Finding Midnight
Fandom-Sanders Sides
Ships-Moxiety, background Logince
Warning-none that I know of
Summary-Virgil stumbles across a dumpster kitten while walking home from work one day. Shenanigans ensue
AO3
Virgil pulled his hood up and put in his earbuds. No music, just putting them in. This was his least favorite part of the day. Walking home from the subway stop was nerve-wracking. Curse his job for making his shift end at almost midnight and curse the universe for letting him move into an apartment so far from the subway.
When he passed his least favorite alley, the darkest and most mysterious one, something made him stop. A noise, something animal like. His brain was screaming at him, telling him to ignore it and move on, but something made him stay there. It sounded so sad. There it was again. It sounded like a cry. Against his better judgement, he shot a text to his roommate telling him he might be a bit late, and creeped into the alley, phone flashlight shining in.
He took out his earbuds so he could hear better and stood there, waiting. There it was again. He pinpointed it to being around the two dumpsters, near the darkest and, frankly, the creepiest part of the alley. This was a very bad idea.
He made his way to in front of the dumpsters and sat down, cross-legged. He waited. And he waited. And he waited.
Just as he was about to get up and abandon on the mystery, he saw a glimpse of something in his flashlight beam. A blur of black streaking across the light. So he waited again. He figured the best way to get whatever this was to reveal itself was to sit and be patient. The fluff appeared in his peripheral. He slowly moved the beam to where it was standing and moved his head to face it.
It was the scrawniest kitten he had ever seen. It stood there, staring at him. Virgil held out his hand, offering it to the kitten. The kitten stared at it, before slowly walking over to it. It sniffed the hand, stayed still for a second, before throwing itself onto the hand.
It rubbed its cheeks all over his hand, alternating between loud purring and meows. Virgil slowly brought the kitten over to his lap. He giggled at the sight, then he reached around and took his phone out of his pocket. The little thing startled and scrambled out of his lap, retreated to a couple feet away, in front of the dumpster.
He snapped a couple of photos, wishing he had his actual camera with him. The kitten came back to his lap. Virgil felt sorry for the poor thing. It was obviously starved for affection, and it looked like it was starved for food too. He wished he didn't have to leave it there, but he couldn't just sit there forever. His butt was starting to get numb. But he really felt for this kitten, and he couldn't abandon it in good conscience.
He had an idea. It was a horrible idea. He really shouldn't go through with it. But the last time he had those thoughts, he ignored them, and he met the darling in front of him. So, he ignored the voice and scooped up the kitten, holding it his against his chest. The baby struggled for a second, but it quickly settled down and started purring.
Virgil got up and started walking. He had no idea what he was doing. He was in no way equipped for an animal, and he was pretty sure his roommate was slightly allergic. He blamed Patton for teaching him to actually care for things. Plus, the landlord didn't allow pets.
The elevator was broken, again. The kitten had fallen asleep before he got through the door, and its little breathing noises were the most adorable sound he had ever heard. Patton was going to freak.
He made it to the sixth floor, out of breath, and having woken the cat up. He was sure to be quiet when he walked in, Patton was a pretty light sleeper. The cat was moving around again. Virgil dropped his backpack in the hallway and made his way to the kitchen. There, he released the kitten onto the counter and started looking around the fridge.
Having found some lunch meat, he tore it up into tiny pieces and dropped it in front of the cat. He would get actual cat food later. Now, it was just about getting something into its stomach. He got a bowl out from the dishwasher, Patton forgot to unload the dishes again, and poured a water bottle into it.
Virgil leaned against the counter, watching the cat. He would need to think of a name for it, needed to stop referring to the cat as "the cat."
"Virge? What's going on?" Virgil glanced over at Patton and his heart stuttered. Even the tiny kitten's adorableness had nothing on just woken up Patton. His hair was messed up, he still had a tired fog in his eyes, and he was positively drowning in the sleep shirt he was wearing. He still had a small smile on his face, even in the haze of drowsiness. The sight was breathtaking.
"Oh, hey Pat. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."
"It's ok, kiddo, I'm just wondering what you're doing in the kitchen so early. You're usually asle-" Patton stopped midsentence and his eyes lit up as soon as he noticed the kitten.
"Uh yeah." Virgil let out a nervous laugh. "I found it in the creepy alley."
Patton squealed and nearly sprinted to the counter. He startled the kitten and it nearly leaped off the counter. Virgil caught it midair and placed it on the counter again. Patton stopped and backed up. "Sorry." He said sheepishly.
