Cat vs Barakat

“What is it?”

Matt furrowed his eyebrows at the question, not sure if he’d really just heard the words come out
of his boyfriend’s mouth. “It’s a cat, Jack,” he answered, going back to scratching behind the
folded over ears on the grey ball of fluff.

“Are we catsitting?”

“What? No, I adopted her.”

“Why would you do that?”

Matt sighed and looked up from his seat on his couch to the tall, younger male. “Because I
wanted a pet? It gets lonely here,” he trailed off, going back to looking at the kitten.

“But I’m here…”

Matt looked up again and let out a small chuckle at the look of genuine confusion on Jack’s face.
He also could swear he saw fear. “I know that, Jack, but you’re not always going to be. You and
the guys go on tour more often than not. I kind of just wanted a companion.” He put the cat down
on the couch, ignoring the mewling she was making, to walk over to Jack, wrapping his arms
around him.

“It wouldn’t be so bad if you hadn’t quit,” Jack mumbled, nuzzling his face into Matt’s hair.

“Babe, you know why I had to…”

“I know…” Jack sighed and pulled back. “Why a cat though? Why not a dog. I’m not really a cat person…”

“I don’t know. I honestly hadn’t planned it either way. She just caught my attention.” He heard a
soft mewl and a paw on his leg. Looking down, he saw the Scottish Fold looking up at him.

“She’s a needy thing,” Jack said, stepping away slightly. Matt chuckled, giving him a kiss before
he picked up the kitten.

“I call her Nala.”

---

Jack was attempting to get used to having a cat around his boyfriend’s place. It was even harder
than he expected, mainly because he was convinced that devil pet was out to get him. Every
time he sat down, the cat would try to push him away - usually away from Matt. If he got up for a
snack, he’d come back to the cat laying comfortably in the seat he’d just warmed. When he ate,
there would suddenly be a presence perched on the chair or couch behind him, leaning one paw
on his shoulder as a face tried to get the food.

Jack didn’t even want to admit what would happen when he and Matt would try to sleep. He’d
have his head resting on the older male’s chest until that thing would smack him with her
paws, until he woke up. Then she’d jump onto his boyfriend’s chest where his head was
laying.

And who could forget the time that Jack got up to pee at 2 AM, saw a pair of glowing eyes watch
him from the sink, and freak out and fall.

Not that he could ever tell Matt this, though. Whenever he tried, Matt would roll his eyes and
either go back to whatever he was doing or pull Jack into his lap and distract him.

But Jack would always believe the cat hated him.

---

“No, these are my Cocoa Puffs.”

If he’d been watching someone else go through this, Jack would probably laugh. As it was, him
having to hold his bowl of cereal over his head and carefully move spoon into his mouth while a
grey kitten tried climbing up his chest, was not a fun experience.

“Stop it. If you eat this, you’ll die.” Jack looked at the animal for a moment before it let out an
annoying meow. “On second thought…”

“Jack.” His boyfriend said his name like a warning, and Jack understood he’d heard what was
said.

“Then get this thing off me,” he whined.

Matt sighed, moving from his computer desk to the couch, picking up the cat. “She must just be
hungry. Come on, princess, daddy’s gonna get you some dinner.” He got up, holding Nala with
one hand as the other got his cup of coffee from the desk.

“You gave her a pet-name?”

“Are you jealous? Should I start to call you princess too?” Matt asked with a smirk, taking a
sip of his drink.

“No.” Jack pouted, but it quickly turned to a smirk of his own. “But I might want to start calling you
daddy.”

Matt choked on his drink, not saying a word and heading into the kitchen to feed Nala.

---

“Just because he’s not here, doesn’t mean I’m letting you take over the TV.”

Really, Jack didn’t understand what was happening. Matt had gone to the store and Jack put the
Ravens game on. Jack got up for a minute during a commercial to go to the bathroom, and the
channel had been changed, and that damn cat was plopped right on the remote.

