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Julia had been very kind to let Josua and his quite playful cat Simba to live with her over the long winter months. This, despite the fact that she already had Benjamin living with her, as well. But then again, Josua didn't exactly have anywhere.. or anyone else, to stay with. Thankfully Julia's apartment was spacious enough so that neither of them had to walk over each other. Julia still slept in her own bedroom. Josua and Simba had moved into the guestroom and quickly made it their little safe space. And Benjamin.. Well, he still slept on the couch in the living room. It had been his decision despite Josua having tried to talk him out of it.
"Don't worry about it, the couch is comfortable. I'll be fine,"
Benjamin had said with that trademark smile of his. And that had been that, Josua hadn't tried to bring the topic up again despite feeling a little bad about it still.
One morning in the middle of December, Josua was the first one to wake up. And Simba too, of course. They were like two peas in a pod. The boy left his room, his orange tabby acting as his shadow like always. The pair sneaked through the living room on their way to the kitchen, careful not to disturb the sleeping Benjamin. Well, Josua was sneaking, at least. Simba walked normally and was completely silent. Benjamin stirred lightly in his sleep, but thankfully didn't wake up. Josua exhaled in relief and tiptoed the rest of the way. He, being as quiet as he could, gave his cat a little bit of dry food and got himself a bowl of cereal which he went to eat in his room. He looked out the window as he ate. Big snowflakes were coming lazily down from the sky. Seeing it brought a wide smile on Josua's face. He'd been quite impatiently waiting for the first snow. He ate the rest of his breakfast in record time before returning the bowl to the kitchen and quickly rinsing it. From there he almost flew to the bathroom and then back to his room to get dressed. Simba joined him after the cat had also finished his breakfast.
"Do you want to go outside to see the snow?"
Josua asked his pet, barely able to contain his excitement. Simba meowed and flicked his ears. Those two had always been quite good at having a conversation. Josua smiled and finished putting his winter clothes on. Then he grabbed the cat's harness and leash. Simba was already a pro at walking with the harness on, compared to the very first times.
Thanks to how well the two worked together, they were ready to head out in no time. They couldn't bother with the elevator and hurried down the flights of stairs, instead. Soon they were already outside and stood on the inner courtyard, taking in the view. It was already starting to look like a proper winter wonderland. Josua smiled happily and tried to catch some of the snowflakes with his tongue. In the meantime, Simba took his first steps through the fresh, white coat of snow, leaving cute little pawprints in his wake. It didn't take long for the tabby's fur to be delightfully speckled with snowflakes of varying sizes.
After getting properly used to the feeling of snow under his paws, Simba seemingly liked it and started doing mad sprints across the yard, chasing Josua who held onto the cat's leash tightly.
Back inside, in the warmth and comfort of the apartment, Julia stood by the window in the living room, looking out to the yard and watching the two best friends play.