A Fluffy Tale (17 page)

It was the evenings that started to freak
Julian out, just slightly. Zachary seemed to have accepted that Julian and Leo
would come over each night for supper, either prepared by him (occasionally
with Julian’s assistance), or ordered in. That was followed either by a film,
or Zachary and Julian playing chess with Leo watching and arching his eyebrow
in a knowing manner, or just sitting and talking, often about Leo’s past travel
experiences.

The chess was fine, even if Julian was
hardly a worthy opponent for Zachary unless Leo helped him (and even then,
Zachary could kick his arse.) But when they were watching a film or talking or
doing anything that involved sitting on the sofa and armchairs, Linis, and then
Pyon, would start up the peculiar business of forcing Julian to sit closer to
Zachary. Once they tried switching chairs—but Linis then nagged Zachary to move
back onto the sofa. After a week, Julian gave up, and sat on the sofa next to
Zachary without any need for the kems to ‘persuade’ them. The smug look Linis
gave him that night was positively human.

None of that bothered Julian much, but the
way Zachary just accepted it, did. He didn’t seem to find any of it annoying—a
little peculiar, certainly, but not enough to resist Linis’s efforts. The fact
that he was spending hours on most nights voluntarily sitting less than a foot
away from another person, didn’t make him react as Julian would have predicted
a bare two weeks before. Half a dozen times it was on the very tip of Julian’s
tongue to ask him why it didn’t bother him—and half a dozen times, he thought
about Leo’s hopes that Zachary would get used to having people around, and he
shut up.

Leo’s plan seemed to be working. More subtle than Linis’s manoeuvrings, the principle was the
same—to gradually desensitise Zachary, until he forgot he was a solitary man
who disliked being physically close to other people. The shopping trips for
ingredients were another small way in which Zachary was kept company without it
being obvious. Once he was off the crutches, and slowly building up strength
and stamina again, it seemed natural for Julian and Leo to accompany him on
shorter walks, Julian for longer ones with plans to resume jogging anytime now.
Julian went to the gym with him as well, on the pretext of needing to improve
fitness for his own sake.

He realised about a week after Zachary had gone
back to work full-time that he was spending almost as much time with the man
now as he had while he’d been injured—and nearly as much time as he was with
Leo. It worried him a little.

“Don’t you think he should be meeting other
people as well?” he said to Leo over lunch one day, when they were discussing
plans for a weekend away. Today was Zachary’s birthday, and the surprise
weekend trip was Leo’s gift to him—a ferry ride out to an island famous for its
wildlife, a night in a hotel with magnificent views, and then a boat tour to
look for marine animals before heading back to the mainland.

“All in good time, Julian. Are you still
planning to ask him to go with you to your brother’s wedding?”

“I’ll ask, but even if he agrees, which he
won’t, I can’t see him enjoying it much. And then he’ll be cranky with me.”

“Give him some credit, dear boy. I think
you should ask him. Let him expand his horizons a little.”

“My family tend to narrow them. They did
for me.”

“And yet you turned out just fine. Your
parents must be
such
monsters.”

“They’re not,” Julian
muttered as Leo smirked knowingly. “They’re just not much like you or him.”

“Another reason he should go. In the
meantime, I’ve got a few ideas to entice him out. You’re still enjoying the
cooking lessons?”

“Yes, I really am. I mean…he’s a natural
teacher. I worked out I just need to shut up for a while, and then he starts to
talk, almost like he can’t help himself.”

Leo smiled. “And you love to listen, so
it’s a perfect match. Encourage him. We can use that to help him make other
friends.”

“How?”

“I have some ideas. Right now, I'm just
delighted that he’s learning that people as well as kems can make good
companions. Well done.”

Julian felt a bit of a hypocrite for
accepting any thanks. He’d done nothing—Zachary had done all the hard work.
Julian had only had to sit still and wait for Zachary to come slowly out of his
shell. He could hardly say he hadn’t enjoyed it either. Scheme of Leo’s or not,
the cooking lessons had become one of his treats, and tonight, for Zachary’s
birthday, Julian was making a special meal in Leo’s apartment. He hoped he
wouldn’t mess it up. He wanted to show Zachary that he’d been paying attention, that he appreciated the time Zachary had spent on
him. If Zachary was learning how to be around people, Julian had learned to
appreciate them. He’d been—still was, most likely—a thoughtless, careless grub
but Leo and Zachary had shown him that to be considered worth knowing, he had
to
be
worth knowing. He liked himself
better these days too.

