Just Like a Cat

***This is my first time posting in a while and the formatting seems really off. I'm sorry if this causes problems for you as a reader. I'm going to do a bit of research and try to fix it later. Thanks for reading!***

My roommate reminds me of a cat. When we first moved in together, I didn't think anything of the fact that he seemed to be a bit of a loner. He was quiet and that's probably what I liked most about him. We both go to college, though I'm three years older than him and he's only a freshman.

During the interview in which I was looking for a suitable roommate, I asked him why he wanted to share an apartment with me rather than just use a dorm and he said that he could afford an entire apartment all by himself, but that he couldn't find one so close to our college with such conveniences that was available any time soon. Then he asked me why I wanted a roommate and I told him that it was because my previous roommate had just moved out and I couldn't afford the apartment all on my own. All in all, it seemed like our needs lined up fairly perfectly.

So, I let him move in and - to be honest - I haven't really seen much of him. He really is a loner in that he stays in his room most of the time doing his homework, but when he's bored, he comes out and sort of haunts the apartment. I mean it's his home too, so there's nothing wrong with him wandering around it aimlessly, but it sort of makes me a bit nervous and I don't really know why.

Thankfully, the weirdest thing I've caught him doing so far is sleeping naked on his stomach on the floor in the sunshine. I had come home early from class, figured that he hadn't expected me home yet, and since he was asleep, I simply went to my room and did my homework before leaving for work. Still, I have to admit that seeing that surprised me. It's such a cat thing to do!

And so, it seems I have found myself a pet cat that can pay half the rent and his share of the bills. I suppose that if that's all I have to complain about, I should just keep my mouth shut. Still... would it kill him to actually talk to me at times?

Maybe I'll just have to, I don't know, initiate a conversation or something? Invite him to play GTAV with me? Maybe have a drink.

As a bartender, I tend to work late at night. I also tend to have a lot of girls interested in me. They're usually college students like me, and so I know them. Previously, I'd take them home when asked, but ever since I got my new cat, that has seemed weird. Almost like I was afraid he'd judge me, but still, I'm a healthy man with needs, and so, when I just couldn't take the celibacy anymore, I started bringing them home again. To my surprise, he didn't seem to notice, much less say anything judgmental.

Then again, he's so quiet, I'm not sure he'd say anything even if it did bother him. This is crazy! I need to stop feeling so awkward around him! I was going to get him to open up and become a proper friend if it killed me!

But how?

After my guest for the night left one morning - well probably more like afternoon, we had been up until dawn after all - I paced back and forth in my room trying to figure out a way to strike up a conversation with Elian until a decently brilliant plan came to me.

I wandered out to find him, thanking my luck when I found him staring into the fridge as if thinking that if he simply stayed there long enough, the perfect meal would make itself for him. Oh if only!

"Hey Elian?"

"Yeah?" He asked with mild interest even as he continued to search the fridge.

"I just wanted to warn you that I plan to have a bunch of friends come over tonight - since it's Friday. But don't feel like you have to leave or anything. In fact, I'd like it if you hung out a bit."

"Why?" He wondered curiously, even turning to look at me.

I shrugged. "Well they're my friends and I plan to have various combinations of them over from time to time. It would just be easier if you already knew them so that you wouldn't feel weird if they came over before I got home - for example." I explained, and even thought that was true, it wasn't the main reason - which was that I wanted to get him out of his shell a bit.

He gave a half shrug as he shut the fridge. "Whatever. I'll probably stay in my room for the most part, but I'll come out to meet everyone when the pizza arrives."

"Pizza?" I questioned stupidly. Honestly, pizza was the perfect food for an impromptu party.

He gave me a tiny smile. "Don't worry, it'll be my treat. How many people should I order for?"

I rubbed my chin as I thought this over. "Hmm... I think... about 12."

"Alright then," he stated as if this was now a fact set in stone. Then he grabbed an apple from the basket on the table and chomped into it as he returned to his room.

Crap! Now I not only have to invite people over, but I ALSO have to get out of working tonight! Lucky for me that one of my coworkers owes me a big favor.

