Evil, Thy Name is Kitten
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Ace Ryn Knight
"Please, Da? I'll take care of them myself, I promise."
Dom met his seven year old son's pleading blue eyes with trepidation. Right, he thought wryly, and I'm a Centaur.
Unsure of what to say he cast a glance at Kel. As much as he admired her compassion and her fierce need to protect all things small and fluffy, he had hoped in some small way that that wonderfully noble trait would be just a tad less potent in their eldest offspring. He'd clearly hoped in vain.
She shrugged upon meeting his glance. He could read her silent response in every facet of her bearing, from the upturned palms, the slight upward slant on the right side of her mouth, and the dryly unapologetic gleam in her hazel gaze. He got her message as clear as it would have been had she spoken. You expect me of all people to say no to this?
He looked back at his son, fighting to suppress a wince. Clutched in his arms were four plaintively mewing kittens. Dom mulled over his next words carefully knowing that he needed to phrase his answer carefully lest he be accused of being a hypocrite by his sharp-minded progeny.
The wrangling bunch eyed him as though they knew, which they might he considered. From that far too intelligent flash in their little eyes he guessed they were the offspring of two cats that had clearly had prolonged exposure to the Wildmage or her daughter. If he were a betting man he'd wager the second as Ilian had developed an odd kinship with the girl that he'd make no try at understanding.
Gods above give me strength, he prayed. It wasn't that he didn't like cats or kittens, he really did. They did funny things and he never turned down a laugh. But they already shared their medium sized set of rooms with two young dogs, an aging Jump, a host of sparrows, a lizard of larger than average size, and one grumpy orange feline who would not be happy to share her abode with another quartet of interlopers.
"Ilian," he began cautiously, watching the foursome warily. Evil, thy name is kitten, "The kittens…"
His son's slim shoulders drooped with disappointment as he spoke, and though the boy fought to hide it, his lower lip quivered with the struggle to fight back a heartbroken cry.
Dom closed his eyes; one hand pinching at his nose in a move he thought was far too much like his meatheaded cousin. He knew he'd hate himself for it later but it had to be said.
"Ilian," he began again, "The kittens can stay."
As the seven-year-old let out a joyous cry of thanks, Dom turned to his wife. She embraced him, running callused hands through his dark hair soothingly.
"You did what you had to do," Kel comforted, leaning in for a chaste kiss- much to the disgust of their son, "and I'm proud of you for that."
As it turned out she wasn't so proud of him two nights later. Dom stroked Kel's hand where it lay curled over his heart. Staring into the darkness over their bed he grinned lightly, "I'm so proud of you," he whispered mockingly, "You did what you had to do."
The lady grinned against his neck, "Hush," she answered wearily, "I'm sorry alright? How many times do I have to say it?"
The sound of plaintive mewing echoed out of the darkness. First one small, high-pitched whine answered the lady warrior's question, then two, then three and four.
Dom closed his eyes as the mewing grew louder and more insistent. The bedcovers shifted to one side as the small crying creatures sought to scale the bed.
"At least once a day until they stop doing this." He answered, twining his fingers around hers, "Gods preserve us they just get more and more shrill- ow! You little pest stop that." Dom cursed the kitten as it dug it's sharp little claws into the skin of his neck, kneading the spot at the base of his throat as it purred happily.
Kel sought to bury her face completely in the hollow between his neck and the pillow. She used her second hand, the one buried in his dark, thick hair to tug him into just the right position, ignoring his muttered of curse of 'Traitor!' as she effectively hid her ears from the seeking teeth of the small white kitten their son had dubbed Snowfire for the dark orange stripe of fur that ran the length of its back. Snowfire, they'd realized the previous day had a strange obsession with ears.
Dom compensated for this betrayal by abandoning his defense of the hand she had curled on his chest. If she'd let his ears become a kitty's plaything he'd let her fingers do the same.
She responded to the assault on her newly vulnerable fingers by tucking her feet securely under the coverlet, leaving his toes to be pounced on by the fourth bundle of fur.
"I still blame you for this." He muttered crossly an hour or so later after the meowing menaces had tired of their games.
Kel sighed against his neck, the soft heat of her breath sending tingles down his spine despite his much aggrieved mood. They lay in silence for a moment before a delightfully wicked idea made him grin.
"Do you think Ilian would be okay with giving a kitten or two to Emiko?" Dom mused, thinking of the soon to be nine-year-old girl. "Her birthday is next week, and you said Yuki likes cats." His answer was a light chuckle against his neck.
"I shouldn't find this funny." Kel told him in a whisper as she shook with laughter. As kindhearted as their boy was she had no doubt he'd give two of the kittens away if they went to Yuki and her daughter for he idolized his 'Auntie YuYu' and his cousin Em.
"So Yuki would take a couple off our hands?"
"She adores cats," the lady knight assured, "of course she would."
Dom's grin broadened. Neal is going to be furious with me, he thought picturing his cousin's face at being presented with two small kittens, he can have the toe biter.
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A/N: Once more, I am a terrible giver of names.