On the Naming of Cats (Ben)

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt stared down at the small, mewling kitten pawing at his pant leg and glaring up at him with big, amber eyes. After Antosha had inexplicably burdened him with the small animal, Cobalt had considered giving it to a shelter, especially since Elaine had too much to worry about to take care of a small kitten and Leila had a dog already and Josh already had a rabbit. But he really couldn't, already vaguely charmed by the small creature. So he was stuck with a kitten. Great.

One thing he hadn’t realized about caring for a kitten was how much the damn things required: cat beds, litter boxes, cat food, food and water bowls, cat toys. It was a little ridiculous. And expensive. Cobalt refused to buy the elaborate things for it; deciding that he was absolutely not going to be the Guy with the Cat, and it was still really costly to buy all this cat stuff. But now that he had taken care of all of that, he still had one important thing to deal with: naming the cat.

He maneuvered around the cat and limped over to sit on the couch. The kitten followed, waving its little half-tail as it leapt up next to him on the couch and pushed its little face against his leg. Cobalt sighed and rubbed it gently behind the ears. “Now, what am I supposed to name you, huh?” He asked it, sighing, “I don’t know what to name cats. I didn’t even want a cat. No offence.” And now he was talking to a kitten. Awesome. “Okay, who would be willing to name a cat for me…” He mused to himself, petting the little white animal. Elaine was the most obvious choice, but she was busy and Leila wasn’t feeling well. Again. And Josh… well, he was still trying to figure out what to do with Josh, especially considering the not-so-surprising revelation on New Year’s. And Riley was out somewhere. So that left Ben.

“Well, okay.” Cobalt hauled himself off the couch and fished out his cell phone from his jacket hanging up in the closet. Without thinking, he found Ben’s number in his contacts and pressed “SEND”. He slouched back on the couch, listening to the phone ring. On the third ring, Cobalt’s brain caught up with the rest of him.

Wait. Was he really going to call up some guy he’d met like three weeks ago to come over and help name his new kitten? Like that wasn’t completely damn insane? He pulled the phone away from his ear to hastily end the call when there was noise on the other line. Oh shit, Ben picked up. Cobalt floundered around for a moment before putting the phone back to his ear. “Uh. Hey Ben. It’s… it’s Cobalt. So… weird story. I got a kitten. Yeah. Um. I need help naming it. Soooo…” Cobalt hedged, shifting from one foot to another, “Yeah, I dunno, if you wanted, you should come over to see it. And stuff. Anyways, just a thought. Bye.” Without waiting to hear Ben’s response, Cobalt hung up the phone. Wincing, he turned to the kitten that was clearly judging him from the couch. “Cat,” He sighed, “I am a great freaking idiot.”

The kitten mewled, rolling on its back to stare at Cobalt upside-down. Cobalt took that to be agreement.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

It was a perfect Saturday afternoon. Breakfast was pleasant as always but Yulia told him she had plans. Plans? Yulia? What plans? He almost felt like a mother with separation anxiety. But of course, he let her go and there he was stuck at home with nothing to do. But really, it was a perfect Saturday afternoon.

A part of him wanted to call up his college mates and ask if they were busy to hang out but that was ridiculous. Some of them already had families and he couldn't very well tear them away. It was the weekend. So again, Ben felt like he was stuck at home with nothing to do on a perfect Saturday evening.

He could call Josh or Sean over to watch a game. But after what he saw at Riley's New Year's party...well let's just say he wasn't going spend too much time around them with drinks. That sounded bad. Really bad. What if Sean heard? Ben physically slapped himself for thinking such silly thoughts. There was no way the telepath would know something like that. He lived practically halfway across the town.

Every thought he had culminated into a singular thought that glared out at him. He had nothing to do. Nothing. Which was why when his phone rang from the living room while he was in the kitchen, Ben sprinted like a mad athlete trying win the race. "Hul-" he didn't even get a word in as Cobalt went into a spiel about getting a kitten. He heard words. English words. Strung together in complete sentences but it didn't make sense. Especially when Cobalt said his goodbye and hung up.

"Wha-" Ben stared at the phone before redialing the last number in his call log. Once Cobalt answered, Ben spoke. "You didn't make sense before. Did I hear right? You want me to come over to your house to see a kitten and help you name it? Did I get that right?" A smile was already spreading across his lips. Apart from his shadows and biting sarcasm, was there anything else about Cobalt Weaver that made sense? He loved kids, he was passionate about people in dire causes and he had a kitten now?

