moomcquaid because why not

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It had been about two months since that guy moved in next door to Bryce. The guy next door seemed nice, he had a nice car that Bryce's cats liked to lay on and sometimes he would leave his Pikachu plushie in the window facing Bryce's house. All in all, he seemed like a pretty cool person, especially when you consider how Bryce has never met the guy.

His son, however, was a different story.

The boy wasn't here that often, but when he was, the entire neighborhood knew about it, it seemed. The child came around every weekend, and always made it a point to chase Bryce's cats around.

Dusty and Ellie were smart enough to avoid the kid at all costs, running away the moment they spotted him. Taquito, being the fluffy, lazy black cat he was, never even went outside in the first place. Shiba, however, despite being a very pretty cat, wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. In other words, poor Shiba was always the target of the little eight year-old’s wrath.

Or nine, or ten, or however old he was. Bryce didn't really know, to be honest. The most he's ever spoken to him was Bryce asking him to not run into the street.

Every time his son came over, he would torment poor Shiba, and poor Shiba would come back, tail puffed up and shaking so hard he looked like a small earthquake. Bryce would bring his cat inside, and always tell himself that one of these days, he would have to speak to his father. It never actually happened, despite all that Bryce swore to himself.

One day, though, when his cat returned, covered in paint, Bryce decided that he's had enough of this. He would speak to his neighbor about his kid, and ask if there was anything they could do to prevent his poor kitties being scared.

So, around three in the afternoon, Bryce fixed his hair, put on a clean pair of jeans, and went over next door. He walked up to the front door and knocked.

The man who opened the door was nothing like Bryce expected. A bit shorter than Bryce, with curly brown hair and really nice eyes. He smiles at Bryce, and then speaks.

“Hey! Is there something you need?” His voice is so sweet and happy that Bryce was positive he felt a part of him melt at the sound. And the little laugh he gave probably melted the rest of Bryce, if he was to be honest.

“Uh… I- uh, I just w-wanted to ask if…” Bryce can't bring himself to speak. He's almost certain that he lost the ability to speak within the last ten seconds. “I just wanted to know if you had any- any sugar to spare!” Bryce speaks without thinking, and he has to resist the urge to slap himself.

“Huh? Oh, yeah!” His neighbor laughs again, smiling brightly while gesturing for Bryce to come inside. “I have some to give, come on in! Can't leave you waiting out here, you know! I'll go get it.” He leads Bryce into the living room, then rushes off towards the kitchen.

Bryce looks around awkwardly, before slowly taking a seat on one of the couches. He felt himself blushing, embarrassment quickly overtaking his thoughts.

Why did he do that, again? What happened to the plan? This wasn't why he was supposed to be here! He should be talking about how the guy's son keeps terrorising the gosh dang cats! But no, he wasn't.

Darn it, why didn't anyone tell him that his neighbor was hot?

“How much sugar did you need? Sorry, I probably should've asked beforehand. Is two cups okay?” His neighbor walks back into the living room, a small container in his hand.

Bryce just nods, not trusting himself enough to speak. He gives a quiet “thank you” when the sugar is handed to him, then stands back up and begins to head out.

“Wait! Hey, can I at least know your name? I mean, it's kinda weird that I've lived next to you for so long and never introduced myself, right?” There's a hand on his shoulder, and Bryce finds himself turning to face the other.

“My name's Bryce. Bryce McQuaid,” he said, with a strange amount of confidence.

“Well, I'm Brock. And-” Brock is cut off by a loud thump, and then the sound of a child yelling as footsteps resounded through the house.

“Dad! Dad! Can I go play outside again? I wanna go outside.” Brock's son is here, tugging lightly at Brock's shirt.

Brock just smiles at the two, then nods. “Only if you introduce yourself to Bryce here. He's the one who lives next door, with all the cats, right?”

Bryce doesn't get time to answer Brock's question. The boy takes one look at Bryce, his eyes widening, then suddenly takes off back to wherever he came from.

Brock looks confused. He sighs, shakes his head, then shrugs his shoulders. “That's my son, Tyler. I'm sorry about him, he's…. Stubborn. Really good kid, usually.”  Brock then gives a small gasp. “Wait, if the cats are yours, then…”

Bryce feels himself tense up, choosing to look away from Brock and instead inspect the plastic container full of sugar. It was nice, really good quality. Looked like it could survive a fall without spilling everywhere, and it was a nice shade of blue, too…

This wasn't gonna end well if Bryce didn't speak, now was it?

“Yeah, um… about the cats…” Bryce isn't entirely sure how to continue this sentence. He shuts his mouth for a moment, then tries again. “I've been meaning to speak to you about that.”

Brock nods. “I know, and I'm so sorry about that. Tyler, uh… how do I explain this? He's going through a phase, I guess. Wants to train one of them to fight, he says. I don't know, honestly. I've been trying to make him stop, I swear, it's just that-”

“It's okay. I've been trying to keep them inside more when he comes around. It's cool, I just worry about them. They're my kitties, and I really love them.” Bryce smiles fondly at the thought of his cats, and finds himself smiling even more when Brock smiles back at him.

“So… I'll have a talk with him later today. It was nice meeting you, Bryce.”

“Yeah. Thanks again for the sugar.” Bryce is now out the front door, carefully stepping over toys that were scattered across the yard.

“You're welcome, sugar!” Brock winks from the door, giving Bryce a cheeky grin.

Bryce is so flustered he nearly trips over his own feet, and doesn't even comment on the pun.