Brute Shot
Pairings: Flower Power (Florida/Maine)
Word Count: 2,654
Warnings: None! It's literally just fluff
Summary: Maine stared down at the small animal that had just been dumped onto his lap. The orange kitten mewled pitifully and stumbled around on Maine's thighs, trying to figure out where it was. With an eyebrow raised, Maine looked back up at his excited boyfriend, Florida.
Notes: This is the third place prize for my giveaway! Congrats lieutenantpalomo! :)
Maine stared down at the small animal that had just been dumped onto his lap. The orange kitten mewled pitifully and stumbled around on Maine's thighs, trying to figure out where it was. With an eyebrow raised, Maine looked back up at his excited boyfriend, Florida.
"No," he scowled.
Florida's happy smile fell immediately. "What?"
Maine tried not to look at the adorable kitten that was curling up in his lap. "We can't keep another one."
"Why not?" Florida pouted, crossing his arms indignantly.
Maine gestured to the two cats that were perched on the back of the couch that he was sitting on. They were both watching the new kitten suspiciously. "We have two."
"No, Maine. We have three now," Florida insisted stubbornly. Maine just shook his head in response. Florida huffed. "Fine. If you want to be mean, then we won't keep her. But we can't just put her back outside, so you need to find a place for her to live while I'm at work."
Maine nodded his understanding. "I'll call Wash."
Without another word, Florida walked off to go to work. Maine stayed on the couch, waiting until Florida was gone to make a few calls. He didn't want Florida to get even more upset about giving the kitten away.
Once Florida was gone, Maine moved to stand up, but was caught off guard by the adorable sounds coming from the tiny cat in his lap. He froze and looked down at the kitten and felt a small smile appearing on his lips despite himself.
Director, the older of their two cats, hissed at the kitten, but didn't move from his new spot on the arm of the couch. Chairman, the other cat, turned away from Maine and the new arrival, completely disinterested. Maine decided to ignore the two cats, he didn't like either of them very much anyway. Florida had brought them home one day with names already chosen.
There was a slight tugging on his shirt that made Maine look down again. The kitten had snagged their claws into his T-shirt and was playfully trying to climb up him. Maine grinned at the tiny cat and decided to wait a few more minutes before calling Wash. The dude already had three cats, he could wait an hour for a forth.
The kitten managed to make her way up to Maine's shoulders, where she laid down and purred in Maine's ear. Maine sighed. "I have some work to do," he explained to the kitten. Unfortunately, the kitten didn't listen and refused to move. Maine suspected that she had fallen asleep.
Maine mentally shrugged and pulled his laptop onto his lap. He had some paperwork to do, which he had said that he would be able to do from home instead of the gym that he co-owned. Connie, his business partner, usually liked to stay in her office, while Maine would happily work from home any chance that he could get. Usually it was more physical work, like teaching classes, but there were none today.
As he typed up an important email, there was a startled meow from his shoulder, then the slight weight of the kitten disappeared. Maine jumped and stared down at the kitten who know sat on the couch after falling from his shoulder. He rolled his eyes and went back to typing.
The kitten disliked the lack of attention so much that she jumped back up into Maine's lap and sat directly on his keyboard. Maine narrowed his eyes at her. "Move."
When she didn't move, Maine tried to nudge her to the side. The kitten batted at his huge hand and Maine smiled at her again. "You're quite the little brute, aren't you?" Maine regarded the kitten for a moment. "Hmmm... Brute," he hummed in thought, then decided on the name.
Before Maine could start back up on his work, his phone started vibrating. Maine answered it quickly, keeping an eye on Brute.
"Hey, buddy. Flowers just called me, saying that I should ask you something about a cat." Wash's voice rushed through the speakers.
Maine grunted to show that he was listening. He stared at Brute and suddenly didn't want to give her up. "What cat?"
There was a pause. "Um, the one Flowers told me that you didn't want and that I should take?"
"Huh?"
"Wait, you don't have a kitten with you?" The confused frown that Wash had on his face was evident in his voice.
Maine looked down at Brute, who was rubbing against his thigh and purring adorably. Then, he shook his head, smirking slightly. "Uh-uh."
"You don't? What the... Am I going insane? I could've sworn that Flowers just called me like two seconds ago."
