Archive of Our Own

(art credits to @GhostieTart)

Jayce pawed idly at the scarf his mother had tied around his neck earlier that morning. She’d layered it right over his collar, the way she made him wear sweaters on snowy winter days. It was summer now, though: humid, sticky and hot.

“You’ve got to look your best today, sweetheart,” she’d said earlier, while placing the scarf around his head, squeezing his cheeks and placing a kiss right between his furry ears. “My sweet boy. Such a good boy, Jayce!”

Jayce had wagged his tail and preened, even though the scarf—made to look like a human’s necktie and shirt-collar—hadn’t been especially comfortable, considering the heat. His father had then led him out to the car, which he’d eagerly jumped into, and then they’d all driven off together.

Jayce loved the car, and the wind from the windows was sweet, sweet relief.

There had been a lot of changes happening lately: strangers coming and going from their home in the countryside, people who didn’t seem to have enough time (or possibly enough interest) to be giving Jayce the attention he deserved, people coming into the house and taking their furniture and belongings and loading it all into vans and trucks and trailers. 

Jayce’s parents were humans, and surely they were in communication with the strangers who were taking their things; in any case, they didn’t seem particularly worried about the comings and goings, so Jayce had decided he wouldn’t be worried about it either. Jayce was sure it wouldn’t be too long before everything went back to normal, and their things would be returned.

Regardless, car rides were always a welcome comfort, and the station wagon was, at least, much the same as it always had been: black plastic panels faded from years of exposure to the sun, old fabric seats lovingly worn by Jayce’s nails over the years, windows smudged from Jayce’s snuffling nose.

As he scratched at his scarf, Jayce watched as the countryside rolled by in swathes of wildflowers, pinks and yellows cloaked in verdant greens, watched over by birds flying high overhead. The fields of his home were flanked by tall mountains on all sides, standing impressively tall on the horizon.

Through the corner of his eye, Jayce saw Ximena glance back at him, sighing restlessly.

“Gio, dear…” she said, turning anxiously back towards her husband. “Am I doing the right thing, do you think?”

Gio smiled and held out a callused hand, palm up. Jayce watched as Ximena gingerly placed her hand into his, watched as he squeezed it reassuringly.

“As long as we have each other, everything will be just fine,” he said, voice gentle and rough. “We’re in this together. You and I, Ximena.”

“And Jayce,” Ximena added with a tremulous smile.

“Yes! And Jayce,” he agreed happily.

Jayce leaned forward between the two front seats and nudged his nose against their hands, just for a moment, before tuning out from their conversation, turning his attention back to the drive.

The windows in the backseat stayed rolled down the whole way there, and Jayce kept his face to the warm breeze for the whole drive. For a moment, he felt the way he always did when he had the chance to taste the wind: like he was flying.

***

Viktor had not been especially happy, as of late.

His human, Orianna, had gone away, for one. This in and of itself was, well… Less than ideal.

She had been the one to find him in the beginning. In all honesty, he couldn’t even remember a time before his life with her; his earliest memory was of being somewhere dark, somewhere cold, and all alone. He remembers flashes of pain and fear and the despair he felt, even now.

But he also remembers her—Orianna, his Person, fishing him out from the darkness, out from the cold and bringing him into the light.

She’d been young then, as had he. Although Doctor Reveck had been the one to bandage his leg and administer the necessary veterinarian care he had required (and he had required a great deal of it), Orianna had still been the one who’d held Viktor close, kept him warm, and nursed him back to health.

Viktor sniffed at the brace around his hind leg, the one that he had suffered the injury to all those years ago.  The brace had taken some getting used to and it was still uncomfortable more often than not, but he supposed he was grateful for it. For the most part, at least. Reveck’s work allowed him his freedom of movement, and his mobility was certainly worth any itch or minor pain the aid brought him. Small victories, and all that.

In any case, Orianna was gone, and Viktor was not happy about it. Not happy at all.

It hadn’t been so long ago that she’d been packing her bags, getting ready to head off to college, where she would live in a dorm, where Viktor wouldn’t be able to reach her.

“I’m going to miss you so much, Vik,” she’d said while curled up around him on the couch. “More than anything else here, more than anything Piltover or Zaun have to offer.”

“More than me? Your own father?” Reveck had asked dryly from the chair on the other side of the room, where he sat tinkering with something on the table—a part for Viktor’s leg, perhaps. “How cruel.”

“I’ll miss you too, dad, of course I will! But… Viktor’s just a baby!” Viktor made a chirping noise of protest but quieted when Orianna pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “He won’t know where I am, or why I’m gone… He’s going to think that I abandoned him, he’s going to hate me!” Her arms tightened around him, just a degree, but enough for Viktor to tell she was distressed and in need of comfort. “What if when I come back to visit he doesn’t recognize me? What if he doesn’t even remember who I am? I don’t want to be a stranger to him…”

Viktor purred and kneaded the blanket he was laying on and pushed his face into Orianna’s chin, idly biting a lock of her short blonde hair. 

Dr. Reveck coughed out a laugh. “I don’t think there’s any danger of that.”

Orianna shifted herself into a seated position on the couch. Viktor followed, shuffling himself onto her lap, curling up and purring, rattling like an engine as Orianna petted his fur.

“You’re going to look after him, right, dad? You’ll make sure he’s happy?”

“Of course.” Reveck set down his work and stood, making his way across the room and sitting on the couch next to his daughter and her cat. Gently, though perhaps a touch stiffly, he lifted Viktor out of Orianna’s lap and set him down on his own. Viktor chirped again, only a little bit annoyed. He allowed the man to brush his fingers against the top of his head for a few moments before rising and clambering off of his lap, onto the couch and then down onto the floor.

It was midday, and sunny, so Viktor elected to make his way out through the cat door, onto the back porch, in order to better bask in the light. Behind him, Dr. Reveck sighed and passed a hand over his scarred face.

“You’ll take care of each other,” Orianna said, resting her head on his shoulder. “You’ll be okay.”

“Of course,” he repeated, gently bonking the side of his head against her hair. “Of course.”

It had been months now since then, and Viktor and Reveck both spent most of their time moping around the house, neither of them feeling particularly inclined to work or play.

Viktor was happy for Orianna. He really was. As sad as she had been to have to leave him behind, he knew how excited she was to finally get to go off to college: to her dream school, at that, and for something as competitive and complex as their robotics program!

Viktor himself was no scientist. He was a cat, after all, and while he enjoyed thinking through problems and their solutions perhaps a touch more than the average cat, he had other interests that tended to take precedence: chirping at birds, lounging in the sun, grooming his fur, and so on. He wasn’t stupid: he knew how much work went into the devices that humans used to ease the burdens they faced. Reveck was a doctor, not an engineer, and yet he had managed to put together the brace that allowed Viktor to walk, with the assistance of his colleagues and the human devices they used in their line of work. As far as robotics went, Viktor knew his brace was actually a relatively simple piece of machinery, and yet, the amount of work and time that had to go into it to keep it operating effectively was almost too much for him to imagine.

Orianna was the smartest human Viktor knew, and he was sure that with the opportunities she would surely come across in her studies, his Person would soon be capable of doing truly great things, capable of work far more noble and important than helping a cat with a bad leg.

This was all to say that Viktor was proud of her. He was glad she was able to pursue her passions, and was especially proud that she had earned such a prestigious opportunity for herself. But his pride in her didn’t exactly ease his present circumstances. The truth was that Viktor was lonely. He longed for company, for someone with whom he could play, someone who understood him, someone who could speak with him and know him and love him for who he really was.

Viktor sighed and made his way across the grass in his backyard. Well, to say it was his was technically a misnomer, and not just because it really belonged to the Revecks. There was no fence stopping him from wandering into the adjacent backyard, so Viktor was able to freely wander between the two. It hadn’t ever been a problem—the house next door had been empty for some time now, and even before then, their former neighbors had rarely ever even opened their back door, let alone spent any quality time in the shared space.

It might have been technically incorrect, but Viktor was the only one who spent much time in the yard, and so as far as he was concerned, it belonged to him. 

Viktor chittered at a few birds and swiped a paw in the general direction of a few squirrels before flopping down at the base of the large tree nestled in the corner of the yard. It was a great old maple tree, and Viktor’s favorite place out of all to lounge. He tucked his paws and tail beneath himself and closed his eyes. He imagined Orianna there with him, the way it felt for her to scratch the spot behind his ears, the way it felt to be hugged, to be loved. He tried to tune out the world around him, but to no avail.

‘Hey! It’s you!’ He heard a familiar voice call out from somewhere above.

Viktor’s imaginary world faded away, and he slowly blinked his eyes back open. The foliage above him was green and lush, and he attempted to discern exactly where the voice had come from, glaring through the gaps of sunlight that streamed down from between the leaves.

Viktor’s body tensed as a small, furry body came tumbling down from the branches. He leapt to his paws as quickly as he could to avoid being fallen on, but in a flurry of movement, the creature twisted through the air and landed on all fours in the grass, next to him rather than on top of him.

Viktor sighed with relief. ‘Hello to you too, Powder,’ he said with an exaggerated air of annoyance, his true feelings betrayed by the pleased twitch of his ears. ‘Care to tell me what you were doing up that tree? Aside from attempting to crush me, of course.’

‘I was looking for squirrels! No luck yet on that front, but I’m so glad you’re here, V!’

