{"sf1_id":900565,"sf2_id":null,"title":"A Leopard's Warm Embrace","author":"Cheetahs","words":21659,"posted_at":"2015-08-19T19:49:00.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Anal","Balls","Bestiality","Cat","Character Development","Cuddling","Cum","Ejaculation","Feline","Fellatio","Feral","First Time","Gay","Handjob","Hard-on","Human","Kissing","Leopard","Love","M/M","Male","Masturbation","Non-anthro","Nudity","Oral","Plot Development","Pre","Romance","Teasing","Virgin","Yiff","Zoophilia","affection","ass","cock","erection","licking","marking","naked","nude","orgasm","penetration","penis","precum","seed","sex","tailhole"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/900565-a-leopard-s-warm-embrace","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/900565","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=900565\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"I am open for COMMISSIONS!\nIf you want your own, personalized story, Click here \nSupport me on Patreon\nfor novel chapters, snippets, short stories, and more awesome content+art! You\nget all the stories before everyone else does, plus various Patreon exclusive\ncontent that you can only get by supporting me.***This story is a commission for the ever amazing  Jones111 . His love for cats and ideas inspired the creation of this story so be sure to thank him in equal measure for his generous contribution to this story***\nAlone. That's how a man\nremains after his perfect girlfriend abandons him. He has no courage, no hope,\nand his only solace is his zoo-keeping job. Nights become a safe haven, and the\nzoo a place to rest. After a night out goes wrong, our hero ventures inside the\nonly place where he truly feels at peace. Felines understood him better than\nany human ever did. They were loyal, loving, and demanded very little in\nreturn. Well, almost. Every male needs a mate, especially a young leopard in\nhis prime. Pity leads the human into the leopard's cage, but he soon finds out\nthat fate has a hand in everything, and his feelings for the feline run deep\nenough to show the cat that males can taste the most intimate type of pleasure\nwithout a female nearby.  ***STORY STARTS BELOW***\nFor the past half hour I sat on my lonely bed. I knew I had\na date. For the whole day I prepared for 7:30 PM.\nAnd I did nothing. It was 7 now. My lucky number. I kept\nstaring at the red dots making up the entirety of this glorious number. They\nlooked even. Whole. Organized. If a single dot was out of place, the whole\ndisplay would have been thrown into chaos, and the clock standing on my\nnightstand would have been thrown away or smashed. It would have ended exactly\nwhere useless objects go to die: inside a festering pit of redundancy. A\ngraveyard for electronics. \nAnd even then the clock would've had company. Other nifty\ngadgets discarded by pampered folks with an eye for perfection. I suppose I\nshouldn't blame them. Would I have kept redundancy in my life? Why? What need\nwould I have of something that didn't work as it should? Every day I would wake\nup to that defective image that reflected my own imperfections. A broken clock\nfor a broken man.\nI blinked when the time changed. 7:01. In twenty nine\nminutes my date would be at Generosity's, clueless to her intended partner's\nwhereabouts. Did I care if she sat at an empty table in one of the most\nexpensive restaurants in the neighborhood? Was I bothered by the fact that she\nwould feel lonely in a sea of strangers? Did I even care enough about her to\nget off this bed? My hands gripped the soft sheets. Then, I pulled. My grip\nhardened until my fingers ached, and even then I refused to let go.\nFuck. I hated when I couldn't find answers to questions,\neven if they were all senseless debris in the whirling vortex that made up my\nthoughts. I tensed, took in a deep breath, kept the air in my chest until my\nface reddened and my chest stung.\nThen, I let it out. Just like that. I felt strangely calm\nnow when all that pressure had been willingly blown away. The answers? What\nanswers? They avoided me, and I avoided them. I didn't want to know what my\ndate looked like, felt like, what she wanted, what she wore, what her family\nwas like. Like the blinking lights of the two little dots separating the hours\nfrom minutes, my mind worked in a steady, unaltered stream.\n7:02 PM. \nMy heart skipped a beat. My moment of tranquility was blew\naway as quickly as it came. Blood shot through my veins like an erupting\nvolcano. I gasped, then I touched my chest, rubbing around my breast while pure\nfear raced through me. I wasn't ill. I wasn't dying.\nI just had a date to attend to.\nAnd it was getting really freaking late. Deep breaths.\nSteady rhythm. I had to remember. Had to calm myself down. Beat the impulses\ncreated by my faulty instincts. Four seconds in, eight seconds inside, four\nseconds out. \nI calmed within twenty of those breaths, a gift from the\nrigorous training I submitted myself before applying for the job at the zoo.\nHumans are naturally scaredy creatures. They are afraid of those stronger than\nthem, those smarter than them, even those weirder than them. When you see a\nragged looking fellow on the street you move out of his way. The mind doesn't\nimagine the threats, the scenarios, or the outcome. It freezes, allowing\ninstinct to take hold and get you out of danger before it happens. \nAnd that's a powerful ally to have, even in a society that\nforgot its roots.\nI blinked. Then, the clock blinked with me. Shit. I couldn't\nmove off this bed. Was it instinct that trapped me here? Or was it my pain\naddled mind that desperately wanted to avoid another blow? \nI didn't want to know. Knowing was unimportant. Irrelevant.\nRedundant. I didn't even care that much about me. The bed had always been kind\nto me. It offered me warmth, comfort, relaxation. Five steps to the right was\nmy bedroom door, and another fifteen or so got me into the kitchen. I had food,\nwater, and even booze to dull my senses. Yeah. I could survive in my own den\nfor a while.\nBut then I thought about the countless hours Angela spent to\nget me this one chance to piece myself together. If I didn't go out that door,\nall her efforts would sum up to nothing. Yesterday would mean even less for me.\nI took the whole day off to talk to one of my few online friends about my tragic\nsituation, and she listened. Out of all my two faced contacts, one of them\nreally listened. \nI've known Angela for almost a year now. She was a potential\ncandidate for the cleaner spot we've opened, but her squeamish nature and an\noverwhelming distaste for animal feces put her off that position for good. I\nnormally didn't like this kind of people. The world already was choke full of whimsy\nflimsy maidens in distressed or fancy dressed career-builders climbing the\nsame, one way stair towards success, looking at asses and cars, counting their\nmoney, lying left and right to get the better girlfriend, the better job, the\nbetter suit. \nAngela seemed to be one of them at first. Then I got to know\nher a bit. I normally avoid contact with people and keep my interaction with\nthem to a minimum after the rift that broke me apart months ago. \nBut Angela was different. Her abusive dad and her drunken\nmother made sure she was as broken as me. \nThat's what got us together. Imperfection. If Angela wouldn't have\nfallen for her weed supplier, maybe she would have been the one waiting at the\ntable situated inside one of the priciest establishments I was supposed to\nvisit. \n7:03 PM. Crap. I've been alone with my thoughts for a whole\nminute. That's way too long. I needed to move. To blink. To do something!\n\"Clothes.\"\nThat was the one word that put my world in motion.\nI jumped from my bed and headed towards the wardrobe. A\ndozen shirts greeted my eyes as I opened the double doors. Lions, lynxes,\nleopards, snow leopards, cougars, tigers. I had every last one of them staring\nback at me, laying down, scratching, grooming, sleeping. I couldn't go out like\nthat. The Zoo's shirts weren't proper either, with the much too obvious writing\nand the badges I accumulated for good behavior. \nI shuffled from left to right until I found the only proper\nshirt I could wear for this occasion. A plain white piece of clothing,\ncomplemented by an indigo vest, with matching pants, fake leather belt, and\ncheap black shoes. \nI took my clothes off and dressed with the only modern clothing\nI had in my apartment. First came the shirt. I buttoned that bastard up, then\nput the pants on, pressing around the sides, forcing the unresponsive rim to\nfit my generous waist. Drat. I wasn't fat by any means, but when the heck did I\nget so big? I didn't remember these pants to be so small. I pulled, again, and\nagain, and again, pushing the rigid cloth past its limits and forcing it to\nevolve. \nRiiiip. \nI froze for a second. I knew what that sound meant. I just\ndidn't want my eyes to confirm. \nBut I still looked, and saw the glorious fissure rippling\nalong the line of the crotch. Crap. I shuffled through my drawer for another\npair of pants. Luck smiled on me. I grabbed a cheap satin imitation and felt\nthe static energy as it rushed along the tips of my fingers. Not exactly a\nproper pair for a night out, but good enough that even my eyes could mistake it\nfor something more expensive. \nI pulled the pants up, sighed with contentment when the\nrubber band fit around me, then threw the ugly belt on the bed, and put on my\nshoes. My feet slid in easily. \nThen I met the top. I tried to squeeze my toes in through a\nrather uncomfortable wriggling motion, hissing and cursing with every breath.\nIf I were to describe this particular experience, I would compare it with an\nalligator trying to crawl through a pool's eviction system.\n\"Drat,\" I gasped. My eyes immediately jumped to the clock.\n7:10 PM. I wasted seven minutes arguing with clothes like those fat,\nkleptomaniac bosses that I hated.\nI tied my shoelaces as quickly as my fingers managed and\nrushed to the bathroom, my breath hitching with every step. These shoes felt\nmightily uncomfortable, and the pants slid lower and lower with every step I\ntook. I didn't have time to complain though, and no other choices to consider\nwhen even a trip to the bathroom spoke volumes about the kind of guy I was.