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Nic went to the bank the next day and deposited the checks. If he was going to take shit from Ronan, he might as well get paid for it. The roses were still alive and well, if only slightly crowded in that vase. He started taping them upside down against the walls to dry straight, and it was at this time that Leo came strolling in. "Um... what's goin' on with you?" Leo asked, surveying the roses lining their walls.

"Oh, just... drying some roses. So I can burn them. Probably get some cool-ass pictures," Nic confessed as he ripped a piece of masking tape in two. "We might have a wall of roses for a few weeks."

"Isn't that just perfect," Leo laughed. "Olivia will probably think it's cool. She's fascinated by your art, by the way."

"A loyal fan. I like it."

"Don't get too cocky."

"What was that? Oh, yes, I'm the greatest artist alive. I have the hottest boyfriend on campus. And I'm the most gorgeous, beautiful man you'll ever see," Nic boasted, brushing his knuckles against his chest just before being shoved in the shoulder by Leo for his arrogance.

Nic went back to humming the lyrics of the song he had playing from the speakers, and let his hips sway mindlessly—probably off-beat but he couldn't care less. It didn't take long for Leo to comment on it.

"You've been oddly cheerful lately," Leo commented.

Nic knew exactly what he could attribute that to. He'd been in a daze trying to remember how the kiss went, how it felt, but in all honesty... he couldn't care less. He'd try to concentrate harder next time, instead of let his brain flit around like that during the few-second kiss. Whatever the case, he couldn't seem to stop himself from being giddy about it.

His chest felt light as he said, "Yeah. Kieran and I had our first kiss."

"You and Kieran had your first kiss?" Leo repeated, and Nic nodded, turning back to the wall with all the roses. "Really? How was it?"

"I can't remember."

"You can't remember?" Nic shook his head. "Why can't you remember?"

"I dunno. Just can't. I'm super happy about it though. We were at the greenhouse and it was perfect and Sav wouldn't let me rant about it, and I don't have that many details to spill anyways, but... It was incredible. He was perfect. He's growing succulents from Africa for me," he explained, beaming all the while. "I never knew I wanted succulents from Africa until he started telling me all about them. They're the cutest things and super easy to take care of apparently."

"You've never owned a succulent."

"No, I've just seen them online and stuff, and on, like, Ellen's Instagram. She has a lot of aesthetic pictures of succulents," he said. "She also has a lot of pictures of Kieran and sometimes I just stare at them for hours before going to sleep—"

"Holy shit I did not need to know that," Leo breathed out unsteadily, turning away a fraction so he could unpack his backpack. "And rationally, I thought Olivia and I were bad but this is just a whole new level. Just you in general—I'm gonna be real with you for a sec and say that just you in general have the most bizarre way of showing affection and that's probably a good thing for Kieran."

"Um, thanks? I guess?" Nic chuckled, and added, "I barely slept at all last night if I'm being completely honest. Like, I've fantasized about kissing Kieran before and now I don't even know if any of them came true."

"Okay, now I understand where Sav is coming from when she says that sometimes you have no filter." Before Nic could even consider that as an insult, Leo continued, "And anyways, I'm completely serious—if you can't get to sleep, tell me and I'll give you some melatonin gummies."

"Who needs sleep when you're thinking about kissing Kieran..." Nic cooed, taking a break from pinning roses up to faint across the futon. He held one of the roses to his chest and sighed. "He's the most incredible human being I've ever had the good fortune of painting naked."

"That's it, I'm leaving." Nic thought he was kidding until Leo literally starting packing up his bag again and making a beeline for the door. "I'll see you at dinner."

Facebook Messenger. 1 Mutual Friend: Savannah (Sav) Kelly

Nic: I want to cuddle.

Kieran: I'm not really feelin it today sorry

Nic: Aw please? I'll just lay next to you then

Kieran: Nic cmon don't be ridiculous

Nic: I just wanna cuddle yooooou
pleeeease?

Kieran: I've exhausted all my romantic supply.
It must be rationed

Nic: D: im so sad now

Kieran: I will not cuddle anyone who doesn't capitalize their sentences at this time

Nic: So if I capitalize my sentences will you cuddle me?

Kieran: ...
Maybe.

Nic: Can I come over then?

Kieran: ... Yes.
If you come over you might as well stay the night

So perhaps Nic didn't just lie still and quiet and leave Kieran to his work. Almost the moment Nic finished dinner, he marched to the Co-Op without knocking, he went straight to Kieran's room, knocked, and came in with his backpack swinging off his shoulder and to the floor. He nudged off his shoes and jacket, hat and mittens before closing the door.

