Summer bit her lips, trying not to laugh again. It made her sides hurt. “You can bring him with you, you know,” she pointed out. “It’ll be like a petting circle. Besides, Helios doesn’t even laugh at himself. Come on … I can see your ears twitching. And you know I like to play with your hair.”
In the end, the lure of petting was too strong. He shifted his hold on the cat and wandered over to Summer, and lowered himself down so he was sitting on the floor by her legs, leaning back against the couch, because that seemed like the done thing to do. Still, he added, “My ears are no indication of my interest. I can’t control them.”
“That,” Summer said, stroking a fingertip along one edge, “is exactly why they are an indicator.” Delicately, she cupped a hand around one ear, brushing upward, smiling at the softness. Long, slow strokes along the length of the ear, while her other hand, arm encased in its cast, buried itself in Tony’s hair, fingertips rubbing his scalp. “So beautiful,” she murmured.
“Hm,” Tony hummed in reply to the last comment, a content half smile tugging at one side of his mouth. He was still listening, for now, at least. How much longer that would last, that was an entirely different story.
Curling over, she laid her cheek against the top of his head and closed her eyes. Gentle fingers continued to stroke one ear, smiling a little whenever it twitched under her hand. For the first time in a week she didn’t feel the weight of the world on her shoulders, tucked up against one of the men she loved. Wanting to share it, Summer spilled a light projection into Tony; love and calmness and peacefulness.