November 10

It was just after lunch when the call came in. They didn't quite know who it would be, especially since the code for Selina's comms wasn't that wide spread yet. It wasn't until a young voice spoke up that Dick remembered he had given Jason Selina's contact for emergencies. "Not sure if this is what you meant," he started off sounding rather unsure, "but some ginger fuck just crawled through the cat's window."

It shouldn't be a surprise that he was being only vaguely cryptic. Jason didn't strike them as a fool. Had it been somebody he knew he'd found a way to tell them without passersby figuring it out.

Having some idea of who it might be, Selina opted to go check it out on her own. She hadn't had some time with her furry darlings in a few Manor-locked days anyway so it was about time for some cat time. Bruce offered to come check once it was time for patrol, but that was shut down.

Getting dressed for the outside world and actually getting to her place wasn't too difficult. Though it did feel like a breath of fresh air every time any of them crossed outside the boundaries of their little time bubble. Feeling and seeing time pass by were two entirely different things. It made one appreciate the little moments a lot more. But it also made certain hyperfixating habits more rigid as the passage of time was less noticeable.

Her boys, with some minor yet oddly helpful insight from James, having worked their way to solving 8 cold cases by now should have been warning enough that going outside every now and again might be for the better.

Getting closer to her building, she could hear the distinct sound of her cat hairdryer going. Having her assumptions pretty much confirmed, she didn't bother scaling the walls. Checking the front door, she picked up some mail that had arrived before making her way inside.

Instantly, the boy inside tensed up substantially before forcing his muscles to relax more as he blow-dried his mini-me. Still wet from the bath he undoubtably had, Cheddy happily tried to face-bump his way into getting some extra attention. As if getting blow dried and brushed wasn't attention enough.

Wally squeezed his eye shut, trying to avoid getting Cheddy's shedding fur into his eye as damp headbutts were far from over. "Cheddy, stawp." He groaned as he tried to get the orange fluffball back into a good position. "You just had a bath, I can and will give you another if you don't let me dry you properly." The boy complained, eyes darting up for just a second to see where Selina was roaming.

Weaving between her cuties, she made her way over to the kitchen. Throwing down the letters, she set to filling up the food bowls first while doing a headcount. Most of her regulars were there, a few new faces, a few known visitors. Nothing she wasn't used to. The colder months brought more visitors than warmer ones, and this year was turning out to be quite the early chill kind. It wouldn't be until well into spring that she would truly get a feel on if any of the new faces would become a more permanent resident or not.

But those were tallies to take later, when she didn't have orange and orange fighting for a shared braincell on her living room floor.

Baring his teeth, Cheddy mimicked Wally. Sitting still for once, he let his teeth get brushed. "You were a stinky boy, Cheddy." Wally mumbled softly, just loud enough for Selina to hear. "Stinky, stinky boy. Desperately needing a bath." Cheddy simply purred, scolding going right over his head as he enjoyed the pampering.

Feeling eyes track her every movement, Selina tried to pay him no mind as she went about the regular maintenance of her things. "Gotta be nice and clean when around others, Cheddy. It's not nice to be a little stinky dude. The others won't wanna hang out if you don't clean up." She heard him mumble in that distinct 'not talking about the cat' tone she had come to know all too well. "Stinky boys don't get to hang out with friends-"

"Wally," she sighed somewhat frustrated, fully ready to tell him to zip it and shut down whatever spiral the boy was going down. Turning to the teen however, she found the rest of her sentence caught in her throat. Shrimping over Cheddy, in what had to be the worst posture for cat grooming she had ever seen, sat Wally. Scissors pausing their snips, he looked up with big, scared eyes. Between blotches of rubbed off make-up peeked out a pretty nasty looking bruise on the boy's cheek. Dark circles creeping out under the harsh angle the overhead light hit his face.

Softening her expression, she walked over to the other side of the coffee table. Still an ends away from Wally and Cheddy but closer.

Wally's brow cautiously furrowed at her shift in demeanor. Functioning braincells half eaten by Cheddy shoving a paw to his chin. Trying to move it out of the way only resulted in said fluffy extremity hitting him further up the face. Wincing as it hit right on the half covered bruise, Wally froze. Pulling out his phone to check, he forced his muscles to relax once more as he laughed off Selina's concern.

