Chapter Text
The scent of breakfast awoke Petey, his nose twitching. His eyebrows furrowed at the sight of his alarm clock. It was past 7 already...Food was usually done at 6:30. Had his butler clocked in late?
”He’s off the hook for now.” Petey huffed, stretching his limbs once he sat on his bed. This was one of those early occasions Julius wasn’t on task on time, anyway.
The orange tabby scratched his side, pushing his purple sleeping mask off his head and reached for a brush to decently groom himself.
He might’ve been a villain, but he was no slob.
Once dolled up, Petey would make his way downstairs to the kitchen, half-asleep and relying on the scent of food to bring him to his destination. Though, something smelled off; did Julius get a new recipe?
“Mornin’, sir.” The black cat smiled beneath his face mask, making the orange tabby pause. He looked at the bags marked by some food-service Julius set down. “Sorry I didn’t come earlier- but I still got food!” He responded, his voice a pitch lower than usual, accompanying his subtle shaky stances as if he was cold.
Petey’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion at many things, “What’s with the mask? And why’d you DoorDash?” He questioned, opening one of the bags to take out a plastic platter of assorted scramble eggs, hashbrown, and bacon.
Julius scratched the back of his neck, trashing his gloves to wash his paws, “Oh, I’m sick.” He responded as if it was the most normal thing ever. Because ot was.
But the way Petey’s heart picked up a beat said otherwise, “Oh.” Was all he said.
“I’ll be in my room, so don’t worry about me infecting you or something, haw haw.” The black cat teased playfully, very much aware of his boss’s germaphobia. Petey wasn’t able to formulate words as he set down the container, his tail lowering.
Julius rose an eyebrow at the lack of response, having been expected to be berated, and told to man up and deal with it. “Uh…Bossman?” He stepped closer, finally gaining a response from Petey.
“Take- Uh- take all the time you need to recover.” He spoke, watching the other smile beneath their face mask. Julius gently nodded his head, and placed a plethora of items into a small basket, containing extra face masks, tissues, pain-killers, his usual medication, and just about anything else that one would need to recover as quickly as possible. Petey didn’t particularly like the quantity of medication the black cat would be alone with, but he was still unable to say anything else.
“Thanks, sir. I should be better in no time.” Julius gave the other cat a nod, before stepping out of the kitchen and going to his room.
Petey hated this. He didn’t like how his pulse raced, or how his fur almost stood on end. He shouldn’t care, this was his butler!
His butler, who was sick. Who promised to get better.
Julius sighed as his back hit his bed, after a ridiculously cold shower. He felt his body temperature become bearable, but he still felt like trash.
He reached into the basket to grab some hand sanitizer to smear all over his paws, before grabbing a pain-killer and gulping it down with some water. This wasn’t going to be a fun day…All the chores he hadn’t started working on rang in the back of his mind like an alarm that you would hit snooze on every single time.
But it’d be no use getting sicker with whatever dust he cleaned up in Petey’s lab.
Speaking of Petey…
The striped, orange kitty was working diligently on the next machine that could take that no-good, dog-headed cop. He had a cup of coffee that said “World’s Best Boss” on his table, his paws working on screwing a bolt into the shiny, metal parts. The green light that illuminated over his wall of many tools tinted his fur, complimenting the blue light his machine emitted that was all up in his face.
When he reached his cup of coffee, he instinctively and almost called out for Julius to prepare him another cup, only to remember the other was ill. He couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander. He was unsure as to why the other man lingered in his head all of a sudden. This wasn’t the first time Julius needed time off, like when his leg was injured, and he could only do a minimal amount of tasks that wouldn’t strain him. But all those other times, Petey didn’t particularly care; it was just the black cat being a black cat: completely reckless.
Despite himself, he stood up, dropping his tool onto the table and made his way to the kitchen. It was all completely automatic, as if his body took Petey’s thoughts into its paws to make them physical movements.
Petey then prepared a pot of water, and added sticks of cinnamon, and turned the stove up to the highest heat and covered the slowly but surely boiling water with a lid. He wasn’t much of a tea guy, but Julius drank little to no coffee…And the only beverage Petey knew how to make for the black feline was cinnamon tea.
After washing a mug with a purple butterfly print over it, he lifted the lid off the pan, his nose twitching, and the lovely aroma. But because Julius was like a darn child, Petey added sugar to the tea once he poured it into the mug. He decided to put just an extra spoonful of sugar, since the black cat’s mood seemed to always raise when sweets were in the picture.
The ginger feline would carefully hold the mug, not wanting to burn himself, before slowly heading up the stairs to the top level where the main bedrooms remained. Thankfully, it was still a weekday, meaning he wouldn’t have to fear his son popping up suddenly, and scaring him.
