Neko Shorts - 18. Prompt #420: Caught

Prompt #420: First Line-- "He put his hand where?"

Caught

"He put his hand where?" Ellis asked in surprise.

"You heard me," Ysmenia snapped back.

"And you saw him doing it?"

"No, but his hand was still all sticky, and he looked guilty as hell, as he always does when he gets caught." Ysmenia grinned. "He was even still licking his hand clean. Gave me those big green innocent eyes," she muttered. "Like I don't know what he was up to."

Ellis watched the older woman furiously mix at the batter she was stirring. "I'm sure Kayden didn't mean any harm."

Ellis smiled at the blush he was sure had spread across the young neko's face at being caught by Ysmenia. He could just imagine the little pointed black ears flattening out at her admonishing and his tail curling in around his leg. The little feline was bold, but he hated upsetting Ysmenia.

"They're not going to put up with that kind of behavior in the castle kitchens," she stated, emphasizing her words with a poke of her spatula.

"Well, I'm sure you and Garin will keep the kitchen staff at the castle from harping on Kayden too much."

Ysmenia grumbled. "If Garin had caught him..."

"He might have yelled a bit, but we all know the big guy loves Kayden," Ellis finished. "In his own way."

"What would I have yelled about?" Garin's deep voice rumbled from the doorway as he came in carrying an armful of carrots and leeks.

Ysmenia bit her lip, concentrating suddenly on the bowl.

The chef's glare traveled first over Ysmenia then settled on Ellis, who sighed heavily. "Apparently, Yas caught Kayden in the back pantry again, licking off his sticky fingers."

If Ellis hadn't been watching closely, he would have missed the amused twitch to the older chef's lips. "Had his hand in the honey jar again, huh?"

Ellis nodded, suppressing his grin at imagining Kayden sneaking into the pantry to get a taste of the thick golden sweetness. He was surprised that Kayden had such a sweet tooth, since most nekos didn't. He, himself, certainly didn't. But Kayden's past had kept his exposure to foods limited, and everyone had discovered quickly that the boy loved sweets.

Hence, the sneaking into the pantry to the honey jar.

"Figures," was Garin's only response, surprising both Ellis and Ysmenia. This from the man who objected to nekos in his kitchen at all because of the possibility of shedding.

"Garin," she huffed, "you know it's unsanitary for him to be sticking his fingers right in the jar like that."

"That's why I put a little jar on a lower shelf, a blue one. Been there a while now. He thinks he's sneaking some honey, but it's really just for him," Garin stated matter-of-factly as he proceeded to chop the veggies.

"What? A blue one?" Ysmenia gaped at the man in shock. He'd given the boy his own jar?

"Yeah, the jar we use is on the top shelf in the back. He scents the closest one and leaves the one he can't reach alone," Garin almost smiled at his ingenuity at out smarting the boy who had wormed his way into his heart the first day Garin had seen the scrawny kid.

Ysmenia and Ellis just started laughing, never having expected the grumpy chef to cater to Kayden like he had.

"I know you'll be in charge when we move with His Grace to the castle," Ysmenia stated, "but I'm not sure the castle staff will like his pilfering,"

Garin just grunted. "They will deal with it."

"Really? You think so?"

Garin looked up at her from his chopping. "Yeah, because I said so."