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“It’s the quintessential sound of contentment and love. It’s the easiest sound to produce, and often comes out whether you want it to or not.” Jekyll complained.
“I still don’t understand why you are so angered by this.” Lanyon said coolly, “I’ve scarce see the man smile.”
“But we’re lovers, he’s told me things no other soul knows, and I him, we spend as much time as possible together, we’ve been intimate before, for Christ’s sake, I love him!” The ragdoll cried. “What if…what if he doesn’t love me?”
“Come now, Jekyll, do you really think he’d spend nearly every night with you if he didn’t love you?” Lanyon asked.
Jekyll glared at the beagle sitting across from him for a moment. “You don’t understand, purring is like saying ‘I’m perfectly happy here, and I love you’ it’s something that isn’t a choice, but it speaks a thousand words.”
“Have you ever heard him purr for anyone else?” The other doctor asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, no.” Jekyll said furrowing his brow in thought, “I can’t say I have.”
“Well, there you go. He’s just not very expressive.” Lanyon said, sitting up straighter as if he had just solved the case.
--
Jekyll replayed that conversation over and over in his head all night. He laid on his back, his bed feeling so much bigger now that he had no one to share it with. The doctor turned his head to the side of the bed that was usually occupied by the striped body of his beloved Gabriel John Utterson. The lawyer wanted to spend at least one night a week at his house to avoid suspicion. And on those nights, without another warm body in the bed, Jekyll couldn’t seem to fall asleep. He couldn’t fathom how he did it before. The doctor rolled over onto his side, pulling the blankets up around his neck. That was one good thing to come of sleeping alone; Jekyll didn’t have to share his covers. The ragdoll cat tried to settle in for the night, closing his eyes as he sunk into his pillow. It lasted for but a moment.
The doctor rolled onto his back again kicking the blankets off of him in frustration. If he couldn’t sleep he should at least find a way to spend his time. He rose, grabbing some of Hyde’s clothes from his wardrobe, and rushed down to the lab. Once he had changed, in more ways than one, he carefully stepped into the dark, London street.
Hyde’s paws were light on the cobblestone street below him. The little cat moved swiftly through the abandoned streets, keeping his head down, letting the brim of his hat cast shadows over his face. The need for mischief and hedonism were taking over his brain, as he walked under the streetlamps. His boots made the smallest click-clack against the ground as he quickened his pace. He popped the collar of his capelet to further hide his face. Despite the mask of his alter ego, he still wanted to remain unseen. The evil little thing dashed through the streets, not quite running, but going at a quick and steady pace. He dipped into alleyways and walked mostly along by-streets.
The small Russian blue finally made his way to the old tavern he was all too familiar with. He looked up towards the sign that hung over the door, the name carved into the weathering wood. He knew behind the dilapidated, dark oak door lied debauchery, sin, and the sweetest pleasures known to man. Hyde reached for the knocker but then stopped himself. Should he really enter the molly house when he called Utterson his lover? The lawyer deserved a faithful partner after all he put up with. Hyde hopped off the steps to the tavern, his paws on the street once more.
He could cause mischief somewhere else.
--
Jekyll pulled his body off the floor of the lab and shook his head as if to clear whatever remained of Hyde from his mind. He stood on unsure legs, carefully, as to not tear the clothes he was in that were now too tight. The trousers had gotten shorter, or rather, he had gotten taller, and now the fabric showed off his ankles. The sleeves were tailored to Hyde’s measurements, not his, and now several centimeters of his forearms were exposed. Jekyll moved swiftly and carefully to his chambers, best he could without tearing the too-tight fabric he was held prisoner in.
His bare paws hit the dewy grass of the garden, there was no way he could fit into Hyde’s shoes. He paused feeling the wet grass under his paw pads, he sheathed and unsheathed his claws into the ground, enjoying the feeling of being up before the servants, before almost anyone in all of London. As the sky flushed pink, preparing for the rising of the sun. The world at ease, for a moment, as the nocturnal creatures scampered off to bed and the diurnal ones reclaimed the world. Jekyll figured he ought to put his to bed as well, but Hyde had sunk his claws into their shared mind and was not letting go. Jekyll quit his musing as he remembered he was still in his other self’s clothes and stepped briskly through the garden. He quickly and quietly navigated his way through the main building and up to his bedroom.
He threw off the clothes he was now too big for. He laid across his bed for a moment, feeling like he could breathe once again, now that Hyde’s clothes weren’t suffocating him. He was not little and sleek like the Russian blue. He was a rather large ragdoll cat, broad, large, and awfully fluffy. Jekyll absentmindedly ran his paw over his chest, feeling the softness of his fur, and yet missing the silver, shimmering coat of Hyde. No matter, he was Jekyll now, and there were certain things expected of Jekyll. So with that thought, the doctor rose from his bed and dressed for the day. He wasn’t planning on having any visitors today so he simply wore a tan waistcoat and a white shirt underneath, the sleeves rolled up just above his elbows. He combed his hair and fur and went about his day, keeping himself busy in the lab.
A knock on the door of his cabinet roused him from his work, his ears perked up but he did not look away from his task. “Yes?” The doctor asked.
“Mr. Utterson is here to see you, sir,” Poole said stepping into the cabinet. Jekyll turned his head to the elderly squirrel, his brow furrowed in confusion, trying to deduce why Utterson would be here to see him now. It was eleven o’clock on a Tuesday. Surely he would be working now.
“Send him in,” Jekyll said, worrying this would be about business. The butler nodded and disappeared, returning later with the most handsome tabby in the world.
Utterson waited until Poole was gone to break into a very uncharacteristic grin.
“Jekyll,” He said warmly, “I missed you.”
“We’ve only been apart a day,” The doctor said getting up from behind his desk. “We’ve been separated for months before.”
“I know,” The lawyer said, taking the other cat in his arms, “but we weren’t lovers then.”
“Ah, young love,” Jekyll sneered, settling into Utterson’s arms.
“ Young? ” Utterson teased, “We are well past our youth, Jekyll.”
The ragdoll smiled as he heard Utterson chuckle.
“But I do love you, I’ve loved you before I even had a word for it,” Utterson said, stroking Jekyll’s back.
Jekyll purred, gently nuzzling the lawyer’s cheek, then planting a warm kiss on his face. “I love you too.”
The two held each other close for a small eternity, perfectly content in the other’s arms. Their chest’s pressed together so close, they could feel one another’s pulse, almost in sync, keeping a steady rhythm. Jekyll felt it first, the vibrations echoing in Utterson’s chest, then heard it with the lawyer’s breathing. The stern, stoic lawyer was holding him close and purring while nosing at the doctor’s neck. Jekyll smiled and moved his paws from the lawyer’s waist to his face as he gave him a deep, warm kiss on the mouth. Neither cat could find the strength to break apart. They both were perfectly happy to stay like this forever.