As soon as he opened the front door he could hear Eric's voice, but there was no other voice answering him. Just the steady tone that Eric had when he was speaking calmly. It took a few moments for Aaron to get his jacket off and to hang it in the closet, and then he went searching to see where Eric was and who he was with.
He stopped at the corner to the kitchen, and sighed. There was a fluffy orange cat on the kitchen counter, laying in a spot of sunlight, and Eric was petting it. "I thought that we weren't going to let the cat sit on the counter?"
Eric turned to smile at him, "She isn't sitting; she is laying down. Aren't you Marmalade?" He stopped petting the cat and Aaron saw that he had a book in his other hand, which was now set aside.
"Were you reading to your cat?" Aaron stepped closer, reaching out to pet the cat as well. He shook his head, laughing, "You spoil her."
"Maybe. It's hard not to when she keeps giving me that look." Eric grinned, "The one that you give me so often. I've been conditioned to respond."
"Alright, but I still think she should stay off the counter. We don't need litter in our food." His tone belaying any impatience, he continued petting the cat and she purred at him before squinting her green eyes up at him.
"That means she loves you, you know. Olivia was telling me about cat behaviors and how to read their body language."
Aaron paused and looked over at Eric, skeptically, "Oh really? And what does it mean when a human does the same thing?"
"That I should get the cat off the counter?" Eric laughed, scooping up the cat before she had a chance to protest and deposited her on the floor. She gave them both a dirty look over her shoulder and sauntered out of the room. "She does know how to make an exit."