always gold

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day 4 alone in the big apple, painted myself a new friend #whoneedshawaii #imfineeverythingsfine #meetwilson 

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@islarae hawaii is missing you, not the other way around! 💖

he looked good, he looked hot, and anyone who said otherwise was downright blind. the clicking of his stilettos announced his presence well in advance, and win appreciated the extra attention he received when he was putting this additional effort into his look, particularly since he’d been cis-ing it up lately for xav’s comfort. he twisted his hair up into a bun as he crossed the building again to retrieve some paperwork. usually, this was the sort of task he’d assign to a lowly intern, but he didn’t mind the opportunity to get some steps in. just as win, in all his canary yellow glory, was rounding the last corner to the printer, he nearly ran into ezra head-on. recovering his balance, he nodded a quick ‘hey man’ and paused for a moment in an awkward silence, as nothing was returned. 

> his heels clicked around to the nearest department, a route he hadn’t walked in a minute.  leaning against eliza’s desk, for the first time in over a month, win shoved aside all the tiny ways (and the one major way) that she had hurt noah to dish instead. it should’ve been harder than this. harder to slide back into their childish jabs and easy laughs, but it really wasn’t that big. “hey, be honest, do i not look cute today?” his forehead creased as he asked her. her and ezra were practically an item-- the way they made eyes across the cafeteria. win had held back for so long, but he wanted to rebuild those bridges, for gossip, but also like, friendship. something like that. “what’s wrong with your man? because he just passed me and refused to tell me i look good.. don’t tell me y’all are going steady.”

Xav leaned over Win to get a better look, careful not to disturb the little thing, “what’s up with you and taking in homeless creatures?” he chuckled, slowly, very slowly reaching out his hand to pet the kitten, “I don’t know if I have a cat allergy,” he hummed, “We were more into butlers and nannies than into pets when I was growing up. Noodles sounds nice though.” 

he watched xav’s tenderness with mild surprise, him holding so still as he let the cat consider him, assessing his hand before she finally deemed him adequate to pet her. “what can i say? i’m a fixer.” he mused softly, only half-joking. it was something carol was always getting on him about. “it’s not a good name-- i know that, i’m just... waiting to really find the name that captures her essence, y’know? my mom already had her name picked out for me and everything and like, she kind of swung and missed with that one.” he rolled his eyes at the regality of the name winthrop resting on his scrappy, inked shoulders. it fit much better with xav’s account of butlers and nannies and a polished marble mansion. “but uh, i guess we’ll just find out if you have a cat allergy, then? you’re staying here for the long haul still, right?”

“yeah — my parents are in miami. but i figure i’d want to take a break somewhere i don’t know anyone, unless i take someone on vacation with me. but yeah —- some time away from master’s — work — new york, in itself – would be great. i was just talking to another coworker about doing that just a few days ago. robin, i believe. everyone’s feeling the heat, i guess.” master’s just seemed to get more and more intense as weeks went on. it was ridiculous. “where else would you consider going? besides new hampshire?” 

it would be nice to get out and go somewhere new, beyond the smog and gossip of the city. “fuck, i don’t know.” win shrugged, unsure where that oasis would necessarily be. though he had mucked around europe throughout his youth, the concept of a vacation was still foreign to him, an unlikely indulgence of money and free-time. “there’ve been whispers about spending time in paris.. which might be nice, i guess. that guy’s from paris, robin. which is kind of surprising ‘cause everyone else i’ve met from that place low-key sucks, just between you and me.” win never passed up an opportunity to diss the french. one nasty boyfriend was all it took for him to scorn the whole country. “where do you want to go? maybe i’ll tag along.”

“better than nothing.” august shrugged his shoulders. “i think she’ll be okay for now.” august nodded, and he couldn’t hide the tiny smile that fell on his lips after win said he could continue to dry her off. he did so, making sure he got behind her ears and under her paws. “she’s absolutely adorable though. i hope the vet says she’s okay.” 

she was eagerly licking away at the yogurt and relief settled in on win as the kitten was now fluffy, dry, and certainly her appetite wasn’t lacking. “thanks for helping, man. and.... if you tell anyone? i know where you work.” win’s quick laugh undermined any threat that his words carried, though if word got around that he was hiding a cat at his desk... august would be the first person he’d track down. with a final wink at his conspirator, win scooped the cat into the pocket of his hoodie and made his way towards the elevators. 

noah tried not to look at the cat too much. it was far too cute for its own good, and he wasn’t known for remaining level-headed around small women. “or maybe they can find a nice little girl who wants a kitten for her birthday. wouldn’t that be sweet?” frowning, he glanced at the lump of fur and a soft groan fell from his lips, “pets are a lot of work, y’know. you can’t just get bored of her in a couple months or use her for instagram likes.” 

win refused to entertain any of noah’s suggestions, instead wrapping her up in the sweatshirt and fluffing her up. he’d thought of the kitten as his own since he’d heard her mewing under the bush. “i’m a responsible guy, i can handle it.” win resisted the urge to tack on a groaned mom. any annoyance dissipated quickly as he turned back towards the fuzz nugget, her two little eyes peering out from a sea of black. “what do you think we should name her? i was thinking noodles.”

