The Invite

Chapter 4

"Is that Vagabond?"

Kao looks up at him from where he's folding a blanket on the couch and makes an affirmative noise in the back of his throat. "I've been meaning to watch it for a while, but I could never catch it when it was airing," he says. "But they finally added it on Netflix."

On the television screen, the first episode is paused somewhere in the beginning, maybe in the first ten minutes. It's almost funny, how Up's reasons for not having watched the show are the same as Kao's—he gets home at ungodly hours and most of the time he's too tired to actually remember or pay attention to whatever is airing on TV.

"What?" Kao asks because Up has been staring in the passage to the living room like an idiot. "Do you wanna watch with me?"

"Oh, I—" I thought you invited me over for sex. He shakes the thought off, deeming it stupid and unnecessary considering he and Kao are friends and smiles. "If you want to."

"Come on, I'll go get some snacks and you rewind to the beginning," Kao says, patting the couch with his hand. "Just be careful, 'cause somewhere in here—" he gestures vaguely toward the mess of blankets on the couch, "—Milo is asleep."

Up is glad for the warning, because even when he plops down, he can hardly see the cat anywhere—and then the blankets move and a paw sticks out as Milo stretches, clearly still in dreamland.

Not wanting to spook him, Up has to fight the urge to reach out and pet him. He's slowly gaining the cats' trust, he thinks, with snacks and toys and patience as they sometimes allow him to rub its belly and sometimes run off at the mere sight of him.

Kao always says they like him—that it doesn't like anyone in its space, but his cat tolerates him; that Up keeps making progress and soon enough he'll conquer its hearts. The thought alone makes him feel warm all over.

"Where are sunny and cookie?" he asks about Kao's dogs, once Kao joins him on the couch, hands full of snacks to accompany them throughout their watching session.

"Sleeping on the heated floor in the bathroom," Kao tells him, a small smile on his lips as he slings an arm over the back of the couch. "They'll probably stay there until the morning."

Up laughs. "Cute."

Watching television with Kao is nice; they chatter over what's playing, trying to predict how the plot might unfold and bitching about characters that annoy them; Kao feeds Up snacks because Up's hands are busy holding him, arms wrapped around Kao's waist, unwilling to let go; they mostly have the same opinions, but whenever they differ, they break into a heated debate that eventually gets so ridiculous that it makes them both laugh.

It must be three episodes later, when the clock is about to strike eleven o'clock, that Up's eyes start to sting, too sore from the glare of the screen. Deciding it's better to let them rest for a while, he lets his eyelids slip shut and scoots over closer to Kao, chasing the warmth of his body.

Today has been a long day, and nothing seemed to work in Up's favor. Maybe instead of getting all thoughts fucked out of his brain, this is exactly what he needs. A quiet evening with his friend, some warmth and comfort, and delicious snacks.

So he doesn't try to protest when the dialogue on TV turns into slurred words that feel like he's hearing them through a wall, and allows himself to slip into a state of half-sleepiness as Kao throws his arm across his shoulders and pulls him closer.

When he wakes up, it's in the middle of the night. The surroundings are different, and Up has to prop himself up on his elbow to survey what's going on. He finds that he's in Kao's bed, under a blanket, with Kao breathing steadily next to him.