Jack sighed, he went to go grab the remote but no matter what angle he tried, the cat seemed to
think he was playing cat-and-mouse, and would swat at his hands. Giving in and realizing he
was going to have to lift the cat to get it off. He readied himself but the moment he went to grab
her, she hissed and made like she was about to bite him. He moved away quickly, glaring at her.

“You know what? Fine. I’ll watch the game in the bedroom. Psycho cat.” He grabbed the beer
bottle and bowl of chips he’d left on the table. “You don’t even look like a lion,” he huffed, glaring
at the unblinking cat as he walked away.

---

“I can’t do it.”

“What do you mean, Jack?” Matt asked, his hands roaming his boyfriend’s naked chest as he
kissed and bit his neck.

“I can’t do this tonight…”

Matt pulled back, moving his hand to cup Jack’s face. “Alright, just...can I ask why? I mean, do
you not want to or what do you mean by you can’t?”

Jack bit his lip and looked away, embarrassed. “She’s watching me.”

Matt furrowed his eyebrows, until Jack nodded his head towards the cat post in the corner of
Matt’s bedroom. The older man turned to look, seeing a set of glowing eyes. He couldn’t help but
laugh, falling back on the bed. “Do you...have performance anxiety? Can’t perform under
pressure...from a cat?”

Jack huffed, grabbing his shirt and pulling it on. He grabbed a pillow, moving to get off the bed.

“Oh, come on, don’t leave.” Matt gently grabbed Jack’s arm, pouting at him. “I’m sorry, I
just...she’s a cat. She doesn’t care. Ignore her, pretend she’s not here.”

Jack gave in, putting the pillow back and laying down next to Matt. “Now I’m not in the mood
though.”

Matt pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. “Okay. Then let’s just cuddle.”

He kissed the top of Jack’s head and the younger man smiled, nuzzling his face into Matt’s
chest.

Until the cat jumped on the bed and tried to squeeze herself between them.

---

“No. You can’t have any.”

“Meow.”

“No, it’s for my sandwich.”

“Meow.”

“Yes, I know, but you have your own food.”

“Meow.”

Jack sighed, wondering why he thought tuna was a good idea for his lunch. The question he
should probably have asked was why he was having a one-sided conversation with the demon
cat, and acting like he knew what it was saying with each little noise it made, but he wasn’t
thinking of that at this time.

“I don’t even know if you can have any of this, it’s oily and not fresh and stop looking at me like
that.”

The cat had the biggest eyes Jack thought he ever saw and he would never admit how he felt
sad for her looking at them at this moment.

“Meow.”

“Okay, fine, but just one bite and you’re not allowed to tell Matt!” The cat jumped up onto the
counter, purring as she rubbed her face against Jack’s arm and then proceeded to lick the small
bite of tuna he gave her.

---

“I think she likes you.”

“No.”

“No, I really think she does.”

“She hates me.”

“She does not, Jack.”

“She wants you all to herself and wants me out of the picture.”

“Jack, she’s on your lap right now, not mine.”

“It’s a trick, she hates me.”

“If you say so.”

---

“Must you purr so loud?” Jack asked, sighing as he had to raise the volume on the television
again.

The cat in his lap mewled, lifting her head to look at him, and he gently let his hand down to pet
her head. She went back to purring, curled up with her eyes closed. Jack would have liked to
complain about his jeans getting cat hair all over them, or the fact that he couldn’t move to get
his soda off the table because that would inconvenience the feline, or the fact that his strumming
hand was starting to get tired scratching this damn cat’s head.

He would have liked to, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“She’s grown on you.”

Jack jumped slightly, looking over to the doorway where Matt was smiling softly. He was about to
deny it, but seeing how his boyfriend was looking at them, he couldn’t.

“I guess.”

Matt came over, sitting down next to Jack and putting his arm around him. “You’re adorable.”
Jack leaned his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. They watched TV for a few moments, happy to
just be relaxing as a...family?

“I’m still not a cat person,” Jack said after about a minute. Matt didn’t say anything, just smiled.