The Peach Tree Kitten (for Mailie)

[cp 2000]

Once the little neko had rushed inside his apartment, Travis once again let out a sigh of annoyance, before walking inside as well and closing the door behind him. Seeing the end of the kittens tail disappear into the living room, he followed her through and found her pressed up against one of the windows, hearing her ask him what they were doing upstairs whilst continuing to look down at the street below. "I already told you" Travis said, having never been the sort of person who enjoyed having to repeat himself, "we're up here to get you cleaned, now would you get away from that window and follow me, the bathroom's this way".

After seeing the little girl turn to follow him, Travis walked back out and along the hall until he reached a door on his right, opening it up to reveal a simple but nonetheless well maintained bathroom. Once the kitten was by his side, he walked inside with her and set about turning on the bath faucets, watching as warm water began to slowly fill up the basin. "Alright" he said, kneeling down in front of Nami and beginning to undress her as he spoke, "let's get you out of these clothes and into the bath, I've got a feeling it's been a while since you had a good scrubbing".

[Selkie]

Nami had to stand on very tips of her toes to see out the window, as such, she used her strangely strong fingers to keep her upheld. It was absolutely amazing to her, the streets which were reflecting the light from lamp posts, and the occasional person, or group of people, walking by. Her attention had lingered on all of it for a few moments, even after being told the correct direction of the bathroom. A moment later and she pulled herself away, it was certainly a place she'd go re-vist, the window seal that is.

She spun around, more in the playful manner, as was revealed by her high-pitched and obviously child-like giggling, finding the strangest of things funny. Nami was quick to scamper along towards Travis, she followed directly in his foot steps up until he got to the doorway and pushed it open. The child wanted a better view, because of which, she went to his side and peered in curiously. True, it hadn't been very fancy or special, but to the little neko, it was a room filled with treasures she'd like to discover.

After having entered, she watched as the man knelt down in front of her, again Nami's adjusted to the side slightly as an involuntary action based off of being a child, and being a curious one at that. Her attention was spent greatly on the bath, watching as the faucet spilled water like the sky did rain, except, it was much more consistent and seemed to be a lot more water. The little girl's eyes returned to that of Travis', she didn't mind being undressed, in fact, she welcomed it, clothes were always such a burden but something her parents had said to be necessary, so she'd grown some what used to them.

For absolutely no reason at all, other than wanting to be playful and perhaps even make the grouch of a man smile, Nami brought a single finger, her pointer, and gently poked the man directly on the tip of his nose. The bout of giggling she fell into was rather intense, it was unreasonably funny.. just not to her.

[cp 2000]

Once he had removed the girls hoody and shirt, Travis saw that there were a number of cuts and bruises decorating her body, most looking as if they'd been there for a while, whilst others looked relatively fresh and new. This served to make Travis feel somewhat uncomfortable, as he wondered how such a young child had accumulated so many injuries, and how many of said injuries had been inflicted by other people.

However, these troubling thoughts he was having were quickly brought to an abrupt end, as once he had helped the kitten step out of her tattered little panties, he felt her playfully prod his nose, causing him to look down at the little girl in confusion as she giggled happily at her own joke. There was no denying that Travis was having a hard time getting to grips with the child, as despite her predicament she seemed as bright and lively as any other kid her age, either not caring or being to naive to properly understand how serious her situation was.

"You're...kinda a funny little thing, aren't ya? he said in a bemused voice, lifting the giggling little kitten up and setting her down in the tub, where he began scrubbing all the dirt off of her with a nearby cloth. Once that was done, he picked up a bottle of shampoo and poured a small amount into the palm of his hand, telling Nami to close her eyes as he rubbed it into her hair, tail and cat ears before pouring water on top of her to wash it all off, leaving a now very clean looking neko sitting in a bathtub of dark brown water.

"Alright, stand up" he ordered as he pulled the plug out of the bottom of the bath, watching the dirty water flow out of it as he picked up a large fluffy towel hanging from a nearby rack and wrapped Nami in it, whereupon he picked her up in it and stood her beside the bath, kneeling down once again after he did to make sure that the girl was properly dried off.

[Selkie]

The little neko looked over her various injuries as well, while quite a few of them were scarred there were indeed a hefty quantity that hadn't been, not to mention the bruises and what not. None of which Nami seemed to mind in the slightest, sure they hurt, especially to a five year old, but there was a matter of it happening so many times that it almost became a normal thing, almost. To say the least, the girl seen it as something that simply happened, and obviously didn't realize the necessity to bandage them and what not.

