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[aldhani]

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[revvedup]

if she sounds like my bike’s engine you’re fine.

[aldhani]

She does. She's very loud.

[revvedup]

oh, she LOVES you.

she’s gonna be mad when you have to move though.

[aldhani]

[is he smiling, as he scratches jondy's ears? there's no one to see. not even jondy, who's still asleep.]

Really? She won't even be happy to have this chair to herself again?

[revvedup]

she might be for a little while but she’ll then just follow you to wherever else you’re sitting.

[aldhani]

Across the city? That would be a long way for her.

[revvedup]

i meant from your chair, but you know i’m not kicking you out anytime soon, right?

[aldhani]

I know.

[his hand stills over the cat's ears as he considers. they do need to talk about this.]

But we have to be careful with this. I don't want to risk them looking at you because of me.

[it's what he'd said before, about more people being harder to target. the targets here are still easy.]

[revvedup]

they've looked at me before. i'm not afraid of them.

[ but he's right, they do need to be careful. risking her own safety is one thing, risking his is another. ]

you're right, though. although i don't think we'd be the first to break the rules.

[aldhani]

We probably aren't.

[and he wouldn't care about at least pretending to follow the rules if there weren't other things on the line (with her safety one of the significant on his mind).]

All things considered, I'm glad I'm here.

[then:]

I might like Jondy, too.

[revvedup]

[ most people don't, and sometimes they get away with it. but the collars and bracelets are just one factor they've introduced that have made it clear they're monitoring them, and she worries that it's just the start of things getting worse.

but. ]

i'm glad you are, too.

so is jondy, from the sound of things.

[aldhani]

[it's at this moment that jondy, quite suddenly, decides that her nap is over and jumps down to the floor — and it's in the next that she sits at cassian's feet, looking up at him expectantly. he can't help the quiet, short-lived laugh that escapes him as he gets up.]

Right now, she's glad I'm here to feed her something.

[not untrue, of course; that much is easy to judge by how she seems satisfied to trot off toward the kitchen when he starts making his own way there.]

I can have something ready for you, too.

[revvedup]

i’d appreciate that, but only if you want to.

need me to pick something up?

[aldhani]

More vegetables, if you can. They'd be better if they were fresher.

[not to @ her about what she typically keeps around here, but like. he is.]

[revvedup]

[ rude tbh but it's not like he's wrong. ]

any in particular?

[aldhani]

Carrots, peppers, potatoes, broccoli.

[he gives this a little more thought before he adds:]

Squash.

Better to have options.

[revvedup]

think i can handle that.

anything else?

[aldhani]

[it's a minute before he answers, while he's rifling through her refrigerator.]

You're out of milk.

[he's helping.]

[revvedup]

i am?

[ she knows she had it for her coffee this morning... ]

[aldhani]

You are. It's an empty container.

[revvedup]

ugh. okay, i’ll pick that up too.

anything else? i’m on my way back now.

[aldhani]

It doesn't like you need anything beyond that.

[but he does another sweep of the fridge, one more time, just to be sure.]

And I have enough to start with until you get back.

[revvedup]

okay. i shouldn't be too much longer.

[ true to her word, she arrives back at her place within a little less than an hour, a bag of the requested groceries in hand. she also took it upon herself to pick up a small bag of treats for jondy and a bottle of wine from a store she knows to be reputable (as in, they won't spell or drug what they sell). ]

Honey, I'm home.

[aldhani]

[true to his word, too, cassian is in the kitchen when max arrives — and it looks, and smells, as though he's been there for a while. there's a pot going on the stove, steam pouring out from over the top of it, and there's sweat on his forehead.

the step he's on has ten minutes left, at least, so he turns away from it and walks toward her, a smile starting to pull on his mouth.]

Hey.

[it's easy, strangely so, just like being here. he's still not sure what to do with any of that, though, so —

his eyes go to the bottle of wine, brow lifting.]

I don't remember that being on the list.

[revvedup]

It wasn't.

[ she returns the smile with a playful one of her own before she sets the bottle on the counter, along with the bag containing the rest of the items she was asked to pick up. the milk gets picked up so she can put it in the refrigerator, then she returns to start taking the vegetables he'd requested out of the bag. ]

Any of these in particular you wanted to use before I put them away?