FicWad

"I'm so bored," thought Van. His boyfriend, Nick, had left to go to his work about two hours ago, leaving Van alone in the house. Van hated the fact that because Nick was a nurse the couple had conflicting schedules. Van was an interior designer who usually worked from the early morning to mid-afternoon, while Nick worked from the late afternoons to late. It broke his heart they couldn't get together often. They couldn't even have an anniversary dinner due to their predicament.

Now, Van sat on the hardwood floor in the living room next to a set of jacks Nick had gotten him as a gag when he mentioned he'd hated the game as a child; he never could quite get the game right. He dropped the rainbow swirled bouncy ball, caught several jacks glow with the orange of the evening sunset outside, wishing he wasn't so alone today. Suddenly, as if summoned, Van's rhythm was abruptly thrown off by a black and white demon tearing across the room to attack the bouncy-ball in mid-bounce.

Van jerked away from the jack set as the four-month-old kitten swatted the ball to the other side of the room and proceeded to chew at it, her back feet kicking at the new-found prey.

Muenster was a birthday present from Nick this year. Van had been grateful for the new companion, since he was feeling lonely without Nick there in the evenings. The kitten had been so cute when it had looked up at him with enormous blue eyes. But Van was up early every morning, and never had enough time in the day to take care of the cat, while Nick did, and the black and white kitten grew more and more attached to Nick.

Three months later and now Muenster (named her mother, Cheese) was a holy terror. Van never had a chance to see her sweet, cuddly side that only existed during mornings. Instead, Van was gifted with a demonic four-month-old cat grown into a lanky thing with too-big ears.

Van frowned as Muenster rolled and tumbled her way closer to him, ball within her paws. She had interrupted his game! Muenster jumped away from her rubbery catch and prepared to pounce, when Van attempted to snatch the ball from her, but only succeeded in knocking it away.

"Shit," Van muttered, scrambling for the lost item as it bounced thrice and rolled under the couch. Van lay flat down, followed by Muenster, who was struggling to fit under the couch to seek her prey, as Van scanned the world beneath for his toy. The room was darkening with the descent of the sun. Sighing, Van pushed himself to his feet and hurried to the light. He switched it on just as Muenster's body disappeared under the couch, making Van rush over in hopes of recovering the ball before the kitten. He lay down flat again and swept the area with his eyes, however all he found was the glowing eyes of Muenster and an old sock.

"How did that get there?" Van wondered, pulling the sock from under the couch. From the style, he could guess that the sock was Nick's. It was most likely ended up there on one of those many passionate nights in the living room. Van tossed the dusty thing behind him, squirming closer to the couch to get a better look.

Muenster was already crawling to a corner, where if Van squinted enough, he could just make out a spherical object. He growled, reaching his arm as far under as he could to grab the ball, but he couldn't stretch far enough. Van could see Muenster already taking the ball into her mouth and slinking free from the couch.

"Goddamn it!" Van cursed, wiggling away from the couch to chase the black and white kitty. "Mother fucking cat!" He stumbled to his feet and ran after the mini-demon. He followed Muenster down the hall, where she stopped near the bathroom door. Van dove for her with a drawn-out battle cry. He fought against tooth and claw, struggling to retrieve the rainbow ball from his tormentor.

At last, he escaped, prize in hand. "Ah hah!" Van exclaimed in victory. The kitten was already streaking down the hall and into the kitchen, hunting some other viable prey. Satisfied, Van returned to his set of jacks with a plop.

He continued his repetitive motion: drop, catch, replace, repeat. Van did this over a dozen times before Muenster appeared in the room once more. She slunk forward slowly, eyes trained on Van's bouncy ball. Frowning, he tossed the ball at the wall and watched as the black and white cat sprung up to catch it, only to miss and chase after it to Van's hand. Van tossed it again and smiled softly at the silly sight.

For the next several hours, Van observed Muenster as she followed the progress of the bouncy ball from wall to hand and back again. When Nick arrived home from his tiring job, he was met with this sight. Van looked up from his game, a smile lighting his face.

"Nick!" He cheered, running to wrap his arms around his boyfriend, happy they were together again.