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If his morning coffee consisted of more than the usual 8 packets of sugar, then something was definitely up.
Maybe he didn’t even realize that it was more than he got regularly. Just took whatever amount would be right and sprinted to his office. Hell, maybe he didn’t even realize that he was putting so much in it. Every move was mechanical, something out of habit, not out of conscious decision. But that would mean he was in an even worse state that expected. Ugh, mornings.
Just like that Rhys stared ahead absentmindedly, trying to focus on anything. His heavy eyelids seemed to have a little bit of a different plan. Every several seconds, he was ready to just fall over on his desk and take additional, oh so needed hours of sleep. And every several seconds after, he just shook his head and continued pouring sugar into his coffee.
Knowing how his last night went, it didn’t come as a surprise that Rhys had a bad case of whatever that day was. Firstly, he got too many calls from his various business partners. They kept asking for the newest prototypes of weapons and reports of their usage. So then Rhys had to write way too many emails to his workers, who didn’t bother to send the reports on time. Afterwards, upon getting mostly flimsy excuses, he had to call the partners and explain situation. Then another set of emails to his workers, this time with a detailed set of commitments. And then the wheel started all over again.
Not to mention that Rhys definitely wasn’t a morning person.
So he tried to catch any moment of peace of mind in his office, before workers would start crashing the place with their late papers. Rhys’ sight locked with the aquarium walls ahead of him. As stupid as it sounded, he was damn proud of how the office looked. He loved the weird tranquility his giant aquarium gave him. Lazy movements of the wildlife in it, seemed to perfectly compliment his hazed mind.
You and me both, Rhys remarked in his mind and took the coffee mug to his hands, ready to get the most needed pick-me-up.
The sudden movement in the corner of his eyes, made him immediately put down the coffee away. He furrowed his brows and looked a little closer, trying to spot the disturbance.
And just like that he saw Timothy’s, one of his…friend’s (and also employee’s) cat Felicity, trying to play with the aquarium, curiously looking at the glass. It was probably the best pick-me-up he could ever get, as he sprinted out of his chair, back to the cat.
“Hey hey, easy. You don’t want to repeat the accident from last week, don’t you?” Rhys cooed towards the cat and picked her up, just as Timothy instructed him to.
Hearing these words, Felicity meowed.
“Oh, don’t say that. This is my office and I have the power here,” he answered, carrying her back to his personal space.
Certainly, he didn’t want to repeat the accident from the last week. Rhys shuddered at the memory. Way too much water and fish for the staff to clean up.
Regardless, simply the presence of Felicity wasn’t anything special for him. Longest time ago, he agreed for Timothy to bring his cats back to the HQ. It felt a little weird at first, seeing them come around but after a while and many many tips from Tim how to manage them, he’s learnt to live with their presence.
Not to mention the smile on Timothy’s face whenever he could talk about his cats. And the excitement, care and love in his voice. And the hours spent together, just talking about what are his cats’ favorite toys or what treats he should give them. That might have been the selling point for Rhys.
He approached the desk again and gently put Felicity back on the floor. That wasn’t exactly the best idea, as she immediately jumped up on the desk. What else could Rhys do than just slump his shoulders, and get back to his over sugared coffee while carefully observing the cat.
While both of Timothy’s cats developed a habit of coming around to the office, Felicity was much more frequent. Which was… Challenging for Rhys. As to say that he really felt as if she hated him.
Every visit of hers ended with either his furniture or just himself scratched to death. Felicity took every chance to mess with him somehow. Biting his pants, meowing loudly during the calls, or even just tugging at his mustache. Rhys was just convinced that the only reason why she was there was purely out of spite.
So he looked at her suspiciously, as she laid herself comfortably at the edge of his desk. Nothing bad seemed to happen yet but nobody could be sure. Rhys’s eyes narrowed, as he once again caught the mug in his hands and carefully took the first sip of the day.
Only to realize how mind-blowingly sweet his coffee was. Eh, if it gave him the caffeine fix, might as well be worth a try. Just like that, Rhys shrugged to himself and continued drinking, though his sight was still fixated on Felicity.
She was just there, seemingly innocently relaxing herself, not caring about anything Rhys was supposed to do. That was almost oddly… Comforting for Rhys. Flashing a soft smile, he took out one of his hands just to pet her on her belly. In return, Felicity stretched out her paws and let out a low purr. Tim would definitely be proud of him.
Speaking of, another sound started echoing throughout the office. Then Rhys has caught the glance of the one causing another disturbance. Timothy Lawrence ran across the corridors, hurrying right to the office with a good stack of documents in his hands.
Well. Timothy definitely couldn't be a disturbance for him. That was for sure.
