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Charlie stared at the box and raked through his brain to find out why a package would be outside his door in the late evening. On the box was neither a label, a note, nor any logo which indicated what it could contain.
It was a regular brown box, except for a few conspicuous holes on the side which had by the looks of it not been there originally.
As he went closer, Charlie became suspicious. There was nothing he had ordered, only a few new wrenches for the X-Hunter’s garage, but those would have been delivered to his work.
He bent down and tried to peer into the box, but couldn’t see anything as only darkness stared back. Deciding that if it was harmful it would already have hurt him, the man put his hands underneath it and began to carry it. But he almost dropped it as the box suddenly shook.
Something inside of it was alive and let out noises of distress as it was suddenly moved.
Wait, no; not just any noises of distress.
Charlie leaned his head down closer and held his breath, waiting for the noise again.
“Meow.”
The noise was so soft Charlie felt his heart burst. Whoever had left the cat in his care had chosen a good owner, as the alpha couldn’t help but fall apart.
He was never one to own a pet, no matter how many times Jeff had insisted he needed one to keep him company. Time and time again, Charlie had dismissed it.
Too much work, racing, no space.
Every excuse in the book was used, but it seemed like the cat distribution system had chosen him this once, and Charlie couldn’t ignore it. Hell, he hadn’t even seen the animal and he was already sure he needed to care for it.
“Hello, little one,” Charlie mushed as he carefully carried the box into his apartment. “Let’s take a look at you.”
The box was placed on the ground, and Charlie settled down beside it. With slow movements, he peeled open the flaps of cardboard to not startle the cat.
“Oh my god,” Charlie smiled.
Inside it, the cutest cat he had ever seen sat. With its black fur and big dark eyes staring back at him. It didn’t seem frightened by his approach, instead its whiskers bobbed up and down as it looked up in interest.
Charlie had expected the animal to be merely a kitten, but once he got a better look, he realised it was bigger. It was a grown cat, with black fluffy ears standing tall on its head. The tail peaked up behind it, swaying from side to side.
Carefully, he extended his hand into the box to see what the cat would do. He expected it to hiss or pull away. To his surprise, it carefully nuzzled its head against his hand and held eye contact.
Was this normal?
Charlie had never been one to interact with cats, as his adopted father never allowed animals in the house. It made it hard to know what he was supposed to do, only acting out of instinct.
Deeming he had received the cat’s approval, Charlie began petting its fur.
“Who may you be, hm?” he asked softly, even though he wouldn’t get a response. Instead, the animal only looked back at him with interest.
As the animal remained in its spot, Charlie moved his other hand into the box. The cat was calm as Charlie’s hands wrapped around it and lifted it into the air.
In his mind, the man made a note that he needed to look up the correct way to hold a cat. Yet it seemed like he was fine when the small thing purred as Charlie carefully scratched behind the ears.
Charlie didn’t know what type it was, but it looked cared for, as the fur was silky smooth and not matted. Whoever had left it for him hadn’t left a collar on it though, which made it impossible to find its owner unless they had chipped it.
With the cat against his chest, Charlie began walking around his apartment. There wasn’t any cat food to give, but he had a bunch of fish and vegetables he could try to feed it until the correct food was provided.
“I’m already speaking as if you’ll stay here,” Charlie muttered to himself and shook his head.
It was a big decision to get a pet, but with how nicely the cat was behaving, Charlie couldn’t help but imagine how it would be to keep it. Was it possible to teach a cat to do tricks?
Unable to suppress a yawn, Charlie took a peek at the clock hanging on his kitchen wall. The hands of the clock etched closer to midnight and soon he would need to sleep to not risk being late to work. “Well, I can’t go to the veterinarian now, or look for your owner. So I guess you do have to stay here in the meantime.”
Charlie petted its head and smiled when it purred loudly.
“What should I call you until I know your name, hm?” Charlie asked. “Nice? Beauty?”
The cat’s tail remained still with each name.
“Babe?”
As if on cue, the cat let out a soft meow and its tail swayed from side to side.
“Yeah, you like that?” Charlie smiled. “Well, nice to meet you then. I’m Charlie.”
Another loud meow followed.
“Well Babe, I guess it’s time for us to go to sleep. It’s been a big day for me, and surely for you, too. I bet you can’t wait to sleep either.”
With a look around his apartment, the man realised there weren’t any good places for Babe to sleep. All he had was his smaller bed and a hard sofa with an old blanket, but no plushy surface for the cat to lie down on.
Or was he thinking of a dog now?
Charlie bit his lip in contemplation. Letting an unchecked cat into his bed might not be the best option, as he had no idea if it had any lice or sickness; even if it looked perfectly healthy.
After he made sure the cat would be fine, Charlie lowered himself down until he could place Babe on the floor. And to his surprise, Babe remained by his feet, simply inspecting what the man did.
Charlie bunched up the blanket and laid it down on top of the sofa. Hopefully, it would be good enough for the cat. He gestured over his shoulder towards his bedroom. “I’ll be sleeping in there and you’ll be here. Then we will sort this out in the morning, okay Babe?”