\nPaintings on the walls, sculptures on every nightstand, embroideries on the\ntable and the chairs, and countless other toys, plushies and books, all\nfeaturing the same felines prowling over my clothes. Was I obsessed? I see how\nsome people would have branded me with an obsessive compulsive disorder if they\ncame in here. I never gave them the chance to get past the door though. In my\napartment, I was all alone, secluded from a society I disliked.\nI turned on the light, stepped in front of the bathroom\nmirror, and stared blankly at the guy looking back at me. He wasn't really\nugly. Just unkempt. Shaggy, like a pure breed dog kept too much out on the\nstreets. I ran a hand through my curly brown hair to settle it in place. A\ndozen spikes raised around my head instead, some straight, others bending at\nawkward angles.\nGreat. I looked less of a weirdo and more of a hobo. I\nsmoothened the front with a dash of water. Damn, that could touch felt good. I turned\nthe faucet all the way and splashed a full dose of instant relief on my sweaty\nface. \nThen, I looked back in the mirror. As the water dripped down\nmy face, I realized I looked nothing like the cats I care for. My clothes\ndidn't make me look particularly clean, or tidy, or beautiful. They were just a\npoor mask covering the disorganized mess hiding within.\nI looked with the corner of my eyes towards the bedroom and\ncaught a faint glimpse of the crooked shape of a number. 7:13. That was two\nminutes to get out of the building, five more to get to the bus station, then\nanother ten to fly past five stops.\nI was going to be late for sure. \nI stormed down four levels of stairs towards the lobby, then\nI took a mad dash towards the bus station. The people who happened to pass me\nby must've thought I'm crazy, holding my pants with both hands to keep them\nfrom sliding down. My ploy worked though. I arrived at the station exactly in\ntwo minutes, and the bus just got the green light.\nI climbed up. Only a couple more people entered the bus with\nme. I didn't expect it to be so empty at this hour. The front seats were taken\nby two couples, the middle ones were all empty, and the back ones became the\nproperty of delinquents. Yeah. That's what I called those brilliant youths\nwhose only aspiration in life included smoking weed, partying, grabbing hot chicks\nand making the life of their fellow men harder.\nI took my eyes of them right before they noticed me, then\ntook a seat near the front. I looked out the window, pretending to scratch one\nof my ears with one hand while the other stroke my chin to provide a fake\nfeeling of deep seated intelligence. \nThe bus took off. I sighed a breath of relief. Four more\nstations and I would arrive just in time. Maybe.\nPossibly. \n\"Yeah, Joe, so what'ya doin' tonight?\"\nDrat. Hood accent, unfinished words, loud voice. It was one\nof them.\nDon't look. Don't look.\nI kept screaming at my head that wanted to turn around just enough to catch\na glimpse of a possible threat. Instincts. The burden of any intelligent man in\nour society. Can't live with them, can't live without them. \n\"I'm plannin' on partyin', yo. Jackasses won five to one.\"\n\"Yeah, cool shit. Cool shit,\" the first one patted his\nfriend's back with audible smacks. Or maybe he slapped his own leg. I couldn't\nreally tell when my eyes forcibly counted every taxi that passed by. \n\"Sucks Sookie owes me that hundred bill man. I could've\ngotten really spoiled by now.\"\n\"Yeah, fuck that dude yo. Never pays his fucking debts, but\nkeeps askin and askin and askin. We should pound his fat ass!\"\nI flinched at the booming sound of his threat. Shit. No\nweakness. I broke my own golden rule. Did they see me? I pretended to scratch\nmy head while I straightened up my spine into a stiff statuesque position. \n\"Hold on, dude. Don't get angry inside, or driver's going to\nkick you out.\"\n\"Kick me out dawg? I don' even got a mothafuckin ticket.\"\nA fight ensued between the two amigos, with shouting and\nslaps and screams. Nobody in the whole buss said anything. They all waited and\nhoped for this issue to calm itself down as soon as possible. \nMe? I knew they would keep going after the mom joke broke\nloose. \nThe bus slowed down. A surge of fearful excitement rushed\nthrough my cold veins. The doors opened. With the corner of my eye I saw five\nmore people climbing in. They all crammed their butts at the front, pressing\ninto one another, arguing who will get off first at the next station.\n\"Yo, that's it. THAT'S IT!\"\n\"You wanna do it?\"\n\"Yeah. Lets fuckin do it!\"\nI thought they were going to punch their heads out. Then, a\nsecond later, I heard their stomping feet lurching towards me.\n\"Yo, good people, my friend and I just got robbed by our\nassociate. If you can spare a buck or two for our drinkin' contest-\"\n\"Yeah. Just one. One for each head. Starting with you,\nbaldie.\"\n\"I...I don't have any money,\" a frail voice came.\n\"Sure you do. Come on, get those tired hands rollin' gramps.\"\n\"You've got no decency?\" a woman intervened.\n\"Ma'am, I got plenty. What I don't have is booze.\"\nSilence followed. Then laughter. The loud, obnoxious, panic\ninducing kind of laughter. I couldn't help it this time. My head turned just\nfor a second to take a sneak peak at those assholes. \nThey stared right back at me. \n\"Yo, that one turned.\"\n\"Which one?\"\n\"White shirt in the front.\"\nShit. They were onto me. I hunched closer to the window,\nforcing my eyes to look at license plates, willing my body not to get up and do\nsomething stupid as they kept coming closer and closer.\n\"Yo, my man.\"\nCrap. I smelled his stench and felt his breath on my neck.\nWithout even looking, I saw the big one with the black and white cap sitting\nright next to me. That's how paranoid I became. \n\"My man!\"\nI shuddered when his arm came around my neck. No weakness.\nLook him in the eyes. Hold your breath. And no matter what, do not stumble over\nyour words.\n\"Y-yesss?\" I turned around like a fearful rat, lips\npuckering awkwardly to mask the slight clattering of my lower jaw.\nThey both laughed, their loud voices burying in my ears,\noverwriting the years of discipline I submitted myself to. My first instinct\nwas to recoil, and I did. I leaned towards the window and hunched to make\nmyself look small and pathetic. In the wilds, this was the kind of thing that\ngot you killed.\nIn a bus? It just got you robbed. \n\"It's cool, sissy girl. All cool,\" The big one rubbed me\nlike he was my best pal. \"I just want a couple of bucks to party. Can you help\nus party, mahn?\" he wrapped his arm harder around my neck. \"Can you?\"\nI had no choice but to face his ugly, stinking face again. \n\"He's kinda cute bro,\" his friend said, exposing bad teeth\nand equally smelly breath.\n\"Yeah, looks like a woman with pubic hair.\"\n\"I...I ai...\"\n\"Money, bro,\" the big one slapped my head. \"Do you have\nthem?\"\nI froze. No. I shivered from every joint in my body.\n\"Shit dude, he's tremblin' worse than my girl on an\noverdose.\"\n\"Look, I'm not hurtin' you if you give me your money.\"\nHe started patting my pants. \"Just a couple of bucks. That's\nall I ask for.\"\n\"Ok. Ok,\" I nodded quickly. \"I'll...I'll give you, yes? I'll\ngive.\"\nThey chuckled, laughed, and poked fun at me while I\nscrambled for my wallet. The big one took it right from my shaky grip. I\nthought he was going to take it all, but his reaction surprised me.\n\"Shit man, he broke. Got only a couple of tens and a\ntwenty.\"\n\"Grab the twenty dawg. Don't wanna leave Mr Pubes with\nnothing.\"\nHe liberated my wallet from the biggest bill I owned and\nthrew it in my lap.\n\"Thanks bro.\"\nThat was it. An end to my nightmare, sweetened by mocking\nfriendliness. Nobody talked. Nobody even moved from their seats. The buss\nemptied at the next stop, and new people climbed in, sat down and waited like\nthe two jocks have never been there.\nI placed my wallet in my pocket and fixed my eyes on the\npassing blocks. I started counting them. After fifteen or so, I became like the\nrest of them, uncaring and oblivious to everything around me.\nThe panic struck as soon as I climbed off the bus. Suddenly,\nI remembered why I only went out to work. My feet felt like gas, flimsy and\nunsteady. I looked around for something to steady my wavering balance, but\neverything moved and wobbled. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and\nfocused. I was in control of my body, not the other way around. \nA dozen heartbeats later, my breath slowly steadied. I wiped\nthe sweat from my forehead, then walked. I still had a date. A goal to\naccomplish. The weakness I felt before transformed into my ally. The fear gave\nme purpose. I ran like an Olympic runner, stopping only when Generosity stood\nright in front of me. \nIt was a fine establishment. Expensive cars, well dressed\nvalets running around, and lots and lots of people. There weren't many business\nsuits around. A constant stream of vividly dressed party goers climbed out of the\nmany taxies passing by. Weird. I thought this was a fine restaurant. Once my\nbreath steadied any my body stopped sweating like a broken faucet, I\napproached. There was laughter, and behind it music loud enough to dwarf any\nnormal sized conversation. I passed between a gang shouting profanities at one\nof the car drivers, slinked between the half naked girls pouring out from a\nside entrance, and rammed my side against the closest wall. \nSmoke entered my nostrils, choking my throat, making my eyes\nwater and my throat sting. I muffled it as best as I could. Somehow, my safety\nmeasures still ran after the bus incident. \n\"Hey.\"\nI ignored the voice, too focused on trying to keep my\nrasping itch trapped. \n\"Hey, you ok man?\"\nSomeone touched my shoulder. I instinctively turned around,\nbut in doing so I let loose that terrible pressure straight into the guy's\nface. \nHe soured like a child tasting his first lemon, and I paled.\nHis grip fastened hard around my neck. My muscles stung, and pain took hold of\nmy senses as his clutch became seething agony.\n\"What the fuck man?\" he wiped his face with his free hand.\n\"Did you just spit in my face?\"\n\"I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to-\"\n\"Get the fuck out man.\"\nHis quaking blow sent me stumbling deep into the sea of\npeople. I got shouted at, I got called names, and I amassed plenty of insults.\nRight now, I cared for none of that. Like a feline inside the underbrush, I\nmade my way through the army of hands, legs, and torsos until I finally saw\nlight before my eyes. \nAnd colors. Lots and lots of colors. \n\"Welcome to Generosity. I'm Amy, and for the modest price of\na hundred dollars I'll be your hostess for tonight.