I Am Not Your Master; I Am Your Partner: A (Neko) Dan and (Human) Phil Series

Pick Out Your Cloud

"Where the river cross,
crosses the lake
Where the words jump off my pen
and into your pages
Do you think,
just like that,
You can divide this,
you as yours,
me as mine,
before we were us?

If the rain has to separate
from itself,
does it say,
"Pick out your cloud?"

If there is a horizontal line
That runs from the map
Off your body
Straight through the land
Shooting up
Right through my heart
Will this horizontal line,
When asked,
Know how to find,
Where you end,
Where I begin?

Pick out your cloud...

How light can play
and form a ring of rain,
That can change bows
Into arrows

Who we were
Isn't lost
Before we were us,
Indigo is his own,
Blue always knew this

If the rain
Has to separate from itself
Does it say,
"Pick out your cloud?"

- Your Cloud, Tori Amos

* * *

It was hard to say where Phil ended and Dan began. There were most definitely edges, though they were beautifully blurry on this particular morning.

They lay, with their backs pressed together, fingers interlaced at the rise of Phil's hip. They would not face one another, they had agreed. This would only happen once, and they promised not to meet one another's eyes until that exhilarating moment.

There had been much discussion about who would stand where and whom would meet whom. Dan rather liked the symbolism of Kate, his honorary mum, giving him away to her own son. It was decided that Dan would walk the aisle to meet Phil under the arch.

Violet, a close friend of Dan and Phil's, and an ordained minister, would officiate the ceremony. Phil reached out to her on the evening of their engagement to ask for her services. She accepted with enthusiasm and had given her personal blessing. Violet was not surprised when Phil called her last week to see if she would be available for their new date. She had known them for years, first meeting Phil at an advocacy panel in London. Violet was a staunch supporter of Neko rights and became one of the first to perform marriage rites between man and Neko in England.

Although they could not see each other's faces, they could feel the excitement radiating off of one another. Dan's tail brushed against Phil's thigh, causing him to giggle.

"Good morning Love." Phil said though a smile.

"G'morning Daddy." Dan purred.

The temptation to turn over and take Dan was too great. Phil knew that if he didn't leave the room now, that he wouldn't leave at all.

It was with every ounce of willpower that Phil slipped out of the sheets and walked toward the bedroom door. Dan remained still, on his right side, facing the window.