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Julie finally looked curiously at me. "Can I... uh...."

"Can you what, hon?" I asked, not quite understanding what she was after.

"Can I see what his stuff looks like?" Julie managed to mumble some.

I gave it some thought and pushed sideways on Terry's rump. "Terry, roll over."

Terry grunted and shifted his weight in the direction of my pushing, and managed to halfway roll until he was stopped by the sofa. He had his spine wedged at the very base of the sofa and two of his four legs in the air, the other two along the floor. Kind of how some dogs sleep against furniture. His thick and long lioncock waggling a little in its latex casing, his knot still mostly swollen though perhaps starting to come down. The end of the collection condom was full of a chalky white liquid visible as opaque coloring inside the condom.

Julie's eyes widened. "Is... that... normal for a lion?"

I laughed. "No... but then the brothers aren't normal lions, are they?" I chuckled.

"It's.... bigger than I thought, especially that bulge thing there." Julie pointed.

"In canines it called the "knot". Technically the name is "bulbis glandis", but that's a bit too much for most people." I chuckled and smiled. "And Larry and Terry are probably both about the same in the cock department. They're a fair bit thicker, and a good bit longer than most lions. Or even Hercules. But... they're special."

Julie giggled. "Yeah, they're special."

Terry curled some to lick at his maleness and I tapped his nose gently. "No, Terry. Not yet." I reached down and tried to stretch the ring at the open end of the condom so I could slip it over Terry's knot and check his "sample". I managed to do so without the lion objecting, after which he licked himself as he softened and the reddish flesh retreated back into its furry cover.

"Do you think you can manage him for a little while? I forgot the microscope is in the vet room. Mind if I go to get it?" I asked.

Julie looked to Terry who was still lapping at himself and she nodded to me. "He seems to be alright. If you hear screaming, you'll know something went wrong."

I just shook my head. "That's a terrible joke, but I'll be right back."

I went out through the mudroom and made my way through the unlit garage and workshop. Well, not EXCACTLY unlit, as the big merc-incandescent light on the windmill shone a little through the dusty-dirty windows of the overhead door to the shop part. I opened the door to the hall, flipped on its light and made my way over to the vet room. I flipped on that light and looked in a couple under-counter cabinets until I found the case with the microscope in it, then rummaged in the drawer above it to find the hemocytometer, densimeter, and hand counter. Grabbing the small case, the tube, and the chrome counter in one hand, I went back out the door, turning the lights off with my elbow as I went and pulled the doors shut with the thumb of the hand carrying the microscope case. Soon enough I was back in the living room.

"What's all that stuff for?" Julie asked.

"Sperm count. You first check to see how dense the sample is. That kind of tells you how many swimmers there are." I took a glass eyedropper from the microscope case and held it in my hand to warm some.

"Why are you doing that?" Julie asked, pointing to my fist.

"Warms up the glass so it doesn't cold-shock the sperm." I smiled. "Gives a more accurate count. If I was in an actual lab I'd have a slide warmer that I'd be using." Remembering that, I tucked the plastic case with the hemocytometer between my thighs as I knelt, setting up the cord for the microscope's lightbulb.

It was a relic from long-ago high school days, and it was old even then. The 300x lens was messed up, probably from some kid putting it into his pondwater slide, but the 100x and 200x were reasonable, still. And being made to be used, it was of heavy metal and the fine-adjustment wheel was good enough for me to get a good fix on many things. I just liked to remember that even big hospitals were using microscopes like that one all the way up through the 1960s as their main means of doing blood counts and all sorts of tests, before the age of the computer and fancy optics-detection software.

I put a drop of semen on the glass plate of the refraction densimeter - a little tubelike scope device that measures the optical density of opaque fluids on a little scale compared to the clear vision of another little plate. I wrote down the number that was optically popping out at me for the density of Terry's semen sample. I wiped off the semen drop and put the cap back on the densimeter. I got the hemocytometer out of its little case. Normally used for blood counts, there are little lines - very fine lines, I might add - engraved on the underside of the glass plate, and when under the microscope it shows up as a microscopic grid pattern which allows someone to do a fractional count and estimation based on the number of whatever - be it blood platelets, red blood cells, white blood cells, bacterium, sperm... whatever - to be able to count them in a defined area. I put another drop of semen on the hemocytometer slide and put a drop of stain from a bottle in the microscope case, to better see the sperm cells. I adjusted the microscope so I could see it.

"Can I look?" Julie asked.

I shrugged and nodded. "Go right ahead. The wheels near the base are the fine adjustment. Turn those one way or another very slowly if it's out of focus for you."

Julie looked, then giggled. "Little swimmer tadpoles!"

I nodded and got out the counter. I estimated motility, then did a live, dead, and abnormal count, writing down the numbers for each as was given to me by the little hand counter I clicked away with when doing each.

"Well, another interesting thing... Terry's quite fertile. Even moreso than a normal lion. Now whether that's intentional or just a side-effect of the genetic twiddling, I can't say. I'd imagine Larry would have numbers similar to these, too." I sat back and cleaned up the equipment. I pondered the still filled cocksock. I didn't have any facilities for processing or storing semen at home, and to transport it to work tomorrow wouldn't do too well, as it'd be close to 12 hours old at that point, unprocessed. No extender or anything.

