The Stray Cat brought home

The tender pops eventually all disappeared, and Hathiyas trunk seemed to scan for any remaining bits. "Oh dear, they're out. Oh my?"She eyed Kaihua, a small smile cracking on her face. Kaihua looked very drowsy, almost sleepy. "You seem tired, Kaihua. Looks like that full stomach wants to take some time and digest!"

Hathiya again leant into one of the crates, and pulled out a massive blanket. It was actually a few king sized beds stitched together into a large cohesive blanket, and Hathiya looked down at Kaihua. "I hope you're not cold. Because it's time for you to take a rest, young man. I promise I'll get you your own bed and blanket and more tomorrow." With that, Hathiya leaned herself onto the squished mattress that she slept on, carefully making sure she wouldn't accidentally squish Kaihua in her arms, as she covered the blanket on herself and the young tiger in her arms.

With them both under the blanket, Hathiya lightly whispered, "Good night, Kaihua, sweet dreams." Her big eyes looking sweetly at the young boy before lightly shutting tight.

One after another, those golden treasures known as Tender Pops were placed in Kaihua’s maw. Each tender bit of juicy and crusty meat was just as delicious as the first one, if not better! He savored each and every one! Right down to the very last, which rolled down his throat and left a savoring reminder of its flavor as warmth spread through his body and stomach. With everything that happened to him that day and his first meal to ever fill him up still sitting comfortably in his stomach, he was shocked to suddenly feel his fatigue hit him like a truck! Almost all at once his eyelids felt heavy, and the scent of Hathiya’s cooking still injured in the air giving his mind a gentle comforting reminder of the food he had eaten.

Kaihua must have forgotten he was still sitting in Hathiya’s lap. Because the young tiger actually yawned silently before resting his head against Hathiya’s arm like a pillow. Despite the strength carried in that arm, Kaihua didn’t seem to have any trouble nodding off to sleep before Hathiya had even noticed. The excitement and stress of the day along with the comforts of Hathiya’s home simply knocked all wind from Kaihua’s sails. And within a single minute, the tiger was fast asleep in the Earthshaker’s embrace.

Despite her great size and strength, Hathiya was so gentle in her moving Kaihua to the bed that the sharp eared tiger hardly even stirred. He almost immediately curled up on the squished mattress, lightly snoozing away while Hathiya wished him sweet dreams and a good night's rest. The massive blanket was tossed over herself and Kaihua, leading to a soft purr to escape his throat as she flicked off the dim lights.

When morning came, Hathiya would find the Kaihua had shifted during the night. Surprisingly, his back was pressed against her closest arm, with the tiger cuddling it for comfort and warmth despite the blanket on top of him. He was still fast asleep, but his tail laid between her stoney fingers, as if keeping her close even in his dreams.

Hathiya looked at Kaihua, watching him fall asleep made her heart feel ticklish, as did the tuft of hair on his head. She had a smile on her face as she slowly fell asleep herself. She figured she can go one night without brushing her teeth as she kept Kaihua close.

So waking up and finding him curled up against her arm, and his tail in her fingers, at first she didn't realize it, but when she blinked the sleep out of her eyes, she realized his position and she had to fight back the urge to give out a gasp at how cute he looked. Hathiya had to quietly and, making sure she didn't wake up the boy, get out of bed and go to the fridge again to see for more tender pops to give Kaihua as breakfast. She was trying to walk as lightly as possible to not disturb the sleeping boy, but even as light footed as she tried to be, every footstep caused rumblings that shook the ground lightly. Hathiya kept sneaking looks at Kaihua then back at the freezer, trying to open it as noiselessly as possible. As expected, the door creaked as loudly as unwanted. Hathiya cringed her shoulders as she pulled the tender pops and still moving slowly, began to pour the pops onto the pan and prepare food for Kaihua.

As sweet as it was for Hathiya to do her best to avoid waking Kaihua, it was ultimately a hopeless gesture. Even if the earth didn’t shake with every step Hathiya took, and the walls didn’t gently groan down to their foundations and the lights wouldn’t creak and groan, Kaihua would have been woken up. His sensitive ears perked up almost the second Hathiya began to roll off the mattress even though his eyes remained shut. Every step gently shook the bed, and Kaihua with it. But the young tiger remained silent and unstirred from his sleeping position. The loud, squeaky cry of the refrigerator hinges made Kaihua’s ears flick and droop down as if to shield out the intrusive noise. Kaihua sturred a bit in the bed, but only seemed to move over into Hathiya’s spot for some extra warmth.

