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Neal sent Malcolm a message the day after he got back to the Barge with the kitten he'd found, after he'd gotten someone to look at it, help him clean it up, give him the supplies to take care of it. He asked Malcolm to meet him in his room. His room. Danny Brooks' room.
Which is where he sits now, on the floor, in jeans and a button-up, said scrawny tabby kitten exploring the jungle gym of his crossed legs.
Which is where he sits now, on the floor, in jeans and a button-up, said scrawny tabby kitten exploring the jungle gym of his crossed legs.
Neal may be the Inmate, but he’s been nothing but courteous. When Malcolm reaches his cabin, he knocks.
Malcolm lets himself in cautiously. Neal hasn’t wanted him in this space.
“Is everything okay?”
“Is everything okay?”
Neal points at the kitten with one hand, his other currently occupied with being chewed on. The little animal definitely looks better than it did when he fished it out of the rising water, but it's still skinny, still has a notch in one ear, and has a bald patch on its back where someone ill-meaning clearly shaved off some fur.
He gives Malcolm a somewhat helpless look. "I don't know what to do with him."
He gives Malcolm a somewhat helpless look. "I don't know what to do with him."
"Give him cat food and water and scritch him between the ears," Malcolm suggested, then paused. "Oh. Do you not want him?"
"Which part of it is confusing you?" Malcolm asks, unsure what the actual question is.
So much confuses him these days. He rubs his face with one hand, then drags his fingers through his hair, finally wrestling his other fingers free of the kitten as he bites a little too hard. He gives the little animal a boop on the nose. "Stop that."
To Malcolm, he says, "I don't know. Just--it's a prison ship. I know it's not a normal one. But should I be allowed to have a pet?"
What are the rules, Malcolm!?
To Malcolm, he says, "I don't know. Just--it's a prison ship. I know it's not a normal one. But should I be allowed to have a pet?"
What are the rules, Malcolm!?
"They let inmates have alcohol, drugs and weapons, Neal. I don't think anyone is going to have qualms about your super dangerous malnourished kitten," Malcolm tells him.
He strokes the kitten uncertainly, the motion for his own comfort as well as the animal's. After a moment, he gestures for Malcolm to join him on the floor if he wants to. It's not like there are bunches of places to sit in the room.
"I've also never had a pet. It wasn't a good idea. When I was a kid, it just wasn't, and then I left home and moved too much."
And he had to be ready to pick up and leave at a moment's notice. Not the best situation to try adopting an animal. "I like animals. I've always wanted a dog. But..."
He looks down at the kitten again. "It feels wrong."
Maybe wrong isn't the word.
"I've also never had a pet. It wasn't a good idea. When I was a kid, it just wasn't, and then I left home and moved too much."
And he had to be ready to pick up and leave at a moment's notice. Not the best situation to try adopting an animal. "I like animals. I've always wanted a dog. But..."
He looks down at the kitten again. "It feels wrong."
Maybe wrong isn't the word.
"Does it feel wrong or does it feel unfamiliar?" Malcolm clarifies.
"Why's that?" Malcolm asks, joining him on the floor, cross-legged.
"I don't know," he admits, aggravated, though not at Malcolm. "What if something happens to me? What if something happens to me and anyone I ask to pick up the slack if something happens? What if..."
What if he has the chance to escape and his cat is on the other side of the Barge?
What if he has the chance to escape and his cat is on the other side of the Barge?
“Are you maybe catastrophizing because you don’t feel like you deserve unconditional love?” Malcolm asks.
“What if you start by just saying you’re going to take care of the cat until you find a friendly port where it will have a good home?” Malcolm suggests.
Malcolm doesn’t believe for one second that Neal will give up this cat, but keeping it feels like too large of a commitment for him, so they’ll break it up.
“Or you can gift him to another Barge passenger who you think is more… stable in their position here at some point. When you find someone suitable.”
“Or you can gift him to another Barge passenger who you think is more… stable in their position here at some point. When you find someone suitable.”
“I appreciate your trust, but I’m a bird person, not a cat person. Just keep the idea in the back of your mind. When you meet the right person, you’ll know,” Malcolm tells him. “Do you think you might name him in the meantime?”
“I mean… It doesn’t seem fair, naming him when I’m not keeping him. Whoever keeps him should do it.”
He’s still petting the kitten, even as it pulls threads loose climbing his jacket. He winces and lifts the animal carefully away from his clothes. “I think he needs a scratching post. Or one of those towers.”
He’s still petting the kitten, even as it pulls threads loose climbing his jacket. He winces and lifts the animal carefully away from his clothes. “I think he needs a scratching post. Or one of those towers.”
Edited 2022-10-18 02:43 (UTC)
“If you just keep calling him ‘cat’ or ‘you’ until then, that will become his name, you know,” Malcolm informs him.
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