“Fuck Paris,” Xavier chuckled into the kiss, glad to finally be in on the other’s blind hatred for The French. His hands were hungry to feel the other’s skin, as though it’s been a lifetime since the last time they’ve seen each other, not only a couple of measly days - and then Win pulled away, earning a disapproving groan from his boyfriend. As soon as he noticed the kitten lost in the sheets, the disapprovement fell to surprise.

“You - got a cat?” A cute little attention-seeking pet? And she throws up on his hoodies? Xavier thought about making a joke on how that was supposed to be his job, but he remained quiet, too distracted by the little ball of fur. “What’s her name?” he asked, shifting around the bed to get a better look at her,

“i found her in a bush out side, poor thing was out in the rain.” win cooed as he scooped up the sleepy kitten, planting a kiss on her head as she stretched, before holding her out for xav to pet. ever since he’d taken her home and gotten some food in her, she’d been the sweetest, sleepiest cat. “no name yet. noah veto’d noodles, so let me know if you have any good ideas... but yeah, she’s sweet, i’m gonna keep her so, i hope you don’t have any cat allergies.” 

That short second of silence was enough to pour a cold shower over Xav’s head, making him linger under the doorframe for a moment more. Could it be he hadn’t heard? That the news about the less-than-glorious end of Xav’s part in YSl’s campaign hadn’t reached him yet? If it hadn’t, that was a conversation for some other time.

“Yeah, you know, I just thought - fuck Paris.” a boulder rolled off his shoulders when Win reached out to him, “Sure, it has great wine, killer parties, really, really hot people,” he teased, chuckling as he climbed onto the bed next to Win, wasting no time before he pulled him in for a kiss. “But it doesn’t have you.”

“damn right it doesn’t, fuck paris.” he leaned over, willingly falling into xav’s arms like nothing had changed. he was ready to straddle the other to further reduce the space between them, and get to what they’d both been waiting for, when win bumped the cat beside him. his worlds of work and home grinding up against each other again. reluctantly, he withdrew from the kiss for a moment, to address the kitten in the room. “i kind of adopted a cat while you were gone. uh, there’s some typa joke in there, that i’m only interested in pussy now. but we both know that’s a boldfaced lie.” win ran a hand through his tangled hair- stupid joke. “she’s a real sweetheart though. only thrown up on my hoodie once.” 

Her heels clacked around the floor as she stormed over to close the space between her and the other trying to sneak away. “Creaky Bones?” She repeats back again, her brows knitting together as she did. He must’ve thought she had air for brains. How rude. “Your bones sound like cats now?” Candy asks while raising a hand to motion to her own sweater in their hands. “Like- c’mon- I don’t get to see what my own sweater is really used for right now?”

he sighed as she continued. under the radar had never suited him well. “it’s... a surprise,” he nodded, attempting to assuage her as he still slowly made his way to the exit. “you don’t want to ruin a surprise, ci-- candy. especially not for masters’ latest parisian campaign lead.” he didn’t even know if xav was allergic to cats, but this was probably the quickest way to find out. 

typing away on her laptop , athena didn’t expect one of her favorite co-workers to barge into her office. usually she would have been ready to chew anyone out the disturbed her , but win was the exception. athena’s eyebrows knitted at his request , a little hesitant because her sweater was vintage dior. she could obviously get a new one if she really want , but she was definitely going to miss her sweater regardless.  “    okay , but why the hell do you have a cat  ?    ”  she inquired as she handed her friend the sweater that was hanging on the back of her chair. although she was more of a dog person , athena couldn’t help but internally look at that cat fondly even if her exterior read confusion.  “    are you gonna keep it  ?    ”

he had honestly hadn’t thought athena would be that easy to win over, but he took the sweater and quickly began drying off the... “who says i have a cat?” win raised his eye brows conspiratorially. you never knew who was listening right around the corner, or, as was more likely, hacking into someone’s iphone mic. she was hidden better now, under the buttery-soft sweater, but he still glanced over his shoulder before continuing, “yeah, maybe, i don’t know. i’ve been thinking about getting another cat, but i dunno if my room mates will be down. she might just live in my room then.” 

