Lu Hua knows it’s almost time for her to go into heat. She keeps careful track on her phone, because she has experienced the emotional and physical turmoil of having to go through school and work while wanting nothing more than to jump the first man she sees. Her uterus takes hold of all logic and squeezes, raging that it’s time for making babies.

But she’s only just graduated university and has no time for babies, as much as she would honestly like one or twelve.

The only good thing about it all is while she only purposely keeps track of her own body’s cycles, she tracks her girlfriend’s as well. Living together since high school, they managed to sync together. And it’s perfect.

Sometimes, they are a little out of sync, though.

She barely gets through the door when she’s grabbed and pushed against the wall. “Junghwa?!”

“What took you so long?” Her girlfriend, a gorgeous dark calico, presses kisses all over her face, purrs stuttering in her chest. “You said you were just getting food.”

“I had to drop off some applications on my way home.”

Junghwa frowns at her, eyes darker than usual. “I was ready to jump the mailman,” she says evenly, threat thinly veiled. Her eyes brighten with tears. “I thought you’d left me!”

Lu Hua holds her waist, bags thumping against the student’s thighs, and offers a firm kiss as apology. “I’m sorry. I should have called.” A Junghwa in heat means a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Lu Hua knows she’s no better, but at least when she’s emotional, she still keeps a hold onto logic and reason.

Which is a bold-faced lie, but she still prides herself in it.

“You’ll be home this week, right?” Junghwa wraps herself around Lu Hua's shoulders, nipping her ears as they toddle to the kitchen.

“I should be.”

The first couple of days are usually the easiest. Some emotional ups and downs and cravings for salt, but it’s manageable. The rest of the week is killer. A decrease in one appetite and sharp increase in another. While Junghwa usually reigns herself in, somewhat, Lu Hua s around the apartment touching everything. Junghwa once found her on the living room rug, wearing workout clothes and writhing on her back and purring to high heaven. She regretted it later, when the rug burns made themselves known in the bath, but any touch, particularly to her tail or ears or ankles, sets off fire in her blood that rushes between her legs and boils. “If not, I’m calling Minseok oppa.”

Lu Hua spins sharply, frowning. “Don’t you dare!”

The calico's brows rise and her lips pucker in a tempting pout that has Lu Hua distracted and blushing. “I thought you liked him.”

“Yes, because he’s my best friend!” She tosses a couple cereal boxes into a cabinet, ignoring the way they lean haphazardly over bags of chips.

“He’s not mine,” Junghwa purrs with a smile, hopping up on the countertop while the gold Birman put food in the appropriate cabinets.

“I am not letting you use my best friend as a living toy.”

“What about Yixing?” Junghwa drags her foot up the back of Lu Hua's thigh, flicking the silky tail with her toes.

"No." Lu Hua yanks her tail from between Junghwa's toes with a frown.

"Jongdae?"

“No!”

Junghwa bites her thumbnail in thought. “Chuntao?”

“She’s a girl!”

“So are you," Junghwa hums. She leans forward to take Lu Hua's hands and pulls her to stand at the calico's knees. She slides her hands up slender arms to drape her arms over her girlfriend's shoulders and lace her fingers together. "You’d better stay home with me, or I will call all of your co-workers.”

Lu Hua snorts, but her fingers dance up and down Junghwa's thighs in a subtle kneading motion. “This has to be illegal. You’re coercing me into having with you,” she grouses.

“I never said a thing about . Maybe I’m just lonely; you're usually working when I finish class.”

"With you, both are dangerous." She cups Junghwa's face, thumbs her warm cheeks. Their foreheads touch, then noses, and finally lips. "You know," Lu Hua murmurs, "I got food because you said you were hungry."

"I am ... ." Tanned fingers dip under the hem of Lu Hua's skirt, chewed-short nails scratching over lace . "Start with dessert?" She chases Lu Hua's lips with her tongue. "Because you're so sweet, you know."

"And you're corny." Lu Hua leans into Junghwa, tugging the backs of her knees and pressing chest-to-chest. Junghwa's purrs resonate in Lu Hua's chest with her own. "But I love you, regardless."

a/n: This is obviously not a catboy fic, but it sticks with the spirit of things. It was inspired by a prompt on EPM.