"Wow, you in a hurry for something?" Kieran asked, laughing as he nudged himself over to the side of the bed. Nic claimed the side closest to the wall, after a brief understanding that if Kieran really wanted to duck out of a cuddle session, he could just flop off the side and not have to worry about weaseling between Nic and the wall.

"I just—" Nic dropped onto the bed, "—really missed you."

"Quit being such a sap."

"I'm sorry! I can't help it," he confessed, biting into his lip as he nestled down under the big red comforter. Kieran was sat above the comforter, his blankets covered with a fluffy blanket, and a lab binder open to the side. "I hope you don't mind."

"Whatever," he muttered, clicking away on his laptop as he slowly slouched against the pillows, eyes focused lazily on his screen.

Nic nestled as far down as he comfortably could, face partially hidden under Kieran's blanket. He pressed his cheek to Kieran's hipbone through the comforter, until Kieran decided to get under the covers with him. Nic brought his knees up to tangle his legs around Kieran's. He sought warmth against the outdoors against Kieran's warm, bare, semi-hairy legs.

He was half-asleep before his eyes opened on their own accord, and zoned in to the decorative plaid fabric pressed to his cheek. He tipped his head up a bit, chin pressed to Kieran's hipbone beside where the laptop sat partially on his torso. "Are you... not wearing shorts?" Nic asked.

"Problem with boxers?"

"Um, no—"

"Then what's the issue? My bed my rules," Kieran said bluntly. Nic hummed to himself, and willed himself not to think about it more than necessary.

Instead, he started rambling in his head about things that sounded like content in a prayer to God, thanking him for this-or-that. He thanked God for Kieran's killer legs that he could weave his own between. He thanked God for Kieran's asthma-inducing thighs topped with plaid boxers—Nic needed an inhaler if he planned on thinking too long about practically hugging Kieran's bum in those plaid boxers. Shit, infinite thanks for Kieran's hella-rad dry humor, that's for sure, Nic thought to himself. People with dry humor always overwhelmed him with appreciation because he was just barely capable of it himself.

"You're all squirmy. What are you thinking about?" Kieran asked, and Nic realized he was fidgeting and rubbing his feet all over Kieran's.

"Am I allowed to be sappy right now? Or is this a No Sap Zone?" Nic asked.

Kieran thought seriously on that for a moment, and Nic nearly expected him to decline. "If it's for therapy purposes, then sure. Vent away."

"Let's just say it is," Nic blurted out. "I was just thinking about how lucky I am. And how handsome you are... and how lucky I am to have already checked off the box that reads 'draw Kieran naked'... You know, the usual."

"Oh my God, Nic."

"You never told me if you got any other gigs. For the modeling," Nic commented, peering up at Kieran.

He looked pointedly at his computer screen, and then his binder as he said, "Yeah, I actually had one the other day. It was just for, like, two hours or something. At an art school."

"Yeah? How was it?"

"Fine."

"Can you tell me about it?" he asked, propping his chin up again and partially intercepting Kieran's view of his laptop. Kieran closed his eyes for a moment, slouching further so Nic's head rested on his stomach.

Kieran sighed and opened his eyes again, the tiredness showing under and around his eyes in a faint purple-red. "Well... it was pretty much exactly like your class but I had props. She gave me this cool spear thing so I posed with that kind of ironically and everyone thought it was pretty funny," he explained, rubbing his hands over his eyes as Nic hummed and inquired more.

Kieran closed his laptop and set it on the end table along with his lab binder. He leaned to the side over the pillows, letting his arm drape lazily over Nic's back as he talked about the painting session. He didn't take pictures of the artwork that time—he just took pictures of Nic's class because Nic was there and it seemed appropriate. So he explained in as much vivid detail as he could what everyone's paintings looked like up on their easels. The professor took the entire class around the room to look and critique their peers' work, and Kieran tailed along with them.

Nic could let Kieran talk in that sleepy voice forever. He could listen to Kieran talk like that for hours and hours, but eventually Kieran fell quiet, half-asleep. Nic checked the time on his phone before scooting off the bed. "What are you doing?" Kieran asked.

"I need to wash my face and stuff. You want to do a face mask with me?" he asked, glancing over at where Kieran had his eyebrows raised. "Oh, come on. It'll be fun. It, like, scrunches up your skin and you look like a demon when it dries."

"Why would you do that?"

"It tightens your skin up."