I started to twist the top of the condom to knot it when Julie asked, "What does it feel like?"

I looked at her curiously. "I.... didn't really pay attention. I'd imagine it's a lot like human semen, though less watery. Humans have the greatest seminal water content of all land mammals. We also have the most watery milk, if I remember correctly." I offered the latex party favor to her.

I was somewhat surprised as she bunched it up some and stuck her finger in, then rubbed the slick spooge between two of her fingers. She giggled as she made it web between the two a couple times before it dried too much to continue being so mucoid. I couldn't help but laugh at that, as though she were a young schoolgirl investigating some unknown gooey substance her and some friends brewed up in the chemistry lab.

Julie saw me watching and blushed deeply. "I was just curious... "

I smiled kindly. "I know. It just struck me as sort of amusing. You weren't doing anything wrong. Now if you'd have whipped your top off and started smearing it all over your breasts, I'd have thought you'd fallen off the deep end."

Julie stuck her tongue out at me, then smiled. "Yeah, I'm not one of those Baywatch bimbos or anything like that."

I chuckled. "I'm glad. I'm not after someone with more boobs than brains, or that's so... " I shrugged. "I don't know. "Brainless" isn't the word... "flashy" isn't exactly right either. "Sexy" is in the eye of the beholder, and I want something that I do find sexy just not so.... loud about it? If that makes any sense." I realized the term I was looking for. "I don't want someone that provocative."

Julie smiled as she handed the condom back to me, then snuggled up to my side as I shut off the microscope and packed it back away. "I'm glad... and I'm not after someone pushy, bossy, or that has to always be right. You're pretty good at being right, so I don't know...." she winked at me and I kissed her cheek.

"I can't help it that I know so much. Besides, I do admit when I'm wrong. And it happens now and then, especially when it comes to my memory. It's flaky sometimes, so I don't trust it. That's why I tend to say phrases like "if memory serves" and "if I remember correctly" a lot. It just hedges my statements in case I'm accidentally mistaken about some fact or another I'm trying to convey." I wrapped my arm around Julie as Terry seemed to have a post-orgasmic nap laying there up against the sofa. I reached over and pet Cleo some, too, lest she feel left out. She turned her head a bit and licked my hand.

"So what are you going to do with that?" she pointed to the collection condom.

I shrugged. "I was thinking about that. It seems a bit of a shame to toss it out, but... I can't really do anything with it here, and Cleo's the only...." the realization dawned on me, but I didn't think it'd be right just yet.

"You're thinking of something?" Julie asked.

"Well, Cleo's not the only one here that can take lion semen and do something with it. Jasmine can, too, but I don't know if she's in heat or not, and even so it's getting late tonight for us to do anything near that lengthy, so I guess this just heads to the dustbin. Thankfully there's more where it came from, for the short term at least." I smiled and knotted the top of the latex bubble, setting it with my used cleanup supplies as I put the microscope, the dildocam, the endoscope and the other associated gear back in their respective cases.

Julie looked at the clock to see it was nearly 9:30 already. "Where did the time go?"

I couldn't help but make the pun. "It just came and went." Julie looked at me confusedly. "While Terry came, it went."

Julie just shook her head. I chuckled. "Hey, just ask Jerry about my bad puns. He steps in them all the time."

I winked and Julie giggled as she snuggled up to my side. "Even with your weird sense of humor, I still love you."

I kissed Julie's cheek. "And I love you, too." I then looked down at Terry laying there. "Well... he looks comfortable. I really don't want to kick him out just yet as he's been a good boy. Want to watch something for a while before I put him back and we head to bed?"

Julie thought for a bit. "Will you need me to help put him out?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I don't think so, why?"

"I was just thinking I'd put on my nightshirt and get ready for bed, then we can snuggle and I can take Cleo up when you take him back out to the pens," came the reply.

I shrugged. "Sounds fine to me. And here I figured you'd ask to have him in bed with us." I got up and moved over towards my recliner.

"Can we?" Julie asked.

I chuckled. "Not quite yet, hon. Though he seems to be good enough to do that with. Kind of curious, though, since he was raised in the lab that he'd behave so well in the house here. And it's not like he had the same treatment as Cleo to make him compliant."

"Well, I don't know, dear." Julie said. "You sure we can't have Terry in bed with us tonight?" she asked.

"I'm sure, hon. Sorry." I smiled a bit apologetically.

"That's ok, I'll be back in a bit!" Julie smiled and practically bounced off to get ready for bed.

I flipped on the TV and after running through the channels couldn't find anything worth my attention, so I selected a DVD from the rotisserie. The program came on - one about the disasterous avalanche on the Canadian Pacific Railway in Rogers Pass. I reclined back and Cleo padded over. "Ok girl, go ahead," I said as she looked at me with what I'd come to know as her questioning expression - even though it was really a lack of expression as always. Terry opened his eyes and turned his head a bit to watch as Cleo climbed up into my lap and then extended herself to lay along my legs again. Her rump was getting heavier than it'd ever been, but that'd only figure as she had three little ones in there and it was getting close to their time to make their appearance in the big, mean world.