"Oh, that." He looked back down at Cheddy, getting a good grip on his paw as he continued snipping away at the fur between toe beans. "Slipped when I got out of the shower earlier. Didn't want anybody to worry." Shrugging without moving his hands, he meticulously carved out the channels between each toe bean. Cheddy didn't even seem to register what was going on, simply enjoying the upside down time in Wally's lap.

The bruise looked a lot worse than a usual slip and tumble, but that would be assuming he got out at a normal human's speed. Given Wally's tendency to rush through the mundane, it wouldn't be out of the question for him to have tried and fail to rush through drying off and getting dressed. "It's fine," he waved off any lingering concern. "Give it a day or two and it'll be gone." He reassured, putting the scissors down before getting out the toe bean balm and massaging Cheddy's beans.

"But that's why we're cutting away your fluff, isn't that right, Cheddy." He cooed at Cheddy's blank stare. Not a single thought passing between those wrinkles as he just stared at his boy with big blown eyes. "No fluff means less slipping and I don't want you getting hurt too." The sincerity in his voice made Selina shelve away the earlier worry.

With that out of the way, she still had to deal with the boy coming over in the first place. With a little bit of subtle prompting, she finally got Wally to take a break from doting on Cheddy. "I just..." he sighed, watching Cheddy try to find a comfortable spot to kneed while he just kept slipping off of his sweatshirt. Maybe he used a little bit too much cat conditioner as Cheddy failed to get any grip. But he still looked adorable and was so much cleaner than before.

Wally helped Cheddy by supporting his fluffy butt. "You said 'any and all activities' and I tried texting and calling Dick but he isn't answering and I don't know what that means because it's my birthday tomorrow and we always celebrate birthdays together, that's like our thing you know. But I don't know if that falls within the activities he's not doing and I tried asking but I don't know if he blocked or muted me or what but I just wanted to know if I should prepare for him not being there or if he'll still come because I really don't want to have my hopes up if it does fall in those not done activities but nobody is telling me anything because Barry didn't want to ask for me either. So I figured I could ask you but then realized I don't exactly have your number and asking Bruce really doesn't seem like a good idea right now so I just ran over to check if you were home but you weren't and then Cheddy was just such a messy boy I figured he could use a bath and well then you got here and I didn't really know how to ask and-"

"Wally." Selina said calmly but sternly. "Breathe." The simple instruction shortcut the ginger's brain. Taking a few seconds too long for her liking, Wally finally took a big breath. Lungs expanding enough Cheddy almost rolled over the supporting arm keeping him in place, Wally breathed out again. "Good." Selina praised warmly, "You wanna try that again?"

Wally stared at her for a second before realizing he had rambled his way into speed speech. With a blush strong enough to try and mask his freckles, Wally looked down. "'Not participating in any activities', birthday tomorrow, no answer, confused, help?" He tried, desperately attempting to avoid another ramble and having to repeat himself a third time.

Selina sighed, leaning back as cats jumped out of the way and into a new comfy spot around her. "Phones and communicators are currently in Alfred's shelf. Doc's orders to heal in peace, as much as solving cold cases out of boredom counts as peace." She bit her cheek about the added issue that the time bubble created. It was a wonder the call went through the way it did, but everything else would make things a bit too obvious if texts would come in the same second a message was sent.

But maybe completely being out of reach had it's unforeseen downsides.

"As for your birthday," Wally immediately perked up at the mention, hope flooding his veins. Selina felt bad for being the bringer of news. "I can ask him if he wants to go, but you have to know if he goes, so does Phantom. It's both or neither." She expected the sagging shoulders and deflated look Wally took on.

"Selina," he breathed out. He sounded so small, so out of energy for somebody that was the human equivalent of the Olympics. "I don't care. I just want my best friend back." Wally's breath hung heavy, coming out in waves as he fought to keep his own emotions in check. "We haven't hung out outside of missions in a month, Sel. It's not like I can just ask to come over like usual anymore, but outside of mandatory Team things he keeps himself locked up in the Manor. And now even that might get taken away too."

Selina let Cheddy handle the comforting. Wally never really liked being approached without seeking it out first, so her hands were tied for the moment. Fighting down what he didn't want to face right now, Wally gently lifted Cheddy up before getting up himself. Giving his furball an extra long squeeze, he crouched down to let Cheddy flop on the ground. The connection between cuddles and needing to stand not quite made before he touched the ground.

Digging through his pocket, Wally tried to hide a sniffle as he put some money on the table between them. "For Cheddy." Crumpled bills and a few coins totaling to just over 200 dollars laid confusing Selina.

