6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

" S o." LA sat at the kitchen table with his drink, grunting as he tried to get comfortable.

"So!" Cass had just pulled the cake pans out and set them on top of the stove to cool.

"You can create stuff out of thin air."

"Technically, I'm using the matter that's in the air, but yes."

"And you can transmute stuff into other stuff."

"Yes."

"Why bake?"

Cass blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

LA picked through his pill bottles and shrugged. "What's the point of baking if you can make a cake instantly?"

"Is it really a cake if I just snap my fingers and make a cake? Where's the fun in that?" Cass sat down on the floor next to LA. "I like baking because…"

"Because?"

"When there's a problem, there is always a solution," Cass replied. "Cake is too dense? Might have overmixed the batter or didn't let the butter get to room temperature. Sunk in the middle? Probably opened the oven too much. Cracked? Could be the temperature was set too high. Sometimes I wish people were that easy to figure out."

"What?" LA shifted in his seat. "Can't just stick a toothpick in them and see if they're done?"

"No, that would hurt." Cass wrinkled his nose. "But take you for example. I can't actually tell if I've made a difference in your life yet."

"I'd say you have." LA nudged Cass's side with his foot. "I apologized to someone today and tried to, you know, not be an asshole. Plus, I vowed to get over Gavin. That's something, isn't it?"

Cass raised his brow. "I suppose."

"And hey." LA tapped the side of his glass. "This is the same one I poured when we started the cake."

"Really?" Cass perked up.

"Yeah." LA smirked. "Was too distracted being bossed around by a giant monster who didn't like how I buttered the pans."

"It's not my fault you looked like you were trying to stab the pan with the butter. I was concerned."

LA chuckled. "I was imagining the pan was Gavin's face."

"I'm not sure if that's healthy."

"Better than wanting to stab him for real."

"True."

LA left his drink on the table as he stood. "Well, come on." He limped toward the living room.

"Come on where?"

"You really want to sit on the floor watching a cake cool? Or do you wanna come watch a movie on the couch?"

"Oh!" Cass immediately hopped up to his feet and the entire kitchen rattled. He eagerly followed LA out into the living room. "What kind of movie?"

"What do you like?" LA flopped onto the couch. "Wait, let me guess. Romantic comedies?"

"Why are you saying that like it's a bad thing?" Cass sat down on the end, tucking his wings back.

"That's totally your favorite, isn't it?"

"So?"

LA snickered.

Cass poked LA's shoulder. "That is not very nice."

"So, what will it be?" LA grinned. " 10 Things I Hate About You ? How about The Proposal ?"

"I like A Knight's Tale ," Cass mumbled.

"Hey, solid choice." LA grabbed the remote and turned on the television, still smirking.

Cass narrowed his eyes. "Do you actually own it or do you simply know where to stream it?"

"Own it. It's literally in my DVD player right now."

Cass gasped. "You like romantic comedies too, don't you?"

"What?" LA grinned. "Just because I like painting fucked-up ghouls and shit means I can't appreciate some sappy feel-good flicks? Besides, Alan Tudyk is hot."

"Agreed. Plus, hey, naked Paul Bettany."

"It really is such a great film."

LA started the movie and relaxed, though he struggled to get comfortable. He would have preferred to stretch out, but he didn't want to boot Cass off the couch. By the time Paul's nude scene was playing, however, LA could not sit still.

He tried shifting his weight between his left ass cheek and then the right one. He grabbed one of the flowery cushions to stick under his thigh, but that didn't help either.

"Are you all right?" Cass asked.

"Fine," LA snapped.

"Either you're just that excited over Paul Bettany's bare ass or you're extremely uncomfortable." Cass scooted as far as he could against the arm of the couch. "Do you need to stretch?"

"Look, it's fine." LA shook his head. "Focus on what's important here. That pale, glorious ass."

"I'm more concerned with your pale butt." Cass patted his lap. "Come on."

LA stared at Cass's thigh and grunted in frustration, but another twitch in his lower back made the decision for him. He turned, dropping his head down in Cass's lap and stretching out his legs with a low groan. "Fuck."

"Better?" Cass beamed down at him.

"Fine. Thank you." LA ignored how soft Cass's fur was and the firmness of the muscle beneath it even as his heart raced. He kept his attention on the television and was so focused on the movie that he jumped when Cass's paw touched his chest.

