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Kaz watched from his desk as the cat stretched lazily along the window sill, mouth wide open in a silent meow.
“Theodore” He called out quietly. The animal turned to look at him and chirped in acknowledgement, leaping gracefully to the ground and trotting over to nudge at his outstretched fingers.
Kaz had turned back to his laptop, scratching Theodore’s head when his phone started buzzing on the desk beside him. The cat slunk away, leaving him to take the call and lean back in the chair, phone in hand.
He didn’t need to check the caller ID. He was pretty sure he already knew who it was.
“That was quick. You usually leave me hanging for a couple rings.”
“Good afternoon to you too, Jesper. I’m doing great, by the way.”
“I’m doing even better. Have you met my replacement yet?” His friend had never been one for small talk.
“She’s not your replacement Jes, she’s just the new tenant.”
“Yeah, and I was the old one. Replacement.” He paused. Never a good sign. “Wait, you said she?”
He tried not to groan. “Yes.”
“So you have met her? What's she like? Is she cute?” Jesper asked, in a tone far too excited for Kaz’s liking.
“No I haven’t met her, I just saw her going into the apartment. What does it matter anyway? Are you and Wylan on the rocks?”
“I wasn’t asking for me.” Even down the phone Kaz could tell he was grinning that smug grin.
“You know I’ve got a lot of work to do for Monday. I think we need to cut this short.”
“You’re no fun, Brekker. We still on for lunch tommorow? If you’re not taking out the not-cute neighbour, of course.”
Kaz grit his teeth together. “Goodbye, Jesper. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He hung up the phone with a click and tossed it on the desk, locking his fingers together in front of him.
Kaz Brekker wasn’t a relationship person. He wasn’t even really a friendship person, but those were easier to navigate and harder to live without. It wasn’t really worth thinking about for the pretty girl next door who he hadn’t said a word to.
He turned back to his work.
Theodore was a big fan of the fire escape.
Kaz had never meant to let him anywhere near it when he first moved in, fully intending to keep him indoors.
But he’d inevitably forgotten to close the window one day, and had a brief five minutes of panic as he searched for his pet, even roping in Jesper to help. They’d found the cat lounging in a patch of sunlight on the escape outside the window, completely unaware of the commotion he’d just caused.
Jesper thought it was hilarious.
He also thought it was hilarious when Theodore had decided to make the leap from sneaking out to the fire escape to sneaking into Jesper’s open window directly next door.
Kaz gave up on trying to dissuade him from it eventually, grudgingly accepting the fact that his cat was apparently half living in his friend’s apartment now.
But shortly before Jesper had moved out, he had taken to keeping the window shut every time Theodore was in the room, intending to break the habit and save his neighbour from an unwelcome surprise.
He was reminiscing on this as he sat in front of his laptop in the late hours of the night, numbers on the screen starting to blur. He rubbed his eyes and checked the time. Maybe more like the early hours of the morning.
“Theodore?” He called out, shutting the computer and pushing his chair away from the desk.
Walking into the main room, he glanced around quickly for any sign of the cat. “Theodore?” He called again, listening for a tell tale meow in response.
Kaz stepped into the kitchen. “Teddy?” he tried, wincing. He wasn’t a fan of the nickname Jesper had subjected his cat to.
His eyes roved around the space, hoping to see his cat curled up in a shadow somewhere.
Instead he sees the open window.
His feet carry him over, and he places his hands on the sill to lean outside, quietly calling out Theodore’s name. Peering into the darkness, he wishes he’d thought to grab his phone. He can see the stairs from here, and his side of the fire escape, but not Jesper’s old side. And black cats have the unfortunate side effect of blending into the night with ease.
But with a turn of his head he can see the window next door, identical to his own right down to slight opening, just wide enough for a certain determined feline.
He can hardly blame his neighbour. It’s a hot day. And she has no way of knowing. If he’d actually taken the opportunity to introduce himself when he’d seen her yesterday, maybe he could’ve issued a warning of some kind.
Too late now.
Ducking back into his apartment, he swipes a bag of treats from the kitchen, a flashlight from the cupboard and his leather gloves from his bedroom.
Then he hoists himself up and out onto the fire escape. Walks gingerly over to the other side, shaking the treats as he goes.
“Theodore?” He tries when he’s at the window. The lights are off in the apartment. He shakes the treats again with one hand, carefully shines the flashlight just inside.
