Waif and Stray - 6. At least He Tried

Zack trudged through the snow, breath misting in the icy afternoon air and all but totally convinced that this was a monumentally stupid idea. His cousin Beccy had quizzed him about why he didn't seem to have any friends coming over during the holidays and he was pretty sure his parents had put her up to it. They were just concerned about him settling in, he knew that, but it was still a bit humiliating to have adults trying to organise playdates for you at sixteen years old. He kicked at a discarded drinks can sticking out of the snow, booting it ahead three or four times until he reached a litter bin, then stooped to pick it up and dispose of it properly. You'd think that the threat of fines or public flogging for littering would keep the streets cleaner, but folk seemed determined to mess up the planet regardless.

He'd told Beccy that the kid he most wanted to introduce himself to was Finn. That was a moment of abject insanity just on it's own; if he'd been prepared for the conversation there were a million better ways of going about it that wouldn't have had him blushing as he replied. Saying he liked Chloë for example - that would have gotten him closer to Finn in a bit of a safer way, understandable to his cousin maybe. Nothing could be further from the truth of course; the tawny haired tomboy was the biggest attention seeking brat he'd met in his life. The entire class had probably seen her bare backside over Mr Grey's lap so often they could pick it out of a police line-up - worse, she never seemed to knowingly go to her punishment alone, usually bringing at least one of the class along for the ride. Even her twin brother on one occasion... the memory of the cherubic boy's pants and boxer briefs pooled at his ankles, cute bum blushing pinker and pinker as firm slaps echoed around the room rose unbidden to Zack's mind. The twins had spent half the period stood on display, naked from the waist down, huddled together in the corner of the room with hands on their dark blond heads - Zack had managed to give so little attention to the rest of the lesson that two days later he found himself staring into that same corner with a stinging butt himself, the homework based on the subject Grey had been droning on about nowhere near good enough.

Beccy had told him to wait, that she'd talk to her friend Sara at work. He knew he should - Sara was Finn's foster sister, had helped raise him in the home they shared over the decade since the twins' parents had passed. It made perfect sense that she'd be able to convince the guy that Zack wanted to be his friend. Once he could actually talk to the boy without his throat going dry as a desert, build a friendship, things could maybe go from there. Maybe.

Just 'cos he's cute doesn't mean he likes boys.
Just 'cos he hates sports doesn't mean he likes boys.
Just 'cos you're desperate for him to doesn't mean he likes boys.
Even if he likes boys, it doesn't mean he'll like YOU.

Damn it all to perdition, the chances were so slim, so vanishingly small... but Zack trudged on.

His goal slowly came into view as he descended into the valley, a large natural stone building nestled into the snowy landscape like a Midwinter greeting card scene. It looked idyllic; the entire town did if he was being honest, no matter how much he missed the city. Smoke from an open fire rose lazily into the pale blue sky, a smudge of grey in an otherwise cloudless sky. After the blizzards of the last few days, it came as a welcome change. Lights burning within removed all possibility of the trip being fruitless and his nerves rebelled, heart pounding in his chest. Once again, this was stupid. What was he even going to say? He shuffled up the salted, clear pathway to the heavy wooden door, and knocked.

It was answered by quite possibly the single most imposing young woman Zack had seen in his entire life. If there was an ounce of fat on her entire body, he had no idea where he'd even begin to go about finding it. Muscled yet feminine arms folded in front of her as she cooly regarded the youngster, eyes so dark they seemed to lack irises at all pierced him as if they saw his very soul, not the trembling teenage form that contained it. Her umber skin was flawless, hair tied back in a pony tail, and a manicured eyebrow arced slowly upward in an obvious query as to his purpose in existing before her.

"I - umm... I was wondering... I mean I go to school with Finn... Is he... umm..."

"Finn don't live here no more kid."

"Oh... umm... sorry, I didn't..."

Zack froze in fright as hands alighted on his shoulders. A voice slowly, quietly whispered in his ear, "Stay very, very still. She hunts based on movement."

The woman who had opened the door erupted into good natured laughter, fingertips rising to her mouth in mirth. Zack turned in surprise to the newcomer, another woman perhaps a touch younger than the first. White-blond hair hung around a round, friendly face that smiled warmly, and he began to suspect the two were playing with him like cats with a mouse.

"Zachary Quentin esquire, I presume?" She gave an elaborate bow as if he were an old time nobleman. "Sara, I work with Beccy at the shelter. Lookin' for Finn? He moved in with our other sister Charlotte a day or so ago, just got back from there myself actually. Hasn't gone too far, but he'll probably be settling in for the rest of the holidays sorry. I'll let them know you were looking."

