Warnings: Alcohol drinkning (sort of), some cursing, cat

A/N: I was legit bummed when I learned Arthur was originally supposed to have a cat in the movie, but they cut it out. Cause, ya know, cats. So wrote this little diddy.

"Hey, get back here!" She whisper-hissed at the fluffy form darting from her apartment. It was 5:33 PM at night and she worried that Paulie would take the chance to jump into someone else's apartment as one of her neighbors came home from work. The smell of Mrs. Ramirez's cooking had probably wafted down the hall to tempt him. Lord knows it tempted her as she hadn't eaten anything since last night.

Paulie stopped at the opposite end of the hall, where he hunched against a corner. Luckily, no one had crossed her paths yet. She breathed a sigh of relief at that, because she…technically wasn't supposed to have Paulie, or any pets for that matter, in this building. Not that it stopped Mrs. Porter on the second floor from having her parakeets or the Skylar couple on the 6th floor with their tropical fish. No one really gave a damn about the rules—which more or less included her, but knowing her luck, she'd be the one to get caught.

"C'mon Paulie, come to mama." She loved animals, but she probably wouldn't have adopted Paulie if she hadn't found him as a trembling, starving kitten mewing beside the dumpsters of her building. Paulie seemed to think the sun rose and set in her, but he wasn't nearly as warm toward anyone else, really. Which made her dubious that he would be able to live with anyone else, and thus made any idea of re-homing him seem out of the question.

She held a small bag of treats and a bell ball out to him, but he seemed to huddle even further into the wall, while eyeing her with a look that indicated he could bolt at any second. She sighed in frustration.

She jumped when she heard the ding of the old elevator at the center of the hallway. "Shit," she mumbled to herself. She prayed it wasn't one of her nosier neighbors—or worse yet, her landlord.

She turned around to see a tall, lanky man with dark hair. Art? Arthur? She was vaguely aware he lived on her same floor; they had crossed paths several times and one or twice engaged in small talk while traveling up or down that elevator. He seemed nice, if a little timid and sad. She hoped he wasn't the sort to make a big deal about Paulie.

He didn't seem to notice her cat at first as he smiled at her. "Hello," he said as he fished around in his coat pocket for his keys.

"Um…hiiii."

He turned from his door to look at her. She suddenly realized she probably made an amusing sight, clutching the treats and colorful cat ball, with what was likely a panicked look on her face, trying to act like everything was normal.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. I, uh, um." Her shoulders drooped. "Just trying to corral my cat."

As if on cue, Paulie let out a long mew from behind her. She looked behind her to see he had finally removed himself from the corner and was warily walking closer.

Arthur bent down and reached out a thin hand to Paulie. "Hi little guy," he cooed gently to the animal.

"Be careful, he's been known to scratch—" she stopped short when Paulie sniffed at Arthur's outstretched fingers, before rubbing his tiny, furry forehead all over them.

"Woah, he doesn't usually do that."

She was even more shocked when Paulie got even closer to her neighbor and Arthur scooped him up into his arms.

"Wow," she exhaled. "You have a magic touch, Mister. Do you work with animals or something?"

She had noticed he blushed a bit at her saying "magic touch." He shook his head. "Oh no—well, sometimes I work around animals. I work as a party clown."

"Huh." She smiled. "I never knew anyone who did anything like that. Must be interesting. Do you like it? Do you only do parties or other stuff?" She didn't mean to give him the fifth degree, but she was genuinely curious; she, her family, and most everyone she knew worked dusty, dull office jobs.

He seemed to brighten the more and more she spoke. "I love it. I get sent to lot of different assignments, actually. I like working with kids the best—I'll go to the children's hospital a lot."

Jeeze, she thought, she could never do something like that. "Wow. So you're like a clown for hire? Have horn, will travel—that sort thing?"

Arthur started to laugh. So boisterously and uncontrollably, he handed over Paulie to her, and eventually had to cover his mouth.

"Jeeze, I don't think I'm that funny."

Arthur shook his head. He fished into his pants pockets, took out what looked like a laminated business card, and handed it to her, while his laughing continued and seemed to pain him. The card explained that this was a medical condition of his.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said as she handed it back to him. "That must suck some serious balls." Though Arthur's laughter had calmed a bit, hearing that last line from her caused some renewed laughter. "Ah jeeze! I need to learn how to keep my big fat mouth shut." She felt horrible, and Paulie seemed to be getting restless in her arms.

The thought occurred to her. "Would you like a night cap or something else to calm your nerves?" She said as she tilted her head toward her apartment. "Feels like the least I can do, especially after you helped me catch Paulie."

He had managed to get much of the laughter under control at that point, though he still coughed and sputtered as his chest heaved up and down noticeably. "Sure," he wheezed.

She held Paulie close to her as she trekked back to her door, her neighbor in tow. It had just occurred to her that she was inviting who was essentially a stranger into her apartment. For a nightcap. Not the smartest move, especially in good ol' Gotham City. Maybe it was the pity and guilt clouding her judgment, but from what she did know of him he seemed like a good soul and she didn't sense any threat from him.

She shifted Paulie to her opposite shoulder as she moved to open her front door. She stepped in and held the door open with her body, motioning for Arthur to come in. He was rubbing his chest, but was largely quiet. She shut the door and finally let Paulie go.

She noticed Arthur had stopped in the middle of the living room, looking around as if he wasn't sure where he should sit. "Go ahead and have a seat. I don't have a scotch guarded or plastic-covered couch or anything like that." She pursed her lips. Would he find that comment funny and start laughing again? It wasn't really funny, but she wasn't entirely sure what set off Arthur's laughing. She suspected social anxiety played some part in it, but it was hard for her to tell whether she was observing things correctly or projecting her own insecurities onto this conundrum.

She unlocked her liquor cabinet, which sat opposite her couch. She bent over initially, but realizing that would give her neighbor a good view of her ass, she moved to crouch instead. She dug around a bit and found what she was looking for.

She started to make two gin and tonics. "I live alone, obviously, but I inherited some good stuff from my grandparents, who were career alcoholics. I'd rather it not get stolen, so I have it locked up in here, where I keep some everyday stash as well." Arthur said nothing.

She turned around, drinks in hand, to see Paulie had plopped himself next to Arthur, his belly on full display as he rolled around a bit and—purred?

She walked up to this curious sight and held out one of the drinks. "Here ya go neighbor. My name's Jennifer, by the way."

He looked up and smiled at her. "Thank you." He accepted the drink, and held it carefully between his two hands, as if it were a warming cup of coffee or soup. She sat to his right, so Paulie was between the two of them.

"I have to say, I've never seen Paulie warm up to someone like he has with you," she said as she motioned to the feline, who was now rubbing his furry forehead against Arthur's right leg.

"He is very cute, and very sweet," Arthur commented, as he gently stroked Paulie's fur.

"Well, with most people he would be hissing and trying to bite their toes off by now, or have run off to hide under my bed," she admitted.

"That's hard to believe," Arthur said as he continued petting Paulie. He had taken a single drink of the gin and set it aside on her coffee table.

"I guess…." Her mind searched her memory to think of who else Paulie had been friendly with. He loved her best friend, a nurse at Gotham Metro. He liked her grandmother, when she was still alive, right after she had rescued Paulie as a kitten. She couldn't think of anyone else. "I guess he's a good judge of character." She smiled up at Arthur. "And most people aren't great…. Present company excepted."

Arthur's eyes flew up to meet Jennifer's, before quickly looking down. His lips curled into a smile as some of that blush returned to his cheeks and he reached for his drink.