thankful // final space { garycato ]

Thankful

A smile made its way onto Avocato's face as he gently smoothed his paw along his son's head. He could feel the rumbling from the boy's throat and resisted the urge to chuckle. How he'd missed this.
He let out a sigh of relief.
He finally had Little Cato back.
"Night, pa... See you... tomorrow..."
The young Ventrexian barely finished his sentence before drifting off to sleep.
"Goodnight, son," his father whispered.
Avocato's ears sprung up at a sound coming from right outside of the bedroom.
He carefully tiptoed outside as the door closed, just in time to see his friend speed walking away.

"Gary?"

He froze.
"What are you doing out here, man? And what the hell was that noise?"
Gary turned around in defeat. "I wanted to see if you guys were alright. And, uh, it was nothing. Just a cough or some-"
"Are you crying?"
He faltered. Avocato was staring him right in the face, a caring but worried look in his eyes.
"Y...Yeah. Well, I was. I mean, I was trying to- I mean- trying not to, but clearly it didn't work because you heard me and now you're touching me why is your hand on my shoulder where are we going-"
"Gary. Come on. Calm down, man. What's bothering you?"
"Nothing! It's nothing, just a classic case of space pollen! In fact I think it's clearing up now, I'm totally fine, just have a few specks hanging around-"
"Gary."
Avocato turned him around and put both paws on his shoulders, pushing him against a window in the hall.
"Avoca-"
"Listen, man," he gently let his arms fall away from Gary, "I know we all have our inner suffering or whatever, but clearly something is really wrong. You're my friend. I care about you. So I'm not letting you go anywhere until you tell me why you were crying."
Gary broke down in tears and started crying into his friend's chest.
The other didn't know how to react other than grabbing onto his arms or shoulders to keep him grounded. "W-whoa! Hey, c'mon, it's-"
"I love you, bro," Gary managed to say between sobs.
Avocato could swear he felt his face get hotter and his ears folded back slightly. "I...I love you too, man. You good?"
Gary pulled away and nodded slowly.
Avocato leaned back against the glass next to Gary, ready to listen as the man began to speak.
"I just... It made me really happy to see you being so calm and enjoying having your son back. You're the first real friend I've had in five years, and somehow, being just some random prisoner on a ship, I managed to help you find the son you spent three years searching for. I went from a guy who destroyed ninety-two ships to a prisoner who helped reunite a family. You trusted me and let me help you, for some goddamn reason, and it actually turned out well and you got your son back and- Oh, crap, I'm... rambling, aren't I?"
"

"What is happening...?" Gary asked slowly, echoing the other's earlier statement.
"I think we're..." Avocato lowered his voice to a whisper as he gently caressed Gary's face, "...about to kiss."
Gary's gaze darted around, desperately avoiding eye contact. "Sh-should we?"
"Do you want to...?" Avocato asked softly.
Gary swallowed nervously before giving a tiny nod.
The Ventrexian leaned forwards, gently placing his lips on Gary's.
Gary was ready for it to last forever, til Avocato slowly pulled away.
Not ready for it to end, Gary brought them back into a deeper kiss by wrapping his arms around Avo's neck and burying his hands in the soft fur.
Avocato was quick to return the favour and run his paws through luscious blond hair.
Gary almost commented on the low rumbling from the alien's throat, but held back the urge so as not to ruin the moment. He did take enjoyment in the fact that his affectionate actions were causing fuzzy ears to twitch.
When they finally broke apart, Avocato was the first to speak.
"If I tell you whether or not that was me purring, will you stop calling me a damn cat?"
"Maybe I will," Gary said, with a shrug and a sheepish grin. 'If you keep kissing me like that,' he wanted to add.
Avo narrowed his eyes and sighed, though it turned into a chuckle. "Then... Maybe it was."