"Oh! I'm sorry." Cass cringed as he withdrew. "I should have asked."

"It's fine." LA grabbed Cass's paw, guiding it back with a snort. He couldn't help but notice how it seemed to literally engulf his entire chest, and he wondered if Cass could feel how hard his heart was racing. "There."

Cass gulped audibly.

"You okay?"

"Yup," Cass squeaked.

LA smiled, letting his hand linger on top of Cass's paw.

For the first time in a long time, he was actually…

Huh.

Happy.

The movie played on and they traded bits of trivia between singing the popular hits that comprised the soundtrack. Though the story was set in medieval times, there were songs from Queen, David Bowie, Heart, and more.

"You know, the director said he wanted to use modern music to show audiences what people back then felt about their music!" Cass grinned. "I read that on IMDB! Isn't that neat?"

"Yeah, something about when real Renaissance music is used in movies, it doesn't pack the same emotional punch." LA chuckled. "I actually had this soundtrack on CD forever ago."

"Oh! You mean back like when jousting was popular?"

"Ouch." LA laughed. "Guess I shouldn't tell you about my cassette collection, huh?"

"Positively archaic."

"I still have a few of 'em around here somewhere." LA pointed to one of his paintings. "Those trees there? Made from an old Beatles cassette I had. My Walkman fuckin' ate it but I held on to it and used the tape."

"That's nifty!" Cass smiled warmly. "You're so very creative."

"Thanks." LA squeezed Cass's paw.

The credits were rolling now, but LA didn't want to reach for the remote. He was very comfortable and he didn't want to lose this—whatever this was. Cass purred quietly, the touch of his paw so comforting, and the pain gnawing at LA's spine had been reduced to a nibble.

"So." Cass fidgeted. "The cakes are probably cooled now."

"Right." LA made no effort to move.

"Do you want to watch another movie?" Cass asked hopefully.

"Yeah." LA nodded at the table. "Can you reach the remote without getting up though?"

"Of course." Cass's tail slithered over to curl around the remote and then offer it to LA.

"Ha! Nice." LA clicked a few buttons, exiting the DVD menu and navigating over to a streaming service. "Still in the mood for something mushy?"

"Are you?" Cass chuckled. "I was definitely expecting you to be a horror movie fan."

"I do like horror movies too." LA scrolled down a few screens. "They don't really scare me anyway. Shit always looks fake to me."

"Because… Oh! Because of your job?"

"Yup. Seeing someone slashed up by Jason or Freddie doesn't really compare to, say, seeing the real end result of man versus eighteen-wheeler."

Cass cringed and rubbed LA's chest. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

"That couldn't have been easy. To see those things."

"I…" LA honestly didn't know what to say to that for a few seconds. "Comes with the job. Most people think it's wearing a suit and driving a fancy hearse around or whatever. And yeah, that's a small part of it, but there's so much more. Working all night and then the next day too, wading through rotten shit with hordes of maggots, learning to absolutely loathe stairs, and ah, my personal favorite, getting left alone to move a body by yourself 'cause they're too fucking cheap to hire anyone else but still somehow want everything done right fucking now ."

"Is… Is that how you got hurt?" Cass asked quietly.

LA blinked.

He had been at a loss for words and then promptly followed that up by verbally vomiting. He hadn't meant to let it get that personal so quickly, and he wrapped his fingers around Cass's thumb as he tried to decide how to reply.

"It's all right," Cass soothed. "You don't have to talk about it right now if you don't want to, Elly."

LA nodded, still scrolling through movies and eager to change the subject. "So, uh, if we watch a horror movie, are you going to scream?"

"That is very likely."

"What? Seriously?" LA grinned.

"Yes!" Cass pouted. "I scare quite easily as a matter of fact."

"But…"

"But what?" Cass narrowed his eyes.

"You're literally a monster ." LA laughed. "Oh my God."

"So? Monsters can't get scared?"

"No! I guess they can. It's just really funny to me." LA snickered.

"You're mean ."

"You're adorable. Here, how about this one?"

"The name of the movie is Tucker & Dale vs. Evil . It literally has evil in the name!" Cass whined. "Can't we watch something nice and fluffy?"

"Come on. Trust me. It's actually very funny. Plus, it has Alan Tudyk."

Cass perked up. "Really?"

"Give it a chance." LA squeezed Cass's thumb. "If you don't like it, we can turn it off and go ice that cake, okay?" He stretched his legs and grunted. "Fuck, gotta figure out what to have for dinner too."