Powder—or Jinx, when she introduced herself to strangers—was a small and lithe cat, sporting gray fur so shiny that it almost appeared blue when it reflected the sky, with wide, curious blue eyes to match. She and her sister considered themselves street cats, and they tended to run with a pack of other strays. Viktor knew, though, that they were all well-fed and taken care of in the colony behind The Last Drop, the watering hole down the street owned by a couple of Reveck’s friends, Vander and Silco.

The blue cat had taken a liking to Viktor from the moment she’d met him a dozen or so seasons ago, when she had still been a scruffy little kitten. She had always been interested in anything bright or shiny or strange, and Viktor’s brace hadn’t been an exception: she was fascinated by the mechanism of his leg, and enjoyed greeting him, always trying to convince him to go prowling with her and her other feline friends.

Viktor liked Powder a great deal, but her boundless energy was sometimes too much for him to keep up with. In any case, he was certainly in no condition to go chasing squirrels up trees. He was hardly able to make his way across the yard without feeling the urge to have a lie-down and take deep breaths, and he wasn’t interested in working himself into a state for Reveck to need to administer his inhaler (an unpleasant experience for all involved).

Nonetheless, Viktor humored her whims as much as he was able to. Powder was a good cat, an intelligent cat, and a friendly face, even when she did startle him and almost fall on top of him. He admired her enthusiasm for life, really.

At present, Powder was sauntering over to Viktor, greeting him only slightly belatedly with a ceremonious sniff of the nose, followed by a gentle headbutt to the side of his face, which Viktor successfully returned even as she continued darting about and around him.

‘I’ve got news, V,’ she said as her long tail vibrated with excitement. ‘Big news. You’re not gonna believe it. Guess what it is, guess! Go on!’

‘Hmm,’ Viktor said, making a show of tipping his head thoughtfully to the side. ‘Let’s see… Did you finally manage to pull off a heist from the butcher? I didn’t think I’d ever see the day.’

‘Hey! Just you wait, one of these days I’m gonna show up here with an entire turkey and have it all for myself, and who’s gonna be laughing then?!’ She paused for a moment, then swooped her face in front of Viktor’s. ‘But no side-tracking me: no, not even close. Guess again!’

‘Did the children in town throw a water balloon full of food coloring at Vi and stain her fur purple?’

‘No, she’s still pink from last time, but we have this plan to—hey! Stop trying to distract me. One more guess, come on! And be serious!’

Viktor stared at her with as much gravity as he could muster. ‘Ah! I know what it is,’ he said after a moment of serious contemplation. Powder leaned forward, curious and eager as ever, as he continued. ‘Yes, of course, it’s all so clear to me now… I see. We are evolving! You and I, soon we will become stronger and more powerful than the humans, greater than the greatest cats who have ever lived. We will wear fur of metal and magic, and take over the world, eliminating all those who oppose us. The glorious evolution—ouch!” Viktor exclaimed as Powder cut him off with a smack of her paw to the tip of his nose.

‘Ha-ha. That’s very funny, old man,’ she said, dodging out of the way easily as Viktor tried to smack her in turn. She scampered away from him, climbing up the side of the fence that encircled Viktor’s house and the empty one next to it. She balanced herself at the top of the fence with an acrobatic ease that came naturally to her, flicking her tail proudly. Viktor could have sworn she wore a sort of smirk on her face. He sighed and sat back down, unable to climb up to join her.

‘Then I am out of guesses. Would you please tell me anyway? I am nothing if not curious…’

‘Fiiine,’ she said, stretching out the syllable as she leapt back down from the fence, taking a seat in the grass by Viktor’s side. ‘Alright, Vik, listen! You know how that house over there has been empty for so long?’ She gestured with her chin towards the house that sat next to Viktor and Reveck’s. ‘Well, I was just at The Last Drop—I was up in the rafters, trying to catch a spider—and I saw a couple of people there, this pretty lady and this giant guy. They were picking up food or something and talking to Vander and Silco, and get this: they’re moving in next door, today, to that house that’s had all the vans and people around it for the past few weeks. And get ready for the best part. They have a dog! You’re going to be making a new friend soon, V!’

‘...What?’ Viktor said, eyes wide. ‘They—a dog?!’

‘Yep!’ Powder said, pleased with herself and with the level of shock her friend openly displayed. ‘That’s right! It’s going to be so interesting, don’t you think? I’m almost jealous of you and Mr. Singed.’ Viktor didn’t respond. ‘Well, V, I’ve gotta go. There’s squirrels to chase, children with water balloons to torment, you know how it is… We’ll be around tonight if you feel like joining us! Be seeing you,’ she said with a final affectionate nudge. She then scampered back up into the maple tree before dropping down from one of its branches onto a shed on the other side of the fence, disappearing from Viktor’s sight.

A dog, he thought, his eyes still wide with shock, ears flattened with displeasure. I’m going to have to share my yard with a dog?!

As he listened to the car pulling into the formerly long-empty driveway next to their own, Viktor stood his ground, there in the yard. This place was his, and he refused to yield it to anyone.

***

The blue sky was clear and bright as the station wagon pulled to a stop in front of the house, and Jayce wagged his tail excitedly to combat the nervous energy circulating through the vehicle. Jayce knew that something big was happening, that whatever had brought them all to this place was something important to both of his people, and that meant it was important to him, too. That being said, he’d been cooped up in the car for so long that he felt like he was going to burst. He needed to run, to feel grass on his paws and sun on his fur. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in the car for so long, or the last time that he’d felt so cooped up. Maybe it had been when he’d been a puppy, lost in the snow. He didn’t like the feeling, and his desire to shake it off as soon as possible was stronger than he knew what to do with.

There were so many smells, there, too: new smells, strange smells, all indicating a whole new world for Jayce to explore. Animals and people, machines and chemicals, smoke and cooking food… There was just so much, so much more than he was used to, enough to make him squirm with excitement and anxiety.

It was only partially his fault, then, that as soon as Ximena made her way out and around the car to open the back door, he pushed past her and bolted into the open yard, desperate for the freedom and joy of a good run.

Jayce only barely heard her call his name as he raced around, barrelling through the weeds, racing through the open wooden gate into the yard behind the house, and—

Jayce practically ran over another creature. Narrowly dodging around it, he skidded to a halt and quickly turned towards it, his tail wagging and his breath coming in quick, friendly pants.

To Jayce’s surprise and delight, it was a cat! A very handsome cat, too, with brown point-colored fur and golden-yellow eyes, wearing a strappy silvery brace around one of his hind legs, connected to a collar around his neck.

In their country-side home, Jayce knew plenty of cats. They lived in barns all over the countryside, hunting mice and birds and strutting around the fields like they owned the place. As far as Jayce had ever been concerned, they did! They protected the farms from pests, spooked away the crows, and kept him company as he roamed about. The cats he’d known had always been tough and strong and hardy, able to hold their own when they needed to but almost always willing to cuddle or play when Jayce or the other farmers’ dogs had come across them. Ximena was always telling him what a good dog he was, so it made sense for other animals to like him, right? And anyways, whenever they weren’t willing to spend time with Jayce, they simply left.

All the cats Jayce had known had been excellent runners, climbers, and hiders. Jayce was sure this cat would be the same. Why wouldn’t he be? And he hadn’t even tried to run away, so it seemed like he was as interested in forming a friendship as Jayce was! How lucky!

Jayce wagged his tail and pressed his nose companionably against the side of the cat’s face, and—

The cat hissed and swung a paw at Jayce’s face, a sharp claw catching him on his brow just above his right eye. It stung, and Jayce yelped, stumbling back a step.

“Viktor!” a voice cried. A man with a half-scarred face rushed out of a house’s back door, made a bee-line for Jayce and the cat, and scooped the cat up off of the ground into his arms. “Back, back!” he shouted, and Jayce stumbled back one step, then another, as the man waved an arm at him frantically.

Ximena rushed through the open gate Jayce had entered through into the shared backyard with a stricken look on her face. “Jayce, no! Come here!”

“This is yours, then?! Get him away, away!”

“Yes, I’m so sorry, he just—” Ximena reached Jayce’s side and took hold of his scarf and collar. Upon seeing his brow, her face crumpled. “Oh, Jayce, you’re bleeding! Your poor face!”

“I heard him barking. Your mutt attempted to attack my daughter’s cat, in our own backyard! What kind of owner are you? How dare you?! You let him run into anyone’s yard, to accost anything he likes?” The man’s hands, which held the cat aloft, were trembling. The cat’s eyes were wide, and his ears were pressed firmly back against his head. The man glared, and began to walk back towards his back door. He paused, then turned back towards Jayce and Ximena and Gio, who was hurriedly making his way towards them through the gate. The scarred man glared at the three of them, especially at Jayce, and then spoke: “My cat is disabled and cannot run, and was forced to defend himself. I will not apologize for this. Keep your dog on a leash, or don’t keep him here at all.” And he turned and walked away.

As he left, Jayce caught a final glance of the cat. Its eyes, golden and bright, met Jayce’s, and even as Ximena fussed over the scratch, even as the man holding the cat tried to cradle him closer and run a hesitant hand over his fur, neither Jayce nor Viktor looked away until the other was out of his sight.

From the top of a nearby fence post, Jayce thought for a moment that he saw a flash of bright blue—fur, maybe? or perhaps a bird?—before it vanished.

***

Viktor didn’t step foot outside of his house for about a week, after the incident.

He didn’t stay inside out of a sense of fear. At least, not exactly. Ultimately, the dog—Jayce, he supposed its name was, if its human’s words were anything to go off of—posed no real threat to him when it approached. He hadn’t seemed especially violent or aggressive. If anything, the dog had simply been too friendly. Aggressively friendly, even.