Ben was loathe to admit it but if he had any doubts at all that he liked the man on the other line, this just killed those doubts. The man had a kitten and he was calling Ben to help name it.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Well. Cobalt felt like an idiot. What was he, a teenager? Making a self-disgusted noise, he tossed his phone on the floor and slumped deeper into the couch. The kitten clambered its way onto his lap and began kneading the knees of his jeans with its tiny claws. Cobalt sighed, “Quit that. I don’t care how messed up these jeans are, I don’t need claw marks on them as well.” And it was true: while Cobalt’s work attire fit him well (whether by the virtue of hemming or not), his non-work wear was usually slightly too big, a little too long, well-worn and generally consisted of a zip-up hoodie. Because he liked being comfortable on the weekends.

Then the phone rang. Cobalt started, startling the cat. Picking up the little animal and setting it down on the couch, he limped over to his cell phone and froze to see the little screen read out “BEN”. For a brief moment, he seriously considered letting it ring. Until he decided that being a mature adult for once would be nice.

Rolling his eyes at himself, Cobalt flipped open the phone, not allowing himself to think about it anymore. “Um. Hey.” He could hear the grin on Ben’s voice, which caused him to grin embarrassedly. “Heh. Yeah, you heard that right. I’m sure this is all very funny. But you are welcome to come over. You don’t actually have to name the cat, but…” He shrugged, forgetting that Ben couldn’t see it, “I don’t have anything to do today and it’s Saturday. Pretty sure friends hang out on Saturdays, yeah?” He looked down at the kitten, fairly certain the little thing was judging him. Stupid cat.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Cobalt finally responded and it took a lot out of him to remain calm and not laugh like the imbecile he felt like he was being. The older man probably felt embarrassed already calling Ben, it was not becoming of him to make Cobalt feel any more embarrassed so the psychologist bit his lower lip to stop from snickering and agreed to Cobalt's assessment.

"Yeah. They do." Ben let a grin slip across his face before getting Cobalt's address and hanging up. "Sweet. I got plans." Ben said to himself before taking a quick shower and climbing into a pair of soft worn jeans and a plain black t-shirt before throwing a simple coat over.

The drive to Cobalt's was easy and as he knocked on the door, Ben realised he hadn't brought anything over. "Crap," he mumbled. The door was already opening by then so he pocketed his car keys and grinned sheepishly at the guy on the other side of the door. "Kitten naming ceremonies don't require any offerings does it?"

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt hung up the phone with a snap, slipping the cell phone into his pocket. Well, that had gone well, despite Cobalt’s own irrational behavior. Thankfully, Ben seemed to be a relatively easy-going person by nature, and a social enough human being to be game for hanging out with anyone, really. He glanced down at the kitten. “You know, all this trouble is your doing,” He informed the animal, “If you’re not on your best behavior, I will feed you to Leila’s dog, don’t think I won’t.” The kitten mewled in response, clearly unfazed. Cobalt snorted and glanced about the apartment. It was relatively clean (any offensive literature had been hidden in a far more secure location than under the couch), not perfect, but nothing too gross. The thought did pass his mind that this would be the most casually dressed Ben had ever seen him, in his slightly too-long (and too-big) jeans, white t-shirt and black sweater, he was far from his regular slacks and blazer that Ben was used to. Absently, Cobalt wondered why the thought had even crossed his mind and promptly discarded it.

When the doorbell rang, the kitten leapt off Cobalt’s lap and bounded to the door, mewling insistently. Cobalt rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the couch. “Oh, look who thinks he’s a guard cat.” He muttered, scooping up the little animal and tucking it under his arm. He opened the door and cast Ben a grin, “Oh hey. Nah, usually such occasions call for human sacrifice, but I figured you wouldn’t have the stomach for that kind of thing.” He pulled open the door wider and stepped further into the house, “Come on in.”

