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The housemates had presented Even with his own key to the apartment a couple of weeks ago, so it’s not at all unusual for Isak to come home and find him already there - watching television with Linn, cooking with Noora, drawing in the living room, or sometimes just taking a nap in Isak’s room. He can’t really describe to Even the warmth that washes over him when any of these things happen. All he can really do is go to him and give him a tiny kiss on the cheek, and Even, thankfully, seems to get it.
So when he arrives one Tuesday afternoon after a particularly irritating day at school and sees Even’s shoes and bag by the front door inside, he has to let out a little sigh of relief. He calls hello while sliding off his own shoes - there are no others by the door, so Even is likely here alone.
“Isak! Come here, I have to show you something!”
He can tell by the sound quality that Even is a) in his bedroom, and b) that the door is shut. With a small smile, Isak heads that way, saying, “You better not be naked in there because I have to study and I really don’t need the distrac--”
The last word cuts off cleanly as he opens the door and sees, precisely, what Even has to show him: a very small, very soft-looking, very adorable kitten.
“You’re joking.”
Even is just beaming up at him, sitting cross-legged in the center of the bed while the little gray kitten climbs over his lap, its paws digging into Even’s jeans with the effort and its legs unsteady, and Isak immediately throws up the tallest possible wall against this creature’s charms.
“Isn’t she precious? I found her two blocks away,” Even says, now carefully picking her up and holding her close to his face. “She was all alone and scared and she was just looking at me like...” He turns the kitten to face Isak and pitches his voice slightly higher as he says, “‘Please, Even! Please take me home! Please pick me up and and wrap me in your scarf and take me home so Isak can fall in love with me.’”
“No,” Isak tells him firmly, or tries to, but oh, the near-total lack of conviction in the word is just embarrassing.
“‘Please, Isak? Even told me your name and I want to be your very own kitty.’”
“Even, come on, she might have worms or fleas or something and you’ve got her on the bed, ugh.”
“No she doesn't, she’s perfect.”
“Even,” Isak says warningly, because he refuses to be a part of this, yes he does.
“‘But I’m so small and in need of wuv!’” Even sets the cat down and laughs, waving a hand at Isak. “Come here! She’s so sweet and soft, just come here.”
Isak lets out a deep sigh, shaking his head at himself, at Even, at this entire situation, but he’s irresistibly drawn to the bed anyway. “How do you know she’s a girl?” he asks, trying to keep his voice as gruff as possible as he sinks down beside Even and stretches out on his back.
“She told me,” Even says simply, and Isak has to roll his eyes, because of course she did.
“Someone’s probably looking for her,” Isak replies, attempting again to keep himself distant, and resisting the now very strong urge to pet the kitten.
“Okay, we’ll take pictures of her and put up flyers. Here, take her,” Even says, and places the kitten on Isak’s chest without warning. She immediately starts to walk toward his face and Isak has no defense at all, helpless in the wake of those tiny gray paws and bright eyes and her little mouth opening to let out the sweetest high-pitched meow.
“Hello,” Isak murmurs, closing his hands around the kitten’s body so she doesn’t fall. “I hate you,” he adds in Even’s direction, but Even just laughs.
“Yeah, we’ll put up flyers, and in the meantime we can just keep her safe.”
Isak raises an eyebrow at him. “You’re going to take her to your parents’ place?”
“No, my mom’s allergic.”
Sputtering, Isak moves the kitten away from his face (he’s pretty sure she was trying to bite his nose anyway) and glares at Even. “So she’ll be here, then?”
Even just grins and nods, and Isak’s head flops back onto the bed in disbelief. They’re basically four and two-thirds people living in this apartment since Even only goes home once or twice a week now, and adding a pet to the already cramped quarters would be seriously pushing it - not to mention that he has absolutely no idea what the rest of his roommates will think about this. He’s picturing Eskild slamming the door behind the kitten, leaving her cold and hungry in the rain like Breakfast at Tiffany’s or some shit. And as soon as this image solidifies he just cuddles the kitten close to his face again, as if to protect her from his own thoughts.
“See, you love her already!” Even crows, stretching out beside Isak and curling close to him. He gently pets the kitten’s head, both he and Isak letting out little cooing sounds when she meows at his touch. “We can just keep her in here for a couple of days - you’re right, somebody might claim her, and then we wouldn’t have to tell the others about her at all.”
Nobody better dare claim her, Isak thinks fiercely, and then he’s dumbfounded at himself. This has to stop.
“I’ve never had a pet before, I don’t even know what she needs!” he exclaims, trying to hand her to Even and rid himself of her bewitching ways, but she clings to his hand with tiny claws that don’t hurt a bit. “How could you do this to me, seriously?”
“Just chill out, I’ll take care of it,” Even says, and he’s pulling out his phone - to check Google, Isak assumes.
Isak sighs again, staring at the ceiling and muttering to himself, doing his very best to ignore the little feet padding over his chest and the little whiskers brushing against his neck and-- oh, fuck it. He sits up just enough to plant a quick kiss on the kitten’s ear and then drops his head back down as if nothing at all had just happened, but he’s pretty sure he sees Even smirking out of the corner of his eye.
