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“I hate cats so much,” Theo says mildly, watching one of the stray cats he’s basically adopted wrap around his leg.
“I wonder why there’s cat food on the window sill every day,” Parrot says, just as mildly, a mug of tea Theo made for him clasped in both hands. The heat radiates out from the cup, warming his cold hands.
“Yeah, well - I just bought it by accident from the store!” Theo insists indignantly, giving the tabby cat around his ankles a few absentminded scratches.
“Mmhmm,” Parrot hums unconvincedly. When Theo opens his mouth to retort, he hurriedly blocks him, “Bro. It’s too early for this. Let me drink my tea in peace.”
“Whatever,” Theo sighs. He’s always been one to get up early, filled with energy right after waking up. For some reason, he still drinks coffee. Parrot, on the other hand, takes long minutes to get up, gathering enough energy to participate in the waking world. He doesn’t drink coffee, but he needs a good mug of tea to wake up properly. Theo always makes one for him, adds a bit of honey, just how he likes it. His heart pinches a little at the thought, thinking - not for the first time - that he doesn’t deserve Theo’s care.
When the silence between them stretches a little too long for Theo, he pipes up, “So, what are we gonna do today?”
“Dunno,” Parrot says idly, in between sips of his tea. “Go drop off a few of our potion requests, maybe. Pre-brew some more strength pots.”
“I’m going training, probably. Maybe with Ramesal? Haven’t done that in a while.”
“One of the reasons why I brew so many strength pots,” Parrot sighs. He looks at Theo pointedly, a slightly mischievous glint in his eye.
“It’s too early for this,” Theo groans dramatically.
“Not too early for you,” Parrot says, draining the last of his tea and getting up to rinse the mug and their leftover plates.
Theo grabs a worn-out cloth and sweeps the table clean automatically, collecting the crumbs in his open palm. Rituals between the two of them, awkward at first, rough edges smoothed out by time. “Yeah, not my fault you’re a late sleeper,” he shoots back, dumping the crumbs in the trash and ‘stealing’ (Theo’s words, not his) a bit of water to clean his hands.
“Not my fault you get up at the crack of dawn for no reason,” Parrot retorts.
“Hey - that’s to sort my PvP inventory!” Theo splutters, mock-offended.
“Every day?” Parrot asks, skeptically. Then Theo pulls out his trump card - and Parrot knows this from the look on his face.
“I gotta, to protect you,” he says, and that makes Parrot shut up. Comfortable silence falls between them like a heavy, warm blanket. When they’re done with cleaning up, Parrot heads up and brews a few potions, waving a goodbye to Theo as he leaves the potion shop.