Marathon!

[mitochondriaaya]

Aya had trained faithfully, just like she promised (and despite her period starting a few months after that promise. Really? She didn't need that!). The weights had been added by about the second month of training and she was really, really proud of her stamina!

And the marathon they'd chosen as their first was coming up this weekend, with fund raising as done by Elcy...and yeah. "Don't tell me you have to cancel!" she said into the phone, pulling one foot up to stretch out her thighs. "Don't! I can't go and do this alone!"

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[sliceitwithwind]

"Probably our place, then." Braig said, nodding, "Okay, Aya? Get the spare cat crate? We'll start laying the groundwork for it today."

Dilan, after a bit of calling around...taking them almost all the way to the barn, said; "Okay! I got five kitten parents lined up."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Cat won't mind?" Aya asked, ducking into the garage for the spare crate. "If there's more cats at your place I mean?" Just to make sure!

"And they won't be ready to leave their mom for a few more weeks at least but we can have the vet look them over and make sure they have no fleas and stuff..." The old barn was exactly that, and old barn on the edge of town that no one even remembered who it belonged to. The doors were weather beaten and faded, with a few silly things scrawled on them by the town's version of punk kids.

Inside it was sound though, and dry with the scent of old hay and some kind of machine oil. "Far corner, behind the ladder!"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Nah, we'll keep these in the other bedroom and Cat will have ours." Braig said, shaking his head.

Dilan went in first, purring and prrrp!ing to let the mother cat know that he was there.

Braig hung out in the doorway, watching.

[mitochondriaaya]

The proud mother cat was a thin, golden eyed tabby with a notched ear and a tail longer than her body. She had a nest made of straw and one of Aya's old flannel shirts she'd used for barn work in 4H. The kittens, ranging from storm cloud grey to an almost white with faint tabby markings, were peeping and nosing around in the hay nest but unable to escape into the larger barn yet.

Dilan got stared at!

And Aya set the carrier down gently just inside the door and grinned. "She used my shirt! I tried to find the softest one..."

[sliceitwithwind]

"Hi." he murmured softly, slowly extending his hand out to the mother. "See? I just want to make things better for you, sweetie. You and your kids...one of the guys said he'll take you and one of your babies. Give you a good life." The mother stared at him, then sniffed warily. "I think," Dilan said in the same voice, "that given a couple hours I can get her into the box."

Braig wandered over next to Aya and smiled, "Well, of course she'd do that."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Hey, I was worried!" Aya laughed softly as they drew closer to the nest. "I haven't seen her around town so she could have hated anything that smells like people! Soft won though!" And it meant Aya was brave enough to hold her fingers near for sniffing as well!

And yes, the mother showed no initial dislike of them, sniffing any digits held near her when she wasn't pinning and washing kittens! As long as no one tried to touch the bitty things all was well!

"I didn't notice she had a crooked paw before! Oh you poor baby!"

[sliceitwithwind]

Dilan murmured, "I can't have a second cat..." for a moment.

Braig offered his fingers as well, then stroked mama between the ears.

[mitochondriaaya]

"No, and someone already said they'd give her a good home," Aya pointed out, though she leaned over to hug Dilan. "That might be why she's so thin though! I thought it was because she just had kittens but if she can't hunt well..." poor, poor momma cat!

Momma cat gave Braig a raspy purr after a moment. It was a startling, gravel-in-blender sound far louder than should come from a small cat but still! It was a purr for Braig!

[sliceitwithwind]

"Right." Dilan agreed, nodding, "Braig? You want to run home and grab a can of Cat's food?"

"On it." the smaller man said, jogging off after one last pet. "I'll be back, momma...with food."

Dilan started stroking her, then, not trying to touch the kittens.

[mitochondriaaya]

Aya settled on a bale near the nest, reaching in to pet the mother every once in a while but she didn't want too many hands to spook the cat. "I should have thought of that. I've been bringing her milk on the way home from school but..." but that didn't cover all the necessary nutrients!

And momma cat was going to eventually flop on her side for more petting, which the kittens took as a signal for 'time to eat'.

[sliceitwithwind]

Dilan kept purring and chirping at the cat and her kittens, "It's okay, Ayay. You didn't notice her paw. We'll put the food in the crate, and see if she'll go for it, then put her kittens in with her. I think she may have been dumped, though, not stray...she's too friendly for a feral."

[mitochondriaaya]

"No one would dump a cat around here!" Yes, the very idea of a local doing so made her angry. "We all know better! We can ask the vet if they recognize her at all though, just in case." Because there would be repercussions!

[sliceitwithwind]

"Well, it could've been one of the summer people, last year." Dilan pointed out, "But yeah, we'll get her checked out."

[mitochondriaaya]

"True, but not a lot of people travel with cats." She reached in to fuzzle a cheek then leaned until she rest against Dilan. "We can cover six check-ups, shots, and spay/neuter right? I think."

[sliceitwithwind]

"Aya..." Dilan blinked at her, "this is the kind of thing Braig'll pay for. Or mom and dad. Taking care of animals is important."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Oh." Blink. It was hard to get used to! "Right. So tell who said they'll take kittens! Have I ever met them?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Jack, Tam, Souin, and Karamella." Dilan said, "They're from some of my classes, I don't think you've met any of them yet."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Aw, yeah, no. Haven't met them." Which was a sad thing really. "But I'm up for my birthday right? And they might be old enough to leave their mom then, then I can meet them!"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Yup!" Dilan said, smiling, "Well, we can have them come over any way? It's important to bond with kittens, so they can play with the babies even if they can't take them home yet."

[mitochondriaaya]

"I like that plan! I'll cook if they come over!" So Dilan could be social and supervise kitten visiting! "Can she keep my shirt so she remembers me?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Sure." Dilan said, smiling.

Braig returned with the can of food, split between two plates. He set one right next to the mother, then showed her the other one and put it in the cage.

[mitochondriaaya]

"Yay!" Aya sat back enough to let Braig past with the food and watched intently to make sure the cat ate.

And yes, Momma Cat chirped in delight to see the food and shook kittens free enough to stand up and eat!

[sliceitwithwind]

Dilan smiled at the momma and, very slowly, petted a kitten. Momma looked at him hard for a moment, then purred.

[mitochondriaaya]

"Dilan, the cat whisperer!" Aya teased softly. She wasn't going to risk a kitten! She was going to keep petting Momma! "Do you think Braig could talk to lemurs?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"I dunno." Dilan said, shrugging, "Maybe?" Momma moved over to the crate where the rest of the food was, and while she was there Dilan swept up the shirt-and-kittens...and stuck them in as well.