Epee drew to a halt as he watched Sabre approach.<\/p>\n
They were in the royal gardens, on their way to meet Dagger and Katan for lunch. He’d been running late; it looked like Sabre was as well.<\/p>\n
He stared again, not quite believing what he was seeing.<\/p>\n
“What is that?” he finally asked.<\/p>\n
Sabre scowled in that way Epee was slowly figuring out meant he was not nearly as angry or annoyed as he was pretending to be.<\/p>\n
The bundle on his shoulder mewled, and buried its head even further into the collar of Sabre’s jacket.<\/p>\n
“What does it look like?” Sabre asked irritably. “Lash thinks he’s funny.”<\/p>\n
Epee coughed to smother a laugh. <\/p>\n
Sabre’s narrowed eyes said he wasn’t fooling anyone.<\/p>\n
“It’s, um,” Epee struggled for an adjective that would not meet with his untimely demise. “Very small.”<\/p>\n
For that, he got a withering glare. <\/p>\n
“What’s its name?” Epee asked, grinning now because it was obvious he was busted.<\/p>\n
“I have no idea,” Sabre snapped. “I’ve only been putting up with the thing for fifteen minutes.”<\/p>\n
Epee reached out to gently pet the kitten that was little more than a teensy ball of fur on Sabre’s shoulder. It was the color of honey mixed with cream, and probably would be beautiful when it was fully grown. <\/p>\n
“Can we just go to lunch, so I can then take this damned thing home?” Sabre said.<\/p>\n
Laughing, Epee bowed and stepped away, indicating Sabre should lead the way. “After you \u2013 and Happy Birthday.”<\/p>\n
“Oh, shut up,” Sabre groused, but Epee didn’t miss the way he reached up to make certain the kitten wouldn’t fall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Epee drew to a halt as he watched Sabre approach. They were in the royal gardens, on their way to meet Dagger<\/p>\n