Then he finished making the salad and went to sit with the kittens. The shower turned off in the bathroom, and soon Makai walked in, looking much less sweaty and painty.
“Do you mind checking my hair now?” Emil asked, and Makai turned around to go get a comb from the bathroom.
“Sit on the floor?” Makai sat on the couch, mindful of the kittens, and let his thighs fall open.
He was making as much room for Emil as possible. Smiling, Emil plopped down between Makai’s legs and turned his back to him.
“So I had some there, but no idea elsewhere. Also, if you don’t have to, don’t comb through the curls, otherwise it goes all fizzy,” Emil advised.
“Okay. Tell me if I’m pulling or you need a break?” Makai started to go through his hair with such gentleness and patience, Emil wanted to purr like Mouse was doing on the armchair by the fireplace.
He must’ve sighed, because Makai chuckled.
“What?”
“You like this.”
“Well, obviously. I haven’t had anyone play with my hair in a very long time,” Emil said, realizing it sounded wistful.
“Can I?” Makai asked quietly, tugging gently at a curl.
Emil nodded. Then he groaned when Makai slid his fingers into his hair and pulled them out, finger-combing his curls. He could feel the warmth of Makai’s skin in contrast to the way the cool air of the room penetrated his thick hair and caressed his scalp as it dried.
He tilted his head this way and that and made a helpless little sound when Makai started to give him an impromptu scalp massage. It just felt so damn good being touched like this.
It wasn’t even sexual, at least not right then. It could’ve been, he knew that, but the way Makai was still giving him space to retreat if he needed to made it less erotic and more… nourishment to his touch-starved state, he guessed.
“I gotta do this to you later,” Emil said drowsily.
Makai chuckled. “I won’t say no to that.”
“Mom’s gonna be here soon,” he murmured. “She said she’ll take allergy meds so she can come see the beasties.”
“It’s a shame she’s allergic.”
Emil hummed in agreement. Then Mouse perked up in the chair, and soon after they heard the car.
Makai got up and lifted the two awake kittens into Emil’s lap. “Hold on to those while I let Nora in.”
Emil felt happy and grateful about having Makai and his mom get on so well. They were almost like old pals now. Then again, she wasn’t much more than a decade older than him, so it wasn’t a stretch that they might be friendly.
“Hiya,” Mom said as Makai let her in. “Here, you take these.” She thrust the food containers into Makai’s hands and cooed. “Where are my babies?”
“I’m here, Mom,” Emil deadpanned, and she gave him the stink eye but giggled nonetheless. Makai, on the other hand, laughed as she took the dishes into the kitchen.
“Do you want me to plate up, Emil?”
“Yeah, sure. Thanks!” Emil put the kittens on the couch next to where Mom had sat down and caught the look she was giving him. “What?”
“You seem happy,” she stated. If her eyes glimmered, neither mentioned it.
Emil knew she didn’t just mean his expression or body language. She meant he was letting someone else handle his food, and he had obviously showered and in general was at ease in Makai’s little house.
THAT EVENING,after Mom had gotten her kitten fix and left, and Emil and Makai had had dinner, they settled on the couch together. Since the kittens could climb onto the couch now and neither of them wanted to take them into the bedroom, they had to improvise. Or maybe that was just something Emil was telling himself and was pretty sure Makai told himself too.
They ended up at one end of the couch, Makai leaning on the armrest, and Emil next to him with kittens climbing all over them. Mouse had moved onto the couch, so she took all the available space.
“What should we watch?” Emil smiled at the gray kitten who sat on the back of the couch and batted his hair with a tiny paw.
