Nathan York

I couldn't wait a week and the little girl was getting rather impatient. So, I'm proud to present to you:



Miss Neko Marmalade (AKA Little Miss M)

I figure the two names are good for when she gets in trouble.

Thanks to those of you who came up with names for her. I really loved them all but these two were what she responded to the best.

Written for deviant_muses

Since Shy's boss, Mr. Steiffer, let him live in his guest house rent free, Shy had agreed to do simple chores to keep up the yard and do whatever maintenance was called for around both houses. He didn't mind it most of the time, and actually found it felt good to be useful and earn his keep. It seemed a bit odd to him that he didn't have to pay to live there, but it would at least afford him the opportunity to save up some money and eventually get a place of his own. A bit of weeding and painting was a great trade off for that chance. Still, he hated all of the other little things that went along with living alone.

Grocery shopping. Shy was not a fan. But since he'd started living on his own, he didn't really have much choice. It was either face the dreaded aisles and fellow consumers or starve. Back home, he'd lived with his mother and she had been the one responsible for taking care of everything for the house. He never realised just how good he had it.

Lucky for him, he'd found a small market near his house. It wasn't as intimidating as the monstrous chain store into which he'd first ventured upon arriving in the city, but it wasn't as charming as the stands and markets back home that his mother favoured, either. He'd decided it was a fair compromise, though, and being within walking distance of his home made it all the more appealing.

Today, as he headed toward the entrance, list in hand, he was distracted by an attractive young woman standing next to a small cardboard box with "Free Kittens To Good Homes" written on the front. He wandered over to her and gave her a little smile.

"May I look?"

"Uh huh," she said, looking rather bored to be saddled with her chore. "You want one?"

"I'm not sure," Shy said, crouching down next to the box and looking at the assorted bundles of fur. He tentatively reached inside to pet a black and white kitten, laughing when it mewed and blinked up at him. "They're very cute."

"Yeah. Adorable." The girl sighed and shifted her weight to her other foot. "You want one?"

"I..." Shy had been about to say he didn't think so. He'd never had a pet and he wasn't sure he should take on the responsibility of one. The closest he'd ever come had been feeding the strays that would come around the house when he was a kid.

But then he saw a tiny ball of orange fur curled up in the corner of the box. It was partially covered by the old baby blanket that had been placed inside, and was being ignored by the other kittens. A pair of the biggest, sweetest eyes Shy had ever seen was looking up at him, watching him carefully.

"Hello, you," he said softly, reaching out slowly to carefully touch its fur. "How come you're all alone?"

The young woman glanced down and snorted. "That's the runt. No one's gonna take that one."

Shy frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"'Cuz the other ones are prettier."

"You're not very good at going for the hard sell, are you?" Shy said, looking up at the girl.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Look, take one or not. I don't care. They're going to a shelter if I can't get rid of them today."

Shy quickly looked back down at the little orange kitten. He knew the girl was right. Most people would look at it and dismiss it as awkward or even a little ugly. It would probably never be adopted by people who only ever wanted something perfect.

"I'll take that one," he said without thinking. "Give me a few minutes to go inside to buy some stuff and I'll come back out for it."

The girl wrinkled her nose. "The ugly one? Really?"

"Really," Shy said, rising to his feet. "Don't let anyone take it."

"Don't worry. No one will. Figures you'd want it, though."

Shy winced a little when the girl stared at the scars on his face as she said it. "Yeah, maybe it does," he said softly and turned to go inside to do his shopping.