Four

by Tia Fielding

  “I won’t be at work until Thursday, so you might want to….”

  “Yeah, don’t worry. We’ll make extra rounds. As far as I know, there’s nobody new in town, but who knows.”

  “Okay. Let me know if you find out anything. I’ll do the same.”

  “Will do.”

  Padraig put his phone away and breathed out slowly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Someone’s been to the clinic, scoping it out. Probably someone after the drugs we keep there.”

  “Never even crossed my mind that you might have someone who’d do that in a town this small,” Kaos said, frowning.

  “Probably isn’t, to be honest. But we always have someone passing through. And the campsite has a little trailer park side, and sometimes people break into the trailers in the winter. Squatters, if you will.” Padraig went back to the couch to sit with Kaos and Hestia, absently rubbing her ears.

  “Just… be careful when you’re there late, okay? I know it’s not often, but….”

  “Someone desperate enough for animal medications could be desperate enough to hurt someone who gets in their way. I need to call to Athena, to warn her too.”

  “You do that. I’ll make some tea for us and feed the princess.”

  “Yeah,” Padraig murmured, already swiping his phone to make the call.

  NOTHING WEIRD happened at the clinic, so everyone, including the sheriff’s department, thought it must’ve been someone passing through and getting opportunistic. It did niggle in the back of Padraig’s mind every time he entered or exited the clinic for the next couple of weeks.

  Somehow, probably based on luck, Kaos’s tattoo license came through on the first week of January. That meant that he finally got to work. When the weather allowed, he’d drive to Mercer to work at the studio, and when he couldn’t drive, Padraig would take him there instead.

  They got a system going during January, and everything fell into a nice, homey groove once more.

  Some things changed, because Kaos worked now too. For one, he insisted on paying more of the utilities, and after one hard glare directed his way when he was about to open his mouth, Padraig had just nodded and acquiesced.

  Hestia grew like a weed, and they’d socialized her more and more, inviting her parents out to play on the weekends, or going to Mia and Jai’s place. One of Hestia’s siblings had stayed in Mercer, so they’d taken Hestia to play with him one day when everyone’s schedules had fit. She was turning out lovely. She was tuned into her humans, and just protective enough to not overdo it in any way.

  All in all, life was going fine. Then Francis informed them that he was driving to Acker a week before Valentine’s Day and asked if they’d have room or if he should just look at renting somewhere immediately. It didn’t even need to be discussed. Kaos had immediately said that Padraig should invite Francis to stay until they decided it wasn’t working anymore for whatever reason. So they had two weeks of figuring their shit out, as Francis had put it when he’d been brought up to date with the situation since he’d left.

  “Just so you know, you better get that brilliant artist of yours moved into your bedroom so I can have his room, because it’s much nicer.”

  When Padraig had told that to Kaos, he’d laughed and blushed.

  “Let’s make it a goal? I think we should change the bedroom a bit, though. If it’s going to be ours? A fresh start of sorts?”

  “Like with the appliances, yeah. Let’s go shopping when we have a day off together?” Padraig had suggested, and there they were now, in the Walmart Supercenter in Woodruff.

  “What about this one?” Padraig asked, pointing at a blue bedding set. “I like this color.”

  Kaos walked to him and tilted his head, assessing his idea. “Do you actually like it, or is it something you think you should like?”

  He wasn’t joking around, so Padraig gave his question some thought. “I think it’s something Marcus would’ve picked,” he said finally in a quiet voice.

  “I guessed as much, because it’s almost identical to the set you have now.” There was nothing but kindness in Kaos’s expression, which made the confession seem like not a big deal at all. “Now, take a look at this stuff and find three that draw you in for whatever reason, and then we’ll compare notes and decide together, okay?” Kaos went off to look at different colors and patterns, humming happily under his breath.

  It hit Padraig then that he was now living with an artist. Sure, he’d known that before, but not on a practical level. So he turned and looked at the bedding sets in earnest, trying to see them in a different way. He managed to find three that felt good on some level that he hadn’t really thought of before and pointed them out to Kaos.

