I opened one eye sleepily as dense fur brushed against my nose. It was the first morning in a while that I'd been woken up by my feline. Still a little dazed, I wondered why Tiger was waking me rather than Tobi.

As I continued to awaken and my cognisance slowly returned, I was reminded that I had my arms wrapped around the most beautiful man in the world, our naked bodies still tangled together from our activities the previous night.

That's when I realised that the tabby's efforts were concentrated on Tobi. With our proximities being so much closer than usual, it was impossible for her to wake one of us without waking the other.

My head turned so that I could see my attractive companion, just as another delightful giggle escaped from him, no doubt a result of the cat pawing gently at his face from above.

I couldn't help smiling as Tiger left us, clearly satisfied she'd done enough to earn breakfast.

"Are you all right?" I asked him, hoping he didn't have any regrets about anything we did.

"Definitely," he answered confidently with his sky-blue eyes trained on mine. "I've been wanting to do that with you for a while."

"Really?" I breathed questioningly.

However, as the word escaped through my lips, I acknowledged that if I was honest with myself, I knew the answer to that already. Recalling some of the wistful looks and coy smiles I'd received previously, as well as some of the things Tobi had said, everything started clicking into place.

"Really," he confirmed. "The real question is whether you're all right, because that must have been a lot weirder for you than it was for me."

"Actually, not as weird as I thought," I admitted, pulling him closer and kissing his forehead while deciding to probe further. "So, was that all part of your Katki training?"

"I'd say it was more extra-curricular," he grinned. "We didn't always feel like sleeping when the lights went out."

"I see," I chuckled. "Well, for what it's worth, I could definitely get used to waking up like this."

"With Tiger's tail in your face, you mean?" he teased, rolling himself on top of me and pecking me lightly on the lips. "I could get used to this too. But since you have work to go to this morning, how about I deal with the cat while you get in the shower?"

Without waiting for a response, he slid nimbly out of the bed and pulled on the discarded pyjamas that had been lying on the floor.

Feeling slightly giddy, I watched him leave the room before floating into the shower on cloud nine. Closing my eyes, I washed my hair and immersed myself in the memories we created a few hours ago.

I couldn't remember feeling this way about anybody before. Was I really falling for a Katki?

My question was answered after I made my way downstairs and found Tobi setting us up for a breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast. The second I laid eyes on him in his navy pyjamas, my heart tripped over itself, and I knew the answer was 'yes.'

As we sat down to eat together, I saw in his pretty blue eyes that the same was true for him. Perhaps, as he'd implied earlier, the feelings had been there for a while, and this was the first time I'd paid enough attention to be able to see it for myself.

"So, Aschenputtel, huh?" he smirked teasingly as we started to eat. "Was that deliberate?"

Feeling like I was missing something, I looked up from my food.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to establish what he was alluding to.

"Last night you read me the story of a servant who manages to capture the interest of someone above their station," he clarified with his eyes glinting playfully.

I raised an eyebrow.

"I hadn't really considered that," I admitted as I continued tucking into the eggs in front of me, hoping I hadn't made an error in judgement. "I mean, you must know I don't see you as a servant, and I'm certainly no prince."

"Who says I meant it that way round?" he chuckled. "You're the one who goes to work, while I get provided for in my luxurious castle," he added as he indicated his surroundings. "Besides, the prince is the handsome one, right?"

I shook my head and laughed at his light-hearted conduct as I finished the last of my breakfast. I certainly wasn't about to argue with that last point.

"Of course," I agreed. "Talking of work," I added, standing up to leave. "I have to go. Thanks for the eggs, your Highness."

Seventy-three percent.

I studied the result for the sixth time in as many minutes. The computer screen was displaying the log entry of one 'Matthew Sullivan' after I'd dug into the records that would show me how closely I'd matched the Katki template.

Given how much I'd revelled in what Tobi and I had done the previous night, and what I'd suspected the template represented, I shouldn't be surprised that I was such a borderline case. It was clear that my feelings for him were certainly more than platonic. But still, I found myself staring disbelievingly at the computer screen as if I were in a dream as I was faced with yet more evidence that my hypothesis could be correct.

I wondered whether my father knew. He must know that my correlation had been high, but how much did he know about what the template denoted? Was he being kept in the dark too? What would he have done if I'd fallen over the threshold and into the pool of Katki?

Given his loyalty to the Andekas, I was fairly sure I knew the answer. What I wasn't sure about, was whether he'd make the same decision if he knew the truth about the template.

So, the question was, should I talk to him about my hypothesis?

I probably would if he wasn't so dedicated to our ruling family, but I was concerned that I hadn't yet collected enough evidence to overcome his allegiance. He was likely to view what I had as circumstantial, since really, I only had one test subject and my own feelings to base my theory on.

Still, I felt it was getting to the point where I was starting to struggle with the idea of keeping this information to myself, and wanted to discuss it, if only to alleviate the weight from my own shoulders. It didn't take me long to decide that Seren and Peter would be the most appropriate candidates. After all, they already knew more than anyone else and I felt I could trust them. I concluded that we could see whether they were available on Saturday morning.

