TRTTD - Chapter 4: There's always a Flaw
#4 of The Right Thing To Do?
The fourth chapter of my story series "The Right Thing To Do?". Hope you guys like it! :3
Sel and Leo are mine.
Written by me.
The Right Thing To Do?
Chapter 4:
There's always a Flaw
Written by: Seliron (Sel)
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Disclaimer:
This story is purely fictional and does not depict any existing person, living or dead, or any real event. The characters are not human.
This story will not contain sexual interactions at all. NEVER. I'm sorry. I just don't want these two characters to do things like that, for personal reasons.
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Characters:
Seliron "Sel" Lynch - Male black leopard (panther), 28 years old
Leon, called "Leo" - Male eurasian lynx, about 8 years old
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The days after Leo's first night in safety went by pretty unexciting. Sel did his best to make the boy feel comfortable: he bought some clothes and other basic stuff for him and even offered his bed to Leo, while he himself slept on the couch. The boy opened up slowly, but he was still shy and cautious. It took Sel almost a week to convince him that a bath would probably not kill him.
"Hop in, it's nice and warm." Sel said as he dipped his paw in the water of the bath tub.
Leo stood in the corner of the bathroom, arms crossed in front of his chest. He whimpered and blushed heavily. Only wearing a towel that was wrapped around his body, the boy started to shiver slightly.
"Oh come on, you'll catch a cold if you don't get in. Besides, it's not like I haven't seen you naked before." Sel said, smiling encouragingly.
_ _
Leo hesitated for a moment, but then he stepped closer. He carefully dipped his paw into the water, checking the temperature himself. He was obviously satisfied, as he slipped out of the towel and dropped it on the ground. With Sel's help, the naked lynx cub climbed into the bath tub. Leo sighed as he sunk into the warm water till only his head was sticking out of the thick, white foam.
_ _
"Too hot, Leo?"
"It's perfect..." the cub said, smiling happily.
Sel watched the boy play and splash around in the tub for a few minutes. It felt good to see him happy like this, but there was a nagging feeling of guilt disturbing that idyll. I had no other choice.
_ _
But his thoughts were interrupted as, out of nowhere, a splash of water hit him right in the face. He almost fell over, coughing to get the water out of his throat. Leo, meanwhile, was giggling madly, splashing more water on Sel.
"Hey!" the panther grinned. "That's not fair!"
As a counterattack, Sel dipped his paw deep into the tub and poured a pawful of water right over Leo's head. The next few minutes where filled with splashing and silly giggling, at least till Sel noticed what a mess they were making.
_ _
"That's enough fooling around, Leo. Time to wash you properly." Sel said, trying his best to sound serious.
"Aww, do we really have to?" the boy replied, folding his ears in disappointment.
Sel grabbed the shampoo and rubbed it carefully into the boy's fur, trying to loosen every lump and every knot that formed in the months on the street. It was a huge load of work and took almost half an hour, but Leo didn't complain once. He remained calm, yelping from time to time when Sel pulled his fur too hard.
After washing the shampoo out of the boy's fur, the water was almost cold. Leo started to shiver again, so Sel helped him out of the tub. The cub stepped in front of the mirror, his eyes widening in surprise as he took a glance at his own naked body.
"Wow." the boy said.
"What's up, little guy?"
"I... can't believe that's me."
Leo's appearance had changed dramatically. All the dirt and dust was gone, his fur now looked smooth as silk. The dark brown headfur, before a dirty mess, now laid flat on his head. Even the difference between the almost white fur on Leo's belly, chest, throat and muzzle and the darker tone covering the rest of his body was now visible.
"Who else should it be?" Sel chuckled.
"I... don't know. My fur never did... _shine_like that."
"Your parents never gave you a bath?"
"No... not like you did. I had to clean myself, nobody ever helped me. And the water was cold, too."
Sel grabbed a big, warm towel from the heater and wrapped it tightly around the trembling cub.
"You'll never have to take cold baths again, Leo."
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~RIIIIIIIIING~
_ _
Sel was just about to brush Leo's headfur, as the door bell interrupted them.
"Go put on some clothes, Leo. I'll open the door."
Leo scampered off into the bedroom. In the meantime, Sel was walking to the door and looked through the peep hole. A husky was waiting outside. He looked pretty official, dressed in a shirt and a black jacket. Sel sighed and opened the door.
"Mr. Lynch?" the husky asked.
