Chapter Text
“And make sure you behave.”
Lance looked over to his mom and rolled his eyes, “Mama, I always behave.” He had his head pressed against the cold car window, staring blankly out at the early morning roads. It was far too early to be awake, let alone on his way to do work. His mother let out a breathy laugh and tapped her fingers against the steering wheel.
“Lance, if you were always behaved you wouldn't be in this situation.”
Lance huffed and stared out the window. Of course she was right. He was currently on his way to serve his community service.
Really it had been a whole misunderstanding. Okay, maybe not. Maybe Lance had gotten a bit too cocky and run his mouth a little too much and the resulting fight had landed him with eighty hours of… well. The judge had assigned him to a cat rescue. Really. A cat rescue. Lance hadn't even known those had existed until he was sentenced to serve two weeks at V. L. D. Cat Rescue. He had looked the place up on Facebook. It was run by some guy who obviously loved cats a bit too much. And while he had never seen himself as a cat person, Lance figured petting cats for a week had to be better than picking up garbage on the side of the freeway like his buddy Plax got. Really, what did you even have to do at a cat rescue? Clean litter boxes?
The car pulled in next to a single story brown brick building. It was completely unassuming save for a blue sign that read “VLD CAT HOSPITAL AND RESCUE” and had a picture of a paw print that looked like it was from google images.
Lance frowned and looked back at his mom. She was giving him a knowing look. He frowned even more, “Mama I don't wanna go.”
She let out a shrill laugh that left Lance a bit deflated, “Don't give me that look! This was your punishment, you have to serve it, mijo.” She gave him a stern look. “You got yourself into this, you have to deal with the consequences.”
“Everyone else is going to be scary gang members,” Lance whined. He pointed out the window, “Like that guy. Look at him. He's going to stab me.” There was a young man leaning against the building smoking. Mama leaned over and squinted at the figure.
“He looks a bit like a weenie.”
“Mama! He's not a weenie. No one says weenie, don't say that.”
“Look how short and skinny he is.”
“He's wearing a leather jacket, Mama! I bet he has like seven knives hidden in there.” Lance squinted out at the man. He had a mess of black hair and was indeed wearing a red leather jacket, though it looked a few sizes too small and way too warm for the hot summer weather.
Mama clicked her tongue and pulled away shaking her head, “He's short, skinny, and has awful hair. You could take him.”
Lance’s head whipped around and gasped with fake shock, “You're supposed to be telling me not to beat up anymore people.”
“You can only beat him up if he pulls a knife on you. Now go, you're going to be late.”
Lance attempted one last pitiful frown but was met with a little-too-hard shove on the shoulder, so he grabbed his backpack with a sigh and opened the car door, “Okay but be ready to identify my slashed up body at the coroner's office.”
“I’ll be back at six to pick you up.” His mother said. Seconds later he was watching her drive away down the street. Fuck. He really fucked up. This sucked.
He took a deep breath and meandered over to the front door. The building had a blue door, with big windows on either side. He could already see a big black cat watching him from the window sill. For some reason it made him shudder. The smoking boy was leaned against the building next to the door, still smoking.
“Y’know that's not good for you.” Lance said, because he couldn't not say some smart ass comment in any situation where it was applicable. The boy looked over at him with piercing gray eyes. He blew the smoke out the side of his mouth– at least he had the decency for that much.
“What's it to you?”
Lance blanked for a moment. The kid was… honestly kinda cute and it was ruining his flow. He kept it cool, though, putting on his smuggest smile, “Don't want your secondhand smoke. You know they say it's just as deadly as smoking.”
The boy pushed away from the wall and flicked away his cigarette. It smoldered against the asphalt. He gave Lance a dark look, “Then do yourself a favour and don't come near me.” The dark haired boy pushed past Lance and disappeared into the building. Lance watched him through the giant window for a moment. Damn.
“And now you're littering, too? Jeez, no wonder you're in community service.” He said to absolutely no one. He stared at the butt for a few seconds, before running over to stomp it out. He hurried in through the door, trying to look relaxed and cool.