“Hi, Rhys,” he threw out of breath, finally stopping as he approached Rhys’ desk. He was just about to give him an explanation but soon enough he spotted Felicity and smiled, “Oh, she’s here already. Hope you’ve been behaving, sweetie.”
Saying so, Tim took out his hand and pet her right at the edge of her chin. Rhys looked at him in wonder, trying to memorize what which of his cats liked. Maybe, he’ll get it right one day.
“Don’t worry. I stopped her in time,” Rhys remarked and fixated his sight right on Timothy. The smile on his face surely did make his morning much more bearable, “Did you get everything?”
Timothy froze in a moment but quickly put himself back together, “Right! Right right, I have it all with me. Sorry, it took so long, I just. Yeah, I just forgot it was the deadline already, sorry.”
Then once more, he looked through the documents and then put them right back on his desk. He flashed a little bit of an embarrassed smile, as his eyes wandered off to Felicity again. Rhys already sensed what was going on, so he spoke.
“Nono, it’s fine, Tim, it’s fine. What matters is that they’re here and. Don’t worry, you won’t get any repercussions for this. If that’s what you’re wondering.”
In confusion, Timothy raised an eyebrow at him but quickly followed with another smile, “You’re way too forgiving, you know.”
This time their eyes met, even if just for a moment. Tim’s bright stare could ease all of the annoyances of the last night and the incompetence around him. For some reason. Unknown reason. But goddamn, wasn’t he just great at calming him down.
“For you?” Rhys said, his voice a little lower than before. Yet, when he realized what he was doing, he cleared his throat. No time for… That, “Yeah, uhm, thank you for bringing the copies too. I have no idea what’s with that company and them being obsessed with paper. That’s just barbaric.”
“I know, right? I don’t remember last time I saw someone doing the literal paperwork,” Tim laughed briefly but his eyes still avoided Rhys’ stare and kept focusing on Felicity, who this time was trying to catch his prosthetic in her little paws. “You know you can pet her as well, right?”
“Right, I just…” Rhys started.
“Oh, c’mon, she doesn’t bite that much, you know?”
“I’m not sure about that.”
“Rhys,” Tim’s tone was both hopeful and encouraging. Goddamn.
Rhys sighed, “Alright, I can try.”
Even if he was petting her just a moment before Timothy entered his office, it was always a different story when they were both around. For no apparent reason, Felicity then started being even more playful and eager in every way possible. Rhys just wished this morning wouldn’t end in unnecessary cuts. Especially at Timothy’s side.
But he did try to work it out. He exchanged his arm and just as Tim was still playing with her paws, Rhys started scratching her right at her chin. It might have been even more successful, as they both used their robotic hands. Yet Felicity quickly stopped trying to capture Tim’s fingers and immediately focused on Rhys’ cold prosthetic, which continued to find the right angle of petting her. It might have come much faster than expected, as she laid comfortably, trying to bite his fingers playfully.
A small laugh escaped Tim’s mouth. He looked almost enchanted at Rhys, taming his own cat. His fingers brushed against his own, as he said.
“You see? She just seems rough, in reality she’s really sweet.”
Yet Rhys’ mind stopped focusing on Felicity and instead on Timothy’s hand delicately pressing against his own.
“Oh… For sure,” he flashed him the most comfortable smile he’s had all this morning.
Timothy looked as if he wanted to say something else but he suddenly zipped off his hand and looked around, a little too frantically.
“Ah crap, it’s my time, right? Gotta do some… Guard stuff.”
“What? You think that if you don’t go there in time, the CEO will know and he’ll have you in his office for The Talk?” Rhys stood up, following his cue and approached him.
None of them realized that Felicity also stood up on the desk.
Seeing this, Timothy lowered his sight right at Rhys, “No… Not in this job but I don’t know. I think I prefer to stay on the CEO’s good side. And maybe obey the orders.”
“I feel like you’d stay on the CEO’s good side anyway. But yeah, probably the best idea. See you later, Tim,” Rhys’ voice was way too smooth, way too sweet for this to pass as a regular talk between them both. But damn. Didn’t it feel good.
“Mmm, see ya later, the CEO,” Tim winked back at him. Realizing what he’s done, his face became a little more reddish in the hue. Rhys in response didn’t say a thing.
As he was about to leave the office, something rattled in the corners of their eyes once more. Before they could do anything, they’ve heard a loud thunk and glass shatter right on the floor. Along with the paper both flying around and being torn to pieces by Felicity’s claws.
“Shit,” Timothy muttered. “Oh nonono, Felicity, c’mere. Uhh, Rhys, are you alright?”
In an instant, he took her into his arms, away from the mess. They both didn’t notice Felicity not only knocking down Rhys’ coffee mug but also Timothy’s document stack. Both landing not too gracefully on the ground. With the mug completely broken, glass almost everywhere and the paper either drowned in that coffee or getting torn apart. That… Definitely didn’t call for any good ending.
