LietPol – Kitten?
Toris sighed. He sat at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee and reading the news on a tablet. An empty bowl of cereal lay on the table next to him.
The sound of a phone alarm came from upstairs, followed by a thump and muffled swearing. He sighed again.
More thumps from upstairs. Toris looked at the clock, which showed the time as just gone eight o'clock in the morning. The alarm had gone off for the first time two hours ago, which was when Toris had got up. After showering, shaving and dressing, he had now been up for at least an hour, and was at the end of his morning routine, leisurely drinking coffee and browsing the news before he left for work.
The same could not be said for the apartment's other occupant. After another series of thuds and several yells, a figure finally emerged from the bedroom and ran hurriedly down the stairs. It ran around the kitchen madly, opening and shutting cupboards frantically.
"Oh, my gosh, I'm gonna be like so totally late! I am so going to be fired! TORIS, why didn't you wake me up! I'm gonna be like so late now! I, like, totally hate you now, you know. Oh my god, I like neeeeeeed coffee. Where is it, where is it, where is it…."
Toris ignored the litany. After a minute of the other tearing the kitchen apart, he pushed the chair back and stood up. He took a few steps over to the coffee machine and switched it on. Placing a capsule in the slot, he pressed a few buttons, then reached around and picked up a cup, placing it underneath. The machine whirred, a thin stream of coffee pouring down into the mug. Toris waited until it was finished, then slid it across the counter.
"Here, Feliks. Coffee. Now for goodness sake, sit down."
Feliks blinked. He grabbed the cup on instinct, lifting it to his mouth and inhaling the rich aroma. His face lit up. He took a sip.
"Careful, its hot."
Too late. The little blond yelled and stuck his tongue out. "'at weaeeaallly huuuuuwt, owowowowowow." Toris rolled his eyes and opened the fridge.
"Here. Milk."
Feliks grabbed the carton from his boyfriend's hands and drank straight from it. Then, as an afterthought, he turned 'round and put some in the mug as well. He looked around, and Toris placed a spoon next to him.
He sighed again. "For the last time, Feliks, sit down before you break anything. I'll make you breakfast."
"Yay! I love you, like, so much, Toris!" he hugged the taller man tightly. Toris smiled thinly, trying in vain to reach for an apron.
"I love you, too. Now let me go so I can cook."
"Oh, yeah. Like, sorry." Feliks let him go and hopped up onto a bar stool. He watched as Toris tied the apron around himself, then caught his mid-length hair up in a ponytail. He took various things out of the fridge and began whisking something up.
Feliks couldn't keep quiet for long. "Like, what are you making?"
Toris turned to face him over his shoulder. "I thought I'd make pancakes. Is that ok?"
Feliks smiled happily. "Yeah, like, totally."
Toris smiled to himself. The blonde's way of speaking had grated on his nerves when they first met, but now it was endearing, a quirk of his personality.
Toris finished the stack of pancakes and brought the plate over to him.
"Here. Toppings are on the table. And before you ask, no you are not putting sprinkles on them. Not this early in the morning." He dropped a kiss on Feliks' head by way of apology.
"Awwww. Like, totally unfair, Liet." Feliks whined.
"Too bad," Toris replied offhandedly. "You know what happens when you go to work with a sugar rush". He went over to the table and picked up his tablet again, skimming the headlines. There was nothing particularly interesting happening, however. He took a sip of his coffee, grimacing when he found it had gone cold.
He glanced down at his watch. It was almost half past eight.
"I've got to get ready. Remember to put everything in the dishwasher, ok?" he asked. Feliks waved a hand at him dismissively. "Like, will do!" he chirped. Toris walked over to the lounge and grabbed his briefcase, then went into the hallway and slipped his coat on, drawing the belt tightly around his waist. He took his keys from the bowl on the small table and dropped them into his pocket.
"Like, wait up. You're, like, totally forgetting something!" Feliks sung. Toris smiled and walked back into the kitchen.
"I've got to go now. Have a nice day, and I'll be home at five. I love you." He drew his arms around Feliks and hugged him briefly. Feliks grabbed him immediately and drew him down, kissing him deeply. Toris stiffened slightly, then leant down into the kiss. He drew back with a faintly amused expression.
"Strawberry jam?" he said, questioning. Feliks nodded, grinning. "You got it right! You're, like, so clever, Liet."
Toris smiled at him. "That's why I'm a teacher. That, and you are utterly predictable." He walked over to the hall.
"BUT YOU LOVE ME FOR IT! AND YOU, LIKE, TOTALLY KNOW IT! PLUS THAT TIE LOOKS GREAT ON YOU! I LOVE YOU!" Feliks voice came from the kitchen, yelling over the distance. Toris rolled his eyes, smiling softly.