He spotted the other’s room, reading the words “Storage Unit”, which were scribbled out and re-written to spell “Julius’s Cave”. He had to admit, it fit, as Julius would rather lose his kitchen privileges than be forced out of his room.
Petey slowly opened the door, hoping to not catch Julius in the act of doing something harmful, and relaxed when he saw the other still lying in bed, reading. “Hey, I- uh…Brought’cha some tea. Your favorite, right?” He wasn’t used to speaking to him in a non-professional, neutral and almost gentle manner. But everything in him told him that was the best approach, no matter how much it irritated him.
Julius closed his book, sitting up and reaching for his face mask to put on. Petey would’ve done the same, as he hated being around sick people, but didn’t, for some reason.
“Hallo- tausend dank.” Julius’s initially almost anguished and tired face softened, and lit up at the scent- well, he couldn’t smell anything- or rather, the sight of tea in his boss’s paws. The other had picked up on common german gestures, and quickly peiced together that Julius was thanking him.
Petey stepped closer, handing Julius the mug, before taking a minor step back, his tail tucking between his legs. “Yeah. No problem. How…Er…How are you…Feelin'?” Those words came out so suddenly, that he couldn’t believe he was asking this.
Julius didn’t bother blowing on his tea, and began to drink it immediately, stopping as the other’s words hit him like a rush of butterflies migrating. He set the mug down, his eyebrows raised a bit, “Ho- I- Uh…” He coughed a bit awkwardly, “I feel…Okay. I s’pose.” He answered simply, unsure how else to respond. A part of him wondered if Petey caught something too, because he was never this…What was the word…Caring. He wasn’t sure how to label this behavior, but “caring” fit best.
The orange cat nodded his head, one of his paws resting on his hip as he looked at his surroundings. "Too much purple", was always his thought whenever he entered Julius’s room. Though, the pops of green were always pleasant. What wasn’t pleasant were the claw marks on the walls…But this was Julius’s room, now, and whatever happened in his room, wasn’t any of his business.
“Petey, are you feelin’ alright?” Julius eventually spoke up after a moment to break the silence, the question catching the evil kitty off guard, “Wha- me?”
“Yes, you. The last time you made me tea was like, never ago.” The black cat smiled lightly, wanting to make the mood light-hearted. And it would’ve earned Petey a sarcastic response, until he went into a coughing fit.
“O-Oh- rats-“ Julius balled up his paw into a fist and put it up to his mouth as a series of modertly painful, but majorly annoying coughs left his mouth, his chest jutting upwards with every one.
It was at this moment that all the minor, irrational, and internal concerns Petey held suddenly hit him like a train. Without a second thought, he rushed to Julius’s side, and pat his back firmly, an eery sense of familiarity filling his very being in the worst way possible. “Julius? Hey, hey, c’mon, let it out.” His voice rose in volume ever so slightly.
Julius, too busy coughing up his soul, was barely able to respond to the other’s sudden change in mood. But he did reach for an empty cup, and spit into it once his coughing fit ended with him letting out a rough sigh, “Well, that was anno-“
“Are you okay? Does your head hurt? Does anything at all hurt? C’mon- answer me!” Petey cut the other off, now grasping his arm with a firm hold as the panic in his voice became more audible. The black cat’s white ears rose, his stuffy nose twitching as he tried pulling his arm back.
“Sir, let go of me.” He spoke, trying to keep up with the others’ sudden change in emotional state. But the orange tabby didn’t let go, if anything, his grasp strengthened as his ears flicked back, “Julius, I’m serious, are you okay?” Petey ignored the other’s wishes, a minor wave of irritation bubbling up within him as the other man refused to see how serious this suddenly became. Or rather, how serious it became to him.
Julius eventually pushed Petey’s paws off of him, “I’m fine! Sir, it’s just a cold, why are you acting like this?” He’d retort, disliking the way the other rose his voice. Usually, Julius could retort without much issue, but being in such a vulnerable state with someone he still didn’t 100% trust made him feel like a cornered animal.
The other’s words snapped something inside Petey, as his paws would ball up into fists, and his 5 whiskers frizzed up to zig-zags. “Just a cold? Just a cold!?” His sudden yelling made Julius jump, “What happens if it gets worse? What if it gets so bad you can’t leave your bed? What if it gets so painful you cry every time you start coughing? What if- what if-“ He began tripping over his words, not realizing his lack of breathing as he felt an intense knot in his chest, and a lump in his throat.
“What if you don’t get better?” He finally spat out, the anger in his expression turning to one of panic, and remembrance. He could remember the way she’d try and convince him to stay a distance so he didn’t get sick. He could remember how he’d sanitize every surface and area she hung around most whenever he could before she was admitted into the hospital.
