For orthodontia

[dungarees]

[It was one of those summer days where Merriell knew he'd be coming home to the doors and windows open and the swamp cooler running; the air was so hot, thick and humid that it was very much tangible, like wading through soup, and he'd already sweat through most of his shirt just driving home from work.

Sure enough, the whole house was open wide when he pulled in, and he was just reaching for the hem of his shirt to pull it right off on his way to the front door when he spotted something standing in the doorway that made him pause.]

Where the hell'd you come from? [The stranger just looked back at him as if it owned the place, then bolted into the house; brow furrowing in confusion, Merriell followed after it.]

Gene? [He sounded as though he could get frustrated if the situation called for it, but didn't want to jump the gun.] We got a cat in the house.

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[Gene had been unfortunately cooking to get dinner done by the time that Merriell got home -- and it almost was done but not quite. Sometimes the instructions on the box were just a bit not to be believed. He really hated cooking sometimes, or more so how hot the damned kitchen got.

But he wasn't about to complain.]

There's a what? [He called from the kitchen cooking in just his jeans -- at least he wasn't frying anything in oil.]

Comments

[orthodontia]

I said, we got a - oh my. [Merriell couldn't help but pause at the sight of his dutiful house husband cooking shirtless and barefoot, bottom lip caught between his teeth for a moment as he just admired the view. But a crash from deeper in the house made him jump, tearing his attention away and reminding him of the rather pressing issue at hand.]

- a cat. Some big ol' cat just bolted right into the house. Sounds like it's takin' the place apart already.

[dungarees]

[Eugene rolled his eyes at the other checking him out. As much as he would brush it off he hoped the day never game where Merriell stopped doing that. He frowned at the sound from further into their house but even more at Merriell's reaction to it.

Putting the food on a lower setting -- it was just some hamburger help type meal so it could simmer -- he was grinning despite the fact that Merriell was jumpy once he had the explanation.]

A cat? [His eyes brightened slightly, he loved cats about as much as he loved dogs.] Well it's can't get too far. You scared of cats?

[orthodontia]

[There was no scale on earth that could measure the amount of stink in the stink eye Merriell gave Eugene at that question, but he didn't exactly glare like most people, either: it was more of a wide-eyed, unblinking look that just dared Eugene to ask again or make a further joke of the notion.]

No, Gene, I ain't scared of cats. I just don't like havin' strange animals runnin' all over the damn house, 'specially when - [Another crash finished that thought for him.] C'mon, we can reheat that, we need to get this thing outta here.

[dungarees]

[Eugene just chuckled at the look Merriell gave him and moved to give him a quick kiss.] It's on low so it'll be ready when we find the cat.

I bet it's just exploring and trying to sniff out if we're hiding any catnip. [Eugene suggested and he was rather nonchalant about the uninvited house guest. It's not like out in the country he hadn't had his fair share of cats coming and going. Didn't help that he was always feeding and petting them to the ire of his mother.]

[orthodontia]

[Well, most of the animals in the bayou weren't quite as friendly as cats. You didn't feed and pet alligators, you got the shotgun if they came too close, and some crazy fuckers wrestled them. To say nothing of the highly venomous snakes.

Gene already looked and sounded far too fond of this cat for anyone's good, considering it had just broken in. It made Merriell's eyes narrow down to slits, a suspicious tilt to his mouth.]

Alright, Dr. Doolittle. So how do we go about catchin' the thing?

[dungarees]

Usually you should default to the ole 'here kitty kitty' [Eugene said with a grin, moving past him and doing just that as he headed toward where the most recent crash had been heard.]

Don't you yell at it either or you're just gonna scare the poor thing.

[orthodontia]

[Merriell genuinely couldn't understand how he'd become the punchline of this situation. He didn't think he was overreacting at all - he thought Eugene was unrealistically casual, if anything. But fine, if that was how it was going to be, he'd play along.]

I ain't gonna yell at the cat, it can't understand no matter how loud I get. [There was a good chance he'd yell at the cat if anything went wrong.] Think it's in the bathroom, I heard somethin' hit water. If our toothbrushes are in the toilet...

[dungarees]

Uh huh. [Eugene said, well aware of the fact that there was a good chance Merriell was going to yell at the cat by the end of this. He moved toward the bathroom, pressing the door open wider.]

Here kitty kitty. [The obnoxious universal cat calling voice, of course, as he stepped in to the rather large bathroom they had. The house being nice what with his cushy salary as a contractor.] Here kitty kitty.

[Eugene wasn't the least concerned with the mess especially when he caught sight of a furry tail behind the toilet.] There you are...

[He crouched down, trying to think of the best way to snatch it while holding his hand out to see if it'd come to him instead.]

Merriell, it's so cute.

[orthodontia]

Don't get that tone in your voice. [He could hear it already, the affection bubbling over where it had no damn place. Gene probably had a name for the thing already, and it was bound to have an owner nearby. Probably just trying to scrounge extra meals.] That's someone's cat and we're gettin' it back to 'em. And tellin 'em to keep their doors closed if it won't stay home on its own.

[Standing back and leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, he didn't even bend to get a closer look. He really didn't have anything against cats, or any other animal, but they hadn't exactly been huge parts of his life. And Gene was getting so mooshy over it that he felt like he had to stay hard just to keep him from doing something stupid.

And out of sheer contrary stubbornness.]

You did knock our toothbrushes into the toilet, too, you li'l shit.

