I'm not a kitten... Okay, I'm Kitten

Chapter 12 - Pt.2

"Can I tell you a secret?" Uncle Sirius asked, a warm smile playing at his lips.

"Another one?" Koty deadpanned. "Sorry! I didn't mean to make it sound-"

"You apologise too much. Save it for when you actually mess up, yeah?" He ruffled Koty's hair fondly. "My secret, well, the second secret is that from the age of eleven to thirteen, I didn't grow a centimetre. It wasn't until the end of my third year that I shot up. After that summer (and constant muscle aches) I was taller than nearly everyone in my year. That was also when I stopped growing, but I don't mind being a bit on the shorter side, and do you want to know why?"

Koty nodded, despite thinking that his uncle was tall.

Uncle Sirius opened his mouth, but then looked at his cousin. "Go away, Cissa. We're having a short people conference."

In an un-Ladylike move, she snorted and rolled her eyes. "I'll go ask the elves for that hot chocolate to be served with breakfast."

Agreeing that it was still necessary, he leaned against Bear and watched her go down the stairs.

He made a show of making sure she was gone before flopping on the floor and crossing his legs. "There are lots of different kinds of people, right?"

"Of course," Koty replied, wondering where his uncle was going with this.

"Well, one of those differences can be summed up in three ways. You've got your cuddlers, snugglers and finally, the ones that don't care either way." At the blank look on his neph-cous- on the kid's face, he smirked. "Now, my husband, Remus? Absolute cuddler. I can't count how many times I was doing something and he just pulled me into a cuddle. He also happens to be a fair bit taller than I am. While height doesn't necessarily make a difference, it does in our case. With me being on the smaller side, it makes it that much easier, because I fit perfectly in his arms, as I am a snuggler. Do you see what I mean?"

"Sort of," Koty said hesitantly. "But aren't cuddling and snuggling the same thing?"

"Not for this explanation. Okay..." he trailed off in thought, then snapped his fingers. "Spoons!"

Koty jerked back at the sudden shout and Bear growled in warning.

"Sorry, Pooch," he said, wrinkling his nose. "Didn't mean to yell. Anyway, spoons. It's possible, but difficult, to stack a bigger spoon on a smaller one, yes?"

"I guess?"

"But, it's a million times easier to put a smaller spoon in a bigger one. Some people prefer it that way, and others don't. My point is, I am a little spoon. I have always preferred being cuddle-able, and my smaller size just makes that easier. I think you're similar in that regard, aren't you?"

It really was that simple. He was constantly being hugged or snuggled by his friends and family, but he couldn't remember pulling any of them into his lap or wanting to carry any of them on his back the way his friends did for him. "I'm happier being held than holding. You over-explained that so badly that I honestly think I was smarter before you started."

Uncle Sirius laughed so hard that he began wheezing. "We could-" he paused to catch his breath. "We could start up a support group! Call ourselves LSC! We can have meetings and everything!"

"Well, I think that all depends on what LSC stands for," Koty said, waiting for him to get up. It's been an eventful morning so far, and he hasn't even had breakfast yet.

"The Little Spoons Confederation!" He declared triumphantly, springing up from the floor.

As he watched his littlest cousin make his way awkwardly down the stairs, which seemed to be somewhat impeded by the brace-thing on his leg, Sirius took pity and ran in front of the struggling boy. He stopped and told Koty to grab on.