"Hmm..." Laura sighed contentedly and let her eyes fall shut. Bill's arm made a nice pillow, and the bed still seemed like bliss every time she so much as sat on it. It was one of the only things of Baltar's she had kept. She hadn't been going to – but then she had spent her first night off New Caprica in it and had gotten her first good night's sleep in months. It wasn't exactly her style of furniture, but dear Gods it was comfy...

"Hmm," she sighed again and Bill chuckled, tightening the grip of his arm around her.

Then he yelped in surprise.

Laura looked up, wondering if she should be alarmed – then she burst out laughing.

Katie, her rapidly growing tabby kitten, had jumped up onto Bill's bare chest and was staring at his face curiously.

He looked quite terrified. Laura knew she shouldn't be so amused by his obvious discomfort, but his expression was so... cute, somehow.

Kate shifted her position on his chest and leaned in to sniff his nose. Laura was sure she heard him whimper.

"Laura," Bill said, failing miserably at sounding cool and composed.

"Yes dear?" she replied nonchalantly, reaching out to run a hand down her wayward kitten's back.

"Get it off me." Bill's eyes widened as Katie stepped closer to his head. "Please?"

"Her, Bill," Laura corrected. "Get her off me."

Bill glared.

Laura giggled, pushing herself up into a sitting position and pulling Katie onto the pile of sheets pooled in her lap. "Baby," she teased.

"Evil, sadistic cat lover," he replied, sitting up as well. He looked at the kitten and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I still don't understand the appeal."

"But she's so small and fluffy!" Laura exclaimed. "Aren't you, Katie?" she added to the cat, scratching her vigorously under the chin.

"So are tarantulas," Bill grumbled.

"Tarantulas don't purr when you pet them. Nor do they love you back."

"How do you know she loves you back?" Bill asked. "For all you know she's just in it for the food."

"And for all I know you're just in it for the sex," she fired back smoothly, arching an eyebrow.

Bill glared again. "Politician," he muttered.

"Well, unless you prove otherwise maybe that's what I should assume," Laura said airily.

She smiled inwardly as she saw his jaw set.

"Fine. How would you like me to prove it?"

"Be nice to my kitten," Laura instructed, picking Katie up and dumping her in Bill's lap – not without a little mew of protest from her feline companion. "Stop referring to her as 'it', stop acting like she's more menacing than a whole army of Cylons, and stop being jealous of her."

Bill had been following her more or less agreeably until then. "Jealous?" he protested. "Why would I be jealous of a cat?"

"You think she's stealing my affections," Laura stated. "You don't like the way I pay attention to her when I could be paying more to you. Judging by the ferocity of your dislike for her, I think I have to conclude that you're afraid I'll run off and marry her and leave you in the dust."

There, she had made him laugh. "That's preposterous," he said, trying to hide his smile. Then, "Hey, that tickles!" when Katie grew tired of the lack of attention and rubbed her cheek against his bare stomach.

Laura grinned. "As you can see, she's fond of you already. All you have to do is reciprocate."

Bill sighed melodramatically and reached down to rub the top of Katie's head. She purred happily and curled up in his lap. "There," Bill said. "Are you satisfied?"

"Not nearly," Laura said, letting a mischievous smirk play at her lips.

Grinning, Bill leaned forward and reached out for her – taking his hand off Katie's fur in the process. The kitten mewled, disgruntled, and reached up to capture his arm with her front paws.

The frustration was evident in Bill's eyes as he froze in mid-air.

"I think I'm going to have to wait my turn," Laura said. "Now whose affections are being divided by the pretty kitty?" she teased, scooting over to rest her chin on his shoulder.

"I'm only doing this because you asked me to." Bill reluctantly returned his hand to Katie's fur, to which she responded with a loud purring sound. "I'll stop whenever you want," he added.

"No, keep at it," Laura instructed breezily. She trailed her fingers over the skin of his other shoulder lazily.

Katie rolled over to show her stomach, which Bill diligently tickled. Laura let her fingers wander down to his back, curling them to run her nails across it intermittently. She felt his muscles tense slightly as she did so.

"You sure you don't want me to stop yet?" he enquired hopefully.

"Not yet, no." Laura raised her other hand now as well, snaking it around Bill's front to stroke her fingers lightly against his chest. She could tell he was having difficulty focussing on the task she had set him. She would just tease him a little more, she decided...

Bill whimpered when her hand dipped lower – though in an entirely different way from that in which he had whimpered earlier. "Laura..."

"Mmhmm?" She fought to hide a grin... but her amusement had to stop now, she decided. She wasn't that cruel... not to Katie, anyway, who would surely be mentally scarred if this went any further.

Grabbing Katie by the scruff of her neck – not without a yowl of protest – Laura climbed off the bed to carry her over to her food bowl and fetch her some fresh scraps of meat. With the kitten thus duly distracted, she walked back to the bed unaccompanied. Bill looked incredibly grateful as she sat herself down on his lap and let him run his hands up her thighs.

"Now," she said. "Where were we?"

The End