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Theo Raeken loves his job. The animals he works with, feeding and cleaning them, training the dogs and especially playing with his favourites, the cats. He loves every aspect of being a zookeeper at the local shelter, everything except the adopting.
Of course he knows it's a good thing, pets finding a new family, a loving home but every time a particularly special one gets given away he feels down for a few days.
His newest favourite is a small, exceptionally fluffy kitten (Theo is sure she got some Forrest cat in her family) named Athena. Most of the time it's him, naming the new arrivals and lately he’s got an affinity for Greek mythology so as soon as he looked into her intelligent storm grey eyes he knew that the goddess if wisdom had to be her name sake.
Every morning he took his time to feed every other cat before taking Athena out of her kennel so that they could eat breakfast together in the break room; afterwards he never had the heart to put her back though and so she spend most shifts on Theo's shoulder, curiously watching him deal with dirty kennels and enclosures or smiling at customers who came into his office to sign adoption paperwork (his boss Tracey had long since given up on trying to make Theo do the adoption rounds himself).
Why he didn't adopt Athena himself you ask?
Well, even though the cat is small and moves around practically soundless, doesn't need a lot of space and certainly does not smell weird, Theo's landlord absolutely despised pets, nothing could convince him otherwise and so Theo had to put Athena back into her kennel at the end of the say, saying good night with a heavy heart each time.
~♤~
When Theo steps inside the shelter the next morning, a Saturday, he feels particularly grumpy. Not only because he had to walk to work this morning because his bike decided it would be a good time to have a flat tire but also because tomorrow was his day off and he wouldn't see Athena for two whole days.
Only after he sits down with a coffee and burrows his face deep into his cats fluff, inhaling her comforting scent, he starts to feel better.
Sadly the cuddle session is cut short by a hesitant knock on his open office door and when Theo looks up, he stares straight at the prettiest guy he has ever seen – dark blonde, unruly hair, a golden tan that accentuates the man's chiselled jaw and the bluest eyes he has ever seen.
“Hi!”, the Adonis exclaims, “I wanted to adopt a cat. Are you working here?”
No, I wear this overall and name tag for fun. Theo can just barely bite back a snarky answer because he remembers that this dude has just seen him sniffing a cat’s fur like a junkie sniffs cocaine so the question is kinda fair.
He clears his throat and stands up, “Yes, hello. My name is Theo. What kind of cat are you looking for? Young, old? Purebred or mixed? Should it be a Male or a female?” he rattles down the routine questions while trying not to wince at Athena clawing her way up to her usual place on his shoulder.
The blue eyes follow her curiously and when they meet Theo's own again, they have an almost apologetic expression, “Actually”, the guy starts, smiling almost embarrassed and Theo feels the dread creeping up his throat, “that one would be perfect.”
Opening his eyes again (when did he close them?) he follows the man's outstretched hand to the spit of warmth on his shoulder where Athena is sitting.
No...
He has to swallow down the lump twice before he trusts his voice not to break again.
“She... she’s not exactly up for adoption.”
The cute guy (yes, he is still attractive, even though he just threatens to take away Theo's child. He is possessive, not blind) frowns.
“She isn't? But I saw her picture on the website...?”
Damn it Donovan! Their official PR guy, Donovan Donati had it out for Theo since one of his previous favourites, Doctor, scratched him when the man tried to pet him. He must have smuggled Athena’s contact on the website without Tracy noticing, she wouldn't have cleared that because everyone knew that Theo is her best man and how much he loves his cat.
Theo forces a smile on his lips, time for mission ‘Convince Blue Eyes To Buy Another Cat'.
“Decisions like this aren't taken lightly, a cat is a living being who needs a human who perfectly fits their character. So why don't I show you all of our other little fellas?”, he already brushes past the man on his way out of the door, “surely there will be one that matches with you.”
Without waiting if he is followed Theo hurries to secure Athena in her kennel.
“I am sorry little girl, but this is for your own safety. So we can stay together, you understand?” the cat butts her head against his hand and Theo smiles at her, “I will come get you soon, promise.”
With new found confidence, now that Athena is out off the line of fire, he struts towards his mission.
“I am sorry, I didn’t even ask your name Mr...?”
“Dunbar, but please call me Liam", blue eyes, Liam smiles and takes the hand Theo offers.
“Theo; it's a pleasure. So, Liam, if you would be so kind to follow me then I would show you our most excellent variety of cats.”
~♤~
It was no use. All his often praised charm and boyish smile didn’t help one bit.
Liam seemed to like him, blushing and laughing at all the right places of Theo's customer program and if he was being honest with himself, he likes Liam as well. The blonde is a great guy, funny, kind hearted, quick on his feet, all traits Theo values in other men and if this had been a date he surely would gave asked for a second one.
But in this case he barely managed to convince Liam that the adoption place is closed over weekends and that he should come back on Tuesday to make his final decision.
And so his goodbye from Athena is even more dreadful than the other nights because he knows when he sees her the next time, it will likely be their last.
The cat seems to sense something is off and tries to climb back into Theo's arms when he sets her down. Her small, questioning meow is the last straw for Theo and he breaks down on the floor beside her kennel, crying in pure desperation.
