House Cat [temporarily complete]

c.h.a.p.t.e.r f.i.v.e


Two months and twenty-nine days passed since Master\'s leaving. Life went on as per usual in the estate; breakfast, lunch and supper were served every day on time, the boys and fullgrowns got to know Chibi, and soon the boy was spelling, reading and writing. He would be caught up with them within a few more months\' time, the tutors promised, and Chibi was designated his own room directly beside Oriel\'s, though he still slept in Oriel\'s bed most of the time.

As the hours ticked down to when Master would be returning, Oriel flitted around the house, making sure everything was perfect. He was seen whisking past doorways, or sometimes wasn\'t even seen at all, and the only thing that indicated he\'d been by was the quiet squeal that got louder, yipped in whatever room you were in as he passed by, then grew quiet again as he went further down the hall.

Chibi had just finished helping cleaning up with some of the other younger nekos and was returning to his room for a little nap when he saw Oriel rushing around as if there weren\'t possibly enough hours in the day and just stood to watch his Kaa-san with a bemused expression upon his face.

Rushing past Chibi to the upstairs right wing, Oriel climbed up one of the statues and along the sculpture\'s thick arm, the tip of his tongue sticking out as he balanced on the hand carefully with two feet and a hand, his other hand reaching out as he tried to reach a hanging chandelier. Oriel teetered a little, stretching out his hand, his finger just barely missing the candle he was trying to grab and straighten, since it was out of place. He missed again and nearly fell, grabbing onto the statue\'s hand at the last second and climbing back on carefully, thankful the thing was made of solid stone and wouldn\'t budge. He balanced on the hand again, reaching forward and trying to grab the chandelier while muttering to himself, \"Honestly you boys, I don\'t know how you get up here, but the saying is true with you when I\'m told you\'re sometimes found hanging from the ceiling!\"

Chibi eeped sharply and ran to stand beneath the statue, gazing up and watching Oriel with concern as he straightened the wonky candle from such a precarious position it made Chibi jump up and down, waving his arms wildly, \"Be careful Kaa-saaaaan!\" He probably wasn\'t helping matters any but, his frantic bouncing and shouting was well-meaning at least.

The full-grown looked down at his boy with a grin when the candle was fixed, a permanent warm rose to his cheeks even in the face of danger. \"I\'m good!\" he dismissed, \"Relax, little one!\" He crawled back down the statue\'s arm and down the body until he was safe on the ground, where he leaned forward and kissed Chibi\'s head tenderly. \"Thank you for the concern. But I\'ve got impeccable reflexes-- and that aside, falling off a statue isn\'t going to hurt me. I\'m a full-grown neko! Watch!\"

Feeling particularly lively and spirited, Oriel walked over to the railing that looked down over the large entrance to the first floor. He got up onto it easily, bare feet on the cool marble. \"You\'ve never seen us fullgrowns playing around, have you?\" Oriel murmured suddenly, glancing back at Chibi with a wink. \"You kittens like to roughhouse and chase each other. Wait until you\'re older and the chases get more intense! Don\'t try this right now-- your bones and muscles are still growing. But when you\'re older this won\'t be anything to you!\"

Oriel crouched down, then sprang into the air in a bit of a somersault off the railing, soaring through the air. One of the fullgrowns walking through the entrance to polish the doorknobs paused and looked up when he heard Oriel\'s delighted cry, and grinned. As the robed neko landed soundlessly on the ground, the other full-grown tackled him and they began to roughhouse, rolling around on the floor and laughing.

Chibi ran up to the railing just as Oriel dived off it and watched with delight as the two fullgrowns wrestled and played happily - admittedly it was a lot rougher than anything a kitten was capable of, but still seemed completely good natured. In the past few weeks Chibi had really emerged from his shell and was confident enough to cheer Oriel on from his vantage point, clapping and giggling loudly as the watched.

The two wrestled for a few minutes, until the chime at the front door sounded, alerting everyone that a car was arriving.

Oriel sat up immediately, abandoning his play immediately and bolting to his feet as the other full-grown got up as well, grabbing his polishing cloth and finishing the doorknob, before running off to put the cloth away then hurry back to the entrance to greet Master. The remaining full-grown straightened his robes and smoothed out his hair, winking up at Chibi on the second floor as he lapped at his wrist and smoothed his ears as well, doing a quick preen. His tail swished back and forth quickly, the eagerness obviously running its course through him as three other fullgrowns hurried to stand in a line beside Oriel, all of them waiting at attention.

