Work Text:
Of Cats and Wizards
by LurkerLynne
Stepping into the living room, Harry could see Bob, asleep on the largest sheepskin rug that he'd ever seen. No clue where Bob'd found that monstrosity but Bob loved it and right now, it looked like he had been reading and just dropped off; he was lying against a pile of pillows and his book was resting against his hip.
The grey cat beside him was twisted over its back and snoring softly. Harry snickered to himself; neither he nor Bob snored, and they wind up with a cat that did. The cat, Joseph, had belonged to a neighbor who had to move and couldn't take him with her and had given Joseph to them on the theory that wizards needed a cat. Joseph looked like he was mostly Russian Blue; stocky body, long legs and more fur that any creature needed to have. Shorthair, his ass; that stuff got into *everything*. Joseph also had faint tabby markings, grey fur with a silvery sheen and a raccoon tail to go with his yellow eyes; Harry had damn near zapped the thing the first time he'd seen it, shimmering grey and silver in the sunlight. Fortunately, Joseph had bolted at the first site of him and Lynne had calmly remarked that was her silly-ass cat and yelled 'you're fine!' after it.
Sitting on the edge of the bed and being careful not to disturb either sleeper, Joseph just slit an eye open far enough to see it was him before going back to sleep, Harry stealthily removed the book from Bob's lax grip. Smoothing the folded pages back into place and marking the page, Harry watched Bob sleep; Bob couldn't seem to get the hang of getting tired, just kept going until he dropped. Kind of like a kid, in a way.
Or a cat. Come to think of it, Joseph and Bob had a few things in common; both needed formal introductions and a few meetings to stop looking anybody new with suspicion. Both were vocal; Joseph always greeted Harry with a loud 'maeh!' whenever they crossed paths. They also were touch-whores; Joseph loved being petted and Bob was still wrapping his head around being *able* to touch and petted everything. It was hard to tell who loved the touching more. Although Bob didn't drool like Joseph did when he got going. Thank all the gods and sprits. He did purr, though. Bob denied it, but Harry'd heard him. Joseph was louder; Murphy claimed you could hear him over the phone.
Bob shifted, rolling onto his side and twisting around a little. Harry grinned, muffling a laugh with his hand when he realized wizard and cat were sleeping in the same positions. They had their favorite spots to crash; Harry knew where to look for either when they vanished on him. And neither slept long at night, although Bob was getting better. There was a notepad on the kitchen table for Harry to leave Bob messages, since it was best to let sleeping Bob's lay.
Man was damned cranky when woken from a nap. The cat, not so much. Coupla scratches along the throat or chin, mebbe a belly rub, and Joseph was good to go. The thought that that method might work on Bob rose and was quickly squashed.
Gingerly maneuvering a lightweight throw over Bob, Harry resisted the urge to run his fingers through Bob's hair to see if it was as soft as Joseph's fur. He left the back of the store to the soft sounds of a cat snoring.
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