Cat lover
Being with the Serval Industries' team, Pietro had discovered a new superpower: he was a cat magnet. Either that or Gambit's cats really, really liked him.
Pietro didn't recall having done anything special for them and still they went to him, and who was he to deny them some of his time?
It wasn't like he didn't have any, after all.
The first time it happened, Pietro was in the living room, comfortably sitting on the couch and watching tv; the other members of the team were already sleeping – they needed more time than him to rest – so he had to lower the volume so much that he almost couldn't hear anything, but he didn't mind: he wasn't really paying much attention to what was going on.
He was considering going to his room when he felt something touching his leg.
The TV's light was the only thing that allowed him to see, and Pietro was able to distinguish well enough the figure of one of Gambit's cats. Good luck figuring out which one he actually was, though.
It was then that Pietro realized the cat was purring at him. Well, he sure was friendly, so he definitely wasn't Oliver – Gambit always said that he was the most aggressive of the three.
At first Pietro tried to shoo him with his leg, but he kept coming.
Pietro looked around to be sure nobody was there, before remembering that he was alone, and then he picked up the cat, letting him sit on his lap.
Now he could clearly see that his fur was orange so no, he definitely wasn't Oliver. He still didn't remember his name, though.
He started to pet him from time to time, while he kept watching the TV, but soon he caught himself staring more at the cat that at the screen; he seemed comfortable there, and whenever Pietro petted his head, he always purred happily.
Pietro let a smile slip through his lips and he didn't even know why he was smiling like an idiot. It was just a cat, after all, a little, cute cat…
He had never spent much time with cats – he had been busy with matters far more important than that – so finding out that he didn't mind their presence that much came as a surprise to him.
Soon the cat fell asleep and Pietro was starting to feel tired as well.
He couldn't leave the cat there, though. Well, he actually could have, but he didn't feel like it.
It was when he arrived in front of the door to Gambit's room that he started to think that maybe that was a mistake. He could have used his speed to leave the cat and go away without anyone noticing, but he wasn't sure that was a good idea: usually people didn't respond well when he carried them at his normal speed, so what if the cat got sick?
But what if Gambit was still awake? Pietro was sure he would have teased him to no end if he saw him with his cat; not only that, but he would have surely told everyone what he had seen.
Pietro wouldn't have known peace anymore.
He couldn't spend the rest of the night there, though. If Gambit was awake he would have knocked him out, so hopefully he wasn't going to remember anything.
He had to stay focused when he opened the door – he was used to go slow, by now, but not that slow – but luckily there were no problems.
Gambit was asleep, good.
Pietro took a few steps inside, careful not to make any noise, and then he laid the cat on the ground. He had no idea where he was supposed to put him, but he guessed that on the ground was alright.
Before going away, though, he sneaked another peak on Gambit, just to make sure he was actually asleep.
He was sleeping, and Pietro shouldn't have been surprised to find out he was naked, but he was, and maybe that was the reason it was taking so long for him to look away.
As he observed him, at his naked torso, strong arms and legs, intertwined with the sheets, he finally came to the realisation that he was acting like a creep and that he should leave right…
Wait, was that is…
Remy suddenly got up.
He could swear he had heard a bang of some kind, but he could clearly see everything was in place.
- Quoi? -, he muttered.
The temptation of going back to sleep was strong, but Remy decided to at least take a look outside first. Who knew, maybe something had happened to the others.
He got up and took his robe – it wouldn't have been very polite to just show up naked like that – and then he opened the door.
It was all quiet; it didn't look like anything happened, so Remy figured out that he must have dreamt everything.
He was heading towards his bed when he saw Lucifer sleeping on the ground.
Well, that was unusual: Lucifer never slept on the ground, he preferred Remy's bed – it was softer.
He must have been really tired, so Remy picked him up, careful not to wake him, and he took him with him, leaving him on the other side of the mattress.
He closed his eyes and he fell asleep soon, forgetting everything about what he had heard previously.
Meanwhile Pietro was trying to sleep but he couldn't think about anything else than what he had seen.
The only thought of having to look Remy in the eyes knowing that he had seen his… he had seen him like that was already messing with him.
It had been a mistake, but mistakes happened every now and then, especially in his case.
He could pretend nothing happened; after all he was fully capable of hiding his emotions and thoughts – he did that all day – so nobody was going to notice anything different about him.
Nobody was going to ask him anything. He could relax.
The next day Pietro met with his teammates and everything went as usual, except for one thing: now Gambit's cats loved him.
There were times when Pietro had to move at his normal speed to stop them from following him, but he couldn't always use that tactic or the others would have started to suspect something, so sometimes it was possible to see Pietro walking through their place followed by the cats, and even when Pietro did his best not to give them any attention they were still after him. They didn't seem to mind being ignored that much.
The others never seemed to notice it, or else they would have surely laughed at him, but maybe they were too afraid of making Pietro too angry to openly talk about it, and they just laughed about it in private.
