Work Text:
Rei wasn't one for loud, vibrant emotions. Not like Kazuki. He didn't seem to have any interest in, or talent for, expressing his feelings. That made him rather difficult to read, at least for most people.
Kazuki got him, though. He understood him.
They'd been working together long enough that Kazuki could pick up on even the slightest tells Rei gave off. Kazuki was naturally gifted at reading people to begin with, so he was pretty confident in his ability to correctly identify Rei's moods.
That was how he could tell Rei was really, truly bothered after Kazuki took the latest stray away. No, in fact, Rei wasn't just bothered.
He was sulking.
The cloud that hung over his head was darker than his usual gloom, and the way he barely acknowledged Kazuki when they were both in the apartment was more deliberate than his usual standoffishness.
Kazuki couldn't let this go on. For one thing, they had a fairly big job coming up. This tension would do them no good. For another thing…
Well, he just didn't like seeing the guy sulk.
Kazuki couldn't just change his mind about the cat; he still believed he was right to insist it go to a better, safer, and more stable family. Cats could live a long time when cared for properly, and the one Rei found had only been a kitten. Considering the line of work they were in, that cat easily could've outlived them both.
He had to do something, though. Something about Rei.
If they couldn't take in a cat…
Well, Rei would just have to settle for the next best thing.
"Up, up, up!" Kazuki chirped one afternoon, when he saw a glaring red GAME OVER screen flash across the TV. Rei had booted up his game right after breakfast, and he'd been camped out on the couch for nearly five hours now. "Lunchtime, buddy. We can't have you starving with such an important gig coming up on Christmas Eve."
Rei gave him a sour look, but hey. At least it was a look. He even took off his headphones after a moment, and unfolded his legs to stand up.
But as soon as he faced the kitchen, he frowned. The frown soon turned into a side-eye of betrayal, because there was no food on the table.
"Let's go out," Kazuki said, decisively marching over to the front door and grabbing two scarves before Rei could protest. "I know a place."
Rei clearly didn't want to go to whatever place Kazuki had chosen for lunch, but he seemed to decide that arguing with Kazuki would be even more trouble than just indulging him this once. His stomach also grumbled when Kazuki came back over to him to wrap a scarf around his neck, so maybe he was just hungry.
Whatever the reason, he did tag along in the end. He made no secret of the fact that he wasn't happy about it, though. His expression remained as impassive as ever, but he put his headphones back on and listened to music the whole way there.
Kazuki could live with that. It wasn't a long walk to the cafe he'd picked out, anyway.
Rei didn't look at him even once as they walked. He seemed almost like he'd fallen into a trance. Kazuki stuck close to his side, to make sure he didn't walk straight into any people or utility poles along the way.
Finally, when they reached their destination and stepped inside to be greeted by a warm welcome from the staff and a chorus of meows, Rei lifted his head. His eyes widened a fraction at what he saw. The shift in his expression would have been imperceptible to most, but to Kazuki it was as obvious as a cat's pupils dilating with excitement.
"Tadaaa." Kazuki gave a jazzy little wave with both hands. "How about it? Surprised? Bet you didn't know there was a cat cafe around here, right? Of course you didn't. You never leave the house, how would you know?"
Rei still seemed a little stunned. He looked down when an especially outgoing orange tabby came over to butt its furry little head against his shin, and Kazuki could practically see the guy's frosty exterior starting to melt.
When a staff member came to greet them, Kazuki flashed her a winning smile and asked for a table for two. She was flattered, or perhaps flustered, enough to give them two cat treat lollipops on the house.
A fluffy brown Persian cat with an old-man face was the first to come over to their table. Rei had walked through the cafe in something of a daze, sitting down across from Kazuki without complaint. This was probably the most docile Kazuki had ever seen him.
"Here," Kazuki said. He tapped his foot against Rei's under the table and held out one of the paw-shaped lollipops to Rei. "Try to give them one."
Rei eyed the lollipop warily for a moment, then reached over the table with one gloved hand and plucked it from Kazuki's hold. He unwrapped it carefully, and the Persian cat was on the table in a flash, lapping at the lollipop as soon as Rei got the plastic wrapper off.
It was cute. Kazuki had no idea why, but he couldn't look away.
(Well, perhaps he did have one idea, but it was one he quickly swept away with the practiced ease of a man whose perfectly justifiable commitment issues ran as deep as the sea.)
Kazuki propped his chin up on one hand and watched Rei as Rei watched the cat. The orange tabby that had greeted him by the door came over too, squeezing its face in next to the other cat's to attack the lollipop with its own little pink tongue.
When he figured Rei was sufficiently distracted, Kazuki slipped his phone out of his pocket and snuck a photo. He didn't get away with it unnoticed, of course. Rei shot him a sour look, but it was far too late for that.
Kazuki had already captured the fleeting smile that had brightened Rei's expression as he stroked one of the cats with his free hand.
"Now, now, don't look at me like that. And what's with this, huh?" Kazuki put his phone away and reached across the table. He took Rei's hand, the one that wasn't holding the lollipop, and peeled off his glove for him. "There, that's better. You can't honestly tell me you think you're supposed to pet a cat without feeling their floofy fluff between your fingers, right?"
Rei didn't answer. He'd frozen up when Kazuki took his hand all of a sudden, and he stayed like that for a few seconds before slowly sinking his fingers into the Persian cat's thick coat again.
A short while later, that barely-there smile touched Rei's lips again. Kazuki didn't reach for his phone this time. This was a moment he didn't want to disturb.
They had their lunch, which came with an hour of time with the cats. Kazuki paid for their meals and an extra hour, but that time passed quickly as well. When they got up to leave, Rei was wearing a comical amount of cat hair on his dark clothes.
And he was sulking again.
"We'll come back," Kazuki said. "We can even make a tradition of it. Two hours—no, three hours of quality kitty time after every successful op. My treat. How's that sound?"
Rei didn't answer right away. He pulled his scarf higher, until he was just about drowning in it. If his expression shifted in any way, Kazuki wouldn't be able to see it.
But he could hear it, in Rei's voice, when Rei mumbled, "Acceptable."
He could hear that Rei's mood was starting to improve.