“Welcome!” A big man wearing a sweater boomed the second Lance entered the room. Seriously this guy was jacked. Lance recognized him from the website; his name was Takashi Shirogane, the owner of the rescue, and he loved cats. His sweater had a pink cat on it. His arms were like tree trunks, even under the sweater. He had black hair that was short on the sides and long on the front, with a shock of white in the center of his forehead. Lance grimaced. The dude was kinda cringey. He was standing by what looked like a giant cat tree that took up most of the room in this front area. There was a small gathering of teens around him, all of whom were now staring at Lance.
“Hey.” Lance gave a tiny wave, “I’m, uh, here to–”
"You must be Lance McClain,” the man said, “You're the last to arrive! My name is Takashi Shirogane, I run this rescue. You can call me Shiro.”
“Oh… kay…” Lance breathed. He joined the group; there were three other teens, including Jacket McSmoker. The other two were a huge man and a very small girl. The tall guy was probably about Lance’s age, dark skinned with shaggy black hair and was wearing a sweater from a local high school. The dude was nearly two heads taller than Lance and looked like the Rock, if the Rock had a gut. His arms were also jacked and Lance wondered how many people this guy beat up to get put on cat duty.
The girl, on the other hand, looked a few years younger. She was fair with messy dirty blond hair. She also had huge glasses she must have stolen from the 80s. She looked like too much of a nerd to be in community service. Maybe she was a volunteer?
“That's everyone, then,” Shiro said, clapping his hands together, “Let’s head to the kitten playroom. We’ll do our introductions there. Follow me.”
Lance was offended there was a room titled the kitten playroom. Seriously, what was this place? They followed Shiro through a door, then down a narrow hallway, then through another door. Lance could hear a cacophony of muffled cat sounds through the wall like the gates of hell opening up under a pillow. Shiro ushered them into the kitten playroom and closed the door behind them. It was mildly quieter.
The kitten playroom looked as adorable as it sounded. It sort of looked like a child's room, with pastel blue walls and murals of smiling trees and kittens. The floor was mint green and white checkered linoleum. The room was filled with scratching posts and cat toys littering the floor. There were four or five giant overstuffed pillows in a pile against the far wall. Shiro was already handing them out to everyone. Lance took one and sat on the floor between the big guy and the girl, feeling a bit weird about this place. Maybe it was the distant meowing that sounded a bit like the shrill screams of demons. Maybe it was the weird pink cat sweater Shiro was wearing. Maybe it was the fact that the kitten playroom was completely devoid of kittens. Either way Lance couldn't wait to go home already.
Shiro sighed, putting his hands on his hips, “Keith, come sit with the group.” Lance looked over his shoulder; Broody McHotface was sitting on his pillow alone in the corner. Keith? His name was Keith!? Lance couldn't contain a snort. Dark Hair Jacket Man glared at him.
“What. You got something to say to me?”
“No,” Lance snickered, “It's just that Keith is a stupid name. Sounds like you should be mid forties and working an IT job you hate. Like you drive a Prius and are really proud of it.”
Keith stood up, his fists clenched. “You fucking–!” He had taken one step before Shiro snapped.
“Hey!” He was way louder and angrier sounding than anyone wearing a pink sweater should be. He glared between Lance and Keith, “Absolutely no fighting in this facility. No swearing either. If I see any of you fighting, you'll be kicked out and serving your sentence elsewhere. I advise you to follow the rules. No one else will be as lenient as this job will be, I guarantee it.”
Lance cringed, scooting back around on his pillow. He really didn't want to pick up trash next to the highway with Plax, “Uh… yes sir.”
“Thank you. Now get your ass over here Keith.” Shiro gestured the other boy forward.
“I thought you said no swearing,” Keith spat as he grabbed his pillow. He threw it down two feet away from the big guy and sat down, crossing his arms. He glared over at Lance, fire in his eyes.