\"\nAmy...that name had such a nice ring to it. Soft, delicate,\nnice. It was nothing like the rough bass thrumming inside my chest, the sound\nof instruments clashing senselessly against each other, the terrible cries of a\nman that desperately tried to sing. The war of sounds -because I couldn't call\nthis thing music- that came from the depths of the establishment quickened my\nblood faster than the guys on the bus. Made me jittery and anxious, eager to\nescape this terrible place.\nI looked around and felt my overly hot skin sweat with the\ninevitable urgency of a looming threat. I had to do something. The noise. It\nwas too loud. The light shifted colors too often. The people, too many. \n\"Sir?\"\nShe touched my hand. I instantly recoiled. Her reaction was\nthe same as mine. Creeping uncertainty draped over her eager brown eyes, dulling\nthe life from her gaze and fading the smile from her lips. \n\"It's my first- my first time,\" I licked my dry lips and\ntook a short pause to swallow the nonexistent saliva down my arid throat.\n\"I'll...yeah...it's...you're big. I mean this place is big.\"\nAmy chuckled nervously. \"Yeah. Easy to get lost without an\nescort. Shall I accompany you?\"\nShe extended her hand towards mine, and I waited. I didn't\ntalk, or look at her. I just waited. The awkwardness between us became so thick\nyou could cut it with a knife. Other hostesses, attendants or whatever the heck\nthey were came forth to greet the men and women pouring all around me. They all\ntalked normally. Some laughed, others shook hands and complimented the girls on\ntheir looks. They all had a good time, while I was frozen stiff as a statue,\nsweating inside my only go-out shirt, hurting from the excruciatingly small\nsize of my fine shoes, forcing my wandering eyes to stay still and focus on something\nwhile my mind tried its hardest to tame the tempest of emotions burning within\nmy chest. \nI was trapped. Fight or flight. One of the oldest, most\npowerful weapons wielded by our instincts was now ramming its whole weight\nagainst the crumbling fortress of my conscious mind. My chest tightened. Within\nthe span of two heartbeats, I felt dizzy, weak, and I had to time my breathing\nto survive.\n\"Sir, if I can-\"\n\"Too much...\"\n\"Excuse me?\"\n\"It's too much. I can't...can't...\" I took a stumbling step\nforward. \n\"You're shaking. Are you alright?\"\nI shook off her hand before she even touched me. \"Leave me\nalone.\"\n\"Amy, is everything ok?\" \n\"I think he's having a seizure.\"\n\"Sir, can you look at me please?\"\nToo many people. Too many voices. Too many eyes. I had to\nrun. Fast.\n\"Sir!\"\n\"Just leave me alone!\"\nThat one came out way louder than I wanted. I could almost\nfeel the eyes staring down at me, wondering what kind of freak I was to scream\nlike that for nothing. \nThey didn't know. None of them knew the pain I've been\nthrough after she left me. Of the days I spent in the darkest corner of my\nbedroom to cry myself to exhaustion. I ripped those memories apart. Pushed them\nin the depths of my mind, locked them in my tightest drawer, but sometimes they\nstill emerged. Several months after my perfect star dropped from my wide blue\nsky, I was still hurting. \nThe thumping bass of the music and a well aimed shout aimed\nat my ear forced my mind back on the present. There were so many people around\nme dancing. Above, a disco ball was hurling zaps of color across the dancing\nfloor. \nWhen did I get here?\nI bit my cheek to gather whatever focus I could muster. This\nclub wasn't real. I mean not as real as it seemed. I made my way through the sea\nof people until I found a sign with the customary fork and knife. Restaurant.\nThat's where I needed to be.\nI followed the directions. Several steps later, I found\nmyself staring at white clothed tables, paintings of shepherds, fruits, knights\nand other historical figures, and waiters taking orders or delivering food in a\nclean and quiet environment. \nI breathed a sigh of relief. My muscles slowly relaxed, as\nif my tension, fear and anxieties all poured out with that one mighty tide of\nair. This was good.  I could make due\nwith a secluded corner of serenity. I just needed to find the right table. \nI walked between the tables. So many people looked at me. So\nmany waiters passed by me. I tried to ignore their unnerving stares. Seventy\none. Table seventy one. That was the one. Numbers never lied. \nNow, if only those numbers revealed themselves to my eyes,\nthat would have been perfect. Between the sneaky glances I threw on the sides\nand the careful path I chose towards the bathroom, I saw nothing that remotely\nindicated the table my date had  booked.\nYeah. She chose the place, the table, and the overall mess I found myself in,\nand all that I could do was to play her game.\n\"Hello?\"\nI kept on walking.\n\"Sir, can you stop for a minute?\"\nWas he referring to me? I took two more steps before my back\nwas poked.\n\"Sir, if you could sit down and avoid blocking the way to\nthe-\"\n\"I need to find my table,\" I interrupted him before I even\nsaw his face. When I turned, I found out the one calling me sir was nothing\nmore than a boy, probably four to six years younger than me. He wore a plain\nwhite suit and a red tie that went well with his spiky black hair. \n\"Which one is it?\" he asked politely.\n\"Table seventy one,\" I scratched my neck. A nervous habit I\nstill worked on erasing.\n\"Seventy one...hmm...that's in the disco section. I'll have one\nof my colleagues lead you out. Gargulio!'\nA rush of panic traversed my spine. \"W-wait. Disco section?\"\n\"Yeah. It's where the fun is at. My colleague will be here\nin a second,\" the youth said quickly, then peeked around me. \n\"He's such a big slacker. I have to go. Please excuse me.\"\nHe left. He left me alone, just like that. I had around five\nseconds to process his words before someone touched me yet again. I shrugged,\nthen turned around too fast. My feet tripped onto one another, and I lurched to\nthe side, crashing into an old man having dinner with his beloved.\n\"Jesus Christ.\"\n\"Watch where you're going you fool. Stain my husband's good\nsuit.\"\nThe youth's aid immediately worked on helping the old man,\nwho babbled and cursed with indignation.\n\"It's...it's no problem. We'll have his suit cleaned\ndownstairs, free of charge, courtesy of Generosity.\"\n\"You'd better. I paid good money for this table. I worked\nall my life. I worked all my life,\" the old man babbled.\n\"It's...it's alright, sir. Let me help you.\" \nGargulio had a quick tongue and the temper to match it. His\neagerness to help calmed the pair of angry old men who shot profanities at me\neven as I removed myself from their presence.\n\"I'll lead you to your table now, Sir.\"\n\"It's no need, really. I can-\"\n\"I insist,\" he gripped my hand, much to my shock. \nLike a dog on a leash, Gargulio led me all the way back into\nthat noisy mess I hated. We cut right through the dance floor, then climbed two\nrows of stairs to get to a fancy balcony. Sculpted wooden beams decorated the\nedges, forming alcoves for the tables that offered the best view of the dance\nfloor below. It would have been a nice, cozy spot. The carpet on the ground gave\nit a homely feeling. They also had paintings featuring huntings on the walls,\nmedieval armor pieces, and a ton of ash trays. If it wasn't for the smoke\nchoking the breath out of me and the obnoxious music ramming against my ears, I\nwould have enjoyed my stay here.\n\"Table seventy one,\" Gargulio waved his arm as some sort of\nwelcoming gesture, then threw me in my chair with a violent shove. \"Enjoy your\nevening, Sir.\"\n\"Asshole,\" I muttered under my breath. \n\"Yeah. They all are.\"\nThat voice made me jump in my seat. It was close. Probably a\nfew meters away. My eyes went along the sides of the room, scanning a dozen\npeople before I found her.\n\"Oh,\" I coughed nervously, suddenly forgetting the main\nreason why I was here. She stood right in front of me. Crazy hair, bored eyes\nfilled with mascara and other make-up crap, glossy lips. She looked average. I\ncould do with average, as long as average didn't hold a cigar between her\nfingers.\n\"Indeed,\" she kissed her slim cigar, puffed her cheeks, then\nblew her smoke right in my face.\nI turned around and choked in my hand like a gentleman.\nManners were part of my integrity. I never sacrificed them, not even for\nassholes. \n\"Are you gonna order up?\"\n\"Gimme a sec,\" I said, red-faced from that bloody smoke. I\ntook a couple of breaths to calm myself down, but the air was leaden with the\nsame toxic haze. \"Yeah, I can't stay here.\"\n\"Can't, or don't want?\"\n\"Both,\" I slapped a hand on the table and stared her down.\n\"I'm not a smoker. For me, this is...it's death. Wanna get cancer? Fine, but\ndon't pass it on to me!\"\n\"Wow,\" she laid back in her chair. \"Charming. So, what'ya\ngonna get?\"\n\"I'm going to get myself out of here.\"\n\"Good luck with that.\"\nMy chair creaked with rising anger. I had to calm myself\ndown, or risk becoming one of those people I despised. I focused on the woven\nbranches resting my ass, on the smooth vines interwoven to create the table\nbefore me, and the can of coke my date held on the right side of her ashtray. A\nsimple drink ordered in an expensive establishment. My mood soured just by\nthinking how much I was going to pay for a night I already hated. \n\"Order up. They'll take hours before delivering your drink\nor whatever the fuck you want.\"\n\"Yeah, I'll- where is the menu?\"\n\"Gone,\" she took another puff from her cigar.\n\"What do you mean gone?\"\n\"I gave it away to someone needier than me.\"\n\"Sure, because they really lack paper in a place like this,\"\nI crashed back in my chair with a heavy sigh.\nShe still felt the need to lessen the distance between us,\nlunging over the table until I smelled the thick scent of cheap perfume under\nthe haze of smoke. \"Dude, they had a million stupid drinks for retarded prices.\nCoke's the only thing worth getting.\"\n\"Well, what if I don't like coke?\" I shot back.\n\"You'll get Pepsi,\" she blinked.\n\"And if I'm not a fizzy drink guy?\"\n\"You can get a pack,\" she tapped her cigar and smiled at me,\nspreading her glimmering lips enough to reveal a few yellow teeth.