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Neil was on his morning run when a cat crossed the walkway in front of him and he almost fell over it.
“What the fuck!”
The cat just meowed at him and started winding its fluffy, stick-thin body around his bare legs. Neil tried to push it away with his foot to no avail, the cat seemed to have chosen him as its cuddle buddy the second he had just stumbled over and not stepped on it. Next, Neil tried to simply walk on, but he had barely made a step when the cat was in front of him again.
“What?” Neil asked. Maybe the cat would leave once he had paid it enough attention.
The cat meowed again. Then it turned around and walked into an alley.
Neil rolled his eyes and then finally got back into his running rhythm. He was only a little surprised when he heard another meow just a minute later. He looked over his shoulder and saw the cat had been joined by a second one that looked even more neglected than the first.
By the time Neil approached his apartment building the cats were still following him, so Neil resigned himself to the fact that they had chosen him for whatever reason.
“I’ll be right back,” he told the cats before he entered the apartment building. After a short Google search on his way upstairs, he raided his fridge for scraps he could give to the cats. Then he went back downstairs. He wasn’t surprised when he found the cats still in front of the building.
“Here you go,” he said and placed his haul in front of them.
On his way back upstairs, he called Nicky.
“Neil!” Nicky exclaimed the second he picked up the call. “You’re in luck, I’m on my lunch break right now.”
Neil smiled. That was what he had counted on. Everyone else in his family was most likely either still sleeping or already working but in Germany it was already around lunchtime.
“Great, I need your help,” he said.
“Oh, sure.” Nicky seemed surprised but still eager. “What can I help you with?”
“I… might have acquired two cats…” Neil admitted as he unlocked his apartment door.
“You… what? How?”
Neil shrugged before he remembered Nicky couldn’t see him. “They followed me on my run.”
“Damn, Neil you’re getting soft.”
“Yeah.” Neil blushed but he couldn’t deny that he liked this development. “But what do I do now, Nicky? I already fed them a bit, but you know I’m incredibly far out of my depth when it comes to caring for… anyone really.”
“Shut up, you’re caring for Andrew and the rest of our family just fine,” Nicky insisted. “But I know what you mean. I don’t have any experience with pets either but… if you’re sure you want to keep them, maybe give them names? Oh, and you should take them to the vet probably.”
“Oh. Yeah, you’re right. I guess I’ll take them there once I get back from the gym.” If they hadn’t disappeared by then. But he wouldn’t tell Nicky about that possibility. “Thank you, Nicky.”
“You’re welcome,” Nicky said. Neil could hear his bright smile in his voice. “Can you send me pictures so I can see what my nieces or nephews look like?”
Neil smiled again. “I’ll send them once I’m back from the vet. I need to make sure I can keep them first. And then I’ll need your help with naming them.”
“I can name them?” Nicky screamed so loud Neil had to pull his phone away from his ear.
“Uh… yeah. Or at least help me name them.”
“I’m so excited! Thank you, Neil! I’ll start brainstorming names as soon as you hang up.”
“Do that.” The smile on Neil’s face was incredibly stubborn this time. But he had to admit, it was a nice feeling to show his happiness so openly. He vowed to talk to Nicky more often again, with the time difference they had fallen out of touch a little. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yes, I can’t wait. Talk to you later.” With that, Nicky hung up. Neil shook his head at his contagious enthusiasm.
Three hours later, Neil was officially the owner of two male stray cats. The vet had assured him that aside from the malnourishment and the fleas the cats seemed healthy – even the black cat’s missing ear and mangled eye had healed surprisingly well – and had sent him home with a diet plan and an anti-flea treatment.
After a quick stop at a pet store to get all the essentials, Neil drove back to his apartment, the cats seemingly content in their newly acquired carriers for the time being.
It would take him a few trips to get everything he had bought upstairs, so he took the cats in their carriers first and by the time he was carrying the last of his purchases inside, they were already tentatively exploring his living room. He remembered Nicky’s request then and quickly took pictures of the cats and sent them to Nicky.