Viktor had always valued his personal space. It was important for him to have agency over the things happening to and around him, especially considering the amount of agency his mobility issues often took away from him. Because he could not climb trees or fences and because he could not jump, he had to have other ways of making his displeasure known to the other humans and animals he interacted with, especially when they were strangers to him.

Jayce might have been friendly enough, but he had approached so quickly and wildly that Viktor had felt like his only option was to make him back off in whatever way was available to him. It had been… unfortunate, perhaps, that violence had been the option of choice, and Viktor supposed he felt guilty, in a way. It wasn’t as though he had enjoyed scratching the dog. Then again, though, he hadn’t appreciated the abrupt invasion of his personal space, or the acquiescence of the fenced-off yard that had always belonged to him and to him alone. But what was done was done. The dog was, as far as he knew, here to stay, and there was nothing that could change what had happened now.

So Viktor stayed in the house for a while, not daring to venture back outside for fear of risking an annoying confrontation or a further disruption to his routine.

Dr. Reveck didn’t seem entirely sure of what to do, which was funny at the very least. He didn’t seem to know whether to ply Viktor with treats and play or to leave him alone completely, and the compromise he seemed to choose was to hover near Viktor all day without directly interacting with him. Viktor would have likely turned his nose up at the man anyways, but it got to be too much for him when he heard the man speaking to Orianna about it on the phone.

“Yes, the dog is still here… He’s on a leash whenever I see him out front, but they put him in the backyard, too, sometimes… On a tie-out. You know, one of those cable leashes you can put between two posts or trees… No, he hasn’t tried getting to Viktor since that day, but it’s not as though he’s had the chance. Viktor refuses to go outside at all. I think he’s… frightened. Or anxious, perhaps.”

This was, of course, complete nonsense. Viktor was not afraid, or anxious, he was simply making things easier for everyone. Mostly for himself.

He couldn’t hear what Orianna was saying in response, hard as he tried, but it couldn’t have been anything very good, based on Reveck’s concerned frown.

“No, no… Don’t worry, dear. I… You don’t need to come home just for this, I have it all under control. Viktor is safe, and he seems… comfortable enough.” Reveck glanced down at Viktor, who had made his way across the living room floor to Reveck’s work station upon hearing him make the call. Viktor gave what he considered to be a respectably agreeable meow at the man, who grimaced and turned away in response. “You don’t need to worry about anything, Ori. I’ll make sure that Viktor is well looked after, and that the dog is kept at a respectable distance. But make no mistake: one slipup on the dog’s part and I will have him and his owners dealt with. This I promise.”

Viktor sighed, clambered back up onto the warm couch cushion he’d been napping on, and curled up into a ball. The dog situation was a temporary setback, that was all. He would be out and enjoying the late summer again soon. He was just… taking a break. That was it. Everything was fine, and Reveck was making the whole situation out to be a much bigger deal than it actually was.

It was all fine. Totally, completely fine.

***

It had been a week, and Jayce now knew for a fact that absolutely nothing was fine.

It hadn’t taken him long to realize that they were not, in fact, going to be going back to their home in the countryside. They had all but abandoned it, and for a life clogged by city smog and leashes.

The fetching faux-necktie scarf Ximena had outfitted him with had not been enough to make a good impression on their neighbors. No, to the contrary. The man living next door seemed to absolutely despise Jayce, and for good reason, he supposed. He hadn’t meant to scare the cat, but he had. He hadn’t meant to get scratched in return, but he had been, and he deserved it, too. 

Jayce had been, to his great horror and despair, a bad dog.

When he went outside, even though the yard was fenced in, Ximena hooked his collar to a cable leash. He could still run along it, yes, and he still enjoyed the fresh air and blue skies, but the horizons were not open, the trees did not tower above, and the cat—Viktor, the man had called him—had not shown his face outside since the fateful day Jayce had bombarded him with an attempted friendship.

Jayce missed playing with all of the barn cats. He missed the birds, and the distant mountains, and the freedom he had to run and play as freely and as often as he liked. More than anything, though, he missed the wide-open skies, and the tall grass, and the sound of the wind rustling through a canopy of leaves in the distance.

Sure, he had everything he needed, and he still had his Ximena, thank the skies above, but the bottom line was that he was unhappy. He felt lonely, fenced-in, trapped, and more than anything, he just wanted out.

Jayce laid on the cool tiles of the kitchen floor and heaved out a great sigh, before pricking his ears up. Someone was out in front of the house, he was sure of it. But both of his people were already inside the house, his mother working in her office and his father reading a book on the living room couch. So, he wondered, who could it be?

Someone knocked on the door, three sharp taps; Jayce barked and scrambled towards the entryway, his tail wagging furiously as the door swung open, revealing—

‘Caitlyn!’ Jayce yelped happily, running towards his friend, both their tails wagging eagerly as they greeted each other. Jayce pressed his face against the long, flowing hair covering her ears, and tried to keep himself from bowling her over. This was his friend, and he was a good dog!

‘Oh, Jayce, it’s so good to see you again! It’s been too long, there’s so much I need to tell you,’ his best friend said as she nuzzled her pointed muzzle against his fur. 

A gentle hand ran over Jayce’s fur, and he quickly turned back around to say hello to the humans who had come in with his friend. One was a familiar face: it was Mrs. Kiramman, Caitlyn’s human companion, while the other he didn’t yet recognize.

“Hello, Jayce!” Mrs. Kirraman said with a laugh as she continued to pet him and he continued to wag his tail with borderline violent happiness. “It’s very nice to see you again, as well. Now: where might your parents be? I’d very much like to reintroduce them to my friend.”

Jayce turned his attention to the other woman, who was currently holding onto the leash attached to Caitlyn’s collar. The woman, shiny and beautiful and adorned with gold, smiled at him, knelt beside him, and held her hand out for him to sniff, before scratching him under his chin.

“Hello, Jayce,” she said with a smile. “My name is Mel.” As Jayce continued to nuzzle towards her, she laughed and turned back to Mrs. Kiramman. “I think this arrangement will work out just fine, Cassandra.”

***

The August days continued to pass, each one hotter and brighter than the last. There must have been something about the suburban air that made the light even more blinding than it needed to be, that made the air hotter than Jayce had ever felt it before. 

To his surprise and delight, Mel—who, apparently, was a close friend of Cassandra’s and more recently of Ximena’s—began to take him and Caitlyn, who also lived in their neighborhood, on a walk once a day around lunchtime.

Every time he, Cait, and Mel left his house to go on their daily stroll, Jayce could feel a pair of sharp feline eyes tracking him from the house next door. Jayce tried to make friendly eye contact, but it seemed that as soon as his gaze met the cat’s, he would disappear back into the depths of the house.

Jayce was adamant, though: he wouldn’t give up.

‘Do you think,’ Caitlyn asked one day, ‘that maybe you should give up? I mean, be reasonable, Jayce! He clearly doesn’t want anything to do with you. Why bother…? And in any case, I’m sure you could find a more agreeable companion elsewhere. I certainly have…’

Jayce watched as Caitlyn’s eyes flicked towards the top of a nearby fencepost, where a strikingly magenta cat was seated, casually licking her paw and trying to appear as though she wasn’t paying close attention to Jayce’s best friend. Jayce felt his eyes widen.

‘Caitlyn…! Are you serious?!’

‘I haven’t the faintest clue what you mean,’ his friend responded primly. 

The cat nonchalantly nodded her head at the two of them. ‘Heya, Cupcake,’ she said as she made eye contact with Caitlyn. Then, swiveling her head towards him, ‘Hello, you. I don’t know you.’

‘The name’s Jayce. It’s, uh, nice to meet you?’

Mel smiled and reached out a hand, letting the cat inspect it before scratching her head right between the ears. “Hello, hello, Ms. Violet!” Mel said, reading the tag on the cat’s collar. Caitlyn snickered, and the cat—Violet!—rolled her eyes and jumped down from the fence post.

‘It’s Vi, not whatever the hell she just called me, eugh! And you’re Jayce, hmm?’ Violet said. ‘Huh. I’ve heard about you.’

‘All good things, I hope…?’ Jayce said, glancing suspiciously over at his friend.

‘From her, yeah,’ Vi said. ‘Less so from my sister. She’s Viktor’s friend.’

Jayce glanced sadly at the ground. ‘It was an accident, really…! I didn’t mean to hurt him…’

‘Whatever you say, pretty boy,’ Vi responded with a flick of her tail. ‘I’ll see you later, Cupcake, mmkay?’ And at that, the cat sauntered away, jumping back up onto the fence and out of sight.

Jayce glanced at Caitlyn incredulously, then huffed in amusement upon seeing her pointedly avoiding his gaze. ‘Seems like a real catch,’ he said.

‘She is,’ his friend responded softly. ‘She really is.’

‘She’s the lucky one.’ Jayce nudged Caitlyn’s shoulder with his own.

Mel gently pulled the two of them forward. “Alright, come on, you two! Back we go,” she said.

The hot summer wind blew through Jayce’s hair, and he turned his nose towards it, drinking it in, before moseying along at his friends’ sides.

***

Viktor watched through the window at the front of the house as Jayce and the unidentified dog and human walked out through Jayce’s front door, out onto the street and down the road, and didn’t feel weird or jealous about it at all. No, really! He didn’t even like any of them. What did he even have to be jealous over? It wouldn’t make any sense.