"But we're, like, twenty years old. Why would we need that?" Kieran argued.

"It's never too early to start a good skin routine..." he sang as he pulled out a smaller bag filled with all his night routine supplies. "What do ya say? I could ask Bev, too."

Kieran thought about it for a moment, and nodded lazily in agreement. Nic yelped excitedly and ran off to Bev's room. He knocked frantically on her door until she called out for him to come in. She was at her desk, leant back against the wall, and it was almost as if she was prepared for anything anyone ever threw at her because she was on her feet before Nic even got out the words "face mask."

And so, no more than ten minutes later, they found themselves lying horizontal on Bev's full-sized mattress staring up at the lights and the plants that reflected the green on all of their faces. Kieran laid comfortably between them, his hands clasped over his stomach as he sighed.

"This... isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," he confessed, and before Nic could say, "I told you so!" Kieran added, "but it still feels weird."

"Oh come on. Doesn't it feel funny? It's fun," Bev said, slapping him playfully on the arm.

"What's it's purpose?"

"That's such a Kieran Question," she muttered.

"What do you mean?" Nic asked, though he had to confess, it did feel like a common question that wordlessly made it through Kieran's expressions half of the time. Nic believed that it was secretly hidden behind ever stoic, dry look he turned to Nic.

Bev sat up onto her elbows and looked over at Nic. "Well, I mean... like in social situations. There's no real reason why people ask 'How are you?' because half the time they don't even care. You know what I mean?"

"Not really," Nic confessed.

"He's an ignorant fool," Kieran murmured. He tipped his head towards Nic. "No offense."

Nic was about to make a snarky remark back, but Bev was faster. "Socializing is general a mundane puzzle. It's like... navigating a kids maze in a coloring book. One person says this, so generally you take a turn there and say what you're supposed to, et cetera et cetera," she explained. "It's ingrained in our heads as kids like 'Oh how was your day?' 'Good' 'Anything exciting happening?' and if something did you tell them what it is. If not, you say 'No' and everyone moves on."

"This is all well and good, but... is there a point to all this?" Nic inquired, mouth started to curl at the corners from the tension in his face mask. Raising his eyebrow was difficult, but he did it anyway as he looked at Bev from over Kieran's chest.

She opened her mouth to respond, but hesitated. "I can't tell if that was a joke er not," she laughed. "But yes, there is a point."

"It was a joke, but also I'd like ta know the purpose of aw this."

"The point is that people are shallow and mechanical at the surface," Kieran answered, raising his voice only to cuss and say, "Shit, I can't muv my mouf."

They all shut up and listened to music until Nic's timer went off. They went one-by-one to the bathroom to peal the mask off, and feel their smooth, replenished skin beneath it after a rinse. Nic went first and showed Kieran how to take the mask off before leaving him to it, and then Kieran showed Bev. When he returned to Nic lounging across Bev's bed, he was rubbing his hands all over his freshly shaven cheeks, and his smooth, flawless forehead.

Nic sat up, watching Kieran collapse beside him, fascinated by his now blemishes complexion—as if he could even be more physically perfect than before. "Incredible. Feel my face," Kieran demanded, grabbing Nic by the hand and shoving it onto his cheek.

Nic giggled and brushed the pads of his fingers over Kieran's immaculate complexion, and the smooth, pristine texture of Kieran's skin. He drew his thumb underneath Kieran's eye gently, like he was just barely grazing the surface of a pool of water. Just to see the ripple of attentiveness on Kieran's face when he realized that Nic wasn't just observing his newly-perfect skin.

"You want me to be cheesy right now?" Nic asked, ending his sly whisper with a grin. "Because if so, I'd totally say that it is so incredible. Almost as incredible as you."

He delightfully watched Kieran visibly swallow, and giggled a little when Kieran ground his teeth together before shoving Nic away. "I can't believe I'm dating a sentimental, idealistic clown!" Kieran seethed jokingly, tackling Nic onto the bed in a roar of laughter.

As they settled, aware that Bev would be coming back soon, Nic laid beside Kieran and said, "Well, if it's any consolation, every realistic person needs and idealist to keep them from sinking."

"Yeah, well, I'll try and keep you on the ground. But I don't know—I may have killer abs but my upper body strength might need some work if I'm gonna by carrying you around," he muttered, staring up at the ceiling so the Christmas lights danced over the whites of his eyes.

"I like your killer abs."

"Stop it. Please. Before I get an ulcer from all this syrupy mush you're feeding me," Kieran said, sitting up and brushing Nic away. "Why's Bev taking so long?" he asked aloud, heading for the door.

