Da Fuzz

"Starsky!" The bellow came from the front hall where Hutch had just picked up the mail. "David Michael Starsky, what the hell is this?"

Starsky quickly closed the laptop and swung around to find out what was irritating the man he'd loved and lived with for the past thirty years. He couldn't think of anything dreadful he'd done, but Hutch's famous forefinger was tapping restlessly at some piece of official-looking paper.

"How should I know?" asked Starsky reasonably. "Whatcha got there?"

"Seems our ISP is charging us extra for exceeding our bandwidth allowance again. That's the third month in a row, Starsk. What the hell are you doing on that thing?"

Casting a quick glance at the computer to be absolutely sure he'd hidden the screen, Starsky led his partner over to the couch. "Okay," he said, looking embarrassed. "Look, I didn't want to tell you, but I've gotten kinda addicted to this one webcam I found…"

Hutch looked away. This was about more than the money. "Yeah," he said, and the hurt was clear in his voice. "I figured it was something like that. You've been slipping out of bed in the middle of the night to come down here."

"Oh shit," said Starsky. "I'm sorry, Hutch. I didn't think you'd realize. I just can't seem to stay away from the darn thing."

Hutch put his face in his hands, and rubbed at his forehead with his fingertips. "I know I'm getting old and broken, Starsk," he said in muffled tones. "I understand if I don't turn you on any more - but why couldn't you at least tell me about it? Maybe we could have watched it together or …"

"Wait," Starsky interrupted. "You think it's… oh, Blondie! After all these years!" And with a lopsided grin, he grabbed the laptop and brought it over to Hutch. "I didn't tell you because I was completely embarrassed and I knew you'd never stop teasing me! Look!" And he brought the browser window back up so Hutch could see the dreadful evidence.

Hutch started to laugh. "Kittens! You're watching kittens!"

"Yeah," Starsky said ruefully, starting to laugh himself. "Look - that's Parker, who thinks he can fly, and Ash, the fluffiest two-pounder in the world, and Bishop with the batman mask, and shy little Dallas, and Newt the Cute - I just have to keep checking in to see how they're doing, Hutch, just have to!"

Hutch reached out and pulled Starsky's head on to his shoulder with a big, gentle hand, running his fingers through familiar curls that, he thought, were a million times softer and better than a kitten's fur. "So which one is which again, you nut?"

Starsky put his face up for a kiss, got it, and said "Ya just gotta love da fuzz, y'know!"

finis

To see Starsky's dreadful temptation, go to new DOT livestream DOT com SLASH FosterKittenCam/RipleysKittens - and if they're sleeping, there's a DVR of hours of previous kittenishness (put your cursor at the bottom of the picture). But if you get addicted, don't send me your internet bills!