“You’re not allowed to swear. Community service is supposed to correct your behavior as well, so let’s start now.” Shiro frowned at Keith, unaffected by his ire. Keith rolled his eyes. Lance blinked, staring at him. The guy had some balls. Lance was not phased by Shiro’s cute sweater. The man still looked like he could snap him in two.
“Alright,” Shiro finally said, “now that we're all settled, let's do some introductions. Like I said, my name is Takashi Shirogane. I founded V.L.D. Cat Rescue in 2005 to help feral, injured, and homeless cats in the community. So far we’ve rehomed over four hundred cats,” He smiled. Lance couldn't believe there were four hundred cats in the neighbourhood, ever. Shiro continued, “In 2007 I partnered with the city’s Youth Rehabilitation and Community Service program to allow V.L.D. to be a place where young offenders, like yourselves, can serve out your community service sentences. I think it's a good way to give back to the community in a way that's not just scrubbing graffiti off the side of city hall.”
The big guy next to Lance raised his hand. Shiro nodded towards him, “Yes?”
“Uh… I’m not an offender, sir?”
"Oh, right. Sorry, three of the four of you are serving out community service. Hunk here is volunteering out of the goodness of his heart.”
Lance squinted at the giant next to him. Really? His name was Hunk and he hadn't strangled someone? He was volunteering?? Lance couldn't quite believe this, and, squinting at the girl, wondered what she could have possibly done to land her ass here. Maybe she kicked someone in the shins, seeing as that's about as high as she could reach. Maybe shoplifting? Yeah, that made sense. Bitches love to shoplift.
“Alright, well, we’ll start with you, Hunk,” Shiro said, gesturing towards the teen, “Why don't you tell everyone a little bit about yourself?”
“Uh,” Hunk looked around at the group and appeared to melt a little under everyone's gaze, “My name’s Hunk. I, well, it's a nickname but I enjoy being called Hunk–”
“What's your real name?” Lance asked. This seemed to throw Hunk for a minute. He sputtered like he didn't know the answer. Shiro raised a hand.
“Lance, don't interrupt. Go on, Hunk.”
“Okay, well, uh. I'm here because I need forty hours of volunteering so I can graduate.”
“And you chose this place?” The girl said flatly. Hunk shrugged.
“Well, I mean, I like cats so…”
“Cool. Anyways,” Lance patted the boy on the arm, “My name’s Lance. I'm here because I'm a criminal. I literally can't wait to leave.”
“Nice,” Keith snarked. Lance squinted at him.
“Yeah, it is nice, isn't it? Shut up.”
“You shut up!”
“Hey! What did I just say?” Shiro snapped.
“You said no fighting!” Keith said sarcastically, “Nothing about arguing.”
“No arguing.” Shiro crossed his arms. He looked back at Lance, “So tell me, Lance. Do you have any experience with cats?”
“None at all. I've never owned a cat. I've never even seen a cat before. What's a cat?”
“Stop being a sarcastic asshole and just tell me.”
Lance was slightly offended that Shiro had called him a sarcastic asshole already. Obviously it was true but it was just so soon. “No, I've never owned a cat or anything. My great aunt had a cat. I pet it once.”
“Well I think you'll grow to love them as much as I do,” Shiro said. Lance gave him a blank stare, and Shiro added, “Almost as much. How about you?” He looked to the girl.
She looked bored, “My name’s Pidge.”
“That can't be your real name.” Lance said. What was with all these weirdo names?
“Great observation. My real name’s Katie. Pidge is a nickname. Don't interrupt me.” She glared, her tone ice cold. Lance grimaced. Pidge rolled her eyes and continued, “I’m also in the community service group. I'm a programmer, hacker, whatever. I do have a cat but she hates me.” She shrugged. Lance stared at her. She was staring lazily at a painted orange cat on the wall behind Shiro.
“Thank you.” Shiro said with a smile and a nod. He looked to Keith. Keith stared back. Shiro cleared his throat and gestured to him. He continued to stare back. Finally Shiro snapped, “Keith! Introduce yourself!”
Keith glared. “You just did!”
