FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Right Thing To Do?

---

---

Chapter 2:

Difficult Decisions

Written by: Seliron (Sel)

/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

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.

/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

Characters:

• Seliron "Sel" Lynch - Male black leopard (panther), 28 years old

• Leon, called "Leo" - Male eurasian lynx, about 8 years old

/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

The panther felt a warm, gentle breeze on his fur as he walked through the park just outside of the house he lived in. A single leaf slowly fell to the ground, landing softly on the gravel path. The trees already had lost almost all of their foliage at this time of the year.

It had been almost five weeks since he met a homeless lynx boy, Leo, but he couldn't stop thinking about the cub. He hadn't seen him since then, it was almost like the boy had disappeared completely. His "home" - a small card box and some thin blankets - in a small shop's backyard was gone, no trace left behind where Leo could have gone.

After so long, he was slowly losing hope to find the boy. Not that he didn't look for him, but it was almost impossible. Leo could have been anywhere in the city. Sel couldn't even be sure that he was still in town. I'll probably never find him.

After about twenty minutes the panther reached a street full of small shops. He stopped by one of his favorite shops - a small video game store. Spending most of his spare time inside his flat alone, he had plenty of time to play almost all games he wanted. Money wasn't a problem, too. There was no family he had to take care of. At least not yet.

He didn't need much time to find what he was looking for. A brand new game in his paws, he stepped outside. He was just about to go home to play his game, when he heard something: A quiet rustle, almost inaudible. What was that?

The panther turned around, scanning the environment. The sound didn't come from one of the shops - but he noticed an entrance to a small alley a few meters to his right. Curious about what that sound was, he walked toward it. It took him a few moments before he realized where he was. He knew that alley. And the gate in the chain-link fence a few meters behind him. The playground. That's where the sound came from.

_ _

The panther hesitated for a moment, not sure if he had heard right. But the quiet rustling continued. He turned around and entered the playground.

At first he didn't see anything unusual, but then he noticed something in the corner of the eye. One of the bushes in front of the chain link fence was moving slightly. Stepping forward, he could see the cause of the movement: A small cub, digging through a pile of trash. Sel tried to sneak a bit closer, but he must have made a noise. The cub froze in shock.

"W-who's there?"

Sel was just about to answer, as a thought crossed his mind. Wait. I know that voice.

_ _

"Leo?!"

"Sel?!" the cub turned around and glanced at the adult. "What are YOU doing here?"

"Could ask you the same."

"I-I'm searching for something to eat..."

"Behind a bush?"

"There's always a lot of rubbish behind the bushes... sometimes there's something to eat, too." the lynx said.

"So you are searching for food in the rubbish of other people? Isn't that kind of... disgusting?"

"I... I just don't wanna be hungry all the time. It's better than nothing." the cub mumbled, blushing slightly.

"You're right, I'm sorry... you just try to survive." Sel said. Suddenly he remembered their last meeting, and the promise he gave the boy. The panther didn't get a chance to keep it.

"I-I tried to keep my promise, Leo... I _really_did, but I couldn't find you anywhere. Can you... can you forgive me?"

Leo nodded slightly.

"Where have you been? Your home just... disappeared."

"Long story..."

"Well, I've got plenty of time. Want some ice cream? There's a store around the corner that's still open." the panther said.

Just as the first day they met, the two cats walked through the alley in silence, out on the street. The ice cream shop was pretty popular in summer, but today there where only a few other furs sitting outside. Probably because most furs had to work. The two sat down on a table, far away from the other guests, and Sel ordered two cups of ice cream.

"Would be a good time to tell me your story, don't you think?"

"The shop owner threw me out the day after we met... h-he said he didn't want me to roam around his shop... some customers complained about me, or something like that."

"Where did you go after that?"

"I... tried to find a place to sleep... b-but everyone send me away, they didn't want me to sleep in their backyards."

"That's really mean... where do you sleep at the moment, then?"

Leo blushed bright, gazing on the ground. He mumbled something, but Sel couldn't understand what he said.

"Leo... you don't have to be ashamed, I know it's probably not a five-star-hotel."

"I... found some empty d-dumpsters in an alley..." he mumbled, still almost inaudible.

