Kitto

See a room - it’s an attractive enough room. It’s big, with windows taking up almost an entire section of the wall. There are huge curtains covering those windows, but they aren’t doing a very good job. At least, they aren’t working well enough to block the light from the room. Incredibly bright light falls on a bed with rumpled blankets. It also falls on a head with long, messy, cinnamon coloured hair. The head rises and intense green eyes flash with anger. There’s a long groan and a black silk pillow gets thrown at the windows. The curtains move a bit and more light falls into the room.

“Bloody hell!” He rolls onto his back, huddling on the other side of the bed, pulling the covers over his head for protection. The form in the bed remains perfectly still for several seconds before it emits a furious cry and throws the covers to the ground. “Idiot!” Turning furiously to the windows, he opens the curtains with a growl. “Happy, beast?” He spits at the noonday sun and turns on his heel.

Returning to his bed, he searches on the floor. “Stupid, stupid, stupid . . .” After long minutes of searching in the blankets heaped on the floor, he finds a pair of black boxer shorts and pulls them on with an enormous sigh. Running his fingers through his hair, he sighs again and walks to the other side of the room. Yawning, he takes a dressing gown the colour of jade and puts it on languidly. Neglecting to tie the dressing gown’s cord, he stalks to the section of the room that’s half-hidden by an enormous bookshelf.

“Not fair,” he grumbles and goes on his knees beside a low table. Absentmindedly, he chews on a finger and looks at the solitary piece of paper on the table. It wasn’t the only thing on the table. There were numerous dishes of fish and of rice, and a jade teapot with vapour running from its spout. With a little frown, he touches the side of the teapot with the back of his hand. Immediately, he pulls his hand back and shoves it into his mouth. “Shit!” he cursed around his fingers.

After a little while, he lets his hand fall and begins his brunch. With a mouth full of fish, he reads the letter.

‘My dear Kitto, let me apologize for the fact that I am not here to see your glowing face when you woke up, but, and I know this is a very odd and exotic idea to you, there are some of us who must force ourselves out of a very pleasurable and warm bed before noon and leave the house. I am, quite unfortunately, one of these people, and I apologize profusely.

‘I have to work all day, and I highly doubt that I will be finished and be able to return to you before tomorrow morning. Don’t worry yourself over me, I’ll be fine, I swear it. If you’re a good little kitten, I’ll come home with a present for you.

‘Now, eat your breakfast - ’

“You’re an authoritarian prick, ne?”

‘ - and don’t use words like that when you speak of me, kitten.

‘Lovingly, your Harlequin.’

“Idiot,” Kitto mutters in a soft voice, before pushing the empty plates to one side of the table and getting to his feet.

While he stretches, Kitto examines the plates and dirty cups on the table. Then he takes off his dressing gown and heads down the stairs to do countless hours of martial arts so that he doesn’t think of his lover.