However, the very second those tender pops hit the foil covered pan Kaihua’s ears shot straight up. Instantly, his bright blue eyes opened and peered over at Hathiya noiselessly. His eyes and ears were suddenly intently focused on the Earthshaker, the large blanket still covering his body as he peered over from the bed. A low, rumbling purr began to emit from the small tiger. His hope for Tender pops shimmering in his eyes and dripping from his mouth in the form of a small stream of drool!

“H…Hathiya?” Kaihua squeaked, moving towards the Earthshaker, “Kaihua help? Food making?”

Hathiya's head perked in his direction, brining a hand up to her cheek.

"Oh my, you're awake! Oh, don't worry, little one, I can handle this. You can sit or take a look around, it's almost ready!" Hathiya looked back at the tender pops. "It just needs a bit more time and your breakfast is ready. Then..." she looked at him, a small twinkle in her eye, "We will go somewhere fun today! I'd like to show you something. But I can't take you there on an empty stomach, after all."


With that, she turned her head to look down at the pops, making sure it would be juuuust right for Kaihua's taste buds, before her eyes sneaked another look at the boy and then back down at the pops. She felt an odd warmth in her growth growing again, the same one she felt that day when she had Brat, Morticia, and Gobby in her arms. A smile crept onto her face.

At Hathiya’s suggestion, Kaihua would sit down…right where he was.

One of his ears flicked as he watched the Earthshaker carefully. The Feline really looked like he wanted to help, but wasn’t sure how when Hathiya politely told him that she had things under control. She promised they were going to go someplace fun today, which made Kaihua flinch. He trusted Hathiya much more than anyone else who was in charge of him, but those words from his previous owners almost always mean the fighting pits. He blinked and tried to push that thought out of his head. The weird lady practically had him in a fight pit before, and Hathiya rescued him. Why would she put him back into one? But Kaihua couldn’t figure out what sort of place Hathiya thought would be fun! He had seen flowers outside, and she seemed to like making food…maybe a market?

Kaihua paced around, looking at Hathiya and then the table. He couldn’t decide if trying to help would make him more of a problem considering he had no idea what she was doing or how she was doing it. In a way, that solved his dilemma, and he sulked towards a nearby crate that acted as a chair. Noticeably, after Kaihua was parched on his crate, he began watching everything Hathiya was doing intently. Clearly, he was doing his very best to try and commit everything he saw to memory so he could help in the future! He was so focused on what she was doing, he almost didn’t notice the low, deep grumble of his stomach as the tender pops began to thaw and his nose began to pick up their sweet and salty scent!

“Breakfast ready~!” He exclaimed in excitement! Not realizing Tender Pops needed to be cooked as his mouth began to fill up with drool. His eyes shined as if that sour look was never there, and his tail sat straight up as he looked from Hathiya to the food in her hand.

“What place fun? Is Hathiya showing…”

Kaihua’s broken question was stalled as he tried to think of the proper word. His vocabulary was fractured, but he pointed at the bright flower hairpin in Hathiya’s hair.

“Hathiya like flower? Hathiya fun…flowers?” He guessed, looking at Hathiya in hopes he impressed her with his deduction.

Hathiya looked at him, her face making a joyous expression. She noticed his pacing and decided to try to ease him up. "Ah, its almost ready, just give it a few moments!"

As he got closer asking what fun place was Hathiya talking about, Hathiya chuckled to herself, thinking that he's going to love the marketplace she was going to take him to. She had several ideas of what she could buy for him over there, just so many ideas! She then settled on what she figured would be the ultimate gift. "You'll see...." she said with a smile.


She perked up as he asked her if she liked flowers. "Well, yes! Yes I do. I think they're very pretty...." she said as the tender pops finished cooking, and her trunk blew on them to cool them. She then looked at Kaihua, "I used to grow flowers a lot back home. It was one of my favorite things to do. If I wasn't a fighter, surely I would've been a gardener!"


Her trunk then checked and saw the pops weren't very hot anymore and now JUST right temperature. Her trunk picked one up, and brought it to Kaihua's face. "But thats a topic for later. Heres your breakfast!"

