To the right was his address, apartment number, but no name. Nothing personal at all. Where his name would be just said Resident of. It looked like more junk mail, some kind of advertisement. Come on down to Bob’s, we can’t wait to see you!
An advertisement for what, exactly, was unclear, Cooper thought, examining the image on the front more closely. It was a brick building with large arches and a terracotta roof. In front of it was a cement semicircular bench and a bronze sculpture of...something. A long, shapeless sort of thing. It looked vaguely familiar, but Cooper couldn’t quite place it.
He walked back into his apartment, tossing the rest of the mail onto the counter, and held the card up closer to his face. Squinting, he could see the sculpture was some sort of animal with a long, pointed nose and on the brick building were black letters: Small Mammal House.
Cooper abruptly recognized the zoo here in DC. He hadn’t been since he was a teenager. Were they that desperate for visitors they were sending out ads? He studied the back of the postcard again.
Can’t wait to see you!
“Oh, hi, Mr. Dayton.”
Cooper looked up slowly, confused, and blinked at Ava standing in his bedroom doorway, arms full of a floppy and blissfully content Boogie, who looked nothing like the anguished animal that had spent the last thirty minutes furious at being separated from her fascinating friend and yowling her list of betrayals not to be forgotten nor forgiven.
“Ava?” Cooper said, brain catching up to what he was seeing. “What are you... Did you just get here?” Alarmed, he looked over her shoulder into the bedroom for Park. How was he supposed to explain an enormous wolf in his bedroom? Do you have a two-for-one pet-sitting discount?
“Yes.” She followed the path of his gaze. “The door was open, so I thought you were home. But then I heard a bunch of, like, books or something falling in the bedroom. I was worried Boogie was in there and knocked over your bad bookshelf again and hurt herself.”
“Oh.” Cooper swallowed, and his suddenly dry throat clicked. “And? Did you see anything...weird?”
Ava gave him an odd look. “There was nothing on the floor. Then Mr. Park said he was having a bath and I could just take Boogie.”
“Oliver said that? With his voice?” Cooper said, then felt absurd.
“Um—” She shifted her weight, clearly growing increasingly weirded out by Cooper’s behavior. “Well, he said I could take the cat, but yeah...?”
“Right. Of course you can take Boogie. I appreciate it. As always.”
Ava visibly relaxed and Cooper steeled himself from looking in the direction of the bedroom again as he helped her gather up Boogie’s essentials and carry them back to her apartment down the hall, which was a much more colorful and homey replica of Cooper’s. He pulled out Ava’s usual weekly fee in cash out of his wallet and then, after a moment’s consideration, added two more twenties. “Thanks again for this. I’ll text you when we’re heading back.”
Ava took the money, observing the extra bills. “I really didn’t see anything in your bedroom, Mr. Dayton,” she said seriously.
Cooper laughed, startled. “I know. I just—” Felt financially impotent today? Already missed having a neighbor like Ava who loved his cat as much as he did? He’d grown fond of her, but without the cat-sitting to connect them, he could hardly stay in touch with a child.
Cooper felt that familiar flutter of panic and shoved it away. “I know it’s more of a hassle, having Boogs here than at my place. Text me if she can’t handle the change and I’ll see if I can get the AC repaired.”
“Miss Boot Scoot is not a wuss, Mr. Dayton,” Ava said indignantly. “She’s not gonna freak out over a little change.”
Well, whoopee for Boogie, Cooper thought. After saying goodbye, he returned to his own apartment and headed straight through the bedroom. The bathroom door was left partially open, and Cooper knocked and waited for Park’s okay.
Park was reclining in the tub with his eyes closed, as submerged in water as he could get, which wasn’t very. His muscular legs were propped almost all the way up the wall and his broad shoulders were awkwardly crammed against the ledge on the other end.
“If we lived in that palace we saw this afternoon, it would have taken me ten minutes to find you,” Cooper said cautiously, examining him, hyperalert for a sign, any sign, that would tell him whether or not Park wanted to talk about what had happened before.
Park didn’t open his eyes. “If we lived in that palace I wouldn’t have to bleach hundred-year-old bloodstains out of the grout before taking a bath.”
“Hey,” Cooper said, walking into the bathroom and sitting on the closed toilet. “I was building a case with those bloodstains.”
“The case to condemn the building? I think you already have plenty to go to trial. Point one, the center of the sun is not a residential zone.”
Cooper bit his tongue. He’d made fun of this shitty apartment for years. He didn’t know why now all of a sudden he was so determined to defend it. The bathroom was old and gross.
And seeing Park’s relaxed, beautiful body in it made him want to lock them both in here together to stay until the building itself came down around them.
He changed the subject. “Sorry about Ava. I’m assuming from the lack of panicking, she didn’t come in here when you were...alternately formed.” Cooper dipped his fingers into the tub and found the water predictably cold. “Were you really in the bath?”
Park managed to raise an eyebrow while keeping his eyes closed. “Do I look like the sort of man who goes around lying to little girls? Just what kind of Grimms’ Fairy Tales wolf do you take me for?”
“The one with soap in his hair.”
Park leaned forward, turned the tap on and dunked his head under, scrubbing at the shampoo. When he turned it off and lay back down, a couple suds still clung to his ear. Cooper stared, transfixed by that spot. Suddenly, somehow, he felt even more flushed with heat and a prickle of sweat broke out at his hairline. He swiped at it distractedly.
“The AC is wrecked. Looks like something ripped into it.”
Park grunted. “Thank god for that fresh mountain air.”
Cooper opened his mouth. Closed it. Considered. “When I was in the alley taking the trash out, I thought someone was watching me. But it was a squirrel.” He rolled his eyes at himself and immediately regretted mentioning it. He forced a laugh. “Who says your conversations take a turn for the boring when you move in together? Not us, baby!”
Park’s eyes had slid open. Warm amaretto looking at him with familiar focused attentiveness. “Do you want me to go downstairs and check it out?”