#like meowzart sticks in my head so often even tho she was meant to be a nameless cat

[canarymemories]

trio

rating: general audiences archive warning: no archive warnings apply relationship: sena izumi/tsukinaga leo additional tags: domestic fluff, cat acquisition, established relationship, fluff, i just think that izumi who canonically baby talks to cats, would take one home if there was an opportunity, vague speculation that the cat was previously abandoned, it's only implied but i wanted to mention it anyway words: 2,604 published: 2023-01-17

summary: contrary to popular belief, izumi is the one who brings a cat home. here on ao3

as much as leo loves the sound, the last thing he expects to hear when he walks into the apartment is izumi’s laughter from somewhere inside. rather than announcing himself at the door like he normally would, he simply follows the sound of izumi’s voice until it leads him to the kitchen. there, the model sits on the floor, accompanied by a small furry companion that had not been in the apartment when leo left that morning.

“i’m home,” leo says, standing in the doorway.

to his amusement, he gets two wide eyed stares at his entrance, one from izumi and the other from the small, mostly white cat izumi had been playing with. there’s a beat or two of silence until the cat quietly mews and bumps against izumi’s hand to get his attention.

“welcome back,” izumi replies, looking away to pet their little visitor.

seeing as izumi isn't going to introduce them, leo takes to sitting on the floor next to him. “so… who’s this?” he asks, holding out his hand towards the cat.

“she doesn’t have a name,” izumi says. the cat stares at leo’s hand, then moves to sniffing his fingers apprehensively. she bumps her head into his hand a few seconds later. “not yet at least.”

leo hums, running his fingers down her back while she turns to rub herself along izumi’s knee. now that he’s closer, he can see the faint orangish color on the tips of her ears and nose, even up her tail. “i thought you said we weren’t gonna have a cat ‘cause we go back to japan all the time.”

“i know,” izumi says, sighing. “but i wasn’t going to just leave her. besides, i’ve dealt with you, so what’s another stray?”

leo bumps their shoulders together, not wanting to disturb the cat who’d taken to playing by herself on the floor. leo notices then hat her toy is a piece of izumi’s fancy yarn, the exact kind he himself isn’t even allowed to touch. “hey!” he objects, though his smile takes any heat out of it.

izumi only laughs, eyes fond as he bumps leo’s shoulder in return. “what? i’m not wrong.”

rather than answering, leo scooches closer to izumi’s side, loosely linking their fingers as he places his hand atop izumi’s resting on the floor. “where’d you find her anyway?”

izumi fidgets slightly, his hand twitching under leo’s. “well… she’s been hanging around the shoot the past few days. she was a little skittish at first but look how friendly and cute she is,” he trails off. “so i took her home with me.”

leo nods, thinking that’s more than enough of a reason to bring a cat home, and then it hits him. “wait. does that mean you snuck her on the bus?”

izumi pointedly doesn’t answer, instead slowly pulling the piece of yarn around on the floor as the cat watches, clearly interested, before launching herself at it. leo starts to snicker. it turns to actual laughter as he throws his arms around izumi.

having shifted to accommodate leo’s weight on him, izumi drops the piece yarn. even so, the cat pays no mind to the two of them nor the lack of a hand pulling her toy around as she rolls onto her back, yarn between her paws. 

“could you not laugh right in my ear,” izumi mutters, though he doesn’t try to push leo off. if anything, leo is pretty sure izumi leaned into him.

“sorry, sena,” leo says, laughter shifting to softer snickers once more. “it’s just that you’re so funny sometimes.”

izumi turns his head to face leo. “what’s that supposed to mean? it’s not like i would just leave her there. and you were busy, so it’s not like i could’ve called you to pick me up.”

“i know.” he rests his chin on izumi’s shoulder. “i think it’s cute that you snuck her on the bus.”

he watches, delighted, as the tips of izumi’s ears go red. izumi turns his attention back to the cat, who is still happily batting at the yarn, her tail flicking behind her. “whatever. you’re weird.”

leo only hums in response and somewhat reluctantly pulls himself away from the other. with having teased izumi enough for being the one to bring a cat home — really, leo would’ve thought he’d be the one to do that, not izumi — leo turns his sights towards the said creature.

he reaches over and scoops the cat up easily. she squirms a little, back legs not having any support, but other than that, she stays in his hold even with how loose it is. used to the heft of little john, leo is almost surprised by how light the cat is, but then again, it makes sense with how small she is. she’s definitely out of the kitten stage, not fully grown, but still, she seems rather small. 

