Eric offered Macklyn a smile, though there was something hanging in the air that Eric wasn't sure about. Was it nervousness? The only time he had felt such a thing radiating from his mate was when Macklyn approached him about Selina. Was there someone else now? Someone new?
Then Macklyn mentioned it was a gift. Gifts usually came with glee or elation. Not nervousness. It made Eric a touch uneasy.
"Sure. We can sit down with him if you want. That's probably the easiest way for all of us." It was smart, and from the sound of things the meeting between Macklyn and his other self went well enough. He was glad for it.
And then there it was. The gift that had Macklyn uneasy and Eric understood. "I..-"
His eyes widened as he looked at the mewling ball of white fur.
...failed.
That was the feeling weighing down on him. His failure to complete his mission. This tiny kitten reminded him of Shelly. Gabriel had been her cat at first. Eric had grown to love him. They had been inseparable for a time and it was she whom introduced him to cat ownership in the first place. And here it was, back to remind him of her.
The City had been throwing his past back at him since he had arrived. And where those things were...the apartment, the library....he could avoid those constant reminders. Now his past was flooding back into his life and it was in the one place he could go to escape.
Eric lifted his gaze, muscles tense, and narrowed his eyes some. A kitten like that was an awful surprise. He didn't think it was a joke, Macklyn would have been nervous about it.