Nine Lives

[Draconian]

The sounds Ellis woke up to were a little odd.

A strange piping 'ee' and weird wet noises. The dream was weird, there were wiggling monsters on his chest. Water. A weird smell.  Ellis woke with a start, eyes snapping open. The piping little 'ee' noises were louder and he looked down at himself. There weren't any cats on him but damn was he covered in yuck. Quickly he stripped his shirt off and put it on the bedspread, which was much worse off. 

He sat up, pushed a hand through his hair and glanced around. It didn't take a lot of observation before he spotted Mattie beside him, curled up with seven mewling babies that looked just as ugly as her. More so even.  Ellis chewed on his lip and leaned over to glance at them before he whipped his com out. Still tired from having just woke up, he typed in some nonsense about Mattie having exploded.

A lot of the dumb shit he said was for giggles. Ellis knew Mattie had spat out kittens. They were right there. Sort of like how he knew Dragons ruled Aedolis and how his hair was a shimmery lavendery-silver colour. Ellis dragged a finger along Mattie's spine and she twitched an ear and looked up at him, big orange eyes before she closed them and the purring picked up. Joan was on her way, which was good, Jonesy was by with gloves - for some reason. Ellis moved to shimmy out of the bed, when his thigh bumped up against something cold and small.

Ellis looked away from Mattie and her babies and looked to the cold small thing.

Apparently there had been eight babies.

His eyebrows drew up and gently, Ellis scooped up the kitten in his hand. So tiny. Mattie had cleaned it so he guessed it had been alive for a little while. Carefully, he climbed out of bed, standing up in little more than his boxer briefs  now that he'd removed his shirt. His finger trailed the little face, examined the little paws.

"Why did you die?" He whispered to the tiny kitten, looking at Mattie before he sighed and looked down sadly at the baby. There were lots of living ones. But this one...

"You can be called..." Ellis gently touched the baby's cheek and sighed sadly, he looked out the open bedroom door, where it looked out into the kitchen and at the cheerful happy daisy's there. Something happy. "I don't know," He ground out, frustrated at himself. He couldn't think of a happy name for the little baby.

"I'll think of something beautiful for you, Baby Kitten," He touched is cheek again and stood there, waiting for Joan to let  herself in because maybe she knew more about this kitten stuff than he did.  "Maybe Joan or Jonesy will have a good name for you," he whispered, not really sure how to feel right now.  Mattie on the bed, was content, purring and nursing her other seven babies.

[GoblinFae]

Joan had been lounging in bed when she saw the notification from Ellis in the Pilot chat. Bleary-eyed and still "hungover" from lack of sleep it took her longer than she would have liked to understand what he was jokingly trying to say. They bantered back and forth as she still struggled with waking up and her growing excitement and concern for sweet, little Mattie.

Births were messy affairs and the babies and kitty would both need checking to see that they weren't in any distress. Joan trusted Ellis to be able to look out for his newly expanded furless family but it was in her nature to jump in and help, perhaps even to her own detriment or when she really wasn't needed.

It took a bit of struggling to muddle her way through the act of finding clothes and wiggling her way into them. Her mind though was bouncing all over the place. Her unexpected revelation about Jonesy the night before had her hesitating and weighing the options of what to do next. They had not discussed the topic at great length once she had been scrubbed down after the Giant Boris Hair Spray Incident. But, there had been some discussion at least. Jonah Cole whether he was ready to admit it or not had feelings for Amaryllis Melledy and on top of that he was jealous of Joan for the casual friends with benefits relationship she had with Ellis.

It was a giant mess that still gave her a headache and made her sigh. Her thumbs were flying across the com keyboard though and in no time she was pinging Jonesy to include him in this. If he was jealous of her, if he wanted what she had, then he would have to work for it. In the meantime she could work harder to include him, to not always be the one that jumped first, to be the one that stepped back to allow someone else take the lead for once.

Was it the right decision? Who fucking knew? Certainly not her! She'd certainly given Jonesy an earful about knowing what he was doing and not being rash or thinking with his dick. Ellis was not a delicate man; he was a damn fine Pilot after all and a Scorpion at that. But, Joan and Jonah both knew what it was like to be caught in a place where the person you were meant to look up to and trust, betrayed you in the most violating and disgusting manner. Neither of them could run from their demons, they would always be there in their nightmares with their ghosting caresses. But, Joan was doing her damnedest to not be a victim any longer. She also wasn't going to let Ellis become one though.

