Neko Shorts - 15. Prompt #394--A Stubborn Neko

Prompt #394--Use the following words: roses, dinner reservations, a broken toilet, a wet towel, and an owl

A Stubborn Neko

"No, I'm not going," Kayden stubbornly crossed his arms and refused to budge.

Damien sighed heavily. He wasn't sure why his little neko lover was being so adamant and worried about having dinner with his uncle at the castle.

"What are your dinner reservations now?" Damien asked. "You've met my uncle before. What's there to be nervous about?"

The green eyes narrowed at him as the black ears flattened. "All those men in red...with those roses on their..." Kayden waved at his front, indicating the guards' tabards. "They'll be everywhere."

"You realize that when we move into the castle after Uncle Eudon steps down, you'll have to be around them all the time."

Kayden's eyes widened, and Damien realized that the boy hadn't really thought about that. Crap, now he was going to be even more nervous. Aaannnd, there goes the tail, he thought, as Kayden's sleek tail started swishing behind him, betraying his nerves.

He almost laughed out loud at how nervous Kayden still was around the palace guards, especially after seeing how confident he was around Damien's own guards now. But he also couldn't forget the first time that Kayden had ever seen the palace guards. King Eudon had visited shortly after Damien had been 'gifted' with the young neko, and Kayden had nearly been killed by one of the guards when he'd tripped over his horribly long pants and stumbled into the king. Even after two years, Kayden was still wary around the king's guards. Going to the castle where he'd be surrounded by them would obviously make him wary.

Damien gathered Kayden in his arms, pulling him against his chest. He could feel the stiffness in the boy's shoulders. Damien pressed a kiss to the top of his head between his soft furry ears. "It'll be fine, kitten. Why don't you take a quick, warm shower? Relax for a bit before we leave."

Kayden's dark head nodded against his chest.

"I'll be back in just a bit. I'm going to run check on Harrison and Penelope. They should be here soon. Hopefully, Penelope isn't too tired."

Kayden frowned as he turned toward the bathroom. "Is she still not feeling well?"

Damien chuckled. "The baby must be a night owl. He seems to be keeping her awake at all hours of the night lately."

Kayden smiled, and Damien was glad to see that small smile light his boy's face. Good, maybe he'd feel better knowing that Penelope would be going with them, Damien thought. He turned to leave as Kayden yanked his linen shirt over his head as he walked toward the bathroom.

He sucked in his breath at the play of the afternoon sunlight over the ripples of the boy's lean back muscles. His eyes followed the line of the lightly bronzed skin along his spine to the base of the long swaying black tail. His mind trailed to thoughts of what lay beyond that enticing tail before he managed to grit his teeth and turn away before he ended up following Kayden into the bathroom.

"Be quick, kitten," Damien said as he exited the room.

He made his way downstairs, to be greeted by one of Harrison's footmen. Apparently, they were running a bit late due to another bout of baby sickness. Damien felt so sorry for his sister-in-law, being burdened with not just morning sickness, but all day sickness, from her pregnancy.

"That's fine, we'll wait as long as we can for them. If they can't make it, then Kayden and I will go by ourselves," he said.

"Very well, your Grace. I will let my lord know." And with that the man turned to leave.

His own guard captain stalked through the foyer. "I've checked on the carriage. Finn is driving tonight, and Rafe, Marcus, and Robert are accompanying us."

"Good." Damien nodded. As he watched the household neko, Ellis, move through the foyer with a pile of firewood, and Ysmenia carry a pile of linens up the stairs. Damien began to realize how much he'd come to rely on his faithful staff. How much they had helped not only him over the years in his time of need after his father had passed, but had been there for Kayden as well. Ellis had spent hours coaxing his kitten out of his shell and had been the only one that Kayden talked to for a long time, except for Damien. His manservant, John Drystan, faithfully straightened up the bed every time Kayden snuck back in for a nap. Even his grumpy chef, Garin, seemed to like Kayden better than anyone else in the house--although the man would never admit it.

