#Chapter7
Ah man! He missed being sickly in love.
/"Because I missed you, babes./" Almost tipping the juice as he planted his palms on the table and flung his torso along it so he could peck a kiss on his buddy's forehead, he gave a grin. And just like magic, an identical grin sprung up on Lucien's face.
/"How'd you get in?/" Angel asked. /"The chain's on the front door./"
/"I'm a man of a thousand mysteries,/" Ronan said, watching the way the sexy man-o flipped those egg-os. It was a bizarre thing. He liked Angel a lot, but he'd never considered himself attracted to him, but when it came to Raven, who was identical in sooo many ways, it was another story altogether.
Which reminded him that he had to ask, or get them to compare whose dick was bigger, because he was so curious to see if they would be the same, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn't think it was appropriate breakfast material. Not when Raven wasn't there to defend himself when Angel claimed superiority, at least.
Lucien frowned. /"For some reason, I pictured you climbing down the chimney./"
/"Santey ain't got nothing on me, babes./" Then, flicking a finger towards the square panel in the door, he flashed another grin. /"I really love your imaginary kitty-cat./"
/"You used the cat flap?/" Lucien gasped.
/"I wish I could say I'm surprised,/" Angel grumbled. He'd flicked the switch off on the stove and was buttering up slices of bread.
/"How did you even fit?/" Lucien looked between him and the animal door. Frowned. Looked again.
Mocking offense, Ronan threw a hand to his chest. /"Are you calling me fat? Don't you body sham me, Lucien Murdock!/"
/"No!/" Lucien choked on his juce. His Daddy was there in a heartbeat to pat his back and shoot Ronan a glare, like it was his fault! The audacity! /"I just meant that it's for animals. Not people./"
Ronan only shrugged. It had taken a lot of cursing and wiggling, but he'd proved it wasn't impossible. Besides, he was convinced it was a dog flap anyway. That, or whoever had installed it had a gigantic cat!
Probably that bitch Carol Baskin! Bet she used to live here and smuggled lion cubs back.
/"I really think it's stupid of you to have a cat door and no cat./" Then, smirking at Angel, he said, /"Hint, hint, Daddy. Get my boy a kitty./"
Lucien gasped, his eyes lighting up. /"Can we? I could name him Bageerah if he was a black cat like from Jungle Book, or I could call him Simba if he was ginger, or —/"
/"You said that you wanted me to buy you pretty fishies, puppy. A cat would eat them./"
/"Not if — /" Angel cut Ronan off with a droll stare.
/"Oh./" The conflict on Lucien's face was painful to watch. His brows puckered and his thought process practically had the gears in his head grinding in overload. Ronan would have laughed at the expression, but his heart just wasn't in it. /"But . . . I want Nemo fishes, Daddy./"
Daddy.
Whenever Lucien called Angel Daddy or acted small around him, he'd always felt proud. It was a small feat, sure, but he knew it had embarrassed Luci to begin with. He was a private person and liked to keep his personal affairs to himself. So for him to feel comfortable enough to no longer care that he was there, or secure enough to slip around him or speak without fear of judgement, he took it as a win!
/"So we'll get fishes over a kitty then, puppy?/"
/"Get both,/" Ronan teased, almost choking on his juice beneath the dark look Angel threw at him. It was just a haunch, but he was getting the impression that Angel didn't want a cat.
/"Yeah,/" Lucien said. /"Fishes. I want fishes./"
/"I'd choose the cat,/" Ronan piped up, accepting the sandwich that was placed in front of him. And Angel had even been a sweetheart and cut the crusts off and cut them into triangles the same way he had Lucien's. He hadn't made himself anything to eat, but as he dropped down, he'd fixed himself two mugs of coffee and Ronan knew from experience that he had no intention of sharing. /"I could chase it and play with it, and I'd know that it loved me because it would snuggle me./"
/"And molt all over your clothes, and bring half-dead mice back to your yard, and puke in your shoes./" Angel made a face. /"Yeah, we're sticking with the fish./"
Lucien had work. It spoiled his plans a little bit, but he got over it quickly; Angel said he could hang out with him.
While Angel showered and changed, Ronan walked Lucien to work. It was only a block away. He had work of his own that needed catching up with, but as he'd recently ventured into the market of self-employment, he'd allowed himself to fall lax on his responsibilities. Which wasn't necessarily a good thing. His finances had taken a bump the last few months. But he still managed to get by, so he wasn't worried just yet.
/"So what do you want to do?/" Angel said when he got back. /"I was going to meet Raven at the gym at noon. Gonna try fix this stupid thing./" He waved down at his leg. The limp was subtle, inconspicuous to what it had been six months ago, but the pain was still bothering him. Raven thought it might have been psychosomatic, but Ronan didn't feel like being the one to suggest that to him. /"But clear till then. So pick what we're doing./"
There were a lot of sensible things he could have suggested. He could have recruited his help to try and find Teddy, his stuffie from Raven, and hope that Adam hadn't done the same thing to him that he had to Lazlo, but he didn't. It would draw Angel's attention back to prying about last night, and he knew it would only upset him if they couldn't find it.
So, with a grin, he decided he wanted to do something to take his mind off of it. Something to achieve his mission of the day. /"I want to dye my hair!/"