In her heart she felt she could trust Jonesy but, she also knew that they were playing with fire. If it was what Ellis wanted also then both men were in danger of getting in trouble and reprimanded. It was against the rules after all to have a relationship with your superior/subordinate. Joan's knowing and doing nothing could also implicate her. On the other hand if it was truly consensual between two adults then who fucking cared if they fucked around? If she or Ellis suddenly got promoted above the other it was not like suddenly all the times they had done the horizontal tango would suddenly be a crime.

Joan groaned and tightened her ponytail. It was a giant fucking mess that she would have to deal with later. For now, Jonesy was being a friend to Ellis and that was as far as she would need to worry about it in this second. There were kittens to be focusing on right now. Relationships and secrets and pesky feelings could be dealt with later.

After some rummaging around she managed to find a shallow box from some shipment or another she had gotten and an old, thick, beat-up albeit clean towel that she had been meaning throw out for ages now. She lined the box with it, doubled back to retrieve her com and then dashed out the door to help a friend.

"Yo, yo, yo!" She called somewhat softly as she shuffled into Ellis's apartment. "Where you be, Ellis? I come bearing snuggly things for a Miss Mattie and a thousand kisses for tiny, little, furless wonders," she stated, her voice becoming more high pitched and squeaky as she mentioned the kittens and poked her head into the kitchen. A wordless eyebrow raised at the sight of the slightly nibbled on daisies before she pressed on to the next room.

[Draconian]

There Ellis stood.

Cradling a baby kitten in his palm and stroking its back gently with the knuckle of his other hand. He jolted slightly at Joan and he couldn't keep his face from crumpling up ever so slightly. It would be okay.

"This one didn't make it," he said sadly, stepping out of his room and into the same room as Joan. He hadn't bothered getting dressed and being ashamed of himself (or anything really) wasn't something he did.

"The other ones are fine. Theyre on my bed with Mattie but..." He extended his hand to show Joan the tiny kitten, "What do I name this one? and... and where do I put it?" He made a face and his eyes drifted into the kitchen,  "The freezer?"

[GoblinFae]

Her heart sank as he and the kitten came into view. The makeshift catbed was discard on the counter as she moved close. "Hey," Joan whispered softly, feeling his disappointment and grief ripple against her skin. Gently, she scooped the offered baby out of his hands, trying not to tear up as she felt how cold and limp the little body was. Tucking the kitten in the crook of her arm, she used the fingers of her other hand to vigorously rub its chest and belly.

No heartbeat or breath responded to her touch though and after a few minutes of trying she gave up with a glassy-eyed sniffle. When she spoke her next, her voice was thick and tight sounding. "Yeah um, let's wrap it in a towel and we can tuck it in the freezer until we can find somewhere to um take care of it. As for a name," her voice cracked at the thought and she had to pause to dip her head and give the dead kitten a kiss to the forehead. "I'm sorry Ellis, I really don't know. Maybe Jonah will be able to think of something sweet."

Joan sniffled again, rubbing her nose and blinking back tears as she did. It was how life worked. She knew that. But, it didn't make it hurt less. She might not have even known the kitten but she still felt for the lost little life and it hurt. She'd always had a soft spot for children and animals. She had wanted to be a healer after all. It was in her nature to nurture and love on others. But, there couldn't be life without death and so she had to accept it and move on. Offering him a watery smile, Joan reached out and pulled Ellis close into a hug, careful not to crush the kitten between.

"How are you? Okay?" She rubbed his back and kisses his cheek before relaxing her hold on him, letting him choose to hug or not hug on his own. "Let's uh take care of this one and then go visit Miss Naughty Antimatter and her little brood, yeah? How many of them are there? I uh I brought a bed! See if we can get Mattie settled in her own safe space and all you know?" Joan was rambling but maybe if she kept talking she could forget the feel of cold flesh and fur pressed in the palm of her hand still and most of all the lack of emotional response coming from what should have been a curious and tired kitten.

[Draconian]

Jonah? Who was Jonah?

Ellis squinted at Joan for a moment before he remembered that Jonah was Jonesy. Did he prefer Jonah? His little lizard mind forgot about the kitten and how sad he was for a few moments while he tried to ponder out if Jonesy liked Jonah or if Joan was just calling him that because she was angry at him for something. He hadn't been Amaryllis Melledy yet but he was sure it was over due.

