Waif and Stray - 5. A Check Up

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed relatively uneventfully. Char contacted Sara for her opinion on giving Ghost solid food, but they decided to stick with pâté for now until the final year vet student could come by and check him over the next day. There was more to the conversation, but neither his sister nor Jinx (whose sharp ears picked up both sides) would elaborate on why they kept glancing at Finn with so much mirth in their eyes. Whatever they were up to he couldn't do much about, so the teenager tried to ignore the knowing looks. Char ordered curry for herself and her brother and Jinx plumped for cured mackerel, one of her absolute all time favourites, nibbling at it daintily with a long thin fork. Given how chaotic the entire day had been, it wasn't really surprising that they all ended up falling asleep in the lounge, the embers of the dying fire keeping them all warm throughout the night.

~☆~

Char woke first, turning onto her back in a half doze and being rather rudely roused by the weight on her well switched rump. Muttering to herself bitterly, she got up and roused her brother. "C'mon boy, unless you want Sara seeing you like that."

Finn groggily realised that at some point he and Ghost had been covered with a blanket and had had a pillow slid under their heads, presumably by Charlotte. He pulled the sweatpants and pullover back on and slid off the headband, trying his best not to disturb the curled up ball of catgirl on the armchair, before sliding back under the blanket with Ghost. The catboy murmured happily at his return, snuggling up again as Finn spooned him. He was almost the perfect size; with the neko's bottom on his thighs Finn could rest his chin atop the fluffy white head, the occasional twitch of a snowy ear tickling his face. He slipped off back to sleep as Char got dressed and pottered about, quietly tidying up.

~☆~

Sara rapped on her sister's door having backed up her car as close to the ivy-covered house as she could manage. She had a few suitcases and boxes of Finn's essentials, everything the remaining older siblings at the home could think he'd need in the immediate future. Her dad had steadfastly refused to help, instead constantly quizzing the boy's twin over every aspect of his behaviour possible. It was a pretty pointless task from the outset as far as Sara was concerned; Finn and Chloë really weren't all that close. It had served only to get the young girl frustrated, snap angrily, irritate her father even more and earn the seat of her jeans a firm meeting with his slipper for her 'attitude'. Chloë hadn't helped herself; pushing dad when he was worked up was borderline suicidal. The long, dusky haired teen had spent the night snivelling in their shared room and complaining on the phone to her boyfriend of the week about the unfairness off it all; vaguely ironic given it was usually her that got her brother spanked. At least she hadn't gone into exactly why her father was pissed at her sibling with her schoolmate; Sara didn't doubt it was for the protection of Chloë's own reputation rather than her twin's, but still. She put the unpleasant events out of her mind, concentrating on the task at hand.

"Hey Char, you OK to give me a hand?"

Charlotte couldn't help but smile. There was no frostiness remaining in the short blond's voice; unlike Lucy, Sara seemed genetically incapable of holding a grudge. After assuring her that she was fine the two emptied the contents of the car into the hallway.

"Right, shall we have a look at this little neko of yours then?"

As Sara came into the living room, Finn finally managed to actually get up, grinning a 'hello' to his sister.

"Hey Finn, how you feeling? Sorry about... well, everything."

"Hey Sar. I'm OK, just a bit embarrassed..."

"Don't be. Not like anything's ever gonna change how much I love you kid. Got some of your things in the hall, nothing fun sorry, just clothes, shoes, toothbrush and stuff. Right, shall we have a look at... does he have a name yet?"

"Ghost." Jinx slowly sat up, giving a fangy yawn then smiling at Sara. Her bed hair was wild, giving her an even more impish look than normal.

"Good name." Sara smoothed the catgirl's hair, rewarded with a sleepy sound of satisfaction. Charlotte gathered the slowly waking catboy in her arms and carried him to the sofa.

"Oh wow, heterochromia iridium eh? That's different coloured eyes to the rest of you. Didn't notice in the dark the other night" She turned to Charlotte "He's going to need glasses, you know. Makes neko really short sighted."

Char frowned. "How didn't I notice that?" she wondered aloud.

"'Cos he makes up for it with his nose and ears, mainly. You'd probably never be able to tell, but we can make things much easier for him once he can talk a bit more. Hard to fit you for glasses if you can't say if they help, isn't it little guy?" She tapped Ghost on the nose. "Boop!" The catboy giggled and grinned at the silly human.

