(Another picture I liked enough to keep. Paskal :D One hyena that manages to somewhat style his hair lol)
The sounds of growling and cackling began to wake Arron up far too early for his liking.
"Noisy."
A cold, wet nose nudged at his cheek before one of the hyena's gave a shrill laugh.
Too loud in the morning!
He turned onto his side to try and hide his head beneath the pillow, but when he felt something furry brush again his nose he forced his eyes to open.
Wait, are those claws?
Something wet dripped onto his chin, drawing his attention up toward a very angry looking, oh shit.
"Larro?" He asked, his voice a worried whisper.
The huge hyena slowly pealed its upper lip back, baring a very well taken-care-of set of extremely sharp teeth.
Oh my, what nice teeth you have?
Arron quickly chanced a glance to his right, seeing Pask and Tayn in their animal forms. Tayn had his one gold earring on his left ear, making them easy to tell apart.
Okay, this has to be Larro. I remember Pask wasn't much bigger than Tayn before.
The huge hyena standing over him twitched its ears and snarled, drawing a cackle from Pask and a snarl from Tayn. Arron could tell that something was wrong with Larro and that he should stay still and not provoke his hyena, but his inner cheetah was already starting to take over his senses.
As he fought to hold back his own animal, Arron could see Tayn trying to slowly get Larro to back off of him, but he was just too late to stop the chain of events that were going to occur.
Suddenly, he was in his cheetah form and Larro was lunging for his throat. Arron mewed loudly before jumping out of the way and bolting off the bed. Larro was quick to follow, even with Tayn trying to cut him off. At first Arron tried to hide under the bed, but there was some type of box spring beneath it that prevented him from going far enough under to be safe. So, his kitten narrowly dodged a swipe from Larro's paw and hopped up onto the counter in the bathroom. He quickly squeezed himself into a corner between the back mirror and the hair dryer on the wall.
Larro could easily reach him and did so several times, smacking him in the face and front legs. His claws scratched him a few good times but Arron swatted at his paw to keep from getting the worst of it.
Spots, pretend like you want to play with him.
Huh? Who are you? He definitely didn't recognize that thought voice.
Calm down and focus. The doctors at his rehab said that was the way to get through to his hyena. Try to act playful instead of scared. He's a predator and you're acting like prey.
He realized after a few seconds that the new voice in his head was Tayn. He was shocked that the young man thought of him as family, and that his cheetah actually allowed him to talk in his mind, but he really didn't have time to dwell on that right then.
Not now, Spots! Just do it or we're going to have to attack him.
A particularly hard thump on the head from one of Larro's heavy paws had Arron shaking his head and deciding to just try what Tayn had suggested. He didn't really see how playing with him was going to snap him out of his hyena's control or keep himself alive, but it was the best shot he had. So, with a hesitant mew, Arron dropped to his belly and wiggled his fuzzy backside in the air just slightly.
The huge hyena tilted its head and gave a gruff cackling bark, but Arron wasn't quite sure if that meant play with me or I need some kitty floss. Thankfully, Tayn jumped in quickly and mirrored his little bow with one of his own, adding a playful snort for good measure.
Larro was clearly hesitant to play with the other hyena when the little cheetah was just beyond his paws' reach, but after Arron gave another awkward play-bow Larro dropped to his four paws and snorted. Okay, I guess that's the best I'm going to get.
Play with him. That's his signal, do it quickly or he'll start getting nippy. Also, don't freak out if he starts snarling when he runs, he gets really into it but he should be okay. The snort is his hyena asking to play.
Ah. Hopefully this doesn't end badly.
With a quiet mew Arron crept toward the edge of the counter and swatted at Larro's mohawk with his right paw. It snorted again and ran in a circle out in the main bedroom, then stopped and hopped up to lick a huge line from Arron's jaw to his eyes.
Gross.
Arron smacked him in the nose when he started biting at his paws, but knew that he was just trying to get him down so that they could play together. Arron glanced sideways at Tayn, who gave a snort of his own for encouragement.
Come down. He thought into Arron's mind.
His kitten steeled itself, then jumped to the floor right next to Larro's giant hyena. The huge canine cackled and began nudging him around before he could even get his balance back.
You can play rough with him. He'll push you around for hours if you let him.
Okay. I'll try.
Arron wasn't much for playing rough, or really playing much, since he grew up as an only child, but he was game to give it a try. He could feel his heart swell a little in his chest when he was able to respond to Tayn mentally. However, a certain larger hyena was still trying to roll him around the floor, making Arron grumble. Giving a loud mew as if he'd been hurt, he watched as Larro's animal took a step back, not quite sure he'd just done to hurt him so badly.