Athena climbs on his lap through the forgotten hatch and he let’s his tears wet her fur.
“I am so-sorry”, his voice breaking with sobs, “I wish I could take you, I would give anything for you.”
In his grief, he doesn't notice the shadowy figure slipping out the back door...
It is pitch black outside, by the time Theo puts the sleeping cat in her bed and rubs his sleeves over his eyes to make every trace of tears disappear.
~♤~
Tuesday comes fast, like all unwanted things come and Theo's eyes have dark circles underneath them as he drags himself towards the cat wing of the shelter.
She is gone.
Unbelievingly Theo stares at the empty kennel. This can't really happen. He turns on his heels and storms of.
“How could you do that?!” he nearly shouts at Tracy.
The woman looks up from her paperwork, demeanour calm as she puts down her reading glasses to look at Theo. “Good morning to you too. Did you have a nice weekend? I did, very relaxing, thank you for asking.”
“Stop it!” Theo hisses, barely holding back angry tears, “how could you do that to me? You know how much I love her! Why didn't you at least wait?”
Tracy sighs. She stands up and steps close enough to place a comforting hand on her employee's shoulder. Theo shakes it off and she sighs again.
“Theo. Look. This is a shelter, the whole goal is to find people who adopt our animals.”
“I know...” Theo's voice breaks, “but why her?”
“Athena was adopted by a very nice young man. I have known him for a long time, he is kind hearted and patient with animals and he loved her at first sight. I am sure they will be a great match.”
Theo looks at his boss with confusion.
“Why do you know Liam Dunbar?”
“She doesn’t”, says a voice behind Theo and as he turns around he looks into Liam's blue eyes. The man wears the same apologetic expression he had on Saturday, to his feet rests a small wicker basket in which Theo can see Athena’s light grey fur.
That is the last drop, his dare this guy stay here, wait for him, just to rub it under his nose that he had won?
“You!”, Theo almost hisses, “how could you do that? You saw how much I loved her! And don't even try to-"
“Theo!”
Tracy's voice hits him like a whip whip he freezes, registering what he just did. Yelling at a customer. Yelling at my boss in front of a customer. I am so fired.
But Tracy only smiles that soft, gentle smile of hers as she addresses him again.
“Liam bought her for you, Theo.”
Theo's head whips around to stare at the other man. Liam promptly blushes, the tips of his ears practically glowing as he scratches his neck before letting his arm fall down and he shrugs.
“Yeah? I kinda did that?”
“But... but why? I mean, I was so rude to you and...” he trails off as Liam's blush gets even darker (cute...), fascinated by the kindness this man offers a total stranger.
“I guess I should explain", Liam says, picking up Athena’s basket, why don't we sit down somewhere?”
Five minutes later Theo sits in his office, a contended purring fireball in his lap and a hot cup of coffee in one hand, the other is still securely anchored in his cat’s long, silky fur. His cat... the smile on his face gets even bigger when he thinks those words.
“I did see it, you know?”, Liam says softly, almost whispering, “how much you love her. I saw it from the first second on.”
“Then why did you try and take her from me?”
Liam's ears, just back to normal colour, get red again and he groans, “I am so bad at this...”
“At what?”, Theo asks carefully and the other man takes a deep breath before looking into his eyes again.
“I was... trying to flirt with you. There was a picture of you in the newspaper and I thought you are hot and I wanted a new pet anyway so I thought I would try and talk to you. Then I saw how good you are with the cats and how much you love and know about them and I wanted to listen to you talking for longer so I pretended to want Athena. And at first everything went great! I made you laugh and we talked more.
But when I saw you cry, thinking you lost her and I realized that I am a total idiot. I went back yesterday and talked to your boss, asking why Athena was up for adoption when it was clear that she is your cat. She explained everything to me and I... kind of reacted? I am an idiot, aren't I?”
Liam ends his ramble with even redder ears and defeated shoulders.
“No", Theo brings out, his throat tight once more, “this is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“Do I didn't blew my chance?”
Theo laughs, shaking his head, “When is the date?”
~♤~
Six months later Theo carefully puts down the wicket basket on the floor.
“Now you can come out, princess", he coos, opening the little door to let Athena explore her new home.
“I swear, sometimes I think you love her more than me...”
Theo straightens his back again, turning around to his boyfriend and circling his waist with both hands.
“Of course not", he exclaims, pressing a kiss on Liam's lips, “I love both of you equally!”
Liam let’s out a laugh and the sound echoes in Theo's chest, making his heart flutter delightfully. The last six months had been the happiest in his life.
Tracy agreed to let Athena live at the shelter (“I will subtract that from your pay, Raeken!”) until Theo found a more pet-friendly place but soon after that first date with Liam, it was clear that not only he would need a new apartment and so both men, even though they agreed to take it slow, quickly agreed on a neighbourhood close to both of their workplaces and so they moved after their previous leases ended.
“You know", Liam says thoughtfully, “I still haven’t gotten my cat...”
Theo's smile gets even brighter.
“Oh! I know just the one for you!”