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"Okay, okay. Your ten o'clock? I think someone's interested in you," Ash teases, pointing at the person she's talking about.
Little Cato turns around in his barstool to see who Ash is talking about, and he makes eye contact with someone around his age. And oh. The guy staring at him is with a group of other teens, and he waves with a smile when he sees Little Cato looking.
"Ah! You're blushing!" Fox yells, a bit too loudly.
Ash laughs, "Oh, that is adorable. Go talk to him!"
Little Cato's head whips towards his friends. He shakes his head rapidly, his mouth opening and closing in confusion. He couldn't, no no no.
"Nope, not happening."
"Go! Go! Go! Go!" Ash and Fox chant together.
The young Ventrexian crosses his arms, refusing to move from his seat. Fox starts gently pushing him off of the seat though, so he immediately starts grabbing at the bar counter frantically.
"Guys, no!" he hisses. "I don't know how to talk to him, plus I look gross. My hair isn't even styled."
Anxiously, he hunches into himself and runs a hand through his mohawk which really needs to be redyed and actually gelled. And oh wow, there's a stain on his shirt, so he is definitely not going to talk to that cute guy who is walking over to him—
What. The. Hell.
"Oh my gosh, he's walking over!" Ash squees. "Go meet in the middle, it'll be so romantic!"
And then the traitor pushes him off of his seat, and he stumbles forward, nearly crashing into the ridiculously cute guy.
"You okay there?" the guy asks with the most pleasing voice he has ever heard, placing his hands on Little Cato's elbows to help steady him.
Oh hell, he can feel his entire face heat up, but he clears his throat and says, "Yeah. She just, uh, pushed me. You know how friends are, right?"
The guy laughs nervously, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, my friends are the reason I'm over here. I'm Harrison."
"Little Cato."
Harrison laughs. "That's a cute name."
"Heh. Yeah. So, uh...," Little Cato trails off nervously. Oh fuck oh shit oh fuck what is he doing?!
"I like your hair. The blue goes well with your, uh, orange." Harrison rubs the back of his neck, and he's also blushing.
"I like your you." Little Cato can hear Ash and Fox losing their minds behind him, and he stiffens up. "I meant to say, I like you. Because that's how talking works. And not...what I said...before."
Their very awkward conversation takes a lull, and Little Cato just takes in all of his features with the sound of the bar behind him. Wow, Harrison is...really cute. And he seems nice, which is a definite bonus.
"Do you, um, want to go out some time?" Little Cato asks, and the two different groups of friends scream. The moment he realizes what he said, he panics.
But before he can backtrack, Harrison smiles, and it nearly kills Little Cato from how cute it is. "Yeah, I'd love to. Should we exchange numbers, or...?"
The Ventrexian nods. "Yeah, yeah, that'd be good."
They both take out their phones, Little Cato's much older in model, and hand them to each other. They quickly type in their names and numbers and switch back.
"Your last name is Goodspeed?" Harrison asks in disbelief. "As in, like, Gary Goodspeed?"
Little Cato laughs. "Yeah, he's my dad. Adoptive, but still my dad."
"Holy shit, that is so cool! He's like, a total legend at my school. And everywhere else. What's he like? Is he as badass as he sounds?"
He smiles fondly, thinking about how crazy Gary is. "He's the best. And definitely badass, without a doubt."
"Wow, that's—!"
The door to the bar slams open, cutting Harrison off. Everyone turns to look, probably expecting a bar fight about to go down, but instead Little Cato is met with the sight of his dad and Quinn. Gary looks absolutely ecstatic while Quinn has her head in her hands, definitely hating how loud Gary has to be sometimes.
"Little Cato!" Gary shouts, noticing his son among the crowd.
Little Cato's face breaks out into a grin. "Dad!"
They both sprint towards each other, Gary stopping when they're close enough so that Little Cato can run into him. Their arms wrap around each other tightly, Little Cato resting his head on Gary's shoulder.
After a few moments, Gary pulls away and holds his boy by his shoulders, scanning him up and down. "Have you grown since the last time I saw you? You look taller."
Little Cato laughs. "It's been three days, so no. How'd it go?"
Gary wraps an arm around his shoulders, ruffling his hair. "We still haven't found it, but we got a much better lead."
The bar has been silently watching this interaction the entire time, in awe of the Gary Goodspeed, but finally someone speaks up, and it just so happens to be Harrison.
"Oh my god, you are so much cooler in person," he says in complete awe.
"Dad, this is Harrison," Little Cato introduces, walking over to the teen so that they can meet.
Gary smiles and holds out his hand for him to shake. "Gary, nice to meet you. So, bud, you made a new friend?"
Little Cato smiles tightly, knowing that Gary means well. "Yeah, new friend."
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said he was badass," Harrison laughs, still kind of in shock over Gary's presence. "Are all of your battle stories really true?"
"Oh, yeah. Every single one," Gary responds. "I'd love to keep talking, but we actually gotta go, Spidercat. Nice to meet you, though! I'll be outside, bud."
"Okay, see you there." Little Cato turns to Harrison who is still floored and starstruck. "What, would you rather date my dad than me?" he jokes.
Harrison laughs, shaking himself out of his trance. "As much as I'd love to, I think you're much more cute."
Little Cato blushes, laughing quietly at the compliment. "I'll text you so we can meet up before I go. I don't know when it'll be, but we bounce around a lot. So, uh, bye!"
"See ya!"
Ash and Fox trail out after Little Cato, both giving him smug looks. He folds his ears flat against his head in embarrassment, and he shushes them.
"You better let me be your wingman for the first date," Fox says, a giant and giddy smile on his face.
"And I am definitely helping you pick out what to wear!" Ash pipes in.
Little Cato shakes his head. "You guys need to be quiet about this, okay? I don't want Gary to know."
