#but glaze did nothing to ruin AI. this will also do nothing.

[bunglepaws]

I've been watching the anti-AI-generation reactionary crowd celebrating, installing and running glaze (and whatever the new one is called) on their images -- despite it being AI software, despite it not actually ruining any of the AI models made since glaze was released, despite that most people don't really know what the software is doing -- is really depressing. it's like there is no critical thought left in people where they should be thinking "should I look into whether this is safe before I do this?" and instead just say "their site says it poisons AI models? sign me up!" and install a GPU-heavy software.

it's not a crypto miner -- but it would be so easy to make it a crypto miner and just tell people "yeah it's processing your images : )". I'd be surprised if no one's done already that using the software's name. Either way, this could've been a lot worse.

Can't even warn anyone about it not working -- because if they're already invested in "poisoning AI", they'll generally just ignore warnings and/or tell me to die.

if I were a scammer I'd be so excited to get rich off of that kind of people :C

[cutie1365]

A Kid from Queens Part 12

Pairing: Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

Info: CA: Civil War Era. Tony Stark enlists his daughter to find the web slinging spider in Queens.

Word count: 3k

Warnings: language, some serious pent up sexual tension, definitely PG13

(no Far From Home spoilers)

A/N: I mapped out this chapter and as I started writing, I realized I would have about 6,000 words so I just split it into two. Enjoy ;)

Masterlist linked in my bio. Taglist in the reblog.

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“F.R.I, activate Nightcap Protocol.” You instructed the AI with your arms crossed as you made your way to the couch.

Your windows glazed over, so no one could see in. Some privacy and security shields, if you will, to prevent the past from repeating itself. Like your true self, you were invisible to the outside world. Inside you didn’t have to hide or pretend; you were safe.

“You need to ice those...” Peter spoke, breaking the silence.

“What?” You asked gently, scrunching your brows together.

“Your knuckles, you need to ice them. They’re bleeding and they’re going to swell if you don’t ice them...“ Peter navigates through the new kitchen, wrapping some ice in a cloth before approaching you. He gently lays the makeshift ice pack onto them.

You look up to him with guilty eyes when you realize he’s still holding onto your hands.

“I don’t know what to say Peter, I thought I’d figure it out on the walk from the balcony to here, but I still don’t know what to say.” You hung your head again, your voice faltering.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Peter reassured you, taking a seat next to you.

You didn’t understand why he was being so kind to you, especially considering your last conversation with him. Your head had pushed him away, but your heart was grasping for anything left to hold onto.

“You deserve an explanation.” You admitted.

“I know why you did it, all of it. You don’t have to put yourself through this for me.” Peter tried to convince you, but you shook your head.

How could he be so understanding? How could you hurt him, and he still looks for a reason to redeem you? To excuse your actions? To find some greater meaning to all of it... the only conclusion you could think of was that he really didn’t want to let you go.

“I do Peter! Because if you get hurt or your identity is compromised, that’s on me!” You yelled, pushing the ice off your hands as you motioned between the two of you.

“Can’t you see? I never had a normal childhood and I can’t change that. But you still have that luxury. When you’re not swinging around Queens in a multi-million dollar suit, you can be normal. You can go out with friends, you can see a movie. Whatever normal people do; you can do that. Just because I’ll never get that chance doesn’t mean I’m gonna sit by and watch while it’s stolen from you.” You tried to explain.

“What if I don’t want to be normal?” Peter asked, but that wasn’t exactly what he meant.

What he wanted to say was how he would never truly be normal again after you. You had accepted him into your crazy life, and ruined him for the ‘normal world’. It was as if he’d experienced a touch of the heavens when he was with you, and he knew if he went back nothing could ever compare to the way you had made him feel.

“Trust me, you don’t want this.” You scoffed, motioning around you, implying the shit storm that has now become your life.

You were like a bad omen. Chaos followed behind you everywhere you went, and you were worried that you were going to be the reason someone got hurt. Seriously hurt. And you were not going to let that person be Peter Benjamin Parker.

“Keep that ice on, Y/N.” Peter said calmly.

“Fuck my knuckles, Peter!” You shouted, standing up off the couch.

“No! Alright because you are so worried about everyone around you that you won’t even take care of yourself!” Peter yelled back, standing to match you. His words shocked you, because deep down you knew he was right.

“This is bigger than me, Peter! This is bigger than both of us!” You raised your voice again.

