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The Right Thing To Do?

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Chapter 3:

Frosty Days

Written by: Seliron (Sel)

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Disclaimer:

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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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As Sel woke up this morning, the first thing he did was opening his curtains, just like everyday. But today the view almost blinded him - the world outside was covered under a thick layer of cold, white snow.

Today was Saturday, so he didn't have to go to work. Having the luxury of almost no chores to do, he spent the whole day inside, playing video games and wasting his time on the internet. There was only one reason to leave the coziness of his warm flat today, and it was waiting for him in the kitchen. He hadn't emptied his trash can for weeks, and it was becoming more and more difficult to pile up new rubbish on the stack on top of it.

It was almost dark outside as he gathered all the motivation he could to get up from his desk. He took his keys and the bag of trash and left the apartment, grumbling quietly about the cold temperatures the whole way down the stairs. As he stepped outside, the panther shivered. It was snowing again, and in his hurry he had left his jacket in his flat. Now he greatly regretted that.

He hurried to reach the dumpsters around the corner, only thinking about getting inside again quickly. Nevertheless, his black fur was almost completely covered in snow as he reached them and got rid of the smelling bag of trash in his paws.

In his effort to reach the warmth of his apartment as fast as he could, he turned around and rushed back around the corner. He had almost reached the door, as he suddenly felt his footpaws lose ground. He tried to hold his balance, waving his arms through the air like crazy, but it was too late. A split second later he found himself laying in the snow just in front of the door. Shit! Damn ice!

His back was hurting like hell, but Sel got up slowly, balancing himself as good as he could. He tried to move forward, starting at a slow pace. His legs were still a bit shaky. Besides the street lights he could barely see anything now, so he followed the cones of light to his apartment building.

As a passing car illuminated the street in front of him, he suddenly stopped. He looked at the dumpsters on the other side of the road. In a gap between them, he spotted a pile of trash. That pile wasn't there before... it had been on top of the dumpsters a minute ago.

Just as he decided that this issue didn't matter at all, a strange shadow caught his attention. Wait... what's that?

Something long and thin, almost like a hose, stuck out from the bottom of the pile. Curious, he crossed the street to investigate the case. The next street light was a few meters away, so the gap between the dumpsters was pretty dark. He almost closed his eyes, but he could barely see anything - it was just too dark. Sel took out his smartphone and turned on the flashlight, illuminating the pile of rubbish just enough that he could see something. As he realized what the strange thing was, his heart skipped a beat.

It was a tail. In the dim light of the lamp, he could clearly see the fur now. It was mainly light brown, just the tip was colored black. Sel couldn't move, fear rushed through his body.

Fuck! Please, let it be no corpse... What should I do now? he thought, nervously kneading his paws. I can't just... leave, can I? Maybe he's still alive...

The panther had to gather all his courage to stay. With trembling paws, he started to remove the rubbish slowly, piece by piece. As he reached a big plastic bag that covered almost the whole pile, he hesitated. I don't want to know what's under that... damn...

As he finally pulled the bag away with a quick movement, he froze in horror.

No... please not...

It was Leo, sitting in a pile of trash. The small lynx cub was leaning against the wall behind him, his head resting on his chest.

Sel got on his knees and lifted the boy's head carefully. His eyes were closed. His fur was covered in snow, and it felt cold as ice. The panther laid a paw on the cub's chest, but he couldn't feel any heartbeat. No trace of life was visible.

"Leo... you can't be dead, please..."

Sel got up. He started to walk up and down nervously. Damn, what should I do now? How can I be sure that he's not alive? Maybe he's just... sleeping really deep...

Just as he thought that, a quiet moan came from the gap where Leo was sitting. Sel hurried to get to the boy, but he was sitting there just like before.

"Leo... wake up... please." Sel whispered. The cub didn't react.

"Leo! Hey, little guy, you have to wake up! LEON!" he said, his voice getting louder and louder. He still didn't get any reaction from the cub. He was almost about to give up and rethink his plan, but he wanted to try it one last time.

"Leo... please, wake up. You'll die out here." Sel said softly, reaching out to stroke the boy's cheek. But just as his paw touched Leo's fur, the cub stirred. He lifted his head a little and opened his eyes.

