The Extent of Love

21

He groaned and opened his eyes. He awoke before the alarm, which was better than being awoken by the alarms, but it was burning hot. He noticed there was something laying its head on his chest, a furry thing curled up near his head, something not so furry on the other side of his head, and something heavy on his legs.

Looking up, he also saw a certain bald eagle sleeping on the metal bed frame, as well as a bearded vulture, Shad, his brothers thunderbird, Thunder, and a golden eagle, who was either Kasha or Gingersnap.

Why was his brother's wolf laying on him? Jesus.

"Kanti, off," he muttered, the wolf's ears swiveling before she woke up, going to lick his face as he tried his best to push her away. The thing on his legs shifted, and he noticed that it was a panther. Specifically, his panther.

"Felis, get off," he sighed, the big cat moving before laying back down next to his lynx, Lyncas.

He pushed himself up, noticing that there was a random brown tabby and a male anaconda next to his head. The cat wasn't too unusual, but most of the time the snakes tended to go back to their cages, where it was warmer.

Pushing himself off the bed, he noticed when he walked around his bed, a golden tiger, probably Gypsum, and a white borzoi, Mochalka, laying at the foot of his bed on the tiny little carpet.

They say big cats act differently than house cats.

Well they were wrong.

He changed, put on deodorant and brushed his teeth, fixed his hair, and left, his two pets following behind him as well as Kanti.

"Conner!" he heard Noah yell from behind him as he stopped, turning around.

"Ya?"

"Have you seen Flame?" Noah asked, walking beside him.

"Arkansas' fox?"

"Ya that one!" Noah exclaimed, "The kids going off about it."

"Call it in after breakfast, the things probably just getting scraps or hunting for a rat," Conner sighed, "y'all tend to forget they were originally wild."

"Big Brother," Noah deadpanned, "you have a panther following you."

"Guilty as charged."

"But here's the thing: the last time he saw the fox is when he went to check the gate," Noah said, referring to the gate that connected the household to the road, "and he's worried that Flame ran off onto the road and got hit by a car."

"Flame is immortal," Conner said, looking at his brother with pure sarcastic awe, "it's almost like if he died Arkansas would immediately know."

"Oh."

"What are you idiots going on about?" Awenita asked, her hooves clicking on the ground as she walked over, knitting flowers into her antlers and she went. The white spots that dotted her shoulders were less prominent in the light, and her dark skin (and the fact that the lights weren't on yet) made her look like she came from the wall.

"Arkansas lost his fox," Conner replied, reaching up and taking a shriveled leaf from his sister's flower work.

"It's a fox, what do you expect it to do? Sit on your shoulder and sing lullabies?"

Conner started snickering, and Noah was mixing the pot between livid and facts.

Kele walked by them, smacking Noah on the head before booking it. Coahoma followed behind, her head high as her claws clicked the ground.

The shrill sound of the alarms going off made all three jump, and Awenita ran off to join Adany and Minko, and Noah went to join Alameda.

Freedom flew over his head, Kanti chasing after the eagle. Conner leaned against the wall, Lyncas and Felis going over to sit beside him.