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Levi wakes up cooler than he was expecting to be. He gropes around the sheets but there is definitely no one else there. He opens his eyes reluctantly, and, yeah.
No one in the bed. No shower running. No sound of him being made breakfast. Which was the least likely scenario anyway.
Not that he’s sure he wants to eat anything Cole makes, but surely he can handle a tea bag and a toaster?
Levi swings his legs over the side of the bed and shimmies into boxers. Cole’s side of the bed - and it won’t be referred to like that again because honestly? fuck Cole Palmer and his shag and bail attitude- is cold.
In the kitchen there is no toast. The kettle is not hot and Cole’s keys are in the bowl on the table.
Even a bit drunk last night - even in the hazy relief after dancing around each other for well over a year - Levi made him put the keys in a sensible place.
Because playing with him in the National team and now a quarter season in with Chelsea has taught him Cole is useless in the morning.
He used to think it was kind of endearing. A sort of opposites attract when he was ready five minutes early and Cole was always slightly late. Had this idea about encouraging him to be ready faster with kisses. And after last night, blow jobs.
Levi fills the kettle and considers eating. If Cole didn’t get his keys he'd probably taken an Uber home.
Levi should make breakfast. He should check his phone, maybe there was some emergency that meant Cole snuck out his bed after they had sex without making a sound and had to leave in the middle of the night without saying anything.
Levi doesn’t want there to have been a death in his family. But it would have been an acceptable excuse.
Something that wasn’t panic or Cole being an utter asshole. Something more reasonable, like alien abduction.
Levi walks into the living room and flicks the sleeve of Cole’s shirt out of the way and picks up his phone. No message. Levi looks at the sleeve of Cole’s shirt.
The kettle whistles and he jumps. Cole left naked in a UFO? Levi shakes his head. Cole probably grabbed the wrong shirt when he left in darkness, the wanker.
Levi takes some pleasure in knowing the particular shade of red shirt he was wearing yesterday will look awful on him.
Levi sits moodily at the table and ignores the rustling in the pantry. He sends Cole the most passive aggressive text he can think of. Cole's phone lights up with it in the bowl next to his keys.
Levi puts his phone down. He was a little bit drunk last night, but the disappointment of Cole not being here, and maybe the sex? Has made Levi a moron. Levi tries to focus on Cole and not the sex. Because that? That was really good.
Cole stripping off in the lounge, slipping to his knees and blowing Levi on the couch and being so desperate and needy and making those gratifying little whimpers? Levi thumps his head on the table.
“Cole?” He says out loud. There is a rustle in the pantry and he gets up and checks the spare room and the bathrooms. He checks through the peephole in case he has, Levi doesn’t know, fallen over or something.
In the kitchen there is an odd scratching sound which is probably the kettle cooling down and Levi has a headache.
Cole’s phone lights up with a message from Enzo which is mostly eggplant emojis and question marks.
Levi makes tea and leaves it on the table. He heads to the pantry for aspirin.
There is a smashed glass on the floor and a pale white rat on the ground that rears up on its back feet. Levi yells and slams the door shut.
There is a ringing silence in the kitchen after his absolutely not scream. He likes this flat. It’s a nice building. There is a doorman, and his courier packages have never been stolen, and there is a rat in his pantry.
There is a scratching noise and he opens the door again. The rat is still there. It points at the broken glass with its little rat paw and then at his litttle rat back paws.
Its tail swishes behind it. Lifting up to avoid the glass. It rears up again and chirps in its little rat voice and waves its front rat paws at Levi.
“You’re a rat.” Levi says. “Get lost.” He waves his hand at it, keeping well out of rat teeth range. The rat sits back and… rolls its little rat eyes?
The rat waves his front paws at him again and rat- gestures at the broken glass.
“Do you want me to pick you up?” Levi wonders what he drank. They drove home. Two beers max. The rat nods its little rat head. Its front rat teeth gleam.
“No biting.” Levi says. It bobs its little rat head in agreement.
Levi puts his hand down and the rat jumps nimbly onto his palm.
Levi sits at the table and the rat jumps off and heads for his tea cup. “It’s hot.” Levi tells him. “I just made it.” The rat taps his head and points at the cup. It mines drinking a cup with its little rat paws held in front of it and Levi says out loud “I think I’m hallucinating.”
The rat pokes him. It makes a squeaky chirping noise and points at the tea. Levi gets a saucer and tips some in.
