Work Text:
Guang Hong stared in dismay at his art project. The fact that it had been knocked off the desk and broken was bad enough. That, Guang Hong could probably have fixed, depending on just how extensive the damage ended up being. Glue was a wonderful invention. The problem was the porous materials and the additions to the project left by Yuri’s new cat, Cougar Snow Leopard Spider. No matter what Guang Hong did, the smell of cat urine and feces was never going to completely come out of the yarn or the wood.
It wasn’t any use getting mad at Cougar, she was a cat and wouldn’t understand. It wasn’t much more use getting mad at Yuri. It wouldn’t even make Guang Hong feel any better to go yell at Yuri, it would just make Yuri feel like shit and get defensive. Yuri was mostly doing a great job with litter box training Cougar, and it wasn’t Yuri’s fault that he wasn’t perfect and couldn’t catch every single instance. This was the first accident in over a week that Guang Hong knew of, which for a three-month-old kitten, wasn’t bad.
“Hey! Guang Hong!” Yuri’s voice carried down the hallway. “Have you seen Cougar? She got out of… oh, shit.” Yuri swore as he stepped into Guang Hong’s room and caught the scent of fresh cat poops.
Otabek snorted behind him. “You do that on purpose, Yura?”
“Fuck you.” Otabek smirked, and even Guang Hong cracked a smile as Yuri went bright red and smacked Otabek. “I am so sorry, Guang Hong, I thought Cougar was locked in the basement when I went out.” While they were working on box training, they’d agreed that the basement was the best place for an unsupervised kitten, as the rugs and unfinished concrete floor and furnishings were easily cleaned or replaced. “I came home, door was open, I’ve been looking for her.”
“It’s my fault too, I’m supposed to close the door to my room when I’m not there or asleep. I just went to the bathroom, which was long enough for Cougar to do the same.” He looked around the room, spotting Cougar hiding under the bed. “There she is. Would you mind getting her out?”
“No problem.” Yuri got on his hands and knees, reaching under the bed to grab his cat. There was some more swearing as Yuri pulled the cat out, cuddling her tight as much to keep her from escaping as to show affection. Guang Hong reached out and gently skritched her ears. “I’m going to get her back to the basement and play with her some. If there’s anything I can to do help you fix your work…”
Guang Hong shook his head. “Sadly, I think I’m going to have to start over. Don’t feel too bad about it. That one was always meant to be a rough draft, making sure things fit together the way I saw them in my head or on paper, and I already had some changes I wanted to make because I thought it might look better.”
“You know, Yura… Leo mentioned finding Cougar out and about yesterday, and I could have sworn you closed that door well.” Otabek reached out to pet Cougar. “It may be time to set up a camera and see if Cougar’s found a way to ninja the door open.”
“Ugh, nanny cam the cat?” Yuri stuck out his tongue, wrinkling his nose. “It’s just one short step from there to putting videos on Instagram and TikTok and OnlyFans and becoming Those Cat Parents.”
“Or dog parents?” Guang Hong guessed. It wasn’t about Yuri objecting to showing off his cat; it was about Yuri not wanting to be any more like Viktor than he could help, and Viktor posted at least three videos of his poodles a day.
“Exactly! Why the hell would anyone do that to a poor innocent animal just trying to live her life?” Yuri snuggled his cat. “But I guess that’s what we’ll have to do if we want to figure out how Cougar’s getting out, because once I could believe is me fucking up, but twice in two days is me being irresponsible and when it comes to my cat, I don’t believe that.”
“Not like you.” Otabek looked at the pile of wreckage. “Do you need this to look at for making the new draft, or should I throw it out?”
“Throw it out. Please.” Guang Hong picked up his camera. “I take good pictures every day when I’m done, so I can work from those and my sketches and notes. And thank you.”
“If I see Leo, want me to send him up?” Yuri offered.
Guang Hong shook his head. “I should get started right away. I’m not worried about needing comforting or inspiration, and he’s busy recording some demos anyway. Thanks, though.” Yuri headed out with Cougar, and Otabek paused long enough to kiss Guang Hong’s cheek before taking off to get something to put the wreckage in. Guang Hong started humming and pulling out wooden dowels to start building the frame for his work.