The cat’s head fell against Charlie’s hand and nuzzled against it. It was almost as if the little thing attempted to sway Charlie to change his mind, but the man did not fall for it.
“Come on then,” he said and lifted the animal up. “Let’s go to bed!”
Carefully, Charlie settled Babe down on the blanket. It gave him an unimpressed look before it settled down. Once the cat lay down, Charlie gave it one last pet before he went to get ready for bed.
After he brushed his teeth and changed out of his clothes, Charlie stepped out of the bathroom and turned back towards his bedroom.
He half expected Babe to attempt to follow him in, but it remained in its place, dark eyes following Charlie’s every move. For a few moments, he felt a tug on his heart. The animal was supposed to spend its first night in a stranger’s house, left alone on a simple sofa and blanket.
He had to hold back from asking if the cat wanted to join him and instead prompted to leave the door slightly ajar to let Babe in if it got scared during the night.
Could cats get scared?, Charlie asked himself as he climbed into bed. He pulled the duvet over his legs, not even laid with his back against the bed, before a dull noise came from the other room.
For a second he imagined Babe falling out of the sofa, its body against the floor. However, when Charlie strained his hearing, he heard the sound of paws carefully stepping over the floor, edging closer.
A small smile came to his lips, even though he knew he told himself he wouldn’t let the cat into his bedroom yet.
“Meow.”
Charlie felt his heartstrings tug. How was he supposed to leave the cat alone, when it had clung to him ever since they met?
“Do you wanna sleep in here, Babe?” he whispered into the darkness, as if the cat could understand.
“Meow.”
Charlie settled down against the bed and pulled the duvet up again. “Come here, then.”
Not having to be told again, Babe’s paws moved against the floor quickly. It gathered strength while leaning back to jump into the bed. The jump resulted in it landing on Charlie’s stomach and the unexpected attack made the man wince in pain.
“Ouch, Babe.”
The cat let out a noise almost like an apology, before it moved off his stomach, and settled down beside him. Charlie moved over to his side and allowed the animal to curl up against his stomach.
The warmth and rhythmic movements of its breathing lulled Charlie into a deep slumber.
Maybe owning a pet wasn’t such a bad idea.
The first thing Charlie noticed when he woke up was the warmth against his chest. Something was pressed tightly against him, and something was twitching against his nose. As the tickling sensation continued, Charlie swatted against it.
A pained noise came from the hit, something a lot more human than a cat.
Confused, Charlie opened his eyes; and what met him gave him quite a shock. Because Babe no longer laid beside him.
No, this was an adult man. A man with fluffy black ears on his head and beautiful dark eyes. But no matter how beautiful he was, he was still a strange man.
What had been tickling him was the cat ears on top of his head, which twitched in interest as he lazily stretched out on the bed.
“You’re finally awake,” the man smiled, which showcased the fangs in his mouth.
Charlie scrambled away and nearly fell out of the bed. “What are you doing in my bed? Who are you? Where’s Babe?”
He blinked multiple times and attempted to will away the imagination of a cat-like man on his bed. But no matter how hard he tried, the man remained.
“You were so nice yesterday,” the man grumbled, his ears flattened against his dark brown hair. “You even named me and pet me.”
A tail came to wrap around the man’s middle, draped across the man’s naked skin. As Charlie’s eyes continued downward, his cheeks heated up. The stranger was naked in his bed, only covered up by the duvet.
Charlie stared between the tail and ears, and put them together with what the man had just said.
“Babe?”
The man put his head to the side, ears perked up at the mention of the name. “Mhm?”
“You’re Babe?” Charlie asked, confused.
But the man’s face shone brightly and nodded enthusiastically. His tail unwrapped from his body and flowed from side to side. Charlie followed it with his eyes and decided he must have become crazy.
Because there was no way the cat he had taken in was actually a man, a very pretty man, with functioning cat ears and tail.
However, there was no other sound reason behind it. Because nothing about the animal parts seemed fake, they were moving and flickering as if connected directly to the man’s mood.
“So you’re actually Babe?” Charlie muttered, unable to stop his staring.
The man leaned back against the bed, with his arms stretched comfortably behind his head. His eyes were closed and a smirk came over his face.
“Yes, I already told you.”
“But how? I went to bed and you were a… you were a cat.”
Babe shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I’m still a cat.”
Charlie nodded in awe. It felt like someone was playing a prank on him, because surely nothing this crazy could happen in real life.
Yet, as he continued to stare, he couldn’t find anything that disproved the craziness. The man was real, with his lean muscles and thin waist. But so was the tail which pulled at the duvet and revealed the skin of his hips, nearly showcasing everything down under.
The man was pretty, with cute ears on his head and sharp lines. Everything so feline and smooth for his eyes to view.
“Charlie?” Babe asked, his eyes cracking open to catch the awestruck human.
The man snapped his gaze from the cat-man’s body. “Y-Yeah?”
“Are you gonna continue to stare at me, or will you pet me again?”
Charlie swallowed soundly and nodded a bit too quickly.
“Of course I’ll pet you, Babe.”