Julie came back down in her nightshirt. I was amused to see that it was just her nightshirt and nothing else. I did so enjoy the feel of her bare flesh against mine, and as the nights were getting cooler I couldn't begrudge her the same protection I used. Most of the time in the summer I went to bed totally nude, but in the winter I typically wore a tighter t-shirt to bed just to keep my shoulders warm as I lay against my pillow. I had no problem with Julie keeping warm the same way. She looked at the TV and then Cleo lounging on my lap. "She took my seat!" Julie said mock-accusedly.

I shrugged. "First cum, first served." I winked.

Julie didn't get the pun - likely from not being around animals enough to hear of a mating being called a "service" or "being served" - but she smiled a bit anyway. She looked over to Terry still laying up against the couch, but watching the goings-on. "Do you think it's ok if I... snuggle up with him?" Julie asked me.

I tilted my head to look down at Terry. He turned his head to meet my gaze. His expression was peaceable so I shrugged. "Seems alright. Either he's just tired, satisfied, or just a lazy lion at the moment." I thought about things for a little bit. "You could lay out on the couch and just pet him, or I suppose it'd be alright to put a blanket down and snuggle with him. He might even let you use him as a pillow. They must have done a whole lot of interaction with their animals at the lab for them to be this calm around humans and in unfamiliar situations... either that or these are the lucky ones that were personable." I sighed a bit at that thought, thinking that there were certainly many many others that didn't make it out of ReCirq alive like these fellows did.

Julie laid out one of the sleeping bags and backed herself up against Terry - a VERY dangerous position to be in with an unfamiliar animal in an unfamiliar situation - but he didn't seem to mind. She even lifted his head and put one of the couch pillows under it for him to lay on. He rubbed his head around a little bit and seemed to enjoy the cushyness. Terry was big enough for her to put a pillow on one of his forelegs, and nestle her butt up against his lower abdomen about at his pelvis. She took one of the folded blankets and draped it over their rumps so she could stay warm.

I smiled as I watched Terry look up to me. "It's alright, big guy. She's being friendly. Just enjoy it." Cleo was already snoozing with her head laying atop one of my ankles, and I guess the low-key atmosphere may have contributed to Terry's passiveness, as he wriggled around some to get a little more comfortable, rolled fully onto his side trapping the blanket between his hindlegs - which Julie immediately corrected covering his rump fully again, including both legs - and laid his upper forepaw across Julie. It was just draped there, but adducted a bit so the leg from his paw to his "wrist" was laying along Julie's side, parallel to it before the leg bent to join Terry's body. It didn't trap her, and it wasn't exactly a hug posture, but it was sweet looking and Julie smiled.

"I think you made a friend." I winked. Julie didn't move from her position but I could see she stuck her tongue out.

As the program played, we all kind of snoozed a bit... just relaxed, warm and content, and my thoughts drifted. I really liked having Julie around, and she liked the cats a lot. My room was indeed kind of small - not bad for a bachelor but not exactly big enough for the larger bed that would be required to accommodate us both and more than one cat at the same time. Up until now it'd only rarely been used for more than just me. Peaches had rarely had bedroom privileges as she had a habit - at least when younger - of gnawing and shredding things, and I didn't feel the desire to continually replace mattresses. Pickles had been in my bed a few times, but she wasn't exactly completely housebroken, and certainly not as maintenance-free as Cleo.

I looked down to the snoozing lion and smiled. If Larry was as amenable as Terry about things, then they deserved house privileges, too, and all five deserved warmer accommodations than just the machine shed's uninsulated windbreak. I sighed a bit as I thought about how things of that nature could be rectified without twiddling too much with how the house was built. I liked the appearance of the place and it was - up to this point at least - big enough for me and small enough for me to maintain alone. But then agian, if I wasn't going to be alone anymore... that'd change things a little, too.

Peaches' room was just tacked onto the back end of the house, and was originally the tacked-on new master bedroom. I'd changed it into a room for Peaches when I got her, as I didn't need that much bedroom, and it wasn't exactly the best built part of the house. Its roof was nearly flat and though we didn't get a tremendous amount of snow, it was certainly enough to thaw and freeze and then have the roof leak. 1970s construction at its best... it really was just a throw-together kind of affair with just pier footings rather than full concrete belt wall or even full basement like the rest of the house. I rolled the idea around in my head of making a full-width pair of rooms back there for the cats, and that would allow the creation of another bedroom upstairs, and even a "summer bedroom" porch, which was common in the days prior to air conditioning. If I built it as that, it'd fit in with the era of the house, it'd look appropriate, and if I fuddled it into being an "all-season porch" with windows, it could be another cat-room as well. That'd make it so that all the cats could have occasional house privileges, I could move the playroom to the back, have my room as the guest room, and reclaim the front room as the master bedroom, which was its original design in the first place.