[dungarees]

Be nice. [Eugene chided and then tried to make a grab for the cat who ducked away from him.]

Oh come on, you're a good kitty. I'll find you some treats if you come here. [he tried to lure the more skittish cat.]

You're making it nervous.

[orthodontia]

... it don't understand English.

[That was just a blatantly false accusation on Eugene's part. He could make humans nervous by standing around and looking disdainful, but not a cat. Cats were -

- well, this one was slipping out between Eugene's legs and coming over to rub itself against Merriell's, tail curling around his calf. He was watching its every move uncertainly, but of course a little smirk still played on his lips.]

See? It ain't scared of me. Li'l shit likes me.

[dungarees]

Goddamn. [Eugene stared at the cat with a small tick of annoyance.]

I do all the work and it's rubbing up on you?

[He didn't dare move lest the thing scare off.]

Try and pick it up.

[orthodontia]

Maybe you gotta play hard to get. [That was truer than Merriell realized, of course, and a pretty astute guess for someone who didn't know a lot about cats. He wasn't sure it'd get the thing into his arms, but he bent down with a sigh, just holding out his hand like Eugene had.

So far, so good: it started to rub its face against his hand, and Merriell noticed something that made his face soften just a bit.]

It's purrin'.

[dungarees]

Ugh. Of course it likes you. [Eugene sighed, watching Merriell and the cat and he couldn't help but smile. He looked damned cute like that.]

You liking it aren't you?

[orthodontia]

It's funny, ain't it? You can't say it ain't funny. [Chuckling to himself, he finally crouched low to see if he could pick the cat up or if it would dart away.] Salut, minou... t'es un voleur, oui? P'tit fils de pute.

[Whatever he was saying, it sounded affectionate. And the cat was definitely a good-natured one, possibly a stray that had many human friends if not owned by anybody, because it did let Merriell pick it up - he quickly handed it off to Eugene, though, the poor thing's body hanging in the air because he had no idea how to hold it.]

G'on, maybe it's warmed to you some.

[dungarees]

[Eugene mumbled under his breath when Merriell went off in French. Looks like he'd warmed up tot he cat as well. He finally got up from where he was crouched as the other got a good hold on the cat, though how he held it... made Eugene shake his head.]

hey kitty.. ain't got no collar? [Eugene murmured to the cat, holding it to his chest damn near how he'd hold a baby, though it wasn't purring no more.]

You ain't gonna make me throw it outside are you?

[orthodontia]

[Oh no. Now that was cute, so much that it was Merriell's turn to be peeved for a second. What right did he have to get all cute with the damn cat all of a sudden?

He was a perfect picture of annoyance, but his voice was gentle when he spoke:] We gotta try and find out if it's someone else's, we're not stealin' a cat just 'cause it invites itself in.

[Then he sighed.]

Tomorrow we'll find out if it's chipped. Alright?

[dungarees]

[Eugene grinned at that and then leaned in to kiss Merriell, which just made the cat squirm in his arms so he held tighter.] Go shut the door and windows then.

I'll turn the AC up. [Shifting his hold to one hand, Eugene pushed at Merriell.] Think we're out of replacement toothbrushes too. Gonna have to run to the store anyway too.

[orthodontia]

Damn thing's already costin' us. [Merriell's irritation was barely genuine anymore and it showed. Chances were that this cat belonged to someone else, and if it didn't... well, he still remembered how haunted Eugene had looked over finding out his dog had died in the middle of the war. Not even haunted but oddly emotionless, as though he wanted to hurt but he'd run out.

They'd never even talked about getting a pet, and honestly, Merriell thought he'd probably prefer a dog himself. At least they listened to you. But regardless, there was something about the look in Eugene's eyes when he carried that cat, and it meant Merriell would probably bring up a pet even if the cat were surrendered to its owners.]

Is it a boy or a girl? [He called out as he was getting the house closed up, since he hadn't seen any clear signs either way, but the cat did have a hell of a lot of fur.]

[dungarees]

I think you should check. It likes you enough it'd let you mess with the fur down there. [Eugene laughed and nuzzled his cheek to the cat who was not appreciative as he turned up the AC instead of relying on open windows and their swamp cooler even if it was less energy efficient.]

It still ain't purring for me. [Eugene complained as he came into the living room.]

[orthodontia]

You can't make it like you. Still say you're tryin' too hard. [Shaking his head, Merriell sat down and held his arms out, figuring the damn cat would probably be easier to hold if he were sitting.] Hand it over, you gotta finish dinner.

[Once he had the cat back, he started babbling to it in French again, mostly because he didn't want Eugene to realize he was just having a little talk with a cat he'd so adamantly pointed out couldn't understand them. It settled onto his lap contentedly and Merriell huffed and rolled his eyes, but he was obviously still pleased.]

[dungarees]

[Eugene sighed and watched as the other settled down with the cat after he'd handed it back to Merriell. How was it that he actually liked the damned thing and Merriell said he didn't but the cat just settled happily on him?

There was a small smile on his face as he left the two to themselves.] I never had a cat of my own, just always ones running around in and out. I think they liked me cause I always giving them treats and stuff. Ma hated it.

[He went back to finishing dinner, turning the heat back up. There wasn't much left to do. There were times when he thought about hiring a cook but it seemed ridiculous. Even being raised with money he'd never spent it frivolously and he shouldn't start now but god he hated cooking in the heat.]

We should pick up some ice cream at the store too.