[ side by side verse ]

[triedinception]

Eames wasn't old enough to entirely understand that his mother was putting all of her effort into him and his siblings. All he knew was that once, he'd had a father; the scent still very bright in his mind of how his father had smelled, and memories of orange tabby ears like his own

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[littlspecificty]

Allison had been a bit of a mess that morning; frantically trying to get Arthur up and ready for his first day at a whole new pre-school and Victor had already left earlier that morning before either were up (although both could remember the scent and press of lips to their cheeks as the older black cat had said a silent goodbye to them as he left for his work with and for the British government in the dark hours of the morning

[triedinception]

When he was older, Eames would still have trouble explaining what drew him to Arthur. It was like an instant pull, an immediate thought of yes, this is interesting.

All he knew is he had watched the entire procession with perked ears, his tail swishing back and forth, and then stopping when the little black kitten looked so distraught at his mother leaving.

He could already see other kittens looking at Arthur (and Sammy's murmured comment of "so tiny"), so he gathered up his ball of string (it already half unraveled) and stood.

Eames even at this young age was a stocky child, though it hid mostly under what some would call baby fat, and so on his little legs he had gone over to the other kitten. Uncaring and unconscious of the fact that he didn't know him, he ended up plopping in front of Arthur with a wide smile stretching his face.

"Hullo!" he said cheerily, string ball still in hand and trailing behind him. His ears were perked up, his tail twitching at the tip. "You're new, aren't you?"

[littlspecificty]

Arthur's dropped ears twitched as he could pick up the mutters around him and he tried to focus on his tail, blinking back that sting behind his lids as soon as it started. He wasn't going to be a "baby" his first day here (or any other day).

He had been so focused on that that he hadn't noticed the approach of another kitten. Not until he had sat down in front of Arthur and the black kitten looked up, eyes wide and ears going a little flatter, gripping his tail tighter.

He started for a moment before nodding slowly and silently, warily watching the other kitten, suspicious.

[triedinception]

Eames puzzled over the odd reaction, his own ears still perked and his tail now waving lazily behind him. He wasn't threatening, was he? Maybe a little bigger than the other kittens, but not by much.

"I've been here for a while," he said instead, turning to half drag, half play with the string until it was all sitting in his lap. "Don't worry, your mum will come back, mine always does," he beamed at Arthur.

"Do you like string?"