Shiro clenched his jaw and glared back, “Keith, can you cooperate with me just once–”
“Fine! My name’s Keith, I like knives. This is my second time here.” He crossed his arms and glared pointedly at a cat toy on the floor.
Lance didn't add a comment this time. But he wasn't surprised in the least.
“Thank you, Keith. But I'm disappointed to see you here again.”
“And I'm disappointed to see you in that sweater.”
Lance snorted. Shit, the kid was cute and funny. Too bad he’ll probably be stabbed by the guy before the end of the day.
“Alright, well, now that we know everyone’s names,” Shiro clapped his hands together again, “Let’s move on. So I know caring for cats sounds easy but here we have over one hundred cats, all with illnesses, injuries, or behavioral problems. Daily duties include cleaning cages and delivering food, helping medicate cats who need medication, and socialization for the more… antisocial cats.” Shiro crossed his arms, “But most of your time will be spent taking care of your special cases.”
“Wait, special cases?” Pidge asked, “What's that?”
Shiro grinned like he was happy someone asked, “Well, it turns out we have four cats who have just come in who need some… tender love and care. Special one-on-one time. Amazingly there's four of you so, naturally, you’ll each be assigned to care for one of the cats while you're here.”
Oh, so he’ll be a nanny for a cat. Lance just couldn't wait. He rested his chin on his hands and tried to look as bored as possible.
“So, like, we’ll be in charge of taking care of one cat each?” Hunk asked, “Like… are we fostering them?”
“Yes, and you can take them home at night if you want.” Shiro said. Lance scoffed.
“Yeah, okay.”
Shiro rolled his eyes and continued, “I’ll bring out the cats now so you can meet them. Wait here,” he headed to the door, “And I’ll be able to hear you if you fight so behave.”
“I always behave.” Lance said, but Shiro was already gone out the door. Lance swiftly turned back to the group, head swivelling back and forth, “So what did you guys do? I know you did nothing, but what about you?” He waved off Hunk and landed his gaze on Pidge.
“Hacked into National Bank software and stole five percent from the each of their top ten wealthiest clients. Transferred the money to five different charities. The transfer didn't go through and the firewall found my bug, so I got caught, played it off like I was just some dumb kid fooling around on the computer. So they gave me community service.” She shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.
“Jesus Christ!” Lance breathed, “How much money was it?”
“Nearly a billion.”
“Fuck man. You're probably lucky it didn't go through or you'd be serving some serious time.”
“Not if I didn't get caught.” The girl said, crossing her arms. She nodded back to Lance, “What about you?”
Lance frowned, putting a hand on his chest, “Well now I'm embarrassed to say! I just got into a fight.”
“Really? That's it?” The girl laughed, “Did you lose?”
“What? Why would you assume I lost?”
“Because you're here, which means you got caught. Winners don't get caught.”
Lance swatted at her, “Doesn't matter who won, we all got caught anyways!”
“So you did lose, then.”
“Hey, why don't you shut up?” He crossed his arms, “Got into the wrong crowd. We were going out every night doing stupid shit. Usually just, I don't know, dumb stuff like knocking over mailboxes or graffiti or whatever. Sometimes we’d pick fights with other groups just to be pieces of shit. Usually won. This night someone called the cops and we got caught.”
“That's dumb,” Pidge said. Lance laughed.
“Yeah it was pretty dumb. Y’know, I didn't even like being with these guys. They were all assholes. I was just so bored at home, I guess I only wanted something to do.” He shrugged.
“I don't know if you can blame that on boredom. When I get bored I read a book or play a video game,” Hunk said.
“Yeah, well, that's because you're boring.” Lance said. He turned and smiled at Keith, “So what’d you do? Did you stab someone?”
“Don't fucking talk to me.” Keith growled. He glared at Lance, who raised his hands innocently.
“Hey, I'm just trying to be conversational, seeing as we're about to spend the next two months shovelling cat shit together.”
