Emma sighed as she tried to find something to watch on Netflix, trying to enjoy her day off from being sheriff of Storybrooke, a small, sleepy, coastal town in Maine. She looked forward to a long day spent lazing around her small cottage, watching Netflix and cuddling Lancelot her cat. Who was presently meowing very loudly at her backdoor and looking at her expectantly.
"All right I'll let you outside but we have to get your leash so you don't go chasing after another cat or bird or something," she said scooping him up and taking him outside and attaching his long lead to his collar. It was gorgeously sunny out, big puffy white clouds lazily crossing the sky, and Emma's tabby bounded out into the grass and leapt onto her lounge chair to soak up some sun. Emma laughed at her lazy little kitty's antics and turned to go back inside to pop a bag of popcorn into the microwave and select something to watch on Netflix. When she heard the microwave ding, signaling that her popcorn was ready, and she decided to start White Collar, she figured a day spent staring at Matt Bomer's face was a day well spent and went out to get Lancelot so they could watch together.
She stopped when she saw Lancelot and some strange cat just sitting on her porch and just hanging out together. She couldn't believe it, Lancelot was her little problem child, always bolting after other cats to chase them out of her yard; David had joked and called him a guard cat Lancelot seemed vaguely pleased with the title. And yet there was Lancelot, calmly lying down next to a strange cat seemingly enjoying each other's company. Emma hesitantly walked over to her cat and lifting him into her arms and taking him inside. Stranger Cat meowed indignantly at his new buddy being taken away and tried to follow them inside, Emma tried to keep him out in vain but the little guy was determined to invade her house. He looked like he had an owner, probably one of her neighbors, his fur was clean and flea free it seemed and he was a little chunker so he was definitely well fed, Emma sighed and let him come into her house.
"Well I guess this little playdate isn't over for you two," she said setting Lance down on the floor and grabbing a bowl for her popcorn and settling on her couch to spend the day watching Matt Bomer do things and very expensive looking suits while the cats chased each other around and played together and curled up on the window sill for a nap.
It continued like this for several weeks, Neighbor Cat would come and meow loudly at the backdoor until Emma let him in or let Lancelot out and they would play, groom each other, or just lie next to each other and nap until Neighbor Cat decided he was finished playing for the day and went home. Emma just went with it, the cats weren't getting into any trouble and Lancelot seemed to really enjoy having a buddy to play with. Emma felt a slight twinge in her chest when she thought of how closed off he was when she first adopted him from the shelter. He was so scared and would lash out at everyone but her and she felt that was a sign, they were kindred spirits her and her cat, both not wanting to be alone and yet afraid to let anyone else in. She also wondered about where the hell Neighbor Cat came from, what his owners were like, and if they ever wondered where their cat wanders of to for hours at a time.
One day Emma's curiosity got the better of her and she decided she was going to find out what the deal was with Neighbor Cat's owners. She waited until she heard his tell tale "Let me out of your house so I can go home" meow and grabbed her coat and Lancelot's little harness and leash so they could follow Neighbor Cat home. He seemed a little confused as to why he was suddenly being followed and Lancelot did not seemed amused at being woken up from his nap on the arm of her couch but Emma was determines. Neighbor Cat trotted along ahead of them, tail held high in the air leading Emma and Lancelot back to his house were he ran up the front steps and entered his house through a cat flap on the front door. Emma took a deep breath and rang the doorbell, suddenly realizing how ridiculous she must look, her cat on a leash and showing up at a complete stranger's door unannounced all because she wanted to figure out where a particular cat lived. The door opened to reveal a man in his early 30s, tall with black hair and the brightest blue eyes Emma had ever seen.
"Can I help you miss?" he asked, eying her and her cat with confusion all over his face.
"An accent he has to have an accent too," Emma thought to herself while trying to find the right words to explain why she had just shown up on his doorstep, "Well you should know that your cat comes over to my house everyday to play with my cat and wow I'm just know realizing how weird this must sound I'm so sorry I'll just go," she said turning on her heel to walk back to her house.