\nDisgusting. My silence put an end to this disastrous start\nto a date. Five minutes into the thing, and I already searched for courteous\nways to leave this smoker inside its natural habitat. What could I say to her\nthough? That she immediately fell down my shit list just because of this faulty\nhabit? That her personality just wasn't my type?\nNo. Assholes bailed out like that, and I wasn't one of them.\nNot now, not ever.\n\"So...\" I said tentatively. \"Is this the first time you come\nhere?\" \n\"Mhm,\" she pulled her phone from her purse and shoved it in\nmy face. \"This friend told me it's a fun place, and I believed her.\"\nBallsyQueen69 had an even crazier hair than my date. No. Let\nme rephrase that. She looked totally crazy with her rainbow colored hair\nstrings, goth rings around her eyes, piercings in her nose, in her lips, in her\nears. The most disturbing one lay just at the center of her lower lip, an\nellipse that bypassed her flesh and showed me -and the other unfortunate souls\nthat saw her picture- how a lip-less woman looked like. \n\"It's...it's cool, yeah,\" I nodded thrice, keeping my eyes\nfocused on the bottom of her phone until she took it away.\n\"What'd you think of her?\"\n\"Who?\" I went with the stupid question in hopes she would\ngive up.\n\"My friend.\"\n\"She's...she's kinda cool,\" I lied through my teeth with total\nimpunity. \"Different. Above the rules. She's making a style for herself and\nthat's commendable.\"\n\"Jeez, really?\" she took a puff from her cigar, as if she\nprepared to unleash hell upon me. \"She's the most annoying bitch I ever met.\nShe thinks she's this big model just because her huge tits and loose cunt give\nboners to every idiot. Do you know how many boned her, dude?\"\n\"Not really,\" I said, trying to look away.\nShe didn't let me. \"Three hundred. Over three hundred,\" her\nbig eyes empathized her point quite well, making me feel really uncomfortable.\n\"She's riding the D from morning till dusk. One time she said she skipped\nbreakfast cause she drank cum from like...five different guys at the same time.\"\nI gulped down what seemed to be the largest blob of empty\nair I swallowed so far. My stomach tensed in response to the disturbing images\ncreated by my sorry mind. I blocked them all of course, but my nameless date\nkept babbling over and over about how weird her goth friend was and how much\nshe enjoyed intercourse. \n\"And this one time she got together with this military dude\nwho had a dog. Yeah. Took the dog inside right after the dude boned her. She\nsaid the knot is amazing, whatever the fuck that is. I'd never let a fucking\nanimal get anywhere close to my pussy.\"\n\"Mghm,\" I nodded. \"Can we...change the subject, maybe?\"\n\"Why?\" she leaned her elbow on the table and cupped her\nchin, taking another blow from the small stump of her cigar. \"Does sex make you\nuncomfortable?\"\n\"No. Not really. Sex with animals does.\"\nAnother lie. I had nothing against animals. I loved them.\nEven stray cats had more dignity than this creature would ever have. They were\nalso clean, and beautiful, two things I could not say about my date.\n\"High five dude!\"She held her hand up. \"Come on, gimme a\nfive.\" \nI met her with a resounding clap, just to get her crazy eyes\noff me.\n\"Yeah!\" she yelled excitedly. \"Those freaks make me puke my\nguts out. Do you know there's like...millions of other people doing this shit? I\nmean, how desperate do you have to be to let your dog hump your ass?\"\n\"It's disgusting,\" I grimaced. \"They're out of their minds.\"\n\"Totally,\" she pointed towards my head. I backed away,\nthinking she was going to touch me, but she just laughed it off and continued\ntalking.\n\"Dude, desperation turns people into weirdoes. Makes them do\nreally creepy shit.\" Her brown eyes squinted with mischievous intent. \"To be\nhonest, you look like somebody desperate enough to push it down the doggy\nhole.\"\n\"Wh-what?\"\n\"You look like a dog banger. No offense dude. You're cool\nand all, but that hair is crazy!\"\nI froze. Not even my eyelids moved. The music was gone. The\npeople evaporated. All I heard were the eager thumps of my heart, pounding\nharder and harder inside my chest. My cold hands gripped onto my pants. I\ncurled my fingers, trying to scratch, failing to dispel the shock that took\nhold of my body. \nThen, she laughed. She laughed so loud, so heartily, so\nwildly that my fleeing instincts jumped into action immediately. I recoiled\nback so hard, my chair fell backwards, sending me sprawling along the ground.\nMy date got up, barely breathing from her bursting mirth.\n\"Duuuude. You should've seen your face. You...hahahahaa.you shoulda seen your\nffff--face!\" \n\"Please stop.\"\n\"Or what? Are you going to crawl your way up and make me?\"\nI scrambled onto my legs, then placed my chair in the proper\nposition before I laid my hands on the table to look her straight in her crazy\neyes.\n\"It's a public place. It may be our first time coming here,\nbut I don't want everyone to think we're a pair of delinquent whackos.\"\n\"So what?\" she waved her cigar bud in my face. \"Why the hell\ndo you care?\"\n\"I have integrity,\" I hissed. \n\"Boo hoo.\"\nI thought that put an end to it. Yet, as I was slowly\nretreating to my seat, my date threw her arms up and screamed really, really\nloud. \"Listen y'all. My friend here is a dog shagger!\"\nBlood crystallized in my veins when I saw how many people\nwere looking at us.\n\"Does anyone have a pooch? My friend would love to tie the\nknot!\"\nI threw myself at her, managing to grab both of her hands.\n\"Shut up. SHUT UP!\"\n\"Get...get off me!\" She groaned and tried to shake my grip\noff, but I was stronger than her. \n\"Stop making a scene. Are you crazy?\"\n\"I'm not a fucking pussy you moron!\" she shook herself, and\nwhen she failed to throw my arms off, she spat right in my face. \nI closed my eyes. That was my biggest mistake. She shoved\nher whole weight against me, and I met the hard ground on my back, with this\ncrazy bitch right on top of me. \n\"You don't tell me what to do, bitch,\" she slapped my face.\nI blinked, dazed by the pain rippling through my back. \"No one.\"\nSlap!\n\"Ever.\"\nSlap!\n\"Does!\"\nSlap slap slap! \nMy cheeks burned so hot. I heard footsteps coming from\nbehind.\n\"Holy damn!\"\n\"Is everything alright?\"\n\"Miss, did that man try to assault you?\"\nShe looked at me, then fixed her eyes on the group of\nwaiters. \"Nah. He just poked fun at my tits. Do you think they're sagged?\"\nThere it was. The ultimate weapon of any woman. Three fully\ngrown men of different ages stood before her, and not even one of them looked\nat me. I was the victim, laying on the floor, hurting from her abuse, and they\nonly had eyes for her retreating cleavage. \n\"Woohoo!\"\n\"No miss. You've got a really nice pair of jugs there.\"\n\"Who is that guy anyway?\"\n\"My date,\" she rolled her eyes while the three waiters\nlooked down on me. One was on the verge of laughing, one scowled as if I just\nsaid a thing about his mother, and the third smiled broadly, like a boss\npreparing to fire his most worthless of employees. \n\"That guy? Really?\"\n\"You can do better, girl. Heck, I'll be your date if you ask\nme out.\"\n\"Don't get ahead of yourself, Jim.\"\nThey all started laughing, her included. \"Yeah. Can you\nfreaking believe it? My friend hooked me up with a fancy dressed hobo. His hair\nlooks like a dog's for fuck's sake!\"\n\"Yeah. Kind of does.\"\n\"Mhm,\" the other two agreed. \n\"So what do you want us to do with him?\"\n\"Leave him here for a couple more minutes. I promised my\nfriend I'd talk and well, the man always pays the bill.\"\n\"Damn right, girl.\"\n\"Damn right.\"\nThey left.\nThey all left. \nThey left me alone with this bitch who humiliated me, hurt\nme, and now tried to scam me, all for a few seconds of staring at her boobs.\nHer freaking boobs! As If there wasn't enough porn on the internet to cover\ntheir desperate need for naked ladies!\n\"Come on. Up,\" my date took a new cigar from her pack, put\nit in her mouth, and seated herself back at the table. \"Come on, get up. Don't\nwant your stupid ass to catch cooties or a cold or some shit like that.\"\nI was tempted to just remain there. Not like anybody paid any\nattention. The party goers were back to their meals and hushed talks from the\nmoment the waiters left. \nBut I couldn't let her win. I didn't want to allow her to\nwear me down completely. So I leaned on my hands, gritted my teeth against the\npain, and managed to lift my way up into the straw-woven chair. \n\"Chill.\"\nHer words just flew by. She wasn't even there for me. I\nscratched my fingers, one at a time, focusing my attention on the bad music\nplaying on the dance floor below.\n\"Dude, chill.\"\nWhat the hell did she want now? \n\"You're freaking trembling. Calm the fuck down or you're\ngoing to give me a heart attack for Christ's sake.\"\n\"I am chilling, alright? Your stunt made sure of that.\"\nI swatted her hand from the air when she tried to touch me.\nOur fingers met. Hers, warm and nice, mine, ice cold and clammy. She instantly\nrecoiled, wiping her hand on her blouse with a look of disgust on her face.\n\"Freaking hell dude, no wonder you're having a freaking\nseizure. All that tension is making you explode.\"\nShe deserved a nasty reply for this, but I pressed my jaws\nshut, trying my best to push back my rising rage.\n\"Chill, alright? Jeeze...\" she extended her hand towards me. \"Here,\ntake a bump.\"\nThe table shook under my half clenched fist.\n\"Alright, fine. I'll just let you be you fucking freak. Talk\nabout showing some bloody gratitude when I'm trying to save your ass.\"\n\"You did this. All of this! I was fine. We talked like\nnormal people, then you went crazy on me.\"\n\"No, YOU went crazy on me by grabbing me like a fucking\nrapist!\"\n\"You were shouting lies in a PUBLIC place!\"\n\"So what?\" she blew a cloud of smoke in my face, then took\nadvantage of my coughing fit to unload her shit on me. \"So freaking what?\nNobody cares about us. The stains on their boots are more important than you or\nme. We're invisible to them, dude. Didn't you see that?\"\n\"All...haagh. All I saw was you making a freaking scene.\"\n\"So bite me for having a good time. It's not like I'm the\nonly crazy bitch around here. Look around you, dude. Everybody's waaaaaay out\nof it. They have bigger shit to worry about than some random dog fucker falling\non his ass.\"\nThose last two words really pissed me off. I stood up,\nbarely resisting the urge to just turn around and leave. \n\"Enough of that. You either talk to me like a normal person,\nor I leave you here with a bill fat enough to make you cry.