Chapter Text
Ben grips his messenger bag as he strides across the quad, simultaneously pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
The familiar crunch of leaves sounds beneath his shoes and a cold chill creeps its way through the breeze. Autumn was quickly approaching.
This semester was already almost halfway over, new and increased classwork had kept him exceptionally busy and blissfully unaware of the going’s on around campus.
He was here to graduate after all.
Ben was close to an archeological degree; he could practically see the antiquities that always collected dust in his father's menagerie as he walked across the quad. Benches became glass cases full of priceless artifacts. Trees shaping themselves into towering statues as Ben remembered wandering his fathers study as a child. ‘His personal collection’ as Han liked to call it.
He was very well on his way to receive his doctorate, already sorting out his thesis. Ben had just begun his abstract on ancient Egypt just before leaving the campus library. Risking being late just to enjoy the isolation the stacks up on the fifth floor provided. The elevator had been out of service so the trip up the stairs and back left his sweater and button down clinging to his chest as he picked up the pace across campus. The Autumn chill did wonders, cooling the light sheen of perspiration that had collected along his hairline. Ben was embarrassingly out of shape, trading late nights to the gym with study sessions.
Just short of the history building Ben pauses as students point, all enraptured by a light sandy brown British Shorthair that prances across the quad.
Unimpressed Ben shoulders his bag and shoves through the doors, late enough as it is.
Packing his bag after class, Ben hears Poe and Finn gossiping as they pass by his seat. The words cat and quad make him pause to listen.
“This is the third time I’ve seen it this week, you can tell it’s the same cat by the key around its neck.” Finn laminates in a conspiratorial tone.
“Same here, is it a tabby? My sisters are obsessed with cats.”
“British Shorthair,” Ben pushes his glasses back into place, “actually.”
Finn and Poe freeze, turning around. They had both sat behind him since the semester started and they always goofed during lecture. Their thesis obviously wouldn’t revolve around antiquitous history.
“If Solo is able to notice with his head so far up his -“ Finn gives Poe a shove, cutting him off. “I mean this is your speciality right?”
Ben's forehead creases.
“Egyptians worshipped cats.” Poe feeling the need to elaborate.
Ben’s eyebrows furrow, perplexed that they noticed him at all, he usually kept to himself.
Finn's face is open and inviting, “My girlfriend Rose works part time at the library, she always lets you in to see the older books.”
Ben nods, makes some sort of sense he guesses, shamefully admitting to himself that he’s never paid attention to who unlocks that section for him.
“It’s come up a few times I suppose, dating back to…” He trails off, figuring they don’t want a history lesson.
In a weird turn of events Ben finds himself agreeing to coffee at the campus coffeehouse with Poe and Finn. He settles into a chair, awkwardly folding his legs, his knees coming into contact with the underside of the table. Usually running on a couple hours of sleep Ben never turned down caffeine.
“One of Rose's coworkers told her the shorthair likes to nap on the fourth floor.” Finn looked to Ben for approval on the appropriate use of the cat's name. Ben congratulates him by loudly slurping his caf.
“A couple of the guys over at Phi Beta Mu have tried to catch her but the cat is too quick.”
“Her?”
Poe and Finn raise their eyebrows, out of all the things to get Ben interested.
His cheeks flush, “If no one can get close enough, how do you know it’s a ‘her?” Ben mumbles into his steaming mug.
“Beats me,” Poe shrugs, “All I’ve heard is that there is a bet going around to see who can catch it first.” Amused snorts burst from the pairs mouths at Ben’s empathetic hum. Not liking the idea of harassing the poor thing.
With an empty mug and burnt tongue Ben sets his finished coffee and stands, throwing some bills on the table.
“I appreciate the coffee.”
Poe and Finn stare as Ben quickly retreats.
A week later as Ben hurries to the history building he sees the shorthair again. And today people are chasing it. And they’re headed his way.
As the cat nears, he gets a close look to notice there is in fact, a key dangling on a collar around its neck, creating an adorable tinkling sound as it speeds his way.
Ben’s eyes dart to the cat quickly approaching and then to the few assholes responsible for harassing it. The feline is already passing him, close enough to see the sandy fur that appears to be delightfully soft, doe eyes wide as it dodges obstacles in a serpentine fashion. It lets out a loud mewl and Ben pictures the shorthair toying with its prey.
A mischievous thought slithers into Ben’s mind that surprises him, he could count on one hand how many times that has happened.
The cat already long passed, the frat boys are gaining and Ben side steps, impersonating a regulation worth body check his Highschool Lacrosse coach would be proud of.
Ben, bending over at the waist as if to tie a loose shoelace, steps forward into the group running past. This action successfully drives his shoulder into the chest of the closest pursuer causing him to stumble into another closest to him.
“I -I’m sorry” Ben stutters as they eat dirt, his moment of rebellion quickly over.
Ben takes the steps two at a time, leaving disgruntled curses and a very pleased feline behind.