Sara took a clipboard out of a large black leather bag and started to fill in a form with Charlotte and Ghosts' details. "OK, so, any threadworms in his poop, odd colour to his pee?" Char answered a dozen similar questions, all negative. "Good, good. None of the others had any of those problems either, so I'm not too surprised. Let's get his temperature taken. Sorry little guy, this ain't gonna be much fun."

Finn watched in growing shock as Sara put a cushion in the middle of the sofa and lay the neko over it, bottom in the air. "Why don't you just put it in his mouth?"

"He'd bite it in half at his age. The little forehead strip things don't work so well on neko either, so rectal is really the only option. Don't worry, it won't hurt him, just feel a bit slimy and uncomfortable. He's probably going to need a bath after all this anyway though, so it won't feel nasty for long. Come hold his hands if you like - just be careful of his claws. Don't squeeze his fingertips." Sara took a thermometer with a little bulb at the end out of her bag, pulled on latex gloves and held it to warm it up a bit. "Unfortunately it's far from the most unpleasant thing I'll have to do for him today."

"W-what do you mean?" Finn could see a toothy grin spreading across Jinx's face. She looked almost evil, knowing both what was coming and that the boy had volunteered for most of it himself.

"Well, the kitten farm he was in was using the cheapest possible food - watered down milk and dry cattle pellets. No good at all for a young neko; most of them are really badly constipated, some even have impacted bowels - blockages inside, basically. We need it all out or it'll be really painful to shift, if he can manage it at all, so we'll give the fella a little enema in a bit."

Char suppressed a smile. "Will he just need the one?"

Sara thought for a moment. "Hopefully, but I can leave a spare kit or two if you like. It's easy enough to do."

Finn cringed inwardly as Sara applied lubricant to the thermometer, spread Ghost's cheeks apart and popped it into his rear. The kitten's eyes widened in surprise as he gasped a quiet 'Ooft!' sound. Sara slipped the gloves off, then supported the thermometer between her fingers, hand resting on the catboy's bottom, while she gently stroked his hair with the other hand.

"Good natured critter, isn't he? No complaints."

"Is there anything we can do about the bruises, creams or something?" Finn was still more concerned about the Ghost than his own impending doom.

"Nah, not after this long, it should be all healed in a few days now anyway, a week at the most. It's going to make the microchipping and shots more painful though - they're intramuscular and go in the flank or rump. I'll do my best, but he won't like it much. Saving those for last." She turned to Charlotte. "The results for the blood I took came back, all clear for the nasty stuff. No sign of Viridian or Tolworms in any of the farm kits, by some gods-blessed miracle given there were lupo in the next barn over."

Char frowned "Viridian? But the eyes..."

Sara gave her a hard look. "The whites of the eyes only go greenish in the final stages, dearest, it's untreatable and hideously contagious long before that. Why do you think I didn't want you to take him that night?"

"Sorry, I- I should have listened."

"You didn't want to listen Char, you never do once there's an idea in your head. I'm not having a go at you, really I'm not, but the treatment for Viridian is more painful than the disease." She glanced at Jinx then back to Charlotte, who flushed guiltily. "No point dwelling, and no harm done. So anyway, you might want to consider keeping him in nappies overnight for the next few weeks, just for the sake of the upholstery; most of the rescues are having pretty bad nightmares and there's been more than a few accidents. He'll probably try to rip them off but it's still worth a go." She popped the thermometer back out and held it up to the light. "Running half a degree too cool for my liking. Typical for early stages of malnutrition and not too alarming, but keep him warm; hypothermia is a killer in kittens his age. He needs cuddles at night, Jinx."

The catgirl, giving her signature vehement nod, voiced her major concern. "Good food."

Reminded, Sara turned back to Charlotte. "Yeah, so pork? Really?"

"Jinx is pretty sure. She's never been interested in it herself; only meat she's ever turned her nose up at in fact, so I don't think she's just suggesting food she likes herself - I know neko can do that sometimes but she's a sharp one."

"Well darn, pretty boy, got expensive tastes don't you? It's going to be a bit of a pain, Char, but I'd recommend roasting a pork joint or grilling chops and feeding him slivers. Bacon or gammon will be too salty and greasy at his age, ham a bit too processed - hold off a few months before any of those. Make sure it's not still pink at all, last thing he needs are the squits."

"The what?" Finn frowned.

"The squits, dear brother. The galloping trots. Liquidated assets. Lish's brown revenge. Diarrhoea." The boy snorted with laughter; little was as funny than toilet humour, and Sara's deadpan delivery was always priceless. "Seriously though, not only is it dangerous for an under nourished neko, but unless you have an air freshener fetish..."