Chibi sat down, taking advantage of his perfect view of the entrance and the fact that he could observe without crossing his Master\'s intimidating path. He waited with as much anticipation as the others, his tail swishing back and forth behind him as he stared down at the door intently and didn\'t even realize he was holding his breath.

The doors opened abruptly, slamming against the walls as two bodyguards helped Master; one had Master\'s arm around his shoulders and the other was holding a crimson-stained cloth to the man\'s stomach. The same crimson stained his shirt and jacket and down the legs of his pants, and Master\'s hand was on top of the bodyguard\'s, holding the cloth tightly in place.

Yet, his face was still the same frigid calm as it always was, though his teeth were bared just a little. Oriel cried out softly behind his hand as the fullgrowns left immediately to get medical supplies as per routine, and Dorian took a seat beside Chibi, wrapping an arm around the boy\'s shoulders. \"Don\'t say anything,\" he whispered softly. \"I\'m glad I found you. I forgot to tell you about this part. Don\'t say anything to Master or Oriel. Just do as you\'re told--quickly-- if you\'re told to do something. No questions.\"

The two sat together as Master walked up the stairs silently with the bodyguards, Oriel in tow. They went right past the two kittens without a word or a fleeting glance, and entered Master\'s bedroom. There was a long silence, then the bodyguards left the room, walking calmly and silently in their black suits and black glasses down the hall, down the stairs and out of the estate once more, closing the doors behind them.

Moments later, the same fullgrowns that had been standing at attention at the door moved in a flurry that was barely a blur as they bounded up the stairs on hands as feet so they could move as fast as possible, one basket in each of their teeth. One held sheets and cloths and bandages, one held antiseptics and medications, and one held surgical tools as they raced to Master\'s bedroom as well, opened the door and closed it behind them with a click of the lock.

Chibi watched the drama unfold in silent horror, but although even just a few weeks ago he would have broken down with fear and cried he turned to Dorian with nothing more than a slight paling of his sun-kissed skin and searched his eyes for some kind of explanation. He\'d deduced from Oriel\'s vague speeches regarding Master\'s job when he first arrived that his job was perilous, but nothing could have prepared him for seeing him injured so badly. \".......will he be alright?\"

Dorian smiled uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his head. \"He\'ll be fine. Master is always fine. He came home once after being shot ten times. There were a lot of doctors and nobody was allowed to make any noise in the house for weeks, but he got back up and went back to work. It just looks like he got stabbed again this time. But you want to know a secret?\"

Chibi nodded slowly and glanced towards Master\'s locked door for a brief instant before returning his attention solely to Dorian.

\"I\'ve heard the fullgrowns gossiping sometimes; like, when Master comes home wounded, they say things like, \'you should hear what they\'re saying about the other guy\' and \'they may have wounded our Master a little, but he killed twenty of them before he went down!\'\" Dorian\'s eyes shone with admiration. \"Master\'s like, the strongest man in the world ever ever. Ever-ever-ever! Nobody can hurt him. Sure they can make him bleed a little, but they say if you cross him you, your family and all your business partners pay.\"


\"...but it\'s all for the greater good right....\" Chibi countered with, not finding himself particularly surprised that Master was capable of such things - he\'d seemed so strong even as he was dragged, bleeding up the stairs he was a picture of stoicism and control that impressed Chibi even though he wasn\'t quite sure why.

Dorian blinked, then shrugged. \"Who said that?\" he muttered.

Chibi frowned, not liking Dorian\'s nonchalant response one bit, \"Kaa-sa----Oriel told me when I first arrived.\"

The black-haired neko stuck out his tongue before laughing. \"Well I don\'t know if that\'s true or not,\" he smirked. \"I just know that I\'ve seen Master training in the exercise room late at night before when everyone was asleep. I was sleeping hidden in the clean towels, because I was new here like you and still scared of everyone. I heard noise that woke me up, and when I peeked out of the towels, I saw Master in just his pants, shiny with sweat and moving like a great big panther in the low light. He knows how to use knives and long sticks and his bare hands and all sorts of cool things-- and he\'s covered in these amazing scars everywhere, and he keeps his hair bound up in a bun sort of thing while he trains, but when he\'s done he pulls it down and lets it out of the braid, then goes into the showers and...mmmrrr...\" Dorian trailed off, left to purring as he leaned against Chibi.