Maine tried desperately not to chuckle. He gently scratched behind Brute's ear and the kitten pawed at a thread on his shirt. "You okay, Wash?"
"I... I don't know." Wash sounded so unsure of himself that Maine had to pull the phone away from his mouth so that he could laugh quietly.
When he was done, Maine told him, "I'll ask Florida when he gets home."
"Yeah. Yeah, okay man. I'll talk to you later," Wash muttered before he hung up.
Maine snickered as he put his phone down. He turned his attention back to Brute, who was now wandering toward the edge of the couch. Now he had time to play with the kitten. He moved his laptop to the side, his email to Carolina could wait. He had more important things to do, like spend time with his new cat.
Brute padded over to Director's spot on the couch. The graying cat had fallen asleep in the spot of sunshine long ago. Brute mewled curiously and Maine decided to see if Director would even wake up. The older cat could be pretty stubborn and lazy.
As suspected, Director didn't move. Maine scooped up Brute and moved her to the floor, where she had more room to explore and wasn't in danger of falling. The kitten carefully walked around the room, sticking close to Maine most of the time.
Maine layer down on his back and relaxed. It was nice to not worry about work and mess around for a few minutes. Once Brute saw the opportunity to climb on Maine, she took it. Tiny claws dug into his side as she managed to get on top of him.
The tiny kitten stood there in triumph for a moment, then let out a long yawn. Apparently all of the activity had exhausted her. Maine would be lying if he had said that he wasn't tired too. He decided to close his eyes for just a minute, while Brute napped on his chest.
Maine was woken up hours later by a happy exclamation of, "Oh my God!"
He opened his eyes and stared up at Florida, who was looking down at him and Brute. He gave his boyfriend a sleepy smile. "Hey."
Florida sat down next to him, cross legged. "Hi. How was your day?" He didn't seem that interested in Maine's day. Florida was mostly focusing on Brute, who was still curled up on Maine's chest.
"Great. Wash called," Maine answered. He wanted to give Florida a welcome home kiss, but was stopped by the napping kitten on his chest.
Florida hesitantly reached out and stroked Brute's fur. "Yeah, I told him that we had a new cat for him. What'd you say?"
"He thinks he's going crazy because I said we had no cat for him."
"Maine!" Florida lightly smacked Maine's arm in exasperation, then he froze. A wide grin spread over his face. "Does that mean we're keeping the kitty?"
Maine nodded decisively. "Her name is Brute."
Florida stared at him for a moment, then shook his head. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Maine gave the excited Florida a warm look. "Pet store date?" He suggested.
Florida nodded enthusiastically. "As long as you're the one to wake Brute up." He stood up to go gather his things and Maine was left alone with Brute.
Maine gently picked her up, hoping that she wouldn't hate him for waking her. The kitten stirred, still sleepy. Brute let out a tiny meow of protest, but didn't struggle as Maine carefully carried her to the car. Luckily, Florida offered to drive, so Maine was free to keep the kitten in his lap. He pet her the whole way there and Florida kept glancing over at the two of them, a fond look in his eyes.
"She's adorable," he commented as they pulled into the Petsmart parking lot. Maine nodded, not taking his eyes off of the tiny ball of fur. The car stopped and Florida got out. Maine reluctantly picked Brute up, cradling her in his arms as he got out of the car. This time, she woke up. She stayed in Maine's arms, seeming a little nervous about their new surroundings.
Maine tried not to jostle her as him and Florida walked into the Petsmart. Florida instantly started chatting with him, doing all of the talking, like he always did. Maine was glad that Florida understood that he didn't like to talk much. He lovingly watched as his boyfriend made wide hand gestures and constantly changed expressions.
It wasn't long before the topic turned to Brute. "So, we're going to need to take her to the vet tomorrow. I'll make an appointment for her when we get home. Do you wanna take her or should I? Well, I guess she's kinda your cat, so you can go if you want to."
"I'll go," Maine offered as he looked over the shelves for some cat food.
Florida picked up a package of special kitten food and put it in the cart they were using. While they were in the food aisle, Florida grabbed a couple of food bowls. "We can paint these once we get home! It'll be so cute, we can decorate Brute's name on it and everything!"