ximena noticed the immediate change of energy from the person. she didn’t like it. her posture straightened as she found herself feeling spoken down to. she also thought it was kind of funny how some stranger had decided himself superior over something as silly as some bad painting. “maybe.” her neck rolling a bit with more blatant attitude. as he continued ximena tried her best to hide a chuckle. “oh, someone’s a bit pretentious aren’t they?” her eyes opening wide with shock as a smile spread across her face and she exhaled sharply. “good to know you haven’t let it get to your head.” she nodded.

who did she think she was? to come in here and tell him, a salaried employee, that he was being conceited. “it’s my job. i get paid to have a critical eye.” win looked her over with increasing derision. even if his painting skills weren’t great, at least he had the experience to know that. the canvases were just background pieces, not picassos. “what do you even do here, besides keeping us lowly artists oh-so humble, lest we believe our work has any merit?” 

“i know what you mean, win. honestly. and depending on the person, that’s actually pretty sure.” luke shrugged, “i suppose i only relax and not care about what time it is when i’m on vacation. i can’t imagine not working on a schedule … i’d probably end up running around like a headless chicken.” luke managed a laugh, a soft sigh escaping his lips before he said, “maybe i need one of those. a vacation? it would probably do me some good to get away for a bit.”

“it’s rough.” win agreed. the only certainty with time was that they were all fucked, one way or another. “dude, you should totally take a vacation. i’ve been thinking about that too. i have some family out in new hampshire that i’ve been meaning to see. it would be nice to get away from the city for a weekend.” he smiled at the thought. maybe he could even convince xav to join him out in those tall woods, meet his grandparents. lord knows they both deserved some relaxation. 

Ezra nods, draping the sweater over the hand dryer so it catches the motion sensor so he can join win by the sink, “you’re better off diluting it in water, you don’t want to give a kitten too much lactose.” he says, ignoring everything else that isn’t about taking care of the cat. He’s on a mission now and he always gets focused on completing the task at hand before he can get too snarky and win isn’t nearly uncooperative enough to warrant his genuine attitude, “But you should probably take him to a vet when you leave, they’ll give you suggestions for feeding and probably even tell you if he’s ready to start on soft food.” he says, taking the kitten gently, using a paper towel to brush against the downy fur, fluffing it softly so it’ll dry close to the body. He explains what he’s doing to win as he goes, “You’ll also probably want them to give him a bath, getting him dry and warm is our first priority now but, yeah, he needs to be cleaned.”

“right...” he nodded. milk plus water meant less lactose. he’d have to remember that, even as the cat was licking at his hand and purring like a motorboat against him. “yeah, i’ll look up vets around my place, i guess. it looks like the cat might fleas too.” he let ezra take the cat from him, keeping a watchful eye on ezra’s technique with his hands on his hips. ezra was being so gentle with the cat, fluffing up her fur. finally win had to break the silence with a slight scoff, “ezra, i appreciate the help but would you please quit misgendering the cat?” win stared at ezra until the man met his gaze, refusing to give on if he was joking or not, just like he used to mess with him when they were dating. “she’s clearly a lady.” 

“tiny little thing, aw.” august pouted his lips, continuing to rub the towel against her skin, hoping to get her fur dry. “poor thing. do you think maybe we could get her some milk? she’d probably like that.” sighing, august reluctantly handed the kitten back over to win, who seemed obviously a tad bit dejected that august had grabbed the kitten in the first place. “i could help you with her if you’d like.” 

“that’s a good idea,” win nodded, peering into the nearby fridge. it was all lacroix and the occasional white claw. holding up an old chobani container he called out, “yogurt? that’s just some funky milk.” maybe the cat would like it. win dipped his finger in the container and let her sniff at it a little. he shrugged as it looked like august was about to pass her back, murmuring, “it’s... fine, you can towel her off. we can get her all cleaned up and i’ll take her to a vet after work.” 

noah supposed that a bleach-stained nyu sweatshirt wasn’t anything to get upset about, but it was the principle of the thing. one second in the apartment, and the cat was already taking over the place like a furry napoleon. “i’m sure there are other places better suited for cat rehab, win.” he glanced at the kitten again and furrowed his brow. “one night, and then i’m calling an animal shelter in the morning. 

win opened his mouth to say something, but really, this probably wasn’t anywhere near the top of the list of places for this kitten to get back on her feet. but they could buy the right equipment. and he was certain the kitten had already taken a liking to him, and win couldn’t bear to part with her already. “that’s good. maybe they’ll have a vet who can take a look at her. ezra mentioned that she might be ready to start on soft food, maybe the shelter can recommend a brand.” he flashed a grateful smile at noah, clearly intending to use the shelter just for a quick tune up, before the cat would become a permanent tenant.