“What did I say about swearing?” Shiro appeared again in the doorway, this time carrying three cat carriers. Another was sitting in the hallway outside the door. Lance feigned innocence.
“I didn't swear, I was just repeating what Keith said. Really he swore, I was just saying what he said–”
“Lance, please,” Shiro crossed the room, giving Lance a look. He set the cat carriers down in front of the group, running back to fetch the fourth one. Lance could hear the cats inside. One, the one on the end, was freaking out. It's carrier was jostling with movement, and devil screams we're emanating from the tiny cat prison. Lance prayed that wasn't his cat.
“So, uh, do we get to pick or something?” Hunk asked.
“No, I've matched the cats with you based on your purrsonality.”
Keith groaned. “Never say that again.”
“I say it every time and I will continue to do so.” Shiro said. He kneeled next to the first carrier, “Alright, Hunk, you're up first. Your cat’s name is Rax.” He popped open the carrier and reached in. He didn't have to reach in far. He pulled out a white and orange cat. It was incredibly fat. Shiro pulled the cat out and set him down on the ground. The cat flopped over onto its side with its legs sticking out sideways. Lance thought for a moment it might have died.
“Oh.” Hunk stared at the cat, “He’s a big guy.”
"He weighs twenty three pounds. He… well, he likes to eat.”
“Really?” Lance gasped. Shiro ignored him.
“That's one thing you'll be helping Rax out with. But the real problem is he eats when he’s scared… which is just about all the time.” Indeed the cat was flopped on his side but his golden eyes were wide. “He's incredibly shy and anxious, and stress eats.”
Hunk raised his eyebrows. “You're right, it is just like me.” He scooted closer to the cat, offering his hand for a sniff before gently petting him. The whole time Rax didn't move at all.
Lance snorted, failing to contain his giggles. He then patted his knees. “C’mon, which one's mine!?”
“See, now you're getting excited,” Shiro grinned. He walked over to another carrier, opening the gate and pulling out a big gray shorthair. This cat looked normal enough aside from a nicked ear. It sneezed and started licking its paw, “This is Blue.”
“What kind of a name is Blue?” Lance frowned.
“It's her name,” Shiro said, “She’s a Russian Blue.”
“What is that, her clan name?”
“It's her breed, Lance.” Shiro huffed. “She was rescued from a river. She nearly drowned and now has a terrible fear of water.”
“Don't all cats hate water though?”
“Most do, yes. So it won't be too much of a problem. Just keep her away from sinks and never try to give her a bath. The only water you should show her is her drinking dish. But even then sometimes she gets anxious. She’s also currently suffering from pneumonia. She needs love and nurturing until she's healthy again.” Shiro picked up Blue and put her in Lance's lap. Lance grimaced and leaned away but Shiro was intent on making him socialize with this cat. She dug her claws into his leg for a moment upon landing, but then relaxed and stood on his crossed legs. She stood, the dumb cat wouldn't even sit. Lance put a hand on her back trying to push her down but she just raised her ass higher in the air.
“She’s broken,” Lance said.
“No, she just wants you to pet her.” Shiro said, sounding a bit like he was talking to an idiot child, “They raise their butts like that because it's a good spot for scratchies.” As he spoke he wiggled his fingers in the air like he was scratching a ghost cat. Lance squinted at him.
“Did you just say ‘scratchies’?”
“Yes, it's the technical term.” Shiro said. He was already moving onto the next crate. He glanced up to Pidge, “Pidge, this is your case. A very special case I thought would be perfect for you.”
“You barely know me?” Pidge said, but Shiro continued as if he hadn't heard her.
“This little guy is still just a kitten.” He reached into the carrier and gently pulled out a bundle of yellow blankets. Upon closer inspection, there was a tiny, fluffy kitten face among the folds of fabric. It was a calico, with orange, black, and white splotches all over his tiny body. His little eyes were closed; the teeny thing was sleeping.
“Hey, why didn't I get a cute kitten?” Lance cried, feeling a bit jealous. That little thing was adorable.
