House Cat [temporarily complete]

c.h.a.p.t.e.r t.w.e.n.t.y o.n.e

Isiel set his fork down, maintaining a mild, approachable expression despite his concern regarding Dorian\'s absence - it just wasn\'t like him to miss a meal no matter the circumstances. The sensation of holding court felt bizarre, but he didn\'t let it faze him and addressed the nekos as a whole without any sign of nerves, \"If anyone here has any problems or questions now is the time to speak up.\"

\"Isiel looks funny!\" one of the kittens piped up, making the rest giggle behind their hands. A full-grown shushed him and the others.

Another neko spoke up, \"How long is Master going to be gone? I want to know if I can paint my room.\"

\"Yeah!\" one of the teens nodded, \"And, you do look kind of weird like that Isiel.\"

Isiel felt his chest constrict, his personal feelings conflicting with the way he perceived Eiji and Kiba wanted him to run the mansion and he simply ignored the teen for now, concentrating upon the matter of Eiji, \"I shall be paying a visit to him shortly, but I\'m afraid your question will have to wait until he returns.\"

\"I want an answer now!\" the neko pouted.

One of the kittens, who had slid down in his chair and under the table, reached out and grabbed at Isiel\'s pant leg, pulling at it. \"Funny silly Isiel!\" he laughed, grabbing one of the boy\'s shoes and running away with it in his teeth.

Any semblance of warmth disappeared from Isiel\'s face as he waited for the kitten to surface and regarded the other nekos coldly for the first time, exercising his authority, \"I want to maintain a good relationship with each and every one of you, but I have been named your Master\'s heir and that in itself demands some level of respect. Your opinions regarding my age and how I look might seem valid in some instances, but they are not appreciated.\"

\"Mou-- so we can\'t say you look silly?\" one of the kittens inquired, as the one that had stolen Isiel\'s shoe took a seat in his chair again, sniffing at the footwear before biting at it and shaking his head with the shoe in his little fangs.

\"Can we still play with Isiel?\" one of the teens added, trying not to laugh at the kitten destroying Isiel\'s footwear.

Isiel sighed, wishing he\'d just eaten dinner alone as he watched the kitten munching on his shoe, not caring one bit about the stress placed upon him to make a go of this, \"I don\'t think I\'ll have time...in all honesty and I\'m sure you can have plenty of fun together when you\'re not studying.\" A hint of envy crept into his voice and he couldn\'t help but look a little saddened, \"Return my shoe now please.\"

\"No!\" the kitten laughed through a mouthful of leather. He got out of his chair-- disobeying the rule never to leave the table until Master had left-- and made a run for the door.

Isiel was however much faster than a regular kitten and gracefully left his seat, placing himself between the door and the errant neko, laying a hand firmly upon his shoulder and removing the shoe, \"If you don\'t behave then I\'ll be forced to punish you.\" He said loudly enough for the rest to hear, giving them a sign that this level of disobedience would not be tolerated even if he had once been just like them.

Several of the nekos gave the little kitten horrified looks as he ran, and appeared relieved when Isiel seemed to be showing his authority, finally. A few of the kittens peered at Isiel and their fellow kitten skeptically, narrowing their eyes.

\"Isiel wouldn\'t!\" the kitten mewled defiantly, reaching for the shoe again.

Isiel kept it right out of his reach, his tail bristling against the kitten\'s rebellious nature even as he longed to just hug him for being so naughty and laugh it off, \"You have to call me Master now....Isiel...that isn\'t a name for this place.\" He replied, giving no room for argument.

The kitten paused his attempts at retrieving the shoe and looked at Isiel for a moment before his naughtiness faded into surprise. \"Master?\" he mumbled, trying to see Isiel in that authoritative sort of position and understanding suddenly how bad he\'d been.

His ears went flat on his head and he ducked down and away a little, looking at the floor. \"Sorry, Master,\" he mumbled softly.

