Tumblr Prompt: My stupid can snaked out on the balcony and into your open window and she has this habit of destroying furniture and pissing everywhere so I followed her inside and you came home earlier than I expected and I swear I'm not a burglar in your living room.
This cat was going to be the death of her.
Three weeks ago Emma got suckered into attending an adoption event at the local Humane Society. Mary Margaret had dragged her along, not because either of them needed a pet, but because Mary Margaret had a crush on David, one of the employees there and wanted an excuse to see him in hopes he'd ask her out on a date. They were just there to look at the animals, not take one home Mary Margaret had promised.
Except when David had greeted them, Mary Margaret became flustered and blurted out that Emma was there to bring home a kitten. Being the great employee that he was, David told them how kittens are always quickly adopted, especially at events like these and its really the older cats who are least likely to be adopted and maybe they could look at the older cats instead.
Cinnamon's cage was the last one they visited in the adult cat room. Her name placard informed Emma that Cinnamon was a domestic shorthair and approximately five years old. But the part that really stuck out was the "possible behavioral issues" handwritten at the bottom in thick black Sharpie marker.
David was quick to explain. "She lived in a house with three German Shepherds. The dogs were not a fan of her and the owners paid more attention to the dogs. Eventually they moved her into her own room and she became destructive. She stopped using the litter box and destroyed the furniture there. The owner became upset and dropped her off here, not wanting to deal with the issue. But I think it was just territorial issues. She has always used the litter box here and hasn't destroyed any toys or the cat furniture in the interaction room. We believe the behavioral issues are from feeling abandoned and likely wouldn't continue in a home where she was the only pet."
Emma felt Mary Margaret's eyes on her the second David told them Cinnamon was abandoned. It was ridiculous to sympathize with a cat, but as a child who grew up bouncing around from foster home to foster home, she also felt abandoned for most of her life.
Emma reached her fingers into Cinnamon's cage. The pleasantly plump white cat with sporadic light brown patches on her fur eyed her warily from the blanket on which she sat in the back corner of the cage. "It's okay." Emma said softly, wiggling her fingers and the cat immediately came over to her and began headbutting her fingers.
"I think she likes you!" Mary Margaret had exclaimed. David took them into the interaction room where they could spend some one on one time with Cinnamon not in her cage. Cinnamon immediately trotted over to where Emma stood and continued her headbutting into Emma's legs.
Which is how Emma left the Humane Society one hundred dollars poorer and carrying a large pet carrier with a white and brown cat named Cinnamon inside.
"What just happened?" Emma asked Mary Margaret.
"Well, you adopted a cat." Mary Margaret replied. "And you heard David, older cats aren't usually adopted so really you're saving her life. You're a savior!"
"Yes, but now I own a cat. Me! The girl who killed a cactus!" Emma exclaimed.
Mary Margaret frowned. "Oh yeah. Umm, well you can set an alarm on your phone to remind you to feed her, but I think she'll do it on her own. I mean, it's not a cactus, it can make noise to get your attention and I'll even buy the food and everything else you need to get you started."
"Please tell me I didn't buy a cat for nothing. Are you at least going on a date?" Emma asked, resigned.
"Oh! Yes are are!" Mary Margaret's face lit up. "We're going on a picnic next week. David asked me while Robin was ringing you up."
"Great. You better marry this guy because I am never going anywhere with you again." Emma deadpanned.
-\-
Two days after Cinnamon came to live with Emma, Emma started her morning by stepping into a puddle of cat pee in the center of the bathroom, about two feet from the recently cleaned litter box. By the end of the week, Emma and learned to turn on lights before entering any room and to wear flip flops around the house to avoid any unexpected puddle surprises, which Cinnamon liked to leave on every tile surface, preferably right after Emma cleaned it. (At least it wasn't the carpet.) However, the scratching post Mary Margaret had purchased was torn to shreds, pink carpet fibers strewn all over Emma's apartment.
The only time Cinnamon wasn't being destructive was when Emma let her out onto the small balcony of her apartment. The cat enjoyed just lying there in the patches of sun for hours before headbutting the door to be let back in. After finding another destroyed scratching post and five mutilated toys, Emma took the screen out of her window and started leaving it half open so Cinnamon could get onto the balcony while Emma was at work.
