"What's that?"
Ambrose stopped opening Lucille's carrier, looking over his shoulder.
"She's a cat," he answered.
"Really?" Solis stepped closer, still holding his seal plush of unknown origin. "I've never seen a real one."
Ambrose paused, thinking for a moment before opening the carrier fully. Lucille meowed, stepping out onto the linoleum kitchen floor. He scooped her up, despite a small meow, and held her up.
"Her name's Lucille. Would you like to pet her?"
Solis nodded.
"Take your hand and let her sniff it. She'll get a little antsy if she doesn't get to check you out first."
Solis quirked his head to the side, loosely bringing his hand up to Lucille's face. She sniffed it before bumping her head into his fingers.
"That means she likes you. Go ahead and pet her."
Solis slowly ran his hand along her back, smoothing her jet black fur. Ambrose could feel Lucille purring.
"Why's she doing that?" Solis asked, pulling his hand back apprehensively. "Why's she rumbling?"
"That's a purr," Ambrose informed, "cats do it when they're happy."
Solis took a moment to process the information before smiling and returning to petting her. Ambrose was glad Lucille liked Solis - he would've had a lot of problems if Lucille decided to give the kid a matching scratch to his own.
"I'm gonna set her down now so she can run around. Just don't grab her tail or startle her and you two'll be besties in no time!"
"Besties?" Solis quirked his head to the side as Ambrose set the cat on the ground.
Ambrose felt an ache in his chest. Solis was very... out of touch. He supposed that made sense, but every time he was reminded of it, it made him feel worse.
"Okay! We're headed out!" Keiren called from above, and soon he and his date made their way down the stairs. They were dressed rather nicely - Josh looked far more formal than Keiren - with button ups and slacks on the both of them.
"Looking stellar," Ambrose grinned, "where you two heading?"
"The Olive Garden," Josh noted, prompting Ambrose to choke back a laugh. He wasn't one to judge, considering his tendency to dress like he was going to an important business meeting on the regular, but the notion of those two dressing so fanciful for an Olive Garden of all things was rather comical.
"Oh, Keiren," Ambrose's back straightened, "do you have any spare clothes for Solis? And where's the bathroom?"
"Uh," Keiren coughed, "first door down that hall. If he needs more clothes then just look through the top drawer in our bedroom dresser. That's where my stuff is."
"Will do," Ambrose winked, and the two quickly exited. "I'll be right back, Solis."
"Okay, Ambie," Solis smiled at him, then settled on the couch.
Ambrose made his way into the bathroom. He was relieved to see it had a bathtub stocked with various products - shampoo, conditioner, body wash, various loofas and washcloths, and a bottle of purple hair dye on the sink. He did not miss the fact that the sink basin was stained a similar color. Keiren must not have been that precise about it.
Solis was dirty. His hair still had flakes of blood in it, his bruises and few wounds were rather gross looking, and his fingernails had a coating of dirt beneath him. He wasn't as much of a Syrus-Ryan stalker as Keiren was, but he wondered where the boy had accumulated so much debris.
