A Cat Named Cupid

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'Tuna juice! Tuna juice! Tuna juice!' was the meaning behind the vocalizations Cupid was making as he wound around the human's legs and tumbled on the floor. He mewed out a combined babble of thanks to the human for his largesse and apology to his ancestors for not maintaining the proper aloofness felines had spent centuries perfecting. 'It's fucking tuna juice though! It always has flakes in it too. That's like cat cognac and kitty caviar in one score,' he explained to what he was sure was hundreds of generations of his predecessors shaking their heads at his surrender to the human.

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"I think somebody really likes tuna," Andy decreed as he pulled the lid free of the can.

"Or doesn't whoever owns you give it to you very often?" He grinned at how the cat was now sitting upright, totally hypnotized, and swishing it's tail back and forth like an orchestra conductor showboating with his baton for a packed auditorium.

Even though it was his last can of tuna and he had intended to donate the juice to his new furry friend and then add mayonnaise to the meat for a sandwich for himself, Andy instead decided to dump the entire contents in the bowl he had placed on the counter. As he used a finger to scrape out the final bits of fish shreds, he intoned, "You must be living right, Ralph. Even my darling Mittens only got this lucky on really special days." As he turned and bent down to set the bowl on the floor, Ralph became almost epileptic.

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'Screw being all refined and reserved and treating this moment like it's a state dinner at the White House. I just scored the ultimate! Juice and tuna!' was the silent message Cupid sent his long-gone, watching ancestors as he dived for the treasure being presented to him. His furry face was instantly buried in the precious ambrosia and his interior noise maker began purring his satisfaction about the same time tuna juice began dripping from his whiskers.

'Blue Hair...hate to tell you but you just lost your lap kitty,' was zinging through his mind as he greedily inhaled the fishy banquet. 'You'll have to find someone else to prattle on-and-on to about those grand-things of yours and keep you company in the afternoons, because I've just discovered what most certainly must be the second coming of Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, the patron saint of kitties. And when it comes to food, my kind have no loyalty except to whomever is serving us the very best.'

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Andy stood leaning back against his kitchen counter with a look of total amusement and his arms comfortably crossed as he watched the cat scarf down the tuna feast as if he was on death row and had been served his last meal. "Must be some of Mittens in you, Ralph, because she was the exact same way with a bowl of tuna." As the cat fastidiously slid his tongue all around the finally empty bowl to make certain every stray fish flake and drip of juice had been taken care of, Andy tossed the empty can in the trash and suggested, "You want to come back in the living room and watch some TV with me?" With a look of complete sincerity, he added, "I could use the company to be honest."

'And I could use a nap on a warm lap now that my stomach is stuffed,' was the meaning behind the head tilt and tail flip answer he received from the furry beast on the floor.

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It was dark and nearly 6:30pm when Steven opened the front door yet again and called out, "Cupid! Where are you? Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Come on hairball. Get your butt home and I'll add burger grease to your food for dinner. Here kitty, kitty, kitty." The thoughts that crossed his mind as he waited for some type of response to his calls, ranged from: 'He is never gone this long' to 'He's probably just holed-up over at Mrs. Abicht's because of the weather.'

Steven had just decided to trot across the apartment complex's narrow street and rescue the old lady from Cupid, as much as rescuing Cupid from the further diving temperatures and newest falling snow, when he saw the gray blur shoot from under his car and to his steps.

There was no answer when he asked, "How long have you been under there, stupid?" as the obviously cold cat zipped past him and through the barely open front door. He followed and made sure the door was tightly closed against the latest onslaught of frigid air. He also snickered to himself as he watched the fat furball work his way under the heavy throw on the couch Steven had himself been under most of the day. "If I didn't know they were already gone, I would ask you if you froze your nuts off out there," he said with more than a sarcastic tone in his voice. "I swear Cupid, you constantly working the neighbors the way you do is going to bite you in the ass someday."