It surely wasn’t because of his own lack of companionship. He had plenty of companionship. He had Reveck, even if the man could be a bit awkward and cold. He had his friend Powder, even if he only saw her every once in a while. And he had Orianna, even though she wasn’t here anymore.

And he had Rio, of course.

After Jayce and the dog and the human (who was very beautiful, and seemed very fun to be around, and seemed to be much-beloved by Jayce, even though that didn’t matter and was clearly nothing to be jealous over) had disappeared down the road, Viktor ambled down from his perch and made his way to the table that held Rio’s tank.

Rio was an axolotl, a strange little fish-creature who didn’t seem to care for much other than swimming and eating and hiding. Viktor liked to watch him through the glass, and even though the two of them weren’t exactly capable of sustaining a deep relationship given the fact that one of them lived underwater and the other did not, Viktor had always felt a certain sense of kinship with the creature.

‘Hello, Rio. How are you doing today?’ Viktor pawed at the glass, trying to get the creature’s attention, then watched sadly as the creature scurried behind a rock, hiding from him.

Viktor sighed and left Rio alone, shuffling over to the couch and curling up in a sad, lonely ball.

***

When he wasn’t walking with Mel and Cait or playing with either of his humans, Jayce took to spending his free time outside. It was hot outside, but at least when he was under the open air, he could feel the breeze ruffle his fur every once in a while. The heat inside the house was almost too much to bear; he wasn’t sure how anyone else could stand it (although, he supposed it wasn’t as much of an issue for either of his humans—neither of them had much of any fur to speak of!).

And then, one day, it seemed that the cat next-door felt the same way. Jayce had been sitting outside on his run line for a while when his neighbor’s swinging pet door was pushed open, and Jayce startled to his feet as soon as he saw a brown-tipped ear followed by a pair of golden eyes.

Viktor!

‘H-hello!’ Jayce woofed, his ears perking up and his tail wagging as he eagerly strained forward against his lead, eager to show off a more polite greeting. ‘It’s you! Hi!’

The cat did not turn his head towards Jayce, although Jayce felt their eyes meet for just a moment. But Viktor’s eyes narrowed a fraction, then flicked away as Viktor strutted across his lawn before settling down at the base of the old maple tree on his side of their shared lawn.

‘Hello!’ Jayce repeated again, and then again, but to no avail. It took a minute, but he eventually got the message: Viktor really wasn’t willing to give him the time of day.

Which was fine! Really, it was.

Really.

Jayce eased off of his leash and laid down in the grass, his head between his paws.

***

Things went on like this for a while, with Viktor skirting around the edges of Jayce’s perception, occasionally sharing space but never saying a word to him directly. September had arrived, but the warmth of the summer hadn’t yet passed.

Jayce and Ximena would go on their walks, and Jayce would catch a glimpse of Viktor watching him through the window. When the walk was over, Ximena would leash him to his run in the backyard for a while, and he would spend half an hour or so waiting to see if Viktor would come outside. Sometimes Viktor would already be outside, sitting on their back porch or laying under the maple. Jayce would try to say hello, and Viktor would look the other way, pretending to not hear anything at all. And if Viktor’s human was outside with him, the man would pick Viktor up and carry him inside at the first sight of Jayce and his mother.

But Jayce was determined. The fact that Viktor was willing to be in the yard at the same time as Jayce at all was enough of a sign that the cat wasn’t completely against him, whether he ignored him or not; and so Jayce persisted. He was nothing if not persistent, after all.

Jayce began to talk to Viktor, beyond just saying hello, whether Viktor wanted to respond or not. Jayce figured that if he didn’t want to hear him, the cat would just get up and go back into his house. 

And so it began: Jayce would tell a story, or describe a memory, a favorite sensation, a sound, a feeling, and Viktor would sit and listen, pointedly refusing ever to acknowledge Jayce or respond to him. But he was listening; Jayce was sure of it.

It was during one of these stories that the opossum entered the yard.

Jayce had never had a problem with opossums. They tended to be fairly docile creatures; nervous, even. The ones he’d noticed in the countryside hadn’t been especially inclined towards friendship, but had never bothered him, tending to keep to themselves.

This opossum was clearly different, though. It was a scrappy looking creature—thin and mangy with a glint in its eyes that looked almost dangerous. The animal was hungry and, clearly, very far from its home. And Jayce knew that hungry animals were often dangerous animals.

Jayce’s leapt to his feet from his seated position and tried to let loose an alerting cry, tried to get Viktor’s attention, to let him know that the animal had entered their yard, but to no avail; Viktor wouldn’t even turn to look at him, let alone listen to what he was trying to tell him!

Jayce strained against his lead, but the cable and his harness both held fast.

The opossum had been sniffing around indiscriminately at first, but it had caught the cat’s scent; now, it ventured in Viktor’s direction, moving in quick, jerky rambles. Jayce yelped and strained; Viktor’s ear twitched but he didn’t turn. The opossum was a quarter of the way, no, halfway across the yard and moving fast, and Viktor still hadn’t seemed to notice it.

He had noticed Jayce, however, perhaps for the first time since Jayce’s initial and poorly done greeting on that first day they’d met. Viktor’s face twitched in annoyance at Jayce’s volume, loud and climbing louder still as he jumped and thrashed trying to get the cat’s attention. Jayce only pulled at his harness harder, trying to do something, anything, to alert Viktor of the impending danger. The buckles dug through his thick black and brown fur and into his chest, his harness tightening to a tight, almost painful degree. His nails dug into the grass, into the dirt and the rocks underneath, as he pulled and pulled, and—

The opossum lurched closer and closer still. It was meters away from Viktor, who continued to pointedly look away. It was feet away, snuffling, baring its teeth, closer and closer, until—

The buckle on Jayce’s harness broke and as he tumbled forward, Viktor’s head finally snapped towards him, leaving him face to face with the opossum. Immediately, the cat twisted violently off the ground and onto his paws, short fur bristling as he let out an ungodly screeching hiss. Jayce scrabbled to a stop as Victor unleashed his sharp claws onto the approaching creature, hissing and slashing so violently that Jayce could hardly believe it.

And, after just one swipe, the opossum fell to the ground. Viktor huffed, hissed, and puffed out his tail, but the opossum was no longer moving, its body almost entirely hidden as it lay, silent and still, in the tall grass.

After he was sure that the opossum threat had been neutralized, Viktor looked up towards Jayce, who stood to the side just a few feet away, watching in awe as Viktor had defended himself.

‘W-wow,’ Jayce stammered. ‘I didn’t realize… I mean, you didn’t scratch me like that! When we met, I mean—um—’

‘Of course I didn’t scratch you like that,’ the cat responded shakily, still clearly agitated, but Jayce sensed a healthy measure of humor in his voice as well. ‘It wasn’t as if I ever believed you to be anything but harmless!’

Jayce had never heard another voice like Viktor’s. He sounded much like the cats he’d known before, but his meows lilted in a way that was new to him. New and different. Beautiful. If Jayce had been born a human like his mother, he was sure his face would have flushed mightily. As it were, he felt his ears perk forward and his tail beginning to wag.

Although Viktor’s fur was still puffed up a bit, he took a tentative step towards Jayce, then another, more sure, and another. He opened his mouth, and began to speak, saying ‘Thank you—’

But the opossum twitched and started to stand again, and Viktor hissed and scrambled back, and Jayce felt his lips pull back into a snarl, his hackles raising, and he barked once, twice—

And that was, of course, when Dr. Corin Reveck decided to open the door from he and Viktor’s house into the back yard.

Jayce tried to imagine, for a moment, the scene that Reveck had stumbled upon: a doberman, having escaped from his leash, violently snarling and barking in the direction of his precious cat, defensively positioned, unable to escape. The opossum had returned to playing dead, and was entirely concealed beneath the tall grasses.

Jayce whimpered.

***

Viktor had been… thinking.

He was always thinking, of course; it was something he’d always prided himself on, and something he planned to continue doing much more of in the days to come.

He had been wrong about the dog. About Jayce. Viktor had believed that ignoring him was kind, that giving him his attention would lead only to uncomfortable apologies and awkward interactions. Viktor had hoped that Jayce would give up on getting his attention, that he would mellow with time, and perhaps even come to be indifferent about Viktor’s presence in their yard.

Instead, Jayce had only doubled down in gaining Viktor’s friendship and affection. And, in the end, he had gotten himself in trouble in order to save (or at least attempt to save) Viktor from the danger of a wild animal.

After finding Jayce on Viktor’s side of the yard, hackles raised and teeth bared, Reveck had been furious. Viktor hadn’t quite caught all of the words Reveck had shared with Ximena after he’d scooped Viktor up out of the grass and brought him inside, but he had heard enough.

Reveck and Ximena seemed to have reached an accord, after the shouting, after their angry words: their time as neighbors with a shared backyard had come to an end. Viktor had watched through the window as the fence in the backyard had been constructed; he wasn’t allowed to be let outside until it had been completed, and so he languished in the windowsill as the workers came and went.

But Viktor had been thinking. Thinking about his own mistakes, how he had ignored Jayce’s warnings and put them both in danger in the process. He thought about Jayce’s kindness, and his good-faith attempts for the two of them to become friends…

Jayce had only just moved into their neighborhood, had been trying to be friendly, and had been scratched and shunned for it. 

Jayce had tried, he’d really tried, but Viktor had been too stubborn to let Jayce in.