Chibi\'s frown became even more pronounced and he pouted without even meaning to in a kittenish display of his troubled feelings. Had Oriel lied to him about Master\'s occupation and the impact it really had on others? Now was not the time to ask, but still he couldn\'t help but feel anxious and cheated in a way, \"....you\'re really smitten...\" He murmured blandly, resting his head upon Dorian\'s shoulder.

\"Who wouldn\'t be!\" Dorian yipped happily. \"And do you know what this means? Master has a stomach wound, but it\'s not major. That means tonight he\'ll be on his back and Oriel will be riding him. Master makes the most noise then; he likes that position best, I think. He took me with one of my legs lifted up, and the other pressed to the mattress so I was on my side, like this...\" Dorian leaned to the side and lifted his leg in imitation, still leaning against Oriel as his tail swished back and forth. \"Mmmr. Are you in with us tonight, then? Luc and I are going to sit by the vents again.\"

Chibi ducked away from Dorian suddenly, leaving him off balance and got to his feet, looking partially annoyed, but mostly just hurt by Dorian\'s lewd behavior and lack of concern for Oriel and Master\'s privacy, \"Count me out.\" He muttered and turned his back on the other neko, wishing he would direct his affections elsewhere for once.

Dorian sighed and rolled on his back, looking up at Chibi\'s back with a small smile. He batted at the boy\'s loincloth idly. \"Hey. Hey... come on. I don\'t know why you get in such a twist over that. Don\'t you feel just a slight little tingle when you think about Master? ...Fine. You don\'t. You\'re a perfect virgin. I get it. Don\'t go away; I like you.\"

Chibi looked over his shoulder, still pouting and sat down heavily with his back still to Dorian, \"I just think maybe you could have more fun with someone else.\" He mumbled.

\"If it\'s Oriel you\'re worried about, nothing doing there. Not that he\'s not pretty, but I\'m a bottom, and he couldn\'t give me what I need like Master could.\" Dorian flipped onto his stomach and licked idly at the boy\'s back, running his nose along a faint scar on Chibi\'s back. \"I can\'t help who I love. Just like you can\'t. But let\'s stop talking about this-- you always get so huffy. Come on, let\'s go play with the boys!\"

Chibi sighed softly, shuddering as he felt Dorian\'s nose rake over one of his many scars that were only now beginning to fade away, but still left pale lines criss-crossing his darker skin for now. Slowly he got to his feet and pasted a smile onto his lips as he helped Dorian up and offered him his hand, \"I guess not.\"

Dorian laughed and skittered down the hall and down the stairs, and the boys went to play in the back yard. \"I love these days!\" the black neko declared as he ran for the pool. \"No school, no work, everyone just sits around and gossips or plays!\" He dove into the deep end of the pool off one of the low diving boards, swimming underwater for a few moments before emerging soaked to the bone and happy. \"AAAAH!\" he declared in a refreshed voice.

They played the afternoon away, and dinner was served at six as usual, though it was much smaller and only half the nekos attended. Neither Oriel nor Master were there, and the three that had entered the bedroom with the medical supplies didn\'t show up, either.

After dinner Dorian and the boys played with Chibi for a while longer before running off to listen at the vents-- but they came back an hour later appearing disappointed. \"No sex tonight,\" Dorian sighed, flopping on top of Luc in the cool evening grass. \"Only the sound of Oriel crying on and on and on. Just when you think he\'s done, he starts up again.\"

Without a second thought Chibi sprang to his feet and ran off, heading for the vents and ignoring the calls that echoed behind him from the others whom he\'d surprised with his abrupt departure. He cared nothing for anything, but why Kaa-san was so upset and barely heard or saw anything until he was nearing where they listened in last time.

Oriel\'s crying annoyed Eiji. He knew it did. But he couldn\'t stop-- especially when Master turned to the side and coughed, vomiting up more blood.

Finally, he couldn\'t stand it any more. \"Go,\" he whispered to the three who had stitched up the wounds, administered the antibiotics and antivenins, diagnosed the issue and instructed Master and Oriel on the care for poisoning and stab wounds. He was so incredibly thankful to them, and glad that they were all studying to get their Masters in Medicine before leaving the estate-- he felt safer with three tending to Eiji rather than just one. But right now, he needed to be alone with the man, and they were finished their work anyhow.

The three opened the door to Master\'s room and left quickly, closing it behind them so that Oriel and Eiji were alone.