"Sel?" the cub asked quietly.

"I'm here, little guy, don't worry."

"Sel, I... I tried..."

"Shhhhh, little cub. You can tell me your story later. Just stay awake for now, okay?"

The kitten nodded weakly.

"I'll take you to a warm place, don't worry." Sel said as he got down on his knees, picking the boy up carefully. He was light as a feather, so the panther could carry him easily.

"Shhh, Leo. Everything will be fine."

Now that the cub was awake, he started to shiver like crazy. Sel hurried across the street, rushing through the still open door of his apartment building.

With the kitten snuggled in his arms, he reached the flat a minute later. He carefully sat Leo down on the couch in the living room. Spending the whole day in his office, it was pretty cold in here, so he turned up the heater at full power.

Where's the damn phone? the panther thought. Sel hurried to his office, quickly grabbing the telephone from the desk. He chose a number from the quick dial menu and called it.

"Doc? It's me, Sel... Please come down as fast as you can... Yeah, it's an emergency... No, I can't explain anything now, you'll see..."

A minute later, one of his neighbors entered the flat: A doctor, living two floors above Sel. Everyone in the house just called him "Doc".

"What's wrong, Sel? Why are you calling me so late?" the doc asked.

"I'm sorry, Doc... follow me." Sel said, leading him to the living room.

"What the..." the doctor whispered in confusion as he noticed the shivering little cub on the couch.

He didn't waste any time and got on his knees, examining Leo briefly.

"What happened to him?"

"Long story..."

"Alright, it looks like a mild case of hypothermia. Nothing really dangerous, but we'll have to get him out of these clothes, or he'll never get warm."

Leo was still wearing the blue t-shirt and jeans he wore when Sel had met him for the first time. Because of the warmth, the snow was melting, soaking the clothes completely.

"Leo, listen. We have to take your clothes off, is that okay?" Sel said, kneeling in front of the lynx.

The cub hesitated for a moment, but then he nodded approvingly. Sel started to take off the boy's clothes carefully, but he stopped as he reached the underpants.

"T-take them o-off... they f-feel c-cold" Leo said with chattering teeth.

Sel did as he was told, and now Leo sat on the couch completely naked. For the first time Sel could see how skinny the boy really was. The bones were clearly visible through his fur.

"He has to gain weight, Sel. That's not healthy, not at all." the doc said as he glanced at the naked cub.

Sel nodded and rushed to his bedroom, grabbing an old t-shirt and the thickest blanket he could find. As he returned, the doctor was just about to examine Leo more in detail. As he was finished, Sel helped Leo to put on the shirt. It was way too big for the small boy, but it would do his job just fine. Last but not least he wrapped the almost naked, trembling cub tightly in the blanket.

"D-do I... still have to... s-stay awake?" Leo whispered.

"No... just lay down and... close your eyes. You're safe now." Sel replied.

Leo laid down on the couch, curling up to a tight little ball of fur. He closed his eyes, and not even a minute later he was breathing steadily. Sel sat down beside the sleeping boy.

"He'll be fine. Just keep him warm and take good care of him." the doc said.

"I will."

~ The next day ~

Sel woke up early in the morning. He kept his eyes shut, trying to convince himself that everything that happened yesterday had been a dream. But as he opened his eyes slowly, the sight of the lynx cub sleeping next to him on the couch pulled him back into reality.

The panther yawned and sneaked into the kitchen. Before he could get things done, or even think about anything, he needed his cup of morning coffee. But just as he turned on the coffee machine, he heard another yawn, and it wasn't his own. He left the coffee where it was and hurried to the living room.

"Good morning, little guy." Sel said, sitting down on the sofa beside Leo. "How do you feel?"

"I'm okay... Sel, I... I'm..." the boy stuttered, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Shhhhh, Leo. There's no need to hurry."

"But I wanna tell you what happened..." Leo piped up. Just in this moment the cub's stomach growled unmistakable.

"At first you have to eat something, Leo. Then we have time for all the stories you want to tell me." Sel said, smiling slightly. "You can stay in bed for a few more minutes if you want, I'll get breakfast ready."

"Can... can I help?"