I pondered some more... if I put in a full basement under the extension, that'd allow for another couple emergency rooms if I needed them, perhaps even with their own outdoor access. I had the sneaking suspicion that I wasn't exactly through hearing from "Abu Hilotep" and that there likely were more ReCirq refugees out there, perhaps with my name on them like Larry and Terry. But, then again, maybe not. Jeff likely did sneak out more than just three animals, that's for sure, but he might have figured on other people besides myself to care for them. Given what all they'd ordered from us, they had some species that... just weren't my style. Then there were some that would be nearly impossible to sneak out, like the elephants and rhinos. I sighed and frowned when I thought of them - especially the rhinos. Terribly endangered, and they must have had at least 5 or 6 adult animals. Probably more, but at least that many given what they asked us for as far as frozen semen. At any rate, they were certainly something you couldn't just sneak out in your car, that's for sure.

Cleo shifted about a bit, likely in reaction to my body language, and looked back at me. I smiled at her and pet her rump some, nodding a bit to let her know things were alright. She laid her head down on her forepaws and went back to snoozing, or maybe watching the TV, though her relaxation led me to think it was the former moreso than the latter. Well, having more fuzzbutts around or other critters... that'd be alright, more or less. Then a realization came to me... if the investigators returned, how would I hide the cats that I wasn't supposed to have? Larry and Terry looked normal enough, but if they backed their asses to the fence like they did with me, they'd be recognized immediately by a sharp investigator. If whatever creatures Jeff sent me were really oddball, they'd be recognized as quickly as Cleo... so that'd mean they'd have to be hidden. And to really be hidden, they'd have to be quiet, too. Cleo understood so that was ok with her, but... others likely wouldn't be so compliant or coherent.

I shrugged and just laid back, letting that be a problem dealt with another day as I watched the rest of the video while relaxing and idly petting Cleo.

The video finished and I smiled at Julie. She seemed so happy snuggling with Terry, and he seemed to be comfortable, too, as the both slept. I gave it some thought as to what would be alright... I could see only one reason Terry couldn't spend the night indoors... he'd need to go to the bathroom sooner or later. Cleo was still in my lap so I patted her thigh to get her attention. She looked back at me. I made a "go on" gesture and she slowly got up with a decent bit of effort and padded off the recliner's footrest. Terry's eyes popped open and he looked at me as much as he could without moving his head.

"It's alright, big guy. I'm just settling down for the night, too. Just stay where you are," I whispered. Terry continued to watch me as I turned out the lights and laid out the second sleeping bag. Undressing to my briefs and t-shirt I got another blanket and a pillow for Cleo. I set the DVD changer to a Modern Marvels episode and laid down for the night. Cleo came and padded over to me, then laid down in front of me. I put the blanket over both of us and tucked the extra pillow beneath her head. Terry didn't move from his position and just wriggled his head a bit to settle in as he closed his eyes once again. I yawned, cuddled up with Cleo, and closed my eyes as well, listening to the video program as I drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

Cleo bapped me in the face with one of her forepaws and that startled me awake. I opened my eyes to see Terry sniffing about the room. I quickly got to my feet. "Oh no you don't!" I said and stuffed my feet into my shoes then quickly grabbed his collar and led him out the mudroom door. "You do that stuff outside!"

Terry was a bit befuddled by being moved in such a profound way in such an unexpected manner, though he didn't object or anything. He looked at me confused as he was standing on the steps to the mudroom. "Go ahead, do your thing out here and maybe you can come back in." Cleo had gotten up and padded to my side. She looked up at me and then at Terry. She then walked down the steps, found a spot in the smallish space between the gates - about 20 feet by perhaps 25 feet - and squatted to pee. I guess that was a hint to Terry, who then moved and peed in about the same spot she did, then sniffed around some more before he squatted and left a leonine surprise on the worn path between the mudroom door and that of the garage. I made a mental note to clean that up before I rediscovered it at some unexpected moment. "Cleo, do you think he'll be good if I let him back inside?" She nodded and I accepted that. Cleo padded back to my makeshift bed and I let Terry back in. The sun wasn't up yet and the air was more than a bit chilly on my relatively uncovered body. I shut the doors and then wrapped myself back up with my lioness. Julie had apparently rolled over while Terry was up, so he couldn't be back in the same spot he'd been. He sniffed around the room some more and then chose a spot near the foot of the stairs with his rump up close to the entertainment center. He flumped down fairly hard and I couldn't help but smile as he laid his head on his folded forepaws. It was so cute.

Cleo nuzzled me and I kissed her nosie. She then nuzzled me again. "You want something?" I asked in a whisper. She nodded. I guessed what she wanted. "Are you wanting to mate?" Another nod came. "I don't think I can do that right now. I will do something not quite as good but that you'll enjoy." I was erect already so I just fished my cock out from my briefs and pulled her hips towards mine. She arched some but had to shift her shoulders and head back a fair bit. With her growing girth, she wasn't able to fold herself close like she used to. I moved her legs to lay up against my chest and guided myself into her. I pushed deeply into my leonine lover and used her tail to pull her crotch as close to mine as possible. I moved her pillow so it was once again under her head and then covered us up. I reached to our joining and massaged her vulva some around my thickness. It wasn't exactly mating, but I knew she would enjoy the coupling anyway. Her insides rippled and gripped some, but were nowhere near to orgasm when I quit massaging us and just pet her flanks a bit before I yawned and snuggled in for some more sleep.

