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The matter of Barney Calhoun's cat based predicament is basically public knowledge around the base by now. Ever since that ill-fated teleporter incident, a slow creep of feline features have been taking over his body. A man can only hide the changes for so long, especially the more drastic ones. It's not easy to conceal the pain and frustration around the deeper bodily changes like the growth of his tail, let alone the new fuzzy appendage itself. And, unfortunately for Barney, the shifting of bones has started up again, this time in his feet.
It's gotten to the point where his standard issue boots are painful to wear, his feet no longer shaped the way the manufacturer intended. Try as he might, there's one person who always sees through his attempts at hiding a worsening limp. The look of concern on Gordon's face is plain as day when they make eye contact. It's at that point Barney knows it's all over for him; he can't brush away Gordon Freeman for long.
He lets himself get convinced that Gordon needs to investigate (because of course he does, how could he resist?). Gordon's concern has him reluctantly explaining his entire skeletal shifting predicament. That's how they end up in Barney's room, the catlike man having shorn his boots and laid down on top of the sheets, uncomfortable and expectant.
When Gordon joins him and sits on the edge of the bed, the air is filled both with intimacy and awkwardness. Unwilling to push any further while in the other man's space, he waits for Barney to make the first move. Barney's ears flick as he thinks before he sighs.
"Here, I'll… lemme just," he stumbles, as he leans back on the bed. Resting on elbows below him, he makes sure he can still see Gordon before he puts his paws up on the scientist's lap. "Here you go."
Taking the sudden contact as permission, Gordon smiles in a way he hopes is reassuring. He takes one drastically altered foot in his hands and raises it up to get a closer look.
"Hey now, where's your manners, Gordon?" Barney snips. He grips the sheets and fights the instinct to flee now that he's in someone else's grasp.
"Sorry," Gordan signs, releasing one hand's grip to speak. Barney scoffs lightly but doesn't push any further. The apology is genuine and the look on Gordon's face is wounded. It's not his fault that Barney's jumpy. He lets out a tense sigh.
"It's fine, you can get your degree's worth investigating your new sample now, Dr. Freeman," Barney jokes, trying to lighten the mood despite his own anxiety.
Gordon thankfully picks up on the attempt and rolls his eyes before going back to turning Barney's foot around, rolling it at the ankle and checking out it's range of motion.
"For the last time, I'm not a biologist," he retorts, but he has a grin on his face now. He redirects the hand he was using to sign back onto Barney. Gordon presses down on toes, trying to gauge if his claws are retractable yet or not. Applying pressure proves they are. He checks out the paw pads poking through the fur, running his fingers along the perimeter of the beans where the fur ends and smooth pink skin begins. The skin here is fresh and soft, having newly erupted through flesh to form the raised shapes.
All the while Barney's tail instinctively starts to bristle and ears fold back despite his best efforts. He tries everything to play nice, redirecting his growing discomfort to sinking sharp nails into the battered blankets instead of Gordon's hand. All of his mental energy is put towards fighting his new instincts to not claw at the hand trapping him, to not yank his foot back, to not flee the room.
Gordon looks up from the tensed paw he's investigating. The stress on Barney's face is plain to see, his lips pressed thin and body wound like a rubber band. He looks like he's trying not to snap. In recognition, Gordon's fingers go from a place of data collection to more gentle movements, trying to soothe him. He loosens his grip and lowers the foot in his hands so that it gently rests on his lap. Eyes trained on Barney's face, he reassuringly pets along the fur.
When he is met only by expanding pupils and a flicked ear, Gordon cautiously continues. Hoping to get the other man to actually relax, he tries out a firmer touch. With gentle pressure of fingertips pushing into tense muscle, he drags down along the top of the paw. He repeats the stroking motion, gradually pressing harder with each pass.
The changed structure of his paws gives Gordon a little challenge on finding what will feel the best. He slips his fingers under and rubs soothing circles into Barney's arches. When he sees that plume of a tail finally relax, a little swell of pride grows in his chest. Emboldened by success, he tries his best to make Barney totally melt. He deserves a little pampering, Gordon reasons, after all he's been going through.