“Is that any way to talk to the Dean of Education?”
“A career in academia is not my field of study.”
“Oh hush, your father -“
“Who is probably knee deep in South America as we speak...” Ben continues good-naturally, He and Han had always kept a running list on who could exasperate his mother more.
Leia made it a habit of calling him once a week to check up on him, never failing to remind Ben that his room was always available if he preferred to stay home for the weekend instead of his apartment.
He always turned it down of course, wanting to avoid the forty-five minute rural drive it would take him just to get into the city, let alone the school campus, everyday.
“I’m in the library now in fact, I've finally made leeway on my thesis.”
Meaning he finally decided what he wanted to research for his thesis.
His last statement came out sounding a little distracted, Ben holding the phone to his ear, pivoting between each stack as he perused what the fourth floor had to offer.
“I’ll have to turn down dinner…”
Ben trails off in an exhale as he peeks around the corner of some musty smelling books. Down the aisle, draped quite languidly, is the sandy shorthair eyes closed and dozing off across a dusty table. Small breaths unsettling some of the particles before they drift softly back down before disturbed once more.
The fourth floor rarely saw visitors.
After the mayhem this kitty liked to stir up along the quad, Ben guessed it became quite the recluse after hours.
“Ben...are you there?” Leia's sudden interruption startled him and he drops his phone, the object clattering to the musty floor, the sound a lot louder in dead silence.
Ben watches, frozen in place as the cat lazily lifts an eyelid, irises shockingly green against the muted neutral color of its fur.
It stands, mouth opening wide, revealing feline teeth and a tiny pink tongue, back arching and claws flashing as it stretches.
Ben feels he can breath again as it slinks off between the bookcases and disappears from sight. Bending down, he retrieves his phone, the corners slightly scuffed.
“I’ll talk to you later.”
The words have begun to blur and Ben groans as his chin slips from his hand. He hadn’t realized he’d begun to doze off. Wiping the drool that had collected amongst his lip, Ben checks the time.
Midnight.
The fourth floor is utterly silent, Ben can’t recall anyone coming or going as he had found the texts he needed after his little encounter. Ben remembers Finn mentioning something about the cat and the fourth floor.
Like the thought summons it Ben catches a bit of motion in his perphiary and swivels to his left.
Playing with its food indeed.
Ben watches it and he can suddenly understand the need to catch the British Shorthair.
The feline in question has tiptoed its way to his nearest bookcase,letting out a soft pur as it arches and rubs her side against the old books before settling on the lowest shelf and proceeding to clean itself.
Ben feels especially affronted, and oddly challenged as the cats emerald eyes slip open and look directly at him before slipping closed once more.
He leans back in his chair, legs splayed wide and Ben turns his head to and fro, almost as if he would have an audience to say can you believe this cat?
The sensation was...odd.
What was the cause of this - impetus?
Ben sits still instead, the brown swivel chair creaking under his body as he settles his weight into the back.
The cat was a ‘her.’
There was no denying the delicate, small set of paws, the whole size of her really. She was way too small to be male. A certain feline grace, lent to the way it moved. If a ridiculous thought like that made sense, Ben shook his head and huffed out loud.
This sound causes her flat ears to perk up and she slinks back behind the books, away from sight.
Ben shakes his head to clear it and unbutton the cuff of his sleeves and rolls his shirt up his forearms, feeling very warm and clammy. With this part of the building so old and rarely visited it wasn’t a mystery to tell proper airflow wasn’t the campus maintenance first priority. Ben just about finishes rolling his second sleeve when he pauses, fingers just below his elbow, catching sight of a fuzzy head peeking out from behind a particularly large tome.
History of the Peloponnesian War
A curious little thing.
Was it watching him?
Ben makes one more fold, before turning back to his text.
It’s been fifteen minutes and he has not absorbed one scrap of information from the page in front of him. Each minute ticks by and he watches from the corner of his eye, his new audience drifts ever closer to his table. When he looks up, he can see the cat freeze in place and close her eyes, pretending to groom herself.
Pretending.
Maybe Ben did spend too much time in the stacks. He was beginning to lose his mind and create made up scenarios with the only other living thing on this floor.
With that thought in mind Ben groans and stretches turning in his chair. Tendons strain and bones pop, the sensation making him squeeze his eyes tight as Ben discovers a crick in his neck from looking down so long.
When his eyes open again, she is gone.
An invisible force encourages Ben to visit the fourth floor everyday, even on the specific ones where his sought after text may be on the third floor or the fifth or even the days he brings his laptop to write or research online.
Everyday she is there, drifting a centimeter closer to the table he chooses for that day.
On day seven, she lays on the floor, delicately curving around the table leg furthest from Ben.
On day nine she has made her way to the top of his workspace.
That day Ben doesn’t get much work done, distracted by the cat softly lying on her side, dozing off by his bookbag, whiskers twitching as she breathes.
