SAVE ME FROM YESTERDAY

RASTRO 10

💙🌻

Rhian needed a drink. Or, more likely, she needed anything but a drink, because the last thing she wanted to think about as she walked into her apartment that night was Glaiza. Or Himawari's. Or bars. Or anything to do with any of it.

She'd pissed off her entire team by rescheduling Glaiza's interview. If this segment fell through, she could kiss season three goodbye. And she'd worked hard for this, dammit.

She loved Revival, and she was good at her job. It kept her busy, fulfilled the restlessness inside her, and allowed her to afford this apartment.

The day she moved in, she felt like she'd made it. She'd arrived. Now, sometimes, especially on nights like these, it felt empty. Maybe that was the problem.

She was craving human companionship tonight, the touch of another person. Usually, she preferred to be alone at the end of the day, but she had needs just like any other woman.

Unfortunately, her needs would have to wait, because there was a box of hungry kittens waiting for her. Heaving a sigh, she went into her bedroom to change, because wiping kitten butts in white pants seemed like a recipe for disaster.

She resisted the urge to go straight for her pajamas, though, because she wasn't entirely sure she was in for the night.
That empty, restless feeling lurking inside her would keep her up all night if she didn't attempt to tame it.

Maybe dinner alone at one of her favorite restaurants would do the trick. She put on a pair of jeans and headed for the kitchen.

She mixed formula and sat on the couch, lifting the gray-and-white kitten into her lap.

"Hamilton,"

she murmured as she positioned him for his bottle. She would never admit it to Glaiza, but it was nice to have names for them. Even she had grown weary of calling them by the color of their fur. And she liked their theater-inspired names.

Hamilton stared up at her through baby-blue eyes after he'd finished his bottle. His gray-striped head reminded her of the silly wigs men had worn back in his namesake's day, and it made her smile.

She took care of his bathroom needs and then rubbed him for a minute, enjoying the feel of his soft fur beneath her fingers. She held him up in front of her face.

"Don't tell anyone I said this, but you're pretty cute."

He meowed loudly, wriggling in her hands, so she put him back in the box. Hamilton crawled awkwardly across the blanket toward the stuffed animal that served as their substitute mother.

Glaiza was right, they were going to need a bigger box soon. What would Rhian do with them then?

She couldn't keep a fucking playpen in her office.

She reached for the next kitten, Pippin, since he happened to be awake. She fed and cleaned him and then did the same for Phantom. Blanche, as usual, was last, snoozing away as Rhian cared for her brothers.

"Time to wake up." Rhian said as she reached for the white kitten.

Blanche's meow was shrill as Rhian lifted her, paws flailing. She settled the kitten in her lap and offered her the bottle.

Blanche was still the smallest, but she was holding her own these days, guzzling hungrily from the bottle, paws kneading Rhian's fingers as she drank.

She didn't look so fragile anymore, blinking up at Rhian after she'd finished her meal. Now that her ears had lifted and her eyes opened, she looked much more like a tiny cat than the scrawny furball Rhian had pulled out of a trash can nine days ago.