A Simple Touch

Chapter Four

If they were both female, Arthur figured, he would never be able to tell which one was which half the time!

"Well, I suppose you guys would like some breakfast, too, huh?" Arthur smiled, standing up and opening a cupboard to take out the cat food.

He walked over to their bowls, Tilly and London obediently following him at his heels. Once he gave them their food, the two cats started to eat it soon after.

Arthur continued making his own breakfast, glad that his pets were happy to be eating right now. He cherished those creatures so much, and they were basically his children.

"Well, lovelies, what do you want to do today?" Arthur asked the animals, looking at them from the table. "Should we clean up the house?"

Tilly and London let out soft meows, and Arthur took that as a 'No.'

"What if I play your favourite rock music?" Arthur bargained, seeing the cats perk up.

London jumped onto the counter, pawing at Arthur's wireless speaker that could automatically connect to his phone.

Arthur laughed, amused by the male's behavior.

"Alright, alright," he agreed, taking his phone into his hands and pressing 'Play' on one of the songs he had downloaded onto the device.

The music started playing, and his foot started tapping to the drumbeats soon after. Yes, Imagine Dragons was definitely one of his favorite bands, considering Alfred made him listen to their songs a lot whenever they visited each other.

He stood up, using his broom as a makeshift guitar as he started dancing around the kitchen. His cats followed him, dodging his dance moves with ease.

"Radioactive, radioactive!" Arthur sang at the top of his lungs. "O-o-o-oh, o-o-o-oh! I'm radioactive, radioactive!"

The song ended soon, and Arthur made a dramatic pose in front of his 'audience.' The cats just sat there, looking at him and flicking their tails.

"You're right!" Arthur laughed. "I should get busy doing the housework now, shouldn't I?"

The cats only purred in reply, going into the living room and sitting on the couch together. Yes, those cats completed his life, filling up a hole inside his heart that not even his family or Francis could get through.

He continued to sing and dance to the music as he fixed up the house, knowing that he never had the time during the week, hardly, to do a deep cleaning because of his jobs.

"I'll keep you my dirty little secret!" Arthur sang once again as he washed, dried, and put away the dishes. "Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret. My dirty little secret! I hope that you can keep it! My dirty little secret!"

Chore after chore, Arthur quickly worked around the house, making sure it looked perfect and clean in case anyone came to his house for a visit.

Arthur was very independent, so he could easily clean his house, do his laundry, pay his bills, cook for himself, and many other things, all on his own.

He liked that, though, not wanting to tie down with someone, possibly Francis, permanently until he and the other person were ready.

Sure, Arthur was twenty-eight years old, and Francis was thirty, but despite everyone wondering when Arthur was going to settle down with someone, Arthur wanted to embrace his independence for as long as he could.

Besides, he still had a lot of books he was planning to write in the future, and a very long list of countries that he wanted to visit.

However, he and Francis had been dating for three years already, so Arthur could see why so many of his family members and friends were asking him about his love life and everything.

Not that they knew he and Francis were together, of course, since Arthur didn't want to get so much attention from everyone, and Francis didn't want the public press spreading rumors or news about their relationship because of his model status.

That would be a mess! Arthur thought. Besides, what would my parents say if they found out about us?

Arthur's parents were quite religious, so he knew that they would not approve of his and Francis' relationship at any point, more or less their marriage.

Arthur sighed softly, sitting on the couch beside his cats. Tilly and London nuzzled against him, purring quietly as his fingers gently ran through their fur.

He smiled at their cuteness, taking a mystery-thriller book off of the coffee table and starting to read it to them and himself.