Trouvaille [Dreamnotfound/Gream]

6. Like father like cat

George crouched down and narrowed his eyes, seeing two strained yellow orbs looking back at him, watching him cautiously. He extended his hand, snapping his fingers softly to get it's attention. It pressed its head against the fingers, meowing once more.

There weren't a lot of stray cats that were this friendly. The cat looked like it was in good shape and its fur looked clean. George noticed the cat's fur pattern. Brown patches. It was Clay's cat.

George contemplated grabbing the cat and going back to Clay's but it was late and dark and he didn't have his address memorised. He couldn't just leave Patches there, though. Carefully, George picked up the cat, which surprisingly didn't resist. He walked into the apartment buillding with it, walking up the stairs and into his apartment. George placed Patches on the floor as he locked the doors. 

Cat, who was busy knocking pencils off of George's desk, heard the door close and jumped off of the table, walking over to greet him. However, he stopped instantly when he saw Patches, meowing cautiously. Patches didn't seem to mind Cat. She decided to follow George, who was washing his hands in the bathroom, walking right past the extremely confused Cat.

"I should call Clay, shouldn't I?" George mused out loud, turning to Patches who was standing behind him, meowing loudly. George pet her, grabbing his phone and swiping into his contacts, his thumb hovering over the call button. He inhaled slowly and pressed it, waiting for Clay to pick up.

As he waited, he looked up and watched Patches curiously. She was busy meowing at Cat, who was surprisingly tolerating her behaviour, even though you could tell he wasn't exactly pleased with another cat being over. She kept trying to play with Cat's tail, meowing every now and then. 'She definitely took after Clay,' George thought, putting the phone to his ear when Clay finally accepted the call.

"Hello?" Clay asked, his voice much calmer than thirty minutes ago. George glanced up at Patches, who was now exploring the new environment, Cat watching her suspiciously. He smiled slightly, "Hi Clay! I have some good news."

There was a silence on Clay's end. George decided to continue speaking, "So, I found Patches! She was hanging out in a bush in front of my flat," said George. He heard Clay sigh in relief, making the corners of George's mouth twitch upwards. "I'll bring her with me when I meet you at the park."

"Oh my god I'm glad she's okay! I'll be sure to bring her carrier bag tomorrow," Clay breathed out, his own voice radiating pure joy. George smiled into his hand, glad that Clay couldn't see him, "Are you sure it's her though? I hope you didn't just find some random stray cat on the streets." 

George thought for a while. "I'm pretty sure it's her - she has brown patches like you said and yellow eyes," George said finally, "But I can facetime you and show her."

"That would be ideal because she has yellow-green eyes," said Clay and George's eyes widened a bit, getting up and turning on the video call option. The screen buffered for a bit before revealing the blonde, his vibrant eyes penetrating George. George quickly turned over the camera, causing Clay to chuckle.

He walked into his room and found Cat sitting on his bed, watching Patches explore his room. Patches turned around as soon as she heard George, meowing loudly and staring into the camera. Clay gasped and let out an inhuman noise of what George could only guess was joy. What made George laugh was the fact that Patches immediately meowed when she heard Clay, putting her paws on George's leg.

 "Yes, that's definitely her," said Clay, his voice mixed with happiness and relief. George smiled, petting Patches, who was still trying to figure out where Clay's voice was coming from, "I could recognise those gorgeous green eyes anywhere."

"So they are green," said George to no one in particular, squinting at Patches, who's eyes were clearly yellow to him. He decided not to question it - he was colourblind after all, "Interesting."

Clay laughed, asking George to flip the camera - a request George quickly denied until practically begged by him. He sat down on his bed with Cat in his arms, stroking him affectionately while talking to Clay, Patches watching the phone with great interest. 

"You're so weird," George muttered after about an hour of talking with him, his cheeks flushed from all the laughing and teasing. Clay chuckled at the comment, his blonde hair falling into his eyes. "But in a good way, right?"

George thought a bit, Clay rolling his eyes at the silence. George giggled at his actions, "Yes, in a good way," he said softly, making Clay beam. They talked for a while before Clay yawned, rubbing his eyes and exhaling slowly.

"You should go to sleep," said George gently, noticing how tired Clay seemed. Clay nodded, saying goodbye to George, Cat and Patches, before ending the call. George set the phone down, walking to the kitchen to feed the two seemingly hungry cats, who followed him, intrigued. 

He put cat food into Cat's bowl and took another bowl out of the cupboard, filling that one too and placing both of them down. Patches ate eagerly, wolfing down the food, whilst Cat watched her with a hint of amusement.

George felt tired as well and headed to make himself a light snack before washing himself and going to sleep.