“What are you talking about?” Peter shook his head in confusion, his tone was still argumentative. You realized you had dug yourself into a hole, and he wouldn’t rest, understandably, until he had answers.

You took a deep breath and a pause, sitting back down onto the arm of your couch.

“I was warned before the gala.” You confessed.

“What? Why didn’t you say anything?” Peter asked worriedly, moving to stand in front of you.

“I was still trying to figure it out. The mayor, he’s in deep. Some sort of illegal weapons dealings. I don’t know. But I know that the people he’s tangled up with aren’t afraid of collateral damage. What if they come for you, because of me? More people are going to get hurt if I don’t get to the bottom of this.” You tried to make him understand.

“What if it’s not your job to stop them?”

“What if I’m the only one who can? I can figure out what they’re doing from the inside.” You spoke, though you weren’t sure how convincing you sounded.

“From the inside? Oh, Thomas.” Peter took a step back and looked away from you.

“Yeah, Thomas.”

“So y’all are...?” Peter began to ask, but couldn’t bring himself to put it into words.

“No, no. It’s just- we have this agreement. Some outings for publicity, that kinda stuff. He gets to impress his dad and boost his poll numbers, and we move the public attention away from you... well that was my intention at least.” You explained, shaking your head at how tonight had gone.

“Yeah I saw the interview, it was-” Peter stopped, not knowing what word to best describe what he had witnessed.

“Brutal?” You offered.

“Yeah, something like that.” Peter gave you a sad smile, something to show you that he was sorry for the way it turned out. To a blind viewer, it really wasn’t that bad. Sure the questions were grilling, but you didn’t throw yourself under the bus or anything. You behaved and answered just as you were supposed to.

“I don’t know what was worse, the questions about you or the questions from Twitter.” You sighed, sliding off the edge of the couch into the plush cushions below.

“I liked the question about Thor, did he really say that?” Peter laughed, moving next to you once more. He was trying to get your mind off of what had happened.

“Clint convinced him that once a girl turns 15, and when they address you, it’s polite to reply with ‘Yas Queen’.” You laughed, a genuine laugh. It had been a while since you’d done that.

“So on my birthday, we had this huge party upstate. It was before Sokovia and everyone was still living in the compound. I came downstairs and Thor was the first one I ran into. I asked him if my dress looked okay, and you can imagine my shock when he replied. Everyone burst out laughing, Clint was in tears. I didn’t have the heart to tell him, he looked so pleased with himself.”

You smiled as you told Peter the story, lost in the memory. It was a simpler time, a more peaceful time. There was no fighting, no government intervention. What you would give to go back to those days.

“I still can’t believe you’re friends with all the Avengers.” Peter shook his head with a smile.

“Is that why you came here tonight, to talk to me about Thor?” You teased him with a raised brow, but you really were curious.

“Well no, I just... I saw you and you looked- wow I mean, wow. Then the questions and the, I mean you answered them perfectly but I could tell you were... I mean-” Peter began to shift around nervously in his seat. It was like when you two first met, he was shy and nervous. Not the Peter you’d grown to know- you knew that meant something was up.

“Spit it out bug boy.” You furrowed your brow, unsure of where he was going with this.

“Fuck, Y/N I missed you. Ok. You’re not making it easy for me to move on when you’re on my TV looking like that. I had to see you. I knew those questions affected you so I wanted to see if you were okay.” He confessed. You hoped your cheeks weren’t bright red right now. You didn’t think you’ve ever heard Peter curse, and he’d never talked about you in that way before.

“Alright, you’ve seen me. What was the next step in your plan tonight?” You inches closer to him, your heartbeat growing faster and faster. Hopefully he couldn’t hear it with his super senses.

“Hope you’d let me in.” He said slowly. His eyes were scanning over your face, like he was making a mental image to never forget this.

“Well I seem to have already done that, and next?” You spoke just as slowly, trying to calm your breathing... Were you nervous? You’ve certainly done this before, but why did this time feel different?

“This.” Peter spoke with some newfound confidence before his lips collided with yours.

You snaked your hand around the back of his neck, wanting to eliminate any distance between the two of you.

You knew why it was different this time- it was Peter. Things would always be different because of Peter. It was as if you had lived your whole life colorblind, and then you met him. He was the color, he was the life you were missing. You didn’t know much about destiny and fate and all that, but when you kissed Peter and he kissed you back, you saw it.

You saw the two of you together, growing old together, white picket fence and all. You saw a glimpse of a normal life, a happy life. He was your balance, the missing puzzle piece.

