The unusual late night partner

The rational half of my mind wanted to sleep, but the other dopamine addicted half wanted me to stay awake. We all know who is going to win that fight. I looked at my wife and she was sleeping soundly, curled up in the folds of a fuzzy quilt shaped like a canyon with cushions standing in for the water eroded rocks.

I pulled myself out of the canyon and looked around for the cigarette pack. I found it in my jacket pocket playing lovey-dovey with the lighter, saying there were anyways meant to be together and that both are incomplete without the other. I gave some thought to what it was saying and agreed with it. But then after realising it was my half ass sleepy mind and not me who was dream talking with a cigarette pack I stood up and started walking towards the backyard.

I heard a sound behind me and I just knew it would be Leo. His black shiny coat was glimmering under the soft yellow light and those big round green eyes were saying to me, I’ll give you company my friend.

I smiled at him and put on the backyard slippers. I unlatched the door, opened it a little and watched him making his way through my legs and slide into the darkness outside. He does look majestic, I thought. Then I pulled down my fleece’s sleeves a little more and bitched about the cold as I followed him out into the backyard. I tugged on my beanie to cover my ears as I let out a smoky breath – remembering the time when we used to exhale and pretend smoke on air – and looked towards the stars.

Leo was busy with his own stuff and the whole time I was out their in the backyard smoking the real smoke, we didn’t interact at all, but nevertheless we were happy in each other’s company. When I concluded the cigarette and called him out to go inside he still ignored me. I opened the kitchen door and stood there for a while, waiting for him. He didn’t make me wait for long and came back, as I again followed him inside.

Once inside and I latched the door and looked at him, and he was already going back towards the living room. That bastard. I was half expecting him to look at me and acknowledge the time that we spent together, because that’s the polite thing to do. But that’s what us humans do, we constantly seek validation. But Leo doesn’t give a shit about that, he doesn’t need validation.

He’s just living his cat life, licking clean one majestic paw after the other.