dǫçţǫŗ şɭęęƥ (shone) wrote in valloic, @ 2020-03-27 16:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: dan torrance |
Who: Dan & Cisco
What: Cisco gets himself a kitteh
When: Today?
Where: Animal shelter, mostly
Rating: PG for cute
Status: Complete
Cisco had been a little down since his powers went haywire. It wasn’t a fun feeling. It felt like a hangover but he hadn’t even had the fun part of being drunk. At least the sun didn’t hurt, in fact it was helping a bit. Initially he’d wanted to hide and be a bit of a hermit considering his mood but he’d texted Dan. Maybe coffee was the cure. He’d asked if Dan was free to go out for a bit, but what he hadn’t planned on was stopping at a shelter. One where they had cats in the window of a large room being played with by a trainer or handler of sorts. Yet there they were. Cisco found himself watching for a bit. It really was a good ploy, put the cats out on “display” let them all be cute while passers by could stop and window shop. It was a rescue home, the name proudly declared it to be so on the window. Several energetic cats were playing with a laser toy, others were sleeping in hammocks, some were play fighting. He couldn’t not stop and smile at them. “Look at that one.” There was a short haired coffee colored cat with black ears and black details on its face sleeping in a hammock by the window in a bit of sunlight. --- In Dan’s view, they could do both - coffee and cats. And some cafes offered those things at the same time, which was kind of amazing. It didn’t seem like it mixed well at first glance, because what if you got cat hair in a latte or something, but ultimately Dan supposed he could see the appeal. But no, this was just a regular shelter, where abandoned and surrendered cats and dogs awaited a good home. Obviously it was a nice place, that would do everything possible to make the animals comfortable, but it was still probably a high-stress environment and every animal saved was a big deal because they could go someplace where their true personalities came out. “Want to go in and say hi?” he asked, chin slinging toward the window where the brown cat sunning itself in a patch of Vitamin D clearly had the right idea. “No pressure. Just a greeting.” Though he did think Cisco could benefit from some companionship. For one thing, it would take his mind off his fluctuating abilities - for another, it would get him out of the lab on occasion so he didn’t work himself to death. --- Cisco wasn't aware of such places, coffee and cats to him was a odd concept. The engineer wasn't so good at living alone without his team around. He was a little lost. Sure he'd found a place with the DOA and had Star labs, but what even made it Star labs was the people he loved. Without it, it was just work. Not the warm place he was used to. Only memories lived there now. As Dan asked if he wanted to go in, Cisco gave him a slightly concerned look. "I've never owned my own pet. Not even a goldfish." What if he was a terrible pet owner or the cats didn't like him? He worried internally as he fidgeted with a button on his open button down black shirt. Underneath was some kind of galaxy theme long sleeve shirt. Cisco always had some kind of popculture type shirt on. "Maybe just for a minute." He was heso. He wanted his own cat, sure but he had no idea how to care for another creature. Hell, Dan saw his diet he barely fed himself properly. -- “Just for a minute,” Dan agreed, opening the door to let Cisco go in first. He had been here once before, when he and Allison took out a couple of dogs for an afternoon of walkies and hot dogs straight from the cart - so he knew how it worked; all they had to do was sign in and then go back to where the cats were housed. There were so many. Some out wandering, some in kennels with their little pillows to rest on. The cat Cisco was looking at was still by the window, purring and stretching and lazing about, as cats tended to do. They spent, what, like fifteen hours a day napping? Crazy. “Wonder what its name is,” he mused, wandering closer. --- Cisco had no clue, so he followed Dan’s lead. “I’ve never even had a goldfish, aren’t those like the usual starter pet set?” He asked as they approached the almost coffee colored cat. When it opened it’s eyes it had the brightest green eyes he’d ever seen. Some of the cats seemed skittish and hid from the humans, but the one the approached did no such thing. Its ears twitched as they spoke in reaction to the noise near by, but it didn’t run. It’s face had dark features and ears matched. There were some dark patches on its paws as well and Cisco held out a hand. The cat seemed interested and sniffed it before bumping it with it’s head for pets after a moment or two. The engineer stroked behind it’s ears and looked for a sign or something with a name. There was a collar. “The collar says Mocha.” He said as he leaned up on his toes to get a better look. Cisco was a little short. He had to lean up to look fully. He didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl though until a worker approached. “Oh! Are you interested in her? All our cats are rescues, she’s normally a little shy around new people but she seems to be interested in you!” Cisco glanced over at the girl who’d greeted them, and then with a little uncertainty back at Dan. He wasn’t always the greatest at social situations. He was a little awkward at