HELLBOY DOESN’T SO MUCH as bat an eye at abe’s sudden appearance , though he does lean down to scoop up a couple of cats crawling out of the darkest spaces of his room to investigate the sudden smell of fish . he plucks the smallest , curious kitten off the bed to join the others in his arms . even if he didn’t know too much about abe’s biology , it doesn’t take a rocket scientist ( or in this case , marine biologist , probably ) to understand that cats and fish men aren’t the best of combinations .
“ nah , they’re around here … somewhere . “ he glances around the room , which is in a perpetual state of disaster , as always . a proper search can’t be done without the use of his hands , which are currently cradling ( and being playfully gnawed on by) the cats . hellboy pauses , pursing his lips in thought , before kicking over a cardboard box that’s part of the miscellaneous junk he’s accumulated over the years and setting the cats inside it in hopes it’ll retain them long enough for him to dig through his crap and find the books .
( the littlest kitten escapes and promptly slinks her way back to the bed to investigate the intruder . )
“ well , here’s ONE of ‘em . “ hellboy announces , pulling the book out from under a pile of old newspapers . he strides over to the bed to pass the book to abe and retrieves the kitten once again . “ hope they’re not TOO important . this might take a while . “
“ you should take BETTER care of them . ” book or cats? no one knew. abe chides. always gentle, always as though it is expected. like clockwork. liz rolls her eyes at them, abe smiles, then hellboy comes up with some witty line. even if coming here is questionable to his health, he likes the calm. it is familiar. warm. the feeling is difficult to explain.
( for his own sake he keeps his gloves on . )
small paws scurry, playing happily without a care. abe enjoys the little ones. they are bright with joy. happiness rolling out with little purrs. hb gathers the herd of them, arms full of squirming paws. the sight is common yet it draws out a chuckle. “ OH ! ” gloved hands cradle the smallest, fondness swelling up. her defiance reminds him of liz so he chances the fur, rubbing the bridge of her nose. it isn’t a bad trade when hellboy comes back with one of the tomes. abe only slightly misses the purring body in his hands. he makes a mental note to further study the similarities between kittens, whales, then perhaps penguins.
displeasure shows briefly. a suspicious stain on the cover has him looking at hb with a sigh. “ no, wouldn’t say too important. merely reading up on the cause of vampirism. a few sources claw it may be viral, changing the physiology on a base level. ” a pause. “ it isn’t MUCH different from the common cold if that proves correct. ” an elaborate excuse. b.p.r.d. agents were busy with his tank. bothering hellboy seemed the best alternative to their scowls.
gloved fingers touch a crimson bicep.
please don’t make me leave.