* * * * *

I woke up to the sun streaming down on my face... something I didn't typically care for. What I saw when I raised my head made for an interesting sight. Cleo was still snuggled up to me as much as she could, our crotches still pressed together even though I had long since slipped out of her. Behind her, Terry had laid down back-to-back with her sometime during the night, and Julie had apparently moved to snuggle with Terry some more, as she was being "held" by him again, both cats and humans covered with blankets and looking rather comfortable. I pet Cleo's thigh and she opened her eyes, saw it was me, and closed them again. I snoozed for a little bit, just laying there and enjoying the warmth of the lioness - both physical and psychological - but when the clock chimed for 7 am, I decided I'd better start the day.

When I rose from where I had been sleeping, Cleo got up as well and headed to the bathroom. Terry spun his head around to look first at me getting dressed, then at Cleo padding off. He rolled over to face my direction which pulled the covers off of Julie, who half-woke and tried to retrieve them, which wasn't really practical. After waving her hand around patting various parts of the lion trying to find the edge of the blanket, she lifted her head and looked around. By that time I was buttoning my shirt and she looked a big dazed and disheveled, then smiled and realized what had to have been going on.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." I smiled at her.

"It's morning already?" she asked, then squinted as the sun came out from under a cloud and shone brightly on her, too, as it had for me.

"Looks that way, hon. 7 am already." I smiled and pulled on my boots, leaving them untied for the moment. "Cleo's in the john, so you'll have to wait a minute if you need to go."

Julie pulled herself upright and smiled. "Thanks for letting Terry stay inside all night."

I shook my head. "He went out once. I caught him sniffing around so figured he needed to do his thing. But other than that, he seems to have been nicely mellow. I'm really kind of surprised, and hopefully Larry is just as well-mannered. If they are... they'll certainly get to be inside a fair bit."

"That'd be great!" Julie exclaimed, practically bouncing again. I couldn't help but laugh.

The sound of the toilet flushing preceded Cleo's return to the living room, and Terry got up and started sniffing around again. There was a bit of a wind blowing, as I could see the big maple tree outside moving a bit, so I patted my thigh. "Come here, Terry... Time to go back out to the pens." I started for the mudroom door and grabbed a jacket off the coathooks as I did so.

Terry followed placidly as we went back through the maze of doors. I didn't have a leash on him, but I don't think that would have mattered at that point, anyway. He was contained and he was obediently following me. When we got back to the pens Larry was bouncing around all over and jumping up against the cage wall as I let Terry back in. The two brothers bumbled and tumbled about in play, apparently no worse off for the hours of separation, which was a good sign. That'd mean I could work with one or the other for at least a reasonable amount of time without the other one going nuts over the lack of companionship.

I fed all the bigger cats their chickens and washed up in the bathroom before heading back to the house. With the weather turning colder, I made a mental note to service the propane furnace for the shop and get things ready for the forced-air wood stove to do its thing. I then pondered about something I'd intended to do years ago but never really got around to... I wondered if putting in a wood-fired heating and power boiler would do me much good for the place, rather than relying on wood-fired forced air and propane. I went out through the woodshed and sized things up in there.

The building was large enough, to be sure... about 25 or 30 feet wide by... easily 80 feet long. Along the one side was the woodpile, and the other had the work tractor parked at the far end just behind the sliding door. A couple large metal-frame windows, scavenged from some 19-teens building, were framed into the wall and shed a fair amount of light into the building. There was one other window by the sliding door next to the windmill, but the pumphouse at the base of the windmill mostly blocked that from any direct sunlight except for a couple slivers. The chimney for the garage workshop was right there on the outer wall of the garage, which made up one wall of the woodshed, so whatever exhaust gases from the boiler could be routed through that just the same as the woodstove of the garage. The woodshed was somewhat centrally located among the buildings, though the sawmill shed where I'd want to use the power boiler function with was at least a hundred feet away. That'd make for an awful long steam line either suspended in the air - which would limit movements to the scalehouse - or below ground, which would have its own set of issues.

I was looking out the windows, thinking for awhile and then realized that time was slipping away so I headed through the sliding door of the woodshed back towards the house along the front of the garage. I went in the gate and locked the service door to the garage and went back up to the mudroom, remembering to intentionally miss Terry's fertilizer contribution on the path.

"What took you so long?" Julie asked as she came out of the bathroom, all dressed and ready for work.

"Oh, was just thinking about what to do about getting ready for winter. I don't really want to have the new cats stuck in there all winter unheated, but I can't really put them much of anywhere else right now. Peaches would pitch a fit if she had to give up her room, and they all won't get along in that small of space anyway. I'd have to be kind of careful about things if I just put tarps around ...." I suddenly realized just what I could do. It wouldn't be a long-term fix but it'd work some.