But deep down you knew, it could never be this easy, you couldn’t get to that point without struggles and heartbreak. But you also knew Peter was worth it, and whatever hardships you would have to overcome, you would do it.

You came from two different worlds, and the two wouldn’t meld together easily or quickly. It would take time for people to come around to the idea of it, but time was something you had plenty of.

Tonight would give you a chance, a chance at a proper goodbye. Not a real goodbye, but a goodbye for now. A goodbye to figure out all the crazy twists and turns that was your life. You both knew the timing just wasn’t right, but one day down the road everything may fall into place.

“Is this a good idea?” Peter pulls away hesitantly and asked.

“No.” You smiled and shook your head.

This time it was you that erased the empty space between your lips. You lifted your leg over Peter so that you were now straddling him. His hands found their way to your hips as yours trailed over his chest.

Time didn’t exist when your lips were intertwined. An hour could have passed, or a year. It was like you were stuck in an interdimensional time loop, and neither of you wanted it to stop.

When you finally came up for air, you froze for a second. You looked into Peter’s eyes, you memorised every detail of his face. Knowing it might be a while before the two of you can be together again like this, you didn’t want to take a second for granted.

Peter smiled up at you, and for the first time in forever, you felt seen. Truly seen. Not the tabloid version of you, not the majority shareholder business version of you, but the real you. Peter saw it, all of your flaws, and they didn’t matter. It was just the two of you, together in the eye of the storm.

“I have to be up in 5 hours, can Queens spare you for a night?” You raised your brow and smirked.

“They’ll just have to manage” Peter smirked as he lifted you from the couch and headed towards your bedroom. You were both laughing and utterly giddy. Two fools in love.

He gently threw you onto the bed before crawling over to you. You were smiling as his lips connected with his once more. In an attempt to draw him closer to you, your hand brushed over the spider on the front of his suit- releasing it.

You froze and muttered an apology, growing more and more distracted by the bare skin that was now exposed.

“Cat got your tongue?” Peter asked with a smirk, you must have been staring for a while.

“Hmm? No, uh, shit.” You muttered.

Peter Parker was like a drug, and oh boy were you an addict. You’d been doing well, 10 days sober. But you broke. Cracked at the first opportunity and let him back into your heart, and your apartment for that matter. But it was just one little cheat, right? That’s all. No one even had to know.

“Um, I’d offer you a change of clothes but I don’t have any of Steve’s laying around.” You tried to recover from your daze.

“We’ll have to figure something else out then, won’t we.” Peter spoke, connecting your lips again, and pulling the suit further down his chest.

“I suppose we will...” Your hand found some pooling fabric and aided in it’s removal, he was now just in his boxers.

“And if we’re playing fair.” You breathed heavily, trying to catch your breath after the lack of oxygen.

You untied that robe that you had wrapped around you, and threw the material onto the floor. You were on the edge of the bed, and quickly took the opportunity to stand back on the floor, pulling the tight fabric of your leggings from your body and sliding it down your thighs. As you stepped out of them, and stood tall with your shoulders back, your eyes connected with Peter’s. His grew wide, not with surprise, but desire. Standing before him in only a sports bra and your underwear, you didn’t feel exposed. You felt safe.

Peter now sat at the edge of the bed with his feet hanging off, hitting the floor. You moved to that you were standing between his legs. Your hand came to rest on the side of his face, wrapping around to the back of his neck. You placed a delicate kiss onto his lips, and it grew, blossomed into a passionate kind of kiss that you think only happens in the movies.

As Peter wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you back onto the bed, lips never separating, he let out a noise between a growl and a moan.

You were seeing a side of Peter you never thought you would get to see, or never thought existed for that matter.

You two were inseparable. Even once the kiss was broken, you still couldn’t keep your hands off of eachother.

You now were snuggled into his side, silently tracing shapes over his chest, dragging your fingers over his muscles. He had his arms protectively wrapped around you, listening to the steady beat of your heart.

You were the first one to break the silence with something that had been weighing heavily on your mind for the last week.

“I'm sorry for how I acted at the party. I shouldn’t have drank that much, I hope I didn’t do anything to embarrass you.” You apologized.

“Embarrass me?” Peter pulled away slightly so that he could see your face. ”No, no Y/N I was the talk of the town all week. Flash hasn’t stopped talking about you. By the way, you’re a really cute drunk.”

“Oh, well I don’t know about that.” You smiled up at him.