“They're all kitties here.” Shiro said. He handed the bundle to Pidge, who took it with wide eyes, “This little guy's name is Rover. He was found under the roots of a tree. He’s the only surviving member of his litter and most likely the runt. He’s quite sick… he’s a few weeks old but still needs to be bottle fed because he’s not eating enough.”
“Oh my god.” Pidge squeaked. She looked a bit like she might cry. Lance thought it was a bit awkward, “I’ll take care of him and love him forever.”
“What kind of a name is Rover for a cat?” Keith asked. Shiro gave him a look.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot there was a law stating cats can't be named Rover.”
Lance lowered his head and covered his mouth, trying to contain his laughter. Blue pushed her head into his and started doing a weird foot dance on his knee, “Hey, ow, stop it.” She was digging her claws into his kneecap and it kinda really fucking hurt.
“Awh, she likes you,” Hunk said, “She’s snurgling.”
“She's what.”
“Making bread.” Shiro grinned.
“She’s what?”
“Kneading,” Keith said with a huff. “They do that to make a spot more comfortable, or just when they're happy.” He rested his chin in his hand, peering over at the cat. Lance scoffed.
“Look at you, saying a whole sentence. You know this how?”
“Cats love Keith,” Shiro said, “They snurgle on him all the time!”
“And I've been here before and I'm not an idiot.” Keith grumbled.
“Actually, that brings me to our last case.” Shiro said, standing and heading back to the last crate. The cat inside wailed when he approached, and a single ginger paw shot out of the metal gate and started swiping at Shiro.
“Jesus.” Lance whistled, and looked back at Keith, grinning, “You're going to have fun.” Keith just exhaled loudly and crossed his arms, throwing in an eye roll for good measure.
“I figured since you're so good with cats, Keith, I’d assign you a special case.” Shiro said. He made no move to open the carrying crate, thank god.
“You said mine was a special case.” Pidge said, still holding Rover against her chest. Shiro nodded.
“They're both special in different ways. Keith, meet Sabre.”
“…Sabre.” Keith echoed flatly.
“Sabre Tooth.” Shiro said. The cat yowled so loud Rax rolled onto his feet and bolted away as fast as his short little legs would take him.
“Rax, no! Come back!” Hunk rolled to his feet and chased after him. He didn't have to go very far seeing as the fat cat only made it to the other side of the room. He was hiding behind a cat tower, presumably because he wouldn't fit in the tower.
“Sabre has some behavioural issues.” Shiro said.
“Hah! Just like you!” Lance said, pointing at the dark haired teen.
“Lance, stop.” Shiro said before Keith could say anything, “Sabre hasn't been responsive to any of our volunteers or even me. She’s a bit… aggressive. I want you to spend time with her and see if you can, uh, rehabilitate her.”
“Gee, thanks,” Keith deadpanned. He stared at the cat in her crate, attacking anything that came to close to her range, and even out of it. “I get the demon cat.”
“All four cats need to be ready and fit for adoption in time for our annual adoption fair in two months,” Shiro said, “I’m hoping with your help we can have four healthy and happy cats ready to find their furever homes.”
“The puns are killing me.” Lance said. Pidge nodded in agreement.
“Too bad.” Shiro replied.
“So that’s all we have to do, then? Take care of our cats?” Hunk asked.
“Yes, but it's not just simple ‘taking care’ of a cat. You need to rehabilitate them. Each of your cats have special needs that have to be attended to. It's an all day job. And when you're not spending time with your kitties, you'll be doing the other chores that need to be doing.”
Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. Lance stared at Blue. She had slate blue eyes that blinked back at him. Maybe she was kinda cute. Would be real nice if she would stop stabbing his leg, though.
“Alrighty, now that you've met your new best friends,” Shiro started, “I’ll give you a tour of the place. You can leave the cats in here. Except Sabre. She needs to go back into her cage. Keith, why don't you take her back, you already know the layout of this place. There are gardening gloves by her cage if you want to avoid getting scratched.”
“Great.” Keith droned.
"The rest of you can follow me!”