Les Chats du Guerre

4: Cautiously Optimistic

Sam awoke to the sounds of someone cooking in the kitchen, a certain woman already gone from his bed.

Unless he had simply imagined it in a sleepy haze and she had never been there in the first place. Wouldn't that just be his luck.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes before he stretched, his bones creaking and he frowned to himself.

For Christ's sake, he was 47, not 62.

He slipped out of bed, his clothes from the day before still on his frame and he did his bed to straighten them out.

He padded down to the kitchen, someone humming to themselves before they began to sing quietly.

"You're just too good to be true...can't take my eyes off of you..." the person sang as Sam stepped into the doorway.

The man was shorter than James, his hair a cropped auburn and when he finally noticed Sam he looked startled.

"Jesus..." the man began in surprise, his accent unrecognizable to Sam before the man smiled apologetically. "Sorry, they told me you'd be sleeping for a few more hours."

"James and [Y/N]?" Sam asked knowingly, the other man nodding.

The man's face was composed of odd angles, though he supposed he could be handsome enough.

"They've gone out to get you all some lunch, but I think they said they'd be back soon," the man explained.

The man plated Sam some toast, and Sam must have looked surprised because the man laughed.

"Sorry, force of habit," the man replied. "James and Leclerc keep precise hours so I'm used to having to make them something around this time. Wouldn't want the food to go to waste."

The man added an egg to the plate.

"I'm Timothy," the man introduced himself with a curt nod, Sam nodding in response as he ate some toast.

"So, you're the cook then?" Sam asked around the toast in his mouth, and the man looked amused.

"Of sorts," he retorted with a certain gleam in his eye as the front door opened.

"Sorry, they didn't have much at the store so we had to hunt around a few more shops," [Y/N] declared as she stepped into the kitchen.

She noticed Sam sitting there and gave him a small smile, a certain flush to her cheeks that made her look all the more attractive.

God really couldn't give him a break, could he?

James set some groceries on the counter, walking over to Timothy before he wrapped his arms around the other man's waist.

Sam watched James' lips travel from the other man's neck to his cheek, humming something in his ear that Tim replied to with a small laugh.

"You two can't stop acting like a couple for a minute? You're making me nauseous," [Y/N] teased as she slipped into the seat beside Sam.

"Afraid not," James retorted, kissing Tim gently and Sam frowned in confusion.

"Now you know how I felt in Switzerland," [Y/N] murmured suddenly in his ear. "Most awkward third wheel ever."

"So you two aren't...there isn't...." Sam began as he looked at her, and she frowned.

"We're not...what?" She asked in confusion.

"You're not...together then?" Sam asked awkwardly.

"Why would we...oh. Uh. Wow. No," [Y/N] retorted with a laugh. "No, not even close."