Josh closed his eyes and nuzzled against Kit’s neck. His hands trembled a bit and he hoped his underarms didn’t stink with sweat. This was so embarrassing!

“Aren’t you just adorable?” Kit asked after a few licks, his hand rubbing up and down Josh’s bare back.

The muscles back there twitched and fluttered. Kit’s hand was so big compared to Josh’s small back! Josh tried to look up at Kit - and bury down thoughts of the future tyrant as deeply as he could - and he was close enough to see the playful smirk on Kit’s face. That expression couldn’t be good. Right?

“You’re not a very good actor, sweetie.”

One ear twitched at the name. Sweetie? Were they close enough for nicknames? Josh was naked on Kit’s lap so they certainly looked close. But that explanation only made Josh more confused.

“Did you think I didn’t know?” Kit asked.

That hand trailed up Josh’s spine only to give a gentle scratch to the base of Josh’s skull. Josh instinctively closed his eyes. Purr, purr, purrrrrr. “Feels good. Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Hmmmm.” He was melting. His insides were turning into a puddle of warm milk. His head was too heavy; he let it fall against Kit’s shoulder. His tail almost wagged as it twisted and turned. It felt so good he couldn’t think! All his scares and worries faded under that touch. His terror at being found out, his conflicted distress about the timeline, and his embarrassment over the person he should hate most making him feel so good and safe and blissful.

The emotional and psychological conflict was making him dizzy. “Prrrrrhph.” He panted hard into Kit’s shoulder, and it took him a moment to realize the scratching had stopped. Had Kit been talking? Josh was covered with a jacket from somewhere, big enough to cover his whole body and with the faint smell of Kit in the fabric.

Did the Duke send someone for it? The guard?

“Did you know you talk in your sleep?”

Oh, starsh*t. Fudge and sugar and brownies down the sewer. “You understand cat?” Josh blurted with a pale face, too scared to take his eyes from the adam’s apple inches from his nose.

Kit laughed and the action echoed in Josh’s ear with a steady heartbeat. “I didn’t need to. I understand human very well. For a lost little kitten, you sleep very deeply. Even when you’re not a kitten and doing your best to replenish your mana.”

Why didn’t Kit just rip out Josh’s heart and feed it to the pigs? It would be kinder than this torment! Tears gathered in Josh’s eyes as he tried to think about what he might have said. Did he reveal the future already? Was the world doomed to an even crueler tyrant than when Josh left? What had he done?

“Shhh. Easy, darling. There’s no need to panic. I actually find it rather flattering that you feel safe enough to cry for your mother while laying naked in my bed.”

Josh’s face went as red as a tomato. “That’s so humiliating,” Josh quietly complained. He just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide there for the rest of his life, thank you very much. He’d never cried so much in his whole life as he had since coming to the past. So much of his dignity, honor, and pride had been sacrificed for this mission and he hadn’t agreed to any of that!

The mission. Oh gods, the mission. Polaris was going to kill him. Josh was going to be skinned alive and left to starve.

“I’m surprised you didn’t notice I knew. It was a fun game while it lasted. This guard, though - did he really have the power to force you back? He’s an oaf with more knowledge than strength.”

Josh felt himself shaking and pulled the jacket further around himself. “When Mr. Gargoyle caught me, I was stuck for three days without any food or water,” he explained. “The only thing that kept me alive was my mana. If you hadn’t found me when you did then even my mana would have run out. I barely had enough to become human again and have been gathering it preciously ever since. But… there’s always a chance someone will walk by and see a human where there shouldn’t be one. Your stupid first floor room made the risk too big. I wasn’t able to gather much at all. Not enough to fight. I was never a fighter anyways.” He took a breath and then dared to turn his head towards the other occupants of the room. “The guard…”

Josh’s stomach dropped when he saw both the guard and the Duke were unconscious. Henri was sprawled across the rug while the Duke looked like he fell asleep at his desk. Both were moving with the steady movements that meant they were alive at least. That was something. “What happened?” he dared to ask after a moment. His stomach fluttered with unease. If Kit killed his father now the universe might implode.

It wasn’t right. Nothing about this was right. Josh squirmed a bit until he could slide out of Kit’s lap and settle himself on the floor at Kit’s feet. He pulled the jacket close and tucked his body closer to the chair to hide his most important parts. Even he didn’t realize how far his ears had dropped.

“It’s not my fault,” he sniffed. “Why am I even crying? It’s not my fault! I’m sorry. I couldn’t gather up enough mana in time. I was too scared someone would notice. And his spellwork was sloppy anyway. Did you see how he drew that last spell? The vocabulary was too basic and he even used the wrong form of a word. Did it backlash on him? I promise I didn’t do it!” If Josh affected the timeline like this then Polaris would let the rats eat Josh slowly and make Josh eat - ugh! - spinach until he didn’t have a stomach left to fill!