Isiel relented slightly and ruffled the kitten\'s hair gently, showing him he wasn\'t angry and appreciated his adoption of the title so quickly, \"It\'s alright, just don\'t let anything like this happen again.\"

The kitten smiled and lifted his head, opening his mouth to say something once more but glancing over at the doorway and shying away immediately, hurrying back to his group of kittens where the safety was.

Kiba stood in the door, and lapped a few trickles of blood off his arm before looking over at Isiel once he had the boy\'s attention. \"The tailor is here Master,\" he said calmly, licking the last droplets of blood from around his mouth and smirking at the respect he immediately commanded with all the nekos.

Isiel nodded, glad to be given an excuse for at least a slightly greater degree of privacy away from the nekos whose teasing had hurt him deep down and made him wish for a simpler life even briefly. In silence he retreated, passing Kiba by without a word.

The tailor was waiting in Isiel\'s room, and had several lengths of measuring tape draped over his arms as he smiled warmly at the boy. \"So you must be Isiel,\" the old man said in a gentle, shaky voice. \"Come here; let me have a look at you.\"

Isiel did as the man asked with a bland sort of politeness, somehow he\'d grown to distrust kind words and faces since the disastrous meeting and that fact tugged at his heart, breaking it slowly into smaller and smaller pieces along with his concern for Eiji and the muddled up feelings he still experienced for Dorian even after such a harsh awakening.

The old man moved slowly but surely around Isiel, humming happily to himself and feeling along the boy\'s shoulders, then his hips and thighs, then back up to his stomach, feeling how flat it was. \"You need to eat more,\" he said with a kind chuckle, before drawing a long yellowed cloth measuring tape off his arm. \"Can I get you to take off everything but your britches please young sir?\"

Isiel took a few steps back, allowing himself at least a slight degree of privacy and divested of the other articles of clothing separating his bruised and slightly battered body from the warmth of the mansion before standing before the tailor, with the vaguest hint of shyness.

The man continued to hum happily to himself as he moved about Isiel, measuring him all over and memorizing the measurements as he moved along, his hands shaking a little from age and his eyes narrowing and widening from behind his thick glasses. \"Are you still growing, then?\" he asked happily as he wrapped the tape around Isiel\'s chest. \"Deep breath in, please.\"

Isiel inhaled sharply until the man was finished taking that particular measurement and finally broke his contemplative silence, \"I\'m not so old yet.\"

Laughing again, the man looked up at Isiel and winked. \"Ah, answers just like Eiji. That\'s not what I asked, lad. I want to know if you\'re still growing. Some boys stop growing at the age of sixteen.\"

The neko smiled very tentatively, still guarding himself more than he cared for, \"I haven\'t increased in the last few months so I doubt I shall outgrow anything you provide soon.\"

He hummed thoughtfully and took one last measurement before nodding. \"Well noted, well noted. Maybe you\'ll do the same thing young Master Eiji did; he stopped growing at sixteen, then all of a sudden when he was nineteen he burst out into the enormous man he is today.\"

Idling over to the bed, he put his measuring tapes away and nodded happily. \"The measurements Eiji gave me by estimate were pretty close; the clothes I have picked out for you should be just fine. May I ask what colors you\'d like for your ties, shirts and suits?\"

Isiel smiled to himself once more, imagining Eiji as a younger man, curiosity rushing through his veins to slowly overtake his sadness - but he forced himself to concentrate on the here and now, \"I\'d prefer black suits, white shirts and well...whatever color of tie you think will compliment my colouring thank you.\"

\"Forest green it is,\" the man wheezed with an amused little chuckle, closing up his kit and heading to the door. “It was nice meeting you, young Master,” he murmured with a nod and a smile as he paused in the doorway. “I’ll have you your clothes by tomorrow evening. It was very nice meeting you.” He left as Kiba entered the room.

“He likes you,” the wolf mused. “He doesn’t like many people.”





The Next Day


Dorian stood behind the stairs on the first floor, hidden in the shadows with his knees pulled up to his chest and his chin resting between them, his arms wrapped around his legs and his tail curled round his ankles. He hadn’t actually seen Isiel face-to-face since that phone call in Isiel’s room; he still couldn’t look at the neko—he needed to sort his feelings first, and it was bloody fucking hard.

