Brian is sitting at the kitchen table, glasses falling down his nose, as he does his homework. His tail is swishing behind him absentmindedly, his ears forward in concentration.
Erik pauses in his quest for water, smiling at the cat and stroking his hair gently. It was nice to take a break from work and see someone else working. Especially when they were as cute as Brian was when studying.
Brian has fallen asleep on Erik’s shoulder during the course of the movie, purring contentedly. It’s just the two of them at the moment, Charles is reading in the office and David has taken the other two cats out shopping.
Erik isn’t paying much attention to the movie, almost dozing off when Brian stirs.
“Murrow? Myah! Murr… Mour?” The cat chitters, twitching as he awakens.
Erik reaches up, running his fingers through the smaller male’s hair. “Brian?”
Said cat-man moves to curl closer, slowly blinking up at Erik. “Nyah?”
He chuckles, pressing his lips to Brian’s forehead. “Were you dreaming, darling?”
“A bit.” The cat smiles and tips his head back to kiss Erik, pulling himself closer to the warmth of the man who rescued him. The kiss is slow, languid. Erik’s hand finds its way down to the base of Brian’s spine, cupping him to his side.
Erik didn’t notice the storm at first. And he wouldn’t have, if Brian hadn’t scrambled into his lap and under his arms. The cat was shivering in terror as thunder broke outside, clutching at Erik’s shirt. His eyes were watery blue.
“Brian? What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“Ewik! Roooud!” Brown fuzzy ears lay close to his head as the cat tries to bury his head into the man.
Erik presses a kiss to his hair, arms wrapping around the quivering form. One hand strokes his ears soothingly. “Shhhh. It’s alright. It can’t hurt you now. You’re safe inside.”
Charles peeks into the room, tail flicking in agitation. “Brian?”
“He’s here.”
The older cat climbs onto the bed, licking at Brian’s cheek as he curls close to Erik. Brian mewls, one hand reaching out to tug at his brother’s shirt, pulling him even closer. Erik moves an arm around Charles, and strokes his hands down their backs. Another crash of thunder has the cats gripping hard at his chest, drawing out a small hiss of pain. Charles hears and his ears fall back. He nudges Erik’s jaw with his nose in apology.
“Sor…ry.” He struggles with pronunciation, but Erik smiles at him, squeezing his shoulder gently.
“It’s alright, Charles.” The cat settles back against his chest, arms wrapping around Brian.
Brian opens his eyes, blinks at Charles, and lets out a pitiful mew. Erik can’t help pulling him into a tighter hug. They stay like that until the storm passes, the cats curled around each other, and Erik embracing them.