"Rylan."
Arron saw surprise and anger flash over Rylan's face before he hesitantly backed off of him to turn toward his father.
"Did you throw your little brothers out of your room again? And what are you doing to our guest?" Jordan asked with a raised eyebrow.
The man didn't sound nearly as happy as he had been earlier, and judging from the few bits of rice stuck in his beard, he was still rather hungry.
"I... threw them out because they were attacking him." He said awkwardly.
Jordan crossed his arms over his muscular chest at his son's words.
"Okay. Now tell me why you are trying to dominate him? And don't say that he tried to attack you, because I swear I'll take away your car if you even think about it."
Rylan looked like he had been caught red-handed with his paw in the cookie jar, but Arron wasn't going to argue on his behalf. He was a kitten, after all. If he'd tried to dominate a normal sized lion he'd be used as a toothpick.
Speaking of, Arron actually needed to go to the vet the next day for a check up and to get registered for the study he'd been partaking in at his old vet, who had been obsessed with his cheetah's lack of growth as he'd aged.
He knew that his old vet had likely already contacted the local one to keep his studies going. At least it wasn't anything invasive, just a shot to turn him into his feline form, then the basics, weight, teeth, eyes, reflexes. He just wished that there weren't any shots involved.
"I was just..."
"Rylan. Just don't do it again. I expect more from you. You should be able to control your lion far better than that."
Rylan chewed on his bottom lip before mumbling a quiet. "Yes, sir."
When his father nodded and turned his attention back to Arron, he suddenly remembered that he was butt naked again, and still laying in Jordan's son's bed. With a squeak he jumped up and quickly ran out the door. He could feel Rylan's lion push against his conscience right away, wanting to give chase.
Thank god his dad is standing right there.
"Rylan, I know you have practice tomorrow, but I need you to take Arron to his appointment at the vet, then home." Jordan said as Arron disappeared down the hall.
"But dad! That's an important practice. We have a game Friday."
"And you'll just have to miss half of it. Whether you like it or not, Arron is now part of this family. You would take your little brother's to the vet if they needed to go, so you'll stop complaining and be glad Arron thought to take the latest appointment so that you could at least practice for an hour. How about you thank him for waiting after school for an hour so you can at least do some practicing, instead of being pissed off about having to leave early?"
Rylan bristled, not having paid much attention to the extra stuff his father was saying as he stepped forward.
"But dad, why do we even have to house that cheetah? If he changes while we're not home, you know Jared and Jamie won't be able to keep their paws off of him. Their lions are too young, as you've just seen."
While Arron normally hated people talking about him, he was kind of right. He shouldn't be in a house full of lions. Even if his instincts didn't attract danger, he was still the number one predator they would kill in the wild, and their instincts told them just that when he turned into his cheetah form.
Arron honestly couldn't blame those two little boys for losing control. He'd done that several times when he had seen little frogs or lizards run across his path. Thankfully, he could control it more now, but he still had to keep his eyes off the sidewalk as much as possible, just in case.
Arron had gotten so caught up in his thoughts that when he pulled up his pants and got them buckled, he realized that someone was standing in the doorway. Deciding to forego the shirt for the moment, he hesitantly turned to see Rylan glaring at him, arms crossed just like his father's had been.
"Uh, I was gonna tell you about the appointment." He tried.
Well, he kind of just wanted to go by himself and walk home like he used to, but it might be a bit too far now, especially back to Jordan's house and not the one they had just bought.
Arron slowly stepped back as Rylan approached, teeth bared in anger.
"I suggest you find someone to give you a ride, because if I end up being said ride, you're going to wish your mom hadn't brought you to this town."
Arron could feel his cheetah trying to push its way out because of the encroaching lion, but thankfully he managed to straighten his back and shrug.
"I'm sure I can manage to find someone."
A sarcastic smile curved along Rylan's lips as he gave him an overly-strong pat on the shoulder, gripping there to likely cause a bruise on purpose.
"Good. Because if I get in trouble... you get in more trouble."
His brows rose, obviously wanting an answer even though it wasn't a technical question.
Well, mom told me never to disappoint a predator.
"Okay."
