Pretty Kitty - Slumptacion

[five] looks can be deceiving

"Thank you so much, I owe you for this one."

"Yes, you do." Billie rolled her eyes. "Just like you owe me for the other million favors that I've done for you, Stokeley."

"How did you even get him to calm down like that? He's usually energetic, like Omar when you wave a biscuit around in his face." I joked and nearly dropped my work bag. Karma? Probably.

She shrugged and continued stroking his fur. "I guess animals just have a thing for me." Something about that statement made my skin crawl.

I hummed. "Well let's keep that thing PG. Your people have a history with beastiality and I don't want any weird shit going down in my domain."

"You're not a God, you don't have a domain. And don't worry, I'm sure he won't give me much trouble. He seems well behaved from what I've gathered." She practically praised the little ball of fur.

"That's because you met him ten minutes ago. Trust me, he's manipulative like that. Smarter than he looks." I narrowed my eyes at X, who just let out a very innocent sounding pur but I still wasn't falling for it.

"Yeah, whatever. I know with Winter you expect lots of energy and shit but cats are way calmer. It's just their nature." She replied in a calming voice. I rolled my eyes and put my computer in my bag.

"Well destruction must be in their nature too. I have replaced four tv remotes since he's been living here and I'm still looking for the second one."

"Stokeley. It'll be fine don't worry. You see how calm he is now right? He, and myself included, will be fine." She reassured me. I was still a little skeptical because of what happened when Kentrell was watching him, but I couldn't keep using all of my vacation days to stay home so I'm just gonna have to let it go for now.

"Okay. If you need anything or anything happens-"

"I know. I'll call you." She cut me off.

"But-"

"You're going to be late, Stokeley. I got this." She used her free hand to push me towards the door.

"Wait! I only have one rule. Don't let him upstairs. Please." I begged as I stared into her pink contacts.

"I won't. Now go."

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Billie's POV

I honestly don't know what Stokeley was so worried about. X has been nothing but obedient since I got here.

Right after Stokeley left, I put him back down on the floor and he scampered off to the living room. I followed behind him just in case, but I stopped once I saw him playing with one of him little squeaky toys.

"That's cute." I mumbled with a smile. Watching him play with his toys was adorable.

I watched him play for a few minutes, then I plopped on the couch and turned on the TV.

The remote had a few bite marks on it, this must be what Stokeley was saying about his remotes, but it was still functional.

About thirty minutes into me catching up on Lucifer, X had jumped up onto the cushion next to me. He bumped his head against my elbow. I gave his back a few rubs and went back to watching my show.

After five more minutes, he started to meow. Very loudly at that.

He's probably hungry. I thought to myself.

I paused the TV and went to the kitchen to feed him. I stepped over a few of his toys that he'd left around and opened the fridge.

I'd found his food on the second shelf and was about to grab his bowl but the sound of something dropping in the living room made me stop what I was doing.

I raised an eyebrow and stood up. I heard a few more noises, like someone was moving stuff around in the living room.

"Yo." I called out. The noises stopped, but continued again after a few more seconds.

I put the food down on the counter and stepped over X's toys. By now, the noises had stopped. When I peeked around the couch, everything looked fine. But the show had been playing again.

"What?" I thought out loud. I felt something brush against my ankle and when I looked between my legs X was slowly walking through the space between my feet. He had something in his mouth, which looked suspiciously like the TV remote.

"Hey. What's in your mouth?" I asked. He froze.

"Give that to me." I reached down to grab whatever it was he was toting, but he easily slipped through the gap and trotted behind me.

"Hey, spit that out!" I tried taking it again, but he started to walk faster now, towards his scratching post.

"Come back here." I pushed a few loose strands of my hair behind my ear.

X meowed, causing the object to fall out of his mouth and clatter onto the floor. It was the remote!

"Aha! You're not supposed to have that." I went to grab it but he quickly scooped it back up into his mouth and took off.

"Shit!" I said and I started to chase him around the couch. Lucifer still playing in the background.

After a few more minutes of this little game of Cat and Mouse, I finally got close enough to touch him. He managed to hop onto my arm and use the back of my neck as a launch pad, jumping off. He scampered upstairs and I lost him after that. The little shit had gone into hiding.

"Fuck. Stokeley is gonna kill me."

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Stokeley's POV

All day today, I've been a little tense.

I never got a call from Billie, so I guess that could mean something good.

The house didn't look like it'd been burned down from the outside so I relaxed a little bit.

It was quiet when I entered. Too quiet. I got flashbacks from the last time I left a pet with a friend and the house was quiet. Then the image of Winter in the bathtub made my left eye twitch.

"Billie!" I called out.

"Yes?"

"What are you doing? Where's X-"

"Stokeley you're home!" Billie practically came running down the stairs.

I sat my bag down on the dining room table. "Why were you upstairs?"

"Here!" She shoved X into my, now empty, arms. Looking at her closer now, I could see that her hair was a little wild and one of her contacts was missing. She had a small scratch on her cheek.

"Hold on-"

"You were right! He's a demon!" She pointed at X. I looked down at the kitten. His back was rising and falling slowly in my arms. Was he asleep?

"Uh-"

"You don't even owe me for this one. If this is what you go through on a daily basis, then I'll make sure to pray for you every night." She quickly replied, walked around me, and left before I could even get a word out.

I stood there confused for a moment. X's tail gently curled around my wrist, and he purred.

-JADA