A Nightime Discovery

A/N: Well this is embarrassing >///> I deeply apologize for the mix up with chapters! This is why I shouldn’t write/upload things at three in the morning. Thank you to everyone who explained my mistake, and I apologize ^-^; Here is the REAL second chapter for this story (you deserve it after the amateur mix up). Hope I didn’t confuse too many of you!! And yes, you were right, the chapter was for my other fic ‘A Snake Deserves No Pity’.

The next morning dawned bright and clear. Alex was up by seven o’clock, quite pleased to see that the kitten had remained curled into his side the whole night long. He tickled it gently with his fingertips, making it mewl and wriggle sleepily, its tail twitching slightly. With a light chuckle, he turned away from it and slid carefully out of bed, trying not to disturb it. He remembered one time when he’d tried to pet a sleeping cat and when it woke up, it decided it was going to use his arm as a scratching post. It wasn’t a good experience.

He ate his buttered toast on the couch with the TV flicked on the news station, where a bored reporter was mindlessly droning on about a murder enquiry, some celebrity affair and a three headed snake. It was whilst he was washing his plate and setting it on the draining board that his little visitor decided to come out and greet him, padding out of the bedroom with a little mew of greeting. She started to twine around his ankles, butting her head affectionately against his calf and purring. The sight was so cute that Alex had to kneel down and pet her, cooing over her cuteness. He had to admit, once his initial doubts had subsided, the little fuzz ball had a certain appeal that was really quite charming.

He cries soon became insistent and with a small sigh, Alex got to his feet and removed yet another tin of tuna from the cupboard. He doubtfully looked at the one tin he had left, wondering if it was worth buying any more. After all, he didn’t eat it a whole lot himself and if he stockpiled the stuff only to find the owner straight afterwards, he would be stuck with a lot of useless food for quite a while.

He opened and drained the stuff, tipping half the can into a clean bowl and setting it down on the floor, where the kitten dived for it immediately. He filled a second with water and placed it next to the food, where the kitten had decided to submerge her face in the stuff, munching away happily. When an attempt at petting her some more gave him an agitated flick of her tail, he decided it was best to leave her to it, and he plodded through into the bedroom to make his bed.

“I’ll see you later, Fuzzy,” he said to the small kitten on his way out the door. She looked up at him and blinked once, not really bothering to get up from her contented sprawl on the couch in a pool of sunlight. With a fond shake of his head, he closed the door behind him, his bag slung over his shoulder.

It had been almost a week since he’d first taken in the little white bundle of fluff and so far, he hadn’t seen a single glimpse of a missing cat poster or a person peering hopefully into bushes and under cars. Alex found himself falling into a new routine.

Every night after work he would stop by the 24 hour grocery store and pick up a tin or two of tuna. Three days ago he’d stopped by the local pet store to pick up some cat toys to keep his little kitty from getting bored whilst he was at work. He’d come home and she’d happily bound over to him, greeting him with little mewls and nuzzles of her head, sniffing hopefully for food or treats. They’d settle down on the couch or he’d kneel on the floor, rolling a little ball with a bell in it across the carpet and watching his little pet tumble after it in delight, batting it with her paws. He’d let her out to do her business but she didn’t seem to like the outside that much, always returning as soon as she was done. Afterwards, he would change and crawl into bed with her curled up in a ball on his leg or next to his hand so he could pet her at his leisure. He’d wake up and she’d still be there, whether she had already awakened or not. And it was nice, knowing there was something waiting for him at home. He was going to be quite sad when the time came for the kitten to leave.

He was leaving the shop when he noticed the sign. At first, he absent mindedly eyed the slim man who was sticking it to the wall, admiring the slim, tall frame with a slight smile on his lips. But then he turned away, and Alex found himself looking at a picture of his new little pet staring at him with those china blue eyes. With surprise, he edged forwards and lingered behind the man putting it up, reading it over his shoulder.

‘Missing, a Scottish Fold kitten; white, blue eyes; female; answers to the name of Cara. If found, please contact Daniel Nicolson by phoning the number below. Thank you.’

So that was the fluff ball’s name, huh? There weren’t many lost kittens around the area, especially not white ones with blue eyes. It looked like his little kitty was going home. He tried to avoid the twinge of sadness that flickered in his chest at that thought. He’d known all along that little miss fuzzy would find her owner and go back to them. Why did he get so attached?

With a soft sigh and a shake of his head, he stepped forward to take in the details of the owner, deciding to call the man the moment he got in. But as he began to scribble them down on a spare sheet of paper he’d had in his bag, the man who’d just stuck it up happened to glance in his direction.

“Wait!” he cried, realizing what Alex was doing. The guard looked down at him in surprise, finally seeing the face that belonged to the slim back and long brown hair. It was thin but fine boned; a strong jaw and soft looking pale skin with bright blue eyes that gazed right up at him. Not particularly beautiful, but he held a certain look that was quite cute in its own way. Alex blinked once and paused as the stranger had commanded, looking down at the slightly shorter man. “Yes? Can I help you?”

“Have you seen my Cara?” questioned the stranger in a pleading tone, gesturing to the poster. Alex nodded once and clicked his pen, beginning to fumble with his bag. “Your Cara? Are you Daniel?” he asked as he put both his pen and the paper away. The man nodded reverently, his eyes suddenly bright and delighted. “Call me Dan,” he replied simple. “So... you’ve seen her? Where?! I’ve been out of my mind worrying about her...”

Alex waved one hand to silence the stranger, a light smile touching his lips. “You don’t have to worry. She’s at home. I found her on my doorstep about a week ago and I brought her in. I’ve been on the lookout for any lost cat posters in the area, so I’m glad she’s finally going to be able to go home,” he said with a smile. Dan seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Oh, thank you so much!” he cried. “I know she can be a pain in the ass sometimes; I’m so glad someone’s found her. I don’t know how to thank you, Mr.. Mr...” he said, trailing off as he realized he didn’t know his name. Alex smiled lightly. “It’s Dawson. Alexander Dawson. But please, call me Alex,” he added with a small smile. Dam returned it out of instinct. “So then, Dan. Do you want to come back to my place? It’s not far and I’m sure Cara will be happy to see you.”

Dan felt his breath hitch a little at the vague innuendo in his words, but instead of thinking about what it might mean, he smiled briefly and gave a small nod of his head, beginning to follow the tall security guard down the street to where he knew his little kitty was waiting for him.

His eyes gazed curiously up at the tall dark head of hair as he followed Alex, thanking whatever gods were up there that he’d happened to bump into the person who held his little baby safe and sound at home.

A/N: Please review :D It makes this author so very happy!