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Catboy!AU: [title tbd]
Don squirms as he starts to wake up, feeling too warm and sleepy to want to open his eyes. He's so cozy, surrounded by softness on all sides, that he could just go right back to sleep. The only reason he even knows he's awake is that he'd been dreaming a moment before. He'd been dusting the bookshelves in the apartment, only it hadn't really been the apartment - it had been more like the center, and he'd woken up when he realized that the center had never had bookshelves like that, brimming with big, thick books rich with knowledge, and even if it had, the bookshelves definitely wouldn't have smelt like bacon.
Bacon?
Don had figured the bacon smell was just a part of the dream, but he can still smell it now, which is weird. He shifts and stretches a little more, takes notice of the blankets on top of him and the soft, squishy thing that's nestled in his arms. That's certainly different from what he's used to - is he still dreaming? He lets out a confused mew and opens his eyes enough to take a look at his surroundings.
He's in a room, with a low table a foot or so away from him, and on the other side of the room is an open door. Don's ears prick up - he can hear the sound of a spatula on a frying pan and something sizzling, which must be the bacon. That's right, that was the kitchen, Don thinks, and at last he wakes up enough to remember where he is: Marvelous's house. The home of the human who'd taken him in off the street last night.
Don sits up slowly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and looks down to see that he's still in the pajamas he'd borrowed from Marvelous last night after his bath. He'd slept on Marvelous's sofa, and that must be Marvelous in the kitchen cooking breakfast. He'd been a little worried that everything that had happened yesterday had been a dream, and that he'd wake up shivering in a dirty alleyway again, but it looks like that's definitely not the case.
I should go and say good morning to him, Don thinks, but his stomach twists with nervousness. Marvelous had been kind to him yesterday, but what if things are different today? What if he's changed his mind? Don still can't believe that a total stranger would be willing to take him in indefinitely; what if Marvelous has decided that Don is too much of a burden for him after all? Don hugs his pillow and frets over it all for a moment.
But he promised, the other half of Don's mind protests. He promised I could stay with him as long as I want, and he's been so gentle... Don thinks back to last night, how Marvelous had held him while he cried, had let Don curl up with him on the sofa, had stroked Don's hair until he fell asleep. Marvelous wouldn't just turn Don away after all of that, would he?
Don gathers his courage and gets to his feet, still hugging the pillow to his chest. He pads quietly towards the kitchen, the smell of sizzling bacon growing stronger and making his mouth water. He'd had a good meal - the first proper one in months - last night, but after sleeping through the night he's starting to feel hungry again.
"Marvelous?" Don calls, and peers through the kitchen door. Nervous though he is, his ears perk up happily when he sees Marvelous by the stove. "Good morning," he says, giving his tail a cheerful swish.
Bacon?
Don had figured the bacon smell was just a part of the dream, but he can still smell it now, which is weird. He shifts and stretches a little more, takes notice of the blankets on top of him and the soft, squishy thing that's nestled in his arms. That's certainly different from what he's used to - is he still dreaming? He lets out a confused mew and opens his eyes enough to take a look at his surroundings.
He's in a room, with a low table a foot or so away from him, and on the other side of the room is an open door. Don's ears prick up - he can hear the sound of a spatula on a frying pan and something sizzling, which must be the bacon. That's right, that was the kitchen, Don thinks, and at last he wakes up enough to remember where he is: Marvelous's house. The home of the human who'd taken him in off the street last night.
Don sits up slowly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and looks down to see that he's still in the pajamas he'd borrowed from Marvelous last night after his bath. He'd slept on Marvelous's sofa, and that must be Marvelous in the kitchen cooking breakfast. He'd been a little worried that everything that had happened yesterday had been a dream, and that he'd wake up shivering in a dirty alleyway again, but it looks like that's definitely not the case.
I should go and say good morning to him, Don thinks, but his stomach twists with nervousness. Marvelous had been kind to him yesterday, but what if things are different today? What if he's changed his mind? Don still can't believe that a total stranger would be willing to take him in indefinitely; what if Marvelous has decided that Don is too much of a burden for him after all? Don hugs his pillow and frets over it all for a moment.
But he promised, the other half of Don's mind protests. He promised I could stay with him as long as I want, and he's been so gentle... Don thinks back to last night, how Marvelous had held him while he cried, had let Don curl up with him on the sofa, had stroked Don's hair until he fell asleep. Marvelous wouldn't just turn Don away after all of that, would he?