"Thanks, I'll... umm... see you about." The foster siblings watched the teen hurriedly scuttle away the way he came.

"Shit, Lucy, you doing your part for the local economy, drumming up business for underwear merchants?"

"Like you can talk, creeping up on him like that." Lucy took a deep breath. "Anyway, I'm tryin' to save the kid's life. If dad had been in when that pretty boi came sniffin' about after Finn we'd be tucking into him for Midwinter lunch."

Sara lightly batted at her sister with the back of her hand. "Get your mind out of the gutter girl. Kid's new in town, shy type like Finn, just looking to make a friend. "

"Yeah... right. I believe you, great multitudes of the gods-blessed wouldn't. "

The two retreated into the house, shutting out the ice cold air behind them.

~☆~

With Finn by his side, it still took a little convincing to get Ghost to re-enter the scene of the morning's traumatic events after Char ran a bath. It became rapidly obvious he wouldn't be willingly leaving the boy's side any time soon, even now he had forgiven the girls, so it took the teenager clambering into the foamy water to coax him in too. Once there however, the new experience delighted the catboy who happily splashed about and rapidly became fascinated with a little plastic toy boat he couldn't get to sink. Finn couldn't help himself and took a headlong dive back toward childhood himself, joining in the game with the more classic rubber ducky. Jinx supervised the two, smiling and itching to join in but feeling that it would be far too Undignified to do so. The neko was left in charge on two occasions as Charlotte answered the door to receive deliveries; the first a small pile of boxes containing gifts and supplies for her kitten pack, the second from the supermarket. Knowing it was going to take time to cook, she left them to play as she put the pork joint she'd bought into the oven; it would provide plenty of meals for the little catboy over the next few days.

When she returned, she burst out laughing immediately at the scene that confronted her. Ghost had his hands clamped over his mouth trying not to giggle himself as a dripping wet Jinx stood over Finn, knees still in the bath but hands on the floor outside it and his damp bottom high in the air. Her face was angrily scowling as a pale arm rose and fell, applying loud but obviously ineffectual spanks to the teen's rear. Finn looked up at Char grinning - the catgirl clearly didn't have the strength in her slender arms to actually punish the boy properly, but didn't seem to realise it. After a full minute of the 'discipline', she put her hands on her hips and declared "Behave!", before turning to Charlotte and rather redundantly muttering "Wet". This was the absolute end for Ghost who howled with laughter, fat little milk canines flashing in the bathroom lights; since the scent of amusement from the bigger boy was clearly undiminished he had no fear of Finn actually being in distress. If Jinx detected this she didn't react, though Char was pretty sure she saw a wry little smile from the catgirl as she towelled off.

Jinx had her vengeance for the vicious splashing Finn had given her when it came to washing the boys. She insisted on thoroughly cleansing every single square inch of the teenager, and several of those square inches were more than a bit demeaning to have the elegant brunette's attention on. Having managed somehow to avoid it since he had first disrobed and donned ears the previous day, the inevitable finally happened and in front of both girls he developed quite the erection. It was the situation, the humiliation, and most of all the fact he didn't want it to happen - Char blessedly ignored it as if it wasn't happening, but the catgirl smugly beamed at his obvious squirming discomfort, moving on to take her soapy flannel to his rear end. Once again Finn was torn between dying with embarrassment and the thrill of submission to his superior packmate; rather perversely the main regret he had in the moment was that he wasn't wearing the neko ears, having taken them off before getting in the tub.

After both males' hair had been washed and Char had checked Finn had cleaned behind his ears (a perennial obsession in older girls washing younger boys for some reason, the teenager reflected, particularly bizarre given he hadn't had any part in cleaning himself), they were decanted from the bathtub and dried with fluffy towels before being led back into the living room. Charlotte had her brother leave the neko ears off so his hair could be blown dry, and as she prepared the drier asked Jinx to fetch the wooden hairbrush. The catgirl fixed her with a look of complete horror, running through everything she had done that day in her mind. The plastic hairbrush with fine bristles was for hair, the wooden one had one sole purpose in her experience and that was the paddling of very naughty catgirl bottoms. Noticing her aghast expression, Char actually laughed out loud.

"Stop looking at me like that Jinx! Ghost has really, really thick hair; the plastic brush has absolutely no chance of getting through it. The wooden one will be much better. I promise I'm not going to smack your bum."