He listened as Kiba opened the front door and commented that the dark green tie the tailor had selected really brought out Isiel’s eyes.


Isiel made a mildly grateful noise in reply; he\'d been pre-occupied with his thoughts and the impending visit to see Eiji ever since the tailor left and barely seemed to be listening to Kiba at the best of times. Although he did seem more comfortable in his role as leader of the house and also in exercising the authority that came with it. Dorian\'s continuing absence also bothered him, but unfortunately it couldn\'t be considered a priority.

The town car pulled up to the driveway, and Kiba sniffed the air once before nodding and hooking a thumb in his pants, resting his weight on one foot and letting his left ear twitch. \"Whenever you\'re ready, Master,\" he said quietly as the bodyguards got out of the car and one opened the back door for them, waiting and silent.

Isiel glanced back at the house for the briefest of instants and then walked down to the car and got in. A strange mixture of nerves and impatience was beginning to wash over him even though externally he remained impassive and almost bored-looking as he contemplated where they were headed.

The drive was quiet. Kiba didn\'t try to make conversation and Isiel looked so lost in his own thoughts, strangled and snared by them, that he didn\'t say a word and probably didn\'t even notice that he was both being silent and also that his fretting was apparent. They pulled up to the hospital and got out, with Kiba\'s ears completely up and open, and his eyes flicking everywhere as they walked into the building, on high alert. Every once in a while he\'d sniff the air, but for the most part he looked relaxed.

Compared to Isiel, Kiba looked like he could have been sleeping with their differences in obvious tension. He didn\'t say anything about it; Kiba was sure Isiel thought he was hiding it well, and he wasn\'t interested in ruining the boy\'s mood.

Together they walked to the counter, and the lady at the desk looked over at them from her computer, arching an eyebrow. \"Can I help you?\" he asked curiously, looking particularly at the neko wearing a suit.

Isiel remained close to Kiba even when they were inside the hospital, acutely aware of the danger he\'d placed himself in by leaving the house and still concerned for its safety despite the capability and assurances of the nekos he\'d left in charge. However when he addressed the rather bemused-looking woman who had no doubt never seen a lowly neko dressed in such fine clothing, Isiel\'s tone was confident, more so even than when he addressed the other nekos back home, \"We\'re here to see a patient, Futamaka Eiji-san.\"

\"Name?\" the woman asked quickly, snapping to attention when that particular person was asked for. She turned to the computer and began typing immediately, her gaze flicking between the two at the desk and her screen.

Isiel tried not to look too impatient as he waited for her to find the right room and ignored her constant curious glances. \"Isiel.\"

She glanced at the list of names of those who were allowed to visit that particular patient, and indeed one named Isiel was on the list.

Wait... Isiel Futamaka was his name?! She paled and turned to look at the boy, immediate apology in her face for her rudeness. \"G-go right ahead, Mister Futamaka, sir. Recovery wing, seventh floor, room 7924. Thank you for your patience,\" she said nervously, bowing twice just to make sure she\'d caused no offense.

Kiba ignored the display from the name-dropping and snorted, walking towards the elevators and jabbing the up button with a claw.

Isiel blinked back at her for a moment and shook his head slightly before following Kiba to the elevator - by association he was commanding almost as much respect as Eiji and it felt very weird.

Together they rode up to the seventh floor, and when the elevator doors opened, there was silence on the floor that made Kiba smirk.

When Eiji was staying in hospital, he requested-- politely-- that noise be kept to a minimum.

Usually that meant, everyone in the ward made sure to tiptoe everywhere, and there were horrified looks if anything as miniscule as a pin was dropped on the ground. He slipped a hand in his pocket idly, relaxing a little more as he glanced the half-dozen bodyguards laced about the hallway, and nodded to the leader at the door to Eiji\'s room. The strictly-dressed man nodded back and opened the door for them.

Kiba stayed in the hall and watched as Isiel entered the dark room.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
e.n.d c.h.a.p.t.e.r t.w.e.n.t.y o.n.e