Page 55 of Tell No Tales
"Stop that," Vadim whispered, even as his face burned. He quite enjoyed kitten kisses. He even liked the rasp of the kitten's claws through his ponytail as Mewskers attacked it and danced around on his shoulder like he'd found a snake hanging down Vadim's back.
He'd been concentrating on the sensations he couldn't see, but when he refocused his gaze, he found Klaus returning his gaze with humor, and something more. It was good to see him smile after he'd been so angry, but Vadim didn't want to assume their bedroom activities, nor the little peace offering on his shoulder, meant anything to Klaus.
"I need to return to Hesse's journal," Vadim said, excusing himself from the conversation he'd never joined in the first place. He sneaked off to the aft deck railing, sinking down to sit with his back to one of the posts. Mewskers took the introduction of a lap as an invitation and slipped from his shoulder. He curled up on his thigh, again in the sunlight. Vadim did his best to read the book when he wanted to watch the even rise and fall of the kitten's chest, instead.
He had the power to control life now, according to Yvette. He could manipulate the very essence of a soul to reanimate a body, destroying the soul and cursing the body at the same time. What became of the mind, then? Would it remain dead, or would it retain memory of who and what it once was?
Vadim wondered if the kitten remembered his life before death, or if he merely remembered the kindness Klaus had offered afterward. While Vadim didn't want Mewskers to have the memory of pain, he wondered if the absence of it was what made him such a fearless and happy kitten now.
∞∞∞
Klaus
An entire day and night passed on the boat with only a few words spoken aloud with Vadim. Nor could Klaus hear Vadim's thoughts in his head. Once again, he missed it.
He spent most of his time with Mewskers. Vadim still called him by his honorific, Captain Mewskers, but Klaus liked the shorter version better.
The kitten's food-rounded belly turned into full inches of length within hours, it seemed. He was growing so fast, Vadim checked on him a couple times during the day because he was in pain.
"Feed him. He's starving."
"We just got back from the galley."
Vadim ruffled the kitten's fur and kissed the top of Klaus's head, but that was as much ownership as he would take. "Yvette said she changed him when she healed him. I don't want to do the same."
"Who says you would change him for worse?"
Vadim shrugged and backed out of the crate. "I'll see you tonight."
Except Vadim stayed on deck long after the sun went down, his pen light illuminating the pages of his book as Olivia steered them toward Hearthstone. Klaus had gone above only once to find Vadim shivering in his full winter coat. In the bright light, his fingers looked blue. When Klaus approached the aft deck, the wind caught his tunic, making him shiver.
"Go back below deck," Vadim growled. "It's too cold up here for you."
"It's too cold for you!" Klaus muttered under his breath, but he did as he was told. He made his bed on the floor and waited, but he fell asleep long before Vadim returned.
In the morning, Klaus didn't disturb the sleeping death weaver, and Mewskers needed to use his litter box in the head. On the way back, they stopped to see what Tim had saved for the growing kitten.
"He looks better each day," Tim said as Mewskers tackled a chicken neck. "Has he brought you a mouse yet?"
Klaus shuddered. "One he caught in the hold. He didn't know what to do with it."
Tim grinned. "He'll make a good ship's cat."
Klaus's eyes stung as he watched the kitten start in on his next delicacy, a chicken leg. Yes, his little Mewskers would be a fitting addition toStarlight Specter's crew, but Klaus wanted to keep him for his own.
"He'd make a fine house cat, too." Tim bowed his head with a kind smile and patted Klaus's shoulder as they watched Mewskers chew on the bone, now that he'd stripped the meat from it.
"Do you think they'd let me keep him?"
"Vadim said the cat's yours, so it's up to you. Take him or leave him, he'll be well cared for either way."
Klaus was grateful for that. He'd never been responsible for another creature before.
When he returned to the ship's hold on the way back to the crate, he met Stan and Tovey on their way to the galley. They both looked exhausted from their shift, but Tovey brightened when he saw the kitten.
"Who's this little one?" he asked.
"Mewskers."