When the furry face appeared from under the throw, the expression on Cupid's face was impossible to misunderstand: 'Go fuck yourself with the lecture and get over here and help warm my ass up.' Steven simply grinned, joined Cupid on the couch, and proceeded to lavish loving strokes of his hands that generated heat for his happy pet and as always, welcomed home his regularly wandering roommate.

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For the next several weeks, a very similar if not identical, scenario played out for both Steven and Andy. Cupid made his long visits to one and kept the other confused as to where he was disappearing to so often and for such extended periods of time.

Steven had wrongly assumed that Cupid was just hanging out for longer house call sessions with Mrs. Abicht. But he had that misconception corrected when the old lady banged on his door early one evening and inquired if something had happened to the cat she had begun to consider their shared pet. She told him it had been well over a week since Cupid had spent an afternoon with her as had become his almost daily custom.

After a few questions, it became clear that she was as clueless as he was as to where the roaming cat had been spending his time lately. Since Cupid never failed to turn up on the front stoop or on the patio at the back door at some point every evening, whining as he demanded admittance to the apartment, Steven simply shrugged off the mystery. He knew in spite of Cupid's inbred superiority complex and natural wanderlust, that the cat loved him and would never leave and not come back...unlike the man that had given him the cat as a Valentine's Day gift two years prior. Ezra. That one was gone forever.

Andy's attitude was mainly one of curiosity as to where Ralph, as he still called him, actually lived. Definitely curious, but not enough to go knocking on doors and possibly put an end by accident to the regular visitations from Ralph. Some cat owners were overly protective; he certainly had been with Mittens; and whoever actually shared a life with Ralph might stop letting him out to roam. He simply gave in with total acceptance of the cat's 'Wander in. Let's share some quality time. You feed me something special. Love on me some. See you next time. And wander back off to who knows where,' scripting of their relationship.

No cat could ever replace his beloved Mittens, but Ralph had taken over the chunk of his heart that Mittens had left available when she crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. In a way, Andy started seeing Ralph as some kind of gift from beyond from from his departed friend...someone to help him get on with life, both fur buddy wise and personally, because he and Ralph had started having the same type of deep discussions he had previously only had with Mittens.

And so that was how it continued on with the two males and the pudgy Maine Coon...right up until the beginning of the second week of February.

Cupid was literally splitting his time between the two apartments. He had also started referring to them in his mind as 'My two humans' and taken to ignoring everyone else in the complex...even good hearted Mrs. Abicht.

In spite of all his completely spoiled attitudes and self-absorbed habits, Cupid really liked the two guys and did his best to return the constant attention and deep affection they each bathed him with. He also took notice of how both of them seemed to be mentioning something called 'Valentine's Day' more and more in their conversations with him. It seemed to supposed to be one of those extra special days the humans were constantly celebrating, but for some reason, it was making both of them sad.

"Being alone on the one day of the year the whole world grinds to a halt so hundreds of millions of pairs of people can celebrate being a couple, just totally sucks," was the way Steven had put it one night while he was trying to find anything on television that wasn't about romance and love and simultaneously baring his soul to Cupid. Andy had also been noticeably less enthusiastic about life and making similar comments when a commercial for this special day for humans interrupted whatever radio station he was listening to on his stereo. Even though they were down emotionally, the guys continued to treat him like a king and smother him with love. It was also very obvious to him, that they had even more love to share with one of their own kind...if they could ever find the right one.

Out of the blue, the light bulb clicked on over his head and suddenly Cupid realized he had a mission that, for once, wasn't centered around food or finding a new place to nap.

Even though their front doors were a mere few dozen yards apart, neither Steven nor Andy had a scintilla of a clue that either existed. Well, not beyond the typical entirely generic wrist flip wave in the parking lot between live-in-the-same complex, pseudo-neighbors. But even though they were strangers, they were already sharing three distinct and personal things: Both being gay. Both being alone. And now a cat named Cupid.

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The first crack in the wall of being neighbors but remaining strangers, occurred on Monday the 9th when Steven got home much later than normal from his job at the Marietta Times. The regular senior reporter assigned to the city hall and courthouse beat was on vacation and he had drawn the short straw to be the fill-in man.