Later that night, after the party was in full swing, the doorbell rang and I answered it to find a delivery girl staggering under a stack of a dozen pizzas. Elian emerged from his room to accept and pay for the delivery without even being told that it had arrived. I was surprised to find a nice variety: meat lovers, veggie, cheese, etc. Watching curiously, I was also surprised to see him act gracious as my friends all treated him like a conquering hero - or a popular celebrity.

Once he had a couple of slices on a plate (one chicken bacon ranch and one meat lovers), he took a step back and grabbed the cup out of my hand.

"Um..." I muttered, wondering if I should stop him. He was only 18 after all, and I could be legally liable if the cops were called out at any point. But he downed my long island iced tea before I could say a word. He didn't cough or make any indication that the alcohol bothered him.

"This is good," he said instead.

"Well, it's one of my favorite drinks, and being a bartender, I know a lot of them. I made it the way I like it best," I explained, not entirely sure why I felt off balance and didn't just say thanks and leave it at that.

My friends were having a blast, drinking and dancing to the music. They all made a point to meet and chat a bit with Elian, but then went back to fucking around as they got a bit drunker. Meanwhile, Elian stood off to the side, sort of drifting around a bit, watching them all with the fascination of a scientist conducting an experiment.

After winning an impromptu dance contest - since I was the only one still sober enough to remain on my feet - I finally decided that it was a good time to chat with Elian.

"Hey," I began as I gestured for us to sit at chairs around the table that were sort of in the corner and seemed to offer a bit of privacy even as we were able to see (and be seen by) everyone.

"Yeah?" Elian asked curiously.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he permitted with a careless shrug.

"Why are you always so quiet and alone if you have no problems chatting with people and hanging out like this?"

He tilted his head to look at me, once again bringing to mind the mental image of a scientist being curious. Or a cat being curious. "Well... I guess that the short answer is that I just don't want to get close to people."

I frowned in concern. "Why not? Do you come from a shitty home too?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. My dad loves me and always gives me whatever I want. It's just..." He looked away and I could see him take a deep breath and hold it as he thought things over for a moment. Then he exhaled a mildly aggravated sigh.

"What?" I pressed curiously.

He looked at me again. "It's just that the first time I fell in love - puppy love, you know? I was only 12 and the girl I liked liked me in return. We sort of dated a bit, as much as 12 year old kids can, until she died in a car accident. I was... utterly crushed and withdrew into a shell. I've had a lot of therapy, so I can think about it from a detached perspective, I suppose. Anyway, my mom urged me to take the time I needed to grieve, and then find someone new. Just when I think I was ready to do that, she died from cancer. Lymphoma. So..." He shrugged and looked away again. "I decided that getting close to people just wasn't worth the risk of being hurt if they died in an accident or from a disease."

Oh... shit! That's a lot deeper than I expected!

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Oh, um... sorry..."

He shook his head. "It wasn't your fault."

I nodded because it was true. "Still."

Maybe he felt like the air around us was weird now, because he seemingly tried to lighten the mood. "But I don't hate people either. I can get along with almost anyone if I have to. Do group projects. Play team sports. Things like that. I just don't seek it out."

I had to wonder how much therapy he'd actually had if he could say these things so calmly - as if they weren't about him but about someone he knew but didn't really care about.

He smirked at me almost meanly. "Bet you're sorry you asked now, huh?" With that, he stood up, grabbed a slice of hawaiian pizza, and ate it as he walked to his room. I was tempted to go after him and ask him more questions, but he shut the door and that seemed like a pretty clear signal to leave him alone.

After that, the party devolved into a series of hookups. I ended up having a threesome with a girl and her boyfriend. I wasn't exactly bisexual, but I'd tried it once or twice and found it to be nice enough, thus I had no problems switching back and forth between the couple.

Strangely enough, I woke up to see Elian poking his head out his bedroom door. He was looking around as if wondering if he really wanted to come out, and if so, did he need to avoid stepping in anything. Truth be told, he probably did need to avoid spilled drinks and possibly even puddles of vomit. Ugh! That's the WORST part about hosting a party!