\"\nShe laid back in her chair, sucking almost a quarter of her\ncigar. \"Whatever dude.\"\nThis time, I made sure to swerve out of the smoke's way. We\ndidn't talk to each other. Not until one of the waiters came to get my order. I\ngot water, the cheapest item on the menu, and stared absent mindedly how my\ndate poked at her phone. Like the rest of these people, she was in her own\nelement. I could leave, right now. \nBut something held me back. Old etiquette, respect for\nAngela, plain laziness, or just anger at how this night turned out. I couldn't\nfigure that out on my own.\n\"Are you working?\" I asked, expecting no particular answer\nin return.\nShe tapped her finger three more times on the screen.\n\"Nope.\"\n\"Student then?\"\n\"Nope.\"\n\"You're doing nothing?\"\n\"I'm chatting.\"\n\"Good,\" I nodded drily. \"A productive activity for a\nproductive woman.\"\n\"Yo, I'm not that old yet. And stop prying in my life. What\nare you, some kind of IT guy, trying to read everyone you meet?\"\n\"Zoo caretaker.\"\n\"Oh! You clean animal shit for a living. My deepest\ncondolences for your awesome job, sir nobody.\"\n\"I'm-\"\n\"No,\" she slapped her phone down. \"I don't want to know it.\"\n\"Why the heck not?\"\n\"Names make everything complicated. I'm just a random bitch\ntonight, and you're a creepy dog shagger with hobo hair, otter eyes and a mouth\nthat droops way too often.\"\n\"Charming. And what does that make you? Miss Universe?\" \nShe leaned towards me. \"Do I look like a good girl to you?\"\n\"No.\"\n\"Then don't bother telling me any pretty shit. I'll bite.\"\n\"Wow...You are a bit of a bitch.\"\n\"Dude, I'm the biggest and meanest you had so far.\"\nShe picked her phone and resumed her tapping. \"I fucking\nhate this music. Go on. Tell me more about this animal janitor thing you're\ndoing.\"\nAs crazy as she was, I felt a pathological need to reveal\nsome of my life to her. It's been so long since I talked to somebody face to\nface. Just letting the words roll out of my mouth chipped away at the rust left\nbehind by my past girlfriend. She was the best there was. Kind, pretty enough\nfor me, and loved animals as much as I did. In a year or two we wanted to move\nin our own place, then get married, get a couple of pets, and live a life of\nadventure traveling from one wild area to the other.\nShe was my light, and I lost her. Nothing had been the same\nsince then. I never got out, never talked to people. I even ordered my food\nfrom the internet to avoid eye contact. The only solace I had was my zoo\nkeeping job. The people there had a code not to care or interact much with each\nother, and cats took my mind off the pain. Their beauty kept my eyes off all\nthe ugliness in life. Their strength gave me power when I was weak, and their\ntenacity to live on and hope for a better future kept me going when I wanted to\nquit so many times. \nI told this crazy girl how much I really appreciated my\ncats. It might've been a mistake considering how many names that earned me, but\nI allowed them to pass by me unrestrained. I no longer cared about the\nimplications of words. I just wanted to say them. To remind myself I was still\na human being after all the months spent in seclusion.\nMinutes passed. Then, an hour rolled by. I counted time by\nthe amount of puffs she took. One cigar lasted her about five minutes. Couple\nthat with another ten minutes break, and you have fifteen minutes of continuous\nrambling. \nShe had eight more cigars in her pack. Two hours of talking,\ntwo dozen or so insults thrown my way, and thirty bucks down the drain. That's how\nmy date went. I escorted her out despite her complaints. I was scarcely\nprepared to fight off muggers or perverts, but here I was, walking side by side\nwith a girl whose company I despised and enjoyed in equal measure. Was I crazy,\ncraving for a way out? Insane for trying to confirm that my life had hopes of\nchanging from the constant monotony that rained down on me these past months? \nWe traversed four blocks on foot so she could meet up with\nher friend. I remained behind. The other girl, a blonde wearing a raincoat,\nlooked at me through her rain coated glasses.\n\"Hey, there's a creep out there that's eyeballing you pretty\nhard.\"\n\"Yeah,\" the crazy haired waved towards me. \"He was my date.\nTragic, isn't it?\"\n\"He looks like a coyote that's being pissed upon. You sure\nhe's cool?\"\n\"He's a janitor.\"\n\"Really?\"\n\"Yaah! He cleans animal poop and flings it god knows where.\nHe told me all about it. I think he might be into animals.\"\n\"Ewwww... really?\"\n\"Freaking tragic.\"\n\"Let's get out of here. He creeps the hell out of me.\"\nShe turned towards me. One last look. One last farewell.\n\"See you around, dog shagger!\"\nI willed my trembling lips into forming cohesive words. All\nI managed was a weak, stunted, mewly slur. Shit. They didn't even hear that.\nBoth of them turned their backs towards me. I tried to lift my hand and wave\nthem goodbye, but my whole arm felt encased in stone. They crossed the street,\nthen walked a couple more steps towards the subway. In a few minutes, they were\ngone, and I was alone again with only the cold rain keeping me company. \nThey were right. I was more of a coyote than a feline. I was\nlonely, uncared for, scavenging my way through life without any particular goal\nin mind, while felines were the exact opposite. From the moment they opened\ntheir eyes, they knew their purpose: grow, eat, sleep, hunt, mate, raise\noffspring.\nHeck, even coyotes did that. All animals did, except humans.\nI was the oddity. A creepy guy who gazed into nothing while people passed all\naround me. She was right. They didn't see me. None of them touched me or asked\nme if I was fine. They just...moved, while I sat there like a statue. A strange\npressure welled within my chest. Was it pain? Fear? No.\nIt was loneliness. That bitter blade that cut through the\nflesh, sapping every positive energy and replacing it with a dark void of\nhopelessness. She was crazy, and stupid, and had a potty mouth, but crap, did I\nmiss her already. I sniffled once. Was I really going to cry here, out in the\nstreet, in public, for a smoker? Maybe I wasn't as normal as I believed myself\nto be.  \nI slapped my cheek so hard I trembled. No. I had to look\nforward. I had to live. I needed to move! With a deep breath, I took a step\nforward. Then another, and another, until I joined the train of people heading\ntowards Victory's Square. Like them, I found a purpose. I wanted to dull my\nemerging pain inside the mugs of one of the cheapest and best pubs in the city.\n\nIt took me about ten minutes to get there. Inside, the air\nwas heavy with talk and alcohol, making my head spin for a the first few steps.\nI went straight towards the counter. Dan covered the weekly shifts. He was my\nfavorite bartender, and I was one of his favorite clients. He got me a spot\nright at the edge, knowing how much I valued a silent wall's company over another\nhuman being.\nSo I sat in that hoisted chair, with my feet placed on the\nmetal rim below like some strange anthropomorphic bird, watching Dan go about\nserving the other clients. I liked his merry attitude. He was always happy.\nAlways smiling. He had plenty of problems. Nobody who handed out alcohol was\ncompletely clean. Dan had been living inside the bottle for a couple of years\nafter his wife left him for the promise of wealth. She was a gold digger, and\npoor Dan found that out way too late. I felt a bit sorry for him, and I say a\nbit only because I would've been faster to make my judgment. If Dan shared my\nalacrity, he would've been a free man pursuing his dream of traveling around\nthe globe.\nAnd I would've sat here waiting to be serviced by a morose drunk.\nI smiled weakly. So many things could've gone differently if we only paid a\nlittle bit more attention to the small details. Take for example that man to my\nleft. The one with his hands on the counter and an overall look of eagerness\ndraped all over his face. He wore a full business suit and had a gold engraved\nwatch at his wrist. Well done hair, slightly muscular build, and a voice calm\nenough to put a baby to sleep. He wasn't here to sulk about his problems or\nforget about them like the boisterous folks behind me. He just wanted to take a\npint or two to work up the courage to probably go on a date or an important\nmeeting. How did I know that? His left hand, clutching the counter hard enough\nto put strain on the fingers. Calmness always came at a cost. The good guys had\nto direct their negative energies elsewhere, while assholes let them loose\nwithout a care in the world.\n\"So, we meet again!\" Dan's voice boomed as he walked towards\nme.\n\"We meet again,\" I shook his hand with a smile. \nDan had a firm, vigorous grip. It always made me feel good\nand secure for some reason. \n\"So, what can I get for you today?\"\nI pulled my hand back to cup my palms together. \"I don't\nknow. Something good.\"\n\"You always say that, you rascal,\" Dan laughed, pointing out\nmy habit with a meaty finger. \"That's certainly going to be Narsdragen beer.\"\n\"Tsk,\" I clicked my tongue. \"I was thinking. Rubbing my\nhands together is not the international symbol for your cheap-ass home brew.\"\n\"You always say that. You always do that, and you always get\nthe beer.\"\n\"Well, try me.\"\nThe bastard returned in a minute with a mug filled with that\ndeliciously cloudy brew. \n\"Thanks Dan.\"\n\"Drink moderately. And oh, I forgot to ask. What's it going\nto be for tonight? Drunk, tipsy, or a bit of both?\"\n\"I'll go with both.\"\n\"That bad, huh?\"\nI chuckled. \"Had an interesting date, to say the least.\"\n\"Tell me about it in a bit. Gotta...gotta get to them.\"\n\"Run fast!\"\nI drank my first mouthful watching Dan liberate patrons from\ntheir money and empty mugs and serve full ones in return. I suppose I could\nhave compared him to Santa Claus or some benevolent figure. He took away\npeople's pain and gave them hope. Or at least something to look forward to. \nI took down the first mug faster than I aimed to. A shame.\nNarsdragen was a slightly expensive beverage rumored to be brewed by Vikings.