When he can’t hear any movement, he casts the beam wider, until it lands on the small dining area. The table is the same one Jesper had, but there’s a colourful runner spread along the top now. And right in the middle, sits Theodore.
He stirs when the light casts over him, raising his head from where it lay on his paws and meowing at his owner.
“Theodore!” Kaz admonishes in hushed tones of anger.
The cat begins to move, but slowly, stretching as he lazily moves along the table. The poor girl’s going to find dark fur all over it in the morning. But better that than a strange cat.
Kaz shakes the treat bag aggressively at his pet’s slow progress. He’s stopped and is now sitting on the edge of the table, yellow eyes aglow in the light from the torch.
His friends often tell him that Theodore’s personality matches his perfectly. Kaz is starting to see why.
When vigorous shaking of the treats, stern requests and reluctant begging do nothing to persuade the animal to leave his perch, Kaz makes the decision to take matters into his own hands.
Haphazardly tossing the treats back into his own apartment, he slides the flashlight between his teeth and braces his hands on the sill.
It’s a tight squeeze to slide in, the window locked at half open, but teenage years spent breaking and entering have prepared him for this.
He lands on the apartment floor somewhat gracefully, with only the softest thud. But the flashlight jolts in his mouth uncomfortably.
Pulling it out, he stands up and switches it onto the lowest setting, turning to shine it in Theodore’s direction. He’s still sitting there defiantly, tail swishing.
A floorboard creaks behind Kaz, and then several things happen in quick succession,
He spins on his heel towards the sound, something small and quick hurtles into his body, and the cat gives a mildly distressed yowl.
Kaz crashes to the ground with a soft
and immediately tries to dislodge his assailant, but they’re a solid weight on his torso, legs pinning his arms to his sides.
He’s trembling at the feel of another human so close. His bad leg is throbbing.
As his eyes adjust to the dark, he can just about make out their shape. The girl who he’d seen in the hallway yesterday. His neighbour. Of course.
Something glints in her hand.
“Give me one reason not to call the police right now.” The girl demands. He can’t really see her face, but she certainly sounds angry.
“I’m your neighbour.” He wheezes after a moment, half from the pressure on his lungs and the steady throb of panic in his head.
The weight on his chest lessens slightly, as he sees her lean up and away from him in surprise.
When she doesn’t say anything, he lets out a shuddering breath. “Would you please get off me?”
Something in his tone, or the maybe the fact that despite his best efforts he’s still shaking slightly, makes her obey his request.
“Don’t move a muscle” she instructs as she moves off him, and barely a second the apartment is filled with light.
The feeling of panic is fading. Kaz squints his eyes shut at the sudden brightness, and when he opens them up again the girl is hovering over him, crouched and leaning forward on the balls of her feet. Graceful.
He hadn’t even heard her footsteps.
She shifts, and he realises the glint was off a rather large kitchen knife she’s touting in one hand. His eyes flit from the knife up to the face of the girl holding it.
It would’ve been an understatement if he’d told Jesper she was cute. She’s beautiful.
“Why are you in my apartment, neighbour?” The beautiful girl asks. Wisps of hair have fallen loose from her braid, framing her deep brown eyes perfectly. Which are currently narrowed at him in suspicion and probably a certain degree of curiosity.
Kaz swallows. He pushes up on his elbows, and when she doesn’t move to stop him, sits all the way up, flexing his bad leg carefully. He sees her eyes tracking the movement, but she says nothing, still awaiting his reply.
“See that cat over there?” he tilts his head back, watching as her eyes shift from his face to wherever Theodore is. Kaz watches as her delicate features turn to confusion and then something that looks close to delight.
“He’s mine. Snuck in through your
open window. I was just trying to retrieve him.”
She narrows her eyes at that, but her expression just looks torn between bemusement and slight annoyance. Which is greatly preferable to accusatory and murderous.
“And you had to sneak in to do that? You couldn’t just knock on the door?” She replies, dry.
But her grip on the knife has loosened. Kaz sees that as a win.
He shrugs. “It’s 2 in the morning. Didn’t want to disturb you.” He smiles innocently.
“I’m disturbed now.” The girl replies in the same flat tone.
“You’ve also got me at knifepoint. I think I’m the one who’s come off worse in this equation.”
That does make her lips twitch upwards a little, he notices. And they’re very nice lips.
“You’re hardly at knifepoint.” She murmurs, springing up and turning in the direction of the kitchen.