“You shot finger guns at Ned.” He informed you and your eyes grew wide.

“No I didn’t oh my god.” You buried your head into his chest in embarrassment.

“Yes you did.” Peter laughed and you groaned.

When you unburied your head from his chest, and laid down onto his arm he asked you another question.

“Why do you have to be up so early tomorrow.” He asked, and if he hadn’t, you almost would have forgotten. Peter had a way of distracting you, and tonight surely more than ever.

“I have an interview with Vogue in the morning, well more of a meeting really, then an Elle video.” You informed him.

“What for?” He asked again.

“They want me on the cover of Vogue, lord knows why. And Elle is doing a closet and apartment tour for YouTube.” You rolled your eyes. You might not have known why Vogue would want you for their cover, but he sure did. You were gorgeous and brilliant, and he wished you could see what he saw.

“A closet tour, really? People care about that kind of thing?” He replied instead, noticing your eyeroll and general disapproval of the whole thing.

“So I’m told. I do have a vast shoe collection though.” You answered, looking towards your closet, that really could be classified as another whole room.

“I’m sure you do,” Peter laughed, “Aunt May said your shoes tonight were to die for.”

“Did she now? What size is she?” You asked.

“Um, I think an eight.” You made a mental note of that.

“Mh,” you groaned and burrowed back into Peter’s open arms, “I don’t want to wake up in 4 hours.”

“Then don’t.” Then don’t Peter chucked at your previous actions.

“I have to.” You groaned, your voice muffled due to your face being pressed against his body.

“Then sleep.” Peter suggested, teasing you.

“I don’t want to.” You whined.

“Well what else are you going to do for the next 4 hours then?” Peter retorted with a smile. You raised your head up again, resting it on his chest so your faces were mere inches apart. You looked up at him through your lashes before your lips curved into a smirk.

“I’m sure I can think of something.” You smiled, your lips finding their home, once more, attached to his.

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Feedback is soooooo important, just a simple comment about what you liked, what you want to see more of, or what you have questions about it so helpful.

Remember to stay on my taglist or qualify for it you must like, AND comment or reblog.

Taglist in the reblog.

[xbluexflowerx]

I know it was a while ago but can you do a part two of cat!Ai? Maybe Sousuke meeting him? Rin getting a little jealous of their new found friendship? Thanks ヾ(=^・ｪ・^)

Part 1

…

“Ai, please.I know it’s not ideal but I need you to do me a favour.” Rin practicallybegged.

Currently,Ai was watching him through narrowed eyes, his tail swaying dangerously behindhim.

“I don’t seewhy I need to.” Ai growled, his ears pressed flat against his head. “I’ve metpeople before.”

And it wastrue, Makoto would often come over unannounced and had caught Ai napping onRin’s sofa. Despite Rin’s panic the other man had just laughed and revealed thetruth about his Haru. Which had left Rin eyeing up every cat he saw withsuspicion for weeks, how many were like Ai and Haru?

“I know, butSousuke’s different.” He tried to explain but the low rumbling meow he got in responsetold him it was the wrong thing to say.

“I get it.”He snapped, hackles raised. “God forbid he finds out you’ve got more than justa cat.”

“It’s just…Sousuke wouldn’t get it.” He shrugged. His best friend saw the world as blackand white, didn’t accept anything outside the norm.

“It’s fine.”He sighed. “If I were you, I’d be embarrassed of me too.”

“That’s nottrue.” He denied.

“Whatever,enjoy your special night with Sousuke.” He pouted.

Withinseconds Ai had disappeared into the shirt he’d borrowed and tiny silver tabbyslipped out the sleeve.

“Come on Ai,don’t be like this.” Rin moaned, reaching out for his cat who hissed and battedhis hand away.

Rin pulledback in shock, Ai never hissed at him. No matter how many disagreements theyhad, or how many times Rin had trodden on his tail he never hissed. Thissituation with Sousuke had obviously upset him more than he’d let on.

With histail held high, Ai slipped out onto the balcony and scaled the wall into hisneighbour’s garden. Where he scratched at the door and cried loudly.

“Ah, helloAi-chan.” Makoto greeted as he opened the door. Ai trilled happily in responseand followed the man inside.

Rin crossedhis arms and flopped down on his sofa, angrily muttering to himself. He wasn’tsure why he was so upset, Ai was only his pet after all. So why did he feel soupset that they’d had their first argument? It wasn’t as if it mattered.

