Page 14 of Glitter

“Are you like some sort of cat whisperer?” I asked him, still not quite comprehending what I was looking at. “Sir Cattusnevergets this close to anyone that visits me. Not even my family can get that close to him without him freaking out.”

“Aw, he thinks I’m special,” Blue cooed at Sir Cattus, letting his hands fall when Sir Cattus decided he wanted to rub his chin up against Blue’s thigh. Blue shifted slightly, letting one knee drop to the floor so he could hold the crouch longer, watching my cat basically do whatever he wanted.

He wasn’t the only one. I wondered if Blue would allow me to rub against him as well?

“What breed is he?” Blue asked, his eyes still on Sir Cattus. “I’d almost guess Persian, but his fur isn’t long enough, and his face isn’t as smooshed as I’d expect.”

“He’s a very spoiled rag-doll.”

Blue chuckled and slowly stood up to not startle Sir Cattus. “He suits you.”

“He does?”

“Mm,” he said, still watching Sir Cattus butt against his legs. “He’s the type of pet I’d expect you to own. It’s hard to explain.”

The shrill sound of the oven timer went off, distracting me from asking him to elaborate. I busied myself with getting the lasagna out of the oven and plates out of the cupboard for us both. “Before I plate up, can you please weigh your lunchbox?The scales are on the table. Sorry, I meant to do that before the timer finished.”

“Sure.”

I glanced over when things got quiet, and I looked over to see him searching for somewhere to write the result down. “There should be a brown leather sketchpad on the table. Use the next available page to record the result.”

He nodded, picking up the pad in question and flicking through it until he found a new page to scribble down what he needed to. He then went back through the previous pages to look at the schematics I’d mocked up last weekend. “Jesus, Henry. These are incredible. The detail…”

I shrugged, plating up the food. “They’re just rough workings.”

His eyes widened. “This isrough?” He looked up to see me putting the pan back in the oven to keep the leftovers warm. “Oh, you need my food, too. Hold on.” He picked up his lunchbox and brought it over and cheekily flipped the cover off to reveal more lasagna before placing the cover back on at an angle and popping it in the microwave.

At the sight of his mischievous grin, I laughed. “Now I know why you were hiding a smile when you arrived.”

He shrugged, his grin remaining firmly in place. “We should pit each one up against the other and see which is the superior meal.”

“Oof,” I said, wincing. “If mine loses, you’ll need to promise me you won’t ever tell my mom. This is her recipe.”

He raised his hand palm out, smile getting ever bigger. “I swear I will not say a word upon penalty of clothing and shoe loss.”

“Let’s not go that far,” I said, grinning as the microwave beeped. I halved the portion he’d supplied and dished them out on smaller plates, my nose twitching with the spices he’d used. “Gosh, this smells just as good as my mom’s.”

Once we had all the plates in hand, I led Blue out to the covered patio, flicking the light switch on as I went past. Colorful fairy lights lit up the space, lending a soft ambience to the area reminiscent of Christmas, even though it was June.

“Wow,” Blue said, looking around the small, mostly enclosed space. “I love this.”

I tipped my head in thanks. “There are bright overhead lights I can turn on if you want, but I thought you might prefer a less harsh environment.” I set our plates down on the low table in the center of the space, with Blue following my lead. “I do most of my builds out here rather than in the garage, so I need the brighter light, but it’s also nice to have dinner out here sometimes.”

“I can see why.” He settled into the outdoor lounge and shuffled the table closer once I took the seat next to him. “It’s so calming out here.”

“This space is the reason I chose this floor-plan.” I picked up the smaller dish so I could taste his lasagna first. “I don’t need a lot of space to live, but I do need a couple of good workspaces. This has great all-weather coverage.”

He nodded, taking a bite of my lasagna. A low moan came from him as he closed his eyes and tipped his head back. “Damn, Henry. This isgood.”

Trying hard to swallow the reaction I had to his moan, I chuckled. “Glad you like it.” Knowing what my mom’s lasagna tasted like, I popped my fork into my mouth with a bite of Blue’s and mimicked his moan with one of my own. “So is this, Blue. I don’t know if I can separate them. They’ve both got such distinctive tastes.”

We fell into silence as we devoured the meals in front of us, each agreeing that it was too close to determine which was the better lasagna.

Once we were both full and comfortably leaning back on the lounge to pat our slightly distended stomachs, I turned my head to the side to look at Blue. He had his eyes closed and a content smile on his face. The colored lights gave his skin a glow that almost felt mystical. I sighed, knowing that I was likely going to break his calm with the topic I knew I needed to bring up. “What were your plans for Travis if I hadn’t suggested the glitter bomb?”

All week Blue and Amy had been sitting with me during lunch, and although we hadn’t talked much about what I had planned, we hadn’t talked at all about how Travis had treated Blue the prior Friday night. I got the distinct impression that Blue didn’t want to let Amy know, maybe as to not let her worry? I didn’t know, but it worried me that there didn’t seem to be any way to resolve Blue’s issues.

Blue’s jaw tightened, and I felt the tension roll off him in waves. “Amy and I were talking about this a couple of weeks ago.”

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