Waif and Stray - 13. Spring is Sprung

It was, Zack was finding, mightily irritating. He and Finn had been together for months now, and simultaneously everything was fantastic and strangely stagnant. They spent plenty of time together, recently heading out on short weekend bike rides as the spring burgeoned, and always ended up finding somewhere to sit and kiss for a while. They got to know each other, but nothing important. Zack only gently prodded at whatever Finn was so sure was an unforgivable character flaw, but despite pouring on assurances of secrecy and understanding there was no gain. He wasn't even allowed to open up himself; Finn would change the subject. About the most interesting things Zack put together were that the blond was fond of a firm hand around the back of his neck, and grinned mischievously when he was mockingly 'told off'. Other than that, the boy was seemingly happy to just coast along with hand holding and stolen kisses.

Finn got to meet Rebecca properly, and Valentine the young wolfboy (well, Val, Valen, Tine, Tiny or any other variation of it; never Valentine or he got huffy. Finn could understand given he was only called Finley when he was in trouble), with Charlotte fully warned and prepared to deal with the situation. Zack eventually got him to admit that Char would have him strip in the back yard and hose him down when he went home. Far from the mockery he expected, Finn just got a few jokes about it still being too cold and a dire warning about how he'd shrivel away to nothing. Zack himself got to know Charlotte better, including the revelation that she was gay. This honestly surprised him - that she was so open about it. She seemed to think most of the town knew anyway, but in comparison to Zack's own experience it was a huge step to take. Charlotte also believed it made her a social pariah, and on that she might be right given the judgemental looks and occasional derogatory remark she got in public. It was jarring to Zack, he hadn't actually seen people's reactions in person before, just heard vague statements like it 'could be challenging' to be gay. The fact that he'd seen so many of the abusers in church at Midwinter promising peace to their fellow man wasn't lost on him.

Finn continued his neko play when Zack wasn't about, learning the proper etiquette for using the litter tray being his greatest source of humiliation. No matter how shameful it all was though, he loved it. He loved the occasional spanking from Jinx, the embarrassment coupled with absolute acceptance, and the almost total lack of expectation. He was even growing to be fond of requesting climaxes, to a degree, but what he really wanted now was to share it all with Zack. He just couldn't work out how.

Chloë was being decidedly strange as well. She seemed to Finn to be able to be hugely protective and proud, then snipe with irritation at him with the next breath. She did seem to take well to Zack, who was sure Chloë knew they were together by the way she was acting. Finn reassured that if his twin suspected there would be absolutely no mistaking it.

Jinx had her hands full with Ghost. He seemed dead set on standing upright, something he was probably a long way off doing if he ever comfortably would after all that time in a cage, and it very clearly caused him pain. No amount of pleading or cajoling from Char could stop his wince-inducing efforts, and spanking him for causing himself pain seemed self defeating, so Jinx just tried to keep him as safe from himself as possible instead; it wouldn't do the kitten any long term harm. Otherwise, he put on a decent amount of weight, enough so every rib wasn't visible at least. Ghost had been malnourished at a young age; he was always going to be small now whatever he was fed, but still looked vastly improved. His general understanding of verbal communication developed well too, though he rarely spoke. When the catgirl wasn't busy fussing over him (which the younger neko rather enjoyed) he slowly learned the rules of the house. He had never been punished beyond a few firm pats on the rump by Jinx in a lesson on appropriate claw use, an experience that he didn't want to repeat. He certainly didn't want to risk that paddle of hers - Finn, being much naughtier, met it regularly and pulled all sorts of faces while it spanked him. Luckily, keeping Jinx happy wasn't too hard, she was pretty straightforward once you learned the rules, in Ghost's opinion.

The trip to the optician was a revelation for the catboy. Once Char was sure the kitten understood 'better' and 'worse' as concepts, she had him fitted for glasses. The practitioner was used to neko and advised a pair Ghost could grow into to save money; good glasses weren't cheap. Charlotte selected a silvery frame and round lenses, since they'd hopefully be a little tougher. The finished product was a young catboy who had a distinctly owl-like aspect and likely would for years to come. The glasses were too big, often crooked on his face, they were heavy and slipped down his nose and he kept forgetting not to touch the clear bits, having to polish off the fingerprints he left behind. And they were magical. The world was totally different; he'd had no basis for comparison before, no idea that this was how others perceived the world. There was a general consensus that Ghost in oversized glasses was adorable beyond all reason as well, and he did quite like being cooed over after so many years alone.

Time flew in the buildup to the boys' exams in late spring. There was less time for everything while their first adult qualifications were on the line, despite Char's insistence that there was no need for panic and there would always be options regardless of their results. As soon as the last exam was done, long before the results came back, the release of tension and sudden huge amount of free time was so liberating that Finn finally felt ready to let Zack in a bit more.