Her movements are graceful, he notes. Almost catlike. Maybe her and Theodore would get along.
“You can move now.” She tosses over her shoulder as she walks through the doorway.
Kaz doesn’t need much more encouragement than that, pushing to his feet with a wince and glancing around for Theodore. His leg isn’t aching any more than usual, he notices with relief.
The cat isn’t anywhere near the table though.
He picks up his flashlight where it fell in the scuffle, and turns to walk into the kitchen.
The neighbour is bent down, scratching between Theodore’s ears as he purrs happily. He was right about them getting along it seems.
“Your cat is friendlier than you.” She quips as he approaches.
Kaz stops in the doorway, leaning on one shoulder against the frame. “Not by much. You haven’t had to deal with him when he’s hungry.”
She actually laughs at that, light and tinkling. The room suddenly seems much brighter.
Then she scoops Theodore into her arms and gets up, crossing the room to where Kaz stands. She’s a couple of heads shorter than him, he realises.
“Does he have a name?” She asks, nodding to the feline in her arms
Kaz blinks at the question. “Theodore.” He can’t quite understand why she hasn’t thrown him out yet.
The girl arches a brow. “What about you, cat burglar?”
He huffs out half a laugh at that, gingerly reaching out a hand to pet at Theodore’s head, barely missing where her fingers are stroking at his ear. “Kaz Brekker.” He can feel her scrutinising the leather gloves.
“Inej Ghafa.” She offers.
He wants to tell her. He doesn’t. Instead he just nods.
“I really should be getting on my way then, Inej Ghafa. Sorry for disturbing you.”
Inej studies him for a moment and then adjusts her grip on Theodore until she safely can hold him out to Kaz.
Kaz sucks in a breath before he takes the cat from her. They don’t touch, but he still has to step into her space to do it.
He steps away quickly once he has Theodore, watching as confusion flits over Inej’s face.
“Does Theodore have a habit of sneaking through your neighbour’s windows?” She asks as Kaz readjusts where the flashlight sits in his pocket.
“Just yours. My friend lived here before you. You should probably be careful with that window from now on.”
Inej shrugs. “I don’t really mind. He seems sweet.” She steps a little closer, strokes the cat again.
Her eyes flick up to his. Kaz’s mouth feels dry.
Inej clears her throat suddenly, breaking their eye contact and stepping back slightly.
“This might be a little weird Kaz, but could I get your number? You're the first person I’ve actually met in the building. Even if this is a strange first meeting. ”
Kaz thinks that sentence makes his brain short circuit for a moment. He stares at the girl in front of him, with her kind eyes and sleep mussed hair, in a nightshirt so overly large it’s half slipping off her shoulder. He’s having trouble keeping his eyes away from that slip of smooth brown skin.
She tilts her head, awaiting an answer.
“Uh, sure yeah. I don’t know it by heart. I can come round tomorrow?” He suggests. His voice doesn’t sound steady, even to him.
Inej’s smiles, soft. “Only if you use the front door.”
Kaz nods, half ducking his head to hide his smile. “Of course. I will have to use the window now though, unfortunately.”
“Right. Well, good night, Kaz Brekker. I’d say it’s been a pleasure meeting you, but…” She trails off with a small smile.
He nods again. “Understandable.”
She nods back, and he turns away, fighting the urge to hold her gaze for just a little longer.
Inej follows him back into the main room.
“Sorry about the table runner too.” He says as they pass the dining area, looking at the rumpled fabric. Kaz is fairly certain he’s said sorry more times in the last twenty minutes than the last decade combined.
“No worries. I’m just glad you weren’t actually trying to rob me.”
“I pity the person who does. I think they’ll end up with a nasty stab wound.” He remarks, feeling more than a little proud when hears her little huff of laughter at that.
They reach the window.
He turns back to her, suddenly feeling very off balance. Before he can formulate a sentence, she’s speaking.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then, neighbour. At the front door.” She reaches out to give Theodore another stroke as she speaks. The cat hums happily in response.
“Tomorrow.” Kaz inclines his head at her as she steps away and he turns to the window.
He leans out to deposit Theodore on the fire escape first, and then turns back around to give her an awkward wave before he ducks out himself.
By the time she’s walked over to close it behind him, he’s already moving to go back through his own window, cat in arms.
But he still catches one last glance at the glint of her smile in the dark.