"Are you skipping lunch?"

"Figured the cake would be lunch."

"Nonsense!" Cass pulled his paw away. "You should eat something proper! And then we can have cake."

"I'm not moving."

"Elly."

"Cass."

"You know I can simply move you."

"But what if you hurt my back?"

"Oh, well, I…" Cass stared.

LA chuckled, grunting as he sat up. "You look like a damn kicked puppy. Let's go find something that's not cake for lunch, huh?" His phone dinged, but he ignored it. "I'm sure I have some stuff to make sandwiches or something."

"You stay here." Cass rose up, stretching out his wings and giving them a little flap. "I can take care of it!"

"No, we're supposed to do that damn cake." LA stood, swatting at Cass to get him out of the way.

"But you were hurting—"

"News flash, Cassie. I'm always hurting." LA snorted as he limped toward the kitchen. "You don't have to treat me like I'm made of fucking glass. I'm not broken, okay? Just, you know, I got different limits than most people."

Cass followed right behind him, as if he thought LA might fall over. "If you're sure…"

"I am." LA made it to the fridge and opened it, looking through the shelves. "Okay, we got… not a lot." He groaned. "I can't actually remember the last time I went grocery shopping. Fuck."

Cass magically had a bowl of chocolate icing in his paws. "We could order out?"

"Yeah, except I just dropped a shit ton of money on two new fucking tires I didn't actually need," LA grumbled. "Goddammit."

"So…" Cass looked down at the icing. "Chocolate cake for lunch?"

"Fuck yeah."

"We will have a very nutritious dinner to make up for this," Cass warned as he slathered icing over the first slab of cake.

"Very nutritious," LA agreed, trying to sneak a finger into the icing.

"Hey!" Cass shooed him away. "Stop."

Undeterred, LA went for the icing again and got a big glob. "Ha!"

"Stop sticking your fingers in the food," Cass scolded.

"Or else what?" LA challenged, licking the icing off his fingers. "Damn, that's pretty good."

"Came right out of a tub, sorry to say."

"What happened to making everything from scratch, huh?"

"You're out of sugar. Besides, this was easier."

LA went in for more icing, but he only managed to get a tiny swipe this time. "Hey! Come on."

"If you'd stop bothering me, I could finish icing the cake!" Cass twisted away and pointed the spatula at LA. "Behave."

LA smirked and licked the end of the spatula.

"Oh! Now I have to wash it!" Cass fussed.

"So, just give me the damn thing and let me have some more icing!" LA grabbed the handle and pulled.

Cass laughed. "You are quite determined, aren't you?"

LA found that trying to take a spatula from a giant imp was impossible, so he pulled it close enough to lick it again. He noticed Cass staring at him with a funny look on his face. "What?"

"Huh? Nothing." Cass let go of the spatula abruptly, another one appearing in his paw. "There, you, you, uh, enjoy that. I'm going back over here now."

Only then did it dawn on LA that he might have been making quite a scene lapping up the icing.

Which made Cass's reaction…

Huh.

LA continued to enjoy the icing left behind on the spatula, and he watched Cass carefully. "So. How long has it been for you? Since, you know…"

"Huh?" Cass remained quite focused on the icing. "Since what?"

"Since anyone licked your spatula?"

"What?" Cass turned around to face LA, clearly confused.

LA wagged his eyebrows.

"Oh!" Cass squeaked and went right back to the cake. "That, that, uh, it's, uh, hmm. That is a question. That you asked."

"You're really cute when you get all flustered," LA teased, finishing off the last lick of the icing. He tossed the spatula over into the sink with a shrug. "It's been weeks for me. Starting to think that Gavin and I were probably over a long time ago and I just didn't want to see it. He was probably waiting until he had this other guy on the hook before he dumped me."

"You… You think he was being unfaithful?"

"Wouldn't be the first time."

Cass looked back at LA, frowning. "Wait, he's done this before?"

"We'd have a big fight, he'd storm off and hook up with someone else, but then we'd make up." LA shrugged. "We wouldn't technically break up, but he'd say it wasn't cheating."

"That is totally cheating."

"Well…" LA sighed. "Guess I wasn't in the right place to see that, you know?" He held up his hand. "You can spare the big speeches, okay? I get it. I was an idiot."