…

Despite Sousuke’sloud voice, the blaring TV and the flowing drinks, Rin still felt depressed. Aistill hadn’t come back and Haru had come over and left a little present on hisbalcony, his own way of saying he didn’t approve. Wait until Makoto found out,then he’d be in trouble.

“What’seating you?” Sousuke asked, barely tearing his eyes off the TV.

“Nothing.”He shrugged, because what else could be say? I fought with my cat and now he’srun away from home? That wouldn’t sound insane at all.

“You sure?You’ve been quiet all evening.” He rose an eyebrow.

“Just beenone of those days.” He replied, hoping Sousuke would leave it at that.

But beforetheir conversation a soft meow lit up the room, Ai had come home.

“Hey buddy.”Rin said hesitantly.

But he gotcompletely blanked by the cat, Ai walked straight past him and jumped ontoSousuke’s lap.

“Erm, hi.”Sousuke said awkwardly to the cat staring up at him.

Ai meowedhappily in response and began nudging at his hand, hoping to encourage somepets.

“I don’tthink so.” He laughed, effortlessly picking him up off his lap and placing himon the sofa between he and Rin.

Not one tobe told what to do, Ai jumped back on Sousuke’s lap, walking in a small circlebefore settling down on his thigh. He growled when he was grabbed again, thistime by Rin, and placed on a sofa cushion.

“LeaveSousuke alone.” He said firmly, Ai flicking his tail back and forth once beforeturning back to his original target.

He placedhis front paws on Sousuke’s leg, pushing himself up onto his back legs andtilting his head to one side – a look Rin knew was particularly irresistible inboth his forms. He cried softly, as if asking permission. And Rin could seeSousuke’s resistance was weakening.

“That’senough.” Rin snapped, picking Ai up and putting him on the carpet. He knew Aihated being manhandled, why people thought because he was small they had theright to move him was beyond him. But he was just being too stubborn today sohe needed to be put in his place.

Ai batted andnibbled on Rin’s fingers as he was moved, an action that was usually doneplayfully seemed like he was trying to make it hurt today.

“Cut itout.” Rin shouted, nudging Ai away with his foot.

“Seems likethe sour mood is shared in this house.” Sousuke joked.

“Yeah.” Henodded, choosing not to mention it was due to the fact they had argued thatboth he and the cat were irritable.

Rin watchedas Ai jumped up onto the table, his bottom wiggling as he eyed up his nextdestination.

“Don’t eventhink about it.” Rin warned but of course Ai ignored him. Throwing himselfthrough the air until he landed on the back of the sofa, his small paws onSousuke’s shoulder, his cheeks rubbing against the mans as he purred loudly.

“Don’t worryabout it.” Sousuke chuckled, giving in and reaching up to pet Ai behind theears. “He’s not doing any harm.”

Taking thisas his cue, Ai slowly walked down Sousuke’s chest and settled into his lap,still purring loudly and giving Rin a side eye. He wasn’t sure what Ai wastrying to prove but he hoped he would do it quickly so he could stop giving himthe cold shoulder.

…

A couple ofhours and a few beers later, Rin was getting fed up of watching Ai all overSousuke. He was never usually like this with new people, in fact he was usuallyquite shy. But he’d spent all evening on Sousuke’s lap, playfully licking himand that purr? God Rin had never heard it so loud.

Rin knew itwas all for affect but what? All it had resulted in was a very jealous Rin.

“He’s prettycute, isn’t he?” Sousuke smiled, eyes glazed over, slightly due to alcohol butalso because he’d found his new love.

“Yeah.” Hegrumbled, grabbing a hand full of nuts and shoving them in his mouth.

“I likehim.” He laughed, holding Ai up. “I may take him home.”

Then Rinbroke, watching Ai stick his tongue out and kiss Sousuke on the nose was justtoo much for him.

“Right, I’vehad enough!” Rin shouted, grabbing Ai and standing up, the small cat yelping insurprise.

“Rin, calmdown.” Sousuke held his hand up in surrender. “What’s wrong?”

“This cat,this is what’s wrong.” He exclaimed, holding the small bundle out to him. “He’sbeen ignoring me all day and then comes in here and acts as if you’re his newfavourite.”

“He’s just acat.” He shook his head. “He’s not smart enough to manipulate you like that.”

“Oh, but heis.” He laughed ruefully. “He’s been spending too much time with Haru from nextdoor.”

“Right,you’re starting to sound a little crazy.” Sousuke frowned.