The rat gets its little rat snout right over it and makes a bit of a mess on the table. Levi drinks his own tea. He finishes second. The rat watches him, cleaning his quite long rat whiskers with its little rat paws.
Cole’s phone lights up and Enzo has sent an emoji of a peach. The rat makes a sign like ‘wanker’ with it’s little rat arm and Levi says “Cole?”
The rat nods its little rat head enthusiastically and holds its little rat arms up.
Levi puts his hand down and the rat jumps on his palm again. He holds his hand up so the rat is more at eye level. It turns around and acts out going to sleep. It lies down and it’s long skinny rat tail settles in front of its pointy rat nose.
“Do you want to go back to bed?” Levi asks. The rat sits up and nods. Then it yawns, showing all its little rat teeth.
“Right.” Levi stands up and yells when the rat races up his arm and perches on his shoulder. “Rat feet!” He yells. The rat sits on his shoulder digging in and squeaks an odd little chirp in his ear.
“Don’t touch my hair.” Levi tells it. He goes back to the bedroom walking carefully. But the little rat has pretty good balance, and doesn’t dig it’s feet in too much. It leaps onto the bed and Levi keeps his boxers on as it curls in a little ball on his pillow.
Levi strokes it’s back very gently, it’s quite soft. The rat makes a different sound, almost like a purr, at him and pushes its nose into his hand.
Levi falls back asleep with his arm curled around the pillow so the rat doesn’t fall off. When he wakes up he’s hot, with Cole pressed along his front. His hair is tickling his mouth.
Cole groans and stretches. Half way through he freezes and then settles down. “Are you awake?” He asks in a quiet voice.
“Are you a rat?” Levi asks back.
“Right now?” Cole says. “No. One hundred percent human.”
Levi rolls onto his back and puts his arm over his eyes. “And before.”
“Ok.” Cole shuffles back a bit so he’s no longer pressed alongside Levi and Levi misses it. “So before? I was, you know, not one hundred percent human.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
There is a long silence. Levi puts his arm down and turns to Cole.
Cole is looking at him like he’s an idiot. Which, honestly? fair.
Cole sighs. “It’s. Rats aren’t the coolest animal okay?” He says in a rush. “They have long hairless tails and like the plague and witches and shit.”
“What would be a cooler animal?” Levi asks. Doesn’t focus on the animal bit at all.
“My dad is a wolf.” Cole sounds put out. “Hollie is a panther.”
“That would suck.” Levi tells him. “Wait, what?”
Cole frowns. “Well it’s usually four legged animals. I mean if you turned into some kind of fish or something you would die.”
“Right.” Levi says. His headache threatens to return.
“It would be cool to be a sting ray.” Cole says.
“Not very practical in a city.” Levi says. “Not very practical to be a panther in London either.”
“That's what my mum always tells me.” Cole says.
“Why were you in the pantry?” Levi asks.
“I woke up with a headache.” Cole pauses “I was looking for aspirin then, you know, and I didn’t want to get glass in my tail.”
“And how much sugar do you have in your tea? My teeth ache.”
“You have plenty of teeth.” Levi tells him and laughs at Cole’s outraged face.
Cole clambers on top of him. “Sorry I didn’t tell you.” He says earnestly. “Normally I can control it.”
“Ok.” Levi says. He strokes Cole’s back. There is a lot of warm naked skin pressed to his, and his dick takes an interest.
“Unmmm.” Cole shimmies on him a bit and his dick is also getting harder. “Did you want to talk about it?”
“Later.” Levi tells him. “Wait. Is there any chance you could.. you know in the middle..”
“No!” Cole sounds outraged. He quietly adds “it’s new emotions. Like, new because of you emotions. I get overwhelmed if it’s. Not normal. Otherwise every time I won or lost a game I’d, you know, rat.”
“Right.” Levi pulls Cole down into the kiss he’d planned the first time he woke up. “At least it’s not alien abduction.” He tells Cole. “That would have been so weird.”
Cole kisses him back, but Levi is sure he’s rolling his eyes again.
“Do you have new emotions about me?” Levi grins and Cole blushes. “They aren’t that new.” Cole’s still pink but he looks pretty happy to Levi.
“Anyway. Emotions after.” Cole finally says. He kisses down Levi’s neck.
“No teeth.” Levi tells him laughing and then moaning when Cole nibbles a bit on his ear.