Samantha sat at the table, doing her homework like a good student should. Her eyebrows furrowed as she solved equation after equation. She hadn't gone to China's house today because she had quite a bit of work to do, and going there would only get her even more distracted.

Suddenly, her phone rang, and she paused her music and pulled out her earbuds. She reached over to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Wai? Oh, hello, Samantha!" China said cheerfully.

"Hey, Yào," she replied with a smile, "You don't usually call using a cellphone," she commented.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. Do you have any pets?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. I have a dog. I'm kind of doing my homework right now, so I couldn't come over. Sorry," she apologized.

"It's okay, aru. Can I come over?"

"Sure, why not?" The girl shrugged. "My parents aren't home. My dad's on a business trip and my mom's working overnight."

"So then you're living on your own for this week..." China muttered. "It's dangerous for such a young girl to be living alone, aru. You know what? I will come over and babysit you for this week!"

"What with you calling this babysitting? My parents don't know about you, and they're not supposed to," Samantha muttered.

"I'm still coming over, aru. And I will keep this babysitting business a secret!" he vowed. "I'm coming over right now!"

"All right, whatever you say," she said.

"Bye bye!" China hung up.

The teen sighed. "The stubborn little man doesn't know what he's gotten himself into..."

She put her phone down and continued to work. Her dog, Megan, padded around her feet. She pushed herself up against Samantha's chair, looking up at her. The girl ruffled the snowy dog's fur. She then got back down and waddled off somewhere else, leaving the girl to finish her math.

After around half an hour, Samantha finished up her homework, shuffling them into her folder. She then got out her notebook, the one that she usually used to draw.

She quickly finished up the drawing that she was currently working on for her project, the back of her hand stained black from the pencil lead. 5 down, 2 to go... she thought.

The doorbell rang, and Megan started barking wildly, knowing that someone was at the door. The fluffy dog bolted to the door, sniffing around. Samantha walked to the door, turning the knob and pulling it open.

Outside the door stood China, who wore his usual green military outfit. He carried his usual basket, but Panda wasn't inside. He smiled and waved. Megan ran up to him, jumping up and trying to reach him. He reached down and petted her head. The dog ran back in, her tail wagging happily.

"Welcome, to my humble abode," Samantha greeted sarcastically, stepping aside to let him in.

Yào took off his shoes before coming in, shutting the door behind him.

"I brought a little friend along with me today," he said, setting the basket down on a chair. The teen took a peek at the basket. A dark-furred cat was curled up and sleeping peacefully inside. It had some long fur running down its neck, almost like China's ponytail.

"Aww. He's kinda cute. What's his name?" Samantha asked, stroking the cat. It opened its amber eyes, looking up at her.

"His name is China-cat!" he replied happily. "All the other countries named their cats after themselves, and I decided to do it too, aru!"

"Interesting. You already know my dog's name, Megan." She gestured to her dog, who was still running around the apartment.

"Why is it so dark?" China asked, looking around the apartment.

"I don't really need them, since I was out here," Samantha suggested. "I think we should let them meet each other."

"But cats and dogs don't like each other," he replied, frowning.

"It wouldn't hurt to try," she said, smiling. "Please?"

"Okay, fine, but don't blame me if they end up fighting each other, aru," China answered, picking up his cat and placing him on the floor.

Samantha turned on the light as she led him to the couch, and they sat together as they watched Megan waddle over to sniff China-cat.

The dark cat sniffed her as well, and they looked at each other for a long time. Suddenly, China-cat let out a yowl. Megan started barking too. Samantha giggled.

"What did I tell you, aru?" China muttered, shaking his head in amusement. He went over and picked his cat up before he could claw Megan. Samantha's pet ran to her, and she picked up the white dog.

China-cat seemed to scoff and pout, turning away from her. He curled up on China's lap, nuzzling his hand. Her tail wagged, as if nothing had gone wrong. She licked Samantha's hand calmly.

China reached over and stroked Megan, and the dog went over to like his hand.

"She is very cute," he murmured.

"China-cat is too," Samantha replied.

Yào smiled. "I like babysitting you," he said out of the blue.

"It's not really babysitting...it's more like hanging out," she muttered.

"But I like calling it babysitting." China grinned. He put an arm around her and ruffled her hair.

"Hey, don't do that," the girl complained, fixing it back to its original state. She put Megan back down onto the floor. Yào put China-cat down too. They laughed and chatted as they watched their pets run around the apartment.

~~~~~~

Translations:

Wai? (Chinese ((Cantonese))): Hello? (You only use this when talking over the phone with someone, if you say it to someone face to face, it's...weird. And "Wai!" and "Wai?" are like totally different. Sometimes "Wai!" can be used to call someone far away to get their attention. Yeah...there are different meanings through the tones of the words.)