They stayed that way for several long seconds before Rylan gave a sharp nod and walked out.
Tomorrow is going to be fun.
The next day was indeed interesting. Arron guessed he was supposed to wake himself up for school, or more likely, Rylan was, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Honestly, he'd rather be late than be woken up by a lion.
His body actually felt pretty good from sleeping in. Too bad he couldn't do it anymore. Arron wasn't the smartest kid in school... by far, so he needed all of those notes. Hopefully his mother doesn't hire another tutor though. For some reason he just had trouble learning how other people do. She always got frustrated when she put extra money into someone to help teach him, but he still didn't learn the material well enough. It was never from a lack of trying, but they just decided to keep that book closed after he still didn't do too well on the exams after the final tutor.
After tossing on a pair of faded jeans and a dark orange T-shirt, Arron got himself downstairs and out the door. By the time he got to school he had missed first and second period. He knew Rylan was in both of them, but asking him for notes would likely end up with him having a black eye, and no notes. Oh, wait. Erin! He was in both of those classes.
With a happy skip Arron gave a little shout of excitement before running through the empty halls to his third period class. Come lunch, he was a bundle of energy, from god knows what. He hadn't eaten breakfast but he guessed with the stress of possibly falling behind, then realizing he could ask his new friend for his notes, the relief must have made him giddy.
Speaking of.
"Hey, Erin!"
He didn't shout too loudly, but he knew he'd easily be heard. Elephants were known for their exceptional hearing, and they kind of had big ears, even in human form. When Erin noticed him and smiled, Arron waived him over. As he sat down beside him, Erin said exactly what he figured he might.
"Hey kid, didn't see you in class."
"Yeah, I slept through my alarm." Arron lied.
The laugh he got in return really warmed his attitude. Maybe living with the lions wouldn't be so bad if he got to have Erin as a friend at school. Of course, he wasn't even thinking about the kiss the guy had taken from him before... that was probably just him joking around.
"Hey, um. Can I borrow your notes from first and second period?" Arron asked.
The look on Erin's face had his stomach twisting with nervousness.
Why is he looking at me like I'm a lollipop?
"If you do me a favor, you can have them."
Uh oh.
His thoughts whirred around in his head as he tried to think of asking another student. He wasn't the most outgoing person, though.
"Um, okay. What do you want?" He asked hesitantly.
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Erin was leaning over. He noticed a strong hunger in his eyes before Arron quickly squeezed his own shut. No way am I kissing him with my eyes open again. It was bad enough that he was going do it in the middle of the cafeteria. Arron was nearly shaking from nerves when he heard a playful whisper by his ear.
"Buy me lunch?"
"What?"
Erin leaned back, raising a brow and smirking at Arron's shocked reaction.
"What? You thought that I was going to do something naughty? I suppose I can..."
His eyebrows waggled, bringing a strong blush to Arron's cheeks, which were promptly pinched.
"Ow!"
"Sorry, sorry. You're just too cute." Erin said with a smirk.
Arron bared his teeth at Erin, which just made him look cuter judging from the rising excitement in the guy's eyes.
Grabbing the twenty dollar bill Arron had in his pocket, he quickly tossed it at Erin and turned to eat one of the bags of pretzels he often kept in his bag.
"Bring back my change."
There was a light laugh from Erin as he headed off to get himself something to eat. During the time he was gone, Arron glanced around the busy lunchroom, surprised by how many eyes were on him. Did I do something wrong?
When his eyes met Rylan's, he flinched. He was definitely pissed, but thank god he seemed more interested in keeping his distance than laying into him for anything.
Arron's attention quickly snapped back to his side when he heard a few coins drop on the lunch table. Eh? Three quarters and a nickel? This is my change? He looked up, eyes narrowing at a gigantic plate of salad now sitting before Erin.
The guy noticed him looking and just shrugged.
"Elephants eat a lot."
Come his final class, Arron was tired and ready to get the heck out of there. His hand ached from writing notes so quickly because the darn teacher couldn't slow down and take a breath. Now that he was standing outside the school doors with his backpack slung over his shoulders... he realized that he'd forgotten to find a ride to the vets.
