Paulkins One Shots

Warming Up

A/N: An alternative title for this was Paulki[tte]ns

Emma Perkins was walking down the hallway to her apartment, a backpack hanging onto her elbow and her keys in her hand. She had just finished her shift at Beanie's Musical Coffee and was desperate to get to bed- despite the school work she still had to complete. The key entered the lock and she struggled with the broken door handle for a while, before pushing the door with her shoulder and stumbling into the dark apartment. Her shoes landed haphazardly by the side of the coat rack and she threw her backpack into her bedroom before skulking to the kitchen. Pulling her hair out of the tight bun she wore for work she rounded the corner, she stopped short to stare at a large box on her kitchen counter.

It was bright pink with white polka dots and garish blue ribbon tied hastily around the top, though it was obvious that a great amount of effort had been put into the presentation. Emma reluctantly walked over to the box to see a large tag on the side: "Happy birthday Emma!" Shit. In all honesty, she hated any attention on her birthday. After the death of her sister, she saw no use in celebrating that sort of thing; Jane was the only family she really cared about."Hope you enjoy this present Emmy, I know how much you'd love this! Lots of love, Paul." It was followed by a large glittery heart sticker, he really didn't know her as well as he thought. She did have to admit though, the sentiment was quite cute.

She finished shaking her hair out of all its pins and clips, and grabbed the pair of scissors from the drawer next to her, slicing the tape that was stuck on around the dozen or so holes jabbed into the top of the cardboard. All of a sudden the box shifted slightly to the right and Emma jumped back, "What the fuck?" She mumbled under her breath. With her arms stretched as far out as they physically could, she flicked one side of the box lid open and cautiously stepped towards it when nothing jumped out at her. She looked into the box slowly to see a ball of black fur curled up in the corner, its tail twitching slightly.

"Paul oh my fucking god-" Emma stood dumbstruck for a moment. She did not like cats. At all. They scratch and you can't train them, unlike dogs.

She opened the other side of the box and walked over to the pantry. What do cats even eat?  She thought. After a while of scanning the shelves, she grabbed a tin of tuna from the very back, opening it and gagging slightly at the horrid smell. When she got back to the box the cat was gone, and after frantically searching half the kitchen she heard crashing from the other side of the apartment. She sprinted over to see it clambering up the blinds leaving massive tears in the material. "Fuck! No! Get off, get off, get off!" Emma clambered onto the armchair and tried to pick up the weapon of mass destruction that had been unleashed on her apartment, but it jumped down and ran behind the sofa at what looked like the speed of light.

Emma stood defeated for a second, why am I even trying to catch it for Christ's sake. She jumped down from the armchair and spotted the kitten crouching under the sofa, so she grabbed the tuna from the kitchen counter and a spoon. Stepping as lightly as possible, she squatted down next to the black ball of fur and took a spoon of the tuna. "Come on kitty, it's alright," she mumbled, unsure of how to actually make it trust her, "I've got...tuna?"

After a few moments, the kitten poked its head out from the blue material of the sofa and began to nibble on the spoonful she was offering. She folded her legs and sat hunched over her new pet, and cautiously put her finger on the top of its head. Immediately, it tilted it's head and gently sniffed her finger before butting its whole head against her hand. "You're actually quite cute aren't you?" Emma's expression softened as she stroked the kitten's head, picking it up gently and leaning against the sofa with it in her lap. They stayed there for a while, Emma's eyes became heavy as she held it in her arms.

"Are you getting sleepy too? Because I am." She placed the drowsing kitten back into her lap and closed her eyes, the next thing she knew light was streaming through the strips in the blinds and Emma could feel a sharp weight on her shoulder. Her new kitten was clambering up her shoulder trying to get to the rest of the tuna tin, but her skin seemed to be taking the brunt of its effort. "You little shit! Ow!" Emma giggled, gently pulling it off her. "What should I name you? You need a name if you're gonna stay here." She paused for a moment and looked around the apartment, her eyes landing on an old book she had been given by Nora: Moby Dick.

"Moby... that's kind of cute. Wait, are you a boy or a girl?" She lifted it up again and tried to work out the answer to her own question, before giving up. "Eh fuck it, Moby works." As she stood up to grab the rest of the tuna, the doorbell rang in Paul's signature pattern followed by a single knock at the door. She scooped up Moby and ran over to the door, only just realising she was still in her Beanie's uniform from the day before.

"I see you found Mrs Fluffernutter!" Paul cooed at Moby as soon as the door opened, and he walked in.

"Excuse me?" Emma couldn't hold in her laughter.

"Mrs Fluffernutter? It's what I named her when I bought her- I left a note in the box with her."

Emma handed Moby over to Paul so she could run over to the box and pull out a tattered piece of paper, with Mrs Fluffernutter only just legible on it.

"I am not calling her Mrs Fluffernutter, Paul." She stood defiantly in front of him and leant down to stroke the kitten, "She's called Moby."

"Isn't that a boys name? Like Moby Dick?"

"Yep!" She flopped down beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I don't care if it's a boys name."

Paul giggled at her last remark and planted a kiss on her forehead."Happy birthday, Emma."