the bell above the door rings signaling another customer. troye brings his head above the front desk to show where he was.
"welcome to los angeles's animal shelter. if you need any assistance, i'm over here," he announces loud enough to be heard, and then he ducks back down to finish stocking the gerbil food that was kept at the front desk. he hears a quiet 'okay' as he finishes. recognition sweeps in troye's mind and he realizes it was the boy again. the boy named connor who showed up every two days to play and pet the cats. he never said anything except for one-worded answers, even when troye tries his might to start a conversation. the brown haired boy just smiled and nodded after everything he says.
troye stands up, rubbing his hands together to get the fallen food off them and looks over at connor. "how are you doing today, connor?"
"good," connor answers under his breath. troye has long ago gotten used to connor's quiet voice.
"that's good. only a handful of people showed up today, unfortunately," troye comments trying to keep the conversation going even though he knew it was useless. connor gives his usual nod of his head as he pets at a cat named levi. troye shakes his head and scoffs.
"you are seriously the only one who doesn't get that damn cat's fury," troye huffs with a glare to the cat, who just slants his eyes back at him. connor actually chuckles at that but doesn't say anything. troye watches the boy interact with the cats as he goes over to start cleaning the hamsters' cages.
"not going to get a cat again today?" troye asks offhandedly as he takes the hamsters out of their cages and into a temporary one. he looks over at connor just in time to see a shake of his head. troye laughs.
"you play with those cats nearly every day, and you're not going to get one? you're totally a cat person who will probably end up having like, twenty cats in the future," he jokes. he sees the corner of connor's lips go up. joy rises in troye's chest. he loves making connor smile. he was obviously someone who doesn't talk much so making him smile seemed like some sort of win.
"you come here often. do you go to school?" troye asks, keeping frustration out of his tone when he spills some of the substrate on the floor. it's silent for a while and he doesn't expect a response until he hears a silent answer.
"i start college in spring."
"oh, cool! me too; what are you going to study?" troye asks, generally curious in learning more about connor. all he knew about him is that he's quiet, likes being alone, and loves cats.
it was a process.
"photography."
"oh? that's really cool. photography is something i have always wished i could do," troye responds honestly. it made sense. connor had a creative persona about him. "i sing, so i'm going to work on that."
"cool."
troye looks over to find connor sitting comfortably against the wall with three cats on his lap, petting them routinely. he looked really down like he always does, but it seemed like today he was worse, and troye wished he could do something to make the other happy. there were cats all around the brunet and even though he looked down, he still looked adorable surrounded by them. the cats must sense his sadness because they were meowing and purring.
troye scrubs at the metal cages one more time before reaching to put the hamsters back into them. he places the cages back in their places and then leans back against the counter, looking at connor. the australian furrows his eyebrows when he sees the even more doleful look on the other's face. he ran his fingers lightly through one of the cat's, daisy to be exact, fur while his mind was elsewhere. the boy was staring at floor with empty eyes, and troye was worried if he did something or say something. he traces over their conversation and doesn't think of anything he did.