"Jim?" Julie asked as I'd stopped mid-sentence. "Honey..."

"Yes?" I asked.

"You didn't finish your sentence," she observed.

I nodded. "Yeah. I think I got a halfway plan that'd get us through the winter at least. Wouldn't cost too very much and would be halfass but it'd work. I'll tell you about it later."

I smiled and headed for the bathroom. I shaved, washed up some, and then dashed upstairs and put on fresh clothes before I quickly thumped back down the stairs... it was 7:30 so I put my jacket back on. "Ready to head to work?" I asked.

Julie was sitting on the couch and petting Cleo's head. "Any chance for breakfast first?" Julie asked.

I shrugged. "I don't usually eat much of a breakfast, but I'll buy you something at McD's or Booger Fling if you'd like."

Julie smiled. "How about _I_ buy _you_ something... and something for myself."

"And Cleo. She'd probably like a sausage biscuit or something like that." I smiled and put on my jacket again as I stood at the front door.

Julie got up and smiled. "That works for me."

I opened the door for her and soon we were on our way to work.

Cleo behaved in the back seat as we got our food from McD's - I had a sausage biscuit with hash browns and a orange juice. Julie had a Sausage and Egg McMuffin, hash browns and a large McCafe latte or whatever. I never did go for the coffee drinks. Cleo had a sausage biscuit, which she enjoyed immensely, even though it got some interesting looks from the drive-thru lady of us having a lion in the car. At least she didn't wig out like one previous cashier apparently had.

We ate on the way and pulled into work just at 8 am, which was more than enough time before Jack's arrival to be able to sneak Cleo into the office as usual. I pondered putting Big John through his paces since Jerry was off today, but I kind of mothballed that idea since I wanted to check out Larry tonight, and if things progressed like they had with Terry, I'd be doing a lot then, too. I canted my jaw as I walked up the stairs behind Julie and Cleo. Vic was coming out of his office as we reached the top of the stairs. Julie waved to him, and he nodded back. He looked at Cleo, then to me.

I smiled and nodded. "Hi there Vic. How's life today?"

He looked at me with a bit of surprise. "One of the cats got loose?" he asked and nodded in Cleo's direction.

I shook my head. "Naw, that's one of mine. She's due to have cubs soon and I want to keep an eye on her as much as possible. It's her first litter and don't want to have any problems. She's friendly enough, so nothing to worry about."

Vic cracked a smile. "Good. I hate fixing them damned fences. Pain in the butt! But... does Mr. Direktor know about her?" his tone was genuine with curiosity.

"No, and I'd like very much to keep it that way, if you don't mind." I smiled.

"Shiit..." Vic grumbled. "I wouldn't tell him. Besides, all he'd do is complain to me about it anyway even if I did! I hear enough dribble out of that little snot's mouth every day anyway. I swear his farthole must be stitched shut for that much shit to come out his mouth." Vic was shaking his head as he said that, but with an impish grin.

I winked and laughed. "Hey, I'm not about to check on that one for you, Vic. Maybe next time I have Jim Bridger out here you can dart him and find out for yourself."

Vic laughed at that. "Now don't you be giving me any of them ideas... I just might do one of them one of these days!" He patted my arm and headed on his way.

Cleo was waiting by my office door and I let her in, then sat down at my computer. The wooden legs of the cot groaned as she climbed up and I wondered just how much longer it would support her weight. I thought a bit and figured I'd get things together to lay out blankets under the sink counter in my washroom for her to make her bed on soon, so she could have her cubs in there if need be, in relative privacy and with me being able to shut the door to remove her from view should someone be in my office that didn't know about her.

Soon there was a knock on my door. "Kommen sie." I said.

Julie stuck her head in. "The USDA inspector is at the main gate."

I rolled my eyes... well, that meant I knew what I was going to be doing the majority of the day. "I'll be down there in a moment," I said and shut off the monitor to my computer.

I sighed as I locked the door to my office. Inspections were routine, and never really did find anything meaningful at fault here. It just took time out of my day to show the inspector around and have him do his due diligence. I made my way to the main stairs and headed down.

Pete Johnson was a somewhat-plump, middle-aged, balding fellow with a wife that was addicted to QVC and eBay, and had nothing better to do with her time than find new ways of spending what little money he had from his federal job. I kind of pitied him in that respect... but not too much. He was at least easy to work with and wasn't too pencil-necked to understand that sometimes things needed to be overlooked for the sake of better practices.

"Hey there, Pete. How's life been treating you?" I smiled as I unlocked the gate. There was the usual throng of people behind him that crowded my way. "Sorry folks, just him for now. The ticket window will be open in just a bit and then you all can enjoy the zoo."

"Oh, I've been better, Jim. How's things been going around here?" Pete smiled as I let him through the personnel gate.

I sighed. "Oh... life as usual. Big John is being a bit grouchy, Sarah's in another pen because of that. Might be getting some new cats in from a batch I just brought in. An older fellow was ordered to get rid of them so I ended up taking them all." I shrugged. "Routine crap as usual."