"Guess that's not really comfortable, hmm?"

Leo shook his head in response and remained quiet. Sel thought about his plan, he knew what he had to do. There was just one small problem: He didn't have the courage to ask the final question. Not that it was a complicated question. But this question, or actually the answer to it, could change his life forever. Sel had no other choice, this was probably his only chance - he couldn't be sure that he would see the boy again. So he gathered all his courage.

"Maybe... I've got a solution for your Problem, Leo."

"Hmm?"

"Well, you see... my flat is quite small, but I'm living alone in it... there would be room for another fur."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked, raising his eyebrows in confusion.

"I... I wanted to ask if you would like to live with me."

Now that he had asked his question, the panther felt relieved. Leo blinked and shook his head slightly. He looked at the adult, eyes wide open in surprise. Sel now got a bit nervous. He thought about his plan, and this one question, a lot. But he didn't think about what he would do if the cub said no.

"Are you kidding me?" the cub replied after a long pause. Leo looked at him, now clearly suspiciously.

"N-no... I would like to adopt you, if you want."

"Adopt... me? What do you want in return?" the boy replied sharply.

"Huh? What... I want in return? What do you mean?" now it was Sel's turn to get confused. Okay, not the reaction I expected...

"No fur would do something like that without expecting something in return."

"I really don't know what you're talking about. I don't want anything from you... I just wanted to help you." Sel replied in defense.

"You're... not going to hurt me?"

"NO! Why did you think that?"

"Just a bad feeling." Leo said, his eyes twitching nervously. The boy was hiding something, but Sel wasn't going to ask him about it, at least not yet. Maybe when he trusts me...

"Leo... I promise you that I won't hurt you. I'm serious, I would really like to give you a new home."

"Really? You're not making fun of me?"

The suspicious look on the boy's face slowly faded away, though not completely. He remained disbelieving and cautious.

"Look... I've got an idea. But for that you'll have to trust me a little."

"Hmm?"

"My flat's not very far away, only twenty minutes by foot. Want to take a look at your new home first? After that you can still decide what you want to do. I'll take you back here anytime you want."

"Promise?"

"Of course. Scout's honor."

Leo hesitated, unsure what to do. A minute later he nodded slightly, stepping closer to the adult.

"Where do you live?"

"Just follow me, you'll see." Sel said. Inside he felt relieved, glad that his plan didn't end in a catastrophe. It didn't go as planned, though, but he was confident that it would work out in the end.

~ Twenty minutes later ~

The two cats reached the door of the apartment Sel lived in. He took out his keys, unlocked the door and stepped inside. Leo stopped in the doorway. Arms crossed, he took a quick, nervous look around.

"Can I close the door?" Sel asked, trying not to scare the boy too much. Leo nodded, stepping inside.

"Come on, I'll show you around." Sel said. He gave the cub a small tour of his flat. As said before, it wasn't big, though big enough for him. Everything he needed was there - a kitchen, a living room, a small bathroom and two bedrooms. Currently he used one of the bedrooms for his PC and some other stuff.

"And last but not least: that could be your room if you decide that you want to live here." Sel said as they finished the tour in the second bedroom.

Five minutes later Leo sat on the couch in the living room, as upright as he could. He looked like he wanted to run away any moment.

"Calm down, little cub. That doesn't look very comfortable... I won't hurt you, don't be afraid." Sel said, sitting on the other half of the couch, keeping a bit of distance to the nervous boy. Leo relaxed a bit, leaning back.

"Want some hot chocolate?" Sel asked.

"What's that?"

"Ah, you don't know that? You'll like it, I'm sure!" he said as he got up and left the room, returning five minutes later.

"Be careful, it's really hot." he warned the cub as he placed a big mug of hot chocolate in front of him.

Leo sniffed suspiciously at the drink, before he rated it as harmless and took a small sip. His face lit up immediately, a contented sigh escaping his muzzle.

"Tasty?" Sel asked, smiling.

"It's... awesome!" the cub answered before he took another sip, a bit bigger this time.

"Good. Leo, listen... you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but... I'm kinda curious why you ran away from your parents."