-\-
The next weekend Emma came home after running some errands and decided to join Cinnamon on the balcony with a glass of wine. Cinnamon merely glanced up at her when she eased down onto the plastic chair and took a long sip from her glass, letting her head fall back as she closed her eyes.
A sound caused Emma to open her eyes again and found Cinnamon sitting on the dividing wall between Emma's apartment and her neighbors. She reached out to pet the cat (and hopefully coax her back over to her side) but Cinnamon wasn't interested and instead jumped down onto her neighbors balcony.
"Cinnamon! Come here! We don't know if he likes cats." She warned in a low voice, looking at her neighbors door. The blinds were closed and she had no idea if he was home. All she knew was his name, Killian Jones, and that was only because the mailperson put some of his mail into her box the other week. She had taped the letter to his door, not even knocking to properly meet him.
Round green eyes blinked black lazily at her.
"Cat, I'm warning you. Get over here now." Emma hissed.
She was rewarded with a cocked ear. Emma quickly slipped back into her apartment and grabbed the bag of treats on the counter. She came back out shaking them. "Cinnamon, I have those treats you like, if only you'll come here!"
She waited a minute or two before leaning over the dividing wall of the balcony, trying to grab the cat. Cinnamon flicked her tail and moved out of her reach. The only way Emma would get the cat back now would be to climb onto the balcony.
"Cinnamon!" She hissed. "You get your furry ass over here right now."
"She's fine there." An accented voice spoke up. Emma whirled around at the sound and came face to face with her neighbor speaking to her from the other side of his window.
"Blue."
"Pardon?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
Emma flushed. She hadn't intended to say that out loud but the only thing running through her mind as she took in her quite attractive neighbor was his brilliant blue eyes. "Nothing. Are you sure she's okay there? She's such a stubborn cat. I was going to get some mesh or something and put it up on my side of the wall so she couldn't leave but I forgot to get some at the store."
"It's fine, love. She'll come back over to your side of the balcony once the sun moves anyway. She comes over here around this time during the week to lay in that patch of sun." He explained.
"Oh god, my cat's been taking over your balcony for a week and you didn't tell me?" Emma flushed again.
"As I said, it's quite alright. At least someone is getting some use out of the balcony." He replied with a grin.
Emma faltered not knowing what to say next but she was saved by the ringing of his phone. "Excuse me, I have to take this."
-\-
Emma got off work early on Wednesday and decided to spend the rest of her afternoon outside on her balcony. Cinnamon eagerly accompanied her. Emma sat on the hard plastic chair with her eyes closed just enjoying the warm, spring weather. She opened her eyes a few moments later, just in time to see the back end of Cinnamon crawling into her neighbors open window.
"Oh god. No, you didn't. Cat you seriously did not just crawl into his apartment." Emma said aloud as she dashed over to the dividing wall, leaning over as far as she could to see in the window of his apartment. (Didn't he know better than to take off his screen?!)
She climbed over the wall and stuck her head into the window. "Cinnamon. Here, pretty kitty. Please come here." She could see the cat, sitting on an end table just out of her reach from the window.
Emma glanced at her watch. It was only half past three in the afternoon and she usually heard his door close around six each evening. Reaching into the open window, she felt around until she found the lock on the door and quickly unlocked it and slipped inside.
Cinnamon didn't appreciate her entrance and leaped off the table onto the leather couch, flexing her claws. "No! That is not a scratching post and looks very expensive. I'll never be able to afford to replace it if you ruin it, now please Cinnamon, pretty, pretty kitty that you are, get off the couch." Emma begged tiptoeing closer and closer to the cat.
Cinnamon hopped down from the couch, the distinct sound of claws into leather extremely loud in the otherwise quiet room. Emma winced and moved forward to check out the damage. She couldn't find any.
"Alright, where did you?" Emma asked, looking around for her wayward cat. She found her wandering between the legs of the dining room table and chairs. Emma knew this game. When Cinnamon wanted attention she would do this but as soon as you got too close, she'd take off and run away, usually under Emma's bed. She was not about to let that happen and pretended to ignore the cat.
