Deirdre woke to the sound of a crying kitten. First, she checked her side of the bedroom floor, leaning over the side of the bed and finding no black kitty. Was he trapped outside their bedroom? Julius was bright yet tiny; sneaky he was, he was quick to cry.
She sighed, intending to get up to rescue Julius, but her lord husband (who must have snuck in at some point; did he shut the door?) reached back for her. "Over here," he said. "Poor thing is trying her best."
"Julia's here?" Deirdre leaned over his side, then a bit more, to spy the softly colored kitten on the floor. She jumped at the bed, too short to reach anything, clawing at the blanket that dangled down but could not grip it. "When did she get in?"
"Not too long."
Julia jumped again, scrambling for the sheet before falling back down on her paws. She sat back, staring expectingly up at them, mewling that familiar cry, different then her brother's when she really listened. It showed off her tiny fangs. "Help her," Deirdre said, poking his cheek.
"She almost has it."
Julia meowed again. Deirdre poked him too, knowing best how to be annoying. He gave in, and once on the bed, Julia ignored him entirely, coming to sit on Deirdre's chest. She was not heavy at all, the same shade as Deirdre's hair, smushing her paws against her. "Poor kitty," Deirdre mused, "I wouldn't have teased you!"
"Hush," Lord Arvis said, turning over to wrap his arm around her waist. The kitten mewled at him. "You have your own bed," he started.
She smiled, giving the kitten a scratch. He was talking to her! The kittens had been with them for four months, months in which her husband pretended to be stern with the odd kittens, yet they slept with them more often than not. Julia sneezed. "Poor thing's probably cold," Deirdre said. "It's why I sneak in your bed, after all."
"We are husband and wife. Not…woman and cat."
"That does not mean she should freeze!" Julia agreed, stuffing her face under her chin. "Poor kitty. Get your sleep."