It’s a cat for god sakes. He thinks to himself. Ben watches anyway.
On day nine Ben is about to leave and he can’t help the compulsion, his hand drifting past his bag, fingers already itching at the thought of resting his hand against the cat's smooth, silky coat. Ben’s hand looks huge compared to her little body, fingers almost the size of her leg, his arm stretching further.
Her eyes fly open and she hisses at him, bounding off the table and out of sight.
Ben sighs, collects his things, and goes home alone.
“Hey Ben! Have you caught Bastet yet?”
Ben pauses mid step upon leaving the lecture hall.
“What?”
“Come on Ben, the Egyptian Goddess of Cats? Tell me you knew that.”
Poe scoffs, “I saw you google that before the lecture started.”
Finn rolls his eyes, “Hux was so close at catching her the other day. I have to say I was rooting for her to get away.”
“I think it’s safe to say, we all were.” Poe retorts.
“Ben?” They both stare at Ben’s glazed expression, who had remained silent through that exchange.
“Excuse me,” he mumbles, before rushing out the door.
“Told you he was the cat whisperer.”
“This campus really needs better entertainment.”
“Thank you Rose,” Ben is surprised by the pleasant smile she shoots his way before leaving.
“Sure thing!”
He really should work on his people skills.
Careful only to touch the book he sought after, he pulls from the shelf labeled Ancient Egypt.
Ben rolls his lips together as he eases the book off the shelf and slips it into his bag, smuggling it on to the fourth floor.
He had loosely chosen Egyptian culture for his thesis, brushing up on their religion doesn’t seem outlandish. Ben still hadn’t chosen a topic.
Ben finds his usual spot and cracks the book open, the split of the spine dislodging pages as he begins to read.
“Bastet Feline Goddess of protection.”
Continuing to read out loud, Ben feels ridiculous and a little unhinged but he couldn’t deny the surge of adrenaline he had felt the day before when first seeing her stretch out on the table, strewn across an arrant balled up piece of paper from his notes.
Weeks of being chased through campus and she willingly sought his company.
Ben must be very lonely to find solace in an animal.
But through the days of solitude and loneliness that had started to fall on his shoulders while working on his thesis in the library a certain warmth had started to grow in his chest at the presence of his furry neighbor.
He liked her company.
“After Egypt began to modernize, the goddess soon began to represent -“
Ben broke off suddenly, jerking the book off the table as he felt a warm body rub against his calf.
Carefully setting the decrepit text back on his table he glances down, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as he does so. His surprised flinch had left them ascue.
She purred gently against his pants before resting on her haunches, green eyes wide and expectant.
“Um…” he swallows, peering back at the text. “began to represent family, fertility - love?” Ben peers back down, conforming she is still...what? Listening?
His eyes drop to the gold key hanging tantalizing on her collar. Campus had been a buzz of so many rumors to what that key could unlock.
The rumor that had stuck in Ben’s mind had come from Finn who heard from Rose who subsequently overheard someone eavesdrop on the neighbor of the owner to this cat. Word solidified that this was the key to a students apartment.
What mostly stuck on his mind was the apartment complex's name, it was his apartment complex, not far from campus.
Ben startles the cat jumping onto his table, just like the day before but this time she sprawls out on top of his book.
Ben has a mini panic attack.
“Ah! I’m sorry...this is a very old book you see, an antique..” Ben runs his hands through his hair roughly before hovering his fingers over her, hearkening back to her reaction the day before and subsequently removing her sharp claws from their first day in the library.
Instead, she surprises him by lifting and arching her back into his palm, tickling the skin with her fur and loud purrs.
Ben’s eyebrows lift to his hairline, pleasantly surprised that she lets him pet her. He takes full advantage, running his fingers through her coat bringing it forward to scratch under her chin. Ben’s rewarded with a loud purr.
“I find the feline goddess fascinating, but I’m not sure I want this to be my thesis.” He murmurs, watching her fur run in between his fingers.
She opens her eyes and lifts her chin, if cats could harrumph or look unimpressed he imagined she would do both.
Feeling a little chastised Ben shrugs his shoulders,
“Would you like me to continue?”
Ben huffs out a breath and before he can internally roll his eyes at himself for talking to a cat - a purr, so loud he feels it vibrate against his fingers, the sound filling the space between them. She then begins to move her head just so his index finger runs along the apple of her check.
And so they continue.
Until it becomes sort of a routine. Ben enters the fourth floor of the stacks and without fail, by the time he has set out all his books and organized all his supplies, his feline friend is there to greet him by brushing up against the calf of his trousers. In another time he may have minded the cat hair that no doubt sticks to his pants but fall semester is almost over and Ben has been working too much to receive the healthy recommended amount of sleep hours.
Some moments when the space around him has gone still and silent he begins to wonder if he had imagined the cat sitting beside him, snoozing as he reads. Every time he looks down to confirm she is there, her little pink nose twitches while she sleeps.