“I know,believe me I’ve felt it before. But this cat, he’s taken over my life. He’s allI can think about at work, I just miss him all day. I’m getting obsessed withhim, which is ridiculous because I’m not even sure how old he is. Dear god Ihope he’s legal.” He rambled.

“Rin, you’vehad too much to drink. Put the cat down and get some sleep.” He encouraged.

“Ai, justshow him.” Rin sighed. “I’m not embarrassed of you, I never have been. I justwanted to protect you.”

Aieffortlessly jumped out of Rin’s hands and trotted towards the bedroom, notonce glancing back at the men he had left behind.

“Well, Ithink I’m going now.” Sousuke said, standing up.

“Wait, he’llbe back.” Rin assured him. “He just didn’t want you to see him naked.”

“Right.” Henodded, awkwardly biting his lip. He seemed to be eyeing up the door as ifplanning to make a quick getaway.

As if oncue, Ai waltzed back into the room with one of Rin’s oversized hoodies andlittle else, his tail nervously wrapped around his middle. Sousuke almostjumped in fright at the sight of him, eyes immediately drawn to the ears on hishead.

“Where didhe come from?” He frowned, reaching out to touch as if he didn’t quite believehe was real.

“I told you,he just found me one day.” Rin shrugged, trying to ignore how loudly Ai purredwhen Sousuke tickled behind his ears.

“And this iswho was sat in my lap all night?” He asked, still in disbelief.

“Yes, I hopeyou didn’t mind.” Ai pouted slightly.

“Not at all.”Sousuke swallowed.

“It’s niceto meet you Sousuke.” He grinned.

“Likewise.”He sighed. “I can see why you rush home every night now.”

“Yeah.” Rinnodded, pulling Ai back to his side when Sousuke’s had started to burrow intoAi’s hair.

Ai grumbledslightly at the lack of pets, but he was far too innocent and never able tounderstand when a touch bordered on something deeper. Rin knew this fact alltoo well.

“You can’ttell anyone about him.” Rin warned, scratching the back of Ai’s neck whoquickly leant into the touch.

“Yeah, no.Of course.” Sousuke nodded, still a little mesmerised by the cat.

“Well, it’sbeen a long night.” Rin hinted, not liking the way Sousuke had barely taken hiseyes off the boy since he’d walked in the room.

“Oh, right.”He coughed awkwardly. “I’ll head out.” He pointed towards the door but made noeffort to move.

“Bye.” Heprompted.

“Bye.” Hereturned, finally heading out.

“Bye-byeSousuke!” Ai waved. “I hope to see you again soon.”

“Likewise,kitten.” He winked before letting himself out the flat.

Rin groanedand dropped down on the sofa, dramatically throwing his arm over his eyes. Itwouldn’t be the first time he’d lost someone to Sousuke. Rin was very good atthe playful flirting but once they saw Sousuke they quickly lost interest, andhe hoped his cat would not be the same.

“He seemednice.” Ai commented, lying across Rin’s prone body so they were practicallyface to face.

“Uh huh.”Rin groaned.

“Are youstill mad at me?” He whined, and if Rin looked he didn’t doubt he’d be pouting.“I didn’t mean to ruin your alone time.”

“What do youmean?” He asked, lifting his arm.

“WellSousuke is your mate, right? And I took all of his attention away from you. Iknow it was silly of me but I wanted you all to myself.” He admitted,affectionately butting Rin’s chin with his head.

“Sousuke isnot my mate!” He furiously denied.

“But youalways talk about him, and you call him your partner. Isn’t that what humanscall their mates?” Ai questioned, tilting his head to one side in confusion.

“Sometimes,I guess. But it has lots of meanings.” He explained. “In this case it justmeans we work together, nothing more.”

“Really?” Heasked, his tail swaying excitedly behind his back.

“Yeah, he’snot my mate. In fact, I don’t have a mate, yet.” He blushed.

“Good.” Aigrinned, pushing himself forward so his lips hovered above Rin’s. “I don’t liketo share.”

Before Rincould respond Ai had pressed their lips together, his purr rumbling through himand sending sparks down Rin’s spine. He pulled away with a smile, tenderly lickinghis nose before settling down onto Rin’s chest.

They laylike that for a while, Ai purring loudly as Rin gently stroked his ears. Tooscared to move or say anything in case it broke this moment. But on the inside,he secretly hoped the kiss meant more than friendship and it would be the firstof many.

…