Jinx looked unconvinced, but refusal of a direct instruction was likely to lead to difficulty sitting as well, so she complied with a very wary look in her eyes. Misbehaviour usually led to a hand spanking over Charlotte's knee; it took more than idle mischief to provoke a hairbrush tanning. Good thing too - the weapon she handed over was a vicious, hateful thing in the catgirl's opinion, capable of eliciting a sting that could scarcely be believed. She'd only felt it a handful of times and could happily go a very long time before experiencing it again.

Fortunately, Char was not being duplicitous; she immediately set about drying Ghost's glorious silvery mane. The neko laughed in surprise at the warm air blown at his crown, the jet eye tightly shut and verdant one wide. She couldn't help but smile along - the kitten's growing love of life was infectious. Finn was next with the plastic brush. He had to admit to himself that being cared for like this was wonderful, it gave him a warm feeling that reminded him of... well. It was best for an orphan not to dwell on that thought. As she finished, Charlotte reached over to the pile of boxes, selected one and passed it to the teen, who looked up in surprise.

"Early Midwinter present. Reckon after the last few days you could do with it."

Finn frowned, intrigued, and thanked her before he even took the box. Opening it he was astonished to find a pair of neko ears that took his breath away. They had to be far more expensive than the ones he had been wearing; rather than cheap, fluffy and obviously synthetic fur these were covered with short, fine hair and crafted to look just like a real neko's. The label still assured there were no animal products involved, but one could be forgiven for doubting it even on close inspection. The inside of the ears were incredibly detailed, the band clear and angled to hide it from view. Best of all, they were varied in colour from dark blond to brown, almost perfectly matching his hair. Eyes wide, he wordlessly threw his arms around his foster sibling, knocking her off her knees and onto her rump. As it hit the hardwood floor Charlotte's eyes shot open wide.

"Five gods in Elysium above Finn, my ass!!!"

He scrabbled back quickly, "Oh gods Char, I'm so sorry, I totally forgot..."

She laughed, ruefully rubbing her backside. "It's fine, it's fine. Take it you like them then?"

He nodded emphatically, about to put them on his head when Jinx appeared with the hairbrush. She glanced, concerned at Char - laughing or not the human's scent betrayed her shock at what must have been a stunningly painful bump. A minute later and the catgirl was done with Finn, vastly more impressed with the look of her human catboy now his ears looked so natural. The teen cheated a bit, standing so he could catch a quick glimpse in the mirror above the hearth. "Perfect" he murmured in appreciation.

Charlotte smiled to herself. The boy was probably going to like the next present a lot less, and it wasn't even for him. Not exactly, anyway. She passed a small thin box to Jinx, who clapped and squealed with glee before taking it. She sliced the tape sealing it shut with a single talon extended from her index finger, giving Finn his first proper close up look of the adolescent catgirl's claw. It was almost half an inch long fully extended from the wrinkled folds of skin where the nail would be on a human, needle sharp and slightly curved; the thing looked lethal. He made a mental note never to pick a fight with a neko.

Jinx peered into the box, then looked at Charlotte nervously. "It's for you to use with Finn," the young woman explained. A slow grin took root on the catgirl's pale face, and she wrinkled her lightly freckled nose at the boy. She slowly withdrew a small black leather paddle, embossed in gold with the words 'Be A Good Boy For Jinx' around the edge. The handle was clearly designed to be comfortable in a neko's slender grip, and Finn's eyes widened nervously; the sense of safety he'd felt since the Jinx had attempted to spank him ineffectually in the bathroom vanished in a heartbeat. Worse, for some inexplicable reason his groin was starting to threaten another uprising as he pictured himself laid across the petite female's knee, her new instrument of correction rhythmically slapping away at his bare bottom as she chanted 'naughty, naughty, naughty!', drawing tears and whimpers from his misbehaving, bratty soul... Damn but he had issues!

Char was opening a third box, from which she withdrew a stuffed white cat plushie, adorned with a little red collar complete with tiny golden bell, it's eyes mismatched green and black, embroidered in red with 'Ghost' in cursive over the heart. It was only around eight inches tall, obviously custom made. Finn was impressed; it must have cost a fair bit to get next day delivery on something like that. A glance at his foster sibling confirmed his suspicion that she was getting just as much from bestowing the presents as her pack was from receiving them, if not more. Jinx yipped in recognition at the toy; she had a very similar black one personalised for her that had barely left her hands for the first year she'd lived here. Charlotte gave it to the little catboy, whose eyes went wide as he rubbed the soft fur against his face.