“would you hold her like you’re supposed to?” izumi cuts in.

“i was going to,” leo mumbles, bringing her closer to cradle her to his chest. she moves in his arms, putting her little paws against his chest to look up at him, sniffing curiously. for being a stray, she’s oddly calm at being held.

izumi must be reading his mind or something because he says, “i think she was someone’s pet at some point.” when leo looks over, izumi is looking down at the cat before his eyes flick up to him. “there’s a few other strays around there, but none of them come close to people, but she came right up to me the other day. she’s so small i don’t want her stuck out there.”

leo stares down at her. he supposes she doesn’t have to worry about where she came from when she already found herself a new home. he rubs his thumb against her back. “now she just needs a name, right?” 

there’s a strange but brief expression on izumi’s face that leo can’t exactly name, though it quickly shifts into something closer to… relief? had izumi been worried that he’d say no?

“mmhm. we aren’t naming her after little john before you even say anything.”

a laugh bubbles out of leo. “of course not. there’s only one little john and she’s back in japan.” the cat wiggles in his arms, having grown bored. she reaches up to pull at one of his hoodie strings, gnawing on the ends of it once its close enough to herself. “what to name you,” he muses.

“while you’re thinking about that, i’m going to the pet store to get some things for her.”

“you didn’t stop on the way home?”

“no,” he says, then adds a bit sheepishly, “i didn’t know how she would do on the bus, so i didn’t want to stay out with her for too long.”

leo giggles, trying to suppress his smile when izumi narrows his eyes at him. “i’ll keep an eye on her, i promise.”

in the midst of trying to think of a name, leo hardly notices when izumi gently nudges his head up, fingers curled under his chin. he does notice, however, when izumi bridges the short distance between them to kiss him quick and sweet. izumi’s lips are soft against leo's somewhat chapped ones, but there's no surprise there; it's the way most of their kisses go. though this time, it feels a bit like a thank you, a kiss of gratitude and other things left unsaid. 

blinking his eyes open once izumi pulls back — leos’s not even sure when he’d closed his eyes in the first place — the only think leo sees is the warm look izumi is giving him. it makes him feel tingly in a good way; it makes his fingers twitch for a pen and some paper.

“i’ll be back,” izumi says, hand moving to once again find the cat’s head.

“okay,” leo replies, still catching up on the fact that izumi had kissed him on the middle of their kitchen floor. luckily, it doesn’t take long for it to click. not wanting to move seeing as the cat has made herself comfortable in his hold, leo tilts his head towards izumi, hoping he gets the message.

with a quiet sigh that seems more embarrassed than irritated, izumi leans back in and kisses him again, just as soft and careful as the first time. when izumi goes to shift away this time, leo follows to press a quick peck against his lips, a proud little smile on his face as he shifts back.

“love you,” leo says, amused by the light pink high on izumi’s cheeks. he knows he probably looks the same if the faint heat at the back of his neck means anything.

izumi glances away, first down to the floor at the forgotten piece of yarn, then to the cat quietly purring in leo’s arms before finally looking back up at him. “love you too.”

leo’s smile only grows as does the urge to compose. “don’t take too long or she’ll end up with a weird name.” it's far more of a promise than a threat.

with a huff and fond eye roll, izumi gets up off the floor and makes sure to dust off his clothes. leo knows from experience how clean their floors are, so there’s definitely nothing on him aside from some cat hair, but he doesn’t say that. “believe me, i know how you name things, so she’s bound to get a weird name,” izumi says, loosely ruffling leo’s hair on the way out of the kitchen.

listening to the distant noise of izumi putting his shoes and jacket on, leo lays back on the floor. with the movement, the cat shifts out of his arms. she briefly stretches, sharp little nails digging into his hoodie, before curling up on him, apparently content. 

now all he has to do is think of a name. which shouldn’t be that hard, right?

leo stares up at the ceiling long after the door closes when izumi leaves as he waits for inspiration to strike. thankfully it doesn’t evade him for much longer as the perfect name comes to mind.

“ah! i got it!”

--------------

"leo-kun. we are not calling her that," izumi sighs out, stepping around leo still laying on the floor and setting the bags he'd brought in on the counter. 

