Mariko's Birdie

Mariko's Birdie will be the fourteenth and final chapter in Season 2 of The Two Cats, and the twenty-sixth chapter overall. It features the introduction of Expi and Mariko's pet parrot, Percy.

Lonely Mariko
Expi becomes concerned with Mariko feeling lonely and depressed while she's at work, and decides to talk to her about it after getting back from work one night. She wonders if moving to Anibi was a bad idea - backed by the idea that Mariko would still have her parents and Expi wouldn't have to work so much - but when asked, Mariko denies this, indicating that she enjoys the freedom of having their own place. Expi then asks if Mariko would like a companion of some sort, even so much as a pet, which Mariko also declines. Still, Expi continues to think about the idea of having a pet for Mariko to take care of while she's at work.

Percy the Parrot
That evening, Expi gets on her computer and searches for pets nearby to get some ideas, in which she settles on a parrot. However, before ordering anything online, she decides to go into the pet shop the next day, and after looking at all the different animals, runs into a green parrot that she decides to adopt. She comes home with the parrot and surprises Mariko, however Mariko is unhappy about this, due to telling Expi she didn't need to worry about her and voicing concerns about the responsibility and cost of adopting and raising a pet bird. Expi encourages her to give this a chance, which Mariko reluctantly agrees to.

The first night with him doesn't go so well, however. While Expi and Mariko are watching the season premiere of Battling on the Earth, the parrot begins squawking repeatedly throughout the rest of the evening and night, eventually leading to a noise complaint being filed for their apartment according to a police dog. However, due to the lack of noise at that point, they are simply left with a warning that actions will be taken if more complaints are filed. After Expi leaves, Mariko gets up, annoyed with Percy, telling him that she doesn't need him and that Expi can find a family that's will tolerate 'annoying parrots that squawk all night."

Cat's Best Friend
After Expi returns and leaves for lunch, Mariko continues just to play her video games, and at one point, gets into an argument with a teammate, calling them the 'worst Hanzo player [she's] ever seen.' Percy repeats what she says, which initially catches Mariko off guard, but after realizing he's the one who said that, she laughs. She decides to open his cage door and allow him onto her shoulder. She continues playing, choosing a character with a pirate skin that includes a parrot on their shoulder - resembling Mariko and Percy. As Mariko communicates with her teammates, Percy begins repeating a lot of what she's saying, and eventually Mariko ends up getting Percy to speak straight into the microphone with things she told him.

Mariko begins to warm up to the idea of having a pet, and after a while, she decides to get up to get them a snack. Initially she tries to give him a cracker, only to realize they only have an empty box of which, so instead finds a bag of baby carrots and gives him one. Percy ends up liking it, but only ends up eating a bit, so Mariko decides to just leave the rest in his cage for whenever he wants to munch on it. Mariko then goes to lay on the couch, with her belly face upwards, which Percy lands on. Mariko then talks about how Expi was right to adopt a pet (although wishes she would talk with her before making decisions like this one). The bird moves close to Mariko's face, before nestling in the space between her arm and belly. Percy then recites Mariko's name to Mariko's surprise, being happy that he learned her name. They both take a nap on the couch.

Expi's Good Idea
Expi then comes back home with more supplies and food for Percy from the pet shop (along with advice from the owner to prevent Percy from squawking all night), but notices Mariko and Percy sleeping on the couch, and decides not to disturb them. They wake up a bit later, and Mariko tells Expi that she actually likes having Percy around and that she's glad Expi adopted him. Expi also states that she was thinking about asking anyone if they're willing to adopt a parrot, but after seeing Mariko get along with the bird, she felt she ultimately made the right decision. Mariko also shows Expi that Percy learned her name, and also gets him to recite Expi's name as well.

The next morning, Expi gets up, realizing that she didn't do what the owner said, but also noting that aside for the occasional squawk here and there, Percy didn't seem to make much noise that night. Expi then returns to work after feeding him. Mariko is now happy to have Percy around and tries to give as much attention to him as she can, and it is revealed that Expi even sometimes refers to Percy as 'Mariko's Birdie.'

Characters

 * Expi
 * Mariko
 * Percy
 * Unnamed Police Dog
 * Unnamed Pet Store owner

Trivia

 * In the cover art, Mariko's headset appears to have a logo referencing ChromeAdders/joonas789 (one of ExpitheCat's friends and series revisors)'s 'brand', Joontropolis, which has previously referenced throughout the series.
 * A reference to the 'Sonic the Hedgehog' video game franchise is made when Expi goes into the pet shop - in which she whispers "gotta go fast, right?" to a hedgehog running in a wheel, referencing the 'gotta go fast' phrase commonly used in and associated with the series, particularly in the American dub of Sonic X.
 * This is the final chapter with cover art to used the “outlined” style.