McAllen's Little Kitten (for Chibi-chan)

[cp 2000]

One cold evening in November, in what would be politely referred to as a 'cozy' establishment located a few blocks from central park, Alistair McAllen stood at the vacant bar of his small independent pub, washing the mugs and glasses that had actually been used today so that he could finally end the day and go upstairs to his apartment, allowing him to begin the week off from work that he had been planning on taking.

It had been three months since the thirty-three year old had moved from his home country of Scotland to the overcrowded Manhattan Island, and whilst he had made modest success in the establishment of his own privately run business, he had found it difficult to attract any more customers aside from the dozen or so regular patrons that allowed him to keep himself and the pub afloat. During the opening week of 'McAllen's Pub', Alistair had initially seen a generous number of people coming through the doors, though this seemed to only be a temporary arrangement, as very soon he found that his establishment would mainly be visited by the same twelve plus people, making him wonder what was warding people away.

At first he was concerned that the pub might be unhygienic, but after having a health inspector come round to inspect the building, he was informed that everything was in fine working order. He then theorised that he might be pricing his drinks to high, though readjusting them only succeeded in attracting a few students from one of the local universities, who only really stayed for a drink or two before leaving to find a more 'hip' scene. Eventually, after every other possibility had been taken off the list, Alistair finally figured out what was wrong. Despite being a little surprised that he hadn't come to this conclusion earlier, he soon realised that the customers problems were not with the pub, they were with him.

After all, most people who had encountered Alistair would generously describe him as a blunt, grouchy and all together bad tempered man, with very little patience for people and a preference to keep himself to himself. Still, even with this newfound knowledge at to what was limiting his business, Alistair saw little point in trying to change his attitude, because as far as he was concerned, if people didn't like him then that was there problem. Besides, due to savings and a modest living, he was able to live relatively comfortably off what he made serving his regular customers, who though he never would admit it, he actually did not mind seeing on a regular basis, as they were all relatively polite people with enough going on in their lives to carry a casual conversation with.

Finishing off washing the final glass, Alistair put it back onto its appropriate shelf, before reaching for the light switch to turn off the remaining lights that were still active in the pub. However, just before he did, he heard a loud clanging sound coming from out back, causing him to look round suddenly in surprise as he wondered what could have happened. With a curious expression on his face, he made his way to the back door of the pub, looking out into the alley and seeing a couple of trash cans that had been knocked over. "Great" he grumbled sarcastically, walking over to the cans and setting them up right, "that's just what I need after getting an A in my last health inspection, a bloody rat infestation".

[Rori]

"Wait, come back!" A little voice would call out as a calico cat would be scurrying off away from a child chasing after it. This little girl wasn't any normal child though. This little girl was a neko child about the age of 5 with the most adorable green eyes anyone could come upon and ginger curly hair. Her ginger ears flickered as she stopped running and frowned. "Aww, it got away..." She looked down in disappointment. Her ears flopped down and she scuffed the ground with the bottom of her bare foot. Her stomach then growled. "Hungry...." She would moan and look around seeing some trash cans nearby. Curious, the girl walked up and stood on her toes because she was rather small and couldn't look over the edge. Pulling the can slightly down, her ears perked up and she sniffed inside it. She licked her lips and reached in for a piece of fruit that was half eaten, but the Can got heavy and she ended up knocking it over. Gasping, the girl quickly dashed away to hide behind a dumpster after hearing a voice of a man from out of the alleyway saying, "You hear that? I wonder what that was." He spoke. "Probably some animal." A woman would reply. The little girl flinched hearing a door open as Alistair appeared to pick up the trash she knocked over. She peeked around the edge of the dumpster to blink and watch the man.

[cp 2000]

After he had stood the trash cans back up straight, Alistair dusted off his hands before looking around to see if he could spot what had caused the mess in the first place. It didn't take long however before his eyes eventually fell upon the corner of one of the dumpsters, noticing that there was a little face half peering out from behind it to watch him, though clearly not taking enough care not to be seen. Whilst he wasn't able to get a good look at whoever it was, he could make out that it was a child, a small one by the looks of things perhaps a little older than a toddler, with messy tangled apricot coloured hair that only just came down to brush her shoulder, and a bright emerald eye that looked at him with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity. Sighing a little, Alistair stood up straight and folded his arms, giving the girl a frown as she continued to stare at him. "Alright" he said, "I can see you, so you might as well come on out". Whilst he wasn't exactly pleased to have a little kid hanging around behind his pub, he didn't want to scare the child off by sounding angry, knowing that this was most likely just someone's pre-schooler who had ended up wondering too far from Mommy and Daddy in a bid to explore its surroundings.