Carefully picking his way over to the bathroom, he pulled out his phone and whispered softly to whoever he called: "Hey, do you think you could come over to my apartment today and clean up a complete mess? We threw a party last night and I don't want to know what might be on the floor now!"

Huh... Who would agree to clean up another person's apartment like that? If someone really did, I'd be so happy that I'd be tempted to hug and kiss them!

As it turned out, a woman in her 50s or 60s arrived about 2 hours later and didn't even attempt to scold Elian for the mess. She simply made a motion like rolling up her sleeves (she was wearing short sleeves), and threw herself into the task. Just as I had mentally promised myself, after I got out of the shower and felt less hungover, I threw my arms around her, kissed her cheek, and thanked her so much for cleaning the place up.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Flatterer! Go kiss your girlfriend and let me get on with it!"

I winked at her. "Don't have a girlfriend. Interested?"

She looked like she wanted to roll her eyes again but shook her head instead. "Sorry but I'm happily married, and you're far too young for me. I wouldn't be able to keep up with all your energy!"

I shrugged. "Your loss!" Not that I was serious, I just liked to flirt. It came in handy as a bartender.

When I spotted Elian come out of his room in search of food - which once again did NOT magically appear in the fridge for him - I walked over to him and grinned. "Your grandma is nice. I like her."

"Huh? Oh! That's not my grandma. That's Gina, our housekeeper since before I was born. Although, I suppose that she's more like a grandma than mine is, since all my grandma does is bring me on a two week trip each year."

"Nice!" I exclaimed appreciatively, wondering what that must be like.

"Well Hawaii was nice," Elian stated with a shrug. "But Rome was a bit crowded and overly religious for my taste. I could go for Japan again this year. It's been a while. Huh..." he trailed off and pulled out his phone, rapidly typing (he was standing so that I could see it over his shoulder): Hi Grandma. How are you doing? I was wondering if you would be willing to take me to Japan for our next trip, but rather than Tokyo again, maybe some of the more rural areas?

I wondered how long it would take his grandma to reply and was a bit surprised that it happened almost right away. I'll look into it and see what I can do.

Lucky bastard! Then again, his grandma hadn't said anything like: Hi love, I'm well, how are you? I miss you and can't wait to see you again.

Sadly, since it was Saturday, I had to go to work soon.

***

About a month later, I had an actual Saturday night free from work. The night before, I'd brought a woman home. She was in her thirties and wailed dramatically about her husband getting so mad at her for staying out all night when she woke up the next morning. I wanted to tell her that maybe she shouldn't be cheating on him if she was so concerned about upsetting him, but I kept my mouth shut because I didn't want to get involved in things that weren't my business. It's not like she had told me beforehand that she was married.

After taking a shower, I wandered out to the living room to find Elian sitting on the couch a bit weirdly, half hanging over the side so that he could bask in the sun. Shaking my head at him because he was always doing weird things like that, I sat down on the couch and turned on my PS4.

"Hey, you mind if I throw another party tonight?" I asked, not really thinking he'd have a problem with it.

"Whatever. I can buy pizza again, or if you'd prefer, some restaurants have a sort of catering take out menu," Elian offered.

"That sounds expensive man, you don't have to do that. We can make do if everyone brings chips or something to share," I declined while my game loaded.

He gave me that curious but somewhat cold cat look of his again. "Why not? I have to eat too, and I'd rather have food to chips."

I gave him a small smile. "If that's the case, do whatever you want. I'm not picky."

"Same amount of people?" He asked.

"Probably," I replied as my game finally loaded. "Maybe a couple more."

"Alright then," he murmured as he pulled out his phone and started browsing the internet - presumably for menus. Sure enough, just as my character was in a shootout with the police, he made a call. "Hi, I'd like to order enough food for twelve people tonight."

I wasn't really paying attention, so it was a bit of a surprise that night when he left and came back with Olive Garden. Basically, he'd gotten bread sticks, salad, more than enough pasta to feed 12 people (more like 20 people), and a variety of sauces to go on it - such as regular tomato with meat, chicken alfredo, even seafood! As for that, he practically hogged the seafood, but since he'd paid for it, no one had the heart to protest.

