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Jelly Donut days were hard. Avery knew this extremely well after their first experience with one. If they’d thought that was one thing that’d change after the curse was broken, they were dead wrong. Some things did change, for the better or for the worse. In today’s case it was for the worse. Definitely for the worse. They, along with Mason, Finley, and Graves had been the only people in the café for the day, despite it being a Jelly Donut day. The rest of the staff (along with apparently a significant portion of the neighborhood) had come down with the flu. Since they were no longer cats, it wasn’t as awful for them, but it was still just as awful for Avery who almost single-handedly waited the tables. Graves had helped occasionally, but he had to be in charge of keeping guests from sticking donuts on Finley’s head. Now, it was the end of the day and they were sitting on the couch, completely exhausted. Mason had already left and had offered to walk Finley home, so it was just Avery…the cats…and Graves.
They had their eyes closed, but that certainly wasn’t a deterrent from the cats jumping up on the couch and crowding them, looking for attention. They could feel the paws pressing onto their legs and the purrs as the cats rubbed up against them. They lifted a hand and petted what felt like a cat’s head. They weren’t entirely sure. So long as the cats didn’t try to crush their internal organs, everything would be alright.
“Hash Browns seems to be enjoying the attention, since he was practically ignored all day,” said Graves’s soft voice from behind them. They would’ve jumped in surprise, but having a lap full of cats kept that from happening. Instead, they tried to play it cool.
“Well Hash Browns needs to get over it. I think Kotik is going to want some attention too,” said Avery, opening their eyes.
Their head was leaning against the back of the couch and they were staring directly into Graves’s mismatched eyes. Oh dear god when did he get so close? They failed a bit miserably at playing it cool this time, as they did jump, forcing several cats off their lap. Some of the cats gave them disgruntled looks, but that was the least of their problems. Hot goth boss standing right behind them was the bigger issue here. Should they call him something more than that? Boyfriend? That sounded a bit weird to them. Partner? No. No, no, no. That made them think of Nacht too much. Their love—
“Avery, are you alright?” Graves’s voice interrupted their thoughts once again.
“Huh? Oh, yup! Totally fine!” they said hurriedly. “I’m just a bit tired.”
“You seemed rather lost in thought,” said Graves with a small smile as he sat down next to them on the couch.
“That obvious, huh?” asked Avery.
“Well, your face certainly suggested your mind was elsewhere,” said Graves with a chuckle. His face grew concerned. “You’re not coming down with something, are you?”
“Oh, well, maybe,” said Avery vaguely. They had been sneezing a bit more often than usual. And they were kind of tired. But then again, it had been a Jelly Donut day. And they had waited tables by themself. That’d account for their exhaustion. But they had been feeling a bit off…
“Would you like to spend the night here?” Graves asked, interrupting their train of thought once again.
“Oh, no! I couldn’t!” said Avery hurriedly. “I mean, I have to feed Mochi…probably…I left food out for him, since I knew I was going to be at work for a long time today. But you know how he is! He probably ate it all at once instead of waiting…”
“I’m sure he didn’t,” said Graves, with that usual confident air of his. Avery wanted to know what made him so sure, but it was Graves. He was always confident. Well…usually confident. But when it came to cats, they’d take his word on it.
“I…need to get up tomorrow morning?” said Avery vaguely.
“Well if you need to go to work, then you’d already be here,” said Graves with a smile.
Avery thought about it for another moment. Why did Graves always have to be right? Ugh. Giving in, they dropped their head on his shoulder, snuggling close to him. They felt him stiffen for a moment, obviously surprised by their sudden display of affection, but he quickly relaxed, even putting an arm around them.
“You’d likely be more comfortable upstairs,” he said, his hand resting lightly on their back.
“Don’t care. Couch is comfy,” said Avery shuffling a bit closer to him.
Graves cleared his throat, obviously still a bit surprised by their sudden proximity. Good. That’d make up for him startling the crap out of them earlier. God, they were really tired. Graves’s hand was now gently running through their hair and that probably didn’t help anything. Maybe they were getting sick. Reese had sneezed on them the other day. That was a nasty memory. Graves seemed to avoid getting sneezed on. They wondered idly what he’d be like when he was sick. Like, just sick. Not dramatically dying sort of sick. Maybe he’d act the same way. All quiet and reserved. But he always did like to surprise them. Maybe he’d act completely different. They still weren’t 100% convinced he wasn’t a vampire, so maybe he couldn’t get sick. Witches could get sick, so that theory was out. The missing coworkers were proof enough of that. Oh, Graves was saying something.
“…need to close the café for the night,” Graves said. He was gently trying to push them off him.
“You better come right back,” they mumbled, reluctantly relinquishing their grip on his sweater.
He assured them he would, and they sat alone for a bit, surrounded by the cats, most of whom were beginning to settle down for the night. Junta had decided to take up a spot on the couch next to them, and they found themself running their hand through his fur. Graves flitted about, turning off the lights and locking the doors for the night. Finally, he returned, blanket in hand.
“I figured if you were so insistent on not going upstairs for the night, we might as well be comfortable,” he said with a small smile.
“Excellent,” they said as he sat back down beside them. He spread the blanket over the two of them and they got as close to him as possible, wrapping the blanket around themself like a cocoon.
“Are you sure you can’t be persuaded to go upstairs?” asked Graves.
“Absolutely sure,” they said, resting their head on his shoulder once again.
Graves sighed, but he didn’t push the issue anymore. The two of them sat in near silence, only broken by the occasional traffic noises from outside and rustling as the cats moved in the dark. They’d managed to intertwine one of his hands with their own, but the other was gently running through their hair again. It was a nice way to fall asleep, they decided. Surrounded by cats and sharing a blanket and warmth with the one person they loved the most. Yes, things really couldn’t get much better than this.