reach

for @nickyklose who suggested that adorable cat tiktok should be an andreil meet cute: i love your brain. 

He’s there again, reaching up for the landing. 

Andrew doesn’t know who the hell the guy thinks he is, but he’s there every morning with a cat treat in his palm, smiling up at King like she’s the cutest cat he’s ever seen. The top of the stairs - Andrew managed to snatch a great rent deal on a flat above a bookstore, where the stairs up to his place descend in this narrow alleyway between storefronts - is the only place outside that King will risk. She’s an inside cat by both nature and nurture. She doesn’t like noise and hates people. 

This is why its so perplexing to watch. 

It took three months for King to acclimate to him, and that was half the projected timeline from the rescue centre team. And yet: here stands a guy with brilliantly sharp cheekbones and ridiculously wild curls, reaching up on the tips of his toes every morning. 

And every morning, King reaches back. 

After they poke each other - toebean to fingertip - the stranger will flick up a treat. King will catch it, and relish in his quiet applause. 

And then he’ll run off, back to his usual route. His normal routine. It’s probably less than a blip on his radar, but for Andrew, it nearly consumes his entire morning. 

Nicky tells him that he needs to be braver with his heart. That he can’t just hide away from the truth forever. Andrew doesn’t - has never - wanted to initiate anything more than meaningless hookups in alleyways a little darker than his own. 

Saying hello doesn’t mean you’re initiating anything, he has to remind himself. It’s being…friendly.

But Andrew’s not a friendly person, and even if he was, he isn’t sure he’d want to befriend a guy who brings cat treats on his runs and makes sure to reach out for King every morning like its the ‘Hand of God’. 

Though, he does somewhat look like he belong in a classical painting. He’s gorgeous from head to toe, even whilst sweaty and flushed. Especially then. 

It’s 7:51 in the morning when he turns the corner. The sun is climbing steadily higher, and whilst the man slows his jog, Andrew waits by the door. He’d light a cigarette for nonchalance, but he doesn’t smoke around King, and the guy’s probably some kind of health freak. It’s not a habit that sits well in every crowd. 

The man smiles like the sun as he reaches up. King, the selective brat she is, reaches down to meet him. As the stranger retreats his hand, Andrew opens the door and steps out onto the landing. 

At least the man has the audacity to look chastised, but it doesn’t stop him from offering King’s treat. Andrew settles himself on the railing, making sure to appear supremely unimpressed. 

“Don’t worry,” the man assures, smiling crookedly as King chews on her well-earned treat. “They’re healthy. My cat’s apparently morbidly obese, so they’re vet-approved treats.” 

At least he hadn’t bought treats just for this purpose. 

“What’s their name?” he asks, like this isn’t a strange occurrence at all. Like Andrew’s not glaring at him. 

“King,” Andrew decides, watching as she slinks back through the cat flap, her daily socialisation with the outside world complete. 

“Adorable,” the man comments. “You two have similar veneers.”

“You think you’re funny.”

He shrugs. “Sometimes.” He jogs backwards, resuming his morning routine with a two-fingered salute in Andrew’s direction. “See you tomorrow?”

Andrew flips him the bird. The sound of the man’s laughter clings to his skin, long after he’s turned the corner. 

heehee short n sweet