Both Leo and Zachary loved seafood, and
Julian had learned to like it, though he suspected he would never adore it as
they did. But what he did enjoy was the fish markets, shopping with either of
them, seeing the strange sea creatures he wouldn’t even know how to start to
cook, let alone eat, watching Leo ask knowledgeable questions and drive hard
bargains for the freshest and best. Julian was happy to cook whatever Leo
bought, but he let the master do the picking.

They selected a few other items, and then a
taxi home before it got dark and even colder. Then Leo had kem watching duty—in
particular, keeping Pyon’s nose out of the food preparation—while Julian
marinaded and sliced and whipped and dunked and tasted. It wasn’t the fanciest meal any of them had eaten even since Leo had
arrived, but he’d been researching, and had a few ideas that Zachary hadn’t
tried yet. The food was simple—lightly breaded and fried calamari with a salad,
grilled sea bass and steamed vegetables, and a whipped fruit mousse that tasted
decadent but which would sit easily on the stomach—but the details were what
Julian hoped Zachary would notice. And if not—well, it was all damn healthy
stuff. No alcohol, the handmade bread was wholemeal
and the entire meal was low in saturated fat and refined carbohydrates. Even if
Zachary hadn’t lectured him endlessly about the correct way to eat to keep
their kems happy, Julian would have made the meal this way for Leo’s sake.
Leo’s latest check had shown him to be in excellent health for a man ten years
younger—and Julian planned to keep it that way.

Zachary called up on the private intercom
they’d set up between the apartments to say he was home, and five minutes later
he turned up at their door.

“I'm not late, I hope,” he said, smiling tiredly.
Linis leapt down to the floor where Pyon and Nuji indulged in a kemmish orgy of
welcome, with much licking and cuddling.

Leo handed his nephew a cup of green tea in
his own welcome gesture. “Not at all, and happy thirty-first birthday, my dear
boy.”

“Thank you, Uncle Leo.” He pulled up a
chair at the kitchen counter to watch Julian’s final preparations. “Need a
hand?”

“No, all done. Happy birthday from me too.”

“Thank you. They bought me a cake at work,”
Zachary said, frowning. “I don’t
eat
cake. And they gave me a pen. I’ve got all the pens I need.”

“It’s a mark of respect, that’s all. They
like you.”

“They do? Why?”

Leo laughed and Julian grinned. “Why not?”
they chorused and Zachary just shook his head.

Julian handed the man a plate of plain nuts
and some dried lentil things that Zachary liked as a snack. “Is it a nice pen?”

“It is. But I’ve got enough pens.”

“They don’t go off. Keep it for when you
run out.”

“But they’ll give me another one next year.
How can I ask them not to?”

“You can’t. They love birthdays in that
office. Cheer up, it’s over now.
I didn’t get you anything.”

“Good,” Zachary said with such feeling
Julian had to grin again. “I don’t need
things
.
People don’t understand that.”

“I do,” Leo said, handing him an envelope.
“I can assure you that all I’ve given you in there is memories.”

“More photos?”

“
New
memories.”

Zachary read the letter and examined the
booking forms. “Oh, this is wonderful, Uncle Leo, thank you—but it’s for two
people.”

“You and Julian, yes. It’s too cold for me,
and my doctor thought it might be wiser to do it in the spring.”

“You didn’t say you weren’t going,” Julian
said, hands on his hips. “I can’t leave you alone.”

“You can and you shall. You need some time
off from me, so it’s my gift for you too. Julian, my boy, you spend almost
every hour of every day in my company. Love you dearly as I do, I'm sure there
are times you wish to be around people more your own age. Go, enjoy yourself,
take lots of photos and come back and tell me all about it. And then when it’s
warmer, we can do something similar, altogether.”