Nic sat up as Kieran pushed the door open a smidge, and glanced out into the hall. It broke the barrier to the background noise of commotion in the distance—probably in another room, or perhaps an entirely different section of the house. Just as Kieran stepped out into the hall, someone called out to him, causing him to jump in alarm and whirl around towards the kitchen.

It sounded like Ellen who said, "Kieran! There's this—there's a stray cat running around the house right now! Have you seen it?"

"Um, no?" he said, a bit apprehensive. "What does this got to do with me?"

"You love cats! Maybe it came by you!"

"You love cats?" Nic repeated, causing Kieran to stare at him through the open door and blurt out, "That's what you got out of this?"

Ellen marched over and leaned against the open door, eyes wide as she said, "You seriously didn't know his mom's, like, obsessed with cats? They have, like, a whole barn full of cats."

"Seriously?"

Kieran looked beyond exasperated as he threw down his arms and said, "The... cats like to sleep with the goats we have. It's weird and I don't like to talk about it."

"I remember a brief mention of goats earlier but never thought it was anything serious," Nic confessed. "So you actually own a goat?"

"Bev has pictures, she can show you them later," Ellen said, reaching over and dragging Nic off the bed by his arm. "Right now, stray cat. Gotta find it. Hurry—you know how allergic Rick is to cats."

"Oh—shit, you're right," Kieran hissed, kicking himself into gear and grabbing Nic by the arm. "Let's go find the damn thing," he said as he dragged Nic all around the Co-Op with everyone else who happened to be on the Stray Cat Hunt.

The weirdest thing about it, Nic realized, was that it didn't seem all that bizarre. It seemed like something that would just happen at the Co-Op. In fact, he wasn't even surprised to hear that someone had found the stray cat who had taken a liking to them. The cat happened to follow them in through the back door, and just panicked the second anyone got around to touching it. As such, the cat took off on a rampage through the house and left a panicked mess in the living room smelling like rancid cat piss.

Nic and Kieran were in the basement searching ever crevice in there when Bev came clomping down the stairs with a heavy sigh. It was nearly eleven at night at that point, and most everyone had given up on the Cat Hunt. "I think I'm gonna hit the hay. We couldn't find it," she said, slapping her hands against her legs as she marched over to them.

"Shit. I mean—everyone who's allergic to cats checked their rooms, right?" Kieran asked, and Bev nodded tiredly.

"Yeah, we got that all sorted out. Until we find the cat, all their rooms have to stay closed at all times. Someone already has itchy eyes from sitting on one of the couches the cat jumped on," she confessed.

"What if you guys don't find it?" Nic asked, and both Bev and Kieran shrugged. "I can't imagine you guys have a protocol for a stray cat."

"Not exactly," Bev confessed. Kieran scratched the back of his head, his annoyance clear on the tension between his brows. Bev sighed before looking up at Nic with slightly brighter eyes. "But hey! We'll find it eventually. I also had a question for you, Nic."

"Shoot."

"Well... I was wondering... if we could all hang out again? Like last time at the pool? And maybe this time I won't blurt out everyone's secrets—still sorry, Kieran," she said, smiling guiltily at her friend. Kieran waved it off.

Nic raised an eyebrow, which felt weird and slightly liberating after taking off the face mask. "Oh?" he said, grinning. "Why do you ask?"

"I just—I don't know. It was really fun! And I don't go to the gym a whole lot, so there's that..." she confessed, slouching her shoulders. She clasped her hands together, pleading, "And you're so good at getting the gang together it was a lot of fun. Please?"

Nic couldn't even look at the knowing look on Kieran's face, because they were both on the same page. "Sure! Yeah, totally. We'll... do something this weekend, or whatever," he suggested, and Bev's face lit up. She yelped in excitement and thanked Nic before running off to get ready for bed. Nic and Kieran followed at a slower pace, and as soon as Bev was out of earshot, he said, "So you think she likes Milo?"

"She's a sucker for sad circumstances. Her family's really into fostering dogs and shit. And her trashing Milo and Milo, like, reviving himself was basically what sealed the deal," Kieran explained, and laughed a little. "Yeah, so she feels bad, and now she wants to prove herself."

"Ah, yes, a never-ending cycle," he said, amused. Kieran clapped Nic on the back just as they arrived at the end of the hall to his bedroom.

Kieran skidded to a halt in the middle of the hallway, and Nic bumped into his back. "Hey—What're you—?" he started, but Kieran shushed him, flicking his hand up to silence Nic.