Not anymore, though. It was Viktor’s turn to try; and, what was stubbornness, really, but persistence viewed from a different angle?

Viktor made up his mind. He was going to fix it; he was going to fix everything. And he was going to be the best friend Jayce had ever had. So Viktor began to think about the fence, and started coming up with a plan.

***

Jayce, who had essentially been on house arrest since the incident, heard Ximena and Gio talking off and on in hushed tones, sometimes to each other, sometimes on the phone.

“Gio, dear,” Ximena said anxiously, “are you sure it’s absolutely necessary?”

Her husband sighed sadly, and shook his head. “I don’t think there’s anything else to be done. Jayce deserves to spend time in the yard, but so does the cat… And Dr. Reveck shouldn’t have to worry about another incident taking place.”

“I know, I know,” she sighed sadly, “but… it just seems like so much for you to do, sweetheart. A fence! Really!”

Gio flexed a muscular arm and grinned. “Putting up a fence? No, it’s not too much for me,” he said. “Nothing could ever be too much for me to do for you, my love…”

Jayce got up quietly and left the room, letting his parents be. They had each other, they always had each other, but what did Jayce have…?

The fence went up within a day or two’s time, and Jayce, for perhaps the first time in his life, wished that he had been born as a human rather than as a dog. He imagined explaining the situation to his parents, imagined them hugging him and telling him that it all made so much sense now, that they understood, that it was all going to be okay, that they would find a way to explain to their neighbor what had happened, what Jayce had been trying to do.

But Jayce wasn’t a human. He couldn’t explain himself, or the situation that he’d found himself in.

Ximena still hugged him, of course, brushed his hair and told him what a good boy he was, that it was going to be okay, that it wasn’t his fault, but there was always an undercurrent of something uneasy in her voice… A note of sadness underneath the affectionate words.

The fence went up, and the backyard wasn’t shared any longer. On the bright side, at least, Jayce discovered that he no longer needed to be kept on his leash. It had been broken during his escape, and the purpose of the leash—to keep him from bothering Viktor—was no longer necessary.

Jayce sighed and buried his face in his paws as he laid in the grass. He heard birds chirping in the distance, heard cars rumbling past on the road, but it all felt so far away…

For the first time since arriving at their new house, Jayce felt a pang of homesickness. Ximena was his Person. She was his home, and she always would be. But for a moment, Jayce wished that they could go back to the countryside, with its distant mountains, its barn cats, the endless grassy fields Jayce was free to roam before returning to the house in the evenings.

Jayce thought that he might feel differently if he had even a single friend, but it seemed like it just wasn’t meant to be. Maybe he was just going to have to resign himself to being a different kind of dog. A lonely dog…

And then he heard it: past the birdsong, past the sounds of the occasional cars humming past on the road, Jayce heard a meow.

He sat up, and perked up his ears; he hadn’t quite been able to make out the shape of the words, but Jayce was sure he’d heard something…

There it was again! It was a soft and raspy meow, but clearer this time than before: ‘Hello? Can you hear me?’

Jayce scrambled toward the fence in the middle of the yard, which was, of course, where the noise had come from.

‘V-Viktor! Hi,’ Jayce stammered. ‘Hi, hey. How are you?’

‘...I’m well, Jayce,’ Viktor said, his voice muffled through the wooden fence. For a moment, Jayce caught a glimpse of a golden eye, peeking through the crack between the slats, before it disappeared. ‘I hope you’re doing alright as well?’

‘I am,’ Jayce said as he sidled up next to the fence. His body vibrated with anticipatory energy as he found himself suddenly in a position to say something that had been weighing on his mind for some time now. ‘Viktor, I’m sorry.’

***

Viktor stood for several moments in bewildered silence.

‘You’re sorry?’ He eventually blurted out. ‘What do you have to be sorry for, Jayce? You’ve been nothing but friendly towards me since the day you arrived. Well, maybe a touch too friendly at first, but that’s neither here nor there. You wanted to be my friend and I rejected you for almost no reason. You tried to warn me of danger, tried to save me at your own peril. And for what? I scratched you, and then I ignored you for weeks! I was the reason your humans were forced to put you on your leash whenever you came into the backyard. I’m the reason there’s a fence between us now. No, Jayce, do not say that you’re sorry. It’s me who needs to apologize.’

‘No!’ Jayce yelped, his voice earnest and clear even through the wooden boards of the fence. ‘No, don’t apologize, Viktor. I should have known better than to rush you like that when we first met, and I don’t blame you for trying to tell me to back off, even if it did hurt a little… It’s not like you knew me! You had no reason not to be wary of me, and you never owed me friendship, as much as I would have liked it. You never owed me anything.’

‘Nor did you,’ Viktor responded, hesitantly continuing. ‘You did not owe me anything, and yet you saved me.’

‘You saved yourself!’ Jayce countered. ‘All I did was make a lot of noise…’

‘You saved me,’ Viktor repeated, ‘whether directly or indirectly. You got my attention just in time to allow me the chance to defend myself, and for that I thank you.’

‘You don’t need to thank me—’

‘I thank you,’ Viktor continued, ‘and I would be honored to call you my friend. I feel so silly for having felt so lonely when you’ve been right here beside me for all this time.’

Viktor heard the thump, thump, thump of Jayce’s wagging tail gently hitting the boards between them, and right then and there he made up his mind: fence and bad leg be damned; he was going to be the best friend Jayce had ever had.

***

After getting to know Viktor over the next couple of days, Jayce came to a realization: just because Viktor hadn’t said much of anything yet did not mean he had nothing to say. To the contrary, really. When Viktor set his mind to something, or when he got to talking about something, anything really, it was almost impossible to slow him down. 

On the first day, Viktor began by telling Jayce about the neighborhood. He told him how he’d lived there more or less his entire life, that he’d never strayed very far from his home (on account of his leg not being very good for carrying him long distances and making quick escapes tricky) but that the neighborhood was full of good people and good creatures.

The next day, Viktor told Jayce about what he remembered from before being a pet: what little he remembered of it at least, and told him what it had been like to be found by Orianna, his Person. He told Jayce everything he loved about Orianna, everything he missed about her, and why she’d had to go.

‘She’ll be back someday,’ Viktor said, ‘but she’s going to change the world, I know it. I’ve never been as proud of anything as I am of her.’

‘She sounds wonderful,’ Jayce said softly.

‘She is. I’d like you to meet her,’ Viktor responded. “She loves animals of all kinds. She would love you too, I think.’

The day after that, Viktor described street festivals that would take place soon, harvest festivals and the Halloween festivities that would last for the better part of October. He told Jayce of paper lanterns and bustling crowds and food trucks, crackly red and orange leaves and the delicious fragrances that would flood the air. “Maybe your humans will take you to one?” Viktor suggested. “I am personally quite content to watch from my windows, but I suppose it might be interesting for you to mingle with the people.”

Viktor told Jayce all the stories he knew: tales Powder had shared with him of the people in town, stories he’d gleaned from the television and more often the radio, thinks he’d heard Orianna and Reveck talking about… There was so much the world had to offer that even if it wasn’t within his reach, Viktor had always wanted to take in as much as possible.

Viktor told Jayce about his comfort zone, and how it discomfitted him greatly for that comfort to be disturbed. He told him how at the same time, he yearned for a change.

Viktor shared his loneliness with Jayce; his dreams and his wishes, too. And Jayce shared his with Viktor, in turn.

Jayce told Viktor about his home in the countryside. He told Viktor, through the fence, about the way it felt to have the wind of the open plains blowing in your fur, how it felt to sprint through the unending grassy fields, unbothered, unobstructed, and free.

He told Viktor about distant mountains, about herds of deer, of midnights flooded with starry skies and mornings when the dips in the ground would all fill with heavy, clinging fog.

Jayce spoke of barn cats and farm animals, of the friends he’d had without really knowing any of them well.

Jayce, like Viktor, had been lonely and longing for more. And now, they both had what they’d wanted: a companion, a true companion, someone like-minded and interesting and easy to talk to, someone who understood.

‘I feel like I’ve known you forever,’ Viktor said one evening. His meows rasped through the fence, and even though he couldn’t see him, Jayce imagined him leaning against the wooden boards, golden eyes narrowed, sharp yet content. Jayce himself was sitting on his hind legs, his side pressed against the fence where he imagined Viktor to be.

Jayce closed his eyes and let himself imagine, for just a moment, a different life. An image flashed through his mind: he saw a human version of himself, tall and strong, his face a combination of his human parents’ features rather than the canine parents he never knew. Jayce saw himself swinging a hammer, laughing with a friend, studying in a large room alongside another human, faced away—a man with a build like Reveck’s, in a way, with a mop of brown waves atop his head and a metallic brace fixed upon his leg—slowly turning towards him, revealing sharp features, a mole on his cheek above his lips, which were slowly turning upwards in a wry smile—Jayce didn’t have to wonder at all. It was, so clearly, Viktor.

A warm feeling spread through Jayce’s chest, but upon opening his eyes, the image dissipated, and he found himself back in the middle of the crisp early-October day it had been. What a strange daydream!

‘Me too,’ he responded after a moment. Thump, thump, thump! went his tail against the fence, until Ximena called him inside for dinner.

***

‘The fence is a problem,’ Viktor said as he stood on the coffee table, staring Reveck down. The man was sitting on the couch with a clipboard, filling out paperwork, not paying much attention to Viktor at all—but what else was new?