  “Okay, I really like all of these. The medallion pattern is really nice, but it might be too much for the room. That throws the black-and-white antique pattern out of the window too. I vote for the striped one. We could even do the one with blues and grays if you’d like?”

  “But what did you pick?” Padraig wanted to be sure he was being fair and not deciding alone.

  “I really liked a tribal one, but it was a bit too much when I looked closer. Then there was a very wintery flannel set, which was quite nice, but I really think the striped one is the best. There’s another one that has stripes, too, if you want to see?” Kaos looked earnest, so Padraig nodded, and soon they were discussing pros and cons of the two slightly different striped sets.

  “I think yours is a bit more… luxurious, maybe?” Padraig pondered out loud and got a nod in response. “But I like the contrast of the colors more in mine. The one with red as one of the main colors.”

  “Red?” Kaos asked, smiling at him. “I liked the one with red best too. Should we take that, then?”

  Padraig returned the smile. “Yeah, I think we should.”

  THEY GOT two new rugs, one for each side of the bed, and a few more things that would make the bedroom and master bath feel like theirs, not Padraig’s and definitely not Marcus’s.

  “Should we get toys for the princess?” Kaos asked when they were close to the pet section.

  “Sure, why not. She’s been good.”

  The said princess was sitting happily in her crate in the back of Padraig’s car. There wasn’t much room, but he always took his big box of equipment that he might need on the farms from the car and put Hestia’s crate in when they went on longer rides outside of work. She’d learned to sit on the back seat and did that just fine, but if they needed to leave her in the car for a while, the crate felt safer for an adolescent dog. They had two notes on different sides of the car that informed people she didn’t need saving and was quite happy in the car, and that her humans wouldn’t be gone for long. Hestia was enjoying the winter, so they didn’t have to take precautions with the car temperature, even with her not quite husky-length coat. In the summer, though, they’d probably need to leave her home.

  “Good girl!” Padraig praised as he put their massive shopping bags on the back seat and she peered at him. He handed her a treat from his pocket and got the driver’s seat.

  Kaos was looking at his phone, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

  “What’s up?” Padraig asked, not starting the car yet just in case.

  “It’s Francis. He just realized he might be pushing us.”

  “What?”

  “He wanted me to know that the guest room is fine if we’re not ready yet. He says that he just realized he might’ve sounded like he expected this of us, and that it felt wrong.” Kaos glanced at Padraig with a small, gentle smile on his lips. “I don’t feel pressured, just….”

  “Guided. Supported, maybe?”

  “Yeah.” Kaos nodded. “I’ll text him back. I don’t want him to feel bad. This is a good thing, maybe even the push we needed.”

  Padraig started the car, thinking that Kaos was right. The hiccup on the way had been horrible, but they’d become too timid while recovering from it.

  He drove t
hem to a drive-through, and they ate in the parking lot, just chatting about everything from Hestia’s training to what they wanted to do with the clinic shop.

  “I still think it’s good that we postponed it until spring. I mean, by then we’ll have the license so I can start tattooing there, and everyone has had enough time to prepare for whatever they want to sell,” Kaos said thoughtfully between nuggets.

  “My sister will be making felt cats from the hair of her actual cats.”

  Kaos almost choked on a fry. “She whatnow?”

  Padraig chuckled. “Exactly what I said. Tiny little felt cats. I saw ones she’d made already, and they’re quite pretty. Put a photo of the cats above them, and I think some weirdos will love them.”

  “Well, we did say any craft stuff or art is welcome, so I guess…. Your sister is a bit out there.”

  Mary and Kaos had met a few times by now, first over Christmas and then before New Year’s, and somehow they got along pretty well. It did help that Kaos had wisely drawn her a caricature portrait of all her cats based on photos Padraig took of them while doing their annual Holiday Health Check, as Mary called it.

