Characters: Anastas and Sunny
Setting: His dorm room
Rating: SFW
Summary: Sunny and Stas introduce each other to their familiars.


After dropping Sunny off at her dorm Friday night Anastas headed back to the party. He was nearly the last one to leave, pouring himself into his bed before dawn. He didn't wake until well after noon. It was close to two o'clock before he finished straightening out his room. There was no use inviting Sunny into a mess. He found something to wear that was still clean out of his fresh laundry basket and gave his room one last look before grabbing his phone.

"Sunny? I am awake and reasonably decent."

To say Sunny was nervous was an under statement. She had done her morning work out, eaten breakfast, showered, and even had lunch well before Stas called her. "Reasonably decent?" she quirked an eyebrow and scooped up Brutus from her bed. "I hope that means you're wearing pants," she teased.

"A bathrobe is perfectly decent for entertaining in one's own room," he replied with his standard smirk, but he was fully clothed. He planned on taking the time between their phone call and her arrival to brush his teeth. It wouldn't bode well for making out if his breath smelled. That is if he could convince her to make out with him.

Sunny laughed. "I hope you're joking," she rolled her eyes. "We'll be over in a minute," Sunny closed the door behind her and started walking over toward House Lalaurie, dragging Brutus along the whole time. It took her a few minutes to cross campus, she took a deep breath before entering the building. It wasn't too hard to spot Anastas in the crowd, she was surprised that he was waiting for her. She smiled shyly and walked over to him, conveniently placing Brutus in between them.

"You look like you have been awake for hours," he replied. He hadn't even run a comb through his hair yet. Just pushed it over to the side while brushing his teeth minutes before. "Shall we?" he asked turning to go upstairs.

"I have been awake for hours, since nine," she shrugged. To his question she only nodded and followed him upstairs, still clinging to Brutus. When they reached his room she stood in the middle looking around. "Your room is nice," she said with a grin but was automatically distracted by Lorelai's habitat. "Oh wow! That's the nicest terrarium I've ever seen."

He smiled briefly at her comment to his room. By the end of the semester there would probably be laundry tossed in piles on the floor and books tossed wherever when he got bored or frustrated. "Brand new," he replied about Lorelai's terrarium. "She was growing out of her old one." He turned to smirk at her. "You know you can let Brutus down to wander. If I did not know better I would think you were using him as a safety blanket. But Brutus and I know you would not insult him by using him so."

Sunny blushed fiercely at Stasi's comment about using Brutus as a safety blanket. "Course he's not a safety blanket," she lied. She held him out toward Stasi with a little pout. "Proper introductions are in order. Brut, this is Stasi, Stasi this is Brutus." Brutus was an endlessly patient grump and didn't mind Sunny's handling. She put him down on the floor and he immediately started investigating, starting first with Stasi. He sniffed around Stasi's feet and decidedly plopped down near him, exposing his belly. "He likes you," Sunny said, mildly surprised.

"Fat grumpy kitty boys stick together," he practically purred. He'd take Lorelai out of her home in a minute, but he wanted to give Brutus a proper hello. Leaning down he placed his hand near Brutus whiskers so he could sniff him properly and then reached over to give his belly a good rub.

Brutus gave him a good sniff and an encouraging mew. Sunny practically swooned seeing Stasi and Brutus interact. She giggled about their new fat grumpy kitty boy alliance. She knelt down near Brutus and grinned at him. "You makin friends my grumpy fat kitty boy? I knew you two would get along just fine," she cooed.
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Stas knew she was talking to the cat, but he felt the need to tease her. "Since when I have become your grumpy fat kitty boy?" He moved his hand up to scratch under Brutus' chin.

She didn't think it was possible but she got even more red in the face. "Well, I was talking about the cat but if you want to go there... I'm the only one who's willing to house train you," she teased right back. "Grumpy fat kitty boy," she grumbled.