"Thank you, Feliks. You say that about all my ties though."
"I TOTALLY HEARD THAT! But it's, like, totally true. You dress great." Feliks stopped shouting and opted for a more normal volume as he wandered into the hall. He leant against the wall, his eyes following Toris' every move.
"Do I?" the taller man asked absently. The blond nodded. "Yep. But then, I, like, choose all your clothes, so, that's, like, totally not surprising." He grinned, looking Toris up and down. "But then, you would look good in, like, literally anything. I swear, your figure is like, a god. You should totally model for me. Like, pleeeeease?" he opened his eyes wide, pleading.
Toris laughed, shaking his head. "You think so?" Feliks nodded. "Yeah. Like, seriously, your figure is like amazing for clothes."
"Really? I've never given it much thought. Besides, you're biased." Feliks nodded. "True!"
Toris laughed and turned to face him.
"I really have to go now. I'll be home at five, alright?"
"Mm-hmm." Feliks nodded. He lifted his face up to Toris, standing on tiptoe to reach him. Toris drew an arm around the smaller man's waist and leant down, kissing him again. Feliks leaned in for a moment, then drew back. Toris tilted his head, questioning.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Feliks shook his head, then looked up, his face uncharacteristically serious.
"I have a surprise for you. Like, it'll be here when you get back. Please don't get mad, ok? I promise you'll love it."
"A surprise? For me?"
Feliks nodded.
"O~k." Toris looked surprised. He was the one who normally surprised Feliks with gifts, not the other way around. Well, apart from the numerous ties the blond was always bringing him back from work, but that was more of a side effect of being a fashion designer with spare material.
Feliks hugged him again. "You'll, like, totally love it. I promise" he said. He sounded like he was trying to convince Toris.
"I'm sure I will" Toris replied. He tried unsuccessfully to make Feliks let go of his arms. He made the mistake of looking down, and Feliks took the chance to steal a kiss again. Toris let him, rolling his eyes in loving exasperation.
Ok, now I really have to go" he said, laughing. He grabbed the keys and unlocked the door, walking out to his car. Feliks waved at him as he reversed out and drove off, blowing him kisses until he was out of sight. He sighed. "Urgh, I gotta go get ready too now. Yay, work!"
He hummed to himself as he got ready, picking out his usual outfit of a ruffled white shirt and tight red pants. They fit snugly into brown calf-high boots, and he layered a cream jumper over the shirt. Flicking his hair out, he stared into the mirror. He applied some light makeup to exaggerate his features, then, satisfied, picked up his bag and went downstairs. Halfway to the hall, he stopped and went back into the kitchen, for once remembering to fill the dishwasher.
"Yay, housework! Go me!" he crowed. He gave one last look around the room. Satisfied that he hadn't forgotten anything, and that everything was hidden for the surprise, he picked his keys off the table and went out the house, locking it behind him.
True to his word, Toris arrived home almost on the dot of five o'clock. He let himself into the house, frowning slightly when he was greeted with silence.
"Feliks?" he called.
"He~re" came the answer. He walked down the hallway into the lounge to see Feliks lying in his typical position on the sofa, his head hanging off the armrest and his body almost upside down.
Toris smiled at him. "I'm home." He walked over and leant down to press a kiss to Felik's forehead. The blond smiled at him.
"Ok, wait there." He swung up from the couch and walked out of the room, then popped his head back around.
"Close your eyes, ok?"
Toris laughed. "Ok. Do I have to stay here, or can I sit down?"
Feliks popped his head back again. "You can sit down. But you've got to keep your eyes shut. Like, totally no peeping. At all."
Toris simply smiled. "Ok. No peeping. I've got it."
He relaxed into the couch. He could faintly hear Feliks' moving around upstairs, then footsteps coming back into the room.
"K. Hold out your hands. Like, carefully."
Toris did so, trying to keep his eyes closed. He felt a warm weight on his hands and drew them back to him on instinct, only to be butted by something soft.
He opened his eyes slowly, and couldn't help bursting out in laughter.
"A kitten? Really, Feliks?"
He looked up as Feliks stood back quickly, the kitten meowing in surprise as it found itself in a stranger's arms.
Feliks held his hands out, gesturing wildly.
"So, like, there's this girl at work. She has this, like totally gorgeous cat that she's always showing us pictures of. So, she's been, like, totally putting tons of pictures of it on her Instagram.
Anyway, like last month she told us that it was gonna have kittens and that, like, as her friends we totally got first pick if we wanted. So, I like poured over our entire lease thing, and it totally says pets are allowed if we like, train it and everything. So, then I asked if I could have one, and she said yes. Isn't she just like totally the cutest thing you've ever seen in your entire life!"
