Chapter Text
When Oscar brought a moving bundle into the house, Ruby was concerned. Oscar would not let her see into the bag. Everyone else could care less, but that thing had piqued her curiosity.
When she heard strange noises from upstairs, she would knock on the farmhand’s door to ask him if he was okay. A muffled “I’m fine!” would resonate through the door, and Ruby would leave him be. He was never around, which made the girl sad, since he liked to talk to her more than anyone else these days. She felt very lonely. Often, Oscar didn’t make it to dinner, or he would travel to the marketplace to buy large amounts of milk and tuna. Blake would go crazy over the amount of tuna he bought. When questioned he said, “It’s a new diet I’m trying out.”
Now this really made Ruby suspicious, since Oscar was a, skinny and b, could never drink that much milk by himself. She could, on the other hand. She loved milk.
It was a cold evening, when some of the group were out in town, and the others were playing a board game downstairs. Ruby had not seen Oscar’s presence all day, it was beginning to bother her more and more. She decided she had enough, and marched upstairs, demanding for an answer. She turned left and knocked loudly on the farmhand’s door. “Oscar?”
There was no reply. Ruby tried again, and still, nothing. She started to hear faint noises, like meowing in the room. Either she was hearing things, or…
Carefully, she turned the doorknob and opened Oscar’s door. It smelled faintly of tuna… and a zoo. Her eyes scanned the room, messy with discarded milk jugs and tuna packets, until it landed on a pile of clothes and newspaper. And inside, lay two cats, a tabby, and a black cat. They stretched their limbs and mewled.
Oscar had cats.
Oscar had two cats. Why was he keeping cats?
That explained the tuna. And the milk. The noises, and hiding away. He was keeping the cats a secret!
Now, Ruby preferred dogs to cats, but they weren’t all bad. She neared one, gently inching toward the black one. It seemed a bit leaner, and quicker than the tabby, its sharp eyes darting at every corner. When she neared them, they leapt back in fear. She was unfamiliar to them.
Ruby called out to them. “Shh, shh, don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. Come here, come here,” she soothed them. The tabby wouldn’t budge, but the black cat inches towards her. Ruby stood still, her arms open, ready to receive the bundle of fur. It accepted her invitation, and climbed into the cocoon Ruby had made from it.
She stroked its fur, and purred in delight. The second cat, slinked away from her, and hopped up onto Oscar’s bed.
“Hey, you… I wonder why Oscar’s kept you two away from us? Why didn’t he tell me at least?” Ruby was beginning to feel very down, as if Oscar had actually told her he didn’t trust her.
“Ruby?” Oscar’s surprised voice echoed through the room. Ruby turned and met Oscar’s face, slick with sweat. In his arms, were two small milk jugs. He looked weary, as if he hadn’t slept in weeks.
The tabby cat responded to Oscar’s arrival and made its way to him. The black cat leaped out of Ruby’s arms and padded over to the farm boy, as well. Ruby stood, her arms limp at her sides. She had walked into his room without permission and invaded his privacy.
“I-I’m sorry. I just heard noises and I was so curious—why didn’t you tell me?” Ruby asked. Oscar sighed, coming into the room and closing the door.
He opened a milk jug and poured some into identical bowls in a corner. The cats made their way to it, lapping up the cold drink.
“I didn’t mean to keep this away from you,” he started. He made his way towards her and flopped onto his bed. “You can sit, if you’d like.” Ruby did.
“I found them in an old cabbage cart at the marketplace a few weeks ago. And… I couldn’t resist. I had to take them with me. But I’m not sure if you all would like cats in the house, so I just kept them here with me,” he explained.
“And you were just gonna keep them here forever?”
“No, no! Only… only until they got really healthy. Then I want to find homes for them.” Oscar sat up and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry, Ruby. I didn’t know this meant so much to you.”
“It… it’s fine. I just haven’t seen you in a long time, and for some reason, I felt sad about it. Like, I don’t mind not seeing you all the time, but I like to spend time with you.”
Oscar’s face reddened, and he wasn’t quite sure if Ruby understood how much that meant to him . Of course, he had been crushing on her since he met her, but he always thought she saw him as a little brother. But… it seemed she saw him as a close friend as well?
“I like spending time with you too. And I want to do it more often,” Oscar said. Ruby grinned, a sweet smile that made her eyes shine brighter. The black cat made its way back to them, the tabby following behind. The black cat hopped onto the bed and nudged Ruby with its nose.
“Seems he likes you,” Oscar noted, stroking the tabby that had appeared in his lap.
“What’s his name?” Ruby asked, adoring the tiny creature more. She loved Zwei with all her heart, but this little fella was growing on her.
“Mm, I haven’t named them, but I think I want to do so, right now. Would you like to name that little guy?” he asked, pointing to the black feline. Ruby nodded eagerly.
He laughed. “I think I’m naming the tabby Ivy. She looks like an Ivy to me.”
“I like it.” Ruby studied the cat next to her carefully. It looked up to her curiously, as if it was waiting to be named.
“Whaaaaaaaaaat about… Felix?”
“Ooh, that’s interesting. Ivy and Felix. I like it,” Oscar beamed.
Ruby tossed her head back and laughed. “I feel like we’re a couple adopting cats for the first time.”
Oscar froze. Did she not understand what she was saying? That every word she said would be ingrained into his memory?
Ruby held Felix, and looked at him. “I’m sure Ivy will warm up to me, someday.”
“You mean, we can keep them?”
“Temporarily. But you have to make me some promises. First, no more sneaking around, you tell everyone what’s going on. Two, don’t spend all your money on cat food. Three, come down to dinner sometimes and get enough sleep. Clean your room. And four, hang out with me tomorrow.”
Oscar could barely register what she said. He chuckled and said, “That’s a lot of promises.”
“Do we have a deal?” Ruby asked, holding out a pinky finger.
Oscar held out his pinky, and slowly, linked his finger to hers. They held it in a moment, staring at each other goofily.
“You’re amazing,” Oscar said, all-dazed like. As soon as the words let his mouth, he covered his mouth, his cheeks reddening again. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.
Ruby shook her head, still petting Felix. “No… I think you’re pretty amazing too. That’s why I want to hang out tomorrow.” She grinned.
He wasn’t exactly sure what this meant, but he knew that he was getting to hang out with the girl of his dreams and there was a chance, just a chance that she liked him back. And she wasn’t even mad about the cats! A win-win.