Before the Dawn
Mercy, Mercy PleaseAs a furry, four-footed animal with impeccable balance and a great ability to leap, Minseok really loved nighttime in the city. It was fun to play in the dark, too, because no one could see if he went from cat to man and back again in a blink; and if no one could see, no one could care, which was exactly the way Minseok wanted it. He didn't particularly mind if people knew he was a hybrid—it was pretty hard to hide his tail as a human, after all—but he wasn't about to be tagged and put on the pet market just because a trapper was willing to take the chance that Minseok didn't already have a master.
Which he did, actually. Suho had taken Minseok in when the latter was much, much younger, and when the law passed that all hybrids needed tags and registered ownership, it just made sense for Suho to step up.
And there was yet another reason Minseok wasn't interested in the attention: because anyone who watched him long enough would eventually see Suho, and anyone who watched Suho long enough would eventually see something quite interesting growing out of the top of Minseok's master's head. Indeed, Suho had cat ears because he, too, was a hybrid, just like Minseok.
Yet unlike Minseok, Suho didn't love exploring the night; he had the freedom to roam like a human whenever and wherever he wanted and it was only Minseok's movements that were constantly monitored during peak daylight hours from dawn until dusk. Minseok didn't really mind, though, because the during the night, the city was his domain, and in the city was Suho.
When Minseok was younger, just a kitten still, he'd leave the apartment long before evening, slipping out in his cat form through the fire escape window and not returning until it was late enough for Suho to complain that sunrise had been over hours ago. But then the hybrid curfew had been introduced and Minseok had needed to wait until he was hidden in the darkness to make his nightly escape. Around that time, too, though, Minseok's hybrid side hit maturity and he stopped aging exactly like Suho had done six years earlier; and suddenly, Minseok's world began to change.
Suddenly, everything fascinating about the world wasn't outside of the house, but in it. Suddenly, Suho wasn't just a grumpy hyung who'd given a poor orphan a home when Minseok had needed it. Suddenly, the city in the night was much less inviting than Suho, even on most nights when all they did was sleep, curled up against each other as Suho snored softly and Minseok's tail trailed lazy circles across his lover's stomach.
And really, the transition had been sudden. One day Minseok had been a teenage boy who's cat was growing steadily alongside him, and the next Minseok was a man with a fully matured hybrid side that knew what it wanted just as suddenly as Suho had known it too. No longer were they orphan and benefactor turned legal Master; now that they were both men, Suho and Minseok were lovers, and had been ever since.
"What are you thinking about?" Suho rolled over to cuddle into Minseok's shirtless side, yawning as he did so. "I know you used to stay up all hours, but it's 2 am. Sleep."
Minseok's arms came up around his older lover almost instinctively as he let the last of his reminiscings float away. "Just us," he confessed in a whispered kiss against Suho's temple. "How we went from being what we were then to what we are now."
"Fate." Suho's answer was confident. "I didn't know it back then, but I didn't mate because I was waiting for you." The elder felt Minseok's nose wrinkle where it was nestled in his hair, and he chuckled breathily. "You know that's not what I meant, silly."
"I know, love," Minseok appeased as he tightened his embrace and bent his head down to move his kiss from Suho's forehead to his lips. "I know."
"I remember those days quite well, you know," Suho mused after a while, after they'd finished kissing—for now—and both had returned to their more comfortable snuggling positions. "You used to be so enamored by the night—in love with it almost—and I just couldn't understand why you'd give that up for me when it clearly made you so happy."
"You make me happy." Minseok's words were soft, but they rang true and he could feel Suho's pleased smile against his skin as the younger hybrid spoke them. "And I did love the night; I still do, actually." Suho looked up, confused, and Minseok thought his lover was adorable. "Pabo," his lips brushed briefly at the top of Suho's nose and he raised an arm to gesture at their entwined bodies and around their room. "I just happen to love this more."
"I'm," Suho paused to yawn endearingly, "glad." While he spoke, his words vibrated in Minseok's chest, and the younger looked down to see his lover's eyelids flutter shut as Suho fell asleep again.
"I love you," Minseok added under his breath as he, too, slipped back into sleep to join his lover in dreamland, "more."
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