“I’m fine but are you okay?” Rhys responded, trying to gather the mess before his eyes.
It was honestly nothing for him. Mess and little accidents around the HQ were of a daily occurrence. Usually ended with one call to the janitors and a moment or two of annoyance. Besides that Rhys really didn’t have time to fuss over stuff like that.
Yet… It really rarely happened because of Tim. Rhys bit his lip, hoping he wouldn’t become too worried about all of this.
“Besides Felicity? I’m fine,” Timothy shot him a smile. His eyes betrayed just how panicked he’s become. Felicity fidgeting in his arms, trying to get away from his grip and meowing loudly certainly didn’t help him out. “Listen, uhh… Crap, I didn’t have a spare with the document and they’re all on the hard drive on the computer at my hom- Ow! Young lady, we’re gonna have a serious talk just. Stop. That.”
Last words were gritted through his teeth, trying his hardest to tame his cat. If it wasn’t for the situation, Rhys would definitely take amusement in the way he talked with his cats. But yes, other time.
“Tim, I just wanted to know if the glass didn’t hurt you, don’t worry. I’ll handle that in a moment,” he reassured him and immediately went to intercom. Before he could call any cleaning staff, he looked at him again, “You know I could easily just hack to your system.”
Timothy blinked several times.
“…Yea, I would prefer if you didn’t, uh do that.”
Definitely a bad wording choice. Rhys avoided his stare.
“God, I’m so sorry, I’ll just… Give me a sec I’ll just drive around and get the copies again,” Timothy breathed heavily. “And maybe leave someone in the house, if she can’t behave properly.”
Felicity meowed back. Timothy scoffed.
Rhys’ eyes once again went wandering off. From Timothy, to Felicity, to the broken glass and documents on the floor, finally to the clock next to intercom. 6:21am. A little late but… Oh, he really had to take this chance.
“I’ll drive you back there,” he suggested brightly. “It’s no big deal, I don’t have any meeting till like 8, so c’mon. I’ll help you out.”
“You really don’t have to do it,” Timothy answered, his voice a little awkward.
“No, I have to,” Rhys shot him a smile and stared back at the intercom. “Right, after I handle... That.”
Another heavier breath. This time with a bit of defeat behind it, “Thanks. And uh, Rhys?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll get you another mug.”
“I’m counting on it.”
Rhys took another sip of the coffee as he looked through the daily details displayed on his arm. Ah, mornings.
Today went just about how it usually did. He got his everyday coffee with 8 packets of sugar, he went around to the office. Nothing that much exciting. Sometimes, maybe it was for the best.
Ready to sit down and wait for next scheduled meeting, Rhys noticed a small package on his desk. Huh, weird. Usually his PA just called him if he got any important packages or something. But knowing that it had to go through the security, reassured him that well, at least it was clean. Supposedly.
Curiously, Rhys opened the package and immediately his eyes brightened up. Inside there were two mugs. One had a picture of a cute gray cat on it. The other one had a picture of two cats cuddling each other with additional “you’re my purrson” written on it. The corner of Rhys’ lips went up. Right at the end there was additional note, saying:
“Ok, I lied. Two mugs.
- Tim :3”
To which Rhys finally cracked a bright smile.
Sometime later in the day, Timothy approached the office again. He stopped in a moment, seeing Rhys still immersed in his documents but this time drinking his next coffee of the day in one of the mugs he gave him.
When Rhys finally spotted him, he smirked, “Dirty liar. I love them.”
“I’m sorry, baby, but this is what the doctor said,” Timothy cooed against his cat Jim and gave him a kiss right at the top of his head. “You’ll be back on normal food in no time, I promise.”
Since there wasn’t much to say, Jim obeyed and as he jumped from Timothy’s arms, he started eating the not so proper food. Tim smiled seeing this, knowing he can go on to feed his second cat Felicity.
Preparing the food for her, he already saw her sitting on the counter of his kitchen, looking impatiently. Tim laughed softly underneath his breath and pushed the bowl of food in her direction. Then as well, he just observed her eat.
Felicity has been… A cause of several troubles for him lately. The accident in Rhys’ office and all, he felt like apologizing to him even several days afterwards. Yet today, seeing his bright smile as the mugs he finally got for him arrived, he felt his heart skip a beat. Or two.
His brows furrowed. Felicity loved coming around to Rhys’ office and spend time with him. Maybe it was just one-sided from her but still. She loved spending time with Rhys. If Timothy was going crazy, he’d just assume she actually did break one of his mugs on purpose, just so he could get him another one.
That was, if he jumped to too many conclusions at once.
Timothy shrugged but smiled at Felicity. Then he took out his hand and pet her between her ears, “Clever beast.”