Maine snorted, but didn't protest as Florida put the bowls into the cart. Brute started to get used to being in Maine's arms and began to curiously look around. She mewled grumpily when Maine refused to put her down. Eventually she gave up with struggling against Maine's hold and started licking at his hand. He tried not to laugh at the sudden ticklish feeling of Brute's rough tongue.
They walked into the next aisle and Florida grabbed several things, like litter and other care items. Maine started to get bored with staring at the dull rows of cat supplies. He turned his attention back to Brute, who was rubbing her head against Maine's hand. It took Maine a moment to realize that she wanted to be pet. He was happy to oblige.
Maine stroked Brute's soft fur. It was still a little dirty from being outside. Maine would have to remind himself to bathe her and ask Florida where he had found her. Right now, his boyfriend was deciding between two different litter boxes and Maine was willing to bet that it was taking all of his concentration.
Finally, Florida decided on one and they were able to move on. They rounded the corner and Brute immediately perked up. There were rows and rows of cat toys lining the shelves of this aisle. Maine could already tell that they would never be leaving this store and for once, he wasn't sure if he minded all that much. Usually Florida could take ages in a store and Maine had gotten used to it a long time ago.
"What do you think Brute would like?" Florida wondered out loud, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Maine walked up to the nearest shelf and picked up a feather toy, then tossed it into the cart. He could already tell that Brute would already love everything in this aisle, as she had been pretty playful so far. Florida snickered, but helped in choosing out a couple more toys. They grabbed a fake mouse, three stuffed animals, and a small scratching post before they realized that they probably already had more than enough for the kitten.
"We're gonna need to make sure that Director and Chairman stay away from Brute's stuff. They'll probably try to eat all of her food and break her toys," Florida commented as they finally left the toy aisle.
Maine nodded in agreement. He still didn't like the two other cats and he hoped that Brute would soon replace them.
Florida pulled Maine toward the back of the store as he pushed the cart. "Alright, so we only need to get her a bed and a carrier, then we can go home."
Even though Maine was having a great time, he was starting to get a little bit tired, so he agreed with that idea. He focused on Brute as they walked. The kitten was starting to doze off again, her eyes kept falling shut adorably. She looked like she was trying to keep herself awake for the excitement of Petsmart. Maine smiled again and scratched behind her ears. Brute let out a content purr as she finally fell asleep.
They walked up to the selection of beds and Florida told him, "You choose one while I go grab a carrier." Then, he walked off with the cart, leaving Maine to stare blankly at the cat beds that all looked the same to him. If he knew Florida, though, then they probably did not all look the same. Maine sighed and just grabbed the most comfortable appearing one that he could see.
Now that he had picked one out, Maine didn't know what to do. He stood there with a pretty big cat bed in one hand and a sleeping kitten in the crook of his elbow. He had never been to Petsmart with Florida when he had gone before, so now Maine was officially lost without his boyfriend. Now he had to take care of a tiny, sleeping animal while searching for Florida.
Luckily, Florida came and found him. There was now a huge carrying case in their cart. Maine dropped the bed that he had chosen right next to it and they went to go check out.
The cashier for their lane was a talkative young women who cooed over the kitten in Maine's arms and not-so-subtly flirted with both of them. Maine raised an eyebrow in response as she chatted with Florida about cats and Hawaii. Maine didn't know much about either of those things, so he stayed out of the conversation.
It was another five minutes before they were finally out the door. Brute was still fast asleep in his arms as Maine carefully balanced her and a couple of plastic bags full of cat supplies. Luckily, Florida was able to carry most of the stuff, even though Maine was usually the designated grocery carrier. He was always able to only do one trip, no matter how many groceries they had. Once they got to the car, Maine dumped his bags into the back.
Maine got into the passenger side and was finally able to put Brute down onto his lap. His arms had been starting to get tired, even though Brute barely weighed anything. Florida finished putting their bags into the trunk, then got in as well. Before he started the car up, he reached over and pet Brute's back. She purred happily in her sleep and Florida grinned.
Maine smiled at his boyfriend and tapped him on the shoulder. When Florida looked over at him, Maine cupped the side of his face and pulled Florida into a loving kiss. Florida smiled against his lips as his kissed back. When they pulled away, Maine looked down at the sleeping kitten in his lap, then back up at Florida. "I love you," he told him.
Florida beamed. "I love you, too."
