Chapter 3: The Meeting
#4 of Soul
1
Kayden woke up the next morning empty-pawed. He feels around his bed but the only thing there is his pink silk blanket. Where's Don? he asks himself. After getting up, he hears the shower running and his question is answered.
He goes to his closet, opens the door and tries to decide what to wear today. Although he enjoys seeing green, Kayden feels like wearing his pink, sleeveless shirt, like he does on most days, with a clean pair of khaki shorts. Kayden walks up to his mirror and looks back at his reflection. His paws naturally go to his ears and he sees the new color.
"Huh," Kayden says out loud. He wasn't worried about people questioning his ears, especially by his parents. He has fur dye under his bed in case he wants his arms done something else. The sudden show of pink will look like he did it last night (which is semi-true).
Kayden lies down in bed again, still feeling a little sleepy. Besides, his thoughts couldn't stop replaying last night when him and Don kisses for real. He never thought it would actually happen but it did.
And he would never forget.
Seeing as he had some time before Don got out of the shower, he reaches under his bed and pulls out a box of fur dye and cologne. His eyes, of course, went to the pink bottle and he got that out, tucking the rest of the dye away. Kayden gets some dye on his paw and rubs it up and down his arms up until his elbow. The bright white fur quickly turns hot pink. When he's done, he stands up and waits for his arms to dry, which takes 15 minutes.
During his wait, he hears the shower turn off. In minutes, a door opens and Don walks into Kayden's room. They look at each other, smiling and Kayden can't help but admire him. His wet, shining fur made it seem even more golden. He was wearing one of Kayden's favorite shirts of his: a black one with the Coca-Cola symbol in white across it. Even though Kayden doesn't like those particular colors, he always thought it looked good on Don.
"How're you doing?" Don asks.
"Good. I just woke up," Kayden says. It took a lot to keep from giggling. He walks up to Don, careful not to ruin his shirt with the dye still wet on his arms.
"That's good. I see you've been busy." His tone finally dives the giggle out of Kayden.
"I'm sorry. I just really really like pink," Kayden says. He can't help but blush. But why? Don has been his best friend for a long time and just because they're boyfriends doesn't mean anything is different.
Does it?
"That's ok. It quite suits you," Don says. He hugs Kayden despite the dye and kisses him. Kayden's taken aback from the sudden gesture but eventually closes his eyes and leans into Don's touch. His soft, warm touch. After several seconds, Don breaks the kiss only to pick Kaydne up off his feet.
"Put me down!" Kayden says. Although, his laughing and smiling says something different.
"Nope. Besides, I want to ask you something."
"Oh? What is it?" Kayden's ears perked up and his tail swished slowly when he hears that.
"I want you to meet my parents."
"Really?" Kayden has never recalled meeting Don's mom or dad. Let alone been to his house despite how long they've been friends. It kinda sounds nice but Kayden can help but wonder why now? Why could he meet them sooner. He quickly pushes the thought aside because right now, he's in a good mood and wants to keep it that way.
"So, you want to?" Don asks. He's pushing the question, Kayden thinks. Might as well give an answer.
"Sure. I'd love to meet them." Don hugs Kayden tight when he hears that. Out of habit, Kayden rubs Don's back to help reach deep within his soul. He reaches deep to see how Don's doing. Pink. Good, Kayden thinks, as long as it isn't anything bad, I'm happy.
"Uhh... Kayden?" His friends voice snaps his back to reality and he lets go of Don's Aura. He brings his head up, his nose right against his?
"Yes?" Kayden asks, slightly kissing him.
"Your ears are glowing."
2
Don goes into the other room as Kayden waits. He comes back in with a chair and a handheld mirror. "What's going on?" Kayden asks, his tone full of nerves like his stomach is full of butterflies.
"Hold on," his friend urges. He sets the chair down and tells Kayden to sit in it. After Kayden complies, Don gets on his knees takes one of his paws and puts it on his chest. "I need you to read me."
"Why?"
"Just do it." Kayden is a bit worried. Don's tone isn't negative but maybe his Aura will say otherwise. Kayden closes his eyes and starts to reach into Don again. His soul is easier to find than usual and his Aura even easier. When Kayden sees the colors of white and purple, he knows what it is: curiosity. When someone is curious, they tend to be confused because they don't know something and nervous because they don't know what it is. It's another Mixed emotion. "There! Open your eyes!" Kayden opens his eyes. Don holds the second mirror in front of him. In it, Kayden's big mirror, showing the back of his head. He sees his rainbow ears and notices something off: the purple stripe and a white stripe under the pink one are glowing.
"Woah." Kayden has never noticed that before. When his powers first developed, he thought it was over once six colors were on there. Apparently, he was wrong which can only mean one thing. "My powers aren't fully developed."
"What do you mean?" Don asks. Kayden stands up, his ears dimming and going back to normal.
"When my powers first showed and my ears first changed color, I thought that was the only thing that would be different. I was wrong. The fact that my ears are glowing and they haven't before proves it."
"What do you think will happen next?"
"I don't know." But knowing that Kayden's Aura reading ability is still in the evolution stage is quite interesting to him. But that also means he needs to be careful where and when he reads Auras because now, other people can see. And he's not ready to let the world know about his ability yet. "This doesn't affect me meeting your parent later, does it?"
"Absolutely not," Don says. "However, you need to control your Aura reading."