"That's me. You're from the child protective services?"
"Exactly." the husky said, offering his paw to Sel. "Mr. Aram, to be precise."
"Do come in!" Sel shook the dog's paw and lead him to the kitchen, where they sat down on the table.
"Well, Mr. Lynch. You called because you... _found_a homeless cub?"
"Yes. I met him some time ago, and since a few days he's living here with me."
"Excuse me, but I can't see a small cub here. Where is he?" the husky asked, but just in this moment Leo peeked shyly into the room.
"Come in, Leo. It's alright." Sel said.
The boy hesitated, but then he stepped inside, nervously sitting down on the chair next to Sel.
"Hello, little guy. You must be Leon, then?" the husky now turned towards the cub, smiling warmly.
"Y-yes."
"I'm Mr. Aram, and I'm from the child protective services." the dog said, but Leo just glanced at him confused. "Do you have any idea what that is?"
The cub shook his head.
"Well, to keep it easy, we're trying our best so that every cub can have a nice, protected life. That's why I'm here today."
"What do you mean?" Leo asked.
"You see, that means I have to decide what's the best place for you to live in the future."
"I wanna stay with Sel."
"Hmm, I'm sure that he took good care of you. But I'm afraid the case is not as easy as you think. At first we'll have to see if you could live with your parents again..."
He tried to go on, but just in this moment a sharp whine interrupted the dog.
"NO!" Leo cried out. "No..."
Leo's whole body was trembling, tears filled his eyes. He collapsed on the table, burying the face in his paws. Sel got up, unsure what to do, so he knelt down beside the sobbing cub. The panther reached out his paw gently, laying it on the boy's shoulder. Leo shuddered, but didn't cringe.
"Calm down, little cub." Sel whispered, softly stroking the boy's back.
~ Later ~
After the kitten had calmed down a bit, Sel had told Leo's story to Mr. Aram. The boy helped him out from time to time. After they finished the husky promised that he would do his best to find a proper home for Leo. Since then the cub hadn't spoken a word. He went to bed alone a few hours ago, and Sel barely got a chance to wish him a good night.
Sel opened the bedroom door slowly, peeking inside. But the bed was empty, so the panther entered the room as quiet as possible. He found Leo behind the bed, sitting on the floor wide awake. He was looking out of the window, hugging his teddy bear tightly and sobbing from time to time.
"Hey, little guy..." Sel said, sitting down on the floor next to the boy. A few minutes of silence followed, only interrupted by the kitten's steady sobs.
"I had to do that, Leo." Sel said as he finally broke the silence. "I can't just... keep you here without anyone knowing. I could even get arrested for kidnapping you..."
Leo sniffled, but he didn't say anything.
"Can you understand that, Leo?"
"I don't want to go back." the boy whispered in between sobs. "My dad will k-kill me."
"You heard what the husky said. It's highly unlikely that you have to return to your parents."
"But if I... if I have to?"
"I'm sure he believed the things you told him. They can't just ignore that and put you back in this hell of a home."
"But it's possible."
Leo stopped sobbing and remained silent for a moment, thinking hard about something.
"Can't we... can't we just run away?" he finally asked very quietly.
Sel was taken a bit by surprise, so he had to think about the question for a moment.
"We could... we could do that, but it would make everything just worse. If I run away with you, they'll believe that I actually kidnapped you. The police would catch us within hours... and then there's no chance that you can live here anymore."
Leo's head dropped in disappointment, and tears filled his eyes once again. Sel got a bit closer and laid an arm around the cub, careful not to scare him. But to Sel's surprise the crying boy cuddled up against his side. They sat like that for a few minutes, till Leo calmed down again.
"You won't have to go back to your parents. I'll do everything I can to prevent that."
"Promise?" the cub sniffled, glancing hopefully at the panther.
"Promise." Sel said, smiling warmly. "Do you... do you want me to stay with you tonight, little guy?"
"You mean it?"
"Sure, if you want." the panther said and offered his paw to the boy.
Leo took it, and the two cats climbed into the bed next to each other. Sel was just about to turn around and close his eyes as he noticed the cub crawling closer. He reached out and took him in his arms. Leo happily took that invitation and snuggled up against the older cat.
"I don't wanna leave you." the kitten whispered, drifting off to sleep slowly.
Sel didn't say anything, he just pulled Leo closer, gently stroking his headfur.