While he'd been staring off into space, his vision fixed itsself and he looked at Joan, looked at how sad she was and remembered.  "I'm sure he will," Ellis said softly, looking at Joan before he cupped her cheek and turned his head to catch the corners of their lips together. He'd always liked lip-kisses more than cheek kisses but now was neither the time nor the place for actual kisses.

Well, it was the perfect place - he lived here - but it wasn't the time. It wasn't what Joan was here to do. Ellis gathered her up in his arms, nuzzling the top of her head for a moment before he pulled away, and wandered back to the bedroom while she was rambling about a box for Antimatter. He gathered his shirt, decided it was ruined and held it out for the kitten. Gently he scooped the kitten from Joan's hands and carefully folded it into his shirt before walking over to the freeze and placing it in.

The freezer was empty so there was plenty of room for it.

"Mattie is ..." Ellis tried to smile before he went back over to Joan and curled his arms around her and smooshed his cheek to the side of her head. "There are seven babies. I didn't even realize she wasn't just fat." He paused and looked a little disappointed before pulling away, "aww, she won't be fat anymore."

He smiled again before he squeezed Joan's shoulders and took a step away, "Can you take care of them while I shower? I still feel cat goo on my chest."

[GoblinFae]

His touches and embraces were a much needed relief. Ellis was such a sweetie and Joan was grateful for the attention and care he paid her as she felt particularly low in those moments. She snuggled and nuzzled him back, uncaring of the mustiness and irony smell she could still detect on him. Instead a soft giggle bubbled weakly up from her chest.

"What a naughty kitty indeed! She's been so busy." The chuckle became full laughter though as Ellis pulled away. "Oh hun she can still get plenty plump if that's what you're worried about. Go have a nice hot shower now, babe. Missy Mattie and I need to have some woman talk now I think," she told him with a wink, reaching to ruffle his hair before giving him a firm shove in the chest towards the bathroom. "I've got this, cap'n!"

Joan waved him off and without waiting for him, retrieved the makeshift catbed and entered his room. The sheets were a mess but burrowed between a wad of blankets and pillows a lump that almost resembled Antimatter. The Pilot carefully climbed onto the bed then and nervously counted seven breathing balls of patchy fur before letting out a relieved sigh.

"Now Miss Mattie I thought you and I had a talk about unprotected sex girly. Tomcats are the worst, always just want to love you and leave you," she rambled softly. Joan offered the cat her hand to sniff before getting a tired headbutt in return. Only then did she reach out to pet the mama cat's back and gently along her sides.

"You're such a good girl, Mattie. Good mama got your babies all clean and fed. So proud of you good girl," Joan cooed as she moved onto petting and inspecting each of the kittens. One by one they were placed in their new bed where they blindly began to mewl and flop about in search of their warm mother. Antimatter watched the entire thing through half-lidded eyes and only once the seventh and final kitten was in the box and Joan was lifting it to move it to a safe corner in the room did she get up to follow. The moment the catbed was on the ground she quickly crawled into it and surrounded her babies who settled back into sleep soon after.

"Thatta girl, Mattie." The cat received several loving head pets and ear scratches for several minutes while Joan distractedly listened to the shower running in the other room. Seven healthy babies, one healthy mama, and one little life that didn't make it. Nine cats, nine little lives all dependent on human intervention and protection in this world. Wasn't there something about a cat having nine lives before it truly laid to rest? What was it Nonna was always saying? Three he plays; three he strays; but the final three he stays? It sounded like something she would say.

Joan sighed and hugged herself as she stood and stared at the messy bed in front of her. The sheets were in serious need of a wash now. Maybe she could get started on that while Ellis was busy. The cats seemed perfectly content and sleepy right now. She could only stare at them so long before she started to think about the tiny body in his freezer currently. She tried not to flinch at the sudden thought of skin crystallizing rock solid over time.

"Laundry it is!" she declared aloud to no one but herself before she began the task of ripping pillowcases of pillows and sheets onto a giant pile on the floor. At least Jonesy wouldn't have to see the mess and have a heartattack from it. Maybe they should order pizza. Was it too early for that? Breakfast pizza was a thing...Eh definitely too early.

She should probably wait to start the laundry until he came out too. No one liked a suddenly icy shower courtesy of the washing machine. Joan sighed again then and with everything in a pile by the bedroom door to be treated and washed she shuffled her way back to kitty corner. Once there she slid down to lay on the floor beside the box with her head propped up in her hand. Quiet, nonsensical murmurs of praise repeated out of her lips as she pet the family of eight slowly and repeatedly and waited for Ellis to return.