Barney eases into it, letting his guard down and relaxing into Gordon's touch. The fight or flight response within him calms down and his eyes start to droop. His half lidded eyes mirror the look of a smiling cat, content and safe. The process of transformation has been rough on his extremities, the muscles are sore and full of knots from being pulled and dragged along with twisting bones. It feels so good to finally have pleasant contact with them.
With a particularly firm push, Gordon manages to release a knot and Barney lets out a sigh. He practically deflates with the release of stress. Arms collapsing beneath him, he lays back all the way on the bed. Gordon freezes at the sudden movement and looks up from his work to check on him. A silent lash of Barney's impatient tail has him grinning and resuming his work.
Once Gordon's hands begin to press back down into the tender flesh, Barney starts up a rumbly purr. The sound is low and rusty, not used often yet and still out of practice but it suits him perfectly. He draws his hands up by his chest after finally releasing the sheets. They flop limply, a subconscious imitation of an animal on it's back. Barney's eyes are squinted almost shut, unfocused on anything. The smile lines around them crinkle. His pointed ears are slightly drooping, no longer twitching and pricked in their usual vigilance.
He seems to truly be at bliss. This is probably the most comfortable he's been since the bones in his feet started shifting. His hands, equally fuzzy but still much more human in structure, start to absentmindedly paddle in the air. The instinctive kneading motions makes Gordon's heart warm. Barney doesn't even seem to notice he's doing it.
He doubles down on making Barney feel good now, switching to the next foot. Gordon's hands knead into sore flesh, seeking out tender spots. Strong fingers loosen and smooth out strains. Thumbs dig into arches, pressing out knots. Gordon's tongue pokes out between his lips in deep concentration, brow furrowed as he works over Barney's paws.
He rubs into the pads with a firm touch, releasing the tension wound in the new flesh. Barney's toes automatically spread with the pressure, exposing new sharp claws from the soft fur. With a sense of satisfaction from doing his job well, Gordon admires those dangerous points while stroking each toe out from base to tip.
Barney's eyes flutter as he tries half heartedly to stay awake. Before long, they grow too heavy and he lets them shut completely. His lips part, revealing the tips of feline sharpened teeth. Once tense breaths now come slower and deeper. The kneading motions of his hands trail off as he grows stiller. All the while, the rattling purr in his chest continues.
Gordon slows down on the deeper rubbing, and turns to gently petting the soft dark fur on the top of Barney's foot. He lightly runs his fingertips along the grain of the fur. The rumpled hair is tenderly smoothed down by Gordon's loving touches. These spots of feline fluff on the former guard are indulgently soft. With Barney asleep, Gordon can admire him better without getting swatted at for staring. And of course he's going to take the opportunity.
He pets further up, following Barney's fur to his ankles and takes in all of how he's been changed. Gordon thumbs the bone of Barney's ankle before tracing back down. The process has been slow, so it's been hard to truly get an appreciation of the progress in daily life. But here, with Barney completely relaxed and stilled on his bed, Gordon is able to drink it all in. He delicately traces along the lines of shifted bones in Barney's feet as he looks at all of those new feline features.
He's able to admire his paws, not just the feet in his lap, but his hands that are just as thickly furred. His gently swishing tail, impressively fluffy and just barely dusted with a few gray strands. The whiskers that are mixed into his standard stubble, dotting his upper lip and eyebrows. Those triangular ears, their dark color mirroring his hair, the inner fluff tinged with flecks of gray. They flick every so often with Barney's dreaming. Gordon's eyes scan over the other man's body, tracing the fur that creeps over his body, climbing up from extremities.
When Barney starts snoring, Gordon decides he's probably sleeping deeply enough to move without startling him. He gently slips out from under those well loved paws. No longer near another source of body heat, Barney instinctively folds in on himself and curls into a fetal position. His tail too follows suit, curling up on his hip.
There's not much space on the simple single bed, but there's no way Gordon can walk away from Barney now. The bed may make it a tight squeeze, but he can make it work. As carefully as he can, Gordon slides in behind Barney, the cramped space forcing him to squish in close. He ends up curled around him, arm slung over Barney's stomach and forehead pressed against the back of Barney's neck. Those rusty purrs beckon Gordon to join him in sleep, the rumble soothing and tiring. He lets himself be lulled off, his own snores mixing with Barney’s rattling purrs.