He deposited the cat on the couch and fiddled with the worn end of his jacket, suddenly at a bit of a loss. “If you want anything, I have soda in the fridge. And beer, but…” He squinted at the kitchen door, “It’s several months old, I think. No guarantees.” It had been leftover beer from Poker Night, which somehow he had been left with. Though how they had even managed to have any leftover alcohol from that night was beyond him. From the couch, the little white kitten mewled loudly, demanding some attention. Cobalt rolled his eyes, “And that’s the cat.”

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben wasn't paying much attention to the tiny little fluffball in Cobalt's arms so much as what Cobalt was wearing. The guy looked...normal. And his usual self was weird is that what you're saying, Ben? He shut himself up inwardly before grinning at the man, walking into the apartment. "Very smart of you," he replied sarcastically at the older man. The man had a sense of humor, Ben liked that in his friends.

He turned to Cobalt at the mention of drinks and turned him down with a dismissive wave. "Don't worry about it." Ben reassured the other man before giving him a quizzically amused look. "Why do you-" he started to ask about the beer when the kitten was brought to his attention.

A small smile spread across Ben's face as he looked from the kitten to it's new owner. It was too funny not to let at least a chuckle escape his lips. They were an unlikely pair. How did Cobalt even get a kitten? Ben approached the couch, intent on picking the furball up. It mewled and nuzzled against the hand sweeping above its head. "Wow you're an adorable one aren't you?" It suddenly dawned on Ben how weird this is, being in another man's apartment holding a kitten with no name yet.

He chuckled again at the ridiculousness of the situation. "And how did you come about having this little fluffball in the first place?" Ben asked as the kitten started climbing up his chest, it's little claws digging into his coat. No wonder it felt hot. He carefully extricated the coat off him as the kitten made its way up to Ben's face. "Is it a boy or a girl?" Ben asked, pulling the kitten off his face and checking it's bottom.

After years of picking up strays, identifying an animal's sex was a little easier for Ben and with a glance at the kitten's bottom, he confirmed that it was a female. "Better keep her locked up." Ben smirked.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Ben looked a little surprised at Cobalt’s attire, as much as he tried to hide it. Cobalt smirked, unconcerned. Ben thought he was far sneakier about his feelings than he actually was. There was nothing easier to read than Ben’s face. Usually. Cobalt grinned at him as they passed into the living room, “I thought it was smart. I forget sometimes that you’re a little delicate.”

Cobalt glanced over his shoulder, smiling slightly as Ben went over to pet the kitten. Yeah, this was kind of weird, but considering the other meetings that had happened in this apartment… Cobalt had seen weirder. And it was kind of nice. He didn’t have to do a whole lot for Ben, who seemed quite content to just sit in his apartment and pet his new cat. “Seems to like you,” Cobalt commented, moving to sit on the couch next to his friend, “Guess there’s no accounting for taste.” He flashed Ben a teasing grin. He laughed as the kitten started climbing up Ben’s chest. “Well,” He sighed in response to Ben’s question, “I helped someone a really long time ago gain guardianship of this kid. I’m still in contact with that family and the kid—well…” Cobalt paused, “I guess he wouldn’t be so much a kid though. He’s twenty now. But anyways. He thought it’d be fun to give me a cat. So I have a cat.”

As Ben examined the cat, Cobalt watched him curiously, “Hey, what’re you—oh.” He tilted his head to the side, giving Ben an interested glance. “A girl, huh? How’d you learn how to determine gender on cats?” He took the kitten from Ben and held her. In response, the little white cat reached up and batted at Cobalt’s nose. “Hey!” Cobalt exclaimed, sputtering. His shadows flared up in surprise and the cat, fascinated by the dark tendrils, leapt up, batting the air. Cobalt laughed as she clambered up his shoulders, “Well, it’s a good thing somebody likes my shadows in this house.” He laughed louder as the kitten tried to climb on his head, “Hey, none of that. Go attack Ben.” And he set the kitten on Ben’s shoulder, where she promptly began trying to chew on the younger man’s ear.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben chose to ignore Cobalt's snarky response but he did grin a little wider as he played with the nameless kitten. He didn't notice Cobalt had made his way over until another snarky comment was heard and Ben turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Weaver, you wound me. So badly. I'm fragile Cobalt. I have feelings." Ben rolled his eyes at his own silliness before paying more attention to the cat, tilting his head just slightly to let Cobalt know he was listening to him.