As people rushed by to get to their cars or start walking home, he noticed the football team heading to the lockers, and of course, Rylan was glaring at him as he walked. He stopped and raised his brows, silently asking if Arron had found a ride.
Well, considering that he might be disemboweled by a lion later if he shook his head, Arron quickly nodded. When Rylan nodded back and turned, Arron tugged on the ties to his backpack, tightening it on his shoulders. After checking that his shoes were tied well, he headed down the steps and started sprinting toward the vet. It would probably take him at least an hour, but he was a cheetah and running was just something that he did well. He wasn't quite sure how he'd get home in his kitten form, but he'd figure that out later.
After exactly one hour, Arron found himself stepping into the vet's office, panting quietly from his run. "Hello, you must be Arron?"
The tall, gray-haired vet was smiling from behind his reception area.
"If you'll just sigh in, then take a seat with your friend. I'll call you back in a moment."
He did as told with a smile, writing his first name before turning to go sit down.
Wait.
Did he just say, friend?
His eyes blinked a few times before he realized that there was a rather sadistic looking lion shifter with damp hair and a flushed face smirking back at him.
Oh. Crap.
Arron's body instantly vanished into his clothing as it dropped to the floor. A quiet mew let the other two people waiting in the office know that he'd just made a fool out of himself. When he'd managed to finally navigate his T-shirt and get himself free of the clothing, he was scruffed and set on a chair.
Rylan told him to stay put with the sweetest, most deadly voice he had ever heard, as he went to scoop up his clothing and shoes and shove them into his bag.
When the vet finally returned, his face showed just how excited he was at the sight of Arron's tiny shift form.
"Come on back, Arron. Rylan, you're welcome to join us if you'd like."
"Oh, I'd love to."
I'm sure you would.
If only he could hear what I say in my mind about him... I'd be dead. Thank god he can't.
When Arron was picked up he was careful not to freak out like his cheetah wanted to. He was sure that Rylan would have him skinned if he got claw holes in his shirt.
When they stepped into the room, he felt a small pull from his stomach. Hopefully this vet wouldn't want to do any extra tests.
"So, I have a few extra things I'd like to do besides what your old vet normally did."
Arron quickly gave a distressed mew but Rylan easily covered it up with his own, much more understandable words.
"That's fine. Just be sure to give him the shot that keeps him in his cheetah form."
"Of course, wouldn't want him changing back in the middle of a procedure."
Arron gave another loud mew but just received a pat on the head from the vet before he took his left arm and injected the force-change drug into it. The familiar tingle ran through his body shortly after the injection, letting him know that his cheetah was going to remain out for at least a few hours.
That, he wasn't normally too worried about, but considering the doctor was lining up several syringes and papers? Arron was trying to get his butt down from the table he had been on but Rylan's grip was unbreakable.
"Alright. These extra shots might give you a slight fever the first few times we do this, but your body should get used to it."
"I'll keep an eye on him tonight. Don't worry doc."
Oh sure you will.
He took a second to glare at him before he felt a prick on his right arm. When he looked the vet was setting down an empty syringe and grabbing the blood pressure cuff to wrap around Arron's arm. Once that was fastened, he added another shot to his left arm, then watched the blood pressure monitor. Once the thing beeped, he wrote down a few numbers, then nudged Arron's lower jaw with his pen.
"Open please."
He did as told, though wasn't very comfortable when the vet began poking around with the end of his slightly chewed pen. Don't they have tools for this kind of thing?
His belly began to grumble halfway through the procedure, causing the vet to pause and raise a brow as he was getting another shot ready.
"Did you eat lunch today?"
Well, I had half of a small bag of pretzels? I guess that doesn't really count.
With a shrug Arron shook his head. The man's face fell as he set the three other syringes back down. No more shots? I am completely okay with that.
"We'll have to skip those then, I don't want you getting too sick from this. I wish you would have told me before I gave you those prior two."
Pardon me for not knowing meowglish.
After a quick physical he was handed back to Rylan. His stomach hurt and his vision was a bit blurry. Next time he came he'd have to make sure to tell the guy no extra tests.
"Alright, that's it for today. I look forward to seeing you again next week."
Rylan's face clouded over for a split second before the expression was gone.