Pietro could have checked but at that point he would rather not know; at least he could pretend his pride wasn't being damaged that way.
When he was alone, however, he didn't mind giving the cats some attention at all.
Sometimes it was nothing more than a quick stroke, sometimes he would spend a good ten minutes petting them, always with that stupid, fond smile on his face.
He had gotten used to waking up to one of them jumping on his face, and nevermind that he was pretty sure he had locked the door the previous night.
He didn't really mind waking up like that, and at least he had some time to play with the cats without having to worry about being spotted and ridiculed by someone.
However he always made sure they were back to Gambit's room before he woke up, and he had taken a peek on him only a few times.
He was starting to think that maybe they liked him more than their actual owner, but by the way they acted around Gambit and how much they sought his attention as well, he understood that it was impossible.
Oliver was on Gambit's lap, playing with him, and Pietro had to fight with all his might to not smile at that.
They were cute. Actually, only the Oliver was cute; Gambit wasn't. Not at all.
Pietro was starting to feel like he had walked on a private moment, something he wasn't supposed to be in, so he decided to leave them alone.
Pietro slowly opened his eyes. In front of him there was Figaro, gently pawing at his nose.
- Yeah… yeah, I'm awake -, he muttered to him, petting his head.
He assumed a sitting position and then he stretched his arms. Meanwhile Figaro had already claimed his place on Pietro's lap, not that Pietro had something against it.
After rubbing his eyes, still a bit sleepy, he noticed Oliver advancing towards him. He smiled and he stretched his hand towards him, inviting him to come closer.
Oliver didn't need to be told twice and he jumped on Pietro, accidentally hitting Figaro on the head with his tail.
Suddenly Pietro heard a faint laugh and he froze, then he turned his head to the other side of the bed.
- Gambit -, he said.
- Goodmornin' ta you too -, Remy replied. He still had an amused expression on his face and Pietro's cold demeanour didn't manage to break it. Lucifer was still asleep beside him.
- So… -, he continued, getting closer to Pietro, - How was your night? -, he asked and then he kissed Pietro's naked shoulder.
- You should know how it was -, Pietro replied, earning another brief laugh from Remy.
- I was jus' tryin' ta make what they call "casual conversation" -, he said, then he leaned on Pietro's shoulder, - And what do we have here? -, he said, quite amused, looking at Oliver and Figaro resting on Pietro's lap.
- Eh, The Lord of the Cats -, he said then, but since Pietro was looking at him with perplexed eyes, he had to explain him what he meant.
- It's a Lord of the Rings reference -.
Pietro still didn't have any reaction, so Remy just sighed.
- Why do I even try? -, he muttered and Pietro turned his attention to the cats again.
- Y'know -, Remy said, after a while, - Usually it takes longer ta them ta get accustomed to any of my partners, they are quite jealous at first, but it doesn't seem the case with you -.
Pietro nodded.
- Maybe you're a Disney princess -, Remy suggested, realising too late that Pietro wasn't probably going to get that either, but c'mon, who didn't at least know Disney?
Pietro nodded again.
- Hey -, Remy said then, - Are you even listening ta me? -.
Pietro nodded but he hadn't raised his eyes from the cats not even once.
Remy hugged Pietro's waist, leaning on his neck to get his attention. He then started to kiss the exposed flesh, and finally he got a reaction: Pietro winced, in fact, sighing happily at the contact.
- Just tell me one thing, cher -, Remy muttered then, - Are you here for me or my cats? -.
After a moment of surprise – he wasn't expecting that kind of question – Pietro pretended to think about it, and then he said with a sly smile:
- I think your cats will do -.
- Mmmh… -, Remy mumbled, - Would you allow me ta change your mind? -, he asked then.
- If you can -, Pietro challenged and Remy was immediately on his mouth.
With his hand he shooed Oliver and Figaro; he was going to play with them later, but at the moment he had more urgent matters that required his attention. He pinned Pietro to the mattress and with that he managed to wake up Lucifer, who quickly left the bed, joining his friends.
Pietro was about to scold him for that, but Remy was good enough to let him forget about that and let him focus on something else instead.
From that moment Pietro started to be more open about liking Remy's cats; he allowed himself to let his guard down even if the other members of the team were nearby.
Lorna started to tease him a lot about it, but she always had a fond smile on her face. Pietro usually teased her in return about anything he could come up with, but he had a fond smile on his face as well.
-'s cute -, Remy told him once.
- What? -, Pietro asked.
- You, the cats… -, Remy replied.
- Actually, I take that back -, he continued then, - The cats are way better than you -.
- Oh yeah? -, Pietro retorted.
Figaro, which had been on his lap until that moment, seemed to quickly understand what was going to happen because he left them to search another spot to rest.
Meanwhile Pietro had got closer to Remy; their lips where not even a few centimetres apart.
