“Light on or off?” Makai asked quietly. “I don’t mind either way.”
“On, then. Just in case one of us startles. And there are always the kittens who might climb in, so it’s easier to see them like that.”
They didn’t speak after that, just soaked in the warmth and closeness. Emil found that he liked to play with Makai’s chest hair and trace the tattoos he could see better now. He didn’t ask about them; he knew Makai would tell him if he felt like it.
When he started to get sleepy for real, he hummed. “Do you wanna be the big spoon?”
Makai smiled and kissed his hair. “Sure, turn and make yourself comfy.”
Emil found a good position where he could see the cats’ box and the window, then pulled Makai’s arm into where he wanted it. Makai moved closer, but not close enough for them to be pressed together.
“Is this okay?” Makai whispered.
“Yeah, I think this is perfect,” Emil murmured, and in the next few minutes, he was asleep.
HE WOKEonce in the night, when Mouse batted him in the face with a well-aimed paw. “’S okay, girl, ’m fine,” he grunted and patted her with sleepy coordination.
Makai jerked awakeish. “Wazzit?”
“Mouse,” Emil said, turned around, and curled against Makai’s side.
“Oh,” Makai hummed, and fell right back asleep.
In the morning, Emil woke up to heavy rain pelting the metal roof.
He stretched carefully, somehow mindful of the kittens asleep between his legs. Both Mouse and Makai were nowhere to be seen.
Emil loved Makai’s bed. It was just the perfect firmness and didn’t feel old like his own mattress at home. He’d needed a new one for a while, but it never seemed a priority. Maybe they all thought that he’d get a new one when he finally moved out or something, after all they’d bought him a new one when he turned sixteen and had a growth spurt that warranted a new bed.
This one, though. He could get used to sleeping here. He just hoped Makai was on the same page with him.
He carefully slid out from under the covers and the kittens started to wake up too.
By the time he came back from the bathroom, they were all rolling around on the bed, play-wrestling and being general annoyances at each other.
“Makai? Do you want me to let the menaces out there?”
“Sure, I have their breakfast ready.”
They’d been feeding the kittens once a day for a couple of days now and getting them on solids was going to be a relief for Mouse at least. The litterbox cleaning wasn’t going to be quite as much fun, but oh well.
Emil took the cardboard off the doorway and went to find Makai instead of waiting for the kittens to make it down the bed. They would be underfoot—quite literally—in no time anyway.
“Hey,” he murmured at Makai who was scrambling eggs in the kitchen.
“Morning.” Makai’s smile was beautiful and somehow more intimate than before. He held his arm out, and Emil went to his side, cuddling against him.
Emil looked out of the kitchen window. The weather was gray yet beautiful. The lake in the distance looked dark gray, and its surface looked like it vibrated with the power of the raindrops.
Based on the meowing by their feet, the kittens had caught up with Emil. He took the prepared food dish from the counter and set it by the wall where Mouse’s food and water bowls were.
The kittens were still new to this, but the minced meat alone—something Doc Donovan had told them to start with to get them to eat faster—vanished off the plate in no time.
“What time is it?” Emil asked, realizing he had no clue with the weather being so cloudy.
“Ten, a bit past now.” Makai put the scrambled eggs on the plate and gestured at one with remnants of yesterday’s chicken, on it. “Do you want half of that with the eggs?”
“A bit macabre, but sure,” Emil said, smirking.