\nIt sounded ridiculous, but I was one of the few idiots who chose to believe in\nrumors. I liked this particular lie where an extinguished civilization had more\nsecrets than historians believed at first. Why? Because if a race of conquerors\nsettled in a place enough to craft their own brew, then a modern man living in\nmodern times had a chance at straightening up his life. \nI still needed help though. The second mug helped me\nsomewhat, but it was the third that lifted the weight from my tongue. I was\ntelling Dan about my first time in college and my terrible anxieties at being\naround girls when the clients became boisterous. \n\"Clover! Cover for me for a bit!\"\nClover was his son. Well, his adopted son, but Dan loved him\njust the same. The man had almost the same age as I did. He gave me a nod, and\nI waved at him despite knowing how uncomfortable that made him feel in public. \n\"Oops. I should- shouldn't have-\"\n\"He'll get past it,\" Dan waved me closer towards the corner.\n\"Spill it out now.\"\n\"The beer?\" I lifted my mug. \"Nah. I don't wanna throw it\naway.\"\n\"Not the drink you idiot. That tale you wanted to tell me\nabout.\"\n\"College? It's really not that great.\"\n\"I know. Skip to the date.\"\n\"Wait...\" I looked at him as if he transformed before my very\neyes. \"How did you know?\"\n\"You told me on Monday right after you had five mugs of this\nstuff.\"\n\"Oh. That explains it,\" I laughed, then focused enough to\nstraighten my bearings. \n\"The date was planned strangely, went strangely, and made me\nfeel just the same.\"\n\"What was so wrong about it?\" Dan asked.\n\"Lets see,\" I said as I grabbed the mug with both hands,\nfeeling the imperfect lines waddling along its form. \"My friend's friend chose\nthe place, and I only found that out after I got this surprise date. Then, it\ntook me two whole days to prepare physically and mentally for it. On the big\nday, I got mugged in the bus, almost had a panic attack inside a restaurant\nthat looked and felt more like a cheap club, then I got lost, and then I\nfinally met up with my date who is, by the way, crazy.\"\n\"Wait...you got mugged?\" Dan's eyebrows locked with concern as\nhis eyes scanned over my body.\n\"It's nothing big,\" I reassured him with a quick pat on his\nshoulder. \"Just two punks borrowing twenty dollars from me. No big deal.\"\n\"And nobody did anything? Didn't you call the cops?\"\n\"For twenty? Come on.\"\n\"It's still thievery,\" Dan said. \n\"It is,\" I agreed. \"But I had no time for that because I was\ntoo eager to meet my date!\"\nHe leaned closer to me, close enough to smell all the\ndifferent shades of liqueur impregnating his shirt. \"Is she really...you\nknow...mentally ill?\"\n\"She called me a dog shagger out loud,\" I whispered.\n\"Really?\"\n\"Freaking really,\" I said. \"She screamed loud enough to have\nthe nearby people look at us. Then she flashed her tits at the three coming\nwaiters and everything went back to normal.\"\n\"Boobies,\" Dan chuckled.\n\"Yeah. Boobies,\" I patted his shoulder again before grabbing\nonto my mug. \"It went better after that. I told her about my job and how much I\nlove those cats.\"\n\"Let me guess. She called you a cat molester.\"\n\"Close. Kitty banger.\"\n\"Why didn't you leave?\"\n\"Good question, that,\" I took another sip of bittersweet\nNarsdragen to wet my throat and refresh my mind. \"I don't know. I really,\nreally fail to remember what kept me there.\"\n\"Eh. Lets not get into that,\" Dan turned around to quickly\nwave something to Clover. \"Want another one, by the way?\"\n\"Yeah, please. Refill it.\"\nI sat alone with my thoughts while Dan did his thing. There\nwere many things I wanted to tell to this man. I knew him so well, yet he knew\nso little of me. Perhaps today was as good a day as any to change that.\n\"Here you go,\" Dan placed the full mug right in my grip.\n\"This one is on the house.\"\nI laughed, he laughed, then we both became sorely serious. \n\"Come on, Dan. I fail at dating and you reward me?\"\n\"What better way to discourage quitting than encouraging\nprogress?\"\n\"You're too bloody good to me,\" I took a hearty sip.\n\"The world needs good people. Need more of you, more of\nClover, more of...pah. It is how it is anyway. Do what we can now, in the\npresent. Keep sober. Past and future? That's what gets you drunk, son.\"\n\"Mhm,\" I nodded, then took a couple more sips. \"Dan?\"\n\"Hmh?\" \n\"I want to tell you about my job.\"\n\"As in, feeding cats, taking them on walks, trying not to\ndie?\"\n\"There's more to it than that,\" I said and waved to my left.\n\"Can you grab a chair?\"\n\"I can stand just fine,\" he dropped his arms on the counter\nand propped his chin on top of them. \"So are you part of some secret agency I'm\nnot aware of?\"\n\"Nah. Nothing like that,\" I chuckled. \"These cats...how to put\nit? Some of them are really special to me. You hear left and right about the\njoy of finding your soul-mate, raising kids, building a family. Well, those\ncats are my family. I've been with some of them since they were cubs, no older\nthan a couple weeks. Padi is a great example of that.\"\n\"The leopard?\"\n\"Yeah,\" I nodded, then refreshed myself yet again. \"I\nhand-raised him from cubhood to adulthood, and that felt...it felt so...gah. It's\nhard to find ways to describe that sense of accomplishment you feel when they\ntake their first steps or hunt their first squirrel. Or the trust that builds\nbetween you. Padi depended on me to feed him. He remembers how I held him when\nhe was a small cub, pouring milk into his mouth with that crappy syringe. It's\nwhy I can feed him by hand two years later.\"\n\"Isn't that a bit stupid, lad?\" Dan's voice oozed with\nconcern.\nI lifted a finger. \"From our point of view, yes. We tend to\nsee the claws that cut through our flesh, the teeth that can snap our necks,\nthat mass of muscles that takes us down in the blink of an eye. Those are\ndetails. Stupid, fearful, idiotic details. Tell me, what do you tell to an\nanimal when you are reluctant to even feed it?\"\n\"I don't know, lad. I'm not that good with beasties.\"\n\"Fear, Dan. They feel that. If we can't trust our animal\ncompanions fully, why the heck do we expect them to trust us?\"\n\"Because we feed them? Shelter them? Raise them?\"\n\"All good points,\" I nodded. \"But the trust should always be\nmutual. That's what leads to love. It's the kind of affection we have for our\nfamily, our dear ones. We'll provide for them, care for them, and argue\nsometimes, but we'll never, ever hurt those we care about.\"\n\"Hah. Tell that to my wife.\"\n\"Or my ex,\" I chuckled and waved my hand away. \"They're\nirrelevant.\"\n\"Yeah. Yeah they are.\"\nHe said that, but his eyes betrayed him. Dan knew that. He\nlooked towards Clover, pretending to use his simple sign language for extra\norders. I knew the truth of it. He didn't fully recover from his loss, just as\nI haven't recovered from mine. \nI took another sip of beer. Then another. And one more. Even\nthe slightly sweet taste couldn't wash away the bitter regret resurfacing from\nthe depths of my mind. My ex was so good to me. So good and kind. She helped me\nturn my crappy apartment into a proper home. We bought everything together,\nfrom furniture to electronics to trinkets. Heck, she was the reason I had cats\nprowling all over the place. \n\"Shit.\"\n\"Hmh?\" Dan looked at me while I brushed my eyes.\n\"It's...gah, I'm becoming emotional. Your beer isn't doing its\njob, Dan.\"\n\"I'm not giving you another unless you want to step into\ndrunken territory.\"\n\"Nah, keep it. I just...\" my breath stopped the flow of words.\n\"My job is the only good thing I have in my life. Nobody cares for me more than\nmy cats, and I...\" I took another hefty pause.\nDan patted my shoulder. \"Come on. Out with it.\"\nI pushed the mug away to look straight at him. \"I love my\ncats. I really, really love them. Without my Padi, Sera, Jafar and the others,\nI would be nothing. No one would love me. No one would care about me. No one\nwould miss me as much as them if I...if...\"\n\"Shh.\"\nDan pulled me into a hug. Good move. My voice started to\ncrackle. A few more seconds with my emotions would've made me cry right there\nin public. \n\"I know how you feel about these felines, lad. Now more than\never,\" Dan slowly pushed me away. I could see it in his eyes he prepared to\ngive me one of his life lectures. \"It's great to have animals attach themselves\nemotionally to you, but you need people in your life as well. Human beings that\ncan understand your emotions, that can talk, and hug, and help you through your\nproblems.\"\n\"Wrong,\" I shook my head. \"Most of the humans I met are\nnowhere near as loyal or caring as my cats. Those savage killers everybody\ndespises offered me more than anyone ever did.\"\n\"More than me, or her?\" Dan shot my ex right at me. It was a\nfoul move, but a good one nonetheless.\n\"It's not like that.\"\n\"That's how the world works, lad. Felines were made to lay\nwith felines, and men with women. You can love your cats, and yes they can\ncomfort, lick you, even trust you with their lives. But they can never offer\nyou children, a stable home, or a stable relationship.\"\n\"I don't need that,\" I took a quick drink, then slammed the\nmug onto the table. \"I don't need any of that.\"\n\"Maybe not now, but years will pile up. Time is ruthless.\nWait long enough, and nobody will take you. Years will roll by, and you'll\nremain as lonely as you are now. Thirties, forties, eighties. Years will be the\nonly things you'll add up, lad.\"\nMy chest tightened. Liquid moisture rolled down along my\nflushing cheeks. I blinked again to clear the stinging sensations from my eyes,\nand I saw Dan looking at me with utmost remorse. \n\"I...I got stupid. Sorry. I shouldn't have said that.\"\n\"Nah, it's alright,\" I took out my wallet and gave him\neverything I had. \"Keep the change.\"\n\"It's too much, lad. I can't-\"\n\"Keep it. You're a good man, Dan. Buy something nice for\nClover.\"\nI turned around to leave.\n\"Where are you going?\"\n\"You know where,\" I said, then rushed out of the pub before\nmy emotions got the best of me. \nThe walk to the zoo was as lonely and painful as the loss I\nincurred. I tried to take my mind off it. Believe me, I did my best. Nobody\nrecovers from such loss so quickly. My life had been so perfect by that point.\nI had everything figured out. Everything...\n\"Stupid. I'm bloody stupid,\" I mumbled to myself as the hard\nsoles of my shoes slapped onto the humid asphalt. I got used to the sting\nrushing through my toes. When pain was the only constant in someone's life,\nthey either adapted or perished before its might.