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Micheal was lonely. He had friends, sure. But was always alone. Jack was his best friend, more than a friend sometimes if he was honest, but they didn’t get to meet up a lot. Their shifts tended to clash, when Jack was done at work Robby was just starting and vice versa. So, he was lonely. He enjoyed drinking with his coworkers after work, but it always felt kind of awkward. They would always treat him differently because he’s their boss and he always felt bad for ruining their fun. Most nights ended with him alone on his couch, drinking beer and watching whatever was on TV.
As Micheal left the ER, he thought about his predicament. Maybe he should get a dog, as he didn’t enjoy cats much. Or rather, they didn’t enjoy him. Every time he tried to pet a cat, whether it was a stray or someone's pet, it would hiss at him and run away. He didn’t know why, he thought he was quite approachable.
As he walked passed an alleyway he heard a crashing noise, and a moan of pain. He wanted to run home, what if there were gang members there? He’s been at the hospital long enough to know what they can do. But the doctor in him felt the need to help. Robby slowly and carefully walked through the alleyway, looking around curiously. He quickly realised it was too dark, so he fumbled for his phone to turn on his flashlight. When Micheal turned it on, he heard a noise a little further up ahead, he walked carefully towards it and pointed the flashlight towards the noise.
There, in the dirty wet alleyway, was a cat. It was a small light brown thing, slightly smaller than the average cat, but had the biggest saddest eyes Robby had ever seen. The cat looked seconds away from crying, which was weird because cats couldn’t cry. When Robby saw it was just a cat, he tried to leave. Cats were never fond of him, in some of the worst cases he ended up with scratches up his arms. Collins' cat in particular hated him, getting away from that evil beast was the best thing about the breakup. As he turned around to leave, he heard the most pathetic mewl of his life. Micheal turned around, and approached the cat again.
“You’re not going to like me, little fella,” he whispered quietly as he crouched down near the animal. The cat looked nervous, and was holding its paw against its body in a weird way, like it was shielding its paw from harm. Micheal raised his hand towards it slowly, like Collins had shown him. Weirdly enough, the cat sniffed his hand and let him pet it. Micheal never experienced this before, the feeling of the soft fur of a cat was foreign to him. Weirdly enough, the cat was covered in a weird substance. Micheal couldn’t tell if it was alcohol, pee or vomit (or all three). But he never got to pet a cat, and just a few hours ago he had a child vomiting, peeing and pooping all over the place, so he wasn’t easily disturbed.
Micheal continued to pet the cat, until the cat was on his lap. The cat continued to hold its paw towards its tiny body, and curiosity got the best of Robby. He slowly and carefully moved his hand towards the tiny paw. The cat meowed in disagreement, uncomfortable with the large hand so close to his injured paw.
“Shh, it’s okay it’s okay, I'm a doctor. I just want to see what’s wrong, okay?” Robby whispered gently. He felt silly, talking about his credentials to a cat, but the cat seemed to calm down after his words. ‘Can cats understand humans?’ Micheal thought to himself before looking at the small paw. It had a big gash, and a large piece of glass stuck in it. Robby recognised that glass, it was his favourite beer. ‘That explains the substance.’ Micheal thought to himself. A meow broke his concentration, Robby looked at the cat and was met with those large, sad, pathetic eyes. The cat brought the paw to its mouth and licked it silently, then winced.
Robby couldn’t take it. The animal was so small, and so hurt. He stood up, the cat meowing in panic.
“Shh, shh, it’s okay little buddy, I'm going to take you home, bathe you and fix you up. Doesn’t that sound nice, hmm?” Robby said quietly to the cat, and pet its tiny head. The cat relaxed in his grip, and started purring.
The walk home was cozy, Micheal found the purring cat in his hold comforting. When Robby got to his apartment, he went straight to his bedroom. He put the cat gently on his bed, and then ruffled through his closet for some clothes. He found a comfortable, old t-shirt and sweatpants. He undressed from his work clothes, weirdly enough he felt eyes on him the entire time. Like the cat was drinking him in, which was weird. He was probably just overthinking.
When Robby finished changing clothes, he carefully picked up the cat. It immediately started purring and snuggling against him, and Robby relished in the attention from his new furry friend. He knew there was a chance the cat already had an owner, and if he found a missing poster with this beautiful cat on it he should return it. But a selfish part of him didn’t want to, when was the last time he had someone's undivided attention? When he felt so loved? When he was cuddled?