"Wally, you know you don't need to pay me for taking care of Cheddy."

Wally shrugged, pulling on his shoes again. "It feels wrong not to," was all she managed to get out of him as he pulled up his hood. With his face hidden in the fabric, it just made his tense stance all the more obvious. He clearly didn't come here to talk too much, trying to force anything would just make him run faster. Hell, it was a miracle he hasn't just sped out of the appartement already.

"You know," she tried stalling, catching Cheddy as he tried to follow Wally to the window. "You could take Cheddy home and avoid that feeling. He misses you every time you leave." It was a song and dance they did every time Wally came over to Selina's. And every time like clockwork he'd give the same reply.

"I would, but my dad really doesn't like pets."

Ignoring Cheddy's cries, Wally jumped out the window and vanished from sight. Keeping the orange chonk in her arms, she tried to comfort Cheddy through being left behind once more. The poor orange pumpkin of a cat wallowed in her arms, face pressed into her shoulder as he softly yowled if she moved too fast.

Moving carefully, she set to finishing up her cleaning. Though it took a bit more effort with only one arm available, it wasn't impossible. Comforting Cheddy was worth the extra minutes spent on mundane tasks. Rather cleaning a bit longer than Cheddy refusing to eat again. The poor little pumpkin did always struggle with being alone after Wally leaves.

Getting all pillows dehaired and blankets run through the wash was a bit more of a struggle, but Cheddy accepted getting zipped into her hoodie so she'd have a bit more movement. At this rate she could just invest in a baby wrap to just strap Cheddy or other needy fur babies to her, but the possibility of Bruce getting a heart attack from the purchase was a bit too high.

Maybe after things calm down and felt a bit more normal.

But normal never existed in this odd little household of theirs. She had only just managed to settle on the couch when a new face came through the open window. Cheddy didn't agree with more moving around, but the new little dumpling didn't come alone.

Softly grunting as he scaled the wall without obvious use of powers, Conner's head popped up over the windowsill. The two new dumpling's awkwardly stayed in their spots, waiting for her to react. Two pairs of innocent blues watched her walk over. "A little far from home, are we?" She chuckled as she watched Conner shift uncomfortably.

Taking a seat on the bench in front of the window, she leaned onto her elbow as Cheddy and the new little dumpling checked each other out. They were friendly enough to not show any direct aggression, so that was already a good sign. Unfortunately, the bigger dumpling was pretty shy as he made no attempt to move from his perch. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" She tried to help out.

Conner awkwardly adjusted his grip as he shifted nervously. "Canary said we should try to reach out, but Wally said they're not answering their phones so..."

"So you thought I'd do it for you?" She purred, trying to not be too hard on the boy but still wanting to make him sweat just a little. She did work a little too hard for her reputation to crumble just because of her two darlings taking center stage. "Why not ask Canary to play delivery gal?"

Conner's ears burned as he tried to balance with one hand while rustling in his pocket. "I didn't think she'd help. They've been getting into fights with her and I didn't want-" Conner cut himself off, not really sure what he actually wanted to achieve beyond not asking Canary for help on this particular thing. "They like you, so I thought maybe you would be better to ask."

He handed her the little folded up paper, face burning as bright as the symbol on his shirt as she slowly read it over. "I was hoping you'd be able to help write an answer? And give it to them." Luckily for him, the cat's fluffy tail fell in front of his face and blocked him from view. The lovely aromas of petrichor and wet trash assaulted his nose as he dared breathe too deeply.

He could hear Selina hum as she thought over her answer. The seconds feeling like hours as stress filled his every fiber. "And how, exactly, did you find this place?" He wasn't sure if she meant to sound so intimidating, but she sure did.

It wasn't like Selina's place was a well known thing. Only a handful of non-friends and the locals were aware of it. This confused dumpling was neither of those. It wouldn't be out of the question for Wally to have told him, but something about him dangling there said otherwise.

"I thought I could just listen for cats or something but didn't know Gotham had so many." Conner mumbled as he tried to hide his face and escape the not so enjoyable smell of the cat. The soft earthy moss smell of the stone windowsill was quite a bit better. "Asked somebody on the street and they said 'ask the cats'. So I asked this one and it took me here."

He could hear her chuckle before the bench stretched and breathed as she walked away from the window. He could hear a little thud follow behind her, but didn't dare lift his head. "You know you can come inside, right?" He heard her call over before laughing under her breath. "Unless you'd rather dangle there all afternoon."