It wasn't the first time he had covered a city council committee meeting, but it was the first time he had seen one run three hours into the early evening. This rare happening was thanks to the stubborn mayor and one equally hard-headed councilman getting into a nearly hour-long major pissing match over the multimillion dollar renovation of the century old, former national guard armory that occupied a prominent chunk of riverfront real estate in the downtown business district and that the city had purchased. The first fifteen minutes were a welcome and fairly humorous diversion from the otherwise normally 'bore-me-to-tears' meeting of the 'Lands & Buildings' committee of the small town's legislative body. The next thirty-five or forty minutes however, quickly devolved into what could only be compared to two first graders arguing over the last swing available on the playground during recess...lots of huffing and puffing and threats and name-calling, but little else that truly mattered.

By the time the verbal fireworks show was all over and the meeting finally adjourned at nearly 7:00, it was already dark and Steven's stomach was not at all politely, reminding him it needed filling. Since Cupid also got fed at the same time, he could only imagine the reception he would get from the demanding feline...especially since Cupid had darted out the door with him almost twelve hours earlier and most likely would be greeting him on the steps of the apartment with a real attitude.

But when he pulled up in front of his door ten minutes later, the car headlights lit up nothing but an empty stoop. It wasn't until he turned slightly after exiting the driver's seat that he noticed the big ball of gray fur sitting with the younger guy that had moved in across the street a month or two ago. Instead of just calling out to Cupid, he locked his car door and walked over to retrieve the cat.

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Andy had only stepped outside a moment or two prior to the car pulling in across the way. The only reason he was outside in the cold air and occasional peppering new snow flakes was due to his commitment to himself to never light up a cigarette inside the new apartment as one more step in eventually quitting the nasty and expensive things. Plus, since Ralph had been inside with him since mid-afternoon when he got home from his 5am to 3pm early shift at the restaurant, he figured the cat needed a trip outside also while he got his nicotine fix. Even though Ralph was a daily visitor to his place now, he still didn't have a litter box there for when the call of nature rang.

Accepting the promotion offer to general manager and the required accompanying transfer to one of the newest units of the family-style restaurant chain he had worked for since his first year of community college, was how he had ended up in the friendly little city just weeks earlier. The demands of getting settled in at work was also a big reason why he had not even attempted the pursuit of any kind of personal life or exploration of the mid Ohio Valley's minimal gay community.

'In time, Andy. All in good time,' he had constantly reminded himself when the emotional and physical urges had struck him. 'Internet porn and phone and cyber sex will have to suffice until you are established here,' had been the final argument his conscience used to convince him of how it needed to be. That was part of why he had let Ralph attach himself...at least part time...to him. He could love and be loved back without all the temporarily nonexistent extra time and much deeper emotions that were required with another guy. He was reminding himself of how long it had been since he had gotten down and dirty for real when the deep voice broke his train of thought.

* * * * *

"Cupid, dammit! Is this the latest victim of your 'I am so neglected at home' bullshit come-on lines?" That was quickly added to with a wide toothy smile, an extended hand and, "Hi. My name is Steven and Cupid there, is the biggest mooch in the complex. Don't let him fool you or be a problem."

"Oh he hasn't been at all. In fact he has kind of been a blessing," were the first words from Andy. He followed up immediately by accepting the offered handshake and, "Glad to meet you. Just call me Andy."

As the two stood with Cupid weaving in and out between their legs while they shook hands, both their gaydar systems registered the first 'beep' which is almost always second guessed as 'wishful thinking'. The usually reliable sixth sense makes you very curious but also suddenly overly cautious at the same time. Fortunately, the rapid body scans with the eyes and the lingering smiles both gave each other, was the first confirmation the 'beep' probably wasn't a false one.