Leo just sat there, drinking his hot chocolate slowly. There was no sign that the boy had heard him, so the silence that followed got pretty awkward. After almost five minutes - Sel was just about to switch to another topic - Leo sighed.

"My parents were..." he started, not sure how to go on. But after a minute the words just broke out of him, and the boy told Sel a story he would never forget.

Living in a small house in the outskirts of the city, Leo had been the only child in his family. His dad worked as a car dealer somewhere in town, his mum didn't have a job and took care of the house. As far as he could remember, his life has been hell. His mum indeed did her best to take care of the house - but that didn't include taking care of her son. So he was left on his own with nobody to talk to. He had to cope with his father alone, too.

The first thing his dad did when he came home from work was to open a bottle of beer - not that he'd stop after one, though. Being drunk almost any time, he got angry easily. Leo tried to get out of his way whenever he could, but it didn't work every time. For some reason his father made Leo responsible for everything bad in his life. Beating the poor cub obviously was the only way to release his anger.

One day, his dad came home from work, the face red with anger. In his rage he threw the car keys through the living room, breaking a vase in the corner of the room. Never before Leo had seen him so furious. The boy tried to hide in his room, knowing that he shouldn't get in his father's way now. He almost made it to the door.

"LEON!" he heard his father yelling. "COME HERE NOW, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!"

The frightened boy stepped into the living room slowly. His ears were flattened, his tail wrapped closely around his legs. He noticed his mother, standing in the edge of the room. The boy glanced at her, trying to tell her what he couldn't say out loud:Help me.

_ _

"YOU FUCKING BRAT! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" his father yelled. Leo didn't even have a chance to ask what he did wrong: In a sudden, quick motion his father's hand hit him.

At first the boy didn't feel anything besides a strange dizziness in his head. For a minute he stood there, stunned, not realizing what happened around him. Suddenly a pain exploded in his head like he never felt before. He collapsed, what only increased his father's anger. He raised his hand to hit the sobbing cub again. And again, and again, countless times. At some point Leo stopped crying, he didn't feel anything anymore. The last thing he remembered before passing out was his mother, looking down at her son, saying: 'Hope he killed you this time, you fucking brat. Would be better for both of us'.

As Leo woke up, his head felt like it was split apart by an axe. He didn't move for a few minutes, before the pain got a bit better and he could get up. His parents were asleep, the strong smell of booze filled the room. He slowly got to his room, took some blankets and sneaked out of the house. As soon as he had closed the door behind him, he had started to run - and he had been running till he couldn't run anymore, leaving his hell of a home far behind.

Sel was speechless for a moment. He glanced at the boy, noticing a single tear running down his cheek. Holy shit... poor boy.

"Leo, that's... that's horrible, little guy. No wonder that you ran away... nobody could take that forever."

"Thanks." the boy mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"For... listening to me. It felt... good to talk about that." Leo said, a shy smile on his face.

Nearly all signs of distrust were gone at this point, so Sel felt safe to ask the boy about his decision. He got a bit closer.

"You could leave all this behind and start a whole new life here, you know?"

The boy sat in silence, thinking about the situation.

"Hey, I'm sure we will have a lot of fun together!" Sel said, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Suddenly Leo froze in shock, an extremely frightened look on his face. He just sat there, stiff as a rock, breathing heavily.

"Leo? What's wrong?"

"Take me back..." the cub whispered.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Take me BACK!" he almost yelled now, his whole body trembling.

"O-okay, Leo. I'll take you back, don't worry. Just don't... panic, okay?"

Sel grabbed his keys and hurried outside. His car was parked on the street in front of the building. As they reached it, Leo immediately hopped on the back seat. The ride didn't even take five minutes before Sel parked his car in front of the video game store. The cub immediately jumped out and was just about to run into the alley.

"LEO, WAIT!" Sel yelled, hurrying to get out of his car. The boy stopped, turning around and looking back at the adult.

"Please... whatever I did wrong, I'm sorry. Think about it, I beg you - I... I fear that you won't survive winter, all by yourself. Please... if you change your mind, just come to my flat, alright?"

Everything he got was a slight nod from the boy, before he ran into the alley, disappearing for a second time.

What. The. Fuck. Sel thought, slowly getting back to his car. What the hell just happened?