"You got some new cats in? Should I come out and see them?" Pete asked.

I shrugged. "If you want to, you're welcome to. They're in those pens I made in that machine shed with the pole in the middle to help hold up the roof. You remember those, right? The ones I used when having Pickles out there when she's in heat?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember those." Pete nodded.

"Two male lions, a male liger, a female liger, and their mama tigress are what I got in. The lions aren't really display animals, and we already got five here, so I figured I might loan the ligers and tigress to the zoo and put them in the two empty enclosures in the cathouse." I said as we walked through the courtyard and stopped at the clock tower.

"That sounds good. Do you have the background paperwork on them?" Pete asked.

I shook my head. "Herbie Jacobs was the fellow I got them from, and he wasn't USDA licensed. [State omitted] allows big cats as pets and so he didn't need to be for what he was doing, so there's no real background paperwork on them, at least as far as I know. I could call him to find out if he has anything but I just got the tigress' birthdate, and I could call him to find out the age of the ligers since they're siblings and were born at his place. The lions I have birthdates and vaccination dates, no serum serials or anything like that. He got them relatiely recently so he had that written down where he could find it."

Pete nodded. "Well, you know, just fill in what you can for them on your forms and I'll sign off on it. I know the pens you're talking about and unless a tree fell on that machine shed they'll still be in better condition than a lot of places."

I nodded. "Ok, Pete. So.... what would you like to see first?" I gestured around.

"Let's just make a loop... I'll look over your paperwork last, since that'll take the longest and the crowds will want to see everything too." Pete shrugged. I nodded and off we went for the grand tour.

* * * * *

As we returned to the office building, Zack was sitting on the bench near the stairs.

"Hi, Mr. Peters. I was wondering if..." Zack started out.

"Hold on there, Zack. I've got to help this gentleman first. I'll be back down in a little bit and then I'll see what I can do for you, ok?" I smiled.

Zack looked down. "Sorry, Mr. Peters."

I smiled. "It's alright. Just wait here and I'll be with you in a bit," I said as Pete and I ascended the stairs.

"Who was that?" Pete asked.

"Young fellow that was an AR heckler when I was giving one of my talks. Seems he's changed his mind a little bit and has more questions for me." I smiled as we walked the upper hall.

"You and your lectures... you still doing that? Jeez, Jim." Pete winked. "You'll make it so I have a couple dozen more places to inspect. Between you saying big cats are good pets and how your cats act around you..." Pete just shook his head. "You know I agree with you on that, but the USDA's official position is that private citizens shouldn't be having big cats as pets."

I chuckled. "I know, Pete, and I know some things don't make your job any easier, but... we all have our crosses to bear. You know mine...." I gesture to the doorway and Pete preceded me into the main office.

"Do I ever..." Pete said quietly as Julie got up and knocked on the closed door of Jack Bennin's office, then let herself in.

Moments later Jack came out, smiling like he'd just shit out a gold egg, and shook Pete's hand heartily. "So glad to have you back with us, Mr. Johnson. How was your tour of the zoo?" Jack's enthusiasm was dripping and clearly fake, like spray-on christmas tree flocking.

"It was good as usual, Mr. Bennin. But now comes the time when I'm here to see your paperwork and make sure that's all in order." Pete was courteous but straight to the point with Jack, as was his habit.

"Julie, could you show Mr. Johnson to the conference room and provide him with whatever materials he'd require?" Jack smiled broadly as he gestured to the door.

"I better get to seeing what Zack wants. Nice seeing you again, Pete." I nodded and headed to the door. Jack's expression hardened significantly as I called Pete by his first name.

"Nice seeing you again, too, Jim. Invite me out next time you have one of your barbecues!" Pete smiled amicably as Julie directed him to the conference room.

Jack scowled at me as soon as Pete turned his back. I just ignored it and headed back down the hall and down the stairs.

"Sorry about that, Zack... I had to take care of Mr. Johnson first. He's our USDA inspector and was here on official business rather than just a social visit." I smiled as the young man stood to greet me upon my return.

"Oh, yeah, that's alright Mr. Peters. I was just kind of curious to.. well... learn more, maybe? And... well... ask you some other questions about things?" his expression was hopeful, and I noticed a good deal of his hardware was missing.

"Well, if you don't mind talking and walking at the same time, that's fine by me," I smiled. We started walking towards the cathouse. "What sort of "other things" were you going to ask me about, if you don't mind my asking."

Zack kind of scuffed his feet a bit. "Well... a few of my friends don't like me now because I started asking questions about things... well... that I'd been told about big cats and zoos and stuff like that. And they're getting all bent out of shape about it like I'm some kind of traitor for just asking questions." His expression spoke volumes about his social distress.

I smiled. "Well, that happens. Sometimes people just get so entrenched in thinking a certain way that they never consider asking questions about why things are the way they are, let alone consider different opinions or viewpoints. So, to them, you shouldn't ever question what someone else says." I chuckled. "That's kind of like how things were in Nazi Germany or the old Soviet Union. Once the government said things were a certain way, it wasn't wise to voice a different opinion, even if it was logical or based on fact."