[Draconian]

Gently pushed to the shower, Ellis meandered in and did... Well. Shower things.

Though, Ellis undressed before he started the shower. Paused to look at himself in the mirror. Caress his tattoo at his throat before he looked down at the tentacles around his arms. Was it his fault the kitten died? Ellis sighed, glanced down and away. He'd forgotten about Mattie the day prior and he felt guilt about that.

Did he neglect her in some way that... Made it die? He rolled his shoulders and stuck his hand into the spray to make sure it was hot enough. Hot enough to scald skin. Hot enough to leave him pink.  Ellis never spent too much time in the shower and he was done and out quickly, though he spent a few minutes in there just... Staring at his fogged self in the mirror.

Or at himself in the foggy mirror.

Ellis sighed and grabbed a towel, leaving his briefs on the bathroom floor and getting rid of most of the water off of himself. It wasn't like Joan had never seen him naked before and all his clothing was in his room. He tied the towel around his waist and made his way back to his room, hair still wet and clinging to his face or trying it's best to curl up. He spotted Joan on the floor and the kittens and Mattie moved.

So he joined her.

He hunkered down beside her, propped his head onto a hand and just... Watched.

"So," Ellis said, giving a soft sigh and closing his eyes, "Do you want a kitten? I don't think I can be a catmom to 8 cats. Two maybe. 8 is six too many."

[nephero]

   It took some time before Jonesy could arrive. It wasn’t something he necessarily knew anything about, honestly— he wasn’t a medic, or a doctor, or a trained doula or any of those things. But Joan had pinged him, and so…

   Honestly after the events of the previous evening she could have pinged him about a catastrophic marshmallow deficit in the third floor cafeteria and he would’ve answered it. He’d been such an absolute mess lately, and lately Joan had been nonstop catching the worst of it. The thing after the canister incident, the thing with the Borises Magnificent the other night, the constant screaming matches they seemed to get into over the dumbest fucking things.

   The dumbest things.

   He knew he shouldn’t go to Ellis’ place again. He knew it was inappropriate. There was friendliness and camaraderie and then there was… this. This, like leaving flowers as a welcome home present for Ellis on his kitchen counter. Like spending long evenings eating dinner and letting him fall asleep during a movie. Like going out on Soul’s Night and the soul-searing kisses that had followed— like how the basest animal part of him wanted everyone to know he’d been there and he’d left a goddamn hickey like some hormonal teenager.

   Showing up, again, for no real reason, no real emergency, was stupid. He was being stupid. And yet there he stood, stupidly, holding a box of latex gloves, stupidly, and pressing the door’s intercom exceptionally stupidly to stupidly announce,

   “It’s me, I’m letting myself in,” as if that wasn’t also wildly inappropriate for a commanding officer to do at his subordinate’s doorstep.

   Ellis was his subordinate, and no matter how much he tried to talk himself out of it, no matter how much Joan warned him of what could happen, no matter how much Jonesy knew he was being selfish, and hypocritical, and disgusting, and foolish and damnable and the worst kind of monster—

   He let himself in.

   There was the sound of soft conversation towards the other end of the apartments, nothing too hurried and no waves of excess anxiety to say that something was terribly wrong. There was something else, just below that, some taste of negative against the soft tiredness of a late-stage event. He moved to where he heard Joan and Ellis’ voices, rapping his knuckles against the doorframe before crossing the threshold and—

   Almost immediately panicking his fool, stupid, terrible ass into an about-face and right back out the front door again because Amaryllis Melledy was in nothing but a goddamn towel and the faint pink of being freshly washed cast an amazing contrast against his scales. Fuck. FUCK.

   Looking anywhere but at Ellis had him remembering that Joan was also in the room, and for a brief agonizing moment he wondered if she hadn’t done this on purpose as a kind of revenge for the tarantula hair spray. He honestly would have done the same in her shoes. A little tit for tat. Shitty treatment for shitty treatment, and he’d racked up one hell of a deficit.

   “I have the gloves you wanted.” Another pass of his eyes around Anywhere But Ellis, and he spotted the pile of sheets, a faint but telltale stain on one side causing his nose to wrinkle. Exploded cat vagina indeed. Did cats have afterbirths? Was that all wrapped up in those sheets too?