  “Did you draw the Valentine’s cards for the Millers’?” Padraig asked as he wiped his fingers on some napkins and drank the rest of his mocha frappe.

  Kaos shivered delicately. “I still can’t understand how you can drink that stuff in the winter. And yeah, I did fifteen cards like they asked. I dropped them off yesterday. He ordered some birthday ones as well—says he’ll pay me well.”

  “He’s not joking, Kaos. He will pay you fairly for your time. Nothing like what your tattooing costs, of course, but….”

  “For a little shop, for things I can doodle on my breaks or in the evenings when I’d doodle anyway, yeah. It’s no extra work, so getting paid at all is nice. Besides, they’re good people. Not everyone would be so open-minded.”

  “Not everyone is.” Padraig grunted. They’d come across some sneering at the Walmart, just because Kaos had some eyeliner and lip gloss on to go with his “girly” coat.

  “Honestly, I’ve had it easier here than I did in Missouri. I know it’s different for you because you don’t come across as queer to most people. Me, though, there’s no hiding my flair, is there?” His grin was beautiful and proud, and Padraig leaned over to kiss his salty lips, because there was no way not to.

  WHEN THEY got home, they began the process of redoing the master bedroom. It took them two hours to get it all set, and they put one of Hestia’s beds in a cool corner by the window.

  “Who knows if she’ll sleep there, but at least she’s gotten better when I’ve told her to get off the bed.” Kaos ruffled her fur when she came to examine what they were doing.

  They’d been training her to get off furniture when told, just because it made her more obedient in other ways too. She liked structure, it seemed, and sometimes when she would jump down or go wait by a door, she looked so damn proud of herself. It couldn’t be a bad thing to be teaching her these things.

  Hestia sniffed at the new bedding and glanced at them.

  “No, you’re not allowed there, missy,” Kaos told her, and she sighed dramatically, giving them the side-eye.

  Padraig was about to blurt out something about at least letting the humans christen the new bedding before jumping in, but he caught himself just in time and flushed deep red. Kaos, naturally, noticed and looked at him with obvious amusement, but he, too, was blushing, so they must’ve been on the same wavelength.

  “Okay, so,” Padraig started, and went to the walk-in closet. He flicked on the light and gestured for Kaos to take a look. “I don’t have that much, so I moved mine in tighter and to the back of the closet, so you can have one side for your girl clothes and the other for the boy stuff.”

  Kaos stepped inside, walked to the middle of the spacious closet, and turned around. He gnawed his lower lip in a now-familiar way. He quite obviously felt moved and didn’t know how to express it.

  Eventually, Kaos went with a quiet, “Thank you so much,” and came to hug Padraig hard.

  “Of course. You literally have twice as many clothes as I do. Least I could do was to give you an easy way to organize them, sweetheart.”

  Kaos murmured something against his chest.

  “What was that?”

  “That’s much more than anyone has ever given me, except for my grandma.”

  “Well, I happen to think that you deserve to be treated fairly.”

  Kaos leaned back and grinned at him. “Not like a prince?”

  “No. Princes and princesses have easily inflated heads. To have both in one package might be too much for someone like me.”

  “Yeah, and we already have one princess. That’s probably enough.” Kaos leaned to pet Hestia, who had come to see what they were doing.

  “I think you might be right. Besides, I like you just as you are.”

  Kaos turned to look at him, and something flashed in his gaze. Then he said, “Yeah, I like you just as you are too.” And came to give him a lingering kiss.

  THAT NIGHT, they got ready for bed in the same bathroom, although they showered separately. They did brush their teeth side by side, though, which was nice and domestic, and something Padraig hadn’t done with Marcus in years and years.

  Getting into bed together made Padraig feel a sudden rush of affection, especially after he saw Kaos’s light blush as he fluffed his pillow to his liking.

  Kaos was fiddling with his phone’s charger when Padraig grabbed his book off the nightstand. He felt relatively sure there would be no sex between them quite yet, and besides, it was a good book, one Francis had sent him for Christmas.

