mindcracklove | Fic - Single Malt Scotch (On the Rocks) AU

:3

Kurt dragged his suitcase over the threshold of Zisteau's apartment, admiring the small, but cozy place. All the curtains were drawn back, giving the room he was currently in - the living room - a very cheerful and airy look. Zisteau grinned at the look on Kurt's face.

"Like it?" he said, taking one of Kurts bags from him. "I plan to move into a bigger house soon, I just have to save up some more money." He looked around, before beckoning with his free hand. "Come on, let me show you to your room."

Kurt nodded, hefting up his bag again. Before he could take another step, a ginger blur flew at him, hissing and spitting. Yelping in surprise, Kurt dropped his bag, stumbling back a few paces. Something pricked him in the leg, and he was suddenly thankful that he had somehow decided to wear jeans on a hot summers day.

Turning around at the commotion, Zisteau dove at the ground, grabbing the ginger blur, who yowled indignantly. "Bad Vechs!" Zisteau scolded, dragging Vechs away from Kurt. Kurt peeked out from behind his arms. Zisteau smiled sheepishly, holding back the struggling cat ginger and cream colored cat.

"You have a cat?" Kurt said, confused. "You never mentioned that before." Zisteau chuckled - Kurt's confused face was simply too adorable to resist doing so. He kept a good grip on Vechs, who, in the end, gave up struggling and simply glared at Kurt with his piercing green eyes.

"I found Vechs at a shelter a few days ago," he explained. "So I didn't have time to warn you, sorry. He's not usually like this," he continued, frowning. "Vechs is reasonably friendly..."

Kurt patted himself down reassuringly, before looking warily at Vechs. "He probably smells Wolfie on me," he said. "He probably just reacted like that because he doesn't know Wolfie." He watched as Zisteau walked to the back door, throwing Vechs out of the house with a: "Stay out there for an hour and think about what you've done!"

Zisteau turned back to Kurt. "Ah, don't worry about Vechs, he's an outdoor and indoor cat. He'll probably start mewing at the door in an hour or two. And now that Vechs is out of the way..." Zisteau sighed, then grinned. "Let me show you around the house a bit, okay?"

~*~

It was now late evening, and Kurt was keeping a fair distance from Vechs. Dinner had long been eaten, and Zisteau was currently taking a shower. Kurt had been pleasantly surprised with his room - Zisteau had plastered the walls with all kinds of astronomy related posters and newspaper clippings, and Kurt had spent a good hour looking at and reading them all.

Vechs padded into the living room, hissed at Kurt, and then retreated to his 'treehouse' tucked into the corner of the room. It was quite obvious Vechs didn't like Kurt there. Kurt was now rethinking his decision of trying to bring Wolfie into the apartment. Wolfie was a big Siberian Husky, and along with taking up lots of room, Vechs and Wolfie might not get along so well together. Kurt groaned, before hauling himself off the couch and walking down the hall to his bedroom.

Maybe tomorrow he would try to get Vechs to be more friendly with him.

~*~

It was late evening on the next day. Kurt was about to scream in frustration - Vechs was an extremely stubborn cat. He had tried everything he could think of - cat toys, catnip, the random cat treats Zisteau had lying around. He had even gone out to the store and bought salmon! Nothing would make Vechs change his mind about Kurt. Kurt had even showered three times today!

He slumped back onto the couch with a groan. He was really rethinking trying to bring Wolfie to Zisteau's apartment. Perhaps he would wait until they bought a house, with a proper yard for Wolfie to run around in. Running a hand through his hair, he got up to check his email, to see if Zisteau had sent him anything, when a loud thunderclap sounded out somewhere in the distance.

Kurt stopped to look over his shoulder, then shrugged. He wasn't bothered with violent weather - he experienced enough back home. This would probably be a short rainstorm anyways, he thought, as the first drops started to patter down. His thoughts flashed to Vechs, who was outside, but Kurt pushed away the thought. He was sure that soon, he would hear Vechs clawing and yowling outside the door.

Nearly half an hour later, Kurt walked back into the living room, having tidied his minimal belongings and swept his room, just for something to do. He was about to get a drink, when he remembered Vechs. He hadn't heard from the tabby cat for quite a while now. The rain was pouring down hard now, the din muted in the apartment. The windows shuttered slightly as the wind howled outside, and Kurt wondered if Vechs was still in the yard.

Grabbing his raincoat from the coat rack, Kurt opened the back door, then slammed it close quickly as a wave of water made its way into the household and onto the floor. Kurt sighed, and opened the door again gingerly, slipping outside.