best. --- Awkward was Dan’s middle name (or actually, it was Anthony, but anyway), but he could handle this. Cisco seemed to have potentially found his cat match, so now it was just a matter of seeing how things went if they interacted a little more. “Potentially interested,” he told the shelter volunteer - she seemed nice enough. Mocha (who was a female kitty, apparently) seemed nice too. “Can we get to know her a little better, if she’s up for playing?” he asked, though he mainly meant Cisco would play with the cat. Dan had enough cats. Three, count ‘em, three at the mortuary - he was sure that he needed to buy stock in kitty litter at this point. --- In the lab and doing lab related things? Cisco was comfortable. In the world? Not so much. He’d become more confident leading teams, but those were crisis circumstances. Not exactly navigating social cues to keep his friends alive. That was tactics and coordination. Both of which he had plenty of experience with. People outside the lab though, not so much. It showed in shops like this. “Well there are two that I thought of instantly when I saw you, but if you insist! There’s a quieter room.” She had clearly sized them both up already. Mocha was still fairly young looking but not a kitten. Honestly that worked well for Cisco, he didn’t have the time to train and be constantly available for a kitten. A cat with a more laid back attitude would suit him better. “Sure you don’t need two more?” He smirked at Dan as the worker helped them by lifting an annoyed looking Mocha out of her hammock to bring them to a playroom. “I’ll come back in a few minutes.” The volunteer announced, leaving them both with the cat and a room full of toys to choose from. Even just being around the cats it seemed had improved Cisco’s mood. He sank down to sit on the floor again and reached out a hand. The cat seemed reluctant at first, but then gave up and sat down in front of them both. She was clearly waiting for Cisco to make the first move and seemed pleased when he did and a hand reached out to her. Only then did she greet it with head bumps and interest. “She is pretty cute.” And was a short hair, so low maintenance in the fur department. --- “Two more? Are you trying to turn me into a lonely cat lady?” Dan laughed, settling on the floor as well - he dragged over a whole bucket of toys, and there was one of those mouse-on-a-stick ones; Azzie was particularly fond of that, plus laser light toys. “We just got another one - Mal’s her name, short for Maleficent. Sabrina ended up adopting the other black cat you saw.” She really did look like she’d suck out your soul, Mal did, but that was why she fit in perfectly at Spellman Mortuary. “You’ve got a fan, I think,” he observed, noting how Mocha seemed pretty comfortable with Cisco. And the cat was well past the bottle-feeding stages, and probably litterbox trained too. Most cats followed their instincts and knew how to use one anyway. “Just get yourself a good scratching post and you’ll be set.” --- Cisco hadn’t felt calm like this since he’d arrived really. He’d forgotten all about the Crisis temporarily. He was firmly distracted by petting Mocha. She was still pretty young, probably no more than three. Still quite alert and content to be pet like she was. “Mal could use a Diaval.” The pet bird’s name in the film, he was teasing of course. “Solidarity cat adoptions more like.” He mused, though he didn’t intend to actually force Dan into another cat. “I’m still not entirely sure what my hours are like at the lab. Cats can be alone for a while? Like a day? Just leave food and water out?” He raised an eyebrow as she seemed enticed by the things Dan was pulling out of the cat toy container. “I’m not sure what I’m doing with the lab at all actually.” He frowned. “I don’t know if I’m insane or not for opening it up to others.” It seemed like the right thing to do, share the resources, but he also knew himself. He knew there were certain aspects of it he’d have to heavily fortify against people entering. There were things he didn’t want people messing with in areas of that lab that worried him. Mocha had temporarily left him to bother Dan and show off her interest in the toys. Cisco watched her contently. There were days he felt like he was alone there, considering the team he was used to wasn’t there. He was basically just getting to know the Legends. He felt out of place more often than not. “I think you do too. I’m doomed, pretty sure I’m going home with her.” --- “More like she’s going home with you,” Dan smiled, flicking the magic stick so the toy mouse attached to it bopped through the air - which meant of course Mocha went at it with her tiny paws. “Cats are pretty independent though. They can be alone for awhile.” With proper food and water and litter box access, yes. Maybe Cisco could get one of those self-cleaning ones - or tweak it so that it ran even better. He seemed the type. An eyebrow lifted, at the mention of the lab. “Well, it’s your lab. You do what you feel is right. I don’t think you have to let everyone meander in whenever, in order to make great things in there.” If it was his lab, he probably wouldn’t have made it a public attraction, but that was just him. --- He watched Dan with Mocha and smiled in exasperated amusement. “ Guess I’ve got my first pet. Who needs goldfish?” Mocha’s ears perked at the word fish apparently and she looked over distractedly