"We all happy kittens?"

Jinx and Finn nodded their agreement, Ghost just hugging his new toy in quiet joy.

"Well, there's a few other things. I predicted some of the stuff Sara said, so we have diapers for the kittens and everything we need to clean them if they have any accidents, as well as cream and talc so our botties don't get any nasty rashes," she glanced at Finn, who wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole, "but no need to worry about that until tonight. Now, who's ready for something to eat?"

~☆~

Morning stretched toward midday lazily as the four happily lounged around the living room. Ghost was still the main centre of attention, as he gradually got more and more excited by the mouthwatering aroma coming from the kitchen; the room they sat in opened directly into it, and the double doors had to be kept closed lest the kitten get at the front of the hot oven. Jinx could totally relate; cooking fish used to have her practically climbing the walls before she understood that it smelled good long before it was ready to eat, and did her best to keep the youngster distracted with general (and yes, she loved the word, definitely worth the effort of remembering it...) hijinks. They had a number of toys that the catgirl had long outgrown herself but were perfect for the task, Jinx finally settling on a long clear rod with a fluffy ball at the end that she moved quickly about the floor. The catboy tried desperately to get at the thing, vertical pupils flitting about trying to follow it's movements and making the occasional pounce at it. Finn joined in much to the catgirl's amusement; having a human act so silly was hilarious to watch.

Charlotte viewed the games from the sofa smiling. Her backside still throbbed from her recent whipping, the sensation continually pressing on the edges of her consciousness, and laying face down was by far the most preferable position to be in. She half watched the news on the television, the only item of any real interest being the local story that police had charged the people running the place where she'd found Ghost. They'd probably get away with a fine and a public flogging, she thought darkly; there was only an outside chance of any prison time. Neko rights had a very long way to come in her opinion. When Jinx and Ghost were adults she fully intended to treat them as equals - at least, as much as the pack mentality of the neko themselves would allow. The two should be around with her for the better part of the next twenty years; committing to taking in neko, lupo or rabbitkin was far more of a responsibility than people generally assumed; they most certainly weren't just humanoid pets. She was distracted from the line of thinking by a text message, phone rattling on the coffee table next to her and drawing Ghost's insatiable curiosity. Glancing at the message, she turned to Finn.

"Sara was wondering if you'd like to go along and give her a hand at the shelter this afternoon. They want to gauge the reaction of each individual neko to strangers, see if any are chill enough to be adopted out - they're cheek by jowl in the place apparently so the charity want some out as soon as possible. She promises you won't be scratched." Looking at her brother's frown, she added "Might be a good idea to get out the house, these two will be here when you get back. Just do me a favour and stay away from any lupo - they're in a different building, shouldn't be hard." Neko and lupo could be convinced to coexist, quite happily in fact, but introduction had to be handled carefully and it was most definitely the reaction of the neko that was the problem; lupo could be a bit enthusiastic for their liking. Their instinctive reaction to the scent of lupo had to be overcome long before that; as far as neko were concerned lupo smelled like predators.

Finn nodded his assent. "Suppose I'd probably better unpack some clothes then." Jinx's playroom doubled as a spare room usually, there were empty drawers and a closet available there he correctly assumed would be his, as well as the bed the catgirl usually used.

"Probably for the best, you don't want to strike anyone blind turning up bare."

Finn gave his sister a smirk at the comment, taking off his new ears before he forgot and heading to get dressed.

~☆~

Sara arrived just before lunch was ready. Ghost was understandably skittish at the scent of her - it had only been a few hours since she had repeatedly stabbed him with syringes after all, and the one with the microchip had been so eye-wateringly large that Char herself thought she'd have run a mile - but the blond came prepared. Finn watched in astonishment as the kitten's eyes grew wide, then threw himself at his sister, trying desperately to get at whatever she had in her left hand, whereas Jinx actually sneered and backed across the room. Sara rubbed Ghost's head affectionately, holding her fist well out of his reach.

Charlotte tutted disapproval, "Cheap, Sara. You two have fun. Now get out and stop corrupting the kit."

As the door closed behind them, Finn curiously inquired as to what Sara had, and she revealed what looked like a teabag. "Catnip. Neko descended strongly from any tribes except the coastal ones go nuts for the stuff. Jinx detests the smell though; it's similar to some pheromones we think. There's more to it though, if he managed to eat it he'd be stoned out of his tiny mind for hours. Bit young to go trippin' though." Sara threw the thing in the boot of her car, then cleaned her hands with alcohol gel. "Best not go into the shelter smelling of that, there'd be a riot. You eaten yet?"