He smirked at her happily. "I am surprised you did not notice. I am in fact housebroken." He stopped petting Brutus and rose to get Lorelai out. "Now if you are ready I am going to let my snake out."

"Considering your other manners I'm most impressed," she said training her eyes on Brutus. Sunny gave Stasi one don't go there look when he mentioned his snake. "Course I'm ready," she said as she scritched behind Brutus's ears absently. As much as she tried to tell herself to remain indignant she practically turned to mush when she saw the care Stas showed with Lorelai as he handled her. Sunny stood anxiously, she didn't quite understand the range of emotions she felt when she was around Stas and this particular day was especially weird.

Lorelai curled happily around his wrist. Stas couldn't speak parseltongue, but Lorelai seemed to understand him and he could tell her moods. She was pleased to be out of her terrarium today. It was definitely a good day to have her meet someone new. "Sunny, this is the only woman I trust, Lorelai." He extended his wrist so that Sunny could properly see her. "If you line up your arm with mine she might come over to you."

Sunny nodded and held out her arm with Stasi's. She smiled at Lorelai. "Hello," she said sweetly. She had seen snakes before and been close enough to touch them but she had never held one. It wasn't as nerve wracking as she thought it would have been to stand so close to a snake, holding her arm out, and welcoming it aboard.

Lorelai moved over to Sunny's arm slowly. She skimmed the surface of the girl's skin and snaked up her arm slowly. The snake observed her and flicked out her tongue twice. Stas smiled. "It seems that she likes you as well. I am not sure how she would react to Brutus. He is too big to eat, but I would not put it past her," he joked. Lorelai would never eat a familiar. She had turned down several live mice and Stas could never figure out why. It turned out that Lorelai wouldn't eat another animal with a special energy.

Sunny was happy when Lorelai moved over to her, she let the familiar have free range of her arm and pet her gently. She giggled. "You wouldn't eat Brute would ya? You're too sweet for that," she asked the snake. "Brutus will act uninterested," she said looking at Stasi. "But as soon as no one is looking he'll want to investigate." At the mention of his name Brutus looked up from the floor and trilled musically. "Yes, we're talking about you, don't cause a stink."

Stas saw that Sunny could hold her own with Lorelai and turned his attention back to Brutus. "We can keep him distracted for a bit longer, I think." He wasn't about to admit it, but he enjoyed the feel of fur between his fingers. He liked the way Brutus responded to his touch. He kept peeking over to Sunny and Lorelai. His familiar was curling her way up onto Sunny's shoulder, head resting near Sunny's collar bone. Lorelai was relaxed, getting herself comfortable. She had made her official assessment of Sunny and it was good.

Sunny tittered on to Lorelai for a bit, pacing around the room a bit more comfortably than she thought possible. She kept sneaking peeks at Stasi and Brutus, grinning like an idiot every time. Sunny finally made to move closer to Stasi. She sat on the floor close to him and Brutus. She had been thinking about something for a few days now, they were becoming more routine than what they had been before, they were still weird in their own way but it was starting to feel more like a relationship, she wouldn't admit this aloud, not yet anyways. "Um... so I kinda have a question for you," she said shyly, looking more at the floor than anything else.

He was intrigued by this sudden shyness. Sunny was never one to back down. "Ask away," he replied lazily, leaning down toward the floor to give Brutus better scritches and to allow Sunny the chance to look anywhere but at the floor.

She peeked up from the floor and fiddled nervously with her hands and then absently pet Lorelai's head. "Um... so there's a game coming up," she said. "The home coming game and it's kind of one of the biggest games," she felt silly. Just ask him. She steeled her nerves, took a deep breath, and barrelled ahead. "And my team is playing in it and I have a pretty good chance of being captain this year so basically it's pretty important to me and I was wondering if you would come watch me play," she blathered.