The child psychologist laughed quietly at the kitten's origin. "That was completely random," He added with a shake of his head while the kitten mewled and prodded its little paws on Ben's cheeks. It's big amber eyes looked right at him and Ben grinned. "Yes, yes I know you're on me, you attention seeker."

After determining the gender, Cobalt's question had Ben blushing a little. It was a little embarrassing to explain considering the way he had ascertained its' gender was by looking at her bottom. When she was taken away Ben leaned forward a little to look at her in Cobalt's arms. "Uh, you look at the placement of it's um...butt...hole." He said slowly, his last words almost a whisper.

"Oh come - damn you." Ben chuckled at Cobalt's light teasing. The man really was true to his words when he said he wasn't going to let it go. Well, it served Ben right anyway. He was a decade away from fifty and he was still afraid of the shadows. Cobalt had every right to tease! But that didn't stop Ben from justifying himself. "Cats can actually see better in the dark okay?" Yes, a weak justification but it made him feel a little better anyway. Just a little.

When Cobalt put the kitten on his shoulder and she started nipping at his ear, Ben had to hold back the fit of giggles just dying to escape him. It was ticklish and Ben finally got her attention by scratching the back of her body. She gave out a meow and turned her head around and started to paw at Ben's hand. "So do you have any names at all lined up?" he asked without breaking his eye contact with the little kitten.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt laughed, easing happily into his favorite pastime: teasing the hell out of someone. Only, this was less mean-spirited than he could be. “Oh, poor Ben. Your life is pain. However do you survive.” Cobalt poked his side, “Feelings are for the weak. You need to toughen up.” He poked the other man again, grinning widely. Okay, so this was fun. He was having a relaxed conversation with a friend and, miracle of miracles, he wasn’t feeling awkward or saying anything too stupid. The afternoon was still young, but still. Cobalt counted this as progress.

“It really was.” Cobalt rolled his eyes, “That whole visit was random. Though he did need some legal advice so I suppose it wasn’t completely apropos of nothing.” He let out an exaggerated sigh and leaned against Ben, his shoulder bumping against the younger man’s, “Someday, someone will appreciate me beyond my job.” He grinned, absolutely not serious. He loved his job and the more people who came to him for legal help, the better. Anything to help someone. He snickered as the little cat demanded more of Ben’s attention, “Well, she’s certainly taken to you. Or maybe she’s just really friendly. I dunno yet. Do you have pets?”

Cobalt didn’t realize that Ben had misunderstood his question until Ben stammered through an explanation of how you determine the gender of a cat. “Ew, okay, no, that’s not what I was talking about.” Cobalt waved his hands in a “stop” gesture, laughing and blushing a little bit, “I wanted to know where you got that information, not what that information was. If I wanted to look up cat genders, I’m sure I could find it on my own.” He adjusted his glasses, “I guess I wanted to know if you’d worked at a shelter or something like that, which would make it easy for you to determine genders of cats.”

At Ben’s weak justification of his fear of Cobalt’s power, the shadow manipulator rolled his eyes amiably, “Oh please. That makes no difference. You just don’t want to admit that this little, teeny kitten is braver than you. But it’s okay,” He patted Ben’s shoulder, “Your secret is safe with me.”

Cobalt laughed as he watched Ben try to fend off the overly-friendly kitten. “Ah. No, not really. I adamantly refuse to name her Snowball, Fluffy, or any of those other stupid cat names. But I’ve never had an animal before, so I don’t have any ideas. We better think of something, though, or she’s going to think her name is Cat.”

[Benjamin Rhodes]

The poking surprised Ben and he reacted as such. It also tickled. He let slip a cuss word and scooted away from Cobalt, biting his lower lip before something else [ie a girlish scream, something that would cement how much of a big loser Ben probably already was in Cobalt's eyes. Self deprecation for the win!] slipped out of the younger man's lips. He snorted into a fit of giggles before calming himself down. "Never do that again." He said, glaring at Cobalt, the corner of his lips twitching as he still felt the lingering effect the other man's fingers had on his side.

So he was ticklish. It was not a crime.

The grin after Cobalt's somewhat self-depreciative comment had Ben chuckling even though his heart skipped a beat right then. Man, having feelings should be banned. It didn't help that the man was so close to him right then. He laughed when Cobalt tried to find other reasons for the kitten to be so affectionate towards Ben. "No I don't," Ben laughed at the kitten's antics.