  Kaos got under the covers and turned to look at Padraig. “I like this,” he said quietly.

  Padraig looked back at him. “What?”

  “This… ease. Like we’re getting closer together again. More… intimate.”

  Padraig smiled, put his book away after all, and made sure he was comfortable. Then he opened his arms, and Kaos moved into them, his head on Padraig’s shoulder, an arm across his waist.

  “I love you,” he said without really meaning to.

  Kaos tensed for a few seconds, then lifted his head to look Padraig in the eyes. “Yeah?” The word came out as a whisper—a terribly hopeful and scared thing, fragile as a snowflake.

  “Yes. I love you, Kaos.”

  Kaos’s smile lit his whole face, his light warming up even the most bitter and hidden nooks of Padraig’s heart. “I love you too.” He leaned to kiss Padraig, another one of those lingering ones Padraig loved, and still it went nowhere. They just made out slowly for a while, and then Kaos pulled away and settled against his chest once more.

  “Good night,” Kaos murmured, and seemed to fall asleep just like that.

  Hestia got up from her bed and peered at Padraig hopefully. “Fine, okay. Come on, then.”

  She hopped up and curled at their feet. It wasn’t long until Padraig fell asleep as well.

  Chapter Fifteen

  THE SATURDAY before Valentine’s seemed to be one of those days for them both. Not only was Kaos booked solid from eight in the morning to five in the evening, but his lunchtime and break texts to Padraig got answers much later, and even those answers were harried.

  He knew Padraig’s Saturdays were usually busy, since the people who worked during the weeks brought in their pets for set appointments then. He knew there’d been a cat who had an appointment for something, and then a dog had been hit by a car, and someone’s cow was doing poorly, and so on and so forth. It had Padraig working at the clinic, driving to farms, eating lunch while driving, then getting back to the clinic, before leaving again for a house call.

  Kaos was getting tired around four, as he was finishing up a tattoo for Bubba, who had become one of his regulars by then.

  “Long day?” Bubba asked when he saw Kaos’s hand shake as he cleaned the meaty forearm once he was done with the ink.

  “Oh yeah. I’m
just glad we got done early. Might leave the cleanup for Jiggy, to be honest,” Kaos admitted.

  Christa had hired an artistic local high school kid to come in twice a week to clean up. The kid had gotten a tattoo machine and ink online and had been trying to tattoo his friends. Well, at least until his mother found out and dragged him to Christa’s by the ear. So now they had a slave who got to see what the work was like and how to do it right, as a penance.

  “You think he’s gonna want to be a tattoo artist by the time you’re done with him?” Bubba grinned, looking a bit like a massive, benevolent, hairy shark.

  “If he does, then I guess he’s earned it, you know? Apprenticing somewhere once he’s eighteen and such. At least he seems eager to learn and works without asking to do every little thing separately.”

  “Yeah, that’s probably more than you can say about a bunch of kids these days.”

  The door opened, and a tall, skinny person dressed in leathers walked in. Bubba’s whole being shone like the sun.

  “You about ready?”

  “Yeah. Come meet Kaos, baby,” Bubba said in a tone Kaos had never heard before.

  “Hi, I’m Kaos. Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Kaos gave them a little wave, because he was still wearing his gloves and had stuff to do.

  “I’m Jade, and I’ve heard a lot about you as well.” They smiled, and Kaos liked them instantly.

  They chatted while he covered Bubba’s tattoo and got paid.

  “When are you bringing Hestia in again?” Bubba asked as he pulled on his leather jacket very, very carefully.

  “Who knows? I should’ve brought her today—seems like Padraig has had a rough day. I hope she was being good.”

  “She’s a good girl! I’ll bet she’s been great!” Bubba, ever the fan of hers, announced confidently.

  “He wants a dog now too. So… you know, thanks,” Jade said sarcastically, making Kaos laugh.