"why not?" leo whines. “i think meowzart’s a wonderful name.”

izumi simply blankly stares down at him before shaking his head. “i thought you hate mozart,” he points out while going through what he’d bought.

“oh, i do,” leo replies easily. he sits up, meowzart having ditched him to circle izumi’s ankles as soon as he’d walked back into the kitchen. “but i don’t hate meowzart and she likes the name too, sena.”

“is that so?” izumi muses, tone disbelieving as he looks over the canned food in his hand.

taking that as a challenge, leo stands and picks meowzart up. holding her in front of his face, he says, “tell him, meowzart.” it takes a few seconds, but she does meow and then squirms, so he sets her back on the floor. “see, i told you she likes it.”

he can see the corners of izumi’s mouth twitch as he attempts to force down a smile. leo internally cheers, knowing he’s won.

“i guess she does,” izumi belatedly agrees despite sounding like he still has some reservations about the name. “i won’t tell her it’s a dumb name if she likes it so much.”

leo gasps and grabs onto izumi’s shoulders, lightly shaking him. “it’s not a dumb name, sena. take it back.”

“leo-kun, stop shaking me,” izumi says, though he’s smiling and his voice is teetering on a laugh. “and fine, it’s not a dumb name. i guess it’s kind of cute.”

leo nods, his own smile starting to grow. “good ‘cause that’s the only one that she liked.” he steps closer and looks into the bags. “what’d you get her? it looks like a lot.”

“well, i got her some wet food since i don’t know when she ate last,” he starts, gesturing towards the small stack of cans on the counter. “i got her some toys too. oh, by the way, i scheduled her with the vet tomorrow. you’ll come with me, right?”

looking over the sheer amount of little toys stowed away in the bottom of one of the bags, leo says, “yeah, i’ll come so you don’t have to sneak her on the bus again.”

izumi clicks his tongue and bumps his hip against leo’s. “so annoying.” reaching into the toy bag, he pulls out two small bowls. “put some water in this. not too much, though,” he says, handing it to leo.

careful to not step on meowzart, leo takes care to avoid her on the way to the sink. as soon as the water starts running, though, she gains interest and trots over to him. she puts her paws up on the cabinet door, standing on her hind legs as she meows and reaches towards the noise.

rather than walk the bowl away from the sink since leo thinks he might actually trip over the cat, he sets it on the floor next to her. meowzart sits in front of the bowl and sniffs at the water, faintly purring as she starts to drink. leo pets her once before standing.

izumi, having gotten meowzart’s food ready in the meantime, sets the second bowl next to her. it doesn’t take her long to realize that it’s food as she eagerly switches to that bowl. izumi stays crouched next to her, gentle fingers petting down her spine as he watches her. “it looks like you really were hungry, huh?” izumi says, voice lilting up as he speaks to her. “sorry i didn’t have anything to give you earlier.”

leo leans back against the counter where izumi had been standing, content to watch the two of them on the floor. as izumi continues to talk to her, leo looks over what’s left for meowzart only to see a litter box and a little collar. “you didn’t get her a bed?”

“no, why would i? she’s sleeping with us,” izumi says, glancing over his shoulder. “and all the ones there were too big to try and carry with everything else anyway.”

leo’s not surprised by his insistence that meowzart will be sleeping with them. in all honesty, that had been what he was expecting. “even if she has fleas?”

izumi turns towards him, clearly offended. “she doesn’t have fleas.” he pauses, looking down at her. “at least i don’t think she does.”

“i guess we’ll find out tomorrow,” leo says with a shrug. he doesn’t really want to leave meowzart on her own to sleep in the apartment. what if she gets lonely during the night? they’ll just have to figure something out he guesses. he pulls a litter box out, setting the small bag of litter next to it.

“i can do that,” izumi says, standing. “i wanted to make sure she would eat first. i’ve been giving her whatever i have on me the past few days.”

knowing he’s teased izumi enough about the cat for today, leo keeps quiet on the thought of how sweet it is that he was feeding this little alley cat. “it seems like she’s settling in well,” he says instead.

izumi’s smile is soft as he gazes down at meowzart and then back over to leo. “i’m glad.”

the smile seems to be contagious as leo finds himself smiling too. “so am i.”

end notes: can you tell this was originally for izuleo week (and then vastly expanded on once I was enabled lmao) i have so many thoughts with meowzart in them so like. expect to see more of her eventually lol also she's a cream point cat btw