Unconditional

Chapter 13

Oh, where are they?

A gentle nudge against my bottom left me startled, my mouth gaping as I stumbled out of my previous squatting position and onto my shins. My knees hit the hard, wooden floors with a dull thud as I reached my neck behind myself to see what had thrown me off balance.

"Wha-" I managed out before letting out a small giggle.

My eyes quickly found the culprit of the previous attack as its furry form sauntered closer. Two long-haired, white paws found my side as they extended themselves out on me. The claws of this beautiful cotton-like cat contracted and retracted against my hip as it arched its back with a good stretch.

With a small wince, I held my gaze on the cat as it released itself. The fluffy creature sat expectantly in place, its blue feline eyes staring back at me.

"Mal," I called.

Shoes smacking against the hardwood radiated into my ears as he appeared beside me.

"Aruna,"

His mirrored response, the simple word muttered of my name, sent a rush through me as my heart rate increased.

"You mind doing me a favor? This one looks like it really wants a treat," rummaging through my purse, I continued, "I believe it's a dollar or something to get some treats at that vending machine so take this." Finding the pocket I had placed the money, I grabbed out some ones to hand to Mal before stopping as his hand appeared near my face.

"Hm, you mean these?" His olive-toned hand reached out, holding a packet of treats in green foiled wrapping.

The crinkling sound as it was moved caused the cat to stand alert, its pupils widening in excitement.

"What? When did you get those?" Chuckling, I shifted my gaze to Mal's face as I took notice of his proud smirk resting across his lips. What a fine look for that boy.

A loud, high-pitched meow left the cat's mouth as it pawed at my Malikai's leg.

"You better take these or this kitty here will be more interested in me than you" Malikai teased as he lowered his eyes at me, a playful look behind those jade gems of his.

As I thanked Mal, I reached my hand and swiped the green bag from his open palm. With a small fuss of trying to pull the bagged treats apart, a pop sounded as it finally opened. The smelly fish/chicken byproducts came charging into my nostrils as I picked a treat out. My nose shriveled at the stench while reaching my hand out to the cat.

The white fluffy feline came closer, light meows of excitement escaping as it saw my hand. Stumbling near, the cat swiftly bit the treat out of my hand and happily ate the crunchy delicacy.

With the event of one of the cats being fed treats, this seemed to alert the rest as more than six different cats came poking their heads out, others running straight towards the action. I watched as the different types of cats came into view, some short-haired, others long. Many different breeds, notably a Calico, Siamese, Persian, and Maine Coon just to name a few I noticed.

"Here, you wanna feed some of those?" I asked reaching to hand him the bag.

Shaking his head, Mal pulled out another similar bag with purple foil wrapping from his pocket.

"I came prepared babe,"

Laughing, I questioned, "When did you get them? I didn't even notice,"

"That's because you were so focused on finding a cat when you came in. I, my love, was simply playing chess while you were playing checkers. Look at the army we have summoned with these foil bags." The same, previously proud look sat plastered across his face as he began opening a bag of his own.