Chapter Text
In retrospect, Connor should probably have expected it when Arnold gets that part time job at the animal shelter, because in the end it only takes two days before Arnold is ringing the doorbell and enters their apartment with a cardboard box in his arms.
“Naba only let me keep two,” Arnold says, sounding frantic. “The shelter is full, so they were gonna put them down. They were going to kill them, buddy.”
With that type of plea, it is not like Kevin can say no.
Or at least that is the story he tells Connor when he comes home an hour later and finds Kevin sitting at the kitchen table with a tiny, ginger kitten in his palm, feeding it with what turns out to be warm sugar water.
Two conflicting emotions become locked in mortal combat in Connor’s mind at the sight.
Their apartment is small, he thinks. He is not even sure that their landlord allows pets in the building. And cats have claws, they have fur, and there will be a litter box to clean, and Connor’s sister is allergic, and–
Look, the other side of his brain interrupts. Your boyfriend is holding a kitten.
And that is all that is needed for a winning blow.
“We’re naming it Princess”, Connor says and takes care to pull a chair out without making too much noise. He sits down, notices the webpage about caring for newborn kittens that is open on the tablet.
“I’m pretty sure it’s a boy,” Kevin replies, the corner of his mouth quirking up as he gives Connor a quick glance.
Connor feels a smile begin tug at his lips as well as he warms up to the idea. “So?”
In due time, the kitten is going to sleep under the covers and will claw at their legs when they accidentally kick him. He will chew on their potted plants and he will work systematically to pull off each and every pearl and sequin that Connor has ever sewn onto a piece of clothing. He will look handsome in the scarves they buy him, have terrible balance, and a baffling tendency to get stuck in drawers.
But for now, Connor is busy falling a little more in love with his boyfriend as he watches him cradle the tiny sleeping kitten to his chest while he formally recites the words to the Mormon naming rite, and announces its name to be ‘Princess’.