Page 24 of Conflict Conclusion

It took a little coaxing and a fair amount of kitty baby-talk, but James got the cat bundled up in his shirt and hurried back to his car.

The smart thing to do would be to drive straight to the vet, but his phone had died at the party, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Leon would panic if James just didn’t show up for several hours. Besides, Leon’s apartment was on the way to the emergency vet’s office.

He considered, only briefly, leaving the cat in the car while he ran up to get Leon, but when it looked up at him with big, trusting eyes, James resigned himself to his fate.

The elevator ride felt a million years long, and that ball appeared in his stomach, vibrating with a mix of anxiety and anticipation. When he reached Leon’s door, he was glad Hailey was nowhere in sight. He didn’t think he had the wherewithal to explain his state of undress and the somewhat mangy looking creature he was clutching to his chest. Unwilling to release his hold on the cat, he ended up having to tap the door with his foot in lieu of knocking.

The full weight of what he was doing didn’t hit him until Leon answered the door, his own cat in his arms.

As Leon gaped at him, Yarmen arched his back as he sized up the other cat. “James⁠—”

Yarmen let out a loud yowl, and with a flick of his tail, he jumped out of Leon’s arms and began rubbing himself aggressively against James’ legs.

“My phone died,” James said, tightening his grip around the cat, who was peering curiously down at Yarmen. “I almost hit this cat that limped into the middle of the road, and I know I should have gone to the vet, but I had no way to call you, and I didn’t want you to worry, and⁠—”

Leon grabbed him by the shoulder and used his foot to corral Yarmen back inside.

“I’m so sorry. I know you have to introduce cats in a specific way, and there are vaccines and medicines and tests—” James continued to babble as Leon steered him towards the guest bathroom.

Yarmen attempted to follow them, but Leon reached down and scooped him up one-handed, tossing him onto the couch before shoving James into the bathroom and closing the door.

“I just couldn’t leave it⁠—”

“Him,” Leon said, guiding James to sit down on the closed toilet lid.

“I just couldn’t leave him on the side of the road,” James repeated.

He didn’t even stop to wonder how Leon knew the cat was a boy. Leon had years of experience with cats, whereas James had less than a year of interacting with Yarmen. He clearly had no idea what it took to own a cat, but he had a lot of experience loving cats. That ball in his stomach was red hot, and as it pressed up into his chest, it seemed to force out all the words spiraling around his head.

“He just looked so sad, and he doesn’t have a collar, and I’ve always wanted a cat, but the cat distribution system never chose me, and even if it had, my dad wouldn’t let us⁠—”

Leon let out one of his infamous growls as he peeled back James’ shirt to inspect the cat.

“I know this isn’t the right time to get a cat. There’s—uh, a lot going on at my house, so I wouldn’t be able to keep him there,” James said, imagining trying to acclimate a new cat to a house that was actively being packed up. He had a terrifying vision of a moving person leaving the door open, the cat getting out, and ending up back on the street again.

“I would never want to ask you to house him out of the blue. I know a lot of cats don’t like living together, and Yarmen has always lived alone, so maybe he doesn’t want another cat all up in his space. But this little⁠—”

“He’s actually pretty fucking big,” Leon said, squatting down to be eye level with the large ball of matted orange fur.

“But this big guy was out there, all alone, and—and, I don’t want him to be alone.”

James’ breath was coming fast now, and his eyes were stinging. Leon’s gaze flicked up to him for only a moment, but he seemed to think better of addressing whatever the hell was happening with James, and he quickly returned his attention to the cat.

James wished that stupid ball would clog up his windpipe so he could get himself to stop talking, but as he stared at Leon’s big, strong hands moving ever so gently over the orange baby in his lap, it all just came spilling out.

“I bet he used to live with his mom,” James said, and Leon’s eyebrow ticked up. “They probably spent their whole life together, out there in the woods, but then one day his mom had to leave, and he’s been trying to be strong and brave, but it’s scary being all alone, and…and…what if he can’t make it on his own?”

Leon, very slowly, raised his head to stare at James, and the cat chose that moment to look up at him as well, as if equally aware James was talking nonsense.

“Darlin’—”

“I don’t want to bother you.”

Leon blinked, and the cat blinked, and James desperately swallowed around the lump in his throat.

“I don’t want the cat to bother you.”

“It’s no bother,” Leon said slowly, emphasizing each word.