After ten minutes of walking, Loki had clutched onto my leg, "Humannn, please let me sit in your hood."
He whined at me, "I'm not used to walking this long of a distance, my paws are getting sore, and I'm even more hungry now."
Sighing, I scooped him up, pulled open my hood, and dropped him in.
Peeking his head out and resting it on my shoulder, he nudged my back, "Okay, let's continue to the shop. Onward, human," before popping his furry head back into my hood.
"I have a name, you know. It's Alice, stop calling me human. Would you like it if I kept on calling you cat instead of Loki?" I grumbled at him.
Peeking his eyes out, he muttered, "I don't really care, but I'll stop calling you human if it bothers you that much."
"Thank you. Oh look, we're almost at the pet shop."
"Finally, I can get some food," he sighed dreamily near my ear.
As we walked into the shop, he sniffed the air and scrunched his little nose, "This place smells...interesting."
Walking over to the cat aisle, I asked the worker who was conveniently replenishing the aisle, "Um, good morning, do you know what cat food cats usually prefer?"
He looked up and shoved his thick, black-framed glasses up his nose, "According to what most people buy, they seem to like wet cat food more. I've even heard some people feed their cat dried fish because they like to gnaw on it. Some cat owners like to give their cats dry food most days and save the wet food for the end of the week or rotate one week this, one week that. Does that answer your question?"
"Yeah, thanks for the information. Have a nice day."
Turning away from the employee, I nudged Loki with my shoulder, and whispered, "Wanna try dried fish?"
Popping his little head out of my hood, he told me, "I don't know, dried fish might be a little...too pungent for you. You will probably have to air out your room every time I eat it."
"Right," I squatted down and picked up a can of wet cat food, "How about we buy both wet and dry cat food? You can try it when we get home and then tell me which kind you like. Or if you like both we can do what that employee said, this week wet and next week dry."
"Hmm, sounds good to me. We can also buy different brands to see which ones I like more," he suggested.
I reached over my shoulder and patted his head, "Yeah, but we'll only buy more food once you finish the food that has been bought. No wasting money."
"Yes, yes, I know," he grumbled, "Can we hurry up and buy the food now? I'm hungry."
Pointing at the cans and bags of food, I asked him, "So which ones do you think would taste better?"
Stretching his neck, he leaned over my shoulder, "Let me smell it. Then I'll know."
Picking up a bag of dry cat food, I placed it near his little nose, he pawed at my shoulder, "This one, this one. I want this one. Gimme this one."
"Okay I get it, you want this one. Time for the wet cat food, how are you going to smell those? They're in metal cans."
"Let's just pick the ones that look like they would taste good."
"Okie dokie, how about that blue one with the tuna on it?"
"Sounds good to me, grab two of those."
After picking the cat food, I walked over to the checkout counter and paid for the cat food. The employee that bagged the stuff asked, "Do you have a cat inside your hood?"
"Yep, I have a cat inside my hood. He likes to go everywhere with me but won't go in his cat carrier, so this is how we do it."
The employee nodded slowly, "Oh, that's nice. Just be careful, your hood might rip or it might choke you."
Smiling, I nodded, "Thank you for your concern, have a nice day, ma'am."
"You too."
As I was walking out of the store, I asked Loki, "Do you want to walk by yourself now?"
"No, why would I want to when I can get a free ride?"
Poking his butt, or at least what I assumed was his butt, "Lazy cat, you're going to get fat."
"But I would still be cute. Move faster, I want food."
I rolled my eyes, "Lazy, annoying cat," then I muttered, "I will be able to add fat in a few weeks."
He reached out of my hood and swatted the back of my head with his paw, "Shut it you, damn human."
"Stop hitting me, or else you won't get any food, the more you injure me the less food you'll get."
Loki hissed at me, "Noooo, don't you dare take away my food!"
Reaching over my shoulder yet again, I patted his head, "Then be a good boy."
Ducking his head back into the hood, he muttered something that sounded suspiciously similar to, "Damn this annoying human, if only I wasn't stuck in this body I would have made this brat pay…"
What did he mean by 'stuck in this body'? Was he something else before he was a cat? Even if he had been something else, what would he have been? A human? Or another type of animal perhaps?
The cat inside my hood patted my shoulder, "Hey, I've got a question. How am I going to eat the food? Last time I checked, you didn't get me a food bowl, nor a water bowl."
"Well, you can just eat out of the can and as for the water, you're going to be going everywhere with me anyway. I can just stop by at the restrooms and give you water in between classes."
"Great, now hurry home, I'm dying of starvation here. We're going to the pet shop again after you finish your classes right? To get the rest of my things?"
"Yep," I answered as I walked into the building.
After giving Loki his food, I grabbed my backpack, unzipped it, and waited for him to finish eating his cat food.
After he finished, he jumped into my open backpack, "Okay, I'm done, let's go."
I zipped the backpack up, and left a big enough hole for Loki, "Are you okay in there?"
"It's a little cramped in here, but it's fine."
"Great, when I need something from the backpack, make sure not to accidentally stick your head out."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
And so, I left for class with a black cat that somehow fit inside my backpack. I sincerely hope he does not get crushed inside of there.