capeandcowllogs | cat's out of the bag

Entry tags:

cat's out of the bag

WHO: catpeople (Wildcat 2.0 and arrancat)
WHERE: their warehouse apartment
WHEN: after school following this conversation
WARNINGS: feels.
SUMMARY: Now that the secret's out, they have to have The Talk.
FORMAT: nope

Ggio was a little bit later in getting home that day, having to catch up with his teacher for the class he accidentally (honest!) skipped, and choosing to walk, rather than sonido, and give him time to think.

He wasn't worried about whatever it was Tom had to talk about with him - honestly, Ggio didn't think a talk was necessary, but he had figured Tom would think differently. No, he was thinking about what he almost said to him during his lunch break; about how and who he was before he crashed in on Tom's life, how different that was from now.

And even now, he still wasn't sure if this life was exactly right. He was supposed to be over even comparing the two.

He was collected enough by the time he arrived home - with a bag of freshly fried dumplings.

"Tom?"

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Tom actually wasn't that upset, and he wouldn't have even brought up the possibility of a talk if Ggio hadn't brought it up first. The fact that their relationship had come up much sooner than Tom had expected definitely came as a surprise to the werepanther, but he wasn't all that worried about it, especially since Bobbi and Julian were taking it well.

He'd shifted back out of his werepanther form since their earlier talk, and had gone back to work on the renovations to the warehouse, which was how Ggio would find him when he finally came home, in a pair of jeans and toolbelt, working on their new kitchen.

"Back here," He calls from under the sink, finishing up the pipes. He wasn't a pro at this stuff by any stretch of the word, but he'd learned enough being the only man in the house all his life, to take care of maintenance like this.

"You stopped in Chinatown?"

"Yeah."

Ggio smiled with approval as he admired the kitchen - marble countertops, a new sink, a huge refrigerator. Loathe as he was to move out of the MAC, and intrude on what he still considered Selina's territory, he rather like the change. The loft was huge, but not to the point where it felt cold and mostly empty. There was more than enough space for them fill it with whatever they wanted; and plenty of room for Ramus when he hung out with them.

After dropping his bag and jacket and taking off his shoes, Ggio padded over to where Tom was. He pulled a dumpling from the bag and crouched down, holding it out to Tom - but seeing as his hands were occupied, Ggio went a step further and pushed it against his mouth, insisting he open wide.

Their new home was definitely bigger than their apartment, even though it was only meant to be a temp space for Selina when she came over here, but it needed a lot of work still for them to be able to live comfortably in it. Well, they could already get by, they had everything they needed, but he wanted this to be their home from now one, something that they both wanted, and not just took advantage of like the MAC.

He was a bit surprised when Ggio pushed the dumpling against his lips, but he didn't protest and opened up, eating the offered food. "Mm, you must have gone to see the old lady too."

He finally finished tightening one last pipe before sliding out from under the sink and sitting up. "That's why you took so long?"

"Yeah, I just stopped by to pick up a bag." In addition to food, the little grandma always had something to gossip or rant about to Ggio, even if he could only catch a few words now. This time he had only ducked in out of routine and gotten the bag of dumplings and ten minutes of gossip; Tom didn't need to know why he really took longer than normal.

Ggio settled down on the floor right there, admiring that bare chest more than Tom's handiwork with the pipes.

"You're not mad or anything?"

Tom knew how much the old lady liked to talk. When he'd finally met her for the first time, she talked nonstop, only to Ggio, about what he didn't understand, but Tom definitely heard his name come up repeatedly... And then she whapped his muzzle with a spatula...

Tom wipes some sweat off his brow, and sets down the wrench, looking over to Ggio curiously once that question is asked. "Why would I be mad, Ggio? You didn't do anything wrong, and I'm actually relieved."

"Me, too. But you were worried about getting in trouble and..." Truthfully, Ggio still didn't really understand what the big deal was. Just that it was stupid and brought attention to how he looked, and that Tom would be punished for it.

Even if it was something Ggio didn't see a point in mentioning to others - he thought it was obvious and didn't need pointing out - it was just as silly to have to hide it.

Or to have to put a label to it.

"So what do we tell everyone?"

"I was worried because I'm still your legal guardian, Ggio, which means you're more like a child or a little brother to me in the eyes of the government here. Which means that I'm not supposed to be doing anything with you," He sighs. "It's just a little longer, you're going to be considered an adult in less than a month now, and nobody will tell you what to do."

That was a huge oversimplification, but Tom didn't want to get to complicated with Ggio right now. There was no reason for it.

That brings Tom to the next question that Ggio had, and it... Honestly was a lot more complicated in his mind. He didn't even know what they were now. Relationships were such a complicated thing with Ggio, and Tom didn't even know what the arrancar considered them, really. Other than that they belonged to each other.

"What do you want to tell them?"

Even with it explain again, Ggio huffed. Of all the ridiculous rules...

"We tell them you're mine," he answered simply. As though it wasn't plain enough. "Easy enough, right?"

Tom ends up just laughing at Ggio's huffing, reaching out to wrap and arm around the arrancar's shoulder and pull him into a hug. "Really?" He raises an eyebrow, still grinning. "I thought you were supposed to be mine, not the other way around."

"You first." Ggio poked Tom's chest, relaxing into the hug even if it didn't escape his notice that Tom had (somehow) gotten a bit sweaty while working.

"But you can say that, too."

Tom hasn't even noticed that he was sweaty, having been too focused on the renovation and then Ggio right after. Not like that would have really stopped him anyway.

"Oh, I can? I think I will, and so should you," He teases. "Nobody else can have you... Which means you need to stop toying with those girls."

He heaves a heavy sigh. "Fine. After the prom. But you'll have to give me bigger lunches."

All joking aside, there was probably more to be considered about this whole thing. Ggio thought they would go on as they always had, but with everyone aware of their status. But humans tended to complicate everything, and it wouldn't have surprised Ggio if there would be some new, unspoken rules. They made it work just fine before, even with their differences, but this warranted mentioning.

"Hey, will this change anything?"

"Maybe you should just stop being such a fatty," He jokes, poking Ggio's tummy. "I think I can give you some more lunch money every day." Of course, that was kind of contingent on business at the bar picking back up. He was barely breaking even with all the negative import sentiment going around lately, and most of his savings was being put into the renovations on the warehouse for them. Of course, he wasn't telling that to Ggio.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked curiously. In some ways, nothing between them was changing, but in others, this changed a hell of a lot, and he wasn't sure what Ggio meant. "It will probably change some things."

"That's what I mean." He wasn't even sure what he was talking about, and nuzzled the line of Tom's jaw as he contemplated how to word this. "Like if we have to do anything different, or if this means more people will bother us."

What Ggio really meant was, If anyone tries to take you from me, they're dead.

Tom just sighs and pulls Ggio into his lap, resting his cheek against the top of Ggio's mask. There were so many things that he could see being different now. People at school or at the bar might treat Ggio differently. Granted, he wasn't worried about Ggio attracting that kind of attention, since he was so strong, but it wasn't something he was happy about.

"We don't have to do anything different," He replies finally. "Nothing is going to change, really," He lies. "We're imports... People won't bother you."

But wouldn't they be bothered because they were imPorts? Although, that really has nothing to do with the status of their relationship; what would the natives care?

Ggio sighs, knowing that couldn't be it, but they can deal with any trouble when it happened. He squirms, making himself more comfortable, and grins to himself.

"You're all sweaty."

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