Furry Friends

By Donna and Abby

Sean Buckley was treated by Lillian, the wererat doctor, while the cat in his care went with Tawny, the fae who could understand and treat animals.  Lillian was actually impressed with the young man for taking so many scratches to the belly - that had to have hurt - because it showed that he put the cat's health before his own.  Sean told her the cat was not his property, that it belonged to SAFS, and he was bound by his honor to keep it well.  After all, that was why he was with the San Antonio Feline Society in the first place! But being part animal herself, Lillian found herself respecting a man who would lay it on the line, so to speak.

"You're also drenched," she said, after his cuts were tended to.  He had been rubbing his hair with a towel, but his clothes were soaked.  "There's an Inn across the way, but why don't you just go next door, to the building we at the clinic use as a dormitory?  You can get there through an adjoining door, so you won't need to get wet again.  I'll have Nate bring something warm and filling from Lupe's kitchen.”

That sounded good to Sean, so he agreed, taking his wet, torn and bloody shirt with him as he stood.  "We'll get you something else to wear, too," Lillian laughed, eyeing the thin, but buff young body.  Oh, if she were only twenty years younger!  She would still be older than him, she chuckled to herself.

"Is that were my cat is?" he asked. Lillian assured him that it was, and even gave him directions to the suite of rooms that the fae used as both her living quarters and the local animal clinic.

They were on the ground floor, so all he had to do was take the connecting door.  Before he got there he was given a new shirt, which he accepted gratefully, by Pearl.  "I'll send Nate in with the stew.  Lupe always makes stew," she grinned.  He nodded, wondered if he should bother telling her he was a vegetarian, and went through the door.

He found Tawny's room easily enough and when he knocked on her door, she called out that it was open and for him to come in. As he stepped inside her room, he found the beautiful redhead reclining on a comfortable lounge chair, surrounded by three cats! A longhaired black cat with intense green eyes was curled up on her lower legs and a spotted one that he thought looked just like a miniature ocelot was draped over her shoulder. On her chest, sporting the newest fashion for a hairless cat, was Sheba. She was all warm and cozy in a dark brown sweater, and purring so loudly, Sean could hear her from across the room.

"Sheba!" he said happily, and the cat opened her eyes to look over at him.  He was not sure if she was happy to see him or not.

Tawny chuckled and motioned to a pot of tea and two cups on a table. "Pearl told me you were coming by the way. I would pour us some tea, but as you can see, I'm rather pinned down at the moment!"

"She does like to do that, yes," he said, and went to pour the tea.  She sure was pretty. But Sean felt a bit of a pang, thinking the cat liked her better than him.

But as soon as he sat down and made a lap, Sheba unfolded herself, stretched, and then jumped onto his legs, and then after butting his chin with her head a couple of times, made herself comfortable once more.

A wide grin spread across his face, and he stroked her hairless back.  "Miss me?" he asked softly, in a deep rumble. She made a funny little chirruping sound at him, and then closed her eyes, purring loudly.

"She did. She was miffed that you got her wet, but when you disappeared on her in the waiting room, she kept asking where you were!" Tawny said with a soft smile on her face.

"You scratched me, you minx," he chuckled at the cat, lifting her so he could look in her eyes. "It hurt, y'know."  Sheba just meowed in response, as if his pain did not matter.

Tawny shook her head, grinning. "Now now, Sheba. Be nice." Reaching down, she shifted the sleeping black cat off her legs and then sat up. The cat on her shoulders stayed where she was. It was obviously an arrangement they were both used to. "I suppose Lillian gooped your scratches up with her favorite ointment, but I bet the scratches still itch like crazy!"

"It's okay," said Sean with a little tilt of his head.  "I liked her."

"We all do," Tawny chuckled, wondering what he would think if he knew that the nice lady doctor had a habit of turning into a rat at times! There was a soft knock on the door, and Tawny went to get it.

It was Nate with the stew. "I was told that our new guy would be here with you," he said, handing it to her with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Get on with you, Nate," Tawny chuckled. "And thank Lupe for me, would you please?"

Closing the door behind Nate, she set the stew down on the coffee table with the tea. "I hope you don't mind it not having any meat in it," she said as she dished two bowls out. "Lupe knows that I don't eat the flesh of animals."

"That's wonderful!  Neither do I!”

She smiled brightly, starting to like this young man more and more. "Hard to eat something that that you understand when they talk to you! Now fish are another story. They don't talk. Birds do though, though they don't have much of a vocabulary."

"That's very interesting," said Sean, hugging Sheba as she purred.  "I would love to know what they are saying!"