"Just a small one." Cass set his paw on LA's shoulder. "It can be hard to let go, especially when you've invested so much time and energy into a relationship and—"

"No speeches."

"Right. Sorry. Sort of my thing."

"I know." LA leaned into Cass's touch and rubbed his arm. "Kinda wish I'd found you a long time ago. Maybe save myself a lot of heartache and bullshit."

Cass opened his mouth to speak but then closed it.

"What? Resisting the urge to rant?"

Cass grinned.

LA sighed dramatically. "Go ahead."

"I was only going to say that timing is vital for healing." Cass raised his other paw and lightly cupped the side of LA's face. "Can you honestly say that you would have been ready to hear everything I have to say and put it into practice last month? What about last year?"

"Probably would have told you to fuck off."

"See?" Cass's smile softened. "Every step brought us to this moment with you finding that magical bottle and welcoming me into your life! With open arms!"

LA snorted out a small laugh. "Yeah, because that's totally what happened."

"Well, it did take a little time for you to warm up to me, but I'm very happy to be here." Cass purred and gently drew LA in for a hug. "It's hug time now."

LA groaned as if in great pain, but he hugged Cass back, turning his head to press his cheek into Cass's furry chest. He closed his eyes and smiled as he gave Cass a squeeze. "Yeah, yeah. Your hugs? Like, bronze medal at best."

"La la la, can't hear you over the sound of us hugging ." Cass sounded positively gleeful. "This is wonderful."

LA peeked up at Cass. "Hey, you've got a lil' somethin'..."

"Hmm?" Cass tilted his head. "What is it?"

LA rubbed at a bit of icing that had somehow smeared its way across Cass's cheek. "Here, I got you."

Cass continued to purr, his lashes fluttering a little as he smiled down at LA.

LA's heart thumped, and he suddenly didn't want to pull away. He wanted to lick that icing right off Cass's face and see just how loud he could make him purr. He knew it was way too fast, considering he hadn't even been single officially for twenty-four hours yet, but…

Was it really that wrong to want something good for once?

To want someone who was kind and sweet and was maybe sort of an incredibly hot monster?

The air felt charged, thick , and LA was very aware that neither one of them had budged a centimeter. Cass's arms remained wrapped around him, one paw fanned over the small of LA's back and the other cradling his hip. LA was still touching Cass's face and hugging his neck, and he didn't know what to do.

He knew what he wanted to do, but that was probably a bad idea.

Kissing the monster was a very, very bad idea.

Even though Cass was looking at him like LA was the magical one and touching him like he was some sort of sacred treasure, and colorful bubbles were floating all around them…

Shit .

No.

Too soon, too fucking soon, too goddamn desperate.

LA broke first, smiling as he finished wiping off the icing, and then took a small step away. "So, hey, is the cake ready?"

"Yes! The cake! It is very ready. Ready right now." Cass fluttered over to present the cake with a big wave of his paws. "Ta-da!"

"It looks awesome." LA grabbed two plates out of the cabinet. "You know, this might be the first time I've ever baked something from scratch before."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Anything else was out of a box." LA handed a plate to Cass.

"Thank you." Cass had a knife in his paw now and carefully cut a thick slice of cake to stick on his plate.

LA took the knife and cut an even thicker slice for himself.

"You are going to have a tummy ache," Cass warned, but he was smiling.

"Worth it." LA got them forks and then opened the fridge again. "Want something to drink? I've got Dr Pepper and, uh, more Dr Pepper."

"That's fine! Thank you." Cass took the cans right out of LA's hands with his tail.

"Oh, okay." LA smiled. "All right, I think we got everything."

"And you're sure this movie is more funny than scary?" Cass asked as he followed LA to the couch.

"Very sure." LA sat, balancing the plate on his lap and offering one of the forks to Cass.

Cass sat beside him, and his tail set the sodas down on the coffee table. He accepted the fork with a wrinkle of his nose, saying, "I am going to trust you."

"Aw, well, if it scares you, you can just come cuddle with me again." LA smirked. "I'll keep your nightmares away."

"I know you're only saying that to make fun of me, but thank you." Cass huffed as he stabbed his cake. "I am going to pretend you mean it sincerely."

LA poked the remote. "It's gonna be fine. Just wait and see."

"Oh, Alan Tudyk." Cass sighed. "The things I do for you."

LA patted Cass's knee. "Eat your cake."

"How is it? Have you tried it yet?"

LA took a big bite. "Mmm."

