Notes: Some more Taito/Yamachi action going on. If Taichi and Yamato kissing and being gushy and romantic is not your taste, you can do one of two things: 1) stop reading now, or 2) keep reading and suffer. It's ultimately up to you. If you are like me and you think Taito/Yamachi makes the world go 'round, you are urged to continue:D
Random babble: Well, what can I say? I was pet-sitting a dog who peed on the floor and I ended up cleaning the rug at 3 o'clock in the morning. What else was left to do but write a story about it? ;
Disclaimer: Yep, you guessed it, I don't have any affiliation with Digimon whatsoever beyond a mild obsession… .; The only things I own are the idea for this story and a recipe for the cake mentioned therein.
Good Thing There's a Bad Cat
By: Michiko
At three o'clock in the morning, Yamato's eyes shot open to a sound unlike any he'd ever heard before. It was a rough, scrubbing sort of sound, like the sound of a blade sawing through wood, only much duller, as if muffled behind a few walls.
His first thought was that whoever or whatever had woken him up was going to pay dearly, with immediate obliteration. His second was that the apartment might be under attack, and Taichi wasn't next to him like he should be.
"Tai!" Yamato called, panicked, flying out of bed so fast he nearly took all the sheets with him. "Tai!"
The blond came to a dead halt at the end of the hallway, once he could see Taichi in the sitting room, on the floor on his hands and knees, scrubbing at a wet spot on the carpet that took up nearly half the room. The noise that had woken him up...was Taichi cleaning.
Yamato watched his boyfriend frantically moving back and forth over a particular spot on the floor with a large bath towel for about three seconds before clearing his throat to get Taichi's attention.
"What...the hell...are you doing!"
The brunette paused and looked up at Yamato, wiping his hands on his plaid pajama pants before reaching up to scratch the back of his head. His smile was big and sheepish, and he added a slight right-shoulder shrug to complete the look of baffled, embarrassed helplessness.
"Begging for your forgiveness?"
Yamato crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
"We can talk about that after you tell me what's up with the towels."
More than one sopping-wet towel littered the floor by the couch. There were also a big, bright orange bucket, a few bottles of cleaning solution, and a suspiciously large pile of balled-up paper towels. None of which Yamato could determine the purpose for.
"Well, the cat peed on the carpet..."
Blue eyes widened considerably at the sight before them.
"There's no way the cat could've peed that much!"
"She didn't!" Taichi rocked back on his heels and crossed his arms, more defensively than defiantly. "It's just that when I went to clean it up, I used too much cleaning stuff, and it wouldn't come out of the carpet, so I figured I had to rinse it out, but then there was water all over the place and I had to sop it up and then I had to scrub to get the foam up and it kept spreading so I kept rinsing and, well...you can see where that's gotten me now!"
The brunette took a much needed breath.
Wordlessly, Yamato walked into the sitting room, knelt down, and reached for a damp towel. Taichi smiled gratefully when the blond began to scrub at a section of the rug adjacent to the spot he had been working on.
"I'm sorry I woke you up."
Tired, red-rimmed sapphire eyes met deep brown eyes that were, in Yamato's opinion, far too alert for such an ungodly hour.
"Come here," the bearer of the blue eyes commanded, rewarded with Taichi crawling towards him across the puddle of a rug.
Yamato leaned forward to press his lips to Taichi's, lingering for just a moment to enjoy the warmth and softness that was the boy in front of him. He felt Taichi's lazy smile form against his mouth and began to chuckle, allowing their lips to slide against each other's when he pulled back. When their eyes met again, Yamato smiled softly.
"Hey, I'm just glad you didn't leave the cat pee on the floor."
Taichi simply smiled in response and leaned in for another quick kiss before returning his attention to the rug.
Far-too-long later, the boys had completed the task at hand, including clearing away the mess of towels and washing themselves of cleaning solution. Achy and sleepy, Taichi sagged into the couch, surveying the results of their hard work.
"Good as new."
"Yeah...too good. Now that half of the carpet is brighter and cleaner than the rest."
"The important thing..." Taichi began sagely, "is that there's no more cat pee."
Yamato ruffled Taichi's hair affectionately in affirmation before heading into the kitchen.
"What'cha doin'?"
"Getting a slice of cake. I worked up an--"
"Cake!"
In an instant, Taichi was next to his boyfriend.
"I didn't know we had cake. When did we get cake?"
"This afternoon, when I made it."
"Why didn't you tell me you made cake?"
"I did!"
"You did not. Yama, believe me, I would've remembered something like that."
"Well, obviously not. I distinctly remember telling you that I baked today."
"Baked! That could mean anything! There was no mention of cake, and I..."
Yamato had reached into the refrigerator and pulled out Heaven in a pastry...Taichi's favorite confectionary treat in the whole wide universe: spice cake. Yamato nearly dropped the plate and lost the cake, however, when Taichi shoved him up against the cabinets.
"Tai...!"
"I want you. Now."
"But...I thought you...the cake..." He held up the dessert in question, then thought it would be safer on the counter and deposited it there. "Don't you want cake?"
Taichi moved into the space that had been freed up between him and Yamato by the putting-down of the cake, pressing his body flush against the other boy's.
"Yeah, but you're the bringer of the cake, which makes you better than the cake, so as much as I want cake, I want you more."
"I had no idea that...cake is what does it for you."
Taichi grinned. There was a flash of teeth and a glint in his eyes, and then he sealed their lips in a kiss so passionate, all thought of cake between either of them was completely lost. Later, when Taichi had satisfied his desire for both Yamato and spice cake, the two lay together in bed, watching the sun rise from their bedroom window.
"Mmm...this is nice," Taichi said, nuzzling Yamato's chest.
"Yeah, it is. I haven't seen the sun rise in a really long time."
Soft oranges and golds began to illuminate the room, casting long shadows on the floor and warming the two sleep-deprived lovers cuddled against each other. The wispiest of cirrus clouds drowned in pastel pinks and purples, the colors of cherry blossoms and hibiscus. Taichi was sure this was the only part of morning he enjoyed.
"I guess we should be thankful that the cat peed on the floor, huh? I mean, we wouldn't be awake to enjoy this if it wasn't for her."
"Just...don't let her hear you saying that, alright? She might start to think her urinating on the rug is a good idea."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll keep it quiet," Taichi snickered.
Soon, the room was flooded with blindingly-bright early-morning sunlight, and Taichi got up to close the curtains.
"Time for bed now!"
Yamato was already buried deep under the covers.
"Mmhmm..." he mumbled. "And if you wake me up again, I'll kill you."
"Alright, sweetheart, you sleep well, too."
And with a feather-light kiss to the back of Yamato's neck, Taichi settled into bed, reminding himself to thank the cat for her illicit behavior when he woke up.
fin