"So, I take it you are new in town with those Kentucky tags on your car?" Steven finally broke the silence with. He felt as if the gaydar going off was not a false positive, but he did mentally spank his own hand with the thought of 'He is at least eight or ten years younger than you. He won't be interested.' Andy chased away the negative thought with his reply.

"Yeah. Grew up in a similar little town near Louisville and did the junior college thing there, but was living in Lexington until two months or so ago. I'm the general manager of the new 'Fire Mountain' that went into the old Ryan's location out on Pike Street, so I haven't really had the chance to get to know many of the neighbors yet." With only a momentary pause and another barely subtle perusal of Steven's frame, Andy added, "From what I can tell so far, I'm kinda glad you are one of my first, to be honest." The words were accompanied by a wink and suggestive grin.

While waiting for a reaction, Andy's brain was processing what the initial eyeballing had provided him. 'With the short beard and hairy arms and that fur sticking out the top of his open shirt, says he's normally not my type. Bears never really have been. And he's definitely a little older than I am usually attracted to. But something about this guy sure has my attention,' was the report he delivered silently to himself.

"I haven't been there yet, but heard it is really nice and that the breakfast buffet is the best in the entire Ohio Valley. Fire Mountain is actually a part of the Ryan chain isn't it?" As Steven spoke, he also took the luxury of a second covert inspection of Andy and happily got several more gaydar 'beep~beeps' for his efforts. What really confused him though, was he usually got hard over shorter, blond-haired, blue-eyed twinks. This guy was a few inches taller than his own five-foot-ten, had jet black hair, and eyes that could double as pieces of coal. And he was coming across as far more a jock type than exhibiting any typical twink characteristics.

"Yeppers. They tried a half dozen of them in the south, but they didn't go over all that well since they were more upscale and therefore a little higher priced than Ryan's. So now they are seeing if they will fly up here in the north and are putting them in the closed Ryan's locations instead of just paying the mortgage and upkeep on empty buildings that are going to take forever to sell. Business has been great since we opened up after the remodel, but then that's typical for almost any new restaurant. The locals have to check it out just because it is new and either give it their blessing or add it to their 'never again, thumbs down' list."

"Well I guess I should have breakfast with you some morning," Steven proffered with another leading smile. 'Too blunt, too soon?' he questioned his conscience.

'Nah, go for it. He's interested too,' was the confidential answer he received back from his private guidance system.

'I could take that about ten different ways,' was what Andy wanted to reply with, but instead tossed out, "I think you and breakfast might be an interesting proposition." He cringed a bit at how forward that sounded after it crossed his tongue; particularly for using the word 'proposition' in the comment; but dismissed any further uncertainty at how it would be taken when he noticed Steven give him the once-over yet again before he spoke.

"We can talk about working up a plan for that, but for right now, I need to get my butt and Cupid's home and crank the heat back up. It's probably cold enough to hang meat in my living room right now."

Andy looked down at the cat as it made one final set of twisting turns around both their legs. 'You're grinning at me. You know we are both gay, don't you?' his inner voice declared.

Cupid flicked his tail back and forth like a metronome...almost as if he had heard the question and was both answering it and putting some serious punctuation at the end of his confirmation.

Instead of trying to further communicate any more with questionable animal-human telepathy, he stated out loud: "So your name is really Cupid, eh Ralph?" The look of confusion he received from Steven caused him to add: "It's what I've been calling him since he started hanging out with me when you weren't home."

"Ohhh. I thought maybe he had learned to actually talk and was preparing to go into witness protection with you or something," was the jesting reply.

"Witness protection is only used when the witness has seen something he probably shouldn't have, isn't it?" The grin on Andy's face after that one was barely held back from becoming a full blown smirk.

Steven almost burst out laughing at the deja vu moment Andy had just created without knowing it. "I'll just plead the fifth on that one. At least for right now. Just suffice it to say, Cupid is a little bit of a perv at times."

Andy tilted his head in question with that line, but only said, "We are racking up a bunch of stuff to talk about later...if you were serious, I mean." It was the best opening he could come up with at the moment to put the burden and decision on Steven as far as spending some more time together.