7 - In Case of Emergency (2)

The group finished eating quickly.

Kir watched in a daze as Ilari gathered all the plates and bowls in an efficient manner. It was clear that he was used to this.

Kir bowed his head quickly to hide the churn of emotions surging up within him. He didn't want Ilari to see his face until he brought himself under control. It took him only a moment to settle his face back into a pleasantly blank state. Then, straightening up, he asked, "Do you need me to help with the cleaning, Ilari?"

Ilari looked around before shaking his head. "No need, I'll just put the cat's bowls into the dishwasher, and the rest can wait until we come back. It's not that they're normal cats, they know not to make a mess," he said lightly.

Kir stood up.

"I can help," he insisted.

"No need, really, you're-" a guest, Ilari almost said before thinking back to how unsure and uncomfortable his fiancé seemed when he stood at the door with Ilari's family fussing over him. Something clutched at his heart.

Maybe Kir would, in fact, feel better if he wasn't treated as someone special, Ilari thought to himself. This time, it didn't occur to him that it was a little strange for him to be so concerned about someone he had met just today.

"Be careful, I will get used to it and expect you to do things for me all time," Ilari warned truthfully.

Kir simply smiled shyly in response.

All the magical familiars watched the two young humans silently. Arusha and Leo exchanged a knowing glance.

Ilari didn't notice; he was busy instructing Kir. "The dishwasher is in the side cabinet, you can simply load the pile in the racks. Meanwhile, I'll go upstairs to change my clothes quickly and I'll be ready to go," he said, leaving the kitchen. And if he was going to rapidly put together a handy grocery list while doing so, no one would blame him, right?

Well, eventually, Kir would come to know about Ilari's love for lists anyway, Ilari thought wryly.

He heard a soft hum and the clank of the bowls in response. With a small smile that crept up on his face involuntarily, Ilari made his way up to his room. None of the magical familiars followed him – not even Alair.

---

Ilari had bundled up properly for the cold weather, and he had grabbed a warm scarf for Kir as well. He had noticed earlier that Kir had been wearing a thin coat which didn't appear to be adequate for the weather.

Kir looked utterly dumbfounded when Ilari handed him the scarf.

Ilari chuckled and shook his head. "Wear that, silly," he said casually. "It's really cold outside, and the two of us don't have the lush fur of Alair and Kai to keep us from getting cold!"

Kir stared at Ilari for a long moment with a strange gleam in his golden eyes, and then, wordlessly, wrapped the scarf around his neck.

"Thank you," he said softly.

Ilari hummed in response and led Kir, Kai and Alair to his car. It took them very little time to settle in, ready for the quick trip.

Ilari started his car with a sigh. In the rearview mirror, he could see the tiger and cat occupying the backseat. Or rather, Kai occupying the whole width of it and Alair curled on the bigger feline's back. If the slow movement of the black tip of his familiar's otherwise silver tail was any indication, though, the cat was far from sleeping and ready to listen to any conversation that could occur between his human and Kai's. But what exactly should they talk about?

He glanced at Kir before driving out of the garage. A fiancé, huh?

"Is it really alright?" Kir asked softly.

Hearing the unexpected question, Ilari involuntarily said his last thought out loud, "Huh?"

"You don't need to drive me to my house. It must've been all really unexpected to you, if you had any other plans… and the cooking, if it's too much trouble… I'm sorry for taking your time..." Kir's voice trailed off.

"Ah, no, it's perfectly fine. Don't worry, I cook most of the time when I'm home during the day, which is actually not as often. Besides, I like it. As for the time and plans, I just recently finished my last internship and I'm blissfully free and bored out of my mind. Seriously, I have all the time. At least, until I'll finally manage to convince everyone in the family to stop blocking my bloody career!"

Kir hesitated before nodding solemnly. Ilari, already riled up a bit by his own words, glanced at him with narrowed eyes.

"Don't tell me my family asked you to pull me into your research team. We can be engaged but I am not giving up on becoming a detective!" he spat, his voice tinged with annoyance.

"No! Of course not," Kir denied hurriedly. "You will be a great detective!"

Superficial as these words were coming from someone who knew him for less than two hours, they were strangely soothing.

"Thank you," Ilari sighed, calming down. He could almost feel Alair's disapproving glare burying into the back of his head. "And I'm sorry. It's the first time in years when I actually don't need to hurry anywhere and, well. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"Your suspicion was a reasonable one," Kir assured seriously, driving away the last bits of Ilari's sudden bad mood.

"Reasonable but I lacked the evidence. Accusing you of being the accomplice was premature in both thought and action. So, should we go to your house first?" saying so, Ilari glanced at Kir from the corner of his eye.

The man seemed amused. Good.

"Yes, if you don't mind. It won't take long," Kir said with a smile.

Ilari heaved a sigh of relief. "After we pick up your stuff, we will go to the grocery store," he said. "I have already made a shopping list, so we can quickly pop and buy what we need for dinner."

Kir blinked in surprise.

Ilari hurriedly added, "Don't worry, I took note of the things that you had written down earlier, and my shopping list is based on that. I wouldn't force you to eat things you don't like!"

Kir laughed softly, and Ilari almost lost control of the wheel at the sight. How could this man, who was beautiful to begin with, suddenly appear to be so very attractive when he laughed?!