"Lass wait!" he called to her, she turned and faced him, her cheeks feeling hot, "I had been wondering where that little bugger had been going off to everyday, bloody cat near gave me a heart attack when he wandered off the first time," he smiled at her.
"I can imagine, Lancelot here will just dart off so I have to keep him on a leash," she said gesturing to her cat.
"I was going to ask why you had your cat on a lead, I just thought he liked pretending he's a dog," he smiled at her, Emma noticed the deep dimples in his cheeks and dragged her eyes away from them and said a silent thank you to all the gods she could think of for making Neighbor Cat's owner one of the most handsome men she'd ever met.
"No he just gets a bit overexcited and tends to bolt when he sees something her wants to chase," she explained returning his smile.
"Well since our cats seem to know each other so well, why don't you come inside? Have a cup of tea?" he asked his eyes filled with hope.
"Sure," she said and followed him inside and letting Lancelot of his leash.
"So what's your cat's name, I assume it's not Neighbor Cat as I've started calling him," she asked as she sat down on one of his bar stools.
"No Lass, his name is Roger but I must say Neighbor Cat has a nice ring to it," he chuckled as he put a kettle on the stove and turned it on, "And what is your name if I may ask?"
"Emma Swan, nice to meet you, and why did you give your cat a human name?" she asked.
"Well his full name is "Jolly Roger" but it gets a bit much to call him that all the time. I'm Killian Jones by the way and well I must give it to Roger he does have great taste," he said smiling at her and Emma felt herself blush again.
"Do you usually use your cat as your wingman?" she countered.
"No I can't say I do, nor can I say that I routinely follow cats to find out who their owners are."
"I'm the sheriff, it's my job to be a little curious and solve mysteries."
"Well Swan you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat," he said and Emma became very aware of how close he was standing to her.
"But satisfaction brought it back," she retorted placing her hands on his chest, looking up into his unfairly blue eyes with her green ones. She saw his eyes flit down to her lips and back to her eyes, she saw his tongue dart out and moisten his lips slightly. Suddenly something crashed in the other room and they sprung apart, unsure of what just happened.
"Bloody hell," he muttered under his breath before leaving the room to check what had happened. Emma followed his into his living room and saw a few pictures had been knocked off an end table, they both knelt down to clean up the mess.
"I'm so sorry, Lancelot loves to knock things off of tables and just be a general little shit," she apologized.
"Not to worry love, nothing's broken just a couple of photographs," he said placing them back on the table. Emma took a closer look at some of the pictures, most were of him and what appeared to be his group of friends and a few showed him much younger and usually with someone who had to be his brother, they had the same eyes. She took note of the lack of pictures with a girlfriend or wife and felt oddly pleased.
"Well that tea should be ready," he said and they went back into his kitchen and enjoyed several cups of tea while their cats played together and learned more about each other. Emma felt herself relax and be more open and honest with him than she had with anyone before, the conversation flowing easily between them and it was only when Lancelot started meowing impatiently at the door did Emma figure it was time to go home.
"It sounds like someone needs their dinner, but this was nice. It was great meeting you and finding out who Neighbor Cat's owner is," she smile and bent down to attach Lancelot's leash to his harness.
"Aye and it was nice figuring out where Roger went everyday," he said scooping his cat up and into his arms, "I'll see you around?" he asked her.
"Yeah see you around," she smiled and walked out his door, Lancelot in tow. She was walking down his pathway when she heard his door open again and she turned to face him.
"Would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow?" he said very quickly.
"Sure," she smiled brightly and turned to walk back to her house.
"Wait I don't know your number or where you live, how am I supposed to pick you up?" he asked.
"Just follow Roger, he knows the way," she laughed and walked back to her house and heard his hearty chuckle as he went back into his house.