Tawny shrugged. "Cats are pretty self centered. But you already know that!"

"I assumed as much.  But I just like them. I don't know why.  Maybe because they have respect for themselves."

Tawny nodded, watching her guest carefully for any signs of stress or uneasiness. "Did Lillian tell you much about this place?" she asked.

"Actually, she did," said the young man.  "It sounds very strange.  But there's not much choice, is there?  And I've seen stranger."

Tawny's opinion of the newcomer went up another notch. He seemed to be taking his sudden change of worlds all in stride, and she liked that in him. In the back of her mind, she could hear some of her sisters giggling, and even the quiet, authoritative presence of the Old One. Apparently they were all curious about him as well!

He was one of the "New Breed", as The Old One was calling them, and he had been most impressed with them.  It was not that much of a surprise to him that this one - a normal, very caring young man - would be accepted almost immediately.  And because he and Tawny had so much in common, he was pleased that it would be by her!

~Could he be your One?~ came one of the feminine whispers in her mind. She shut the door firmly to any further thought along that line. Let them figure that out on their own!

Sheba was, at this time, moving around on his lap, and she kept touching the scratches on his belly.  They were covered with a shirt and bandages, but they were itchy, and when the cat touched them, they were very uncomfortable.

He made a face and rubbed at some of the worst ones. Seeing what was happening, Tawny stood up and went to a little supply cabinet, taking out a tub of her special healing ointment. "Here, let me put some of this on your scratches," she said, kneeling down beside where he was sitting.

"Lillian already put something on them," he said.  He wasn't sure he could handle her touching him!

"Don't tell Lillian, but my stuff is better," Tawny said solemnly.

"Oh-kay."  His voice squeaked a little, cracking with nervousness.

Very carefully, the animal healer moved the sleeping Sheba off to the side of Sean's leg. Putting some of the cream on her fingers, she lifted his shirt and started to massage the cream into the unbandaged scratches, making a soft purring noise as she did so.

His eyes fluttered closed, and he bit his lip as he tried not to enjoy it so much. Unfortunately, he could not tell all parts of his body to pretend as well as he could control his face!

Tawny was not surprised at this. Some of the male residents of Esperanza had made a point of telling her that she had a very sensual aura around her, and she was careful not to encourage them in that way if she wasn't interested. And until now, she hadn't been!

Sean, however, was not sure how he stood, and his bright green eyes - almost like a cat's eyes, Tawny realized - opened wide as he looked ashamed of his reaction.

"It's alright," she purred. "Sean, I was thinking just now. They said you could have the empty room next door to this one for as long as you like, but if you like, you can stay here with me." There! The invitation had been made!

"W-with you?"  He gulped, looking around the flat.  It was large, but only because she needed room to see her patients.  The living area was clearly only suited to one - or a couple.  "There's only one b-bed, isn't there?"

She nodded. "Yes. Of course we would have to share it with three cats!"

"That I'm used to," he admitted.  "I've always lived alone.  No one's ever been interested in living with me before."

Tawny looked at him curiously. "You are the first one I was interested in that way too," she said with a cheeky grin of her own. "My father was beginning to think something was wrong with me!"

Sean flushed.  "Well, I didn't say I never . . ."  He could not finish, he was blushing so badly.  He lowered the incredible eyes for a moment, then raised them again.  "Have you?" he squeaked.

She shook her head. "Never," she admitted.

He gulped, his eyes goggling.  "I can sleep on the couch, if you want me to. I don't mean to assume . . ."

Her eyes narrowed for a moment in a very cat like manner, reminding him of the looks he got if he rubbed Sheba the wrong way or touched her in a spot she didn't want to be touched at that particular moment, even though she usually liked it there. "I would not have asked if I did not want you to be with me!"

"Sorry," he said.  "Where I come from, we don't push young, beautiful ladies to . . . to sleep in the same bed with men. Especially," he said slowly, "if this will be their first time."  He hoped she understood. He did not want to just take her and ravage her.  He already respected her too much for that!  But he was inexperienced in this way.  His only relationships had been with whores, and she was NOT that!

She looked disappointed and confused. "But you are not pushing!" she said. "I was the one who asked!" Then in response to a comment that she heard inside of her head, she cried out, "Hush up Sister! I'll do it my way!" 

He looked at her, and she looked at him, and suddenly they laughed.  "I guess we're both pretty new at this," he confessed.  "I just can't believe I'd be lucky enough to get a woman as pretty as you."

"And I will be lucky to have a man like you!" she said with a happy smile. It might take time, but she knew now that it would work out in the end!