102%

he and neil go to the shelter together, because it’s going to be neil’s cat too, eventually, and he should have a say

and there are a lot of cats

like

a lot

and they’re both overwhelmed, because neither of them have ever owned a pet before and they have no idea what to do, but luckily there’s a very nice guy who works at the shelter who walks them through the basics of owning a cat

and they go to pick a cat, and andrew sits on the floor of the room with all these cats in it, and this tiny black kitten who weighs maybe three pounds just–zooms over to him and sits on his lap and refuses to get up

so that’s the one they get

it’s actually kevin’s idea to name her king, and it just kind of sticks

she never gets any bigger than that, and never any less sweet. she’s always in the same room as andrew, who she basically imprinted on, and when he’s not there, she cries loudly

she doesn’t meow much, but she squeaks and does cute little mrps

and she’s very affectionate

the first time she bumped her head against andrew’s leg when he wasn’t paying attention, he flipped

he managed to not kick her on reflex, but it was close, and she just looked so scared

and some part of him felt bad because this tiny little thing loves him with her whole being there’s no way she could possibly have known that would startle him; she’s a cat

so he leaned down and put his hand out and gave her a tentative scratch on the head, saying very quietly, “sorry i scared you”

he was immediately forgiven

king is andrew and neil’s cat in name only; she tolerates neil only because she knows he’s important to andrew

king and andrew have a bond

she does her little mrps at him and he’ll talk to her absently about whatever he’s doing, and she’ll push her head against whatever part of his body is closest and it doesn’t scare him anymore

one time she bonked his face with her head, much to neil’s delight

eventually neil starts complaining that he barely has a cat, and they should get another one to balance things about

by now andrew is completely and totally invested in the idea of being a cat dad, so he agrees

they go back to the shelter, and neil immediately sets his heart on an extremely fat, fluffy ragdoll with blue eyes to rival his own

so they adopt her, and they let kevin name her again, so now they have king and sir

who are very different cats, but love each other immensely (even though sir steals all of king’s treats)

they cuddle ALL THE TIME

all four of them will cuddle in the same bed

they’re the only four who know

if king is andrew’s cat, sir is neil’s cat

she’s not as clingy as king, but she and neil have an understanding

whenever neil gets back home, she and andrew race to greet him at the front door (sir usually wins)

sir has a habit of stretching out her big fluffy self on any available surface, and she lets neil kiss her big paws and bury his face in her tummy if he’s having a rough day

he also enjoys the fact that it makes andrew jealous, and enjoys even more the fact that andrew gets upset he’s jealous of a cat

andrew is the designated treat-giver, because both the cats know he’ll give them extras if they twinkle their whiskers at him

neil is the designated lap, because he’s less likely to startle if there’s suddenly a pressure somewhere on his body

(one time, in the middle of the night, sir sat down on his chest and he stopped being able to breathe)

(“you can’t keep giving them treats every day,” he tells andrew the next day)

(“it’s not my fault the girls have a voracious appetite” andrew says)

the cats are either “the girls” or “the kids,” and according to neil, he and andrew are “the dads”

neil, trying to coax sir out of a corner after the doorbell scared her: come on, come back to your dads!

andrew, sipping his coffee: remind me why i decided to raise my children with you

anyway

boys and their cats

yeah