He looked up from his attention to Brutus with a winning grin. "I would love to." He leaned over so he was laying on his stomach while continuing to pet the cat. A crazy idea burst into his head and out of his mouth before he had time to think over the consequences. Not that he ever bothered to think about consequences. "We should make a whole weekend of it. I believe there is a dance too. Would you like to accompany me?"

She felt her face growing warmer when he looked at her with that grin. But then his question came and her eyes grew bigger. "Really? Really?" her head quirked to the side a little, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. "You joking?" she asked and immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "You really want to go to the dance with me?"

He was torn between amusement and offense at her suggestion. "Have I ever joked with you?" Much beyond teasing, he wasn't sure he had. He sat up, moving his hands away from all the affection he was ladling on Brutus. "Of course I would like to go to you. I cannot promise that I will dance, but I imagine we will have a good time."

"You just don't seem like the home coming dance kinda guy," she shrugged. Sunny smiled and tried to force any suspicions out of her head. "But if you want to go then I would like that Stasi," she said, almost wanting to reach across and take his hand, but she stopped herself. She was being cautious today as she remembered how affectionate she had been the night before. "At least a few dances," she said with a pout. "I love dancing, even if the music isn't the best." She pushed her hair behind her ear. "And thanks, you know, for coming to the game."

"I will cheer loudly in Russian so that you know I am there," he promised. He wasn't about to promise dancing; he was sure he could get her to make out under a table instead.

She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. It was a simple thing, but quodpot was important to her and having her friends there cheering her on always made it even better. She was intrigued as to what this all meant but she didn't dare ask, even if they were trying to operate under the honesty policy at school. "I'm sure I'll score a few points for you in that case," she said decidedly, reaching out with one hand for Brutus.

"Why would you score points for me?" he asked. It wasn't that he didn't understand the concept. Stas wanted to harass her about something today.

She laughed and shook her head, giving Brutus a little belly rub. "Returning the favor for your enthusiasm," she grinned, a little nervously. "Why else would I score points for you?"

He leaned closer and trailed his finger down Lorelai's back before dropping it off and onto Sunny's arm. "You could just score with me instead of for me."

"Anastas!" she pulled back immediately. She would have slapped him any other time, but not in front of the familiars. It would be like slapping Lorelai in the face and she didn't want to do that. "He's a total pig sometimes Lorelai," she said quietly to the snake still resting on her collar. "It's supposed to be a gesture Anastas de Kooning, a nice gesture that you do for someone who... you know... never mind," she shook her head, flustered again.

Lorelai leaned into Sunny's neck ever so slightly. The familiar sensed the sudden tension between them and uncoiled herself slithering down Sunny's arm onto the floor and winding herself up Stas' knee. Stas wasn't about to apologize. "I am not too big on gestures." He shrugged and slipped Lorelai around his wrist where she curled contentedly.

Sunny slumped slightly and scooped up Brutus, pulling him into her lap, back to her safety blanket. She scratched behind his ears absently. "You might not be big on gestures but it doesn't mean I can't still try," she said stubbornly. She hugged Brutus to her chest as if squeezing him there would prevent anything bad from happening.

"You can try," he offered. "But you should not expect me to appreciate it." He attempted to say this in a way that wouldn't hurt her feelings any more than they already (and quite obviously) were. It was a warning, a simple and honest admission. "But I will be there for you whether or not you score."

She tried her best to put on a brave face that said whatever Anastas but it was obvious that her feelings were in fact hurt. "Fine," she said shortly. "It's not like it means anything anyways because you would never let it mean anything," she turned her back on him, suddenly feeling very warm and very upset. Brutus snuggled against her neck and mewed sympathetically.

He was more used to women reacting to him this way. This was familiar territory. "I wonder why you waste your time then," came the blase reply.

She shot daggers at him over her shoulder. "Is it so hard for you to believe that I might genuinely like you no matter how frustrating you are Anastas?" Well... that was more honest than she had planned on being. "I don't think I'm wasting my time, I hope that's not how you feel about the time we spend together," she said more quietly.