Viktor felt a bit sorry for him. Reveck might not want to cuddle with Viktor in his arms, or play with Viktor at any great frequency, or even pet him much, but Viktor was aware that Reveck’s hesitance was founded on Viktor’s own reactions to the man’s approaches throughout his life. Reveck cared for him in his own sort of way, of course. It wasn’t as though the man was neglecting him. It was just that Viktor hadn’t exactly given them the opportunity to form a bond in the same way that he and Orianna had.

Viktor knew Reveck was struggling without his daughter. He seemed lonely, and was more quiet and withdrawn than ever before. But Viktor had a plan, and Reveck would not be alone for much longer, if all went accordingly.

But the first step was, of course, to somehow convince the man to remove the fence.

‘The fence is a problem,’ Viktor repeated. ‘I think that it would be best for you to remove it.’

“Yes, yes, of course,” Reveck said, not taking his eyes off of his paperwork. “You make an excellent point, Viktor, why didn’t I think of that?”

‘I understand that Jayce may have come on a bit strong, but he is not a bad dog.’

“Right.”

‘He would not hurt me,’ Viktor continued. ‘In fact, he and I have come to an understanding…’

“I’m sure you’re right.”

Viktor couldn’t believe how well his pleas were being received. He hadn’t exactly tried communicating directly with his humans before—hadn’t even considered it, really—and it was incredible, the extent to which Reveck understood him, and was willing to agree! It was as though it wasn’t a surprise to the man at all!

Viktor flicked his tail happily and clambered off of the table, onto the couch, and wormed his way up onto Reveck’s lap, pushing his face into Reveck’s arm. He set his clipboard down and smoothed a rough hand across Viktor’s face.

‘Neither Jayce nor I believe that the fence is doing any good. And so, I must ask you to have it removed. Will you do this for me? For the good of us all?’

“That is an interesting proposal,” Reveck said with a wry smile. “To which I must respond: meow, meow, meow.”

Aware that the man had not actually understood a word of what he’d said, Viktor’s ears flattened against his head in displeasure; but he stretched out next to Reveck on the couch cushion and allowed the man to continue petting him.

Viktor shared his lack of progress with Jayce later that day, and Jayce shared that he, too, hadn’t had any luck in getting his humans to understand his point of view.

‘It must not be meant to be,’ Viktor said, then upon hearing Jayce’s sad sigh, hastily added: ‘Talking to our humans, I mean! Don’t worry, Jayce. We will find a way to have this fence removed. They won’t be able to keep us apart for much longer, I promise you.’

Viktor tried a slightly more aggressive strategy the next day, this time by attempting to drag Reveck outside by the ankle of his pants. Unfortunately, it seemed like this tactic wasn’t meant to be, either.

“Viktor, what is it you think you’re doing, exactly?” The man said, his confusion clear in his voice. “Is everything alright?”

‘Just—follow me, come on—’ Viktor spoke through teeth clenched around fabric.

To Viktor’s humiliation, instead of following him as he’d planned, the man bent down and scooped Viktor up into his arms. He squirmed, trying to persuade the man to release him, but to no avail. Instead, he settled onto a chair with Viktor squished in his arms and started talking.

“I know it’s hard without Orianna here, for you. It is difficult for me as well,” he said, passing his hand gently over Viktor’s fur. “But it’s going to be alright Viktor. We will be okay. And we will see her again soon. Good kitty…”

Viktor rumbled grumpily, but still settled into Reveck’s arms. He was still determined to succeed in his mission, but receiving some pets in the meantime wasn’t so bad after all. In fact, Viktor was so focused on his goal as well as on being the recipient of Reveck’s strange affection that he had missed what Reveck had actually said almost entirely: that they would see Orianna soon, that Viktor’s Person would be returning, that he’d get to be with her again.

Viktor had one more tactic to try, which he outlined with Jayce in the backyard.

‘I have a friend who might be able to help us,’ Viktor said. ‘A cat. Her name is Pow—Jinx,” he quickly corrected himself, remembering that his friend preferred to only be called Powder by those who she was particularly close with. ‘Jinx is an acrobatic creature, and I think that maybe—perhaps—she might be able to… help me.’

‘Help you do what?’

‘Help me to… well. Climb,’ Viktor said, somewhat embarrassed.

‘…To climb?’

‘The fence,’ Viktor filled in.

‘Um,’ Jayce said dumbly. ‘Are we… Are we sure that’s a good idea, Viktor?’

‘What, you think I can’t?’

‘I know there’s nothing you can’t do, Viktor! You’re the coolest, smartest cat I know! I just don’t want you to get hurt,’ Jayce said, so earnestly that Viktor was sure that he’d be blushing from the tips of his ears down to his toes, if he was a human. ‘I care about you, Viktor.’

‘I care about you, too,’ Viktor said. ‘That’s why I’m willing to try. Let’s try to talk to my friend first, anyways, okay? Ask if she thinks it would even be possible for a cat like me. I haven’t seen her around here in a while, but maybe you’ll see her on one of your walks with Ximena. And… you could pass a message to her, for me. All you need is to watch for a cat with a pair of bright blue eyes…’

***

Jayce and Ximena were on a walk when they came across a car parked at the side of the road. A woman was on the sidewalk next to it, kneeling and petting a slinky-looking cat, so grey she almost appeared blue. And, when the light hit her fur at a certain angle, Jayce could have almost sworn she was blue! Had she had her hair dyed…?

Jayce had known some pets whose owners had been… creative with their grooming. Caitlyn, in fact, had a coat that had been somehow colored a dark blue, almost a midnight color. ‘My parents tell me it keeps me from being spotted when we go foxing,’ she had told him. ‘I don’t quite know if that’s true, but in any case it looks rather sleek, don’t you think?’ Maybe this cat was the same…

As they approached, Jayce finally caught a glimpse of the cat’s eyes, her blue eyes. Bright blue.

‘Hey!’ Jayce barked. ‘Hey, are you Jinx? Viktor wants to talk to you!’

The woman petting the cat jumped, and Jinx’s ears flicked up towards him. Jayce could have almost sworn that the cat smirked at him, before she sauntered away into a nearby yard. 

As the young woman stood, she made eye contact with Jayce, and a friendly expression appeared on her face.

“Hello!” She said, stepping towards the two of them. “Hi, puppy,” she said to Jayce, then turning to Ximena, “Your dog is so cute, is it okay if I say hi?”

“Oh, yes, of course!”

The girl knelt down on the sidewalk beside Jayce and stuck out her hand. Jayce eagerly nosed into it, then preened as she petted his face, ruffled his fur, and told him what a good dog he was. “What’s his name?”

“This is Jayce!” Ximena said with a beaming smile. “My pride and joy.”

‘You smell familiar,’ Jayce said.

“Well! It’s so nice to meet you, Jayce,” she said, before smacking her palm against her forehead and standing up. “Oh my god, I forgot to introduce myself, I’m so sorry, I’m so rude… Um, I’m Orianna!”

Jayce’s mom laughed. “It’s no worry! My name is Ximena, and it’s very nice to meet you.”

“I’ve gotta go unpack my car, but if you ever need anyone to play with Jayce or take him on walks or anything, please let me know! I won’t be in town for long, but when I’m gone, I’m sure my dad would be happy to hang out with the little guy. He loves animals; I could introduce him to you, if you’d like!”

“How nice! Ah, I wonder, would your father be someone I might already know?”

“Maybe,” Orianna said. “His name’s Corin. Corin Reveck?”

“Ah,” Ximena said, glancing down at Jayce with a tight smile. “Yes, we’ve met.”

***

‘I know something you don’t know,’ trilled a familiar, sing-songy voice. Viktor startled in his spot in the grass, glancing up and seeing a cat trotting along the narrow top of the yard-dividing fence, moving no differently than she would have if she’d been strolling down the sidewalk.

‘Powder!’ Viktor meowed happily, standing up and stretching his braced hind leg as best as he could. ‘Did you speak with Jayce?’

‘Oh, the dog? Meh, he said something but I didn’t hear much of it. Booooooring! But that’s not important.’ She jumped down into the grass at Viktor’s side and brushed the side of her head against his. ‘You’re in for a real surprise this time, Viktor, you’ll never believe who I just saw—’

‘Powder, please,’ Viktor said, stopping her in her tracks. ‘I have something important to ask you.’

‘Okay, Mr. Serious, whatever you say! Guess you’ll find out for yourself soon, anyways… What can I do ya for?’

Despite her glib response, Powder listened to Viktor’s request with a keen ear and a great deal of interest, and she thought carefully before providing him with a response.

‘I don’t know, Vik, that might be pretty tough. I mean, sure, I could get you up there no problem! But it’d be the getting down that would be the issue. I don’t think you could jump down without hurting yourself, or damaging your brace, and what good would that getcha? Singed would just keep you inside the house for the rest of forever, and then you and your loverboy would really never get to see each other again!’

‘There must be some way,’ Viktor said with a hint of desperation. ‘Some way that you can see that I can’t. Powder, please—’

‘I’m no miracle worker, V, but I never said I couldn’t get you over there; just that I probably couldn’t get you over the fence. Listen! Just stay on your toes, keep your ears up, alright? I’ll clue you in when it’s time. See you soon, kay?’

And with that, Powder jumped back up onto the top of the fence and sauntered away.

***

The surprise that Powder had initially been trying to tell Viktor about was Orianna, of course. Which was wonderful!