\nI wanted to be a survivor. Like my cats, I vowed to myself\neach time I woke up that I would fight through to see another day. That's what\ngave me strength. The determination to return to those who depended on me to\nlive. The desire to be with the felines I loved. The hope that one day my life\nwould stitch itself back to normal.\nWhen I arrived at the zoo, my feet were numb, my mouth half\ndry, and my bladder full enough to feel uncomfortable. I waved to Tony to open\nthe door. He knew me. I came here every night to collect my thoughts. Usually I\ntold him about how the day went, but it would've been mightily embarrassing to\npiss myself in front of him. \nSo I quickly made my way towards the feline enclosures,\nusing the paths I knew too well to navigate through the darkness. We had lights\nmounted above the corridors, but we set them to the lowest intensity to give\nthe animals at least a faint semblance of a proper night. \nI made my water to Sera's enclosure. The tigress was\ndefinitely asleep. Despite my intense crave to see her, I bit my needs back and\nkept on walking. Jafar was asleep too, piled with his mate and offspring. Drat.\nWas no one of my lovelies awake this night?\nI fixed my eyes upon Padi's cage to see a sliver of\nmovement. He was awake. Not only that, but he was grooming himself. With his\nhind leg raised above his head, Padi had unrestrained access to the equipment\nthat made him a male. I crouched low to the ground, watching silently how his\nsmall, glistening member poked in and out of its sandy sheath with every lick.\nAll felines groomed every part of their bodies, but the recent discussion with\nDan made me wonder. Did Padi feel the same desire for companionship as I felt?\nWas he as lonely as I was? In his intimate moments, could he be dreaming of a\nperfect mate to build a family with?\nThere was no way I could find out that answer just by\nlooking at him. The rascal saw me as soon as I got up. He jumped onto his\nfours, rubbing along the bars and pawing out for me. I had no choice but to\nwalk towards his enclosure with a wide smile on my face.\n\"Hello there, you eager kitty. How are you doing tonight?\"\nPadi tried pushing his nose between the bars, but he didn't\nhave quite enough space to fling his broad tongue over to my lazy arms. I\nwaited a couple more seconds, amused to see his desperate attempts to greet me.\nThen he started rubbing his cheeks on the cold iron. It was just damn too\nadorable to see such a big, magnificent creature act like the cub I raised two\nyears back. \nI reached a hand towards him and got a quick feel of his\nwarm, arid nose before his barbed tongue slid all over my skin. Felines had\nsuch a rough feel to their tongues. The same barbs that scraped meat off the\nbones felt like small needles rubbing along my skin. The sensation wasn't what\nI would call pleasant, but I liked what it implied. Felines groomed their\nsiblings, or parents, or even their mates. They took care of those they\ntrusted, and Padi's overly eager tongue was washing my hand dry. I spread my\nfingers and turned my palm around to feel more of his broad tongue. There\nwasn't much saliva coating the middle of his tongue, but the edges were a really\nslimy deal. Soft, squishy, moist. I pushed two fingers between his lower fangs.\nPadi tried to push me out with a wry face and a soft growl. I tickled him under\nhis tongue, sending him a few steps back to lick his whiskers.\n\"Tickles, doesn't it?\"\nHe agreed with a chuff and started rubbing himself against\nthe bars all over again. I couldn't just sit and watch now. I pushed both hands\nthrough the bars to feel as much of him as I could. With one hand I caressed\nhis twitching ears, rubbed his head and scratched at his chin, while I sunk my\nfingers into his dense side with the other. He was warm. So warm, so clean,\nsmelling of grass and dust, two of my favorite scents that sent my mind soaring\nall the way to the grassy plains Padi originated from. \nI was so lost in the entrancing feel of his coat and the\nrumbling purr rolling inside his throat that I completely failed to realize my\nright hand was no longer brushing his neck, but his side. I felt his flank pass\nby my left, then grabbed onto his long, silky tail almost instinctively.\nIt jerked upwards. My dormant mind awoke with the strange\njolt. When I blinked, Padi's spotted side was replaced by the brown pucker of\nhis tailhole, clenching quickly over the trembling form of his tawny spheres.\nCrap. By the time I noticed his protruding tip, it was too late. Three sprays\nof urine flung straight into my face. I closed my eyes just in the nick of\ntime. The warm, musky fluid hit me head-on, but I felt its pungent warmth slithering\ndown my skin rather than eating out the insides of my eyes. \n\"Pffft...\" I spat, grimacing worse than a leopard tasting the\nfragrance of a female in heat. \"The heck, Padi? Why the heck did you-\"\nHis rumbling purr flared to life, a pleasant song that\nrelaxed my tensing muscles. Within a second, I felt his tongue upon my chin. He\nslid the warm thing over my puckered lips, climbed along my nose, and gave my\nforehead a good scratch before he repeated all over. \nA couple of licks were a poor trade-off for being marked\nlike a tree, but I liked. Call me crazy, but I enjoyed the implications of\nPadi's musky scent. Felines marked the things they cared about. His urine, as\ndispleasing as it was to my nostrils, made me feel desired. His tongue, barbed\nand rough, made me feel at peace. And his smooth, rumbling purr was the best\nsong I could ask for. Within four to ten licks, Padi killed whatever rebellious\nwords threatened to leave my mouth. \n\"Alright, it's enough,\" I stumbled back, almost tripping on\nmy own legs. \"Turn around and leave.\"\nHis amber eyes stared right at me, blooming wide in the\ndarkness.\n\"Come on. Go to bed. I just wanted to see how you were doing\nbefore turning myself in for the night.\"\nHe blinked. I blinked too. After a couple of moments, Padi\nseated himself on his haunches. His eyes never left me. Was I that obvious? Did\nhe feel my intentions so quickly?\nI chuckled and walked back towards him.\n\"You're too freaking smart for your own good. I'll have to\ncome up with new ways to surprise you since words obviously fly way past your\nfuzzy ears.\"\nYeah. I never planned to leave. The only place I planned on\nsleeping in tonight was Padi's warm belly. I just wanted to surprise the fuzzy\nbastard, and by the looks of it I failed spectacularly. I put in the code for\nthe digital lock and opened his door in the span of two breaths. As soon as the\nportcullis opened, Padi was all over me. His paws latched around my neck, his\nnose buried in my throat, and his warm, rolling breath made my heart beat\nfaster. I took a step back under the added weight of a full grown feline\npushing its bulk all over me. Padi definitely saw the exit. He wasn't stupid.\nWith one leap he could have been free. \nThat wasn't what he desired though. His whiskers met my\nlips, and soon his tongue poked out to lick my face. So warm. So slick. So\npleasant. I held him tight against my chest while he greeted me just like I\ntaught him in his youth: with licks instead of bites, and rubs instead of nips.\nSure, his big canines couldn't hold completely still, and he grabbed a couple\nof times at my nose, but I didn't feel an ounce of pain. He was very gentle,\nand very affectionate.\n\"A'ight,\" I mumbled, feeling my lips quite sticky due to all\nthe saliva oozing away from his slick lips. \"Back. On the ground.\"\nHe wasn't dropping. I wasn't eager to push him away either.\nI liked rubbing heads with him, sniffing into his fur, and meeting his warm\nnose with mine. Padi missed me. I felt it as clearly as I felt his whiskers\ntickling my chin. He didn't want freedom right now.\nHe wanted me.\nI slowly eased him onto the ground once his hind legs\nstarted stumbling for balance. The witty leopard twisted mid air, landing on\nhis back with a soft thud. I grunted, rushing towards his back to make sure he\nwasn't hurt, but the rascal wanted my arms to be out of the way. His front paws\ngrabbed around my neck, the soft pads pressing hard against my skin to shove me\nright into his neck. \n\"P-padi,\" I managed to say before my mouth was struck full\nof silky fur. My Padi was frighteningly strong. It only took another shove from\nhis limbs to send my head further into his chest and my body falling onto the\nground. Padi was ecstatic to obtain dominance over me. He licked and grabbed\naround my neck, trying to make me concede with gentle bites. \nI wasn't about to be hunted. Not today. I dug my fingers\ninto his fluffy belly and scratched the fluff out of him. Padi squirmed like a\nsilly cat. His front legs pulled back, trying desperately to stop the siege of\nmy quick hands. \n\"Submit,\" I hissed between my teeth as I blocked both his\nflanks with a well propped arm. \"Submit!\"\nHis soft pads slapped my face, forcing my eyes shut. He kept\ndoing that, knowing I had no means to defend myself when my only free hand was\nsecured by his strong jaws. Padi had me. I tried to go for his neck and finish\nhim off, forgetting the most important rule of feline taming. Never assume\nyou're quicker than your cat. \n\"Gah,\" I dropped on my back, exposing my belly as a sign of\nsubmission. \"You win this one, you bastard. Come on. Open up now. It's over.\"\nPadi's eyes glimmered with playfulness. I felt his tongue\nslide upon my skin two more times before he allowed me to break free. I took\nthat opportunity to close the door. Padi wasn't going to leave, but a one of the\nguards would have given me a hard time if I showed any signs of carelessness. \nThe door clicked shut, masking my instinctive wincing. Damn\nmy frail wrists. I rubbed around them to work some heat under my skin. Padi\nlooked at me intently. I lay next to him. The cat pushed his head under my arm,\nsoothing the damage by rubbing his head and muzzle around. Silly bastard. I\ngrabbed his fuzzy head right under my elbow. He kicked all his legs, and\ngrowled, and spat at me, but no amount of drool weakened my resolve. I got my\nrevenge on him by tickling his nose, his chin, even his tongue. Poor Padi shook\nhis head several times when he found himself free, probably stiff from the\nwhole minute of entrapment.\n\"Come here,\" I patted the ground next to me. \"Let me fix you\nup.