He walked the cat into his bathroom, deep in thought, and turned on the sink. He made sure the water was not too cold or not too warm before dipping the cat into the sink. A weaker man would have thrown up or cried at the sight of the dirt that came off that cat, the water turned dark brown in the blink of an eye. Chunks of dirt and something unrecognisable, throw up?, washed off the small cat.
Robby removed the cat from the sink, let it drain and cleaned the sink a bit before plugging it up and starting the faucet again. He put the cat in the small bath and took up his phone, seeing what soap in his home was cat friendly. He found out that his 3-in-1 soap was okay for cats, but not recommended, and noted to himself to buy some real soap next time he went shopping (for himself, and the cat). He lathered his big hands in the soap, rubbing them together before carefully combing through the cat's fur. He could have thrown up from the things that came out of there, but he hadn’t eaten anything in a while so his stomach was almost completely empty.
The cat was, weirdly, extremely content during all this. It, he as Robby found out during the bath, was purring and licking at Micheal’s hand the entire time. As Robby cleaned him, he was careful of the wound. When the water stopped turning brown and was finally clear, Robby removed him from the sink and carefully dried him off with a hand towel. He found an old comb that he hadn’t used in a while, and combed through the fur looking for flees. He came up empty, thank god.
Micheal picked up the cat, and brought him to his dirty kitchen. Robby cleared the kitchen table, cat still in hand, and found the first aid kit under the sink. Robby sat down by the kitchen table, put the cat down in front of him and the first aid box next to the cat on the kitchen table. Robby stood up and started looking for his glasses, once found he sat back down and opened the first aid kit.
“Let’s try to fix this up, yeah?” He told the cat quietly, focused on his little paw. When he looked back up at the cat, it was like he was looking around.
“It’s a mess I know, I wasn't expecting company,” Micheal chuckled to himself as he started disinfecting and wrapping up the wound. The cat meowed back, looking at him with those large eyes.
“How about I find us something to eat?” He started ruffling through his kitchen, looking for something cat friendly. He found some fish that should still be good. He put the fish in a bowl, and set it in front of the cat. Then he started looking for a new bowl so the cat could drink water. For himself, he made cereal. He didn’t have much, the fact that that fish was still good was a miracle, and it seemed like the cat needed the protein more than him.
They sat together on the table, eating in harmony. Robby found it… nice. Comforting. When was the last time he ate with someone? He can’t remember.
He was tired after a long day, so when he was done eating he brushed his teeth and brought the cat with him to bed, and before sleep could overtake him, he briefly remembered the human sound that came from the alleyway.
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When Micheal woke up, he felt better than ever. He never slept so well, and it was all thanks to the small furry creature currently cuddled into his chest. He begrudgingly moved, waking up the cat in the process. ‘I’m gonna need a name for this guy.’ He thought to himself, before realising this could already be somebody's pet. His chest ached at the thought of losing this creature that had only been with him for a short while, but he cared for it so deeply already.
He quickly got ready for work, and prepared enough food for the cat for the day. He wrote a quick grocery list, knowing he would have to go to the store soon or both him and the cat would starve to death. Before he left for work, he gave the cat a small kiss on the forehead and a good pat.
When he got a break at the ER, which wasn’t often, he spent them scrolling obsessively on social media, trying to find a single missing cat poster that matched his new buddy at home, he found nothing. The rest of the day he was walking on air, he gets to keep the beautiful cat he brought home. Robby quickly researched what a cat would need for a good life, and decided he had some errands to run after work.
When his shift ended, he dashed to the nearest pet shop. Purchasing anything a cat would need. Micheal found a collar, a small dark blue one with a circular gold tag, that he thought the cat would look quite dashing in. He went to the register and asked where he could get it inscribed.
“I can do it right now if you want,” said the tired, but friendly worker.
“Oh yeah thank you that would be great!” Replied Robby, eagerly.
“Okay, what’s your cat's name?”
“His… name?”
“Yeah, the name you want inscribed…?” The worker had a confused look on their face.
“Oh yeah it’s – it’s… Huckleberry?” Robby said quickly. Why he chose that name he was uncertain, but it fit the cat well in his opinion.
“Okayyy, I’m going to need your address or phone number too.”
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Robby returned home, hands full with cat toys, the new collar, food (for both him and Huckleberry), and a new cat bed. He could barely carry it all, but he was a prideful man that refused to go two trips.