She took in the apartment for the first time, surprised at how well it was decorated for a bachelor. Aside from the expensive looking furniture, he had a large television, matching end tables and a very large bookcase overflowing with tons of books. Propped up against the bookcase was a guitar. Emma immediately walked over to it to look at it better.
Her avoidance of Cinnamon worked. The cat didn't take lightly to being ignored when she wanted attention. Cinnamon meandered right up to her legs and began headbutting the guitar. "Oh no you don't." Emma said and quickly picked up the cat, heading toward his front door. "You are going to leave all of our neighbor's stuff alone and we're going to pretend like this never happened."
It was then Emma realized that she didn't have her keys with her and her front door was locked. The only way she could get back inside was to go onto his balcony and climb over to hers.
She made it halfway across the living room before the sound of a key in a lock caused her to freeze in place. Cinnamon struggled against her, twisting and turning with claws out. Her back claws dug into Emma's arm, causing her to twist and hold the cat out at arm's length. Which is exactly how Killian Jones found her.
"Uh, hello?" He said curiously.
Emma flushed and dropped Cinnamon. "I'm not a burglar." She blurted out.
"Of course not, you are my neighbor. Miss Swan? By why are you in my living room?" He asked.
"Yeah, Emma. I can explain. I swear I didn't break in." She said in a rush.
"Please to meet you Emma." He replied with a smile, his hand gesturing that she should sit on the couch.
Emma sat. "My cat. You know she gets on your balcony. Well your window was open today and you don't have your screen in - why don't you have your screen in? That's weird - but anyway, Cinnamon - the cat- was out on the balcony and I caught her climbing into your window and I had to come get her. She's a destructive little shit. I've went through so many scratching post and she beheads all the toys I get her and pees on the floor and the cat is just a mess but I can't give her up because I rescued her and it got my friends together and this couch looks expensive and I'd never be able to buy you a new one if she ruined it and-and I'm rambling."
He grinned at her, blue eyes twinkling. "Yes, Emma you are rambling. I took the screen out because I find it weird. In Europe, no one has screens in their windows."
"Really?" Emma asked. "What about bugs and birds and stuff?"
He shrugged. "They don't usually come in...ah, hello there." Cinnamon had hopped up on the couch and was headbutting his arm. He reached out to scratch her under the chin. The cat purred loudly.
"What the hell?" Emma said confused.
"She not usually friendly?" He asked.
"No! I thought she was going to skin the pizza delivery guy alive. Then she attacked the shoes of the UPS driver...I figured she didn't like men but I guess I was wrong about that."
"It would appear so." He replied, continuing to scratch Cinnamon's chin.
"Well, uh I should-we should- go. I'm really sorry about this. I won't let her on the balcony anymore or something. I didn't bring my keys..could you uh, follow me onto your balcony so I can make sure she stays on my side while I climb over?" Emma babbled.
"Of course, love." He replied standing up and cradling Cinnamon in his arms.
Emma blinked in surprise a few times before she remembered to move her feet and head towards the door. She climbed over the balcony and held her arms out for Cinnamon. His fingers brushed hers as the cat exchanged humans and Emma nearly jumped back at the electric jolt she felt from it.
"Uh, thank you. And again I'm really, really sorry. It won't happen again." Emma said, opening her door and shoving the cat inside. "Bye." She said with a quick nod before closing the door behind her.
-\-
The next morning she opened her door to leave for work and found a wrapped box with a red bow sitting in front of her door. Opening it, she found two toy mice inside and a note. Dearest Cinnamon, I am most obliged to your fondest attentions yesterday afternoon. Please accept these two toy mice in thanks that you did not destroy my couch. Perhaps we could meet later this evening, say six thirty, for me to thank you in person? I have some exquisite tuna I think you'd love to try. Perhaps your human would also be interested in joining us. Fondly, Killian Jones
Emma spent the rest of the day with a slight smile on her face.
Okay, apparently I need to stay away from CS stories with cats. This was supposed to be a silly 1,000 word one-shot. 2,600 words later...
Hope you enjoyed it! :)