He stared up at Toris, his eyes shining. Toris looked down at the kitten. It was adorable, he admitted. It was a soft grey, with huge blue eyes that stared up at him. It tilted its head up in his arms. He smiled gently at it, cradling it. It butted its head against his hand.
"Awwww! See, she like, totally loves you already! We have to keep her, please Liet? Please?"
Toris looked down at it.
"Is it alright? I mean, has it had all its injections? And it will need to be microchipped."
Feliks nodded. "Yep. I totally asked about all that. She's totally old enough and everything. Like, the girl at work wouldn't let us have one if we weren't ok with waiting till all the vet stuff had been done. So, like, I told her I would read up on everything and get back to her. But it's all ok, so I did, and now she's ours." He looked down, hten back up at Toris, his face twisted with uncharacteristic worry. "Is it ok? I'll totally understand if you want me to take her back." His voice sounded pleading.
Toris thought about it. If this had been a mere whim of Feliks', he would have demanded that he did take it back, arguing that there was no way he was responsible enough to look after himself sometimes, let alone an animal. The fact that he had not only asked well in advance, but had gone so far as to read their entire tenant agreement to see that it was in fact allowed (he would be willing to admit that even he hadn't read the damn thing in its entirety) but waited until the kitten had been fully vaccinated and checked showed that Feliks had put a level of thought into this that Toris would never have believed him capable of.
He looked up at the blond. "Does she have a name?" he asked.
Feliks shook his head. "Niet. I thought maybe we could choose together." he said. He spoke quietly, as though afraid Toris would say no. The fact that he dropped his usual speech pattern only furthered Toris' conviction that the normally ditzy blond had truly thought this through.
He looked down at the tiny kitten, now snuggled into his jumped. He couldn't help a smile spreading over his face. "How about Miela?" he asked.
Feliks grinned slowly, his face hopeful. "That's so cute! Like, literally!" His face dropped, turning serious for once. "So, like, we can keep her? Like, for real?"
Toris nodded. "Yes. She's ours. Aren't you, little one?" he looked down at Miela again. She stared up at him, her tiny face looking plaintive. She meowed, then yawned hugely.
"Awww, poor baby. She's all tired. But that's cool! I totally got her a bed and everything! Isn't it, like, totally fabulous?" Feliks took the kitten carefully from his boyfriend and carried her over to a corner of the lounge. There, on the floor next to the fireplace, was a small bed, complete with a scattering of toys and a blanket for the tiny kitten to snuggle into. He set her down gently, and she promptly fell asleep.
"Follow me" Feliks ordered. Toris smiled and followed him into the kitchen. He gestured proudly to the floor. Next to the fridge, there were two small bowls, one each for food and water. Over in the corner there was a tray full of kitty litter. Toris blinked in surprise.
"W-what do you think?" Feliks asked quietly. "Did I do it all right?"
Toris simply shook his head in wonder. "It's amazing. You really came up with this all on your own?"
The blond nodded. "Yeah. I read like, a ton of stuff online. And I asked the girl at work like literally about a hundred questions. I think she kind of even got a bit annoyed at me, but, like, what else was I gonna do? I wanted it to be, like, perfect, you know?"
Toris nodded. "Well, you certainly managed that." He walked over to Feliks and hugged him deeply. "I'm so proud of you. I love you, you know that?"
Feliks blinked in shock, but hugged the taller man back. He sniffled.
Toris drew back in worry. "What's wrong? Are you crying? What did I say? Did I say something wrong? I'm so sorry, Feliks, I meant it as a compliment, I swear. Please don't cry. I'll make it up to you." he stuttered out apologies frantically.
Feliks laughed through his tears. He smacked Toris' arm lightly. "I'm, like, totally not mad, Liet. I'm really happy. I was like, so scared you'd get mad. But you're not, so I got, like, so happy I started crying. Isn't that, like, totally dumb?" he laughed again, wiping his eyes.
Toris placed his hands on either side of Felik's face. Leaning down so their foreheads touched, he said softly "No. It's not dumb. You did an amazing job of all this, and I love you for it." He kissed him softly.
"Now, how about dinner?"
Feliks shook his head. "No. You made breakfast for me, so I'm totally gonna repay you now. Go and, like, watch the news or something."
Toris looked vaguely doubtful, but didn't argue. Feliks was actually quite a good cook, if he remembered to keep his attention on the cooking. But the surprise of Miela had shown him that the little blond was far more capable than Toris had given him credit for. He took a step forward and kissed Felik's cheek.
"Ok. I'm just going to go and change then. I love you."
"Uh-huh." Feliks was already in his own world. Hopefully this meant he was focussed on cooking. Toris smiled and went upstairs to the bedroom. His gaze landed on his bedside table, where his own surprise lay hidden in a tiny black box.
Oh well. That could wait for another day. And he would make sure that it would be just as perfect at this had been.