My best friend's cat // Mashton

0.7

0.7 - Nice

"So, where are you from?" Ashton asked, moving his food around with his fork as he tried to ignore the slight stinging in his eyes. Michael stayed silent, like he had been doing ever since he had walked into the kitchen.

Luke had been answering for him so far, making Ashton confused and a little annoyed because surely the boy could speak for himself. Or so he thought, obviously.

He had chuckled when Luke had introduced the boy as Michael, finding it funny that that was the same name as Luke's cat. Who he still hadn't seen, to his surprise.

"He's from somewhere near Brisbane," Luke answered, randomly naming a bigger city as he was chewing on his food. Ashton sighed, "and why can't he tell me that himself?"

Luke opened his mouth, but then closed it again. He hadn't really thought of that. But he knew a good excuse and hoped Michael could play along to it.

"He doesn't like to talk. Only to people he's really comfortable with," the blonde said quietly, faking worry and sadness. It made him feel a bit guilty, for lying, but he didn't see another way out.

"Oh," was all Ashton said, his eyes on his plate. He didn't like it when people weren't comfortable around him. Ashton was quite the people person and he always wanted people to be able to talk to him. He liked helping people as well, making them feel better.

"I'm sure it'll come with time," Luke mumbled, finishing his own food and smiling a little at Michael. The cat-boy didn't see it though, as he was looking at his plate.

Michael felt awkward. He really wanted to talk, but Luke had said he didn't want Ashton to know about Michael just yet. And if Michael spoke, he knew Ashton would notice something wasn't right, because as Michael himself knew, he couldn't talk like the average person of his age. Whatever his age was, though.

But what did surprise Michael, was how nice Ashton seemed. Ashton hadn't been mean once, not like when Michael was a cat. But maybe that was just it. Because he knew Ashton always sneezed and cried when Michael was around when he was a cat. And sure, his eyes were a little red now, but Michael thought he was just tired. Luke's eyes were a little red when he was tired as well, so it made sense.

"What's with the beanie?" Ashton questioned carefully and quietly, eyeing the beanie that was hiding most of Michael's white hair. He wasn't sure if it was just because the boy liked beanies or if the boy had something more serious.

"His ears get cold easily and he just likes it," Luke shrugged a little, watching Michael for a moment as Ashton nodded. As thought, it made sense.

"We're gonna go back to my room, yeah? Let me know if you need anything," Luke mumbled, getting up and taking both his and Michael's plate. He put them in the sink -since they both had been empty- before motioning for Michael to follow him.

Michael looked back at Ashton for a moment, causing their eyes to meet. As if it was fire, Michael jumped from his seat and stumbled after Luke.

Once the sound of a door closing sounded, Ashton let out a sigh. Was he really that scary? Like, Ashton knew the boy didn't like to talk, but the way he had ran off was as if he was scared or something. And it kind of made the curly haired lad sad.

Then again, Michael apparently had had some problems at home and maybe those were just worse than they sounded. Ashton never really got told what they were anyway and he shouldn't judge.

And the fun thing was, that he wanted to get to know Michael. Even if the boy didn't really talk to him. Yet.

As Ashton finished his dinner, Luke and Michael were in Luke's room. The cat-boy had gotten rid of the beanie as soon as he could, also freeing his tail from the big sweater. He kept the sweater on though, pulling the sleeves over his knuckles as he watched Luke sit down on the bed with a frown.

"Lu?" Michael asked quietly, pouting at the frowning boy on the bed. "W-what is w-ro-ro... wro-ng?"

Luke hummed as he looked up, his eyes looking over the shy boy. "It's nothing Mikey, I'm just tired. Are you okay, though? With Ashton?"

Michael nodded and shrugged, "A-sh-t-on?" Michael tried to pronounce, continuing his sentence as Luke nodded, "s-see-ms ni-ce."

Luke smiled, "he is. I'm just not sure how he reacts when he finds out. But we'll eventually get there."

Michael sighed quietly, fiddling with the sleeves. He felt so weird being here, all of a sudden. He was confused, torn between just wanting to cuddle and wanting to know about things. About a lot of things

"Let's just cuddle, yeah?" Luke suggested, lying down on the bed and patting the empty space.

Michael nodded and crawled into the bed next to Luke. His breathing almost automatically slowed down, as his body warmed up. It was so nice and cozy beneath the duvet.

"You know," Luke started, pulling Michael close and looking at the boy's face, "we should go outside sometime. I'm sure you would like that."

"Ou-t-si-de?" Michael slowly spoke, trying to copy Luke's speaking. The taller boy nodded, smiling. "Yeah, like, what you see from the window?"

Michael let out a soft 'oh', nodding slowly, "y-yes. Out-outsi-de."

"Tomorrow. But you'll have to wear the beanie. I'm not sure how people think these days," Luke sighed, biting his lower lip as he thought.

Michael huffed, but then cuddled closer to Luke, hiding his face in the blonde's neck. "Do n-not li-ke."

"I know, it sucks. But if you wanna go outside, you'll have to wear it." Luke told the boy sadly, stroking his white fluffy hair.

Michael's cat ears flickered as Luke's hand moved past them, giving the taller boy an idea. He carefully trailed his fingers over Michael's ears, smiling at the softness.

And as Michael started purring, he smiled even wider.

"You like that, hm?" Luke questioned, chuckling as Michael didn't respond. Luke moved his hand away, only for Michael to nudge his head up and into Luke's hand.

"Okay, okay, I'll pet you." Luke said with a chuckle, going back to softly stroking Michael's white cat ears. And Michael went back to purring.

"D-do li-ke." Michael spoke between purring, his eyes closed as he enjoyed it. He could live in this moment forever, if he was honest.

"I've noticed," Luke hummed, closing his eyes shortly. He felt a little sleepy, but it could be the warmth that was radiating of Michael. Just like when he had been a cat, Michael was warm and cuddly. And purring. Purring as always.

So all in all, nothing much had changed.

Sure, Luke's furry friend was now taller and no longer as furry as before, but he was still Michael. The cutie that liked to cuddle with Luke.

He was his Michael.

And Luke surely hoped that he would never lose him.