Wesper drabble #5
When Jesper finally returns from his errands, Wylan is in the kitchen brewing a pot of tea to battle the ever–present chill of winter in Ketterdam. He accepts the kiss Jesper plants on his cheek, stretched up onto his tiptoes to get the only remaining clean mugs out of the cupboard.
“How is Kaz?” he asks, taking the tea off the hob and fetching the tea strainer.
“Oh, the same as usual,” Jesper replies. “I invited him for dinner like you asked me to. He said no.”
With a mildly exasperated shake of his head, Wylan says, “So that means he’ll be here then.”
He pours the tea and turns to hand one of the mugs to his boyfriend, only to notice that Jesper is leaning awkwardly against the kitchen table, shifting from foot to foot like he’s nervous.
“Jes, what’s wrong?” Wylan asks. “Why are you still wearing your coat?” He pauses, looks a little more closely. “And why is it wiggling?”
“Ah, see, the thing is…” Jesper says, carefully undoing his coat to reveal a tiny kitten, damp and filthy, tucked in against his chest. “I found her screaming her head off by the canal.” He takes a deep breath, scratches the top of her head. “I think someone tried to drown her.”
Wylan’s heart makes a sudden, valiant attempt at leaping up to his throat. “Oh.”
“I couldn’t just leave her there,” Jesper says softly. “Not when she was so determined to live.”
“You have such a big heart, Jes. Most other people wouldn’t have bothered.”
He steps in close to his boyfriend, peering down at the tiny bundle of damp fur. She blinks up at him with wide, blue eyes, then opens her mouth and meows as loudly as her scrawny little body will allow.
Jesper gently peels her away from his chest. “Help me get her cleaned up?”
They run a shallow sinkful of warm water, and Jesper holds the kitten still while Wylan carefully cleans off the layers of filth and grime with an old cloth. She makes them keenly aware of her displeasure, only quieting once she’s been towelled off and presented with a plate of leftover chicken.
Now that she’s clean and partly dry, they can see that she’s actually a calico and not just various shades of sludgy grey.
“I always wanted a pet…” Wylan says thoughtfully as he watches the kitten gulp down her food. “My father would never let me, though.”
Jesper takes a sip of his tea and hums. “We had a few farm cats growing up. Mostly strays that we just sort of…accumulated.”
“I’ll blame your da for your bleeding heart then, shall I?”
Jesper grins and scoops the kitten up. She’s so small, she practically fits in the palm of his hand. He carries her through to the parlour, where the warmth of the fire will have her dried out in no time. Wylan follows behind him with their mugs of tea.
“What should we call her?”
“How about Stroopwafel?” Jesper suggests, chucking a few cushions onto the floor by the fire and sitting down.
Wylan raises an eyebrow at him. “What, so you can forget about her by tomorrow morning?”
“Rude,” Jesper says, clutching at his chest in mock offence.
They lapse into silence, watching the kitten sniff around the floor and at their fingers. The little section of floor sufficiently inspected, she clambers up onto Jesper’s lap and promptly falls asleep.
“What about Isa?” Wylan asks, watching Jesper stroke her tiny head with just one finger. “It means strong-willed.”
“Just like you, love.”
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Now that Netflix cancelled Shadow and Bone I'm going to need someone to step up and cast Ben Barnes in another morally grey role.
Preferably fantasy but I'm not picky
This Gal needs to think those dark eyes can be redeemed. Until they can't.
Also let the man sing!
Please and Thank you.
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