Kitten

Chapter 8

"Stu, kitten, we're gonna have to talk about all of this alright?" Murdoc spoke up after a few minutes of relative silence.

"Mm... stuff like what?"

"Like the fact that we can't just leave the doors open anymore, especially when I'm not home. Even if the air breaks it's really dangerous to do that." He shook his head, glancing back to the now shut door.

"But it was hot..." Stuart pouted, laying back on the couch with a soft huff.

"I know, but it's not safe. I don't know who this Paula woman is, let along what she's capable of, so leaving it open when she knows where we live isn't good."

Stuart was quiet for a few moments after that, Murdoc couldn't tell what he was thinking of but it seemed to be enough to keep the usually happy boys attention. He let his hand reach up to ruffle his hair gently, hoping that it would maybe make him feel a little bit better about the situation, if there was one thing he wanted it was to make the boy feel comfortable. An idea popped into his head a few minuets later, Stuart was more than likely worried about the woman coming back to their house now that Murdoc had mentioned it.

"You know, it's been quite stuffy in here lately hasn't it?" Murdoc finally broke the silence.

"Mm...a little bit." Stuart nodded, his eyes blinking back open to look at him.

"Would you want to spend the night at Russel's place tonight? Maybe it'll help take your mind off everything."

"I don't want to go alone." The kitten pouted, his hand reaching out to grip Murdoc's shirt.

"We can go together."

Stuart seemed to brighten up at the idea of the elder going with him, he'd nuzzled himself right back into Murdocs lap feeling comforted. The kittens head had nuzzled up under his chin and Murdoc couldn't help his smile when he felt his ears flick against his cheeks. He let one of his hands slip up to brush the boys hair from his face, getting lost in thoughts for the time being as his eyes studied over Stuart. He looked healthier than he had when Murdoc had first met him, his cheeks were fuller, and his skin had color back. He took in how much closer they were in just a matter of days, and how the boys hair had even reflected his health, now light and fluffy over how thin and stringy it had been.

He smiled softly when the boy turned to look back up at him, their eyes locking together for the time being, it'd been hard to look away really. Murdoc had felt like it was the first time he had ever really seen the boy and he couldn't explain why he felt that way but there was some part of him that told him it didn't really matter. With a soft hum he leaned in, letting himself be gentle as he pressed a soft kiss to the boys forehead. It was only a brush of his lips really, you could barely even call it a kiss but Murdoc was fine with that as he ushered the boy off of him, telling him to gather his things so they could head over.

While the boy was gone he pulled his phone back out, sending a quick text to Russel to see if it was actually alright with him if they came over. It wasn't exactly surprising that he'd gotten a yes, since the elder man seemed to be fond of Stuart not to mention Noodles own excitement; but there was a part of him that thought their sudden change of pace was pretty funny. From what he'd remembered they used to only see each other every once in a while, even fewer times after Russel had taken Noodle in. He let the thought drop from his mind not too long after, he had to go get a change of clothes for himself so spending time in a daze wasn't the best thing for him to be doing he figured.

"Are we going soon?" Stuart piped up when Murdoc entered the room, his head tilted in question.

"Russ said we could come by whenever. Let me get a change of clothes and we can leave when you want."