The siblings deflate immediately, frowns on their faces. "You still haven't told him?" Ash asks.
He shakes his head, crossing his arms against his chest.
Fox places a hand on his shoulder. "You need to have a talk with your dad. Like, yesterday. He needs to know."
"I know, but...ugh, I'm just nervous, okay?" Little Cato huffs, deeply-ingrained frustration seeping into his voice.
Ash and Fox share a look over his head, making Little Cato regret allowing them to encourage him to talk to Harrison. Both of his friends stop him before be can exit the bar and kill the conversation.
"Why are you nervous?" Ash asks kindly.
He shrugs. "What if he gets mad?"
"Gary isn't like that, and you know it," insists Fox.
"Yeah, but," Little Cato sighs heavily. "What if he's like that with me? Like, only me being...you know, is what bothers him? I don't wanna lose him, too."
He feels a hand slap him, not lightly, and he looks up at Ash in betrayal. She's glaring, pointing a serious finger at him. Fox next to her has his hands on his hips, the same expression on his face.
"You, mister, are going to tell Gary that you're gay," Ash orders. "And you are not allowed to go on a date with that very cute boy until you do it."
"Yeah, Little Cato. Gary could never hate you, especially because of something like this."
Little Cato's shoulders slump, knowing that his friends are right, and that he won't get out of doing this even if it hadn't been something he has wanted to do for a long time. He gives them a nervous smile and pushes through them to get to Gary and Quinn outside.
"Hey, Quinn," he says, greeting her with a hug.
"Hi, Little Cato. You didn't burn down the house while we were gone, did you?" she jokes.
He rolls his eyes. "Of course not."
"Well, let's head home and chill, then we can fill you in on everything. That sound good, kiddo?" Gary asks, ruffling his hair again.
Little Cato nods and smiles, hiding his shaking hands in his pockets, hoping that Gary can't see through him right now.
Whenever Gary is gone for a few days and then comes back, Little Cato is always attached to him at the hip because he missed him. And Little Cato is doing that again, because he definitely did miss his dad, but this time is much more awkward. And nerve-wracking.
They got home, talked shop, and then went to bed because the adults were tired. Little Cato sat in his bed all night trying to come up with a plan, but nothing came to mind. So, he texted Harrison. Which made things even worse because damn it, he really likes him.
A lot. An excessive amount of like. He's a fan of all of the things Little Cato likes, and he's really funny.
Oh fuck, he's in deep now.
So now, the Ventrexian is eating breakfast next to his dad, glancing between him and his pancakes. He's still trying to come up with a way to say what he needs to say, but still nothing. This is going to be a disaster if he doesn't get it right.
"Hey, bud. Do you wanna go fix up your bike after breakfast?" Gary asks.
"Yeah, sounds good," Little Cato says, stuffing his face with pancake to avoid further conversation.
Little Cato notices that Gary is wearing the hoodie he got custom-made for his birthday that says Thunder-Bandit on it in a funky font, and that just sets his nerves off even more. His dad absolutely loves that hoodie, and he doesn't want to ruin this relationship if he messes this up.
Okay, now he's about to panic. Focus on the pancakes, not every single way this coming out could go wrong.
They both finish at the same time, so Gary takes their plates and puts them in the sink. Together, they walk to the garage and open the door to get some natural light in. Gary gets the tools as Little Cato drags his out of commission hovercyle out from the depths of the garage. This thing has been broken for a while, but he's just been borrowing Gary's whenever he wants to ride it since they've been too busy to fix it.
Gary opens the hood, staring down at the engine inside to see what the problem is. He starts working on it by himself, and Little Cato sits down, content to watch for now because it gives him time to think.
After a few minutes of dead silence besides the sound of his dad working, Little Cato can't take it anymore. He's biting the bullet. He can do this. He can tell him.
He stands, his tail twitching nervously. "Dad? Can we talk?"
Gary immediately stops. He stands up from his bent over position, wiping his grease-covered hands on a rag.
"Yeah? What's up, Spidercat?" he questions, standing closer to his kid.
"I'm, uh...," Little Cato trails off, his throat going dry. He coughs awkwardly. "You see, I wanted to, ummm, tell you. Something."
Gary nods encouragingly, an inviting smile on his face. Little Cato's heart is beating so fast that he's worried it'll burst out of his chest in a moment. Why is this so terrifying?!
"So, I–," his voice cracks as his hands begin shaking. The kid starts playing with his fingers, trying to calm down.
His dad, always patient when it comes to him, places a hand on his shoulder. Little Cato's eyes start welling up with tears, feeling incredibly overwhelmed.
"I'm gay," he blurts, and he presses his mouth into a thin line. He shuts his eyes, waiting in anticipation for anything.
"That's awesome, bud!"
What?
Little Cato opens his eyes to see his dad smiling brightly, a fond look in his eyes. He doesn't look upset.
"Really?" Little Cato breathes.
"Of course. I'll always love you, no matter what. Thank you for telling me, kiddo," Gary says, nothing but pure adoration in his voice.
Little Cato laughs, and he quickly wraps his arms around Gary's torso, squishing his face into his dad's chest even though he's a bit too tall to do it comfortably anymore. The man hugs back, one of his hands carding through the fur on the back of his head. Little Cato feels him plant a kiss to his forehead, and the teen smiles happily.
They break apart, and Gary looks so proud. It makes Little Cato feel warm.
"So, um, can I go on a date?"
Gary smirks. "Harrison?"
Little Cato's mouth falls open. "How did you know?"
His dad laughs. "Dad powers. Now, let's work on this baby here so that you can take him out in style."
"Yeah, that sounds great," Little Cato says, joining in on the work.
As they work, Little Cato gushes on and on about what Harrison is like as his dad listens intently, and everything feels right again.