   Suddenly, the gloves didn’t seem so stupid, and he quickly snapped a pair on before setting the box on top of the nearby dresser, gingerly picking up a corner of the sheets to see if there were any… pieces… that needed removing.

   “How’re the kittens?”

[GoblinFae]

"Good shower?" she returned softly, rolling her back until she was pressing against his legs and stealing some of his humid warmth for her own. "They're such good little babies. Everyone here seems to be okay and happy," she told him before looking up to him and reaching to pet his cheek with the back of her knuckles. Joan mulled his question over for a few moments while she just enjoyed being close to someone for a moment. Then, a smile tugged at her lips and she brightened some. "Yeah I think I would. Probably not the remaining six but one or two," she giggled, "or even three might be nice. I think I could use a little snuggle buddy when I'm home so I stop invading your home all the time for Ellis and Mattie cuddles."

She was interrupted from saying more as Jonesy made his presence known in the house and approached them. Joan tilted her head back even further to peer around Ellis's side. Was that a blush? She dipped her head away and said nothing as she sat up properly and gave the man beside her a tight side hug. Contrary to what Jonesy feared, she wasn't interested in exacting payback and instead chose to show the man some mercy.

"As much as I enjoy seeing you all sexy and clean, you should probably get dressed before you get sick again, amigato. I know how much you love soup after all." Joan squeezed him again, nuzzling her head against his shoulder before dragging herself back to her feet. She refrained from giving him another kiss out of respect to Jonah who probably stake her with a rusty spoon if she did.

"Seven little kittens," she answered while approaching Jonesy, feeling half amused and half apologetic at his attention to the pile of sheets where she had tried to keep the worst of it tucked inside and out of sight. "I'd be careful with that there were still some um...mess in there I was going to get rid of when I went to put in the laundry. I think she ate most of it though."

Her smile dropped though as she came to stand beside him and the thought of mess and an eighth unfortunate little furball came to mind. "We lost one," she told him roughly, hanging her head and wrapping her arms across herself in a form of self-hug. "Ellis wants to name it but I couldn't think of anything. Maybe you...? It's...in the freezer." Joan felt guilt wash over her even though there was nothing she could have done to help the little one. She still wished she could have and kicked herself for being helpless.

"Here you want me to take care of these? You should go see the little babies. They're kind of cute like your Borsises. They're sort of like patchy little demon furballs."

[Draconian]

Ellis was oblivious.

He glanced over his shoulder at Jonesy, smile bright and happy and ignoring at strange undercurrents he felt in the air between the two. Some unspoken language he didn't speak and therefore, didn't really bother paying attention to. He rose to his knees carefully, aware that the position he was in and if the towel gave way it'd be a rather inappropriate full moon for his boss. Sure he was just Jonesy right now, and nudity was one thing, but having it all just... Spread open... That was for bedroom things and Jonesy wasn't into that with him.

As far as he could tell.

Still, in a place like Aedolis and with the kind of person Ellis was, nudity wasn't a big deal and so once he was standing he wandered over to his dresser and just dropped his towel. He and Joan had slept with one another almost frequently at this point and while he was sure Jonesy had never seen him naked... He was a man too, which meant he probably had all the same parts or was at least familiar with them.

He pulled his clothing on unhurriedly, not bothering to angle his body away or do anything he wouldn't normally do for the benefit of his unwilling audience. They were in his room. First Ellis pulled on his underwear - a pair of forest green boxer briefs- then his loose comfy pajama bottoms as he had no plans to leave his kitty or her babies, and finally a not as loose tank top. Ellis gave a leisurely stretch and smiled down at the kittens before he looked at his blankets and then at the kitchen.

"Jonesy?" Ellis asked, eyes on the floor, his hair was still wet and droplets gently drifted their way down his neck to make his shirt wet, "I can't think of any good names for the little one that..." He frowned again and looked at the seven remaining babies that were needy and full of life, "You know lots of stuff and you're smart. Could you name it for me? I... I don't want it to not have a name," Ellis shuffled slightly uncomfortably, looking awkward and unsure of himself.

"Seems kinda cruel, yeah? To send it on its way with no name? I dunno, you don't have to, I just..." Ellis smiled and shook his head before he sat back down on his mattress, disliking that it was sheet-free before he shuffled his bum to sit on the floor in front of the kittens. "Are either of you hungry? I can make breakfast once we get that into the wash or the fire or something."