When he entered his home, he could hear the shuffling of a cat. Before they met in the kitchen. Robby put everything down on the kitchen counter, and then turned around and picked up Huckleberry. Huckleberry immediately started purring loudly, snuggling his little face into Micheal’s beard.
“Did you miss me Huckleberry?” Robby asked as he pet Huckleberry, the cat looked up at him with a strange expression, and Micheal got nervous suddenly.
“At the pet shop they asked for a name, and I panicked and said Huckleberry if you don’t like it we can choose something else like… like Chuck or Mochi or even Toaster…” Robby rambled, feeling silly. He was defending himself to a cat! A cat! Huckleberry just started purring and snuggling his beard again, clearly content, and okay with the name Robby chose for him.
Robby started looking around properly for the first time since he got home, and was shocked to find his home… clean? Micheal wasn’t a slob, but he was busy. He often didn’t find the time to clean, letting dust and dishes gather until he couldn’t take it anymore. But now the house was sparkly clean, and he doesn’t remember doing that. A wave of dread washes over him, and he started walking around, looking to see if anything was stolen. Nothing. Everything was exactly where it was supposed to be, but his home was so clean.
He tries to calm down, who would break into his house and not steal anything, just clean? Nobody! Maybe he sleep cleaned. That was a thing right? When you sleep walk and start cleaning?! ‘Yeah, that should explain it,’ Micheal thought to himself and brought Huckleberry back to the kitchen.
“I got you something!” Robby might be going insane, he can’t stop speaking to this cat. But it feels so nice, the cat seems to understand him in a way no human ever does. Micheal put Huckleberry on the kitchen counter, before looking for the brand new collar he just bought. He excitedly showed it to Huckleberry, only for him to flinch away from it.
“It’s for you,” Robby said gently, walking carefully towards the cat with his arms outstretched, but the cat refused to let Michael come close to him. Huckleberry seemed almost terrified of the collar. Robby didn’t want to force the cat to wear it, so he put it next to Huckleberry to let the cat sniff it. Maybe he just wasn’t used to the scent of it or something?
He was too tired to think much of it, so he unpacked all his groceries and let Huckleberry sniff the new stuff he bought for him. He seemed to enjoy the toys but showed the cat bed no emotion.
When Micheal finished putting the groceries away, he started cooking dinner. He can’t remember the last time he made himself a real dinner, he often stole a sandwich from work or just ate cereal, but he loved how domestic this felt. He also felt like Huckleberry could judge him, which was ridiculous. He finished cooking and put some cat food in the small green catbowl he bought for Huckleberry. Huckleberry sniffed his food, and tasted it, before turning his wet pink nose away and sashing towards Micheal’s dinner instead. Micheal tried to get Huckleberry to eat his own food, but gave up. Who could say no to this small creature? With his big beautiful wet eyes and pink little nose? Robby googled if his dinner was cat safe, it was, so he found a small dish for Huckleberry and put a small portion of his food on it. Huckleberry ate it contentedly.
Robby put the dirty dishes into the sink, before picking up Huckleberry and walking to the living room. He sat down on his worn brown couch, and turned on the TV. Robby quickly fell asleep. He woke up in his bed, cuddling something that had the same texture as human skin, with the familiar softness of Huckleberry’s ears brushing his cheeks. He promptly fell back asleep, and forgot about the foreign body that slept in his hold.
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A couple of months passed, and Robby was going insane. His home was so clean, but he knows deep inside that he wasn’t the one that cleaned it. Dishes he left in the sink in the mornings were clean and back in the cupboard when he got back home from the ER. He was paranoid and jumpy, constantly feeling like there was another presence in his home, even though only him and Huckleberry lived in that apartment.
Okay, he and Huckleberry weren’t completely alone in the apartment. Huckleberry had a habit of catching all kinds of critters, mostly rats and mice. But the other day he greeted Micheal with a dead cockroach. Huckleberry was a real bloodhound, Robby wasn’t sure if all the critters were caught inside his apartment, or if Huckleberry managed to sneak out to hunt. But he didn’t have it in him to care, since the unwanted creatures were caught and Robby had a bigger worry on his mind. His clean home.
After work one day, in a fit of desperation, he bought a nanny cam. It was hidden inside of a teddy bear, and when Robby got home he placed it on a high shelf that looked over the entire living room, and also showed his bedroom if the door was open. He put it on that specific shelf because Huckleberry didn’t seem to care for it at all, he jumped on every surface except for this shelf, it’s like he could tell that the shelf carried every proud accomplishment of his life, pictures of his loved ones, monuments from his childhood and his doctorate.