Ben turned to Cobalt when he mentioned that he had taken Cobalt's question wrongly. "Oh jeez. I'm - I'm so sorry I didn't-" okay, that was decidedly embarrassing. Why did he even perceive the question to be as such? Cobalt didn't have to know how to identify it, of course he was asking how Ben knew...Oh my God bladder brain. Ben thought to himself. "I...am horribly sorry for misunderstanding. I...oh jeez I'm embarrassed. Sorry. Uh," he drawled and tried to rectify the situation.

"I used to adopt strays, clean them up before I send them to shelters." He explained, the little tinge of a blush still apparent on his cheeks. He leaned against the arm of the couch, hoisting one leg up. "You're too kind, Cobalt. Too kind." Ben rolled his eyes in amusement at the shoulder patting.

Raising his hand high to keep out of reach of the little kitten, Ben used the other hand to rub her belly when it was exposed as sat on her hind legs to reach up to Ben's hand. Ben laughed at Cobalt's preference. "I suppose Whitey is out of the question then." He suggested lamely, not being serious at all. "Hmm..." he pondered. "I'd call her Random but that's just me." He chuckled, bringing the kitten up to his face.

[Cobalt Weaver]

“Whoa, whoa!” Cobalt held his hands up in the air in surrender, grinning bemusedly, “Okay, okay. I wont do that anymore. Today.” At Ben’s glare, Cobalt smirked, totally unconcerned and not intimidated, “Oh, come on. You can’t expect me to have a piece of information and never use it. You ask far too much of me, Rhodes.” But, as per Ben’s request, Cobalt put his hands down and set them down on his knees. It might be a little too weird if they started tickling each other. Yeah, that would be really strange. Cobalt…wasn’t actually sure if he even was ticklish. It wasn’t as though he ever got into tickle fights.

“Huh. Well, she certainly likes you, regardless,” Cobalt leaned over, reaching across Ben’s chest to pick up the kitten. He brought her close to his face and nuzzled her, “Sorry, kitten, you’re stuck with me.” The little cat didn’t seem to mind, batting at the strands of Cobalt’s hair. Cobalt jerked away, “Hey! Those aren’t shadows, you dumb cat. That’s my hair.” When the cat reared up to bite at his hair again, Cobalt pulled away again, bumping his head against Ben’s shoulder. “Sorry,” He laughed easily, “Stupid cat’s trying to eat my hair.” He let the cat sit on his lap and watched it crawl over to stare at Ben, pawing at the knee of his jeans.

When Ben began his profuse apologies and Cobalt let him stammer for a moment, an eyebrow raised, before interrupting him. “Ben. As weird as it is that I’m the one to have to say this to anyone, you need to chill out. I’m not one to turn down information anyways, no matter how…unexpected. And hey, you never know.” He grinned at Ben, “One day, I might find myself in a life-or-death situation wherein I’ll have to determine the gender of a cat, and I’ll think ‘oh thank goodness Ben told me how to gender a cat’.” Cobalt laughed slightly, petting the kitten.

“Oh hey, that’s cool,” Cobalt responded to Ben’s actual explanation. So Ben took care of stray kids and took care of stray cats. Cobalt was liking Ben more and more. “I’m surprised you don’t have a pet then. I didn’t even want this little girl and I’m keeping her.” He pet the back of the kitten again.

“Eugh, no. Whitey sounds like a 1950s mobster’s name.” Cobalt made a face, “My cat will not have a mobster’s name, thank you very much.” He laughed loudly, “Random?? Yeah, I don’t think so. I don’t know if I could take myself seriously if I had a cat named Random.” He leaned back in the couch, settling himself against Ben without really noticing. “Ummm…. We could name her…” He stared down at the kitten that was playing with Ben. “Hell, I dunno. Lemme think.” Cobalt squinted into middle distance, thinking, “I guess there are two types of cat names: animal-ish names like Fluffy and Snowball and whatever; and the normal names that you could easily give a person. I think I’d prefer the people-ish names unless you come up with a really snappy alternative.” Cobalt shrugged with a smile, “I’d like for my pets to have some dignity, you know.”