[nephero]

   Rather than sit and ruminate on the fact that Mattie had potentially eaten most of the mess of her birth, Jonesy firmly pushed all those nasty bile-inducing thoughts away and instead tried to focus on what was being told to him. A kitten had been lost. A kitten in the freezer. It was a smart move, by all accounts. Jonesy was pretty sure if Mattie had seen fit to eat her afterbirth, she might have gone for the lost kitten as well. Conserve nutrients for the offspring yet living.

   Plenty of animals did it. Hell, the Borises regularly ate their own siblings in a flurry of survival of the fittest. But it wasn’t exactly the sort of thing you wanted to see your cat doing to her own kittens. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the way Ellis might have reacted to that— hard to tell considering fear and revulsion didn’t quite seem to be in his vocabulary. Maybe sad.

   Well. Sadder. The point was it was smart, and maybe this way they could do something small. Jonesy had lost his faith in the gods years ago, buried them with everything else that reminded him of who he was versus who he could have been. But a funeral for a kitten, it might be some comfort. There were places where pets could be buried to help enrich the soil as they decomposed, and it would give Ellis something living like a…

   Struck with a thought, Jonesy opened his mouth just as he turned to regard Ellis, who had moved from his seat and over to the dresser and just dropped his towel right then and there.

   Whatever Jonesy had been about to say fizzled and died before it could roll off his tongue. He barely remembered that he was still gingerly holding the sheets in his gloved hands, barely remembered that Joan was there and trying to take said sheets to wash them, barely remembered that at any moment a gooey chunk of placenta could flop out and spatter on his shoe or stick to the part of his wrist uncovered by latex.

   Because Ellis was buck-ass naked, his back turned to Jonesy and Joan as if that made anything better. Jonesy’s throat went dry at the slender curve of the other Pilot’s back, the way lingering moisture from his shower ran in tiny rivers along his muscles and down over his hips, the way he looked so painfully good as he took a moment to bend over and pull on a pair of underwear. Even then the spell wasn’t completely broken until Ellis turned away from the dresser fully dressed, and even then Jonesy just knew his face was utterly on fire as he fought to look absolutely Anywhere But Ellis once more.

   Even that didn’t last, with the soft mention of his name, and poor Jonah Cole had to focus as hard as he could on the topic at hand— a dead kitten crystallizing in the freezer— just to get himself under control enough to look at Ellis and not completely short-circuit again.

   “Zephyranthes.” He blurted, too fast and almost in a complete jumble of consonants and vowels, clearing his throat as he finally relinquished his hold on the sheets and let Joan take over that part of the cleanup. Though for a moment Jonesy was tempted to insist, it providing more than enough excuse to escape from how badly he wanted to lick that stray water right off—

   No. No. Dead kitten.

   “Zephyranthes,” he repeated, more intelligible this time around. “It’s a flower. You can probably even get that planted over the kitten if you wanted to bury it. Coffee? I’ll make coffee.”

   And then, promptly ignoring the fact that he had no idea where Ellis kept much of anything in his kitchen, let alone if he even had coffee, Jonesy initiated a full retreat to do just that if he had to summon the beans out of sheer force of will alone and crush them with his bare hands.

[GoblinFae]

Joan, hand extended to pull the sheets from Jonesy saw the exact moment his jaw disconnected from the rest of his brain and feverishly began to try and hardboot back to functioning. Her own brown eyes followed his gaze and instantly understood what the dilemma was. Ellis was a very, very attractive man and Joan could personally vouch for his talents between the sheets and in dark closet spaces. The tattoo that encapsulated move of his body was one she herself had traced and touched and kissed on many occasions. He was gorgeous and perhaps had it been anyone else besides Ellis that had caught Jonesy's attention so thoroughly she would have jumped at the opportunity to tease him.

But, it was Ellis. It was their squadmate, Jonesy's subordinate, and her best friend. For that reason, although she averted her eyes from the unintentional show, she remained rooted in place. Jonesy was more than welcome to look, Ellis certainly didn't seem to mind, but Joan still wasn't sure what to make of the situation. It was too soon after her argument with him the night before for him to have talked to Ellis about his feelings. If she stayed at least she knew nothing would happen and Jonesy couldn't either embarrass himself or earn himself an impressive shiner courtesy of her fist.