Nicky’s reply came barely a minute later.
“Awwwwww they’re adorable!! 😍😍😍😍”
Neil barely even had time to start typing a reply when another message appeared.
“The orange one looks like royalty so maybe call him King Fluffkins?”
That… wasn’t even in the same ballpark as the names Neil had thought of. But Nicky was right, the orange cat did look regal and fluffy, probably even more so once he had gained some weight.
“Yeah, that’s good,” Neil wrote. After a second of thought, he added 😊, then he sent the message.
“The black one looks like he’s been in a lot of fights a bit like you tbh”
Neil rolled his eyes. Nicky wasn’t exactly wrong though so he didn’t complain. Before he could think of something else to reply Nicky had sent another message.
“Maybe call him Sir like a knight? Sir Skinnylegs?”
Neil frowned. He hoped the cats would gain weight soon and he wouldn’t want to be reminded of the sorry state they were in now once they had.
“He hopefully won’t always be that skinny,” he messaged Nicky.
“Oh right… what about the opposite then? Sir Fat Cat McCatterson?”
Neil let out a startled laugh. The name was so completely over the top it was almost good again.
“Yeah perfect.”
Andrew might want to stab him for enabling Nicky but that would be completely worth it.
“Thanks Neil!! Tell me if you ever have another pet you need to name!!”
“Shouldn’t the others also get a turn?”
“I guess 😒” Nicky replied. A few seconds later another message arrived. “But there’s no way their ideas will be as fabulous as mine.”
Neil was startled into another laugh.
“Of course not” he replied and then put his phone away. It was time to take care of his new roommates.
That night, Neil had just turned on his laptop for his nightly video call with Andrew when King Fluffkins jumped onto the couch next to him and demanded attention. When Neil started petting him, he climbed onto Neil’s lap and got comfortable there.
Neil huffed a laugh. “All right.”
A second later he had an incoming call from Andrew. King Fluffkins seemed a bit startled by the sudden sound but he didn’t move away.
“Andrew,” Neil said when the call connected and felt a smile spread on his face.
He watched as Andrew’s face relaxed a fraction before his right eyebrow rose almost to his hairline.
“What’s that on your lap, junkie?”
There was no reason to lie to Andrew, but Neil still considered it for a moment. Sometimes his old habits were incredibly annoying.
“A cat,” he said simply once the urge had passed.
“How did you acquire a cat in the past… 22 hours?”
“I uh… I actually acquired two. They followed me on my morning run.”
King Fluffkins meowed. Neil chose to take it as agreement.
Andrew gave an amused scoff. “You’re a disaster, Josten. You live alone for nine months and already you’re collecting strays.”
“I’m just following your example,” Neil teased him.
When Andrew didn’t deny that there was an example to follow, the corners of Neil’s mouth tugged up the tiniest bit in silent triumph.
“Fuck off, junkie. Anything else you want to tell me?”
It was a completely innocent question, Andrew asked it during almost every one of their calls but this time it sounded like he already knew which names the cats had and who had helped Neil name them.
“This is King Fluffkins and the other one is named Sir Fat Cat McCatterson.” Better to get it all out now.
Andrew once again raised an eyebrow. “Nicky?”
“Yes. I called him this morning to ask what I should do with the cats.”
Andrew sighed. “You’re getting soft, Josten.”
Neil smiled. “That’s what Nicky said, too. I don’t mind. It’s nice to be able to be soft.”
Andrew just hummed in acknowledgement, but Neil could tell he didn’t mind the softness either.
From there, their conversation drifted off to their usual topics, which meant Neil started complaining about his teammates and Andrew gave scathing observations of everyone he had crossed paths with that day before they started talking about the most random topics just to keep talking a little longer.
When Neil went to sleep that night, he couldn’t help but look forward to the first time Andrew would meet the cats in person.