"Awwww." Kayden pins his ears down. He loves reading people and holding back on it is something he doesn't want to do. What if someone's upset nearby? He can't let them stay blue or red or even black forever. "There's gotta be someway I can hide my ears." Kayden looks around the room, quickly thinking of how others cover their ears. And then it hits him.
He goes over to his dresser and pulls out the top drawer. Aside from boxers and briefs (yes, pink ones), there's a few white hats that Kayden remembers getting because they match his fur. He pulls one out and puts it on. "What do you think?" Kayden asks, turning 360 for his friend.
"You're ears don't show," Don says. When Kayden has his back facing him, Don walks up and wraps his arms around his fox. "I love you, Kayden."
"I love you too, Don."
3
Kayden couldn't help it, he smiled and wagged his tail as he walked down the street with Don right beside him. His house is right up the street. When they get there, Kayden realizes a reason Don might not want to bring him here. It's green, one of Kayden's favorite colors, but it's a bit run down and old. Two stories high, the gutter looks a bit rusted and the porch creaks as they walk up to the front door.
"I know it's not the best house in town," Don says, "but it's ok." He knocks on the door and the boys patiently wait for the door to open.
"So how come you haven't introduced me to your parents?" Kayden asks. When the door opens, he gets his answer. A bigger golden lab a few inches taller then them stands there. He wears overalls and a plaid shirt.
"Hey Donny. Who's your friend?"
"Dad, this is Kayden, my best friend," Don says. Before Kayden so say anything or make a gesture, Don's father grabs him, and hugs him tight, knocking the breath out of him.
"Well, it's great to meet ya, Kayden."
"Andrew! Put him down!" A feminine voice says. He does as he's asked and Kayden regains his breath. Don's mother appears at the door.
"You must be Don's mother," Kayden says, holding out a paw.
"Vanessa," she shakes paws with him.
"Kayden. May I come in?"
"Of course you can, bud," Andrew says. Kayden steps inside with Don and closes the door behind him. He turns to Don with a what-was-that-all-about? look. Don wraps an arm around Kayden.
"We're Labradors, remembers?" Is all that Don says. Oh, Kayden thinks. Labs are people dogs. Simply put: they love the company of others. Suddenly, he hears several thumps heading downward. Don looks over and sees the look of confusion on Kayden's face because he says, "You ok?"
"Yeah. What's that sound?" Kayden asks.
"It's just my sisters."
4
The next thing Kayden knew is that five little Labradors around the same age came piling into the room. They're all wearing five different bows in their hair and seeming to speak about five different things at the same time since Kayden couldn't pick up on a word any of them said. "Who's that?" One of them asks after a while. It was the one with a blue bow.
The one with a teal bow says, "Is that a friend of Don?"
Magenta bow says, "What's he doing here?" Kayden blushes. He never knew Don had sisters before, let alone that they are quintuplets.
"Kayden, I'm guessing you're wondering who these gals are," Don speaks up. "These are my sisters: Morgan, Emma, Sky, Theresa, and Brittany." As he points them out, Kayden picked up a pattern: their first initial is the first letter of the color bow they're wearing. Emma has emerald, Sky has scarlet, Morgan has magenta and the same for real and blue. "And you've already met my parents: Andrew and Vanessa."
"Well, hi, I'm Kayden," he says, unsure of what else to say.
"Why are you wearing that hat?" Emma asks. Kayden readjusts his hat in case his ears might be showing. When he's sure no one can see it, he tilts his head a little and smiles, hiding the fact that he's secretly looking into their Auras out of curiously. He's only been able read Emma's (green) before Andrew and Vanessa tell Kayden they're about to make dinner.
"By the way, to answer your question, I'm wearing this hat because I like it," Kayden says to Emma as he walks past them. He then turns to Don. "How old are they?"
"They'll turn 10 in a month," he says. "They're actually pretty fun. By the way," he quiets his voice so no one hears, "did you read any of them?"
"Just Emma," Kayden whispers. "I'm worried if I try to read the others, they'll notice my ears."
"I didn't notice any light so you'll be fine."
5
"Thanks for the dinner, Vanessa," Kayden says. Don told him that his parents believe in formality so they like being called by their first names. They don't like being called mom or dad so much because even though they are a mom and dad, that'd be like calling a mechanic the name "Mechanic".
"You're very welcome, Kayden," she says. They had pasta and garlic bread. They're not Kayden's favorite meal but he wasn't against it. Vanessa takes Kayden's empty plate and takes it to the kitchen the next room over. Don's house is pretty nice on the inside compared to the outside. The only problem is the wooden floorboards creak a lot. The door that separates the kitchen and dining room is one of those swinging doors with no lock or handle. Both rooms are bright green with a white ceiling. The black table and black chairs perfectly match. The only difference is the chairs have white cushioning. A glass chandelier hangs above them, casting patterned shadows on the table.
Kayden watches as the sisters go back to their topic of... well, he didn't know what exactly they were before. Andrew gets up and goes into the other room. Don reaches below the table and laces his fingers around Kayden's. He could help but smile. He wants so badly to kiss Don right now; but in front of his sisters? Only one way to find out, he thinks.
He sneakingly creeps deep into Don's soul and sees his Aura. It has turned the same shade of pink as Kayden's arms. I wonder if we can go to his room, Kayden thinks, imagining them cuddling and kissing again.
That's when he hears Sky's voice say something that makes his heart grow heavy.
"Mommy! His ears are bright!"