He was pushing her away again. Just as quickly as she had pulled the walls down they had snapped back up. "I am amused by the time we spend together." It was the only bit of affirmation he was going to offer this afternoon. "Am I confused about what this is? It is only fun. Nothing serious." Keep pushing. Push her right out the door.

Fine. If he's going to push so am I. She stood up and turned to look down at him. "Sure Anastas, that's exactly what this is," she scooted Brutus up a little. Keep telling yourself whatever you want to tell yourself. "You're just a stupid boy anyways," she huffed. Her eyes flicked quickly to the door but then rested on Stasi.

"It is a good thing that you finally caught on," he replied with the tiniest hint of amusement.

She squeezed Brutus tighter to her body, feeling the slightest prickle of tears at her eyes. She pushed them back, she was not going to cry in front of him. It's stupid to be crying over this, you are NOT going to cry over him. "Well I'm glad to see you so amused by this," she said sharply, making to walk past him.

He wanted to reach out and brush her leg as she walked past. He wanted to say something, anything that would take away that pained look on her face. He managed to wrangle his face into a cool mask and shrugged again. "What else should I feel?" he challenged, pretty sure that this statement would by the one to finally push her out the door.

Now she was infuriated. She stopped dead in her tracks when he spoke and looked at him through narrowed eyes. She set Brutus down and stormed to Anastas, dropping down on her knees so she could look him in the eyes. "Don't you dare," she said through clenched teeth and giving him a sharp jab in the chest. And with no warning at all Sunny pressed her lips to his as if to prove a point.

Now he was completely confounded. Lorelai tightened around his wrist as he struggled to find his balance with Sunny's lips pressing him backwards and her words pinning him to the spot. He wrapped his free arm around her back pulling her closer to him and kissed her back with a bit of menace. Any other girl would have gone running for the hills. Not his Sunny. He pushed that thought as far out of his head as he could manage. He pulled back from the kiss. "I will dare all I want," he whispered with his eyes locked on hers. "Clearly so will you."

She could feel his surprise and was glad when she felt his arm wrap around her. "Yeah well," she shrugged a little, letting one hand rest on his chest while the other wrapped around his neck. "You just remember that the next time you challenge me with that little tone of yours," her own tone was gentle yet threatening. She was sure they would go through this again as was their push and pull MO but she sure as hell wasn't going to storm out of his room letting him think he had won at pushing her away.

Anastas was completely floored. "My tone is anything but little." One eyebrow quirked upwards as he smirked at her. "You may want to remove yourself from my lap before the warden comes around."

Her cheeks reddened. She had been the one chastising him about following the rules during her visits and here she was sitting in his lap. She scooted off his lap quickly and tried to compose herself as best she could. Slightly exasperated, she leaned back and sighed "oh Stasi."

Back on familiar ground again. An exasperated girl trying not to get caught doing something lascivious in his dorm room. He reached over to brush his index finger over her jawline quickly before letting it drop, forgetting of course that Lorelai was still wrapped tight around his wrist. The snake hissed at him as indignantly as any snake can manage; she wasn't one to be jostled. "Sorry my love," he said to the snake, lifting her to look at him eye to eye. He set his arm on the edge of his bed so the snake could unspool onto it and find a nicer place to wrap herself up.

The contact, however brief, was pleasant. She smiled, watching Stasi interact with Lorelai. "Where is her name from anyways?" Sunny asked stretching out to grab Brutus again, who was sauntering past her. She pulled him into her lap.

"It is just a name I heard. It suits her." Her name did suit her, but the rest was a lie. "Where did you get Brutus? It is quite a name."

She grinned and looked at Lorelai, it wasn't a terribly common name, she had only heard it from that show that always seemed to be on, Gilmore Gilrs or something like that. She had watched it a few times, it was pretty good. She decided not to bring this up to him, he had a way of picking on her for things like that. "Brutus was the runt of his pack but he was a little scrapper just like me," she grinned down at her cat. "I knew he needed a tough name and who could be tougher than they guy who took down Julius Caesar?"