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben looked on as Cobalt took the kitten away from him. It was a whole side of Cobalt that Ben was sure not a lot of people had seen. It made him grin wider, pleased with himself. "Well at least somebody likes me in this house." Ben chuckled just as Cobalt banged his head against Ben's shoulder. The psychologist laughed and let the kitten paw at his knees.

He bit the insides of his cheek to stop grinning too widely at how Cobalt was trying to reassure him. And to chill out. "Oh if you say I have to chill out then I must be doing something wrong." He ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up lightly. "Yes, then you'd owe me big time uh?" Oh, Ben. So lame. Kick yourself in the head.

"Aww gee thanks." He shrugged with a small grin. "I'd like to have a pet but it's kind of hard to with my schedule. And Yulia's gone for most of the day so I don't know who'll take care of it while I'm gone." He paused and smiled at Cobalt's obvious affection. "Well you've got a bigger heart than you let on." Ben bent his body forward and pressed his nose against the kitten who closed her eyes at the touch.

"That's badass, Cobalt." Ben gave a huff of mock pride for thinking of such a name. He mellowed considerably when he realised that Cobalt was leaning against him. Rather comfortably too. Ben decided there was no need to panic. The dude was probably trying to get closer to the kitten and doesn't even realise he's leaning on Ben. There was a more pressing need to name the kitten so Ben concentrated on that. "Snappy?" Ben held back the laughter that was bubbling in his throat. "Oh you're old Cobalt."

He was obviously ignoring the fact that they were only a few years apart.

"Okay, people names. For a girl kitten...off the top of my head I've got..." Ben pondered for awhile before shaking his head laughing. "Nothing obviously. I am really bad at giving names to anything."

He hurled out names like Daisy, Iris, Lily, Bonnie and some other random names like Basher, Twiddle Dee and GusGus. "Yeah, obviously I'm bad at this. Just call her Cat. Or Kitty. They respond well to Kitty. Don't you, Kitty?" The kitten mewled, nudging Ben's thighs with it's head.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt laughed, “Yeah, lucky you. ‘Cause everyone else in this house isn’t so convinced yet.” He elbowed Ben lightly, mindful of the younger man’s ticklishness. “But no worries. I won’t offer you up as a human sacrifice as the occasion requires. I rather like you, and it would just be a mess.” He tickled the back of the kitten’s ear and she whirled around to scratch at his hand, drawing blood. “Ow!” Cobalt sucked at the side of his hand, “Man, she likes you more than me. You two are just going to pick on me all the time, aren’t you?” He inspected his hand, “Ouch. Cats are brutal. I wonder if I need a band-aid.” He shrugged, deciding he didn’t actually care.

“Really.” Cobalt agreed with Ben’s assessment with a smile, “Because everyone knows that I’m wound tighter than a cheap watch. If I’m telling you to calm down, you are clearly about to have a heart attack. Or an ulcer. Obviously.” He snorted, “I would owe you big time. And you would be insufferable.” He pushed his glasses up his nose and grinned, “Can’t have that.”

“That’s true. To be honest, that’s kind of what I’m worried about with her,” He glanced down at the kitten rolling around on Ben’s lap. “I work a lot. I mean… I suppose I could take her to work with me. Be kind of like an office cat. Leila takes her dog to the office. She could be the office cat.” Cobalt would have to buy another set of water and food dishes, but that wouldn’t be a problem. At Ben’s compliment, Cobalt flushed, oddly pleased. “Don’t be stupid. People mistake doing the right thing for having a big heart all the time. I just… do what I have to do, you know?” He wasn’t being self-depreciating now (for once), nor was he being modest. It was honesty; all he wanted to do was the right thing. Didn’t mean he was all that benevolent. He just did what was best.

“But thanks,” Cobalt smiled back, equally but unknowingly affectionate. “You are incredibly kind, Ben. So I trust your evaluation.” He scratched the kitten behind the ears.

“Oh, it is not badass.” Cobalt laughed, “It’s undignified.” He whapped Ben lightly on the back of the head, “Damn right I’m old. Show some respect to your elders, why don’t you?” And then Ben started rattling off potential names for the kitten, with varying degrees of ludicrousness. At names like Basher and GusGus, Cobalt started laughing. The genuine, really stupid-sounding, head-thrown-back laughter. It felt nice. “Ahaha,” Cobalt breathed, pushing up his glasses to wipe at his eyes, “You’re an idiot. Those names are really stupid.” He chucked, readjusting his glasses, “Well shit, I definitely can’t remember the last time I laughed like that.” He didn’t mention the distinct probability that he’d never laughed like that.