"Yeah, had a quick bite after you texted. Pity I'm missing Ghost eating pork for the first time though. "

"I wouldn't worry too much, he'll be having it for most meals and it'll be a heck of an experience for him each time for ages yet."

The two headed to the shelter, Sara studiously avoiding the subject of Finn having moved out. She was secretly surprised and gladdened that her younger brother seemed to have bounced back to such a good mood this quickly. All credit to Char; the two had always been close and if anyone could soothe the boy's distress it had always been her.

~☆~

It was astounding to Rebecca just how quickly a sixteen year old boy could put food away. She was only halfway through her lunch and Zack was already done, piercingly intense green eyes the same shade as his older cousin's own staring out of the window of the shelter's lupo building breakroom. He was clearly itching to get back to the kennels - she wasn't surprised at that; kid was bored out of his skull and had leapt at the chance to tag along on her shift. She was just about to suggest he go play with Sebastian, the shelter's own lupo, when Zack blinked and spoke up.

"What's Finn doing here?"

Beccy glanced out of the window. She'd heard about Finn but never seen him; the kid had to be pretty short, he was only just taller than the familiar figure walking beside him. The two were coming out of the reception building and heading towards the neko cattery.

"Same thing as you I'd imagine. That's his sister Sara next to him - we need as many neko shifted out to happy homes as we do lupo."

"Could we..."

He left the sentence hanging, hope at a chance to chat with the other introvert outside school obvious in his eyes. Rebecca's heart sank. The last thing she wanted to do was shoot the idea down, but couldn't see a way to oblige the request. It had taken the entire term to tease out a the name of a classmate he'd consider reaching out to, refusing him the opportunity now seemed like a betrayal.

"Sorry Zack, if we go in that building after spending all morning with lupo, the neko will lose their minds. It'd take all afternoon just for the workers over there to calm them down - the fear pheromones would set off a chain reaction." The boy looked crestfallen. "Seriously, give things a few days to calm down around here, that's all I'm asking. I've barely seen Sara - after Midwinter it should calm down a bit. There's still a week and a half left of the holidays, isn't there?"

The two headed back out to the kennels for the last few hours of Rebecca's shift, her plastic ID left hanging unnoticed from a lanyard on the back of her chair.

~☆~

Finn smiled to himself as Sara drove. The afternoon had been even better than he imagined it was going to be; very few of the rescues had reacted badly to his presence. They hadn't all been friendly by any means, but it seemed there weren't anywhere near as many that needed special care and attention to rehabilitate as his sister had feared there might be. A good few had lash marks on their little bodies, but none as bad as Ghost; he suspected that the clear mistreatment of the poor catboy he had grown rather attached to was one of the things that had made Charlotte insist on taking the neko home. As they had been leaving, one of the receptionists had called Sara over, asking her to pop by the house of a co-worker who had left their identification behind after work by accident. It was at this stop he made a pretty monumental blunder that he'd be regretting within seconds of getting back to Charlotte's house.

Sara went up to the door alone, intending just to quickly hand the badge over to the black haired woman that answered. Finn watched as the two exchanged a few words and his sister held up a couple of fingers to him indicating that she'd be back in a few minutes and slipped inside, the door left open behind her. Ten seconds or so later, a streak of movement drew his attention back to the house - something had come out and run, low to the ground, directly toward him. He watched as a shock of dark grey hair emerged slowly from behind the garden wall, rising up followed by a grinning mocha coloured face, large golden eyes regarding him with intense interest.

The entire time he'd been in the shelter, Char's warning to avoid lupo had rung in his ears. The moment they had left, however, his mind had filtered the instruction out as no longer relevant. There was no malice as he broke her one, simple request, slipping out of the car to rub the beautiful wolfboy's little head.

The lupo yipped in happy appreciation as Finn ruffled his hair congenially. Like neko, lupo weren't fond of clothing but were far more inclined to do anything their 'alpha' requested of them, regardless of said alpha's species. This little guy had a pair of corduroy dungarees on, coloured dark yellow to almost match his eyes, a small hole in the rear allowing for the egress of a little bushy tail the same shade as his hair that currently wagged to and fro so hard it almost looked as if he were spanking himself. He was barefoot, and only remained within reach a few moments before the cold drove him reluctantly back inside. Finn smiled and slipped back inside the car to await Sara's return, totally unaware of the chaos he was about to unleash when he got home.