Work Text:
Feeling sleepy and confused, Grantaire opened his eyes, trying to focus on something. After his vision stopped being so blurry, he looked at the window, at his right, gazing at the sky. It was dark, and he was sure that last time he checked it was still day. ‘What time should it be now?’ he wondered, feeling lost in time after his afternoon nap.
After some several moments of gazing at the sky, he looked at his left and saw Enjolras, who was snoring lightly. His boyfriend’s head was below his chin with his nose in his chest, their bodies fitting together. They were both on the couch; Enjolras curled on Grantaire’s arms. In the little space between them was their cat. They were as attached to the cat as the cat was attached to them; even calling her their child to their friends, once mistaking the poor Marius who thought the couple got a kid in a period of one day.
Grantaire snorted quietly as he remembered Marius’ look of joy and confusion when Enjolras said they needed to go home to feed their kid. The air that left his nose made some curls of Enjolras’ hair move, tickling his face.
He looked at the cat. She was 4 years old now, and Grantaire could not help but remember when he first saw her.
Years ago, when he was going home after his job at a café, Grantaire saw an animal shelter in his way. There was a little plaque that said, “Need help! Volunteers are welcome”. Instead of ignoring it and just going home to sleep until the next day, he entered the little building.
This is also the story of how he and Jehan met each other and became friends, being the only one volunteering that day; and the story of his fateful first Les Amis meeting, being invited to one by Jehan. Basically, the day he set foot on that animal shelter changed his life, and he is glad he did it.
Going back at his original train of thought, the day he first saw his now-cat was in a stormy afternoon, when you cannot even distinguish if it is day or night. Grantaire was giving medicine to one of their sick cats and Jehan was at the front lobby, reading some book they will probably make him read after they finish it.
Being a volunteer for almost a year already, Grantaire knew that animals did not like storms, especially dogs. Because of that, he and Jehan would always make sure that there was at least one person at the shelter during one, even if it was not during their scheduled hours. They knew that storms always brought problems. That afternoon was no exception to the rule.
Hearing a knock on the front door, Grantaire did not even wait for Jehan to call him; he already went to the front room. Jehan unlocked the door – they needed to lock it because the hinges were broken – and a person with dripping wet clothes entered the shop with a wrapped coat clutched to his arms. Except, it was not just a person, it was Enjolras. The same Enjolras that argued with him every Les Amis meeting and that Grantaire was pretty sure that hated him. It was not really his fault, Grantaire always started the fight, but he felt like he had to, the guy was completely lost in his ideals!
“Enjolras, what are you doing here? You’re dripping wet!” Jehan asked him, while Grantaire was trying not to look at his eyes, remembering their nasty argument last week.
“Hi Jehan and, um, Grantaire. I found this little kitten on the street and it’s hurt. I don’t know what to do with it, but I figured that maybe you can help it?” Enjolras said with a worried look in his eyes.
“Okay, we’re not doctors but we can try to help it. Follow me.” Grantaire said, going to the back room. He and Jehan knew what to do in basic cases, but if the cat was really hurt, they needed to take it to the veterinarian.
With a quick examination on the kitten, Grantaire knew it was not hurt badly, but it needed to go to the vet nonetheless. It only had an eye, but the eye socket was not closed properly, which meant it needed some stitches.
Enjolras insisted on going with Grantaire to the vet and paying the kitten’s medical bills, but he said that he could not keep her – as they learned from the vet – because his building prohibited pets. The shelter did not have the space and money for another animal and Jehan already had 13 cats.
“I’m sorry E, but if I bring one more cat to the apartment Monty will not like it. Besides, I already have, uh,” Jehan stopped, counting on their fingers. “Poe, Margaret, Persephone… well, a lot.”
“Monty? That sure fits Montparnasse.” Grantaire laughed, receiving a playful shove on his shoulder by Jehan. “Well, let’s do an online adopting campaign for her and see who’s interested.”
It is known that the campaign was a failure, knowing now that Grantaire himself adopted the kitten. He named her Capitu, inspired by the book Dom Casmurro, which he found himself reading it again from time to time to remember his early teens.
Enjolras always offered money to help the expenses of Capitu, but Grantaire always refused. Instead, his flat was open to Enjolras to ‘help’ pet the cat and giving her more love, but they knew it was not for that only.
Stirring from his sleep, Enjolras stretched very much similarly with how their cat did it, as Grantaire could not help but notice, both arms and legs straight, pushing slightly his body to the opposite direction. Grantaire thought all of that was adorable, but if there was a winner it would be the face his boyfriend makes, taking a sharp breath while closing his eyes with a relaxed face.
“Good morning babe.” Grantaire said fondly to the other man, watching his eyes focusing on his face.
“’Morning.” Enjolras rubbed his face, trying to wake up a little. Then, realization dawned on his face. “It’s not morning yet Grantaire.”
“I know, but I think we slept enough for today.”
Enjolras put a finger on Grantaire’s face, clearly meant to land on his mouth, indicating silence. “Shhh. Not enough.” He sneaked an arm to his boyfriend’s waist and pressed closer to him. However, because of her loss of space, the cat woke up and meowed at them in a clear tone of annoyance. Both men did not want to distance from one another and the cat was very much contrary to just sleeping elsewhere.
Instead, the cat just licked Enjolras’ face and purred, waking him. Grantaire just laughed at the annoyed face he made, but he knew his boyfriend did not mind being peppered with kisses from their cat, he only did not like being woken up with her rough tongue during a cuddle session.
Capitu stopped licking and began the task of finding a good place for her to sleep, while the place was still between her two owners. Once she found a comfortable position, also close to Enjolras’ face, she slept, followed by the man in question not long after. Grantaire lifted his head slightly to see the scene, regretting that his cellphone was not with him to register that moment to eternity. Instead, he caressed their heads and went back to sleep, forgetting everything that was not him, Enjolras and their cat.