AHS Imagines

13: Animals (Misty Day)

A/N: This one was requested by @Rawrz44 and I based it off a Tumblr dialogue prompt

Reader comes home to an unusual surprise from Misty involving a lot of animals

The drive home after work was completely boring, my brain wasn't even paying attention to the road because I'd driven this way hundreds of times by now. It was like switching to autopilot and only reacting to red lights or cars stopping in front of me. My brain seemed to wake back up to surroundings once I was parked outside the house. 

It was relaxing to be out here in a more secluded area, and Misty was to thank for that. There were lush, green trees and not uncommonly different kinds of wildlife all around the house. It was pleasant to wake up on a quiet morning then look out the window at a graceful deer or a chirping bird. Misty seemed to have a way with the animals; she could always just walk right up to them calmly without striking any fear in them. Sometimes she would try communicating with an animal like a Stevie Nicks-looking Disney princess, knowing if they needed anything or if they were injured. Misty would place bowls of fruits, water, and whatnot in front of them before leaving like she knew exactly what the animal wanted. It was definitely an impressive gift.

I went inside the house after grabbing all my things from the car and bringing them along with me. But as soon as I came inside, something out-of0the-ordinary caught my attention. In just the next room over, there stood the tall shape of a horse in between the couch and the coffee table. Out of surprise, I started pacing around the hallways trying to find Misty or see if the backdoor was left open.

"Misty? Are you here?" I said, raising my voice so she could hear me.

"Yeah? I'm in the kitchen!" Her soft voice replied from further in the house.

"Hey, did you see the hors-" My voice trailed off at passing the small half-bathroom and noticing yet another animal in there.

I cautiously pushed the door open, stepping back in case there was something more dangerous like a coyote hiding in the bathroom. Lucky for me, it was only a goat...a brown one with stubby little horns poking out of the top of its head. Now I really had to find Misty and see if she knew what was going on with all these animals in the house. 

It didn't take long for me to reach the kitchen and spot Misty, twirling around with her shawl as Rhiannon played on the radio. She was busy with making something but she smiled cheerfully at seeing me come into the room. Her stunning smile was hard not to reciprocate despite my confusion.

"Hey, how was your day?" Misty asked politely, looking up from whatever she was doing.

"F-fine." I said, trying to think of a way to present my question, "So, uh, have you seen the horse in the living room?" 

"Oh, yeah that's Blair." She clarified briefly, tucking some of her messy hair behind an ear.

"Why's the horse in the living room? And there's a goat in the bathroom."

"Well I couldn't leave the horse in the kitchen and the goat, Ivy, was being a little mean to Blair so I had to keep her in the bathroom." She explained.

It was hard to stifle the laugh I could feel coming along from how serious Misty spoke about the situation with the animals. I understood how much animals meant to her and that she could read them better than me, but it was funny how she dealt with it. Now Blair the horse and Ivy the goat were inside the house for some reason. 

"Okay, so where did they come from?" I questioned further.

"Old friend had to move to a new house today so I'm keepin' an eye on these guys for a few days while she settles in. They're hers." 

"Oh, I thought for a second that you decided to just buy them as pets out of the blue or maybe found them wandering out in the woods while I was out."

"Ha, they're too domestic for that." She explained, grabbing the bowl of various vegetable pieces with her and carrying it out to the bathroom with me following behind her.

"So are they going to stay in the house the whole time?" 

Misty turned around, an unintentional sad-puppy look appeared in her eyes when I said that to her. There was an immediate feeling of dread in my chest then so I started trying to patch up what I'd said or change the tone of my voice. 

"Misty, no wait, I meant...where would they stay? I don't think they'd really like to be shut up in the bathroom or stand in the living room the whole time, right?" 

She smiled bitterly, but refused to look back at me as she placed the bowl down on the bathroom floor for Ivy. 

"Yeah, I think they could stay in the sunroom maybe. That would be better, you're right." Misty responded finally, leading Ivy on to follow her into said room. 

By the end of the next few days, Misty had closely bonded with her friend's pets and had persuaded you to become more familiar with them. They both had distinct personalities like any other animal. Blair was much more obedient to any commands and was always happy to be taken outside. Ivy, on the other hand, was stubborn as expected and seemed to be a bottomless pit because of how she never stopped eating anything she could find. She'd gone through an entire pot of purple pansies, dirt and all, then found some papers to chew up.

It was kind of strange to not have them in the house any more after Misty's friend picked them up. She seemed to have a deflated attitude once the animals were gone and only smiled when I'd come home or if she spotted a deer outside of the house. I came back one day and brought a surprise for Misty, hoping to cure her sadness over missing her temporary pets. 

She was standing in the living room, the radio on the coffee table playing Fleetwood Mac, and she was dancing around half-heartedly. I greeted Misty, making her jump in alarm since she hadn't noticed me come inside. My hands were behind my back to hide the surprise I'd gotten.

"Misty, could we sit down for a second?" I said, an emotionless tone in my voice to keep her from noticing I was hiding something from her.

"Sure, what's goin' on?" The blonde asked, a cheerful glimmer still in her eyes despite her energy-less movements.

"Well, you've been pretty upset since Blair and Ivy left."

"I just cared for 'em a lot, and," She paused to take a deep breath, "I hate when things or people have to leave me." 

"I don't know if this will help much, but..." I trailed off, bringing my arms back in front so she could see what I was holding in my hands.

"W-wait is that..?"

"I got you a kitten, it's a Maine Coon. They like being outside and romping around, they even swim." 

Misty's smile had returned as she approached the small reddish-brown kitten and looked at its forest green eyes. She couldn't manage to say anything but held the kitten in a gentle embrace and looked back up at me gratefully. Though it wasn't as rambunctious as the horse or goat, Misty was in love with the cat and cared for it like a baby.