\"It\'s getting worse,\" Oriel whispered weakly, running his fingers through Eiji\'s hair slowly. \"This isn\'t as bad as the ten shots but it\'s getting worse, Eiji. You know it and I know it. They\'re getting meaner and more ruthless the closer you are to your goal. What will you...\" His voice cracked as he covered his mouth and stifled fresh sobs. His body ached and his face hurt from crying so much, but he couldn\'t help it. \"What will you do when you\'re hurt too badly? What happens to all the boys here if you\'re k...killed? I don\'t know what I\'d do with myself, Eiji.\"

\"I gave you--\" Eiji paused to cough, gagging and spitting out more blood onto the towels to the side of his head before turning to look at his lover again. \"--the Runt for a reason.\"

\"Don\'t give me that!\" Oriel cried out, slamming his fist against the headboard. \"I love him to death, but you can\'t replace one person for another! I love you more than anything in the world, Eiji! I\'d die if you died!\"

Chibi could already hear them even before he knelt down, half-sliding down the wall onto the floor so he could lean in close to the vent and listen covertly. Any guilt he\'d felt was soon replaced by curiosity and a flush of sadness for them both - even if Master\'s job was not as admirable as Oriel had led him to believe no one, least of all Oriel himself deserved this pain. Covering his mouth tightly with hand he stifled a little sympathetic sob and closed his eyes, feeling wetness trickling down his cheeks as the control he\'d been working on so diligently over the past few months waned as he was alone and no one would see his frightened tears.

Oriel wept for another few minutes before he could speak again. When he did, it was in a rough rasp, \"Eiji, I gave everything for you. I gave my gender for you. When you told me the conditions of becoming your mate I accepted them, but you did too!\"

Oriel leaned down and kissed at Eiji\'s bloody lips softly when the man stared up at him without answering.

So, he continued hoarsely, \"You made love to me on our night of union and I have never looked back or missed what I gave up, knowing I got so much more by having you. I\'d die for you. I\'d do anything for you. When is this going to stop? When will you say, \'Alright, enough is enough, I\'ve done more than my share for the world, it\'s time to retire and live quietly,\' huh?\"

Finally, Master spoke again. \"When it\'s finished,\" he stated simply, darkly. \"Leave me until you\'re more composed. And, collar the kitten I can hear in the next room.\"

Oriel nodded and got off the bed, placing one last kiss upon Eiji\'s lips before heading to the door. He didn\'t wipe the blood off his own mouth-- it would be too much like wiping away the kiss. Instead, he licked the blood away as he opened the door and glanced back at Eiji before stepping into the hall and closing it behind him once more. He leaned against the door, hand still on the knob, and closed his eyes tight. Oriel\'s shoulders shook as he covered his nose and mouth with his other hand and wept into it.

Chibi\'s eyes snapped open and he scrambled back across the floor, looking for a place to hide before Oriel found him. Even though he\'d tried his best to remain silent he\'d been detected and surely that meant punishment. Frantically he pattered around the room, eventually settling for curling up as tightly as he could in a shadowy corner and burying his head in his knees in the vain hope that maybe Oriel would pass him by.

Oriel didn\'t move from the doors, sinking down to the floor and tucking his face in his knees in much the same manner Chibi was, though he wrapped his arms tightly around his legs and wept louder into them, agonized by so many things at once. He used to get sent out of the room from Eiji when they were first together and he was learning what the man would and wouldn\'t tolerate-- this was the first time he\'d been sent out in years.

He was also weeping for his husband, because he knew what one of these days Eiji wasn\'t going to come home, and the more violent their enemies got, the sooner that day came.

But mostly he was weeping for the pain the man put himself through, all for the sake of his cause.

After a few minutes Chibi raised his head and peeked out over the room, cautiously he padded on all-fours towards the door and pressed his ear against it, catching Oriel\'s miserable sobbing through it. Even though he knew he was in trouble he couldn\'t leave Kaa-san in such a state and reached up to turn the handle before pushing the door open and slinking out into the corridor to kneel beside him and nuzzle gently against his shoulder.

Oriel reached out immediately, wrapping his arms tight around his little boy, burying his face into Chibi\'s neck and sobbing.

