We Fell In Love In October - Wintumn Flufftober

Kidfic/Petfic

This was truly going to be the most important night of Winter's life. He couldn't remember a time he had ever been this nervous for a date. It wasn't Autumn who was making him nervous, their relationship was going well. Very well. Perfectly even. Which is why this was so important. He was meeting the other man in her life. It had to go well.

Saying this was their first meeting would have been wrong; Winter had seen him plenty of times before. With the amount of time he'd spent with Autumn these last two months, it was impossible to avoid him. But he'd always kept to himself, and Winter wasn't going to force him to say hello. Winter was always focused on Autumn and he wasn't one to make someone talk to him if they didn't want to. So he hadn't forced anything. Tonight, though, he was going to make an effort. He felt like he had to. He planned to be in Autumn's life for a while, forever if she let him, which also meant that Winter would also be around him. It would make life so much easier if they got along.

Before Winter came along he was her protector; he was the one she would rush home to see. They would share dinner every night and he'd keep her company as she read. He was the one she'd spend her nights with, cuddling close whenever she needed comfort. All the things that Winter was now doing for Autumn, he did first. But there was no way the man would ever take his place. He was her first and truest love; the only other object of her affection. Her cat, Cadaver.

Autumn adopted Cadaver years ago, long before Winter was in the picture and she loved her cat more than she'd ever loved anyone or anything else. It had always been her dream to have a pet but Roger never allowed it. The second she felt settled and able to give the cat the life it deserved, she went to the shelter and immediately fell in love with Cadaver. Their bond was immediate: the shelter's most overlooked cat and the Knight family's most overlooked child. They were the perfect match.

Their personalities were so similar. Cadaver was just as quiet and mysterious as Autumn was. He was always observing from a distance, ready to come to her rescue if someone even appeared to be mistreating her. The first few times Winter came over he was met with a hiss if he even looked in Caddie's direction. The cat would sit right between him and Autumn and stretch his body out taking up all the space next to her, keeping this apparent stranger away. Winter was not supposed to be there, he wasn't to be trusted, so Cadaver had to step in to keep his owner safe.. But recently, that had stopped. The cat didn't insert himself between the couple anymore but instead would stand watch as he saw Autumn smiling more than he ever had before. The closer Autumn and Winter became, the more steps he was able to take toward Cadaver until finally he was allowed to sit on the same couch as him. Not too close, but closer than he had ever been before.

After that night Winter made it his mission to win Cadaver over. He'd won over Autumn, nothing could be harder than that.

"My love?" Winter poked his head into the office after his first break of the day.

"Yes, my sweet?"

Winter was the only person who immediately got Autumn's full attention when he came into the office. No matter how busy she was, everything got put aside to talk to her love. Winter looked around one more time to make sure no one could hear them.

"What would you say to me coming to yours tonight? We could watch a movie? Get a takeaway?"

"Sounds perfect, my love."

Now that the date was secured there was only one more obstacle in Winter's way. He knew absolutely nothing about cats. Winter didn't grow up with pets in his house. His grandmother had a very old dog who hated literally everybody but that was the only animal who he was around on a regular basis. Thankfully a shop assistant took pity when he found Winter aimlessly wandering the aisles of the pet store. He had looked through all the toys and accessories, but everything was Christmas themed. It didn't fit the vibe of the sleek black cat he was shopping for, or the vibe of its owner.