Why was he laughing, of all things? This wasn't a game, he was not being amusing — he was a very angry mercenary and— wait, why was he reaching for his cat ears?!
"Don't mind if I do!"
"Wait, what." Reks stared up at the man; oh god, he was serious, he was actually going to touch them. "Shit, no, I was kidding," he clarified quickly. "You're not supposed to literally..." It was too late, though, and the stranger's hands were already stroking his cat ears, yet another breach of privacy. "...touch... them..."
He was going to go on about he was the most annoying, frustrating, and intolerable man he had ever met, but he realized, with great dismay, that having his ears touched like this actually felt, well, good. He had taken care to make sure no one ever saw his cat ears, not even his friends from the islands, so naturally, no one had ever touched them before. But it was rather relaxing really, but most of all, it was calming. To Reks, a torrent of anger, it was rare for him to ever feel this calm.
His face was still red, mainly because this was probably the most embarrassing thing to happen to him, ever. Reks was a mercenary, not someone's kitty cat to pet! Again, he cast his eyes downwards, unable to look at this guy anymore, arms still crossed over his chest. "Hey, can you not... can you stop petting them. Please. This is all kinds of ridiculous."
Was that a goddamn purr forming in the back of his throat? He had never purred before and he was not sure he wanted to start doing that now. Gods, no no no, the less cat noises he made, the better. "Seriously, cut it out. You can't just go around stroking a random stranger's cat ears..." It was a very half-hearted attempt to get him to stop.
And he was calling them cute, of all things! No, no, no, Reks' cat ears were not cute, not in the least! This was why he hid them, so people didn't laugh or start petting them or start calling his ears cute!
"They're not cute, seriously, they're abominations." Reks related, but it was without his usual venom — it was hard for him to be angry when his ears were being stroked. "A merc shouldn't have cat ears on his head."