Arron had faked getting hurt to give himself a chance to strike back! He pounced on the confused-looking hyena, tugging at its face with little teeth. When Larro and him got into the wrestling and chasing Tayn backed off to just watch out of the way. It was obvious that Larro wasn't used to dealing with smaller animals in his hyena form but he was doing a decent job of not hitting Arron too hard or stepping on him by mistake.
He hasn't shifted since he was released two years ago. He was too afraid he'd lose control again. Tayn thought to him.
Two years?
Yes, that's probably why it finally wore him down enough to come out this morning, but he's doing really well with you. Just wear him out.
Arron didn't mind playing with Larro at all, and he still had a ton of energy left over once he'd fully woken up. His cheetah bounded around the room for a good hour with him before they finally collapsed onto the messy bed, panting heavily against each other.
...nmi.
Huh?
That wasn't Tayn. He just went to take a shower.
Arron glanced over at Pask, who was dozing on the window seat. He was definitely out cold.
...as.
I don't understand. Arron thought.
He took one more glance around the room before looking up. Larro was looking down at him, his hyena seemingly trying to focus on something as it panted in a sitting position.
Larro?
He gave a quiet cackle and nudged Arron's face with his wet nose.
Another bit of unintelligible mumbling came through his mind, but he couldn't make out any of it. Arron mewed and licked Larro's nose, drawing another cackle from him as he tried to speak to his mind again.
...ots.
It's okay, Larro. I understand.
It took awhile to relearn how to talk into someone else's mind when in your animal form. Instead of continuing Larro just stretched out with a yawn and waited until Tayn was done in the bathroom before shifting. Arron changed back as soon as he did, smiling before he was tugged into a super-tight hug within one of the blankets Larro had grabbed.
"I'm sorry I hurt you, Arron." He said, his voice hoarse.
"It's just a few scratches." Arron said, shrugging.
"But I couldn't control myself enough." Larro replied. He sounded upset with himself, but Arron knew that he had definitely done well considering the circumstances.
"It's okay. Tayn said that you hadn't shifted in a while, so I think you did really well."
"You're so good at cheering me up, brat."
Brat?
Arron growled and shoved him, catching him by enough surprise to be able to sit on his chest atop the blanket. Tayn sauntered into the room not a second later, completely naked from his shower as he ruffled a towel through his messy hair.
"Go shower, Pedo." He said to Larro with a completely blank face.
Larro turned bright red as he quickly set Arron aside with the blanket and elbowed his friend on his way to the bathroom.
Arron knew that they were just joking with each other and when they heard the shower turn on, Tayn and Arron snickered together.
While Tayn got dressed Arron got himself some clothes to change into after he got his own shower. Once done, he turned, only to be a bit surprised that Tayn was staring right at him with a faint smile on his inquisitive face. Arron wasn't used to seeing much emotion from him. It was usually Pask who was loud and always cackling at something.
When he began to walk toward him, Arron fidgeted, ending up leaning against the counter in the back of the bedroom as Tayn stopped less than a foot away.
Um.
Suddenly he was in a pair of strong arms, getting a hug and a few licks on his half mohawk.
"Uh...?"
"Sorry, thanks for helping." Tayn said.
Well, that was short and to the point. Arron guessed that it made sense since Tayn wasn't really a talker.
Tayn felt weird. He hated touching people, especially when they were naked, but his hyena decided to show some affection for the boy that had helped the man who had helped him. Tayn broke away from the hug after explaining briefly why it had occurred.
"Oh, okay. I'm uh, glad I could help." Arron said awkwardly.
He felt his head tilt slightly as he thought about his words. His hyena tended to take over his actions more often than not, which was why he often didn't speak out loud and made gestures that were sometimes more animalistic than normal. With pursed lips, he nodded and turned to head outside, fishing a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket as the door clicked shut behind him.
It was a bad habit, he knew it, but if he didn't do it Larro's hyena would be the least of their worries. He wasn't so much addicted to the stuff as his hyena was. It got extremely aggressive when he didn't smoke much.
Paskal knew he shouldn't have been getting upset. He really shouldn't have. Arron was Larro's boy and Tayn was just showing his appreciation the only way he tended to. So there was no reason for the nasty snarl his inner hyena made in his head. He noticed the faint twitch in Tayn's shoulders and fidgeted. He'd probably picked up on his anger through their bond.
