned the mushy guy with the teeny kittyball on his shoulder. //... If I ever wound up with a cat, I mean.//

Which he wouldn't. Because that would be irresponsible.

Don't laugh at him Hinata. Don't laugh.

"Of course," she said, keeping a straight face. "Not having a cat would make such consideration moot."

//Not to mention the odd looks I'd get from people, keeping a litter pan in my room,// he noted.

Because Jono thought of these things, apparently.

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The Roof, Saturday Evening

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