"Right." Conner breathed out some of the adrenaline pumping through him. Pushing himself up and into the opened window, he stilled once more as he looked around. The apartment seemed freshly cleaned, and his boots were anything but. Opting to take them off, he shuffled over to the couch where the cat was already waiting.

Selina paused, not quite wanting to start quite yet. Zipping open her hoodie, she took out Cheddy, much to the poor pumpkin's dismay. Setting him onto the couch between his fluffy friends, she kissed his head. "Only for a little bit, Cheddy." Standing back up, she turned to Conner and his little dumpling. "Well then." She walked over, carefully testing out of the little dumpling was good with being handled.

Shying away from her touch, they hid behind Conner. Smiling at the pair, she held up her hands in mock surrender. "Seems like you'll have to carry them." Turning on her heel, she started making her way to the bathroom. Confusedly Conner picked up the walking ball of lint and followed her.

Never in his 8 months of existence had he thought he'd have to wrestle a sopping wet, screaming cat just to get her bathed. Even Selina struggled as she could only guide Conner through the steps as her bathroom was not made for two people fighting to keep a wriggly cat contained. Well, less contained as her main problem seemed to be having too many hands on her. Even more reasons Conner had to be guided through the bathing routine.

At least this little dumpling didn't use her murder mittens like Nanaki and Shiro do, so that was one positive.

She didn't seem to mind too much after they figured manhandling her wasn't the best choice. So long as the water was kept running, of course. Her beautiful song of dismay graced their ears the entire time but it was worth getting rid of the layers upon layers of gunk stuck to her fur.

The water nearly matched her dark toasted fur, needing something stronger than the pet shampoos Selina had on hand. Calling it quits, the little dumpling only needed a few small mats cut out before she was wrapped up in a towel and put back into Conner's arms.

The fight with the hairdryer was not something either of them wanted to test out right now.

Making some tea for the two, she let Conner feed the poor baby a tubed treat. Though she seemed rather grumpy at the manhandling, she happily licked at her reward. Following a hunch, she picked out a few cookies Alfred had given her before leaving as well. Plating the tea and cookies she walked back over to the couch.

Or rather, the coffee table in front of the couch. Cheddy had amassed a cuddle pile to nest in so a good portion was just filled with cats. Never the less, she had enough spare pillows from a certain boy refusing to sit on the couch as well to make them both comfortable.

Well, about as comfortable as one could be when trying to do something outside of their comfort zone.

Conner had never tried to answer a letter before. Hell, he was barely a texter to begin with. He mostly just read through team chats and left it at that unless they asked him something directly. Answering something that wasn't even required to get a response was entirely something new. But a something he wanted to do.

His new friend seemed to be quite willing to help too, if that is what she was doing. She had refused to get up from her towel wrapped bliss when Selina tried to test how she would respond to blow-drying her fur. She even dug her nails into Conner's clothes to make her point. After Selina gave up, she just kept kneading the parts where her nails had ripped through his shirt. Purring as she did, it was a welcome distraction from the headache that was picking the right words.

If something such as the right words even existed. Conner sure didn't know but Selina promised it was good and that he'd get the hang of it eventually.

It's not like what he was trying to say was too hard either. Just a thank you for the gift and even slipping in a question about cookies so Robin wouldn't know Phantom gave him some. If anything, that had to have been the hardest part. Beyond what M'gann made, Conner didn't have the faintest idea about cookies and the different types.

He tried to keep it as casual as possible too. He asked Selina for another reason he'd never want to admit out loud, but he didn't want the League all up in his business. They had oversight over every aspect of his life. Even school wasn't without supervision as they were the ones to send him there in the first place.

For once, he just wanted do to something on his own. And Selina was clearly not as willing to share things with others as Canary or any of the other mentors seemed. Well, except for Batman, but he's Batman. That automatically disqualified him from even thinking of asking for help on something as dumb as a note to his sons.

Still, asking Selina didn't come without its own risks. Being in Gotham for this long, especially without checking in first was starting to put him on edge. Batman was always very clear on not liking other heroes in his city without at least a heads up. The one time he allowed the team in for training, they messed up against that stupid mud guy! Reasons enough to not come back.

But another reason would be, well, everything that happened with Phantom the past few weeks. He looked to be doing a lot better than the previous time they saw him, but that meant nothing. He looked 'fine' before too, yet still wasn't given a clean bill of health. Something in him told him he couldn't assume anything about Phantom just by looking at the kid. They've done more than enough of that and look where that got them.