Yeah, of course Viktor was happy to have Orianna home, but the amount of fighting between her and Reveck—no raised voices, of course; all their fighting was done in annoyed, hushed tones—was becoming slightly untenable. To be entirely honest, Viktor felt that whatever altercation the two were having was interfering with his and Orianna’s long-awaited reunion.

She’d arrived home the previous afternoon, and had spent the majority of the time since being back lounging around the house with Viktor. Viktor was sure she hadn’t expected to find that in her absence, her father had started a full-on feud with their new neighbors, that the backyard had been split in half by a tall wooden fence, and that Viktor was spending almost all of his time outside in the yard next to said fence, particularly when Jayce was hanging out on the other side.

“You haven’t even tried to help them get along!” she hissed. “Viktor’s out there all the time, he clearly doesn’t have a problem with the dog… Who’s very sweet, by the way! Which I know, because I spent one minute with him and his mom! Wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Reveck responded with a frown. It was unacceptable for Reveck to be saying such things! Clearly Orianna was in the right, here! And not just because she happened to be taking Viktor’s side. Reveck might have taken on the role of being his human for these past few months, but Orianna had always been and always would be Vikor’s Person, just as he would always be her cat.

“I do,” Orianna countered, “because I actually took the time to talk about things, and to get to know a person, not just to make wild assumptions about their harmless dog!”

“You can’t possibly be willing to accept that that thing is harmless. Have you seen him?” Reveck bit out, his frown appearing less like a grimace and more like an expression of profound annoyance and disappointment. “You know as well as I do that you can’t always take an owner’s words at face value, and that animals can be unpredictable, flighty, wild…”

“You’re being ridiculous, dad! You don’t know Viktor like I do, you don’t know how unhappy this must be making him, you don’t—”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Reveck seethed, “because you haven’t been here!”

There was silence in the house. Viktor was beginning to feel quite uncomfortable with the turn that his mission had taken, and just as he was starting to get up and make his way to the pet door that would lead him into the back yard, Orianna abruptly stood, turned, and stalked towards the front door.

“Orianna—” Reveck started, but his daughter slammed the front door open, and walked out into the night. The man stood and followed after her as quickly as he could, and the street-facing front door was left wide open behind them.

Viktor had never been much of an escape artist, unlike some of the other pet cats he knew were out there. He’d been too slow-moving to make a break for it, and even if he had been able to move quickly, he hadn’t ever really wanted to leave.

For his whole life there, everything he’d loved, really loved, had been in his house or in his backyard. But now…

And then he heard it. A voice, from outside the open door:

‘Viktor! Now, now, come on! Follow me!’

‘Powder,’ he breathed. And out the front door he went.

From there, things went quickly.

Viktor had no trouble going unnoticed by Orianna and Reveck: they’d made it all the way out to her car, and were talking about something or other, Viktor wasn’t sure what, having some sort of tearful discussion. Viktor wanted to know what they were saying, but opportunities were few and far between, and he’d made Jayce a promise: that they would be reunited. And that had to take priority.

‘Follow me, V,’ Powder said, leading him to the gate that led into Jayce’s side of the backyard. Viktor watched intently as she jumped up onto the top of the gate, turned towards the backyard, and spoke. ‘Alright, pretty boy, let’s go! You ready?’

Jayce yipped affirmatively, and Powder stuck a paw out, hanging down off of the side of the fence, flipping the latch into an opened position, and Viktor watched in wonder as Jayce, paws pressed against the gate to push into open, spilled out into the night.

‘Viktor!’ Jayce happily yelped, rushing towards him, before Powder jumped down from the fence and bopped him on the nose with her paw, stopping him in his tracks.

‘Shhhh!’ she said. ‘Keep it together, we’re not home free yet… or, home un-free, yet. Free from home? Away? Eh, you know what I mean. And what I mean is to be quiet!’

‘Sorry, sorry!’ Jayce responded, before turning his head back towards Viktor and wagging his tail happily.

Jayce and Viktor followed Powder quietly down the dark sidewalk of their suburban neighborhood. Jayce had walked it many times before, but never without Ximena and without being on a leash. Viktor had no memories of ever walking it at all, although he’d seen it a handful of times through the windows of Reveck’s car, when he’d had to be taken to the vet’s office for checkups and the like. But Powder prowled the streets of Piltover every day and knew exactly which routes to take in order to get to their planned destination, which to Viktor seemed to be Powder’s home base, Vander and Silco’s place, The Last Drop.

The pain in Viktor’s leg meant that their little team had to keep their pace relatively slow, but that being considered, they made it across the bridge in good time, their journey remaining peaceful, to Viktor and Jayce’s surprise.

Jayce glanced down at Viktor, who was walking by his side, even occasionally leaning against him, but each time, he found the cat’s gaze to be directed elsewhere—the paved sidewalk in front of them, for the most part. That was, until Powder led them across the bridge.

The bridge spanned across the river that wove around the borders of their neighborhood, bisecting the towns of Piltover and Zaun. Jayce had been there a couple times—it wasn’t exactly a part of his and Ximena’s everyday route—but only during the day. When the sun was out, the River Pilt was just that: a river, murky and plain. Nothing too special, aside from the vaguely interesting smells emanating from it.

At night, the river and the bridge felt like another world entirely. The water was bathed in soft, warm light from the streetlights on either side. Leaves of every color drifted down from the tops of trees, settling on the shores and on the water, causing small waves to ripple out across its mostly still surface before dissipating, and even through the lamplight, Jayce could see the stars reflected in the rippling water below. 

Vikor’s eyes had been drawn to it, too, away from the pavement and towards the flickering gold.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Viktor said softly.

‘Yes,’ Jayce said, unsure if he was talking about the water or about his friend.

‘UGH!’ Powder groaned. ‘Get a move on, lovebirds, let’s go! We’re almost there, you can be as ooey-gooey as you want once we’re not actively on the run! I’m doing you a favor here,’ she said when Viktor leveled a somewhat annoyed expression towards her. ‘You’re the ones who wanted my help!’

‘Of course,’ Viktor said with a sigh and a smile. ‘Of course! Let’s go.’

They had scarcely made it across the bridge when Powder’s blue-tipped ears perked up. She whipped her head around, and for a moment Jayce and Viktor thought she was looking at them. But, no: it was something else, something behind them…

After a few moments, Jayce and Viktor both heard it: a car, and more specifically, a car that both of them knew, though with differing levels of familiarity. It was Orianna’s car, and from it two voices spilled into the night. The distance between the car and their little troupe was closing, and despite the still considerable distance between them, they could all hear their words clearly enough:

“Viktor!” Orianna shouted. “Viktor, where are you? Please come back, I’m sorry…”

“Here, Viktor, here,” Reveck called, shaking a tin that held Viktor’s favorite treats. “Come on, boy…”

And then another voice:

“Jayce!” Ximena called. “Come here, sweetheart, please! Oh, Jayce…”

Jayce’s ears drooped. He hated hurting or disappointing his mother, and for a moment he almost gave in and ran to the car she rode in. But seeing Viktor beside him, anxious and alert, brought Jayce back to himself. He hadn’t abandoned his mother, or his father, for that matter. He was safe, and he’d be home soon, and although they weren’t aware of it, Jayce himself knew that they really had nothing to worry about.

‘They’re onto us!’ Powder hissed, blue-grey hackles raised.

Jayce spotted a bush beside the sidewalk, and quietly nudged Viktor behind it. Jayce himself laid down beside him, in order to fully hide his larger canine body. Jinx caught on quickly and followed suit.

The three of them watched through the leaves, silent and still, as the slow-moving car full of their humans rumbled past, away into the night.

‘We’d better get a move on,’ Powder whispered. ‘Never know if they’re gonna circle back…’

Viktor moved as quickly as he could, leaning more heavily on Jayce as he tried to put less of his weight on his braced leg. As they crept faster and faster in the dark, Viktor began to laugh.

‘Viktor? What’s… what’s wrong?’ Jayce asked, glancing down nervously at the cat.

‘Ah, no, nothing!’ Viktor said between chortles. ‘It’s just… I’ve lived in that house and that yard almost my whole life! And, I never, never had any inclination to leave it. None at all! But, I had also never imagined meeting you, or of having this much fun. It almost feels like it was…’ He trailed off, gazing up into Jayce’s eyes.

‘…Like it was meant to be,’ Jayce finished.

Viktor purred, Jayce wagged his tail, and Powder rolled her eyes. ‘We’re here, you saps,’ she said. Viktor surveyed the blinking neon sign hanging over the front door of The Last Drop. Through the swinging doors, he could hear loud music and the boisterous chatter of what must have been a fairly large crowd. His ears flattened against his head ever so slightly; he wasn’t accustomed to such large volumes of people. Or animals, even, for that matter… But it didn’t matter: this was all for the sake of the relationship between Jayce and himself. So, trepidatiously, Viktor began to make his way towards it.

Jayce nudged him, though, and Viktor glanced back towards him, then Powder, who he saw was actually nodding her head in another direction. Viktor watched as she trotted down the alleyway adjacent to the bar, cackling, before stopping in front of a dimly lit side door, outfitted with an old-fashioned, non-mechanized pet door. She flicked her tail through the air, smiled, and slipped through it.

‘Come on!’ Her voice, muffled by the door, still came out loud and clear, and Viktor and Jayce both jumped into action, following suit, slipping into The Last Drop.

To Viktor’s pleasant surprise, they found themselves not in the noisy bar, but instead in a cozy little room full of cushions, couches, and even a cat tree. There were several bowls and mugs of water scattered throughout the room, and a food dispenser in the corner. While he could tell that the space was frequented by a variety of creatures, it was remarkably clean and well kept; the cats who came here were clearly loved and provided for, for which he was grateful.