for a minute at the engineer who just laughed and held up his hands to show he had no fish. Seconds later she was back to being distracted by the mouse toy. There was no way he could leave her alone for too long, he wanted to spend time with her. “To tell the truth I’ve been feeling a bit uncomfortable since I made that announcement...I might just give those few recruiting tours and then close it off again to be a working lab.” He didn’t really want people just touching everything. “When Star Labs first opened, it was filled with workers. I thought I could do that again..but the whole thought has kept me up more often than not..” They’d been a skeleton crew for too long now maybe. “On some Earth’s it’s a museum. I don’t want that either.” His brows knit together in worry, he wasn’t cut out to be giving the world a tour. “I had this idea that it ought to reflect the original Star Labs.” Maybe it still could, but with less people. “I have no idea what I’m doing.” He was clearly stressed, but watching Mocha play with the toys seemed to sooth an oncoming panic attack before it could happen fully. --- No panic attacks. Dan was here to do any calming, if required, but he’d mostly let Mocha do her job - in fact, he scooped up the cat and placed her in Cisco’s lap again. “Well, think of it like this,” he started. “It’s a brand new life, a brand new universe - you don’t have to take into account what things were like before. Just do what feels right now.” If he tried to live the way he was before - well, no, he couldn’t even fathom that. He’d be addicted to drugs and alcohol or dead. Some things he was comfortable with remaining the same - Azzie, and his work with easing those who were about to cross the threshold between life and death, ensuring they went peacefully. But not everything. --- Cisco had to fight with every fiber of his being to not let said panic attack happen. Though when Mocha was placed back in his lap he was distracted enough to look down at her and his brain temporarily stopped threatening to spiral. He’d gone quiet for a minute, his hand reaching down to her while she moved up into the petting. The cat got comfortable in his lap, and Cisco looked down at her fondly, giving her neck a gentle rubbing. “Before I left home, I was supposed to inherit the lab. We just..never got a chance to properly go home. I’m not sure what I would have done with it there either.” It was all bit overwhelming. “I just want it to be useful to people..but maybe I can without letting people touch everything.” He was a bit particular about his lab, the idea of that many hands on things was enough to freak him out. A few minutes later just like promised the volunteer came back. “How did it go?” She asked curiously, and this time with a cat in his lap it was pretty obvious. The engineer glance over at Dan, and then up the woman. “I’d like to adopt her.” --- Letting people touch everything was definitely not a way to be useful - Dan didn’t know much, but he knew that. “It’s your lab, you’ve gotta look out for your own mental health too - not just other people’s,” he said, standing to lean against the wall and let Cisco have bonding time with the cat. Though it appeared that bonding time seemed to have solidified a connection. Dan smiled when he heard Cisco wanted to take Mocha home with him. “Congrats on cat parenthood,” he chuckled. “Guess we’re stopping at the pet supply store on the way back.” And he’d help carry bags. Because he was nice like that. --- He glanced over at his friend with a thoughtful look, but nodded. "That isn't the first time I've been told that. I'm just so used to looking out for my team I guess I sort of forgot about what I want. It's.. Not an open lab, I don't want that." Cisco had a hard time admitting what he needed, but he felt comfortable enough with Dan to speak openly for some reason. The guy had been his first friend there, maybe that had done it. He'd also never met anyone with similar powers. Sure there were others with portal control, other breachers as they were called on his Earth, but not so much the visions. The worker lit up. "She's been here for a while, it seems like so many people wanted kittens. She really is the sweetest cat and I'm sure will be a perfect match. She's already spayed and litter trained so let's fill out some paperwork." Cisco gave her a last stroke to the ears before the volunteer motioned for them to follow. He grinned at Dan. " Still think you could have used three more too. " he teased as he got up to follow the volunteer who also got a coworker to help prepare Mocha while they did paper work and adoption fees. --- “I think Sabrina would have something to say about three more cats,” Dan laughed, just imagining the look on her face if he came home with three cats, more litter boxes, and a partridge in a pear tree. “But hey, congrats again. I think this was definitely a good decision for you. And for Mocha.” He waited patiently while Cisco did the paperwork, and then Mocha was put into her carrier to be brought out into the world. She was going to love the apartment, and having lots of window sills to sun herself on, and other furniture to climb all over. “Well, shall we?” he asked, going to hold the door open. They might have to table the coffee idea for later, but that was okay. Shopping for cat supplies awaited, in order to make Mocha the most comfortable in her new furever home. |