Employee of the Multiverse and His Darling Cat

6| Log 002 Pt. 1

//Log #002

Dear reader, I have met someone strange. This person is completely baffling and contradictory to the point where my mind is consumed with thoughts of piecing them together. No, I'm not talking about my shoddy supervisor, though I do have gripes with him in all this. Let me back up and start from the inciting incident.

Actually, I should start two weeks ago when I stumbled upon a stray cat. It was after work that I found her meowing loudly on the corner of the cross street of my apartment. I failed to mention before that since getting a position in Records, I used my larger income to rent an apartment of my own. Anyway, though this spotted shorthair looked nothing like fluffy white Darla, she immediately captured my heart.

It was clear she was a stray because she had no collar or tags and was quite malnourished. I suspect she at one point in the past had a home because when I bent down and clicked my tongue to coax her over, she immediately approached and rubbed her soft cheek against my knee. The moment I reached out to rub her head, she flipped onto her stomach and mewed, as if begging me to see how starving she was and fill her tummy. When I scooped her up from the street, I could feel her warm body vibrate with contented purrs; she was starved for human contact.

Sweety now lives like a pampered princess as Darla's long-distance little sister. Wait, I should say my Sweetie lived like a pampered princess.

We were on our regular walk yesterday afternoon, admiring the park and sunny Spring weather. Sweetie has a cute little plaid hooded harness with plush white angel wings attached that came as a set with a matching human-sized hoodie. I'm too old to be wearing clothes with angel wings sticking out, so I ripped those off. Still, our matching prints are thoroughly satisfying and make our walks that much more enjoyable. We were strolling along the park path when her predator instincts honed in on a helpless dandelion bobbing in the breeze. I allowed her to stop and play as I took out my phone to film the adorable encounter.

My focus was fully on Sweetie so I did not notice the person marching up to me until they were tarnishing the picture-perfect scene before my lens. My eyes moved from the slip-on sneakers and dark straight-legged jeans Sweetie was rubbing against on the screen directly to the actual person's petal-shaped eyes. First distracted by the left iris where the brown halfway down turned to green, I was delayed in noticing the person's clenched teeth until they were speaking through them.

"Is that your cat?" The fierce gaze, the gnashing lips, and the tense shoulders captured a fury too intense for me to feel anything but curious, considering the context.

I resisted the urge to point to our obvious matching outfits or the leash in my hand and simply replied, "Yes."

Their shoulders rose higher and eyes narrowed. "Oh really? Where did you find her?" With the question, their chin jutted out as if the words were a challenge.

I took in their visage again, head to toe. Their clothing was made of quality fabric and stitching, not exactly designer but definitely name-brand. Their slightly oversized t-shirt was tucked into the front of their jeans, giving a youthful but neat impression. Their height was only a bit shorter than mine, making them also relatively tall in this world. And the physique was slim, though I could make out muscle definition in their forearm as they clenched their fist.

My assessment was quick so they didn't wait long for me to answer, "Outside an apartment building."

The person scoffed as they turned their head away before shooting me an even fiercer look, the knuckles of the fists on their hips turning white. "Out— Y-You...." Seeming at a loss for words as boiling blood rushed to their face, they could only throw a pointed finger at mine and roar, "Shameless!"