[ side by side verse ]
Eames wasn't old enough to entirely understand that his mother was putting all of her effort into him and his siblings. All he knew was that once, he'd had a father; the scent still very bright in his mind of how his father had smelled, and memories of orange tabby ears like his own
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She had also gotten the times mixed up for when Arthur could get there with his old pre-school back in America. So, he would end up being later than she had wanted him to be for his first day. Having to take a cab didn't help, either, with the traffic being so bad.
So, by the time they got to where Arthur needed to be, his poor mother (a young Calico) was flustered and had an armful of tiny black kitten, face pressed into her neck, black tail wrapped around her forearm, and a small hand gripping her coat tightly.
He was a bit nervous and wasn't looking forward to being teased for his small size (like he had been at his previous pre-school).
The teacher seemed nice enough but Arthur wasn't wanting to get down out of his mother's arms. Allison had to kneel and gently pull him off of her and set him down to stand on his own two feet. She whispered her love to him and kissed his nose and forehead (even though he wiped at both, making a disapproving noise at both to which Allison stuck her tongue out at him and told him to stop being grumpy).
However, when she left, Arthur stayed where she had set him down, small shoulders slumping and small ears drooping as he continued to watch the door for a moment - knowing she wouldn't come back - before slowly turning some and sitting down in that same spot, messing with the fur at the tip of his tail.
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All he knew is he had watched the entire procession with perked ears, his tail swishing back and forth, and then stopping when the little black kitten looked so distraught at his mother leaving.
He could already see other kittens looking at Arthur (and Sammy's murmured comment of "so tiny"), so he gathered up his ball of string (it already half unraveled) and stood.
Eames even at this young age was a stocky child, though it hid mostly under what some would call baby fat, and so on his little legs he had gone over to the other kitten. Uncaring and unconscious of the fact that he didn't know him, he ended up plopping in front of Arthur with a wide smile stretching his face.
"Hullo!" he said cheerily, string ball still in hand and trailing behind him. His ears were perked up, his tail twitching at the tip. "You're new, aren't you?"
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He had been so focused on that that he hadn't noticed the approach of another kitten. Not until he had sat down in front of Arthur and the black kitten looked up, eyes wide and ears going a little flatter, gripping his tail tighter.
He started for a moment before nodding slowly and silently, warily watching the other kitten, suspicious.
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"I've been here for a while," he said instead, turning to half drag, half play with the string until it was all sitting in his lap. "Don't worry, your mum will come back, mine always does," he beamed at Arthur.
"Do you like string?"
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Although the ball of string did catch his attention and his eyes went to it was the other kitten played with it.
But at the question his ears twitched and he looked away, back towards the door, and shrugged. Arthur's favorite toy had been a large tassel belonging to a curtain he had grabbed one day in a store and his mother hadn't been able to pry it from him.
He couldn't remember having had the chance to play with string before (even as he could vaguely remember a bedtime story he had been read about a princess using a ball of magic string to help her as she went into a cave where goblins were suppose to be).
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"I know it's not fancy but it's fun!" he says with an encouraging tone, wanting Arthur to look at him again - wanting the attention, without knowing why. And he had seen Arthur look at it, so clearly that was invitation to play together, yes?
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There had been one time back at his old pre-school where a kid had offered to share a toy with him only to jerk it out of Arthur's smaller hands and laugh in his face, telling him he was "too stupid" to play with this toy.
That wasn't an experience the black kitten would soon forget.
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His ears fluttered as he attempted a noise, probably a playful growl, that was more of a squeak when he tried it, his whole body vibrating with playful energy.
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Maybe this kitten really did want to play with him... He flicked his ears again, letting go of his tail before reaching hesitantly to grab the ball of string. He held it in his small hands before tossing it up a little and letting it fall back down, keeping a hold of the loose strands he had managed to grab a hold of.
The ball of string, however, ended up falling onto the orange tabby's head and caused him to let out another squeak and Arthur pressed his hands to his mouth (full of string and all) to his mouth to stop him from laughing, his tail curling from the effort.
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He looked up to Arthur and pouted. "That hurt," he said, but the smile that wormed it's way onto his face made it clear that he didn't hold it against Arthur. "Be careful!" Instead, he let one leg come up to nudge the ball back over to Arthur, before he went grabbing at another bunch of string, now on his side.
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He threw some strands at the other kitten and then some ended up on his ears, making them flutter as he rolled on his back, making his own little squeak at that and tried to keep a hold of the ball as it rolled off of him.
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He made a happy squeaking noise when the strands were thrown to him, reaching up with both hands to tug them closer and then roll over with it. It meant that the ball rolled towards him, and when it nudged his tail he whisked it backwards.
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This was the first time Arthur could actually remember playing with someone his own age and actually having fun and ignoring the rest of the room around them. If other kittens stared, Arthur didn't notice it, just that he was going to roll with the ball of string some more.
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Of course he caught more string than Arthur, though, and he ended up laughing as he tugged on it, getting it wrapped around his tail.
Some kittens were looking at them, others were ignoring them to play with their friends. Sammy and Will were content with their own string.
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It was like all he had needed was the chance to get to play and once he did, the rest fell naturally into place.
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He tossed some of the strings he was holding at Arthur before he pounced for the ball, ending up on his belly again as he grasped for it.
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