Only once Ellis was fully clothed and standing at their sides did she move forward to scoop up the soiled bedlinens and slink out of the room. Hopefully the temptation had lessened enough for both men's sakes. The bloodied sheets were carried through the kitchen and into the offshoot laundry room where Joan carefully opened them up and separated out the things that needed stain treatment and the items that had managed to remain unscathed. When she came across the remaining afterbirth though she half wished that she had remembered to nick a pair of gloves from Jonesy in her flurry to flee. With a displeased scowl, she picked up as much of it as she could before disposing of it in the trash and sealing the bag for taking out later. From there the rest was easy, treat the sheets, start the load, wash her hands off, and try to find some semblance of composure.

She just couldn't explain why knowing a kitten was dead made her hurt so badly inside. She knew she had every right to be sad but was she really the only one that felt so close to tears every time she thought of it? For fuck's sake, she killed people for a living, she defended her country from threats within, how could a tiny lifeless kitten do this? Maybe it was because it was so helpless and innocent unlike the monsters she was sent away on missions to destroy.

Joan banged her head back against the wall opposite the washer before straightening and exiting. She could hear Jonesy in the cabinets opening and closing them in search of something. The water already in the coffee machine and the fact it was moved further forward than where Ellis normally kept it clued her into what he was up to.

"Grounds are in the cabinet to your left and mugs are above the sink. I call the seven-legged septapus mug with enough sugar to turn my coffee into syrup. Breakfast sounds good though. Ellis you up for it? Need help?" Joan hopped onto an empty counter and let her legs swing back and forth there. "I don't know about you two but today definitely feels like a couch sprawling and movie watching day, doesn't it?"

[Draconian]

It wasn't a good trait of his, to be so oblivious.

Ellis wasn't usually on top of it when people were attracted to him. He knew he was attractive. He knew that usually he caught looks and when he was in the mood for a hook up, finding a partner was relatively easy.  During the day though, in his house, Ellis just was sort of... Not aware of it. Sure he noticed Jonesy turning a little flushed but that could be for any reason. Maybe his house was warmer than it was in the hall way. Maybe he just... Had red face.

He plucked at his shirt while he listened to Jonesy offer a name and he tumbled the name Zephyranthes around in his head before he tried to say it. Smiled confusedly when Jonesy wandered off to make coffee and Joan wandered over to his bedding to wash the sheets. Mattie lay in her little makeshift bed, cleaning her babies occasionally and mostly just existing to be a food source.

Curious about the name he pulled a face and meandered to his nightstand to get his com, looking up the word Zephyranthes. Ellis walked from his room to the kitchen, a sort of panther walk while he read, steps measured carefully before he smiled softly and looked at the back of Jonesy's head while he desperately searched for coffee. Was he shy about offering a name?

"Amaryllis family," Ellis said out loud, looking to Joan when she hopped up on the counter, curling an arm around her waist and giving her a loud smacking kiss on the cheek. She seemed sad and contact always grounded him, he was just one to assume it worked like that for everyone that seemed to tolerate him. He stayed quiet while she mentioned where his things could be found to Jonesy and held up a 'wait a moment' hand in reference to needing help make breakfast. "Zephyranthes is in the Amaryllis family," He told Joan, showing her his com and the pretty flowers. Ellis smiled slightly, giving the freezer a sad look. "I like it. It's beautiful," there was a sad sounding sigh before he tucked his com in his waistband and moved up behind Jonesy.

"Zephyranthes it is," Ellis said from behind him, leaning over to trap him ever so slightly between himself and the counter. The two men being the same height and general build meant he had to get on his tiptoes to reach up and over Jonesy, pressing most of his front to Jonesy's back before he grabbed the container of pre-ground coffee beans, "And coffee is here," He said, voice too close to unsuspecting ears.

Ellis offered a helpful smile before he moved away and about his kitchen to grab a pan and various bits of breakfast food. Eggs, sausage, some potatoes. "Breakfast is an affair," he said, "I don't use frozen shit, so you guys make coffee and get comfy with a movie or something..." There was a pause, "If you want to stay." Ellis chewed on his lower lip for a moment and glanced down and away, like he was hesitant to give them an out, "Don't feel pressure to stay over. But if you do I'll make you breakfast. But you don't have to. You guys already helped with Mattie and that's why you're here and... Yeah. Cream is in the fridge and there's sugar and honey in those little glass things," Ellis nodded towards little containers beside the coffee maker against the wall before he started making food things. At the very least he'd be making himself breakfast.