Don gathers his courage and gets to his feet, still hugging the pillow to his chest. He pads quietly towards the kitchen, the smell of sizzling bacon growing stronger and making his mouth water. He'd had a good meal - the first proper one in months - last night, but after sleeping through the night he's starting to feel hungry again.
"Marvelous?" Don calls, and peers through the kitchen door. Nervous though he is, his ears perk up happily when he sees Marvelous by the stove. "Good morning," he says, giving his tail a cheerful swish.
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He turns back to the cooking while Don browses the fruit bowls; the sausages are starting to burst right out of their skins and the fat is hissing with enthusiasm as they expand and drip their juices. The smell of the bacon is simply making his mouth water. The meats will be too hot to eat straight out of the pan, so Marvelous pulls them off the heat first and gets them laid out on a platter in perfectly neat rows of sausage and bacon slices overlaying one another. You eat with your eyes first.
I’d like to make some orange juice, Don says, and Marvelous comes back out of his meat-trance. And, if you don’t mind, Don adds, may I cut up a couple of the persimmons for us to have with breakfast, too?
"Sure!" Marvelous says enthusiastically. Orange juice is a classic accompaniment to breakfast (and even second breakfast). "You don't have to stop there, have whatever fruit you want!" He takes the couple of steps to the cupboard reserved just for varying sizes of bowls and grabs a large mixing-bowl sized one. "You can use this to put them in."
He then grabs another slightly smaller one to place in the centre of the platter and spoon the scrambled eggs into. The boiled ones nestle amongst the hash browns on the platter. A plate each, some cutlery, and mugs out just as the kettle starts to boil.
"Coffee?" He asks as he sets the mugs down. "Tea?"
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Don rolls the sleeves of Marvelous’s pajama shirt up to his elbows, then takes a moment to wash his hands in the sink before he sets to work. He lays one of the cutting boards down on the counter and pulls a knife from the rack - just a short one, so it won’t be too clumsy to work with. He slices the bananas first, cutting them neatly in half with their peels still on and setting them back in the bowl. He does the kiwis the same way, though they’re so juicy that he sets a paper towel in the bowl before putting the halved kiwis in so that they won’t drip all over the other fruits. The persimmons take a little more work; the stems and leaves have to be removed, and they need to be properly sliced up rather than just halved. Don cuts each one into eight wedges, and is unable to resist popping one of the first ones straight into his mouth. It’s cool and sweet, the texture of it wonderfully light, and so fresh and ripe that Don lets out a little hum of delight as he chews. Once he’s finished slicing the persimmons, he arranges the wedges in the bowl with the bananas and kiwis, and then holds it out to Marvelous.
“Here, these are all ready,” he says, his ears perking up. “I’ll have the juice ready in just another minute.”
Don sets back to work, and is halving the oranges when Marvelous asks him whether he’d like coffee or tea. “Oh, um...” He’s careful not to get too distracted from what he’s doing with the knife while he thinks about it. “I think I’d like some tea, please,” he says. “May I ask what kinds you have?” Don plugs in the juicer and sets to juicing the oranges as he waits for an answer. Any kind of tea will be fine - he hasn’t had any in ages, so it’ll be a nice treat! - but he’s curious as to which varieties Marvelous enjoys. He might even have some Don hasn’t heard of before!
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He takes the plates and cutlery straight into the living room to place them down on the coffee table, leaving a large space for the food to sit in. Don is in the middle of slicing through an orange when Marvelous comes back, and he can see that the juice won't be long now.
"Tea?" Marvelous repeats, opening the cupboard he keeps his hot drinks in to pull out a jar of coffee for himself. He rummages amongst the boxes with quick movements of his hand. "I've got black tea, green tea, chai, Earl Grey, Lapsang souchong, some herbal blends like Jasmine, Peppermint, Chamomile, and a few fruit flavours, too, if you like those."
Marvelous can be fairly particular about his coffee when he's out buying it on-the-go - only the best, made from organic ingredients, and guaranteed made by properly qualified baristas. But for first thing in the morning when he just wants a quick shot of energy before he goes out for the day instant coffee is fine, and even then he still buys the best brand he can find. Marvelous may put just about anything into his mouth but if he's going to anyway it might as well be good! He'll chase this coffee down later with the real deal. He puts a couple of spoons worth of the granules into his mug and adds the hot water, stirring as he waits for Don's answer in regards to his own drink. Then he'll be ready to make Don's tea and take both mugs into the living room before the final touch; carrying in breakfast itself all ready for the eating.