"I think... I left my bedroom door open a crack," Kieran whispered, semi-crouched as he approached the door. It was definitely open more than just a crack now.

"You mean you didn't close it?" Nic hissed, hushed.

"I don't know!" Kieran whined. "We just sorta bolted over to Bev's. I thought we'd be back in, like, two minutes."

"Masks take more than two minutes, excuse you," he all but cried out, only to have Kieran's hand slapped over his mouth.

Kieran pulled him forward to the door, and together they leaned in, slowly, painfully pushing the door open. Nic's heart unintentionally started beating hard—what if the cat was in there? Preparing to devour them alive.

Kieran stepped forward, eyes wide as he scanned across the room for the cat. The blankets were still in a mess from when the two of them laid together, and as they walked in on light feet barely creaking on the floorboards, Kieran peered up and over the pile of blankets. Nic did the same, leaning over Kieran's shoulder to see that... Yes, of course the cat found its way in here.

"Shit," he huffed, staring wide-eyed at Kieran as he walked around the bed.

The cat was knocked the fuck out. It was having a nice little siesta on the crevice where Nic once laid, curled up in a perfect, sleek little black bundle of fur. There was a spot of color on it, aside from the gleam where the light caught on its flawless, if not ruffled fur. Nic looked up at Kieran, who was looking around the room then, sniffing the air.

"What are you doing?" Nic asked.

"Checking to see if it pissed in here. But I think we'd know if it did," he explained quietly. He stepped cautiously towards the door behind Nic and ever so gently closed it without making a sound. "We can't let it wander around, and... I don't want to let it back out."

"Why not?"

"Because, you dingbat—it's winter. You think every cat wants to live out in an Oregon winter?" Kieran retorted in a hiss.

They both bristled at the restrained whine that came from the cat's mouth. Nic's shoulders bunched up, preparing to be attacked, but he saw that the cat was merely stretching its haunches and squeaking out a yawn. And then, its wide, amber eyes seemed to glare at them once before closing again. As if knowing that neither of them would be a threat.

For some odd reason, Nic found it offensive.

"Did you see that look it just gave us?" he argued. "It doesn't like us!"

"Well..." Kieran started, but never finished as he walked over to his closet. It wasn't until Kieran started to change his shirt that Nic realized they walked around the entire Co-Op with Kieran flaunting around in his boxers. Kieran tugged on a loose, gnarled sweater with marks all over it—probably from painting a room, or staining wood—before gingerly kneeling on the bed. He lingered there for a moment, studying the cat before pulling the blanket back. The cat didn't move, even as Kieran crawled under the covers and looked at Nic. "Coast is clear. Come on."

"Are you serious?" Nic blurted out, pointing to the little shit—the cat, not Kieran. "I am not sleeping with a stray cat! What if it has rabies?"

"Then that's the way we go out. C'mon, it'll be fun," Kieran said, snuggling down and looking over the blankets at Nic.

Nic stared at the two of them in exasperation. His Ma would never approve of letting in wild animals. The last time they did that, Julian brought in a too-friendly raccoon that caused a ruckus throughout their kitchen. But then the cat opened those glistening amber eyes—all-knowing and powerful like it had some great secret far beyond their reach... Shit, it knows, Nic squeaked internally.

"Alright, fine," he huffed, and crawled onto the bed, putting the cat between them. Nic watched it nervously as it hopped up and crawled to the bottom of the bed. He brought his feet up to avoid it, and tugged the blankets over his torso. The two of them watched the cat stand on the end of the bed, tail flicking. "Looks like it's about to piss," Nic whispered, only to be shushed harshly by Kieran.

"If anything it'll spray its scent."

"That's even wooorse gross!" he whined, pouting at Kieran until his boyfriend eventually turned to glare dully at him. "Kieran, c'mon."

"Quit being a wuss," he huffed, reaching behind him and unplugging the Christmas lights. They were pitched into darkness, aside from the light in Kieran's one window illuminating the reflective parts of the stray cat's eyes. Those iridescent orbs stared at Nic all night from the end of the bed.

Internally he could hear the cat taunting, "I see you, thinking about Kieran in nothing but his boxers. Turns you on, doesn't it. He's lying right next to you. I bet it'd be so easy to just grab him—"

Yeah, no, not thinking about that tonight, Nic squeaked to himself, hugging the blankets around his flushed cheeks as he closed his eyes and counted to one hundred again and again until he finally fell asleep.