"Hey, everyone is gonna fight eventually," Russell says, waving his hand, though he looks a lot more casual about it than he feels. He and Katie don't really fight, they never have, not since that awful day when the virus had come to Darrow. It's not something Russell wants to think about, he hates so much how he had behaved and, even worse, that maybe he'd been responsible for bringing the virus to Darrow in the first place. He'd hurt people he loves, hurt them badly, and he'll do anything in the world to make sure that never happens again, and if part of that is never fighting with Katie, he's more than happy to do that. She's far from unreasonable, the sweetest person he's ever known, and he's going to make sure she knows how much he loves her for the rest of his life. If a little part of him is always making up for the awful things he'd done while sick, he's more than happy to take that.

"Think of it this way, if you're gonna fight for the first time, it's probably better that it's about a couple of cats instead of somethin' real serious, right?" he asks, although he doesn't actually know if that makes any sense. It seems to, because cats really aren't a big deal when it comes down to the end. It's not like Reid's got a secret girlfriend -- or boyfriend, or whatever -- and it's not like he's adopted a child or something without telling the guy he's living with. Cats are nothing. Hardly worth fighting about at all, but if they do, Russell figures there really are worse things. Bigger secrets, bigger problems.

"C'mon, grab your cats and face the music," he says with a grin. "It's gonna be okay. I'm sure of it. If he hasn't killed me already from all the times I interrupt your nights together for work stuff, he's not gonna be mad about the cats." And even if he is, Russell figures they'll work it out.