Stray Cat

Chapter Thirteen

Dan knew it wasn't reasonable to miss Phil this much – he missed him as much as a missing limb – but he contented himself with Phil's YouTube videos. Dan felt needy, and it was driving him crazy. Dan honestly didn't know if this feeling was genuinely his or if it was being caused by his heat. He didn't know what was real anymore.

His eyes were tired despite sleeping in (he was in the living room now), and when he couldn't keep them open any longer he just listened to Phil's videos and smiled, tempted to laugh. Some of Phil's videos were completely hilarious, but that wasn't really what made him want to laugh now; Phil affected a personality in his earliest videos where he spoke very quickly, probably due to nervousness, and combined with his Northern accent it made the video entertaining despite anything mundane he was discussing in it.

Dan's eyes opened when he heard a knock at the door. He shut the laptop and slid it and the blanket off his lap. He was relieved to see that his heat was giving him a reprieve for once, so he didn't need to conceal his lower half. He got up on shaky legs and walked down the hall to the door, eager to see Phil. He passed the kitchen as he went and glanced in the door. Martyn was on the phone and he was rising to his feet. When he saw Dan was getting the door, he gave him a grateful smile and settled back into the chair, continuing his phone conversation.

Dan reached the door as the person on the other side knocked again and he undid the chain. Dan opened the door with a smile, expecting to be in Phil's arms in another moment, but it wasn't Phil. His smile faltered. "Can I help you?"

It was a dark-haired woman. She was staring at his ears.

He felt them twitch and he reached up to touch them self-consciously to stop the twitching that he didn't have much control over. He also felt that his curly hair was sweaty, and he knew that he must look like a mess; he was a mess.

"Uh." The woman finally stopped staring at his ears, but this seemed to be due to the fact that she noticed the tail flicking by his legs. Finally, she started talking very fast. "Is Phil here? I saw him a few hours ago and I thought he might be off work by now."

"No, I'm expecting him to come home any minute now. Did you want to wait inside?" He had no idea who she was, but this was Phil's home and he didn't want to be rude to Phil's friend.

She shook her head and looked down at a box he hadn't noticed in her arms. "This is his. I was just bringing it by."

They both stare at the box until she extended her arms, shoving the box against his chest until he grabbed it and took it from her. "Okay, then. I'll just give this to Phil from you. Would you like me to tell him who it's from?"

"He knows who I am," the woman said, and he couldn't mistake her agitation; she completely hated him. The woman flicked her dark hair over her shoulder. "I have to go now."

"Great, bye." Dan nudged the door shut with his foot, catching one last glimpse of the woman as her polite smile dropped to leave a more genuine emotion on her face: loathing. He didn't take it too personally. People had hated him his whole life for nothing more than the fact that he was a Neko. Actually, no one had been nice to him at all except for Phil and his brother. He wouldn't have even noticed the woman's behavior if he hadn't gotten used to being treated nicely by the Lesters. So, Dan shrugged it off and carried the box to the kitchen.

Martyn had just hung up his phone, which he was putting in his pocket. His laptop was closed so Dan knew he was off work as he put the box on the kitchen table. "What's that?" he asked.

"Dunno. Some woman said it belonged to Phil," Dan answered. He was wondering the same thing as Martyn, but he didn't want to snoop through the box, especially not with Phil's brother watching.