"It's fine, it's fine. Just, it's skittish. You need to be patient. Come here." Patton stood next to him. Virgil took his hand and set it on the counter. He opened the fist that Patton had made. They stayed there, Virgil's hand wrapped around his wrist, and waited. Warily, the kitten approached Patton's hand. It sniffed the hand. Then, the cat sat down next to it, not touching him, but staying in proximity.
"Did you name it?" Patton whispered.
"No," Virgil muttered back, "I don't even know its gender."
Patton hmm-d for a bit and stared at the cat. Virgil could see the gears turning in his head. While Patton thought, Virgil finally realized how close they were. They were nearly pressed up against each other, Virgil's hand was still on his wrist, and Virgil's heart rate was definitely not resting. He took a step back, suddenly feeling awkward.
"Midnight!" Patton shouted, startling both Virgil and the kitten. "Sorry."
"Huh?" Virgil asked, still reeling from both the closeness and the scare.
"The name's gender neutral, the cat is black, and you found it around midnight. It's perfect!"
Virgil hummed and leaned down to the cat's eye level. "Midnight. What do you think about that?"
In response, the cat flopped down onto its side and meowed. Virgil smiled. "Midnight it is."
~~~
Virgil stumbled out of bed at 11:30. It wasnt until he caught sight of Patton playing with Midnight that he even remembered what had happened last night. He hadn't been noticed, and he was content to lean against the doorframe and watch for a few minutes.
Patton was crouched down on the floor, dragging one of the duster cloths back and forth. Midnight got into an attack position and waiting. Soon, it leaped onto the duster cloth. Patton let go of it and giggled at Midnight tearing the cloth into shreds. Virgil snapped a quick photo on his phone, the sound of the camera alerting Patton to his presence.
"Midnight's a girl." Patton said, turning around to smile at him.
"How do you know?" Virgil asked.
"I checked. I worked at an animal shelter when I was in high school."
Midnight pawed at Patton, so he turned around and starting moving the cloth again. "There's a vet pretty close by that takes walk-ins. We could either take her together, or I can take her while you shop for food and stuff."
Virgil hated medical facilities in general, even one for animals. He appreciated that Patton took that into consideration.
"Yeah, we can take her together. I don't want to buy a bunch of stuff and then have to go back after the vet tells us a bunch of other stuff we need to get."
Patton tapped his finger against his temple. "Smart thinking. I'll make lunch, then we can leave. You don't have work today, right?"
"Nope. Thank god." Virgil flopped onto the couch. "I need coffee."
"Chin up. Soon you'll be able to quit." Patton said. Virgil was working at a technology shop, making rent, biding his time until he could make enough money off his photography to quit. He was not made for customer service. "Now come on, I'm not making you lunch and coffee."
Virgil sighed and got up, following Patton into the kitchen. "Fine."
They stood in comfortable silence, Patton making grilled cheese on the stove and Virgil working on the coffee he has perfected years ago. Instant hot chocolate mix in the mug, put French vanilla coffee in the coffee maker. Once the coffee is done, stir until the hot chocolate is dissolved, then add french vanilla creamer to taste. It didn't taste like coffee at all, but wasn't sweet enough to taste bad. He had gotten Patton onto them about a week after they moved in together.
He threw together two of those, setting them onto the kitchen table. He sat at his seat and watched Patton finish the lunch.
He was screwed. He was totally, completely, royally screwed. Virgil couldn't tell you the moment he fell in love with Patton, but he could tell you the moment he realized it. It was one of the first movie nights that was held at the apartment. Roman had claimed a good portion of the couch, Logan taking the chair, he always took the chair, so Virgil and Patton leaned against the front of the couch, sharing their largest blanket. About an hour into Titanic, Patton had fallen asleep. When the boat started sinking, Virgil found himself with Patton's head in his lap. As he worked his fingers through Patton's curls, he found himself feeling something foreign, a softness that he has never experienced before.
While the credits rolled he let out a tiny gasp. "Oh shit." He whispered to himself, quiet enough that the others definitely couldn't hear it. "I'm in love."
Virgil's memory was interrupted by Midnight bolting into the kitchen, scrambling to get a grip on the tiles, yowling very loudly, then sliding into the back of Patton's leg. Loud laughter from both of them interrupted the comfortable silence they had.
They sat down to eat, forming a basic shopping list of things they would need to get. Soon, lunch was finished, and they left the apartment, Midnight in Virgil's arms again. They really needed to get a carrier.
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