He was even more grateful when he watched Powder approach a second door in the room. This one was outfitted with a smart cat door, like his, which opened for her and her collar as she approached it.

‘Don’t get into too much trouble, you two! I’m gonna go check on my canned food situation in our apartment downstairs. I’ll see you soon! But not too soon,’ she continued, ‘especially not if there’s canned food…’

‘Jinx—no, Powder,’ Viktor said. ‘Thank you, my friend.’

‘No problem, bud. Alright! Later, Tin-Man, Prettyboy!’ And at that, she scampered through the door. They heard her chirping laughter fade into silence, and then the two of them were alone.

For a moment, the two of them both stared at the other in silence. Then, just as they were beginning to work up the courage to say something to the other, the alleyway cat-door swung open, and a black and white tuxedo cat with an hourglass-shaped mark on his face burst through the door, carrying a small orange kitten in his mouth. Upon seeing Jayce and Viktor, he dropped the kitten onto the floor. The kitten immediately began ambling around the room, but the three of them just stood in surprised silence.

‘Uh… Hello?’ The tuxedo cat said. ‘Not trying to interrupt, um, whatever this is. Just… looking for Powder. Er, Jinx? The blue one?’ They all stared at each other blankly.

Suddenly, Powder came rushing back into the room from the inside of the house.

‘Ekko!’ She cried happily. ‘Al-right, now it’s a party! Ha! And Isha, sweetie, what were you doing out so late? You little troublemaker!’ She laughed and pawed at the kitten, who preened happily and pawed right back at her. ‘She’s not mine,’ Powder clarified, glancing at Viktor and Jayce, ‘but she sure does take after me!’

Powder nudged Ekko and the kitten—Isha—towards the door leading them further into the building. ‘Let’s give these lovebirds some privacy, why don’t we? Let’s go, let’s go—!’

And suddenly, Viktor and Jayce were alone in the room again.

‘Viktor—’

‘Jayce, I—’

Both of them began speaking at exactly the same time, then both paused.

Jayce and Viktor didn’t say anything for a little while, but suddenly, the two of them both burst out into laughter.

‘I must say, Jayce,’ Viktor said through his bursts of chuckles, ‘that I had expected absolutely none of this when I met you.’

‘Me neither. But Viktor, I’m so glad it did.’

‘Me too, Jayce. Me too—’

‘Viktor!’ Jayce exclaimed loudly, sitting up straight, ears perked up straight and alert. Viktor startled a bit, but listened carefully as Jayce continued. ‘Viktor, I just—I just realized something. And it’s, it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, and you don’t have to say it back or anything. But I—I just wanted you to know that I, um. That I think I love you.’

All the tension Viktor had been holding disappeared. He felt light, and warm, and for a split second he wondered if he might float away. Oh, he realized. I’m happy. I’m so happy.

‘Jayce, I… I feel the same way,’ Viktor said. ‘I don’t know how good I will be at expressing it, but—’

‘You’re perfect,’ Jayce cut in, his voice breathless, but serious. ‘You are.’

Suddenly exhausted after all of the day’s activity, Jayce laid down on one of the cushions. Viktor curled up next to him and purred.

‘We’re going to have more problems to deal with soon,’ Jayce said, though his eyes were already beginning to droop shut. ‘We’ll have to go home, and we’ll probably get in trouble with our humans for running away. For all we know, we’re going to be on lockdown even more than usual from now on…’

‘We’ll face it together,’ Viktor responded firmly but not unkindly, as he leaned against Jayce’s side, continuing to purr assuredly. ‘We’ll take care of it as partners. I won’t let them keep us from each other again. I promise.’

‘Partners,’ Jayce echoed happily, his tail wagging gently. ‘It’s a promise.’

Both of them were dead tired after all of the excitement of the day, and—reunited at last, lying together on the comfortable cushion, Jayce and Viktor both fell into a deep, contented sleep.

***

It was a few hours later that the door leading to the inside of the building swung open, and two men entered the cats’ room, slow and quiet. The larger of the two peered down at the two animals sleeping on the floor and smiled, gently nudging the other man with his elbow.

“Looks like Pow-pow made a couple of new friends,” Vander whispered in Silco’s ear conspiratorily.

“You stay here and look after them,” Silco whispered back. “I’ll go give Corin a call.”

***

Viktor and Jayce both woke up around the same time to a door slamming open, followed immediately by familiar hands picking them up and petting them. 

Feeling her arms around him, Jayce thought for a moment that Ximena might lift him up into the air, despite the fact she hadn’t been able to do so since he’d been a puppy. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Jayce’s neck and sobbed into his fur. “Oh, sweetheart,” Ximena said with tears in her eyes, “I’m so glad you’re okay!” 

Viktor had been surprised and slightly disgruntled to be awoken from his sleep by being hoisted up into the air, and let out a brief raspy meow of distress before realizing that it was Reveck’s arms he was held in. He was surprised to find himself purring, and even more surprised to find that Reveck had chosen to be the one to lift him despite Orianna being in the room as well.

“You’ve been out making mischief, haven’t you, Viktor?” Reveck said, his voice thick, hands trembling. Orianna threw her arms around her father and her cat and wordlessly kissed the top of Viktor’s head over and over again.

“Like I said,” Silco began, “they seemed to be in perfect health, just sleeping here… We’re thinking that one of our little troublemakers led them here to play. Our little Powder, I’d assume; she’s quite the little escape artist herself!”

Vander continued on after Silco. “We’ve tried keeping her and Vi as indoor cats, but even before we put in the cat doors, the two of them would do anything to get out. I mean, crawling through walls, running outside as soon as we’d so much as crack the front door!”

“They always come back home, though,” Silco said with a smile. “Good heads on their shoulders and all that, our sweet girls!”

After a minute or so, Viktor’d had enough of Orianna and Reveck’s fawning. He enjoyed it, to be sure, but he’d realized something: now was the perfect time for him to make his intentions known! He squirmed and wriggled until it was clear to Reveck that he wanted to be set down, and as soon as his paws touched the floor, he scurried over to Jayce and Ximena and wormed his way between the two of them so that Ximena had to release her arms from around Jayce’s neck. Viktor buried his head in Jayce’s fur and meowed happily, and Jayce—recognizing the brilliance of Viktor’s plan—felt his tail begin to wag furiously, and licked the top of Viktor’s furry head.

“Viktor!” Reveck exclaimed, and stooped back down to try and scoop Viktor up again. However, Viktor was prepared: he reached out a paw and slapped Reveck’s hands as they descended towards him, letting out an indignant meow.

“Viktor, what—?” said Reveck.

“Oh my!” said Ximena.

‘We will be sticking together from here on out,’ Viktor meowed proudly.

‘Partners,’ Jayce added, and as he continued to lick the top of Viktor’s head, the humans in the room with the two of them began to laugh.

***

Time continued to pass, and the seasons continued to roll on by.

The fence Jayce’s dad had constructed, which was in fact quite a nice and well-built fence, ultimately remained in their yard; it made sense for the two houses to have their own private spaces, most of the time.

However, a swinging gate, outfitted with a cutout the perfect size for both Jayce and Viktor to pass through, was installed, and for the rest of their lives, Viktor and Jayce were able to meet, and play, and talk on either side of the fence as often as they liked.

Jayce continued to go on frequent walks with his mother, and sometimes with Mrs. Kirraman, sometimes even accompanied by Gio. And, when his parents were otherwise occupied around midday, Mel Medarda continued to take him and Caitlyn on walks, as well.

And sometimes, when Ximena brought Jayce outside to walk, Reveck would accompany her, and Viktor would come along, too.

‘The harness and leash are a bit of an annoyance,’ Viktor grumbled once to Jayce as he loped along, before getting tired and meowing for Reveck to pick him up as they walked. ‘But I suppose it’s worth it,’ Viktor told Jayce with a smile, from up in Reveck’s arms. ‘For you.’

Jayce wagged his tail.

As they made their way back to their respective homes, and as Ximena and Reveck bid each other adieu, Jayce called out: ‘Hey! Viktor! I’ll see you later tonight, right? When I get let out for the afternoon, I mean?’

‘Of course, Jayce,’ Viktor replied happily.

‘And you’re okay with Caitlyn coming out, too?’

‘Of course, Jayce. So long as you are okay with Vi and Powder accompanying us, as well. And perhaps even Ekko and Isha, as well, if they can make it.’

‘I’ll look forward to it!’ Jayce said excitedly.

Summer had officially been over for months, and the crispness of autumn was already beginning to shift into a wintry chill. Despite this, Jayce couldn’t help but feel warm inside.

As soon as Jayce walked out into his backyard later that day, he saw Viktor lying there in the dry grass, fur shining in a golden-hour patch of sunlight. As Jayce walked over to him, Viktor’s eyes cracked open and he squinted at him, pleased.

‘Cait’s with my mom right now but she’ll be out in a minute,’ Jayce said.

‘Wonderful,’ Viktor said, squinting his eyes contentedly. ‘I think that Powder and the others should be here soon, as well—’

‘I love you,’ Jayce blurted. Viktor startled, then softened and began to purr.

‘Me too, Jayce.’ he said softly. ‘Me too.’

Jayce laid down at Viktor’s side, and the two of them—partners—basked in the warmth of each other’s presence, their fur aglow in a patch of late autumn sun.