In the meantime, the two nights I spent with Tobi before the weekend arrived were as intimate as they had been that Wednesday night. They were also just as pleasurable and brought us even closer than we had already been. He was everything I could have hoped for in a companion, even if we had to conduct our affairs furtively.

After waking bright and early on Saturday morning, I suggested that Tobi wore a turtleneck or similar to cover his tattoo so that we could cycle to Seren's house. Although winter had now arrived, it had been relatively mild so far, and we only needed a couple of layers each for our trip.

Parking the bicycles at the back of the house, we were greeted in the usual welcoming manner after we knocked on the front door, with the familiar lavender scent filling my airways as we entered. Seren's pregnancy still wasn't visible, although on our last visit, she had reported that her clothes were starting to feel slightly tighter around her middle.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, indicating Seren's belly as Tobi and I sat down together on the sofa in their lounge.

"So far, so good," she chirped. "Looking forward to the scan, of course. I'm excited to see our baby. What about you?"

"Not bad," I replied, fidgeting slightly as I tried to work out how best to approach the topic I wanted to discuss. "I actually wanted to talk something through with you. All of you," I added, purposely looking in turn at Tobi and Peter too.

"This sounds serious," Seren observed. "Is it to do with the Katki? Have you got somewhere with your investigation?"

"I think so," I answered, nodding slightly. "It's mainly just from observations, but I have a theory about what the genetic template represents."

I paused. Was I really about to tell them my hypothesis when it sounded so outlandish?

"Go on," Peter encouraged after I hesitated.

Taking a deep breath, I remembered all the evidence that pointed towards this being plausible and regained my composure.

"I think the Andekas may be separating out the boys who are destined to fall for other boys, and the girls that will end up loving other girls."

I could feel everyone's eyes on me as silence descended for a moment. I stayed quiet to enable them to digest what I'd just proposed.

"What do you mean?" Peter responded hesitantly. "That's not even a thing. I've never heard of that before."

"Of course not," I pointed out. "We've never been exposed to it because the Andekas are removing the people that are predisposed to it. Tobi is sexually attracted to men, and in his world, this compulsion is considered normal. He doesn't understand what it means to be attracted to women. You should have seen his face when I told him that men kiss women out here. He thought it was preposterous."

Seren and Peter both looked at the platinum blond, who hadn't moved since I started speaking.

"It's true," Tobi confirmed.

"I think the Katki are just people that are pre-disposed to love in a different way from the one we're always surrounded by," I continued as the couple' focus returned to me. "A way that the Andekas were trying to keep away from us."

"So, Amanda ... ?"

"Amanda too."

I could see everyone taking another minute to absorb the implications.

"Matty, that's a pretty eccentric theory," Peter mused, clearly contemplating whether there may be any truth to it. "How sure are you?"

"Not completely," I admitted. "I need to investigate some other avenues. But, at the very least, I'm convinced that the Katki aren't aggressive, and that the Andekas know it."

I started explaining what had prompted me to believe my postulations so far, recounting the calculations I'd made using the information I'd obtained from the laboratory involved in the Ravim production. I included Tobi's experience of doing his domestic training without the drug, elaborating on the idea that he and the other Katki had only been drugged to go to the Mart, as well as expanding on what I'd learned about the peculiar attraction that Katki of the same gender had for one another.

Seren and Peter seemed somewhat astonished at my disclosures, interspersing our conversation with relevant questions and comments. They appeared to believe what I told them, although they were as uncertain as I was about what to do with the information I was accruing.

Our long conversation resulted in us being invited to stay for lunch. Tobi offered to help Peter to make food, and they disappeared together into the kitchen, leaving me alone in the lounge with Seren.

"Can I ask you something?" she ventured warily, and I acknowledged with a nod of my head. "How did you even end up in the sort of conversation with Tobi where you're discussing who he was attracted to?"

That was one part of the tale I had yet to disclose to the couple. How my own personal journey slotted into all of this. I decided to spare her all the details and jumped straight to the bottom line.

"Tobi and I have been getting close," I replied, hoping I wouldn't need to elaborate too much on my statement.

"I already know you've been getting close," she agreed without looking fazed. "You've liked him since the Ravim wore off."

"I didn't mean like that," I clarified with a little trepidation. "I meant close like you and Peter are."

Seren's eyebrows shot up and she flinched slightly.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, clearly surprised at the revelation. "You mean ..."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean," I confirmed before she had a chance to finish her sentence.

"But that doesn't fit with your theory," she pointed out as she processed the information I was giving her, coming to a reasonable conclusion. "He might be Katki, but you're not."

"I think I might be borderline Katki," I rationalised. "I looked my own results up using the computer, and I was a seventy-three percent match to the template, Seren. I think maybe there's some kind of continuous scale for these tendencies, and only those at the most extreme end are being removed to serve as Katki."

"But why?" she asked, looking confused. "That doesn't make any sense."

She was right. The reasons driving this were eluding me as well.

"I don't even know," I concurred. "My theory just seems like the most probable explanation based on the evidence I've collected so far. Any motivation behind such conduct is beyond me, but I intend to find out."