The second he turned around, Pask squeezed his eyes shut, pretending to still be asleep until the door clicked shut behind Tayn. The scent that wafted to his nose as he passed made his mouth water. He always smelled just like fresh mint and honey, even though he tried to hide it with stupid masculine shower gels and deodorants.
The first time they had met Pask had totally lost control of himself and pinned him to a wall and well... Larro had to pull them apart. Unfortunately, they had both remained clothed, or well, he'd had his shirt off, but god how he had wished there had been an absence of pants before Larro had gotten there.
After a very thorough apology Tayn had begun to slowly trust him, and that's also when the disturbing amount of cologne and gross smelling shower stuff started up. They never worked for him though, not even when he smoked would that nasty scent mask much of his mint and honey.
Pask nudged the curtain aside ever-so-slightly to stare at the man's backside, his tail swishing slightly with interest. He'd apologized, but that didn't mean he'd stopped lusting after him. Hell, he'd been the one responsible for keeping him generally single for the past two years. Some of the things he'd done had been dick moves, especially the couple times he'd literally chased away other suitors using his hyena, but Tayn was going to be his as soon as he could learn to control his libido.
Paskal tried to talk to him so many times after that incident had occurred but they always just ended up with awkward silence or wrestling in their canine forms until they were both too tired to move. Even with the lack of words, though, Pask learned quite a lot about him over the short time they had been together.
Tayn's hyena was what determined most of his actions. He wasn't sure how that had occurred, but he would have loved to know. He was such a sweet guy deep down, he could just tell. Simply hearing his voice a moment ago had a whole flock of butterflies going nuts in his stomach. It sounded almost as sweet as the honey he smelled like.
Shifting back to his human form, Pask heard a quiet snicker behind him and rolled his eyes, then turned to look at Larro's boy.
"Keep yer mouth shut, kid." He grumbled.
He saw the guy's huge grin and the motion of his fingers across his lip, signifying that he was locking them.
Good.
"You should go talk to him." He said with an eager smile.
Of course he won't just let it drop.
"I can take care of it myself." Pask grumbled.
He raised a brow at him but then shrugged.
"Okay, but I'd be careful. I might not be in the running for him, or gay, but he's definitely hot."
I already know that last part! I've chased more than enough people away from him.
Pask quickly turned back to the window, only to see Tayn staring back at him with a hint of annoyance on his face. Dammit! His hand dropped the curtain as his face heated up and it slid back into place.
Stupid kid distracting me.
There was another chuckle in the room but he bit his tongue on the retort he had ready for the little midget when Larro stepped out of the bathroom drying his hair.
"Go get a shower, Arron." He said.
A moment passed as Larro got himself dressed and the younger guy ran off to shower. He paused fastening his pant's button and finally turned to look at him.
"Where's Tayn?" He asked as he continued the task.
"Outside, smoking."
Larro's brow furrowed slightly but he just nodded in response. Pask knew that he wanted Tayn to stop since it was starting to make him cough a lot, but he just wasn't able to do it yet. Larro even bought him some patches and meds, but they still found him sneaking cigarettes at night or smelled it on him after he came home from work. Pask wanted to be the one beside him to help him quit the nasty habit, but each time he tried to get close he'd do something stupid or perverted and just make him run off and smoke more.
"Paskal."
"Huh? Oh. Uh, yeah, Larro?" He said, embarrassed that he'd spaced out again.
"Go get Tayn to come inside and both of you start loading our bags. As soon as Arron is out of the shower we're going to head out." Larro said.
"Okay."
Biting his lip, Pask quickly got up and tugged on a shirt and some shorts.
Okay, time to head outside. Don't screw this up. Don't screw this up.
It was his mantra, and unfortunately it hardly ever worked.
As soon as he stepped out the door Tayn turned toward him and took a long drag of his cigarette. I know that I stress you out! Don't take a darn bigger drag just to prove that point.
"Larro wants us to get the car loaded." He mumbled quietly.
Tayn dropped his cigarette on the pavement and began grinding it out with the toe of his tennis shoe. That really shouldn't look hot. What is wrong with me? It didn't help that Tayn was staring down at just the right angle so that his face captured the light and showed off the smooth complexion of his skin. The solemn look he always wore was present, but just beneath it there was so much more.
A hard slap to his left cheek instantly snapped him out of his daydream and notified him of the drool running down his chin.
Tayn quickly stalked past him with an annoyed growl, but when Pask turned to follow him, he stopped him cold with words he'd heard way too many times from him already.
"Stay away from me, you nasty pervert."