Julius, though still freaked out by the other lashing out at him, went completely silent as the gears in his head turned.
Oh!
Oh.
Oh…
He knew little of the others’ relationships. But he’s come to pick up certain clues and piece together something that only barely explained Petey’s germaphobia, aversion to hospitals, refusal to speak to medical professionals, and distrust towards those that re-filled Julius’s prescriptions.
But, of course, Julius wouldn’t assume anything. What he would try nd do, however, was relax himself. He took some breaths, careful not to let himself cough and put the other on edge even more.
“Petey…” He spoke after some time, his boss’s name rolling off his tongue nicely. Petey returned his gaze to the black cat, both their green eyes locking together. Julius sighed softly, before settling his white paws over his lap, unsure what to tell the other. Sure, he’s comforted the other before…But that was just by simply nodding along and being a yes-man whenever Petey ranted about how much he hated Dogman.
And the occasional motivation pep-talk whenever the ginger tabby thought about giving up.
And the re-assurance that parenting wasn’t an easy thing, and that nobody was perfect.
Okay, the point is, he’s comforted the other a few times, but not to deal with something that, to him, looked to be a symptom of trauma.
“I’m sorry I didn’t take you seriously. I…I appreciate your concern.” He started, before continuing, “…But let me preface this, okay?”
Julius grabbed his tea to drink and soothe his nerves, “With the climate changing, I always get sick like this. It’s not that my immune system is weak, or that there’s something wrong with me…It’s just genetics. One of my biological parents was “allergic” to the wheather, and it got passed down to me.” He explained, letting out a short series of coughs, spiking Petey’s adrenaline again.
But this time, Julius put his paw up in a “stop” motion, making the other temporarily stay still, until he finished coughing. “See?”
“I’m okay, sir. I mean, it’s called flu-season for a reason.” He knew he was partially rambling, but it seemed to captivate Petey for once. After all, he was still a man of science, and was able to listen to reason…Unless it didn’t fit his thought process.
Julius then put his mug on the table, before squirting hand-sanitizer on his paws once more and slipping on a clean face-mask over his face. Then, he put out his paw for Petey to take.
Grudgingly, he held the other’s paw, the feeling of Julius’s thumb rubbing against the back of his palm soothing his nerves to some degree. He still couldn’t find it in him to speak, but he had calmed down to a degree, enough to take deep breaths of his own, swallowing the tears that threatened to escape his eyes.
“Sor-…Sorry.” Was all the orange tabby said, putting on an unaffected facade, despite the obvious tremors in his paw. There was a tense, but calmer silence between them once more, until Julius broke it.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Excuse me?” Petey looked back down at the black and white feline.
“I asked you how you was feelin’, and ya’ didn’t answer.”
The tone in Julius’s voice held the suggestion that Petey wasn’t obligated to answer. For that, he was grateful. He didn’t let go of Julius’s paw, using his unused one to pet his fluffed up fur down and against his skin once more.
“…Don’t ask stupid questions.” He murmured, making Julius smile. There his boss was!
Julius chuckled lightly, looking down at how he held Petey’s paw, the sight making a warmth fill his chest, similair to the tea. Eventually he loosened his grip so Petey could pull away, “Y’know how I am.”
“Look, I won’t speak of this ever again if ya’ don’t want me to, jus’- don’t freak out on me like that again, okay?” It felt weird for him to be the one requesting things, when it was usually Petey being the bossy one. Regardless, he nodded, retracting his claws and noticing how the other held the arm he had harshly grabbed.
Great. Now he felt guilty. What was going on with him!?
“Thanks. Y’should go wash your hands…I’m gonna go catch some Z’s.” The black and white cat lay back in his bed, suggesting he didn’t want to talk anymore. And Petey was perfectly fine with that- he couldn’t find it in him to speak without his voice breaking. And so, the ginger tabby left the other’s room, closing the door behind him and made his way to the bathroom.
Petey lathered his paws with soap for quite a while, the thoughts of everything that had happened making him just stand there with his paws under the running water like an idiot. He didn’t like how Julius seemed to care. He didn’t like how he apologized, rather than spin the blame. He didn’t like how he held his paw…
None of this was the way a villain should act! But then again. Julius wasn’t here to be a villain, he was here to benefit himself by having a place to stay.
Once washed up, the orange cat would sigh, combing his fur again to soothe himself of any extra anxious thoughts. A part of him did feel better, and reassured when Julius chose to point out the obvious, instead of making fun of him for getting so worked up.
Not a good guy, but perhaps he wasn’t that bad of a guy, either.