[Rori]

Blinking at the man, the little girl's eyes widened before she quickly moved to hide herself completely behind the dumpster. She was frightened, but a moment later, she stepped out from behind the dumpster with her ears drooped low and her head down as she frowned up at the man. She was completely filthy from head to toe. She rocked back and forth on her bare feet and put her hands in the pockets of her overall shorts which is all she wore with nothing underneath and one of the straps were hanging down since the button was broken. She waited for him to speak or make a move for she was a bit intimidated by his size. She was quite small for her age.

[cp 2000]

When the child finally stepped out form behind the dumpster, Alistair was able to completely see what she looked like, allowing him to notice a few things he had not seen before. For starters, she was a little girl, with the emphasis on 'little' as she only came up a little above Alistair's knees. Secondly, and certainly more surprisingly, Alistair noticed that she was a little neko girl, with a pair of cat ears that were pressed flat to the top of her head, matching the colour of the child's hair along with a tail that she currently had tucked between her legs. Whilst Alistair had heard of nekos living in heavily populated cities like New York, they were a relatively small minority, with their usually being an average population of about a hundred nekos at any one time. Getting over his initial surprise, Alistair continued to frown sternly down at the child, not enough to frighten her, but certainly enough to let her know that he was displeased with her. "Now just what do you think you're doing back here?" he asked, still frowning down at the child as he scolded her, "don't you know it's rude to go sneaking around through other peoples things without their permission?".

[Rori]

The girl's eyes looked the other way. "Chasin' a cat...." She replied. "Then I got hungry." She added. It was hard for her to look up at him since he was so tall and the look he gave her made her uncomfortable.

[cp 2000]

Whilst Alistair may not have known much about children, he knew how they looked when they were in trouble, as the girl was certainly displaying quite prominently as she did her best to avoid his gaze, whilst simultaneously giving him small answers to his questions. When she mentioned being hungry he simply sighed, guessing that it was probably not so surprising for a small child to quickly be distracted by hunger. "Well if you're hungry" he said, kneeling down a little to come face level with the neko as he spoke, "then might I suggest going home? You're Mommy will probably have something for you to eat before you go to bed". With that, he gently turned the girl around and gave her bottom a small slap to motivate her to get going, getting up once he did and making his way back towards the back door of his pub, still a little surprised by his first meeting with an unattended neko girl, but guessing that the little girl would most likely have a warm meal waiting for her back home, with the added possibility of a sound spanking for staying out so late.

[Rori]

The girl blinked in confusion and canted her head to the side. She was rather confused by his words, but before she could speak, the little girl found herself turned around by the man. "My Mommy?" She wondered. "I don't think I e'er had one a those....What's a Mommy?" She asked. "I'm always outside." She also mentioned. Suddenly she felt a slap right on her bottom which made her tail stiffen and her ears perk up as she flinched. Covering her bottom, she blinked up at him. "What'ja hit me for?" She wondered.

[cp 2000]

Alistair only made it halfway to his door when he heard the little neko call out to him, asking him what a Mommy was. Confused, he turned back round to look at her, seeing that she hadn't moved an inch despite the smack he had applied to her little bottom. When she mentioned that she was always outside, her previous comment (as well as few other clues that Alistair felt stupid for not noticing before) suddenly made him realise the little girls situation.

Of course, what parent would allow a child as young as her to run around unattended, at ten o'clock at night, in practically nothing but a pair of shabby and partially broken overalls.

Additionally, it also explained the nekos rather unkempt appearance, which Alistair had originally thought was just the result of her playing in places that she shouldn't, as many small children were prone to do. With everything coming together, Alistair sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, as he knew what he would now have to do, and whilst he was reluctant to do so, he understood that allowing the girl to go out into the city on her own would be beyond irresponsible.

When she asked him about why he had slapped her seat, he looked back at her with a somewhat frustrated expression, though it was not as hard as the frown he had given her earlier. "Because that's what happens to naughty girls who go sneaking around other peoples property" he explained, "they get their bottoms smacked until they learn to behave themselves".

Walking over to the back door, he took hold of the handle and opened it up, before turning to look at the neko once again. "Now" he said, "seeing as how you don't have anywhere else to go, you're going to have to come inside with me. I can see about getting you cleaned up and maybe something to eat if you're hungry, then...we can figure out the rest later".

[Rori]

The girl turned back around and lowered her head as her ears flopped down against her head when the man replied. She didn't quite understand. What did she do wrong? She didn't know any better after all.She used her arm to wipe her dirty nose and sniffed before canting her head to the side. "Are ya sure?" She wondered. "Other people yell at me to go away and shove me 'afore they throw stuffs at me." She explained. She was rather curious why he wasn't the same. She figured all humans hated her. "I am really hungry though."