"Vechs?" Kurt called over the rain, his hood blowing back. He wiped irritably at his glasses, which were already covered with water. Just minutes outside, and his hair was already soaked, and water dripped down his face and hands. "Vechs!"

He searched the small yard throughly, but eventually, Kurt was forced to admit that Vechs just wasn't there. As he toweled his hair in the kitchen, his mind raced. What was he going to tell Zisteau?

"Oh, sorry Zisteau, I lost Vechs while you were gone. Well, he wasn't very friendly in the first place."

... No. Kurt dropped the towel, stained a ruddy red. Somehow, a pot in the backyard had been picked up and thrown by the wind - it was a very light plastic pot - and the reddish clay that had been in the pot blew into his face and hair. He had managed to wipe away most of the clay from his face, but he was sure some more still caked his hair.

Determined now, Kurt searched the drawers for a flashlight, pulling open cabinet doors, sifting things around, until he found a high powered and hefty flashlight. That would do. Kurt looked back on the mess in the kitchen guiltily, before running for a dry towel. He tucked it close to his chest, under the raincoat.

Zisteau would be home tomorrow. He had to find Vechs before then. Kurt, armed with a flashlight and a towel, braved the weather yet again.

He had to find Vechs, no matter what.

~*~

Nearly two hours later, Kurt was soaked to the bone, shivering, and barely able to see thanks to the still pouring rain. The towel was nearly as wet as he was, unfortunately. At least his hair was reasonably clean... But he would probably catch a cold anyways.

He was about to call it quits, when a flash of color caught his eye. Kurt's head snapped around, hand quickly wiping at his glasses. And there he was, the devil cat himself! Vechs was huddling at the curb, fur soaked and scraggly. The poor cat looked absolutely pitiful.

"Vechs!" Kurt called. He clapped a hand over his mouth - idiot, idiot, idiot! At best, he'd probably scare the cat away! But much to his surprise, Vechs looked up and started to creep across the flooded street.

Kurt was about to step into the waterlogged street when the bright light of a car cut through the rain, and the roar of tires ate up the road.

Crap. Crap. Double crap.

Casting a last anxious glance at the rapidly gaining car, Kurt threw caution to the wind and dashed across the street, sneakers slipping for lack of traction, as he bent down to haphazardly scoop up Vechs. Kurt had only a moment to reflect on how compliant Vechs was in not scratching him to pieces before the car was upon them.

~*~

"Kurt?" Zisteau closed the front door, locking it behind him. He set his suitcase down, looking down the hallway. The house was cool - colder than he normally would have set the temperature, and most of the lights in the house seemed off. It was early morning, but too late for Kurt to be asleep. The man was an early riser after all.

"Kurt?" Zisteau called again, walking down the hallway to the kitchen. "Vechs?" He flicked on the light. His cat was nowhere to be seen in the kitchen - sometimes, Vechs could be found curled up in the sink, of all places. But not today, it seemed.

Zisteau frowned at the mess in the kitchen. Although all the cabinet doors were closed and the drawers shut, random things were scattered on the counter tops. Most notably, a towel lay on the table, and Zisteau walked over to pick it up.

He dropped it quickly as he realized it was bloodstained. Either Kurt had managed to cut off one of his hands or failed extremely miserably at cutting vegetables, or he had been attacked. Whether it was a burglar or Vechs, was debatable.

Thoroughly concerned, Zisteau hastened his effort to find his boyfriend. "Kurt!" He called again, this time louder. Still, no response. Zisteau hurried down another hallways, that connected to their personal rooms, the bathroom, and his study room. "Kurt, hey, where are you?"

He threw open his bedroom door first - nobody. No Kurt lying asleep on the bed, or Vechs snoozing on his pillow. That could be for good or worse.

Methodically, Zisteau searched all the other rooms before finally approaching Kurt's room. Without further ado, he pushed open the door.

His shoulders physically sagged in relief, and he couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh. The room was bright enough for Zisteau to see without too much trouble, but dim enough to let the sleeping Kurt lie.

Kurt was curled up in his bedsheets, wet towels strewn about the floor, and several other towels stacked up on his desk. Next to his head, Vechs was lying alert, purring softly as Kurt snored quietly. Vechs lifted his head up to eye Zisteau, but soon decided to put his head back down and sleep. Zisteau chuckled again before backing out of Kurt's bedroom, taking the wet towels with him.

He had to find a camera before they woke up again.