extraordinary things ; chenji

the morning after

jisung

Jisung wakes up the next morning to Chenle literally untangling himself from Jisung's arms and legs. Had he been full-body hugging Chenle in his sleep? Dumb idiot Park Jisung.

"Sorry," he croaks.

Chenle is messing with his hair in the mirror, trying to smooth it out. (Not happening. It's flat on one side and fluffy on the other and cute all over.) And his neck isn't bandaged. They didn't do their post-bite routine last night. Shit.

Chenle grabs his backpack and says, "It's late, I should go."

"Are you sure you're not too... drained?"

"No, I'm fine."

"I can... bandage your..."

"It's fine."

"Or you can shower here if you want."

"No, what? No." He's barely looked at Jisung once, zigzagging toward the door. "See you."

Jisung almost asks if he feels sick or something, but he knows the answer will probably be two syllables and untrue. He listens to Chenle's footsteps patter down the stairs, then moves to the window to watch him push his bike unsteadily down the street.

Yeah. That was awkward. It's always awkward the morning after they feed, but not awkward like that.

Jisung scrubs his face in his hands. His jaw is still a little sore, his lips a little red.

He doesn't have time to freak out — he slept through his alarm. He runs into the bathroom, wriggling out of his shirt.

He didn't have a good feeling about today. But this, another kiss situation, wasn't something he saw coming.

Neither was the cat behind the shower curtain.

"Greetings," says Nibbles.

He staggers backward, yanking his shirt back on. "Holy crap! What are you doing here?"

"Such a warm reception. I feel treasured."

He sighs heavily. "Sorry. Hi, Nibbles."

"Hello, youngling."

"I'm kind of in a hurry, so..."

"Oh yes." She pulls herself up onto the rim of the tub, then jumps to the floor. She's less spry than he remembers. "Carry on, I don't judge."

"You do sometimes." He turns on the water and scrubs his hair under the stream. He's not showering with her in the room, even if she's a cat. It would be like showering in front of his grandmother.

"Freshly fed, are we?" She's sniffing his ankle. "I'm glad you're taking your health seriously."

"It's weird you know that."

"I can smell him in you."

Which kind of makes his stomach flip-flop.

"So what's going on?" he says. "I haven't seen you for months."

"Life went on for us all." She's sitting on the stack of clean linens. Jisung uses a hand towel to dry his hair. "To tell the truth, I've found myself in somewhat of a predicament."

"A predicament?"

"Yes, and I've come here seeking a favour."

"Okay... what is it?"

Her pinkish ears are flipping back and forth, her little paws flexing. It's like she's searching for the words. Jisung sits on the edge of the tub, curious now.

"How shall I put this. You see, the problem is that I'm, colloquially, expecting."

His toothbrush hangs out of his mouth. "You're pregnant?" That's what's different about her! She's round! "Wow. I mean, I didn't know you were, like, married."

"Marriage means nothing to a cat. That trilling tabby down the lane seduced me with entrails and impregnated me on top of the neighbour's chicken coop."

"Oh. Okay."

"It is a joyous occasion."

"Are you joyous? About it?"

"Well... you see—"

"You keep saying 'you see.' It's okay, you can just say it."

Her ears flip back and stay there. "Jisung, this is somewhat of a plea. I need to stay with you until my kittens arrive."

"Me? Don't you have a family?"

"I do. But my acolyte — what you would call an 'owner' — has kittens of her own, human ones. Triplets. A tender age where their main source of entertainment is yanking my fur and wresting my tail and generally causing me pain. If I stay in that house, I'm afraid my kittens will end up manhandled or crushed or eaten within an hour of their birth."

"Eaten?"

"For example."

"That's really upsetting."

"My thoughts exactly."

"But your owner couldn't let that happen. She'd give you your own room, or at least a box, right?"

"Even if she did..." Nibbles shakes her head, picks herself up off the linens. Her belly juts out on either side like she's hiding a melon under her fur. "May I be candid?"

"Yeah?"

"I am... hormonal. Increasingly irrational. I require more attention than I am currently receiving. There is no one at home to pet me in the daytime."

"You want me to pet you?" It didn't even occur to him that she would enjoy something like that. It makes her seem like a... cat. "I mean, I'm not free in the day either. And I don't know anything about birth or taking care of kittens."

"Neither do I. What's that phrase? 'We learn by doing'?" Then she throws her head back and laughs, but it's more of a wail. Her tail is ramrod-straight and fluffed up like a feather duster. Something about it reminds Jisung of himself, well, twenty minutes ago. The I'm one light push away from freaking the hell out look.

He crouches down and holds his hand out. She looks back and forth between it and his face, then walks forward and nudges her head into his palm. Her fur is sleek, even softer than it looks. She starts to purr when he scratches the scruff of her neck.

"Okay," he says. "You can stay with me. I'll read up on pregnancy stuff. It'll be okay."

Her whiskers twitch; maybe she's smiling.

"But right now I'm like, really late." He gets up, stepping over her to get to the door. "Hang out in my room if you want. My parents don't allow pets in the house, so if someone comes in to get the TV, just hide till—"

"I fear there's been a miscommunication." She's walking at his feet, keeping up with a little hop and a skip. "I would prefer to accompany you to school."

"I'm pretty sure that's not allowed."

"Your delusory human constructs never fail to confound me. Doesn't your system offer exceptions for — excuse my avian wording — gravid individuals?"

"You mean maternity leave? I don't think that applies here. What you're talking about is like... maternity bring. And I think mat leave is only for people who've already had the baby."

"What good is that? After my nativity there will be no further cause for irrational behaviour."

"I... guess? But how am I supposed to bring you to school without anyone seeing you?"

Then he sees his backpack.

God, how does he get himself into this stuff?