“Okay, all she needs is food - I’ll go out to get some in a little bit - and water and a place to do her business. Easy. And we can put a little pile of blankets or clothes on the floor for her to sleep on, because she’s too small to get up on the bed herself. Aren't you sweetheart, yes, I had to bring you up here myself.” Even has put his face close to the kitten’s now, speaking softly to her and acting as though Isak isn’t there at all, and Isak wants to just murder him.
“You know,” Even murmurs, stretching out on his side close to Isak’s body again. “This proves that things are serious between us. I’m asking you to adopt a kitten with me.”
Isak snorts. “Yeah, we’re in it together now.”
“Because if we get divorced we are not going to court over custody.”
“Well, I guess that means we can’t ever get divorced.”
“Sucks, because I was starting to get really sick of you.”
Isak has to laugh then, and turns his head to give Even a kiss, both of them breaking into giggles when the kitten tries to walk between their joined lips.
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Three whole days go by without either of them receiving a phone call or text in response to the “found kitten” flyers they put up, and Isak thinks it's safe to start thinking of her as really theirs. He says as much to Even that evening when they're in bed, the kitten playing on the sheet between them.
“She needs a name,” he adds, stroking the soft fur on top of her head with his thumb.
“Any ideas?”
Isak hums and smiles a little. “What about Baz?”
“Aww!” Even says, and kisses him. “But... Baz is a boy’s name and she's a girl.”
Rolling his eyes, Isak retorts, “And since when did either of us start caring about gender norms?”
Even laughs, then nods decisively. “Okay, Baz it is.”
“Hi, Baz,” Isak whispers, picking her up and holding her face close to his nose. “Welcome to the family.”
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After a week, the two of them are quite proud of themselves for pulling this off. None of the other housemates have any idea. They've been smuggling empty food containers out of the apartment in their backpacks, and Isak buys a second plug-in air freshener to account for the litter box (which isn't too bad really, but just in case).
Baz seems perfectly healthy – there's no fleas or throwing up or anything at all. Even does start hinting around that they need to take her to the vet at some point, but Isak maintains that they need to wait until they tell the roommates.
This isn’t to say that he isn’t utterly in love with her by now, though. One morning when Even doesn't sleep over, Isak has to send him a text saying that he can't go to school because she’s asleep on top of his backpack and he doesn't have the heart to move her. Even just texts back with a string of laugh-crying emojis.
(And he totally doesn’t go to school. She wakes up and starts moving around maybe half an hour later, but he stays put.)
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(Later that day, Even cuts his afternoon classes and shows up at Isak’s because... well, he doesn't really have a good reason. But Isak doesn't need one, and ushers him into their warm little cave with an easy smile.)
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On Friday evening, Eskild makes an offhand comment about how much time Isak and Even are spending shut up in the bedroom, and that there seems to be an unusual amount of giggling coming from behind the door. Isak just looks at Even with his lips pressed together, silently pleading with his eyes for him to handle this, and without skipping a beat Even tells Eskild that they’re studying The Kama Sutra. Eskild gapes at him, at both of them, for once at a total loss for words. Then Even adds, “Sorry, we’ll try to keep it down,” and just goes back to his beer without any further explanation.
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They actually manage to keep Baz a secret for twelve days. Isak has been sure this entire time that it will be him who screws it up, but he’s so wrong.
He’s in the kitchen early Sunday morning getting a quick breakfast together for himself and Even when there’s a sudden shriek from Noora in the living room. He runs toward her, heart in his throat, and sees her curled up in a ball on the sofa, glaring up at Even, who is... holding Baz against his stomach.
“What. Is that. Doing here?” Noora asks through clenched teeth.
“It was me, I’m so sorry,” Even babbles, speaking to both her and Isak, apparently. “I got up to go to the bathroom and I guess I didn’t shut the bedroom door all the way and she ran in here but I was too late to grab her before you saw her.”
“You don’t hate cats, do you?” Isak quickly asks Noora, who doesn’t even look at him. “Because she’s the sweetest thing in the world and we’ve been thinking that she’d be really great for you, and for Linn too, because she just makes you feel really calm and happy and...” He trails off when he sees Even making slashing gestures at his own throat. She’s not having it, just stop.
But Noora surprises them both by silently holding out her hands palms up, and then twitching her fingers at Even when he doesn’t react. After a glance at Isak, he gingerly places Baz in her cupped hands, and it’s sort of hilarious to see her practically melt into the sofa cushions when Baz starts turning around and around in her palms, sniffing her fingers and mewling.
A little while later, all three of them are smushed together on the sofa, playing with Baz and probably laughing too loudly at every single cute thing she does (which is everything), when Eskild’s bedroom door opens and he sticks his head out to glare at them. “The fuck are you guys doing?”
“Look, Eskild, it’s The Kama Sutra!” Noora exclaims, holding Baz up so he can see her. Even snorts with laughter, but Isak is staring at Eskild and just waiting for him to explode.
Eskild squints at the kitten for several seconds before sighing and waving a hand. “Okay, that one doesn’t have to pay rent,” he says, and retreats into his room again, slamming the door behind him.
They all stare at each other for a moment, and then Isak mimes wiping sweat from his brow and pretends to collapse against Noora's side, smiling widely. Even reaches behind her to give Isak's shoulder a comforting squeeze, while Noora lifts Baz close to her face.
”Did you hear that, little one?” she says to the kitten. “You're part of kollektivet now. Eskild said so.”
Welcome to the family, indeed.