Zack looked at me. "But... what's wrong with asking questions?"

I smiled and sat down on one of the benches outside the cathouse entrance. "Well..." I scratched my cheek. "It's kind of like this. I don't mind questions because I know my answers are genuine, and my knowledge is, too. If I don't know an answer, I'll readily say so. In those instances I tend to offer a reasoned guess, and say why I think things would be that way, but it's always only speculation and I say it is. Some people don't like to admit they don't know an answer, so either they get all flustered about the question being asked, or they make fun of the person for asking the question, or they give an answer but state it like it's codified fact rather than just their guess, whether reasoned or not."

"Also, when someone knowingly is puting forth misinformation or only half-truths, they can get upset at the "why" questions because they can't come up with anything reasonable to back up the information they're trying to put forth, and they'll get very upset if you come to them with codified contradictory information because they can't argue against the clear reality of it to support their information which is inherently flawed by being in conflict with reality." I shrugged.

"I guess that makes sense," Zack said thoughtfully. "But some of them are being real assholes about it!"

I looked around, and thankfully there weren't any young children near us at the moment.

"Zack, while I tend to use vocabulary like that when in private, in public around here we sort of have to temper how we speak so that some elementary-school child or pre-schooler doesn't go up to their parent or teacher and ask "What does the word "fuck" mean?"..." I chuckled softly and Zack smiled.

"Sorry Mr. Peters. I hadn't really thought about things that way." He smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "But you know what I'm meaning, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I do. And that's just how people are. You and I can't change the fact that some people feel very strongly that they're the only ones who could possibly be right - or that the people they idolize are the only ones who could possibly be right - and react in such a manner as though you'd just insulted something very precious to them. I can react that way, too, at times. I'm VERY willing to verbally defend my position on issues like big cats as pets, human interaction with them... all sorts of things. And I have the numbers and information up here..." I tapped my head with my index finger "... to back it up. A lot of people can't debate like that. They need material pre-arranged for them to say if they're questioned. That's not necessarily a problem regarding what material they're presenting, just that they aren't prepared for it. My boss, the zoo director, is a lot like that. He just tries to divert to a different subject if he's asked a question he's not ready for."

Zack kind of laughed at that. "I guess I've seen people like that before. I just never really paid too much attention."

I shrugged. "So what other "other things" have been on your mind."

Zack shrugged a bit. "Well, they said I'd been given a lot of misinformation by you. Well, not you personally, but... whoever I'd been talking to."

I chuckled. "I'm not the least bit surprised. You can judge for yourself whether what I've told you is factual or not. You've seen how good Jake is and the care the other cats receive and how they react to me."

Zack nodded. "Yeah, that's why it doesn't make any sense. The things you've told me... they DO make sense when you explained it all in detail. But what my friends had told me.... it doesn't make that much sense anymore."

I chuckled. "Well, that's why learning new things is called "enlightenment"... it's like someone turning on a light to show you what you've never seen before. Or maybe never even considered before."

Zack looked at me with a pleading expression. "So... what can I do about it? I mean... it's like they don't want to be my friends anymore."

I furrowed my brow. "Well, you can't really help what other people think. Some of them may be more like you in that they've never really seen or considered that what they figure is true might not be how they've thought it to be, and for those it'd only take a bit of nudging for them to try to see it a different way. Some, it'd take a lot more convincing. You kind of got the shock treatment in that you went from being a heckler right to being able to see just how friendly and amicable a lion can be. So what you experienced is a lot different from most people's. Then there's the people who will steadfastly refuse to change their position regardless of how much evidence you can provide to the contrary. Those you can pretty much write off as just being gone for good. It doesn't work to try to beat them into submission with words or deeds, because they'll just ignore it anyway. And as far as your friends... those that ARE your friends will be able to at least agree to disagree with what you're now thinking. Those that aren't really your friends... they won't. There will be some who are friends but just can't reconcile your change of opinion, but that's alright too. That's just part of life, regardless of what position you're holding on whatever subject matter. That's just how humanity is, sociologically speaking."

Zack nodded and looked down. "I guess you're right on that, too. It's just... kinda... like I'm an outsider all of a sudden. Like I don't belong, or something."

I smiled. "Well, that's part of life, too. It'd be real boring if we were all the same, right?"

Zack looked up at me and smiled, chuckling a bit. "Yeah... I can't really imagine you with piercings."

I laughed and patted Zack on the back. "This is true. And your hairstyle wouldn't do much for me either." I winked and he smiled. "How about we go in and answer some questions, and you can learn some more?" I asked and gestured to the door.

"Sure!" Zack said. "But... what will I do?"

I thought for a moment. "Well, listen and learn? There'll be more than that, but that'll be a good place to start, right?"

Zack thought for a moment. "I guess that's true. What if I have a question?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Then just ask it. It didn't stop you before, did it?"

Zack smiled at that and we went through the doors into the cathouse.