"Is that a happy mmm?"

"Very. It's great. Kinda hard to believe I had anything to do with it."

"Why?" Cass smiled sweetly. "Maybe baking is an undiscovered talent!"

"Doubt it. Now pay attention. I don't want you to miss any of the kills."

"Kills? As in… multiple?"

"Eat some more cake."

The cake was delicious down to the last crumb. Once they were both done, LA lay back down like he had before, with his head in Cass's lap and Cass's big paw on his chest. It was comfortable, that was it.

It had nothing to do with the strange tension between them or all the weird happy bubbles that kept popping up.

Nope.

Nothing at all.

LA nearly dozed off once or twice, but Cass's frantic gasps and squeals kept him awake. Cass hadn't been kidding about being scared easily and even over-the-top comical gore had him squirming. LA would squeeze his paw and did his best not to laugh, but it was still adorable that such a big beast was terrified by an obviously fake dummy going headfirst into a woodchipper.

"There. I did it!" Cass cheered when the movie ended. He sagged into the couch and rubbed his paws over his face. "It's over! It's finally over!"

LA laughed. "What? It wasn't that bad!"

"It was horrible!"

"Aw, come on." LA poked Cass's chest. "You liked seeing Alan, right?"

"He had the worst time ever! The bees! The bees, Elly!" Cass started to laugh. "Oh my God. It was so, so awful."

"Hey, it had a happy ending!"

"Okay, yes, I will give you that." Cass laughed again and dropped his paw back on LA's chest. "Thank you for sharing that with me. If we continue with this Alan Tudyk marathon, I would like to request that we watch something with minimal blood, please."

"Fine, fine." LA rolled his eyes. "If I have to."

Cass hummed thoughtfully. "How about Moana ?"

"He's the voice of the damn chicken . No, come on." LA laughed. "What about Firefly ?"

"As long as we don't watch the movie."

"What movie?"

"You know, the movie where he…" Cass giggled. "Oh! I see what you did there."

LA tried to sit up, but he didn't make it all the way and flopped back down with a grunt. "Dammit."

"Are you all right?"

"Great. Just kinda stiff from lyin' here for so long."

"May I help you? What do you need?"

"A new spine."

"I don't have one of those handy. I'm sorry."

LA grunted as he made another attempt, and he shivered when Cass's paws gently grabbed his shoulders to keep him upright.

"Is this all right?" Cass asked politely. "I do not wish to cause any additional discomfort."

"It's good." LA blushed as he hurried to stand. "Good, thanks."

Cass picked up their dishes and stood at almost exactly the same time.

LA laughed as they were suddenly right in each other's space. "Hey, watch it. Don't knock me over."

"I'm not trying to!" Cass grinned. "I'm trying to clean up the mess, thank you!"

"Can't you just use, you know, your magic and poof them into the kitchen?"

"Of course I can! But I figured if you were going to walk that way, it gave me a reason to join you!"

LA snorted, turning to walk around the coffee table. "Like you need one."

"Hmm, I suppose that's true."

"You follow me everywhere else anyway." LA grabbed their empty soda cans on his way to the kitchen. "Be almost weird now if you weren't stuck up my ass."

"I am bound to you, you know. I'm not quite sure what the exact distance is that tethers me to you, but I assume it's quite close." Cass hummed as he fell into step behind LA. "Besides, I don't want to feel like I'm showing off or anything."

"No, we wouldn't want that." LA leaned against the counter, watching Cass deposit the dishes.

Cass hovered close, resting a paw on the counter next to LA. "So!"

"So." LA looked up at Cass, once more finding that they were standing very close, and he had no idea what else to say.

He could have made a joke about the scary movie.

Something about cake.

Anything.

And yet, all he could do was stare at Cass and get lost in his bright eyes.

"Elly, I…" Cass's gaze drifted to LA's lips.

"What?" LA inhaled sharply when he realized Cass was leaning in.

"You are so very lovely," Cass said with a soft smile. "You're kind, you're funny, and you really are so much stronger than you even realize. I'm quite taken with you, but…" His eyes widened and he pulled away. "I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have—"

"Cass." LA grabbed Cass's shoulders. "Shut up."

"Oh. I… Hmm. Wait." Cass blinked. "Why am I shutting up?"

LA cupped Cass's face, drawing him in close. "So I can do this."

"Do what exactly? What is it? Did you need—"

LA kissed him.