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Don turns back to the juicer and continues working through the orange halves one at a time, pressing them down onto the juicer and enjoying the way the rind goes squishy and pliable beneath his hand as the orange is turned into juice and pulp. The bright smell of citrus fills the air in the kitchen as the oranges surrender their juice, and Don feels light and happy inside, enjoying being back in a proper kitchen even for just a simple task like this one. Before long, the oranges are all finished, their empty peels resting on a paper towel beside the sink, and the juicer’s receptacle is full of tangy, pulpy juice.
“Do you have some glasses I can pour the juice into?” Don asks, turning back toward Marvelous, but before he gets an answer, he glances out into the living room and sees that Marvelous has already set the cutlery and plates on the coffee table, so that they can sit on the couch to eat like they had at dinner last night, but the couch still has the pillow and blankets on it that Don had been using to sleep. And he’d come straight into the kitchen after waking up, so the blankets are still piled in a careless heap!
“Oh!” says Don, hurrying back into the living room without even unplugging the juicer. “I’m sorry, I forgot about the couch, I didn’t mean to leave it so messy!” His ears and tail twitch nervously as he heads over to the couch; he doesn’t want Marvelous to think he’s being careless with his things, or being thoughtless about leaving them in the way! “I’ll get it straightened up, it won’t take me a minute!”
Don scoops the blankets and pillow off of the couch and carries them over to an empty corner by the TV, then kneels down to start folding the blankets up. “I really didn’t mean to leave them in the way like that, when you were so kind to lend them to me, I'm sorry...” Part of him is sure that Marvelous won’t think anything of it, when he’s been so easy-going so far, but the other part is too scared of ending up on the street again to want to risk even the slightest offense. It’s Marvelous’s house, after all, and Don is only there by his generosity and goodwill. He has every right to throw Don out if Don does something to offend him. Don would like to relax, and trust that Marvelous isn’t as mercurial as some humans are, but he’s been alone and scared for so long that he can’t let his guard down there just yet, not when there’s a self-protective place in his mind telling him he can’t afford to make any mistakes.
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Marvelous walks right through the zesty citrus smell of the oranges as he heads to the fridge for the milk, and it tingles his nostrils as he breathes it in, making him light-headed with pleasure. The sweet, sharp smell is so refreshing and warm, like sunshine in a glass.
"Do you have some glasses?" Don asks, almost echoing the last word in his thoughts, and Marvelous is about to reply in the affirmative and get some out for him when Don dashes away into the living room instead. He starts babbling about having left the room a mess, and Marvelous hadn't even noticed!
What mess?
That he's been sleeping on the sofa? That isn't mess, that's a simple fact! Marvelous swipes the glasses out of the cupboard since he's already most of the way there and puts them down beside the juicer before striding into the living room right after Don who is in the middle of gathering up the pillow and blankets in his arms to get them out of the way. Marvelous would have had no issues with sitting on top of the (no doubt still warm from Don's body heat) blanket and eating right there. He can't quite comprehend what the fuss is about!
He takes a few quick steps over, following behind Don as he rushes off to the corner to not only dump the blankets and pillow, but kneel and take the time to fold the blankets up again too! There isn't time for that! Marvelous reaches down a places a gentle hand on Don's shoulder so as not to startle him.
"Come on, your food will get cold," he says softly. "That can wait."
He doesn't really mean 'that job can wait until after we've eaten', so much as 'that really doesn't need doing at all, it's a blanket and nobody else will even see it except for us, and I don't even care', but it will take even more time to explain all of that and Marvelous just wants to eat. He already senses that the best way to deal with Don's petrified worries is simply to do the opposite of what he was obviously scared of and not make a fuss about any of it at all. Not even mention it.
"Did you sleep well?" He asks instead, because Don had offered to help with breakfast and thrown Marvelous off before he could even inquire earlier! "It seemed like you did."
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Don bites his lip and sets the blanket down. See, you were just being silly, he chides himself. No need to get so fussy about every little thing. Marvelous won’t get angry with you for something as little as an unfolded blanket, but he may well get sick of a silly catboy who won’t stop jumping at nothing, and then he’ll throw you out for sure!
