The Other Animals

Chapter 19

Staring at the rows of soup in front of him, the fluorescent lights of the grocery store burning his retinas, Nikolai examined the options before him to figure out what was best for his mate. Maybe just a simple chicken noodle soup? His eyes flicked to the cans of chicken noodle soup, narrowing in contemplation before he grabbed two and strode out of the aisle.

He quickly unloaded the contents of his plastic shopping basket onto the conveyor belt, and surveyed the items he had collected. Soup, a bottle of ibuprofen, three bottles of sports drinks that touted a high concentration of electrolytes- was that everything? He looked up at the display of candy above the belt, grabbing a small bag of chocolate at the last second and throwing it onto the pile.

The older woman at the register looked less than impressed, her wiry, greying brown hair pulled back into a bun, a pair of black cat eye glasses perched on the tip of her nose. She eyed Nikolai as she scanned the items painfully slow, as Nikolai stared back at her, his card poised in the air.

"Will that be all?" She asked in a bored, monotone voice.

"God I sure hope so," Nikolai huffed, wouldn't want to come back here if I forgot anything.

He paid quickly and hurried for the exit, the plastic grocery bag full of his purchases clutched tightly in his right hand. All he could think about was getting to his mate and taking care of him, and that fueled a newfound passion within him after that supermart had practically drained the life out of him.

With the old rock radio station playing softly in the background, Nikolai made his way over to Oliver's house through the drizzling rain and dark skies.

The rain had picked up again once he parked on the curb in front of Oliver's house, so he made a beeline toward the wooden porch the moment he stepped out of his truck, shoulders hunched and the grocery bag clutched in front of him. Fruit flies had congregated around the lone light that lit up the porch, attracted to the only source of light on that dark and dreary day.

Nikolai shook out his hair, little droplets of water spraying everywhere before running his fingers back through the strands to smooth it down. He knocked firmly on the door, noticing the bright screen of the TV playing in the living room, casting out flickers of light illuminating through the living room. He could hear some movement on the other side of the door, and after another second, it opened to reveal his mate in sweatpants and a dark grey hoodie, one arm still extended towards the door knob while the other was wrapped around his middle.

"Hey baby," Nikolai whispered softly, stepping inside, he made quick work of ridding his wet boots and rain jacket, setting the grocery bag of goods on the kitchen table. The house seemed unbearably warm, and Nikolai felt like he was already starting to cook from the inside out, so he decided to shuck off his zip up sweatshirt and throw it on the back of the couch.

"Hey," Oliver replied back tiredly, rubbing his forehead, and he frowned at Nikolai setting the things he had bought out on the table. "Aw, Nick. You didn't have to do that," he breathed, but Nikolai saw the slight uptick of his lips, the glimmer of happiness that shone in his eye at being thought of.

"It makes me happy to do things for you," Nikolai said, smiling at his mate from over his shoulder. With everything laid out, he turned around to lean against the table, extending his arms towards Oliver. The other man was eager to shuffle into his embrace, tucking his head under Nikolai's chin as Nikolai rested his head on top. "How's your pain?" Nikolai asked into Oliver's hair, placing a kiss on the crown of his head.

"Not good," Oliver sighed, squeezing his eyes shut as another wave of throbbing passed over, the pressure building again in his temples, making him feel like his head was being crushed in a vice. "I don't know what's going on, I don't ever remember getting a headache this bad in my entire life," he mumbled into Nikolai's shirt.