The teenager smiled. "That's grim Sar."

"You have no idea. Before I forget Finn, I've got a friend at the shelter whose brother moved to town over the summer. Her nephew came too - know a boy called Zachary Quentin from your school? Apparently he's having a bit of a hard time making friends."

"The new kid - yeah, seems nice enough. Not sure it's a good idea for me to start hanging out with a new friend as soon as I've moved out though, dad would go mental."

"You're probably right I suppose. Still, don't like to think of the lad being bored - doesn't have any siblings to hang with. Anyway, shall we get an enema and some shots in this guy? I need to get home before too long."

Finn stood to follow, but Sara stopped him. "If you don't mind, the bathroom isn't that big. I need to show Charlotte how it's done, and Jinx's scent will help him stay calmer than a human's, especially if they've pack bonded already. We'll be back in a bit kid - you're not missing much."

As he watched them leave the teen sank into the sofa, and not for the first time in his life Finn tried to get his head around what his impulses and desires were telling him. It just didn't make sense; when he thought about schoolmates that he felt physically attracted to, that he dreamt of kissing or holding close in his most private moments in bed late at night, they were always boys. He didn't know why; that's just what his heart wanted - the smell of them, the imagined brush of lips on his, it made him burn with desire for strong arms around him. Zack Quentin's strong sepia features with their piercingly verdant emerald gaze under a dark brown mess of hair had appeared in more than one such fantasy, which was basically why he'd been avoiding the guy like the plague; last thing he needed was the new boy working out he turned Finn on.

However... the thought of older girls in control of him, ordering his naughty little neko self about, even spanking (not beating, spanking) his bottom as he submitted to their will... the knowledge of the coming humiliations at the hands of his sister and her catgirl had him almost breathless with anticipation. Was it because he was a submissive twin and the dominant was female? Chloë was undoubtedly always in charge out of the two of them, but then again, he usually hated that. He certainly felt no physical attraction to Charlotte herself; she was his sister for one thing, biological connection be damned, and Jinx wasn't even the same species. Why was he so messed up? Was it being orphaned at six? If it was, why wasn't Chloë this much of a shambles? Why had being told off by Charlotte, Lucy or Sara always given him a thrill that lectures from his Dad, Michael or his other foster brother Jeremy never had? He was pretty sure he was a freak, with something so broken inside him that if everyone ever found out about the absolute truth of it he'd be shunned and hated. Blinking tears from his eyes, he tried to concentrate on how much better life was here with Char at least. It was certainly a step in the right direction, even if he was pretty sure she was just putting up with his weirdness because he was family.

He lost the train of thought as the wailing mewls of distress from the bathroom grew louder and louder.

~☆~

The yowling gradually turned into outright crying, and Finn couldn't help but think that it almost sounded as if Ghost were being tortured. Just as the poor mite seemed to be calming down, there was a piercing scream, then another, and a third, followed by frantic scratching at the bathroom door. He heard it open moments before the little neko boy shot into the lounge at a rate of knots, bodily throwing himself at the teen and wrapping skinny limbs around his torso, holding on for dear life. The catboy dissolved into sobs, his whole body shaking as he wept into Finn's shoulder. The boy pulled a blanket up to cover the kit and cradled his charge gently, "Shhhh, s'okay, all done, all done, safe now." If the kitten understood, he clearly didn't believe it yet. An almost impossibly slender hand reached back and rubbed at the side of his right buttock - likely where the microchip and vaccinations had been injected. The diminutive body tensed as the three girls headed back down the hall.

"I'd best make myself scarce Char, gonna be a while before he trusts me again I reckon." Sara picked up her bag and, with a wave around the door to her brother, left them to comfort the kitten.

"He OK there?"

Finn raised an eyebrow at his sister incredulously.

"Yeah, stupid question I guess."

Finn reached a free hand down to the coffee table, picking up a pen and writing a few lines on a notepad Char kept there. She frowned thoughtfully as she read it, then raised an eyebrow. "Sure? I mean, it's not the worst idea, but..." The teen nodded, stroking Ghost's head as the catboy wept.