"Each week?"
"Yes! He's such a fascinating little guy and the previous vet said to make sure the day he's tested doesn't change. So, considering he has school, this was the only time slot that would work. Although, he could have come an hour earlier. He'd said that he wanted this later one."
Arron could feel Rylan's eyes on him, but man was he feeling out of it. There was a bit more talking, then some walking and maybe a car ride? At some point during the car ride he conked out. He really hoped that Rylan hadn't spoken to him during that time, because he could barely recall what the vet said, much less what had happened after they had left.
When he finally came to, his head was throbbing and he could have sworn that something was holding him down.
Wait, is that a claw near my eye?
Everything was so fuzzy, and not just in his mind.
A deep rumble began to finally pull him out of his daze, though he really wished that it hadn't. A very large, very heavy lion was laying onto of him. His lower half was tucked under its firm chest, completely stopping his ability to escape. Arron gave a quiet mew, drawing its attention away from the TV it had been watching.
The beast's eyes instantly told him that it was Rylan. But where are his parents? Outside it was already dark. Surely they wouldn't let their son just lay on him?
Arron's shoulders hunched when he felt the lion's rough tongue run along the back of his neck. Gross! Only his mother was allowed to do that, and she hadn't since he was a kid.
With a disgruntled mew, Arron pawed at the couch while the lion continued messing up his mini mohawk of fur. The guy even had the gull to begin some sort of awkward purring sound.
"Tarren! What the hell are you doing with that hairball? You're going to throw up if you keep licking it."
Wait, Tarren? Arron narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on the lion pinning him down. Huh. It isn't Rylan. This lion had a nearly full mane and instead of gold fur, it was mainly black and brown. When it noticed that he was staring, it turned its attention away from Rylan and literally headbutted him back into the sofa.
Arron knew that it was just a friendly gesture between lions, but he was a midget cheetah and it had hurt!
"You do realize you're squishing him, right? Well, it did throw up in my car... Actually, feel free to squash it."
The lion lifted its head off of Arron at that warning, then stared down at him as he struggled to get out from underneath him. It only took the lion a slight shift of his body weight to free Arron, though the sudden momentum had his kitten stumbling down on the next cushion.
As soon as his body was free, it instantly shifted back. The drug had worn off, leaving him very tired and very naked in front of the two brothers. One looked mildly entertained, while the other shifted one was... drooling?
In a blur Arron was tackled back down to the sofa cushions and licked senseless.
"Wait! S-Stop!"
"Tarren! Seriously! You're gonna get sick licking that!"
The lion was suddenly a naked human a moment later, but the licking didn't stop.
"But he's so cute! How could you not be over here cuddling him with me?" Tarren said.
"Because I'm sane? And I don't like playing with my food."
Tarren's eyes met Arron's and he smirked, licking his lips.
"I wouldn't mind eating him."
"He's not a lion." Rylan noted.
"No shit, but he's cute enough, even as a cheetah. I can't believe his shift is a kitten, it's so adorable."
Before Arron could get a word in, he was scooped up into Tarren's arms and squeezed till his head got fuzzy again.
"Ow."
"Oops! Sorry kiddo. Can't help myself when I find cute things. What's your name, by the way?"
"Arron." Arron replied, slightly out of breath.
"I'm Tarren, and that grouch is just a sourpussycat, don't mind him."
Right, don't mind the guy who made me sit in a toilet for half of my first school day. And why exactly are we having this conversation in the living room while I'm butt naked in some other naked guy's lap?
Something hit the back of his head right as he was about to tell Tarren to let him go so that he could get dressed.
"Get dressed before my brother messes up our family name by breeding you."
Gee, thanks.
Either way, that got Tarren to let him go. Arron quickly pulled on his boxers, then pants as Tarren hopped up to tend something in the kitchen.
Something smells good, now that I'm not being molested and can actually think straight.
Rylan stayed behind watching him, arms crossed.
"My parents were called out of town for work, so Terran is staying here to watch you while they're gone. He gets pretty touchy feely, so have fun with that."
Well, that kinda sucked, but Arron definitely preferred that over being left alone in the house with Rylan and his little brothers.