The idea of leaving them when his uncle stepped down as king left an ache in his heart. There was no way he could do that, but he hated to uproot them either. He'd definitely have to talk to them about it, give them the choice of whether to stay here or go to the castle with him. He could only pray that some of them would be willing to come. Because he was sure that Kayden would need something familiar to ease the transition.

"Everything okay?" Geoff asked with a small frown.

"Yeah, just fine," Damien smiled. "I'm just going to look at some of the post, then we'll see if Harrison and Penelope get here in time."

He turned to his study. Flipping through the various letters and reports quickly, he made a few notes in his ledgers. It wasn't long before a half hour had passed, and he knew if he didn't head up to get Kayden soon, the boy would hide out in the bath forever.

As he started back up the stairs, John stopped him. "Sir, your brother and Lady Penelope are on their way. They will be here momentarily."

"Ahh, good," Damien smiled. "Now to go see if a little kitten can be dragged out of the bath."

John Drystan chuckled as he followed Damien up the stairs. As Damien entered the room, John waited outside the door, ready to offer any assistance if necessary.

"Kayden!" Damien called, hearing the flushing of the toilet. "Time to get dressed."

The duke froze when his young lover exited the washroom wrapped in only a wet towel. The damp body hovered in the doorway, and Damien pushed back the urge to just flip the boy onto the bed and forget dinner with his uncle.

"Get dressed, kitten."

Kayden smirked slightly, and Damien looked at him warily. He'd seen that look too many times to not know that something was up.

"I can't go."

Damien pursed his lips patiently. "And why not? More reservations about what will happen at dinner?"

Kayden smiled slightly. "No, I just don't have any shoes to wear."

Okay, Damien hadn't expected that one. He cocked his head curiously. "You have two pairs of leather slippers that would be appropriate for dinner."

"They're wet."

Damien gaped at the wide grin, wondering just what Kayden was talking about. It hadn't rained recently. And it wasn't like the boy wore them unless he absolutely had to. So how could they possibly have gotten wet?

He stalked over to the neko standing in the doorway to the bath with his arms crossed over his smooth bare chest. Resisting the urge to kiss the smirk right off the boy's face, he glared down at him. "What did you do to your shoes now?"

"They fell," Kayden grinned even wider.

"Fell? Fell where?" Damien wasn't liking where this was going.

Kayden just waved into the bathroom, and Damien stalked over, first glancing in the bathtub where he figured Kayden might have doused the leather shoes. But the boy's shoes were nowhere to be seen.

"Where--?" Damien started turning toward Kayden who only raised his brows, pointedly staring at the toilet. "You didn't..."

Damien stalked over to the bowl to see four shoes stuck in the toilet bowl. His hands snapped up to his hips in irritation as he stared at the soaked leather. "So you'd risk a broken toilet just to get out of going to dinner with my uncle?"

Kayden just bit his lip, perhaps realizing that maybe he'd gone a little too far to make his point about not wanting to go.

Damien reached in the clean water and pulled out each dripping shoe. "I've put off taking you to visit at the castle long enough. This is just a simple dinner with just my uncle and brother, and Penelope of course. It's not like it's the entire court."

Damien reached over and snatched the towel off of Kayden's hips, receiving a shocked glare as he proceeded to wrap one pair of the shoes in a towel and squeeze as much water out of them as possible. "Go on, now. Get dressed."

"But--"

Damien pointedly did not look over at Kayden. That lean naked body would be way too much of a distraction. "A pair of wet shoes is not getting you out of this. Now, since we don't have your new boots back yet from the cobbler, you'll just have to wear these damp."

Damien held up the two leather slippers with a smirk, and Kayden glared at him as he snatched them out of his hand, turning to go find clothes. "If I'd had boots, they'd be in there with them."

"Of that, I'm quite certain."