Jinx was a bit frustrated - there were many things she could master, but reading was not among them. She peered at the scribbles angrily until Char tapped her shoulder and pointed at Ghost. The catgirl's eyes narrowed - they were up to something, but if it was for the catboy it might be acceptable. Char led her back to the armchair and sat Jinx down on it, brushing her hair for about ten minutes until Finn felt his companion had calmed enough to gently extract himself. If his plan worked, the neko should be trusting Charlotte and Jinx again within the hour. Most of what he was about to endure had been inevitable at this point anyway.

Ghost squirmed into the corner of the sofa, as far from the traitorous females as he could, while Finn slipped off his clothes and donned the neko ears. Char asked Jinx to stay in the armchair before retrieving a few items from around the house. When she returned, she stacked two cushions in the centre of the floor. "Alright kitten, let's get your temperature taken!"

Finn groaned inwardly. Fantasy or not, it was still mortifying; idly he wondered if that's what excited him, the degradation and utter submission to the will of another. Regardless, he had little choice now but to obey. He crawled over and lay over the cushions, pushing his rear as high up as possible, legs spread as his sister lubricated a rather familiar looking style of thermometer. He knew from the cool air on his anus that he had to be giving Jinx a perfect view of everything he had back there from where she was sitting; it may have been his imagination but he almost thought he heard a faint snort of laughter at his predicament. All of this was sort of expected, but his sister's comment as she pushed his cheeks apart almost broke him.

"I think we're going to have to make sure our boys are cleaning themselves properly Jinx."

He opened his mouth to object, but heard himself gasp loudly instead as the thermometer was slowly pushed inside him; Charlotte had clearly forgotten the warming part, and the thing felt huge! His mouth worked wordlessly until his rear grew accustomed to the sensation, while the young woman rested one hand on his rump and stroked his hair with the other. The humiliation was exquisite, yet the hand on his head so reassuring, so comforting and accepting that each touch seemed like a silent absolution of his every disgrace. Though his face was likely the deepest of crimson shades possible, he smiled slightly in spite of it all. Did Char somehow know humiliation would appeal to him before he had?

Ghost could barely see what was going on, but the odour of the lubricant was sharply recognisable. He frowned; Finn hadn't been in the other room when the recent outrages had been visited upon him, but the human had to have seen how upset the neko was afterwards - why did he smell so calm knowing horrors were coming his way? His friend was so brave! He wanted to go and be there for him, to hold his hands as Finn had held the catboy's, but still mistrusted Charlotte too much. He warily waited for now, worried for the only ally that hadn't double crossed him and feeling increasingly guilty that he wasn't providing the comfort that the teen had given him.

Char popped the thermometer out, checking it and declaring Finn's temperature to be normal. The boy remained obediently over the pillow, waiting for permission to move, only semi conscious of the fact he had totally given over control to the females. He later wondered just how long he would have stayed there in subservient acquiescence had he received no instruction to get up, mind almost like clay awaiting moulding to the will of his mistresses. His foster sister cleaned the thermometer carefully as Jinx chortled lightly, but there was no resentment in Finn's mind - if his purpose at the moment was to be a source of amusement for the kitten, that was her perogative. As Char finished her task, she gave his bottom a light pat. "C'mon then, sooner we can get you clean inside, sooner we can get you both bathed and this'll all be over. There's presents coming for everyone later on to make up for all this nastiness."

Finn slowly crawled up and followed, the gooey slime around the entrance to his back passage decidedly unpleasant as his cheeks slipped against each other frictionlessly. Jinx followed at Char's beckoning, leaving Ghost to huddle under the blankets nervously. The sheer dauntlessness of the older boy was amazing; he went with the torturers without so much as a whiff of fear. The catboy's mind worked at the situation, brow wrinkling above large glossy eyes as he tried to understand. The females had been so kind up until now - could it be he was misreading what they had done?

~☆~

In the bathroom, Charlotte patted the side of the tub, "Up and in my neko, butt facing the plughole in case of accidents. Let's get this done." She started filling the sink, adjusting the hot and cold water and occasionally testing the temperature with her elbow. When she was satisfied, one of the spare kits Sara had left was opened up and the bag submerged. Ghost had only needed his a third filled, but this new patient was substantially larger and would likely require the whole thing.

Finn was dreading this; there wasn't a doubt in his mind that this was going to be gross on a level that staggered the imagination. He'd been relatively surprised as the lack of strong odour in the bathroom when he entered, correctly surmising that this was because the kibble had been so lacking in nutrition. Jinx was smirking, but he could forgive the amusement - had the roles been reversed he'd probably be smirking too. His revenge was going to be had on the catgirl's sensitive nose in a few minutes time unless he was very much mistaken, and in spades.