“Aw, I can’t name her Kitty.” Cobalt protested, with a grin, “That’s like naming a dog Dog. Or a person Person. How would you like to be named Person?”

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Cobalt was talking but Ben stopped listening when the older man said he liked Ben. So many thoughts rolled around his head and as he was sifting through them, he heard a sharp cry which sent his glazed eyes into focus on Cobalt who had red marks on his hand. "Ow." Ben winced before pursing his lips in a tight smile. He was not going to laugh. "A band aid?" He asked before grabbing the kitten in defense. "Who's delicate now?"

"Yeah yeah, okay. I'm not allowed to panic. Gotcha. And I will not tolerate being called intolerable!" Ben of course meant it as a joke, hence the laughter afterwards. He grinned and let the kitten play on his lap. He listened half attentively as Cobalt spoke about bringing the kitten into work with him. "So long as Athena doesn't start biting her, I think she'll be fine." Ben smiled, scratching the still nameless kitten behind her ear. She purred and tilted her head up in response to the scratching.

Cobalt blushing was another thing Ben wasn't prepared for but it made him smile, feeling accomplished at making a guy like Cobalt blush. "Yeah you damn well should." He gave the man a sideways smile, not quite facing him for fear of letting the man know how he was really feeling. Damn you, feelings. It's too damn early for you to rear your head!

The smack on the back of his head only made him laugh. "Okay! Fine! Sorry sir!" he chuckled, before letting the kitten sit on Cobalt's lap. It didn't do anything harmful to the older man this time.

"Well I don't hear you coming up with any names. I'm being more productive than you are." Ben adjusted himself on the couch, bringing the other man even closer than before. "Well I'm glad to be of service. I'm your regular jester,"

Ben pondered the question and with a perfectly serious face, he answered Cobalt. "It's practical. And unique." He shrugged before bursting into a grin. "Okay, fine. What else can we name this little fluffball? Erm...maybe something that you like? Like a character from a book you enjoy maybe?" Ben paused a while. "What is your favourite book?"

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt nudged Ben with his shoulder, “Hey, don’t even. You’d feel real bad if I got an infection and died from this, wouldn’t you?” He sucked on the side of his hand, “Good thing I’m far too lazy to go track down a band-aid.” He was actually really comfortable where he was, sitting on his couch and petting the kitten.

“Yup. No panicking for you. You always look like you’re going to throw up when you get panicked.” Cobalt teased gently, “It’s a little worrying.” And it had been. Cobalt didn’t like upsetting people unless he meant to. He didn’t care if he was freaking Ben out when he didn’t like Ben. But when he did, it had been fairly upsetting to have Ben be afraid of him. “Well, it looks like you’re gonna have to live with it.” Cobalt responded with a laugh, “Because intolerable, you can be. And a little baffling, to be totally honest.”

“Nah, Athena’s a really mellow dog. Good thing, too.” Cobalt made a face. He didn’t care how mellow Athena was, he still didn’t like dogs. “But I might bring her in.”

Cobalt eyed the younger man, who was half-heartedly avoiding his gaze. Ben was wearing an expression that Cobalt hadn’t seen before as of yet. Which was hardly unusual, as he’d really known the other man for all of three weeks. But still. Then Ben turned partially to smile at him. It was a little feeling; nothing earth-shattering or groundbreaking. Hell, Cobalt wasn’t even sure what it was he was feeling. But there was something that insinuated in the back of his mind that there would be nothing wrong with sliding closer to Ben on the couch (which he did), but wouldn’t tell him what to do otherwise. Cobalt was suddenly aware of his heart beating in his ears. They ended up just staring at each other for a moment before the kitten pawed at Cobalt’s shirt, effectively breaking whatever it was that was happening.

“My favorite book?” Cobalt blinked, a little taken aback, “Uh. Well, I like Cicero’s writings. He was an old Roman lawyer who hated pretty much everything.” He grinned at Ben, daring him to make a comment. “But I really liked Jules Verne as a kid. You know: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, that kind of stuff.” He paused, considering, “Well… you know, Jules can be a girl’s name. What do you think?”