Chapter Text
It was the third time this week he'd gotten this overwhelmed. Third time, and it was only Monday. Pathetic.
Gabriel was sitting on the cold concrete steps behind his place of work, basically curled up in a ball with his knees pulled up to his chest. It'd rained recently, and so as the steps were slightly wet, the moisture seeped into his clothes. That made the coldness feel even colder.
He'd been here way past the time he was allowed to take for a short break, but there was no way he was yet ready to face customers again. He was either going to maul somebody or break down sobbing again.
…Mauling a customer sounded like it'd be very relaxing. Bite and tear, bite and tear, bite and tear… He wished that wasn't a jailable offence. Those working in customer service should've been allowed to maul one mean customer per shift.
Even the thought of going back to work made the tears flow again. Quickly placing a hand over his mouth did little to stifle the sob escaping him, and he found himself burying his face in his knees again. Pathetic, pathetic. Stars, he just wanted a job where he wouldn't have to deal with irate customers. Was that too much to ask for?
Something soft bumped against his shin, and Gabriel nearly screamed. He instinctively recoiled, scooted back a bit, and pointed his trusty self-defence weapon (apartment key) towards the vile vermin that'd dared approach him.
It… was a dark grey cat, apparently with a bit of blue paint staining one of its back paws. It only had one yellow eye --must’ve lost the other in some unfortunate incident-- and lacked a collar. Was it a stray?
The one-eyed cat lightly headbutted his leg again. He resisted the urge to pet it, as one could never know if a particular stray cat was carrying some deadly disease. He really wanted to pet it, though.
When it headbutted his leg a bit harder, he caved. He hesitantly let the cat sniff his hand to see if it really wanted him to pet it, which it responded to by nuzzling his hand. It wanted to be pet! By him, no less.
Gabriel gently scritched this adorable little cat between the ears. It purred so loud he feared he'd lose his hearing, but he soon forgot about that when he continued petting the world's softest cat.
…He’d been thinking about getting a pet lately. Unfortunately, his work schedule was a bit all over the place, so a dog was a no-go, as they tended to get stressed when schedules changed. Cats probably didn’t care as much, they were more… independent. He’d have to get up a bit earlier than usual to walk the pet, too, and he doubted he’d ever get used to that. Oh, and getting a cat used to a harness… Yeah, it was a lot.
But at least he got to pet a cat right now. It wasn’t his --he wished it was-- but it was starting to feel like a friend already. He much preferred animals over people, anyway. They couldn’t insult and overwork him.
All of a sudden, the one-eyed cat hopped onto his lap. Gabriel nearly passed out from all the serotonin figuratively rushing into his brain at once, and only recovered when the cat headbutted his helmet. He wanted to hug it so badly, but he was well aware doing something like that to a cat that barely knew him would result in a dozen scratches and a hospital visit, which he would have to pay for all by himself. He couldn’t afford another hospital visit this month.
“Aww…” He scritched under the cat’s chin, which made it purr even more. “Aren’t you just the cutest little thing?”
It purred a hint louder in agreement, before rolling onto its back right there on his lap. Did it trust him this much..? This was probably how parents felt holding their newborn child, except that this child was much fluffier and also not his.
“...I wish I could take you home,” Gabriel sighed, mostly to himself. Cats couldn’t understand him, nor could he understand them. But he could pretend.
Perhaps he should start bringing a can of tuna with him to work, so he could maybe feed this little guy during his breaks. If it were to ever return after today, that was. Canned tuna packed in water, with no seasoning or additives, and absolutely no brine or sunflower oil. He could find something like that. Hopefully.
“You’re way too sweet, you know that?”
The one-eyed cat let him gently pet its chest, and even grabbed his hand with its adorable little paws when he paused for a second. This had to be the friendliest stray cat he’d ever met. Maybe it was someone’s escaped pet? He reckoned it’d have a collar if it was, or…
Oh, pet cats (and dogs) were usually microchipped, weren’t they? He could possibly take it to a veterinary clinic or a shelter, and they’d be able to-
As if having read his thoughts, the cat leaped off of his lap, and promptly scurried off into the dense thicket ahead. At the same time, he got smacked by the door he’d been sitting in front of. Definitely a signal he should return to work already.
“Have you recovered yet? We kind of very much need you over here, Gabriel.”
That was the voice of his coworker. They sounded just as tired as he was, a fact which he actually found some comfort in. It wasn’t that there was something wrong with him, his line of work was just exhausting on purpose.
“You only have an hour left, I’m sure you can still manage that today,” his coworker continued behind him, taking his silence for unwillingness to get up.
“...Yeah. I’ll be there in just a bit.”