Don gets back to his feet, eyes lowered. “You’re right,” he says quietly, “of course breakfast should come first, I wasn’t thinking properly, I’m sorry.” His heart feels like it’s beating ten times too fast. His fingers start to tremble, and he clenches them in the hem of the pajama shirt Marvelous had lent him. He doesn’t want to panic or cry but he’s already made such a huge mistake, and has no idea how much it’ll be held against him. “I-I-I just don’t know w-what your rules are, or how you like things...” Don dares a slight glance up but he looks straight past Marvelous to the kitchen, and sees the pitcher of juice he’d abandoned on the counter.
“Oh, oh no, I forgot the juice too,” he says, hurrying back into the kitchen and missing anything else Marvelous might have said in his rush to finish the one task he’d been entrusted with and then completely failed to do. “I’m sorry, I-I should have thought,” he stammers, tears starting to push at his eyes. Don goes to pick up the pitcher, but of course, there are no glasses out for the juice, because Don hadn’t listened long enough for Marvelous to tell him where to get them from before he’d gone dashing out into the living room, panicking over nothing like a fool, and now he’ll have to ask about the glasses again and Marvelous will think he’s neurotic and stupid and change his mind about ever having wanted Don in his house.
Look what you’ve done, he thinks, you couldn’t even go an entire day before you ruined everything. You’ll be lucky if you even get that breakfast now, he may as well just throw you out this second and have done with you.
Don buries his face in his hands as he bursts into panicked tears, ears going flat against his head and tail drooping miserably.
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Before Marvelous can even open his mouth to answer that Don is already gone. "I forgot the juice too," come the panicked words after him as he rushes into the kitchen. Marvelous hears him dashing about, shuffling around. He'd asked where the glasses were before he'd rushed off, but Marvelous hadn't had a chance to answer him then either. He's so jumpy!
Marvelous decides that before Don can run around anymore that he's going to put an end to it. He walks towards the kitchen again, blocking the doorway to keep Don in one place so that they can straighten this whole thing out.
When he looks up, though, Don has his face in his hands and is sobbing. Marvelous can't just stand there and do nothing. It hasn't been twenty-four hours yet but he knows by now that he's pretty safe to offer Don physical contact so he walks over and envelopes Don into his arms.
"You're my guest," Marvelous says, letting Don bury his tear-stained face into his chest. "You didn't even need to help me with breakfast but you asked so I took you up on it! But I wouldn't have minded at all if you hadn't. I was happy to make it for us both." He places a hand on the back of Don's neck and strokes the hair at his nape. "You haven't done anything wrong, and you haven't made any mess! I can barely see where you've been, you're so small and quiet!"
This panicked response from Don indicates to Marvelous that Don has dealt with some pretty unrealistic expectations in regards to behaviour. Perhaps more than just his recent experiences are upsetting him. Marvelous won't probe, though.
"You haven't upset me, or made me angry," he promises. "Please don't be scared. I told you that you were safe here and I meant it." He hugs Don tighter just for good measure, keeping hold of him until his breathing starts to slow again.
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“You’re my guest,” says Marvelous as Don cries into his shirt. He strokes the back of Don’s neck with one hand, soothing him with his soft touch and kind words. “You haven’t done anything wrong, and you haven’t made any mess!” Don’s face is buried in Marvelous’s chest, but he doesn’t need to look in Marvelous’s eyes to sense the sincerity of his words. “I can barely see where you've been, you're so small and quiet!”
Don sobs softly in Marvelous’s arms, not from panic this time but from being so touched by Marvelous’s care for him. It’s very reminiscent of when the professor had first taken Don to his home, and had reassured him as many times as he’d needed that he didn’t need to be afraid of making a mistake, that he’d never be thrown out or sold. It had taken Don a while to get used to such love and acceptance - it was so different from what he’d been brought up to expect from a human! - but it had been so wonderful once he had. And it seems that Marvelous might be trying to offer him that same kind of care now, though Don can scarcely believe it to be true.
“Please don’t be scared,” Marvelous adds after reassuring Don that he isn’t angry or upset with him. “I told you that you were safe here and I meant it.” He holds Don tighter, and Don clings to his shirt, trying to calm himself enough to reply. Eventually Don’s tears slow, and he’s able to lift his head and peer up at Marvelous.