"One of the guys," Stas pointed out. "You might have named him Senate."

"Like one of the main conspirators," she conceded. Sunny scrunched up her nose a little at the idea of naming her familiar Senate. "Senate is not as bruuuuuuutal," she drew out the word with a grin. "Grumpy fat kitty boy needs a brutish name," she picked him up and held him out a little bit, facing Stasi . "Isn't it perfect for him? Brutus," she said with more emphasis. Brutus was practically rag doll until Sunny set him down in between them. Brutus stretched out so that he could touch Sunny's knee with his front paws and Stasi's leg with his back paws.

"Of course I get the ass end," Stasi said, using the Russian word for ass. "I defended you Brutus," he added in mock offense. "Perhaps I offended you."

Brutus mewed at Stasi, turning his head to look back at him. "I think he's trying to say that there's nothing wrong with his ends," Sunny said scratching under the cat's chin. "I don't think it's possible to offend Brutus though. He puts up with me all the time," she giggled.

"Ah yes. You are quite offensive." He googled his eyes at her and then gave Brutus an aggressive rub on the lower back. Lorelai had crept up silently, slipping off the bed and pooling near the cat's tail. She slithered up and rubbed the length of her body against his, stopping so that she could turn her head and properly look Brutus in the face.

She laughed, the thought of herself being offensive was pretty ridiculous. Sunny watched in interest as Lorelai made her way over to Brutus. He didn't notice it wasn't a human hand touching him until the snake was near his face. He looked at her in interest and gave her an inquisitive sniff. Then, very slowly and very carefully he rubbed his face against Lorelai. "Awww, Brute, makin friends," she grinned at their familiars. "They might need to start having play dates."

"I will not agree to play dates," he said. Put together the words felt ridiculous in his mouth. "They will only be able to spend time together when you agree to see me." Then he remembered that five minutes ago he was trying to push her out of here. How had she wormed her way back in? Stas had a new found respect for Sunny. In the love game she was going to be his most formidable opponent.

She smiled a little shyly, her face turning a little scarlet. She didn't even think of how she wanted to slap him across the face at least five times the past fifteen minutes. "I guess that could be arranged too," she shrugged. "Don't want to keep the new besties apart." It's all for the familiars. I'm just doing it to keep Brutus happy.

Stas was about to make some smart ass remark when his stomach growled rather loudly. He'd need something to eat if he was going to recover properly from this hangover. "I have enjoyed our visit Miss Garcia, but as you can plainly hear I am in need of sustenance." He smirked at Lorelai as she wrapped gracefully and loosely around Brutus. "Perhaps we can visit each other later so that our friends can spend more time together." He frowned at the look on Sunny's face. "It is not a play date because you will be helping me with the charms homework I have not finished."

Sunny heard his stomach growl. "Yeah, I should get going too. It was nice visiting," she stood up slowly and laughed. "Yeah, of course it's not a play date," she teased. "And why am I not surprised that your charms homework isn't done? When do you want m... us to stop by?"

He let the tiniest hint of a smile linger on his lips as she got up to go. "As late as you like."

She grinned at him. "Seven. Don't want to keep Brute up after his bed time." She thought to give him a kiss on the cheek but decided not to. "Come on Brutus," she called to the fat tabby.

Lorelai gave the cat a little squeeze before slipping off his body and curling her way back over to Stas. "Seven it is," he affirmed getting up himself. If she wasn't going to lean in he was. He moved to brush her hair back from her face and brushed his lips over hers. "I will see you then."

Sunny was always pleasantly surprised when Stasi didn't assault her with his kisses, just giving her a nice brush with his lips. She smiled. "See you," he gave his hand a little squeeze before leaving.

Tags: !complete, sol garcia