Once again, he interacted with all my friends like he was used to being the popular kid at the center of attention, but I could see that it was all basically an act. He didn't give out personal information of any kind, and he didn't ask for any either - although he did seem to listen as people told him things. Almost compulsively, but that was because of the alcohol.

That said, a girl sat down next to him at one point and asked about his classes, and he visibly turned on like a Christmas tree as he told her all about his engineering classes. It seems that he had gotten into MIT, but since he didn't want to go too far from home, and since he wasn't certain he wanted to be an engineer, he'd chosen to start with a closer school. He figured that he could always transfer later.

Based on how much he seemed to like his classes, I was certain he probably would transfer after this year. That said, our school had a decent engineering program, so maybe he'd stick with it. Either way, I suppose that it was none of my business.

Not surprisingly, the girl started to look thoroughly bored after about a half an hour, only she didn't seem to be able to just say so or make an excuse and run away. After another 15 minutes, I took pity on her and loudly called out over the crowd a challenge to see who was a better dancer. She immediately jumped up and promised to slay me in the contest.

Meanwhile, we all got drunker. I watched Elian watch us for a bit before he stood up, stretched side to side, and slipped off to his room. He stared at a couple that had just hooked up in the corner as he went, so I had to wonder if he just didn't care to see anything like that.

Which made me wonder if he had a girlfriend, boyfriend, or even just a sex life. I mean he almost had to, right? He was certainly good looking enough and had girls interested in him. So... was he just too shy? Then again, he had said that he didn't like getting close to people.

Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair and conceded defeat in the contest - since I hadn't been paying full attention anyway. I really had to stop being so concerned about my roommate. He clearly wasn't going to stick around that long anyway. All he needed to do was figure out that he genuinely did love engineering, and then he'd be off to a better school. No need to get attached to him.

***

About two weeks later, it was a Wednesday night and not only did I not have to work, but the plans I'd made for the evening fell through. I sat on my couch playing GTAV with a feeling like I actually wished I had homework so that I'd have something constructive to do. After completing my second or third heist, I tossed my controller aside in frustration.

"Damnit! I'm horny! I should probably go take a shower..."

To my embarrassment, I hadn't noticed Elian standing in the kitchen, in essence right behind me. He finished drinking from his glass of water, rinsed it out, and set it in the clean rack.

"Didn't you have a date tonight?" He asked.

"Yeah but she canceled," I grumbled.

"You can just say no if this is too weird, but I noticed you play around with guys too. I'd be willing to take care of your horniness if you take care of mine," he suggested, looking almost bored by the prospect.

I was taken back a little. "You... you're gay?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. Don't really feel the need to have a label. I'm just horny - like you said - but I don't have a bunch of friends I could just call over to help me out. I figure that it would be a useful exchange for both of us."

That was a bit cold, but I couldn't deny that most of my encounters were basically easy ways to get off and go to sleep. The offer was tempting and I didn't think I could find a better one on such short notice.

"Yeah, alright. Why not?" I agreed, then I sniffed myself and wrinkled my nose. "Let me take a quick sower first. I went for a run earlier and am all sweaty and stinky."

"Alright," he murmured, stretching as he returned to his room. "That'll give me time to finish up my report."

I took one of the quickest showers in history, nearly yelping when I returned to my room to find him lying in my bed. He was already naked and seemed asleep. It was sort of odd how he seemed to be able to take naps at the drop of a hat, but since he also seemed to be up on and off each night doing things, I suppose he needed to make up for it somehow.

After drying off, I tossed my towel in the hamper and climbed into my bed. Gently, I nuzzled and sucked on his neck until he opened his eyes to look at me.

"Just so you know, I always top when I play around with guys," I informed him because that was pretty important to me.

He merely shrugged. "Whatever."

Relieved, I skipped straight to the part where I prepared him for safe entry. This meant using my fingers and plenty of lube to stretch him open and soften him up a bit. As I did that, I continued to suck on his neck until I felt like shifting to suck on his perky little nipples.

"Mmm..." he moaned, shifting a little and spreading his legs a bit wider.