Despite the scene, Nami's face was as bright as ever, she stepped out of the panties with ease. While the reaction she was given wasn't nessecearily what she'd wanted.. having wanted a smile or something of that sort, she found joy in it all the same, as was proven by the constant giggling that spilled from her mouth. That was until she was placed into the bath and the warm water made the field of wounds sting. Her face scrunched into a wince as she made a small whine. Although she quickly got over it and watched as the water faded into a dirty brown, it felt quite good to be so clean.

Nami rarely got a wash, despite the rainfall that had been easing given the colder temperature, the five year old didn't really make the best use out of it, as such, only the top of her head got "cleaned", and it was never with soap. She tightly closed her eyes as she was told, it felt a little weird, the warm water, especially with the shampoo that smelt really nice. She moved her clean little hands to her eyes and wiped them free of water, when she opened them again it was with yet another smile.

As per the command Travis gave, Nami stood up while then watching as the water was drained, only to then start shivering. That was until the towel was wrapped around her small frame that brought an incredible amount of warmth, not to mention comfort given that it was so soft. When she was picked up and out of the bath, she looked at Travis for a few seconds as she was tried, on occasion, wincing yet again as certain scratches were touched. "That was fun! Can we do it again?"

[cp 2000]

"There's not enough hot water for another bath" Travis dryly responded, lifting the little neko up with the towel still wrapped around her and sitting her in the crook of his arm as he spoke, "maybe you can try and get another one tomorrow".With name now completely dry, Travis carried her out of the bathroom and through to his bedroom, whereupon he sat her down on his bed with the towel still wrapped around her and went to search his chest of drawers for something suitable for her to wear.

After a couple of minutes of searching, he eventually produced a green football t-shirt that he supposed must have been his brothers before walking over to the little girl and lifting up her arms, pulling the shirt over her head and allowing it to come down to just below her knees, making for an adequate makeshift nighty. "So" he said, waiting for the little girl to slip off of the bed as he spoke, "I suppose you'll be wanting something to eat?".

[Selkie]

Nami humphed as she was given such an unsatisfactory answer, hopefully the water would come back soon.. The child giggled playfully as she was sat in his arm, she was quite happy to hear what she considered to be a promise. The walk from the bathroom and entrance to her host's bedroom was rather fun, as was revealed by the childish and quiet cheering she prompted admitted. The moment she felt the softness of the bed, she let out an 'oomph'. Not because she'd been dropped or anything, but simply because she fell back which in turn let her moist hair cling to the otherwise dry cover upon it. Of course, noticing that it was springy gave the the only idea any child in her predicament would have; treat it as if it were a trampoline. So, that's exactly what she did while watching half absently while Travis dug through his drawers. She climbed to her feet; ignorant of that fact that her towel wouldn't maintain it's composure - which was proven by it falling the moment she began her spree of bouncing. All with a constant and loudly high-pitched squeal of delight.

Though that ended swiftly, she'd slid slightly and in turn, lost her balance. This ended with her back in sitting formation, staring directly at the man as he exposed the t-shirt, it did seem quite large, especially for such a small child. Climbing off the bed quickly, Nami assisted by holding her arms into the air like she was directed to do, watching as the large t-shirt covered the entirety of her frame, in fact, went all the way down to her shins. Then he mentioned eating and in a single moment, her stomach growled as if mimicking a lion, some how, mentioning anything to do with food made her aware of how hungry she actually was. "Yes!" she practically shouted, the little bit of sharpness her teeth had being revealed by her toothy grin.

[cp 2000]

Having expected the childs overly enthusiastic response even before she'd made it, Travis motioned for her to follow him as he walked out into his hallway to open the front door once again, before defending the stairs back down to the pub, being sure to walk at a pace that the neko could keep up with. Once he was in the parlour, he picked Nami up and sat her on a nearby barstool, walking round to the other side of the bar once he did and filling up an empty glass with cola from a soda dispenser. "There" he said, setting the glass down in front of the little girl as he spoke, "sit still and drink your coke whilst I go make you something to eat".

With that, he turned and walked through the door behind the bar that led into the kitchen, turning on one of the grills once he did and checking the fridge to see what was available. Taking a handful of hamburger mince, Travis threw it onto the grill and began cooking away, checking through the serving window every now and then to make sure that the kitten wasn't getting up to any mischief. Having some spare fries left over in the deep-fryer, Travis chucked them onto a nearby plate, followed by a hamburger bun that he quickly had filled with the cooked beef patty, as well as some lettuce and sauce. "Okay" he called through to the parlour, before walking back into the bar carrying the plate which he set down in front of Nami, "I'm not promising it's good, but it's certainly better than eating rubbish".