“It makes sense,” Zachary said. “We can
make sure it’s suitable for Uncle Leo. The weather forecast is for very cold
weather—perfect for walking, but…”

“Not so good for him. Okay.” Julian didn’t
like it, but they had already planned for the times when he would be away or
taking a night off. This would count as a dry run and he was sure canny Mr
Underwood had already thought of that.

“Excellent,” Leo said. “So enjoy it, both
of you, and I can be naughty without my keepers around.” He winked at Julian to
take away the offence while Zachary looked to the heavens for patience with his
wicked old uncle.

Supper together wasn’t anything unusual any
more, but Leo and Julian had done their best to make it a little special,
breaking out table decorations that had been in storage since Leo’s last lover
had died, and exotic yellow flowers—just a few—sitting in single-stem vases
here and there on the table. Julian had been in fits wondering if Pyon would
suddenly take it into his head to rampage up and down, but Linis had a calming
effect on the two smaller kems, and the three of them curled up together on a
chair while their humans indulged themselves,

As usual, Zachary ate in silence,
concentrating on the food. Julian watched him closely for any signs of pleasure
or distaste—but the man was irritatingly opaque. At least, he was until dessert
arrived, and as he tried the handmade chocolate dipped cherry on the top of his
serve of mousse, he smiled. He ate it delicately, laid the stem beside his
plate, and then he bowed his head. “Julian, that’s exquisite. Really…all of the
food has been most…acceptable.”

“Acceptable?” Leo glared narrowly at his
nephew. “That’s possibly the nicest meal I’ve had in ten years.”

“Well yes. I didn’t want to imply it was
the best he could ever achieve. I expect you to only improve from now on.”

Julian glowed with pride. “Try the mousse?”
Zachary had a slight sweet tooth, but he was so picky, it was hard to get
exactly the right balance between flavours that he’d like.

Zachary tasted it, then another spoonful,
and sighed. “Delicious. I could never get the hang of desserts. You’re my
master in those.”

Julian felt almost unbearably smug, and
when both men asked him for seconds, he thought all the hassle of making the
meal had been well worth it.

Zachary was tired, but he seemed reluctant
to let the evening end early, so Julian selected a film and they settled down
to watch. He didn’t tempt fate—or Linis’s wrath—by sitting on the armchair. As
soon as he put his backside down on the sofa, Zachary’s kem and his own jumped
up and took up their now habitual position between the two humans.

Leo came over, looked down, and smiled at
them all. “They have you two trained, don’t they?” He lowered the lights and
sat on his usual chair, pressing the command to play.

Julian had seen the film several times
before, though it was new to Zachary, so his attention drifted. He felt content
and satisfied with his efforts tonight—Zachary’s reaction had been much more
generous than he’d expected. Fulsome, even. That was
the nice thing about Zachary—you could trust his praise completely. You could
trust
him
completely because he
didn’t lie. He saw no point in lying, and what he found pointless, he didn’t
indulge in.

He smiled to himself at Zachary’s peaceful
expression. It had become more common to see him like this, even before he’d
shed the nuisance of the crutches. It was as if Leo’s presence had eased the
sourness in him, lanced the wound. He was still sharp, and inclined to be
truthful more than polite, but the anger that had coloured so many of Julian’s
earlier conversations with him, had gone or been muted. It might not have been
all Leo, Julian considered. A brush with death might have made him reassess
things. One day, Julian might even ask him, but that much hadn’t
changed—Zachary still avoided personal topics of conversation, even with
someone like Leo.

Julian’s hands moved almost automatically
over Linis’s thick soft fur, and then over Pyon’s shorter coat. They were so
cute together, and inseparable. Nuji was their friend, but if Pyon had to
choose, Linis won every time. Julian had no idea what Linis would do, but it
was funny to see how playful the big, dignified kem became around Pyon. Linis’s
affection didn’t extend so much to Julian, but then he tended to mostly ignore
humans except Zachary. Unless of course the big guy wanted something and then
you couldn’t escape from his golden gaze.
Persistent,
Julian thought, running his hand down Linis’s buttocks and then back along his
spine.

His fingers brushed Zachary’s
accidentally—he quickly moved his hand and smiled in apology. Zachary only
glanced his way and then turned back to the screen. Julian tried to be more
careful, not wanting to make this uncomfortable for the man.