Which brought him back to his note. There wasn't much he could say, ask, think of doing. How does one go about these kinds of things? 'Do you want to come over and punch things?' Yeah right, that would go over so well. Plus, they have Batman money. There's no way they didn't have everything they already wanted. There wasn't much to do in Happy Harbor either, but they weren't exactly allowed outside either if he understood things correctly. Doing something in Gotham also felt off the table because that would probably involve Batman.

Conner looked up when Selina pushed a pair of sweats his direction. "She got you pretty well, and it's getting cold out." She smiled, encouraging him to take the clothes. Whether it was to make him actually blend in or something else was beyond him.

Blinking hard, Conner ran his hand over the offered clothes. They were so soft, well taken care of. So clearly not hers or either birdie's. Conner could hear the intense sniffing of his lap warmer as she inspected the clothes for herself. Lifting them up above his head, the furball on a mission tried to climb up his chest to reach them once more, only managing to create more tears as she did.

Helplessly he looked over to Selina, finding her looking at the two with an expression he couldn't put to words. "Seems like she likes you." She commented with that same tone he didn't quite know. Luckily, or not, she shifted to something more recognizable. With a small smirk, she propped her chin up. "So, what do you want to call her?"

Conner blinked. Name her? He was sure she was one of Selina's. How else would she have known where to take him when he asked?! Weren't all Gotham cats hers? Why else would she be the cat lady everybody and their grandma knew about?

Selina could see the cogs in Conner's brain working overtime as he tried to think of something. The wrinkle in his nose as the little dumpling kept waving her tail in his face gave her absolutely no reassurance given his previous naming attempts. Trying to damage control the moment he opened his mouth, she cut him off. "Don't you dare call her something literal. Again." Her warning served well as Conner's mouth clicked shut.

Trying to salvage the situation, Conner picked up the little dumpling and got her out of his face. "No." He scoffed nervously, not quite sure how to carry a cat as large as this one. Thinking hard, he faked confidence as he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "It's Shminky." Throwing in a hard nod to cement his choice, he felt pride wash over him as Selina relaxed.

"That'll do, I suppose," her smile conflicted with the slight discontent in her tone. "Better than the alternative." She winked at him, causing another deep blush to creep up.

Maybe there really was some merit to her and Batman being together. She seemed to have the same mind reading ability Batman had but never admitted to. Did that mean Robin and Phantom have it too? Was weird mind reading hereditary or just a coincidence?

Conner wasn't quite sure if he wanted to know.

With a bit more physical encouragement, Conner stepped into the bathroom to get changed into not torn up clothes. But not before Selina managed to snag a picture to show Alfred later. Bruce may have told her not to intervene with Conner's situation too much, but she had no influence over him coming over on his own.

Given her track record with lost souls finding a new home around these parts of town, it would help the old man relax about the boy's wellbeing as well.

Selina took the time to clean up the discarded papers as well as the now finished plates. It didn't take too long for Conner to come back out looking all cozy and fluffed up in the slightly oversized set.

Bruce didn't wear all his clothes anyway. What harm was giving an unused set to a boy who clearly needed something more relaxing than the one set of clothes he wore for every occasion?

Maybe she could get to take him out shopping in the morning. "You could stay the night, if you want." She casually offered, pointedly not looking over to him as she continued with the dishes and other random clutter in the kitchen. If she managed to get him to stay, it would only benefit him more.

Daring to look up for just a second, she saw him staring out the window. "I- Batman doesn't know I'm here. Probably shouldn't overstay my welcome." Well, that was to be expected. It was getting quite dark out, Bat patrolling hours creeping closer.

Not wanting to put any pressure on the boy, she relented. Packing up a bag of essentials, she explained some of the basic things of cat care to him. "If you have any questions, you can always call or come over again. My door, well window, is always open." She scribbled her comms code and personal phone number on a note and packed it into the bag as well.

Helping Conner put on the backpack without disturbing Shminky's comfortable spot, she made sure the straps were laying flat and his hood was up before letting him be on his way once again.

Smiling to herself, she sent the pic she took earlier over to Alfred with a small update to reassure she did not need any broom-wielding assistance related to her previous little visitor. Within seconds she already received an image back. Danny and Dick were heavy in discussion, arms blurring at the movement as they radiated nothing but pure chaos.

"I fear the young masters are already on board and planning their next move."

art by me, first posted to tumblr on december 17th 2025