Robby turned around and found Huckleberry looking at him curiously, Robby picked him up and snuggled Huckleberry. Ever since Robby found this strange stray his life felt fuller, happier. He no longer felt the crushing weight of loneliness when he entered his home, he only felt love. And slight paranoia, because he was certain someone was breaking into his home to clean his house.
The rest of the night was spent in calm, Robby and Huckleberry ate – Huckleberry still refused to eat his cat food by the way – and then went to watch TV. When it got too late, he and Huckleberry went to his bedroom, cuddling and falling asleep.
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The ER was busy, weirdly busy. Robby had no time to look at the app connected to his newly purchased camera. After seven hours at the ER, there was finally a lull long enough for Micheal to look at the app. When he opened it, he felt like a bucket full of icewater had been dunked over him.
There, in his home, was a man. A man of average build and height, in no shirt, dancing in his apartment, cleaning. Micheal dashed towards Dana.
“I have to go home!” He said desperately.
“Everyone wants to go home, Robby.” Dana replied in her usual no nonsense tone.
“No Dana, there’s a man. In my house. A man I don’t know,” Robby said, hurriedly.
“What?!” Robby showed Dana the live feed, assured her that wasn’t a weird fetish thing, before he got the greenlight to run home. As he ran home, he called Abbot to come in early because of an emergency.
When Robby got to his apartment, he opened it slowly, desperately hoping he was just crazy. But no, the man was still there, singing and dancing, cleaning. And still fucking shirtless. Micheal slammed the door, and that seemed to get the man out of his trance. He jumped, turned off the music and looked at him shocked.
“What are you doing here?!” The stranger shrieked. Robby could not believe the audacity of this strange man.
“What the fuck are YOU doing here? How did you even get in here you weird-” Robby cut himself off, when he realised that Huckleberry was nowhere to be seen. He frantically started looking around.
“Where’s my fucking cat!” Robby yelled at the intruder, before running around his apartment looking for his darling Huckleberry. He was nowhere. Micheal returned to the livingroom, grabbed the intruder by the shoulder menacingly.
“Where is my fucking cat,” Robby seethed. “I swear to fucking god if you hurt my fucking cat I’ll kill you,” he threatened before looking at the man properly, or more accurately his eyes. He knew those eyes. Those large, wet, beautiful eyes. Looking at him in fear. He let go of the man, stumbling.
“Huckle… Huckleberry?” Micheal stuttered.
The man looked awkward, “my name's Dennis actually,” he chuckled awkwardly.
Robby sat on his couch in disbelief, sure he was going crazy. Huckleberry, or Dennis rather, sat next to him fiddling with his hands. Robby looked at him closer, and saw small cat ears on his head and a long bushy tail right above his ass.
“I-I know this is not what you signed up for, It’s weird I know,” Dennis rambled. He explained how he was homeless, had actually been sleeping in the unused wing of the hospital, but that fateful night a man had thrown a beer bottle at him when he tried sneaking in. Injuring him, Dennis had turned into a cat on instinct. When Dennis saw Robby, he trusted him almost immediately. Robby had those smart, kind eyes that made it impossible not to trust him.
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For some reason, Robby let the weird boy stay. He still enjoyed the company, even more now that someone talked back. Dennis slept on the couch the first few weeks, but slowly transitioned to sleeping in the bed with Micheal. Robby didn’t know when the change happened, but he enjoyed it. Enjoyed the feeling of the tail entangling with his leg, the ears brushing against his cheek.
Robby started harbouring a small crush on the weird catboy. Dennis was so kind, helpful and beautiful. Robby learned more about his family, how Dennis ran away when he was 18 for college, and hasn’t spoken to his family since. He tried medical school, but soon had to drop out due to financial struggle. Robby vowed to help him finish medical school one day.
One night, as they cuddled on the couch, Robby instinctively kissed Dennis. It was a quick peck, barely there. Robby flinched away, apology on the tip of his tongue. Before Dennis grabbed him by the neck and brought Robby back to his lips, kissing him with such passion Robby started to suspect that it was something Dennis had wanted to do for a while.
After that, the relationship changed. Dennis went back to medical school, but still helped around the house a lot. They never spoke about labels but they both knew. Robby had never been happier, for the first time in years he no longer felt lonely. He looked forward to coming home after his shift, because he knew his darling Huckleberry would be waiting for him, ready to greet him with hugs and kisses.