"Sure, if you want."

Leo slipped out of his blanket and jumped off from the couch like a flash. As he stood there, wearing nothing but the huge t-shirt that almost reached to his ankles, Sel couldn't help laughing quietly.

"Why are you laughing?" the cub asked, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"It's... nothing. You just look cute, that's all."

With Leo's help it didn't even take five minutes to prepare a small breakfast. Nothing special, though, as Sel didn't have much food in his fridge.

"Can I... can I eat all that?" the boy asked, sitting down excitedly.

Sel nodded. In not more than ten minutes the kitten ate more than Sel could ever eat in the whole day. Well, obviously gaining weight won't be a problem for him.

After the boy had finished, he leaned back in his chair, satisfied.

"Do you want to rest for a bit, Leo?"

"NO! I'm not tired."

"Ooookay. Wanna talk about what happened?" Sel asked. Leo nodded, and the two walked over to the living room, heading to the couch. After they had settled down, Leo couldn't hold back anymore. The words simply burst out of his muzzle at an incredible speed.

"After... after I left you I got back to the dumpsters. But it got really cold, and I didn't have warm clothes. One day it started to snow, and I was freezing really bad. When I tried to sleep that night I... I remembered the hot stuff you gave me to drink. I missed it so much... before I fell asleep I thought that... well, you had kept your promise to take me back so you couldn't be a bad guy. On the next day I got up and walked to your house, but I didn't know which bell to ring... so I decided to wait for you. But I got soooo tired..."

As Sel heard the last part of the story, his heart skipped a few beats. Horror spread through his whole body slowly, paralyzing him. It was my fault...

Leo was watching him, but Sel didn't really take notice of anything happening around him.

"Sel?" the cub asked quietly. "Are you okay?"

The boy's worried voice pulled Sel back into reality.

"I almost killed you." he whispered.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I... should have told you which bell to ring... I should have looked outside earlier, I should have... done something!"

"Sel..."

"It's all my fault..."

"... it's okay. I'm not mad at you."

"Are you... are you sure?"

"Yep. You didn't do it on purpose. And I'm safe now!"

"Thank you, little guy." Sel said, still feeling horribly guilty. He reached out to pat the boy's shoulder, but then he remembered what had happened the last time he tried that. He stopped and withdrew his arm, but Leo had already noticed the movement and winced a bit.

"Why are you scared of me, Leo?"

Leo didn't answer immediately. He sat in silence for a few minutes, and by the look on his face he was fighting with himself.

"I'm... I'm not scared of you. Not really. Can you... can you keep a secret?" the cub finally replied very quiet.

"Of course. I won't tell anyone without your permission."

"Promise?"

"Scout's honor."

"A few weeks before I met you, another fur said that I could live with him. I trusted him and... followed him to his flat. But when I entered, he locked the door behind me."

The boy swallowed hard before he continued.

"I... I had to g-get naked and... and I had to do strange things with him. I didn't like it, and he hurt me, too. After that he said that I could stay, but only if I let him hurt me anytime he wants. I said no, so he threw me out of his flat."

Sel was speechless. Why did Leo have to go through all this? That's not fair...

_ _

"Leo... I promise that you won't have to do anything like that here. I'm not one of these furs..."

"I know. You're different than that mean guy."

"But... why did you get so scared?"

"When the man had locked the door behind me, he laid a paw on my shoulder and said 'Hey, I'm sure we will have a lot of fun together!', just like you."

"Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't know that..."

"It's my fault, I shouldn't have run away... I just got scared..."

"But you returned. Changed your mind then, Leo?"

"Yes... if... if you still want to adopt me." Leo said, his head sinking to his chest.

"Wait a minute."

Sel left the room, walking into his office. A few weeks ago, just after he met Leo, he had bought a teddy bear. It wasn't anything special, just an ordinary plush toy. He grabbed it and returned to the living room, hiding the toy behind his back. Leo was waiting for him, a questioning look on his face. Sel sat down beside the cub.

"I don't know if you like it... but... Welcome to your new home, Leo."

Sel took out the teddy bear nervously, handing it over to the boy. Leo hesitated for a moment, but then he took the plush and hugged it tightly.