“Thank you,” he says, blinking back tears. “I really like you, Marvelous, a-and I want to stay with you, you’re so kind. Just...” Don swallows over the painful lump in his throat. “Just p-promise you w-won’t...” he stammers, trying to summon the nerves to ask the thing he’s been most worried about. “Promise you won’t turn me out i-if I displease you?” Don hides his face in Marvelous’s shirt again. “I d-don’t have anywhere else to go, and I can’t go b-back on the street,” he whimpers, trembling as he thinks of the fate that would await him if he found himself once again without a home.
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"Promise you won’t turn me out if I displease you?" Don asks, and then buries his head again as though too scared to wait for the answer. "I don’t have anywhere else to go, and I can’t go back on the street-"
"I won't," Marvelous promises firmly, stroking a hand down Don's back. "I can't imagine what you could do to displease me, but for your peace of mind let's say it just might happen sometime. Well then we'd talk about it, okay?" Marvelous can't help but treat Don the same way he would treat another human being, he doesn't know any different! The idea that someone would just throw a catperson out because they did something their owner didn't agree with is intolerable.
"We'd talk about it, like... like equals. And we'd find a way to work it out. I wouldn't force you to leave with nowhere to go, but if for whatever reason you didn't want to stay here anymore, or for some reason you couldn't, I wouldn't just throw you out like trash." Marvelous places his hands on Don's cheeks and then tilts his head upwards gently to look him in the eyes. "You're not trash. You're someone with thoughts, and feelings, and a sweet personality, and don't allow anybody to make you believe differently. If you ever want to go I won't stop you - I know you want to stay and that's fine - but I'm not forcing you to stay either, because there are other options and I'd find one for you. We'd find you a new home if you wanted it." Marvelous strokes Don's skin gently with his thumbs. It should probably feel odd to be behaving so tenderly with him this soon, but it doesn't. "But if that day never comes then you're more than welcome to stay with me. I promise."
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Don’s ears perk up a little at the sound of that. Most humans don’t think of catpeople as equals at all, he knows more than well enough - many would probably laugh at the very idea! But Marvelous isn’t like most humans, and that he’d even say such a thing is a reason to be hopeful, not to mention how kindly he’s treated Don so far despite their circumstances.
“I wouldn't force you to leave with nowhere to go,” Marvelous continues, “but if for whatever reason you didn't want to stay here anymore, or for some reason you couldn't, I wouldn't just throw you out like trash.” Marvelous slips a hand between them and tilts Don’s chin up with gentle fingers. “You’re not trash,” he says, his expression so sincere it makes Don’s heart flutter. “You're someone with thoughts, and feelings, and a sweet personality, and don't allow anybody to make you believe differently.” His words are so kind as to nearly bring Don to tears again! It’s been so long since anyone said such nice things about him, Don had all but forgotten it was possible.
And Marvelous’s assurances that he’d never leave Don without a home, no matter what happened, are just as wonderful. He even strokes his thumbs gently over Don’s cheeks, wiping away the traces of his tears, and it’s so affectionate that Don feels warm all over. “If that day never comes then you're more than welcome to stay with me. I promise.”
It’s never been easy for Don to read humans’ scents or intentions, but right now he doesn’t feel even the slightest of doubts - Marvelous means every word of what he says. Don feels a smile returning to his face, and his ears flutter a bit as he lets go of Marvelous’s shirt in favor of wrapping his arms around him for a hug. He leans in close and rubs his cheek against Marvelous’s. “Thank you,” he murmurs, hugging Marvelous tightly. His tail swishes happily behind him, and he trembles a little from the relief that’s flooding over him as it starts to sink in that he really won’t ever have to go back to living in the streets. That Marvelous will take care of him, and won’t ever let him end up homeless. “Thank you, Marvelous.” He squeezes Marvelous a little tighter, and lets out a soft chirping mew when he feels Marvelous’s arms slipping around him again. “I don’t think I’ll ever want to leave you, I’m so happy to live with you…” He gives Marvelous’s cheek one last nuzzle before leaning back to look him in the eyes again.
Don wipes at his eyes and sniffles away the last of his tears before doing his best to give Marvelous a smile. “I’ll try not to be scared anymore,” he says, and looking into Marvelous’s sincere face it’s easy to feel like that won’t be a problem. “I might still get worried sometimes, but, I’ll try to remember I can trust you.” He glances back over at the beautiful breakfast Marvelous had laid out on the coffee table, and his stomach rumbles as the delicious scents waft over to them from it. “Um, would you like to eat breakfast now?” he asks, tail swishing from his curiosity over what all the foods will taste like. “I don’t want all the nice food you made to get cold!”