His attention had been on this line of thought and the catgirl's mischievous face for so long that the first touch of his foster sister's gloved hand spreading him again came as a shock. He had expected a rude invasion of a different sort than the one that came as a gloved fingertip applied generous lubricant to his hole, even pushing slightly inside and twisting to ensure the coming enema nozzle would do him no damage. A glance back at Char's face betrayed no enjoyment or disgust of any sort; this was a mechanical, medical process she undertook with clinical detachment. The nozzle itself, already prepared with it's own coat of gel entered him next. Larger than the thermometer had been, the teenager let out a ragged gasp as it violated his most tender and private orifice. At an instruction from Char, Jinx took over holding it in place, equally as careful not to hurt him but with substantially more amusement sparkling in her grey-blue eyes.

"Need a moment to get used to that before we start?"

The boy nodded, fixing his gaze on a point in front of him with the hard enamel surface of the bathtub starting to hurt his elbows and knees as he tried to build up the courage to continue the proceedings. Jinx gently started to stroke his back comfortingly; he welcomed the touch, his mind drifting back to the place it had been while Char smoothed his hair earlier.

"Ready?" He supposed she had guessed that he was struggling to volunteer without prompting and just nodded, eyes still fixed downward. He heard a click, then felt liquid flood into him. The sensation was totally outside his realm of experience, having never had to suffer this particular indignity before - he felt full almost immediately but the warm enema just kept coming. Small twinges and cramps flickered inside him uncomfortably; it was as if he'd drunk too much water and his stomach had sunk into his guts. Before long, Char told him to prepare to clench and hold, then blessedly slipped the invader out of his backside. Rising to his knees and squeezing his buttocks for all he was worth, he was amazed at how swollen his belly looked. He looked imploringly up at Charlotte. "Stand? Please?" If he tried to crawl out of the tub this was going to end badly for all concerned. She nodded assent.

"I'm just glad I'm not going to have to hold you to stop you falling in the toilet bowl; I was scared Ghost might tear my arm to shreds." Finn staggered to the toilet, panting with the effort of holding the fluid inside.

~☆~

Ghost was huddled under the blankets, still gently whimpering in his misery. His insides had ached after the water and worse had all come out of him, but as he sat recovering his abdomen was actually starting to feel better than it had in ages. His sharp senses could hear Finn's moans of distress and smell the results of the bigger boy's own bottom cleaning, sympathy welling in the kitten's heart. He didn't wish the experience on anyone, and knew there was worse to come. As Finn's gasps slowly subsided, the catboy's breath quickened... here it came...

~☆~

Char looked at Finn as he burned with humiliation. The teen had been bent forward, Jinx studiously wiping his rear with wet wipes. "Sure about this?" she whispered, holding a pin in one hand over the lighter flame in the other to sterilise it. The teenager nodded firmly, knelt and proffered his rear, squeezing his eyes shut and holding his breath. This was the key to the entire plan; Ghost would be able to smell blood, or the lack of it, and had to believe that Finn had suffered through exactly the same process. He let out little "Ow!" noises quite deliberately as Charlotte gave him three sharp pricks on his right flank, then pulled the door open and crawled through to the living room with his best pout on his face. Ghost held out his arms immediately and Finn scooped him up with a final muttered 'ouch' as Jinx and Charlotte slipped in behind him.

The catboy couldn't quite believe how much better the bigger male had dealt with the ordeal. What's more, there was no anger or resentment on his scent, nor did he shy away as Jinx approached, snuggling up to Finn. Ghost didn't flinch either - there was nowhere to run safer than the teen's arms for one thing, plus he was gradually re-evaluating events. His guts undeniably felt better, and the memory of how painful his last attempt to defecate on his own had been was still relatively fresh in his mind. Everything that had happened since he came here with Char had been good, it didn't make much sense that the females had turned on him to do harm now. Some of those good things had actually been uncomfortable; having his bruised back washed, for example, did get rid of the stink that had clung to him. The truth dawned slowly; sometimes, what was best for you wasn't very nice to go through, and could even hurt on occasion. Slowly, he reached out to Jinx and hugged her and Finn both.

Charlotte looked on in wonder. She'd expected the catboy to be sulking for a day at least, yet seemingly on the spot Finn had engineered the situation to rebuild trust in a matter of minutes. Her chest filled with pride in her brother, once again baffled how anyone could shun such a gentle, sensitive soul over something as inconsequential as which gender appealed to him.