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Don't Talk to Strangers

By Horatio Husky

Commission for Leoroc Bubblegum

Chapter 1: Sadey

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"Oh... He's kinda cute..."

Leoroc, a pink leopard of lean stature, was lounging on top of his voluptuous beanbag in his college dorm. He had been spending the past 15 minutes fiddling around on Howlr instead of focusing on his homework, and the procrastination was giving him a sense of satisfaction from such a lazy pleasure.

Sitting quickly upright, his tail curling behind him in excitement he examined the picture on his phone more closely.

On the screen in front of him was, to his astonishment, another pink leopard looking flirtatiously back at him. He smiled to himself, something about that grin and charming winking of the eye stirred something affectionate inside him.

"Sadey huh? That's a cute name."

Stealing himself, he swiped right with a paw. Holding his breath he waited a few seconds, until, to his delight, a notification popped up saying that they had matched.

He smiled, tailing now twitching more rapidly in excitement as he composed a quick message before hitting send.

Hey, you like ice cream?

A bubble popped up with three bouncing dots in it, indicating that he was typing back.

More than life itself~

"A sense of humor to boot? I hope this leads to a date!"

He continued to flirt with him over the next half hour, realizing almost too late that he was going to miss class if he didn't hurry.

Hey, I've gotta run to class. But I'll be back to chat up later, talk to you then?

He waited, bookbag clasped in his paw and phone in the other as his ear flicked once, twice in anticipation.

The typing bubble appeared once again, and he couldn't help himself from grinning mischievously at his response.

Anything you say, cutie~

With his tail swishing just a bit more cheerfully than usual, he padded out the door and headed out to class.

~ ~ ~

Leoroc had been working diligently on the rather stubborn assignment he had been given when his phone buzzed, causing the now stale coffee in his mug to jiggle and splosh.

Still frowning and distracted, he picked the phone up and responded with a short, "Yes, hello?"

"Hi, there! This is the secretary's office of Trenton Psychiatric Ward, is this Sadey I am speaking with?"

Maybe if I try to carry the two... he thought to himself, absentmindedly, reflexively he responded with, "Yeah, uh-huh..."

"Perfect, now could I please get your blood type?"

"A, I'm sorry what can I help you with exactly? I'm a little busy at the moment."

There was a soft chuckle at the other end of the line, and the secretary continued in an understanding voice, "Of course you do sweetie, now I only have a few more questions, don't you worry, you can get back to doing whatever it is you're doing soon enough."

"Address?"

"342 Westbrook Dr. in Jamestown."

"Mother's maiden name?"

"Harrington."

"Last checkup?"

"Uhmm... I don't know, maybe a few years ago?"

I hadn't been needing treatment for my tick in years, why are they calling back to get all this information now?

Regardless of his slight confusion, the pink leopard continued to dutifully relay the information that the secretary asked of him, all while managing to finish his homework simultaneously.

"That's it, for now, sweetie, hope to see you soon!"

Before Leoroc was allowed to even open his mouth to respond, the other line went dead, and the secretary hung up on him.

That was weird...

He mentioned the incident to the friend he later hung out, but he didn't dwell on it too much after that.

~ ~ ~

About a week later, Leoroc's phone buzzed again and to his surprise, it was Sadey sending him a text message.

He responded a few minutes later, not wanting to seem too eager.

"Oh hey, nice to hear from you again. Where have you been?"

"Haha, I broke my phone; accidentally dropped it into a full sink filled with water. I just got around to getting my new one this week! I usually don't keep cuties like you waiting this long, sorry about that!"

Leoroc's heart skipped a beat as he read the message that Sadey had sent to him twice, and then three times.

He's pretty interested... and he's really cute too...

He waited, seeing the typing bubble pop up once more to read what his newest interest had to say.

"Hey, would you wanna meet up soon and get some coffee? I'm free this afternoon if you can!"

The leopard's breathing had now increased as his mind raced, both excited and apprehensive about meeting this fur so soon.

I could skip my philosophy class... not like I'll be missing much anyway, and one of my friends is in it he'll give me notes...

"Yeah, I should be free this afternoon. Wanna head over to the Metropolis Cafe at 3?"

He responded a minute later, causing a broad smile to spread across the feline's muzzle and the tip of his tail to twitch about.

"Yeah, that sounds great! 3 it is, see you then!"

At three Leo headed over to the cafe and quickly spotted his fellow pink leopard sitting at one of the tables outside.

He had sat down in the seat across from him, cracking a joke that he had a hard time spotting the leopard in the crowd at the cafe. He had laughed, an easy laugh which immediately caused Leo to relax, feeling grateful that the fur he was slowly developing a crush on was easy going.

The two chatted for several hours, coming to realize quickly that they had much in common, specifically personal interests. Sadey had graciously offered for Leo to accompany him home for the evening, and Leo had eagerly accepted.

Although he tried not to show it, as he cocked an eyebrow and allowed the corner of his lip to turn upwards.

"I might be willing to follow a stray cat home, why not?"

The two stood up, paid for their coffee, and padded out of the front door of the cafe. The tips of their tails swaying behind them, just barely brushing against each other as they walked down the street, still engrossed in conversation.