Chapter Text
Unknown
Hi I got this number from your cat Stardust. I just want to make sure he is not lost only visiting. He is currently playing in my front yard.
“Gotta be fucking kidding me,” Jyn grumbled.
She had just put the keys in the ignition, exhausted from the longest week of the year and looking forward to a bottle of wine and petting her cat on her belly, but now it looked like her cat was out on the prowl and giving her number to just anyone.
Actually, was this Stardust? That cat only allowed Jyn to pet her, and would have swiped and hissed at anyone who would try to get close to her neck to read her tags.
As if the unknown texter read her mind, the phone glowed again with a picture of her fluffy white cat with one blue eye and one yellow eye, stretching out on a sunspot on the verdant lawn, looking absolutely pleased as punch with herself.
Me
Yup, that’s her. She’s visiting but I’m off work so I can pick her up now. What was your address?
Luckily Cassian (the name of her cat’s new best friend) was only a few doors down, but Jyn still stopped by her place first after a forty-five minute drive for some treats and the cat carrier because she was in no mood to carry Stardust’s fat butt all the way home. She walked down to his house, which was as small and old as the other houses on the block, with a little bit of lawn in the front. However, there was no cat, and there was no Cassian.
Suspicious now, Jyn spied through the flat window of the living room. She could see a man in his pajamas, even though it was well after four. His head nodded back as he slept on the couch with Stardust curled up in his lap, her bi-colored eyes observing the boxes of tissues and medicine on the coffee table that were just begging to be swiped off. The man coughed, and Stardust stretched out so her tiny bean toes would press against his throat.
The man, she guessed by now, had to be Cassian. Even with the beard overgrowth and the dark shadows under his eyes and the shiny red skin under his nose, he still had a nice face. When did he move in, and how was she not aware of the new hot neighbor?
Cassian yawned, one eye peeping open. She ducked her head under the window and texted him:
Me
Hey I’m here. Where are you and the fluffball at?
Jyn peek over the window sill to see what he was doing, and to her great relief he was up and turned away from the window.
Cassian
She decided to come inside, sorry. But I have her and I’ll walk out with her.
Jyn kept her phone up and walked up to the front door. Cassian, cinching a gray blanket over his shoulders. He stumbled when Stardust squeezed between his ankles and meowed as she pressed so hard against his legs that she tip-toed around him. But instead of getting upset he just smiled quietly to himself before looking at Jyn with his dark brown eyes.
“Hi, you must be Jyn. I’d shake your hand but I’m a bit sick,” he said, his voice cutting out just as he turned away and coughed.
“Mrow, mrow,” Stardust purred, staring up at him until he stroked her forehead with his knuckle.
“Stardust doesn’t seem to mind,” Jyn chuckled. “I’m kind of surprised she likes you so much. She usually doesn’t trust anyone.”
He shrugged, then leaned over and coughed again. “Maybe she knew I wouldn’t move at all when she jumped in my lap.”
Jyn kneeled down and scratched the back of Stardust’s neck. “Is that it, you silly cat? Do you just like to boss sick guys around?”
Stardust chuffed in reply. Jyn lured her in her box with a handful of treats, then thanked Cassian again and wished him well. She walked just a little slower as she passed his living room window, where he settled himself back on the couch again. As Jyn walked home, she couldn’t fight off the smile that pulled up on her face. Sure, he was sick, but he was cute, and he was nice to Stardust, and Stardust adored him, which had to mean something.
As soon as she returned home, she texted him.
Me
Hey thanks again for taking care of Stardust. Hope she wasn’t too much trouble!
She unlocked the carrier and Stardust strutted out, still licking her chops clean after her feast of treats. Jyn’s phone pinged again.
Cassian
No trouble at all. BTW, is Stardust named after Ziggy Stardust?
That sealed it. Jyn set down her phone and picked up her cat so she could look at her right in her two-toned eyes.
“You have my permission to go over there as many times as you want. If you get me a date with him, then I’ll give you a salmon fillet. Deal?”
Stardust silenced her with a paw on her lips. “Mrow."