dark, light | angeless [c]

♗ | emerald

Angelo leaned down to ruffle his cat's fur, sighing softly. The fuzzy little creature seemed much more.. what was the word.. outgoing? Typically he tended to lay around, just watching Angelo. The past few days, though, he had been acting differently.

He'd hop up and lay on Angelo's backpack, nuzzle his sweatshirts or try to follow him out of the house. It was so unlike him, but Angelo could think of no explanations for his beloved cat's behavior. Angelo did consider letting his fluffy friend follow him to school a few times- who would notice or let alone care? Regardless, he never actually went for it.

"What's wrong?" Angelo frowned. His cat's emerald green eyes locked on him. His cat replied by tilting his head and promptly meowing before pouncing up and sitting beside Angelo's backpack, pawing at it.

Angelo sighed. "Fine, fine." He said, scooping the cat up and grabbing his backpack, heading downstairs and leaving the house, skipping breakfast for the third day in a row. He was already running late anyway.

Much to Angelo's surprise, he had made it to school on time. Even in spite of it seeming absolutely impossible, given the distance he had to walk in under twenty minutes.

"Looks like today's finally my day, huh?" He mumbled quietly. His cat peered up at him, nuzzling Ange's hand. "Sorry," Angelo murmured, setting his backpack down and unzipping it, carefully placing the cat in it. He zipped it about half way, making sure his beloved pet would still be able to breath.

Throughout the day, Angelo took extra care to make sure he didn't bump into anything or make any quick movements, making certain his cat would be safe and sound in his backpack.

As if fate was targeting Angelo directly, the only class he was late to all day long was Mr. Motionless' English class. And of course, he was quickly assigned an after school detention.

Sighing, Angelo walked to his desk and carefully set his backpack down, making brief eye contact with his cat, who seemed rather interested in.. in something. Ange couldn't quite tell..

Mr. Motionless had to have glanced over with narrowed eyes at least six or seven times, and when the bell rang, Angelo didn't even flinch, staying put in his seat.

He did, however, jump a bit when his cat pounced out of his backpack, bounding over to the unfazed looking English teacher. Chris quirked an eyebrow, picking the small animal up. "You're lucky I like animals," He said, sounding amused.

Angelo's cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment, and he scowled a bit, though it was only brief. "He wanted to come with me today."

"And how do you know that?" Mr. Motionless asked. Angelo watched silently as his cat nuzzled Chris, seeming so.. comfortable with him. That was unusual, given he was usually so reserved and tended to keep away from everyone, save Angelo, anyhow.

"I just.. I dunno, sir.." Angelo sighed. Chris sauntered over, sitting atop the desk in front of Angelo's. "What's his name, if you don't mind my asking?" He inquired.

Angelo tucked some hair behind his ear. "It's Ryan." He said, narrowing his eyes as a smirk crept up onto Chris's lips. "Oh, is that right?" He asked, scratching behind Ryan's ear.

The cat purred, hopping off of Chris and pacing back to Angelo, brushing up against his feet. "How interesting.." He murmured. "How long have you had him?"

Angelo had never really thought about it. "Since I was little. He's just always sort of been around, you know-..?" He murmured. Not that he wished his cat any harm, but it was a bit odd. Cats didn't tend to live so long.. did they? Hell, Ryan didn't even look as if he had gotten any older- aside from the fact that he was, at one point, much smaller. He was always quite small as a kitten.

"That's nice." Mr. Motionless said with a slight nod. "So," He began. "Why is it that you've been late to my class every single day this week thus far?" He questioned, glancing occasionally at Ryan, who had made his way to the window, focused on a bird. He pawed at the window a bit, staring wide eyed.

"I dunno, sir. I get everywhere else on time, it just seems like my time moves slower on the way here." Angelo answered truthfully. Sure, his original intent had been to show up late on purpose, but even when be didn't try, he was still late.

"Ah," Chris nodded a bit, crossing one leg over the other. Angelo pursed his lips. He couldn't quite tell what he was feeling. Uncomfortable..? Too comfortable? He hadn't a clue

"How old are you?" Angelo blurted, making Ryan jump. Chris was quite obviously stifling laughter. "Twenty nine." He purred, standing up again and walking back to his desk.

Angelo almost frowned when Ryan followed. "He seems to like you." He murmured. Chris glanced over his shoulder, licking over his lower lip. "Oh yeah?" He mumbled, sitting down and looking through a few papers. "He reminds me of a friend of mine." He said.

Angelo scoffed, laughing a bit. "My cat reminds you of your friend..? Weird comparison." He said. Chris deadpanned, seeming almost confused with Angelo's laughter. "Is that really so odd?" He asked, "I didn't think it was strange.."

The teenager's expression went blank, and his cheeks went red. "I'm sorry," He mumbled awkwardly, running a hand through his hair and looking up at Chris. "I didn't-.." He trailed off, feeling guilty- though he wasn't sure why, given be didn't know the other very well at all,- thinking he had upset his teacher.

Chris just smirked. "I'm only joking, Angelo," He said, looking Ange up and down before gazing back down at the papers in his hands. "No need to get so upset." He said calmly.

Rather shocked, Angelo had to force himself to look away from Mr. Motionless and instead to his cat, who was curled up at Chris's feet by then.

"This is weird." Angelo muttered to himself, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Today is weird."