When Hathiya confirmed that she did indeed like flowers, Kaihua’s eyes lit up like he had won the million dollar question! He almost hopped up on the table, as if Hathiya’s incoming praise would be like a large splash of water, and he wanted to soak in it! But Hathiya instead revealed that if she was not a fighter, she would have been a gardener. The word drew a total blank to Kaihua, and his face dropped as he stood puzzled as to what Hathiya had said. A gardener? The young tiger had no idea what that was or even what it could mean. He knew it had something to do with flowers, but other than that hint everything was drawing a blank.

Thankfully, Hathiya would bring over the tray of Tender Pops and completely wipe the thought from his mind. Instead, he became distracted by Hathiya’s golden bounty! Those sweet smelling tender pops caught his full attention, and he didn’t seem to notice the shack shake with each of Hathiya’s steps. The Earthshaker would gently raise a tender up to Kaihua’s mouth, and as excited as he was Kaihua would be just as careful taking the tender with his sharp teeth. No sooner did the sweet tender touch his tongue than the small tiger squealed with delight! His chewing muffled the sound, but it was clear the taste had no less of an effect on him as it did the first time!

After that first Tender Pop was gone, Kaihua would patiently wait until Hathiya picked out her share. He didn’t know if she ate these herself, and in a surprisingly polite manner he waited until the pan of food was set down. Once she did, he would peer at the food excitedly, but only popped one in his mouth at a time. He savored each and every bite! He was in such bliss, he couldn’t help himself as his happy voice suddenly filled the small shack with an excited phrase…

“I love you~!”

Hathiya's heart leapt as she heard that. She froze for a second, before her eyes and face looked down at Kaihua, and blinked. After a short pause, she started chuckling!

"Ooh hoh ho ho ho ho!" it was a very jolly laugh, filled with mirth and positivity and a twinge of genuinely touched. Hathiya shook as she chuckled, bringing a hand up to her large chest as she said, "Oh....oh my, oh! I was....not expecting that. Oh, Kaihua! I don't know what to say!" Her trunk ruffled his hair and caressed his face as she said, "That....really means... a lot to me." Her face perked up as she said, "Sounds like I've been a good host! If you love all this so far, then you'll adore whats coming!" she brought one of her arms around Kaihua, pulling him closer and onto one of her large legs as a seat, as her trunk again started putting Tender Pops up to his face, "We're only just getting started!"

There was a long silence inside that warm and cozy home that went unnoticed by the happy tiger as he chewed away at his favorite food. While normally he was rather wary of others and fairly conscious of his surroundings, Kaihua was so engrossed in his food that he didn’t even notice the rather intense look Hathiya was giving him. He simply swallowed the tender he had finished chewing and excitedly popped another into his maw, reliving the tender and delicious moment he experienced just a few minutes prior with his first tender.

However, even the guards outside protecting the compound Hathiya’s home resided in could hear her warm laughter! The humble home shook just a bit, and at first Kaihua flinched from the sudden loud noise. He realized it was just Hathiya laughing, and relaxed a little bit. As dim as he was, Kaihua understood the difference between a genuine laugh and a cruel one. While it was loud, Hathiya’s laugh was probably one of the happiest he had ever heard. Did she like being loved that much? He knew “love” was an affectionate term, but he didn’t understand the complete context of saying it to someone else. Even so, he meant what he said.

Hathiya….like being loved by Kaihua? Will remember. Say often, make nice lady happy!

The wild, prideful, and sometimes arrogant young tiger actually stayed perfectly still as Hathiya ruffled his hair and gently squeezed his face with her trunk. He finally swallowed the tender he was chewing on as Hathiya’s rather large arm moved around his waist and set him up onto her lap. Even with her long floral dress, he could feel the heat from her large leg. He almost observed out loud that the leg felt bigger than the makeshift stool he was just sitting in…but thought better of it and quietly enjoyed the extra room. She once again brought up a surprise that she had planned as she offered yet another tender pop, which Kaihua gingerly took…but his bright blue eyes peered up at her.

“Eh…Hathiya? Kaihua very happy now…happier if if not in trouble, like with Weird Lady! Kaihua…does-ant want trouble for Hathiya, but help. Help Hathiya, mean.”

Kaihua had no idea what this “surprise” was, and if he was being truthful to himself, he didn’t really want to know. Before Hathiya, most surprises weren’t really for his benefit, and he was perfectly happy with his turn of fortune as it was. Hathiya was sweet and nice, and actually pretty warm! While she was the Weird Lady’s favorite, he wasn’t sure how much she got paid, or how pricey these Tender Pops were. But the last thing he wanted was to burden her with extra costs and not help her in any way he could.