He wept for another few minutes before stifling the noise enough to stand weakly and lift Chibi into his arms, still holding him tight. \"You\'ve been naughty,\" he whispered hoarsely, carrying Chibi with him down the hall towards Oriel\'s room. He entered his own bedroom and closed the doors behind him, moving to the bed and climbing onto it, cuddling the boy close. \"But I don\'t mind. So now you know what tears me up inside. Why do you cry, little one?\"

Chibi had just about managed to get his own tears under control even though his cheeks were still stained with signs of his sadness and he curled his arms round Oriel\'s neck, petting his hair both to offer some fumbling attempt at comfort and reassure himself that Oriel wasn\'t going to abandon him even though he\'d been bad, \"....because Kaa-san is upset....I was so worried.\" He mumbled brokenly, blatantly trying to remain strong for Oriel\'s sake yet faltering.

Oriel smiled despite his tears, leaning forward and kissing at the boy\'s cheeks gently. \"You\'re kind to be worried for me. I\'ll be fine, little love-- its Master that needs prayers and love. If it was not for him, none of us would be here; we\'d all be stuck in horrible homes and having miserable lives, I\'m sure. And don\'t fear punishment. I won\'t tell him who it was listening to us... he probably doesn\'t even care much. It\'s not like anything more can happen beyond little gossipings from kittens like Dorian. Everyone here knows what goes on in his house, whether it\'s behind closed doors or not.\"

Chibi chose not to question Oriel right now about whether he\'d lied - it felt unnecessarily cruel to burden him with anything more while he was so distraught. Instead he climbed up carefully into Oriel\'s lap and lapped at his cheek tenderly, letting him know that he understood and appreciated that he wasn\'t going to punish him. His soft hair tickled at Oriel\'s face and he tried to smile, but still could not look any less sad than he felt.

After another half hour or so of random sobs, Oriel had calmed himself greatly, and was breathing normally once more. He wiped his red eyes clean with the sleeves of his robe, then did the same for Chibi before sniffling and smiling. \"There, all better,\" he sighed softly. \"I feel much better now. Master was right; I do feel happier and it is easier to deal with these things with you around. You help keep me sane.\"

Chibi returned his smile and sat back, just resting his head upon Oriel\'s shoulder for now, \"....do you want to go back to Master, Kaa-san? I can go...\"

\"Mmm, not yet. He needs to rest. He\'ll wake if I go see him now. I\'ll wait until the medications wear him down and he goes into a deep sleep, so he can heal better. I don\'t have to worry about him leaving for a while now; he needs to stay home and recover. Normally he\'d be gone again in a few days, but he\'s been poisoned this time and it has to be filtered out of his system.\" Oriel took a shuddering breath and ran his fingers through Chibi\'s hair tenderly. \"Thank you for comforting me, little one.\"

Chibi forced himself to purr, feeling his shivery little frame warming to Oriel\'s touch and relaxing to a point where his limbs stopped shaking and he became a soft, slightly sleepy bundle in Oriel\'s embrace, \".....you don\'t have to thank me Kaa-san.\" He mumbled, giving Oriel\'s neck a tiny lick before settling back down, \"....I\'m just glad you\'re alright.\"

Oriel smiled. He cuddled and nestled with the boy until Chibi drifted off to sleep, then left the boy in his bed, covering him with warm blankets and kissing his lips softly before heading back to Eiji\'s room.

He found the man awake and reading, and Oriel made an annoyed noise as he closed the doors behind him. He also hated how Eiji was becoming immune to painkillers and sleeping pills. \"You\'re supposed to be sleeping,\" he sighed, crawling onto the bed and lying down next to Eiji.

\"You\'re supposed to be keeping the Runt in line.\"

\"Ah, you knew it was him.\" Oriel smiled softly to himself, nuzzling Eiji\'s cheek. \"He\'s so needing of love. I wish you\'d pay a little attention to him. But your health comes first. Will you hand me the book or do I have to threaten you?\"

Eiji gave Oriel an icy glare, and the neko smiled sweetly, reaching out and drawing the book out of Eiji\'s hands, placing it on the nightstand gently. \"Sleep, please?\" Oriel whispered. \"The faster you\'re healed, the faster you can get back to work, right?\"

Eiji grunted and closed his eyes, still frowning with his mouth turned down in a hard line.

\"I love you too,\" Oriel whispered, kissing the man\'s lips again and wrapping his arms around the strong neck, nuzzling his nose against Eiji\'s cheek and settling down to sleep with him.

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e.n.d c.h.a.p.t.e.r f.i.v.e