\"\nPadi looked at me for a few moments. I imagined he would be\na bit salty at me, but he pleasantly surprised me when he rolled onto his belly\nto lay his fuzzy head right on top of my chest. I sunk my hands into the dense\nfur of his neck, rubbing with slow, circular motions. The leopard's ears\ntwitched joyfully. His eyes half-closed, a soft purr escaping his maw with each\nrolling breath. \n\"There we go. You're fine now. All calm and relaxed...\" I\nwhispered while my fingers worked into the strong muscles of his neck. I soon\nstarted to ache. Leopards might have been similar in build with house cats, but\ntheir size gave me quite an area to cover. I did my best to go down his\nmuscular chest and rub some life into his shoulders, but my wince betrayed my\npain.\nPadi's ears flicked at that. His widened pupil was fully\nrevealed when his eyelids pulled all the way up. \n\"Shh,\" I slid two fingers between his eyes in an up and down\nmotion. \"Relax. I got this.\"\nA front paw fell on my shoulder. Then another. Padi pushed\nboth my hands into the ground, keeping me firmly pinned under the silky warmth\nof his pads. \n\"I can swipe you off. Don't try me.\"\nThe cat slowly dragged the rest of his body on top of me.\nHis weight was evenly distributed, but he was still a full grown animal\npressing upon my chest, my belly, my crotch. \n\"This=this wasn't your best idea, fuzz ball,\" I chuckled.\n\"Get off and we'll...we'll work something out.\"\nPadi dropped his head on my face, pushing my head into the\nground. Crap. At times I forgot he was just as lazy as any cat. \nI humored him for a couple of minutes before I brushed him\noff. Poor Padi wasn't eager to have his favorite napping stop rebelling against\nhim. He rubbed enticingly around me, running his head under my neck, then the\nwhole length of his majestic body before his tail slid along my neck, long,\nsinuous, and delightfully flurry. His tip tickled me. Padi knew I enjoyed it,\nbecause he turned around to do the same thing a couple more times. \nThis was a cat that knew how bribes worked. Three of these\ncomplete circles, and I already felt more amiable. I scratched his neck as soon\nas he came around and pointed towards the end of his enclosure. \n\"What do you say about some running, eh?\"\nPadi grabbed around my hands, trying to pull them away from\nhis legs. \n\"Come on. Let's get some blood into these lazy muscles.\"\nHe rolled on his back, reaching towards me while his\nadorable eyes pleaded me to heed his desires.\n\"Gah, alright. No wrestling tonight. I would've beaten you\nanyway.\"\nAnd Padi was quite happy with that. I lay with him on the\nground, belly up, looking at the stars, trying very hard not to fall asleep.\nWhen you had such a convenient source of warmth pressed against you, the\ntemptation to sleep turned from commodity into a mild annoyance. \nI needed to run for a bit. \nPadi got up along with me. I turned my nose when I felt his\ntail coiling around one of my legs. \"Now you want to play? Really?\" \nHe ran ahead, inviting me to join his games. I had no chance\nto catch him with these stupid shoes. I kicked them off, one by one, then ran\nafter his fuzzy tail. I was slow though. Too slow. We both knew that. Padi just\nloved to taunt me. Every time I reached for his fuzzy tip, he put a burst of\nspeed, sending flakes of dust onto my bare feet. I was almost winded out when\nhe finally decided to be caught. I fell upon him with all my might, giving him\na rub to remember. The rascal then rolled on his back to expose the white of\nhis belly. Figures. Ten minutes of hard massage to please his predatory muscles\nwere not quite fit for his fuzzy highness.\n\"What do you want next, my lord?\" I grabbed one of his paws\nand ran my thumb along his meaty central pad. He didn't mind that, so I moved\nto his little toes next. He was equally silky there, and even more sensitive. \nPadi shook his foot. The fuzz growing between his toes was\nunbearably ticklish, a weak spot I loved to exploit. \n\"Shall I rub more of your feet? Tickle them, like this?\"\nHe squirmed as I got hold of a hind paw as well to apply the\nsame treatment. Sharp, slimy teeth grabbed and nibbled at my hands, but I\ndidn't let go even when he started kicking, thankful that he kept his claws\nsheathed. Padi was always considerate, even now, when I tickled him to death.\nWhen the tips of a claw raked my skin I finally let go. \n\"Maybe that's not a proper punishment. We should rub the\nbelly!\" I shook and rattled his fur. \"Rub rub rub rub!\"\nPadi's throat rumbled and crackled with all manner of\nnoises. I wasn't even sure if he enjoyed himself or protested. I decided to\nplay it safe by finding new interest in his meaty flanks. \n\"Or should we feed on the rich meat lying underneath this\nfur?\" I asked, trailing a finger along the white pathways sneaking between the\nfaint rosettes decorating the inside of his haunches.\n\"Should I be a kitten, rubbing smoothly? Or a predator?\"\nPadi shuddered when I took hold of his meaty legs. He pawed\nat me, seemingly eager to shake off my grip, but the protruding tip of his\nmember spoke another tale. \n\"Oh, whoops,\" I let him go with a bursting chuckle. \"Don't\nuse me as your personal latrine a second time.\"\nPadi had no such intentions. He remained right there, with\nhis legs spread, looking at me rather insistently. I could tell he wanted\nsomething. \n\"Getting lazy again, eh?\" I dropped next to him and pushed\nmy left hand under his neck. I came out on the other side to slowly rub along\nhis chest while my left busied itself with the silky feel of a fore paw. I\nslinked between his fingers. He was so warm. Padi remained completely still. He\nlooked up, swishing his tail from side to side, with his glistening tip still\ngreeting the cold air of the night.\n\"Too lazy to even go to the bathroom. Well then, don't tell\nme I didn't warn ya. And if you come to me to clean you, I'm going to just grab\nthese ears and twist!\" I proved my point in a rather stupid fashion. \nPadi hissed at me, and I quickly apologized with a quick\nkiss on his ear. \"Sorry about that. I'll be cool.\"\nHe pushed his nose into my neck and kept rubbing to find a\ncomfortable position. I chuckled silently, not wanting to give him the\nsatisfaction of a proper laughter. I didn't want to spoil the bastard by\nbecoming a tickling victim every time his lengthy whiskers stroke a nerve up my\nneck. Besides, it felt great to feel his warm breath rolling through the nape\nof my shirt and warm me up during this rather cold night. Padi remained completely\nstill after he found the right spot. Me? I just looked at the star speckled\nsky. Padi's jerking paws or twitching tail sometimes caught my eyes, but I\nnever lingered for more than a couple of seconds. I knew every part of his body\nas intimately as I knew my own. \nI gently ran a few fingers between his front legs. I could\ntell he was still awake by the way his chest rose with each breath, or the\ntwitch in his legs. Maybe he was trying to fall asleep, or maybe he wanted to\ntrick me. Either way, I allowed my palm to sink into his warm, exquisite fur\nand get a better feel of his beating heart. \n\"My dear Padi...I should really visit you more often. I had\nyou for two years. Two long years. I spent more time with you than with any\nother feline, yet I feel...incomplete,\" I sighed as I slowly pushed my chin\nagainst the top of his muzzle. \"I was there to see you grow through the first\nyear of your life. Do you remember how you sneaked into my bed at night, even\nif I explicitly told you to remain in your own little basket? Or the times when\nI found the whole house reeking of your urine?\"\nI gave him a couple of moments to react. The only reply I\ngot was his tail, lazily swinging on top of one of his flanks. \n\"You do. You were big enough to remember, you lazy kitty,\" I\nrubbed his chest slowly until I reached one of his front legs. I curled my\nfingers around the meaty base, then slowly slid towards his foot. \"These nimble\nlegs always kept you ahead of my punishments. Every time I tried to educate\nyou, you ran. Then you always came back...\" I reached his warm pads and clutched\nhis paw tight within my palm. \"You always came back to me, even when you knew\nyou did something wrong. You were so brave. So little, yet so brave...\"\nA puff of warm air escaped from his mouth. I lifted my head\nto gaze upon him. Padi's eyes were wide open, staring at me with two giant\npupils akin to ripe grapes. His warm nose touched my neck, and he pushed me\ngently until I had my neck completely exposed. Padi laid his head on the top of\nmy chest with a long sigh. He only glanced at me briefly before his eyes\nsettled on the sky above.\n\"Witty bastard. Always trying to learn something. Always\nfollowing my examples,\" I rubbed his neck and released his paw from my clutch.\nPadi stretched his legs. I took that opportunity to slide closer towards his\nbelly, and stroke him just the same. With slow, suave motions that instilled\npeace and tranquility just like the dark sky above us. \n\"Star gazing is so calming. So peaceful. We should have done\nthis more often. I feel...I think I haven't been as good of a parent to you as a\nproper leopard. I took good care of you during the first year, but my life\nbecame more complicated after that. She came in my life, Padi. The girl of my\ndreams. That perfect mate we males hope to meet. And it felt good. Everything\nwent so good. I was happy. Almost too happy to notice how quickly the days\npassed by. Before I knew it, I lost track of time. The only time we spent\ntogether was during training. We no longer ran, no longer fought, and barely\nlounged with our bellies up like we used to...\"\nMy blood quickened in my veins, and my throat felt heavier\nwith each passing heartbeat. I sniffled once to calm myself and focused my\nattention up in the sky, and into Padi's fluffy belly. \n\"It was my fault, and I'm sorry, Padi. I'm really sorry I\nwasn't able to be here for you every day, and see you grow into the magnificent\nfeline you have become. You're beautiful,\" I massaged his belly with one hand\nwhile the other stroke him along his jaw. \"So, so beautiful...\"\nThe compliments got to his head. With a throaty purr, Padi\ngot off my chest and started rolling around. I laughed happily and stoked his\ndelight with eager rubs. I caressed his neck, massaged his feet, rubbed his\nbelly, and even tried to reach his flanks when I noticed his gender. Padi\nindeed grew more than I expected. His maleness was completely out, glistening\nin the faint light coming from outside the enclosure and jerking with every\nbeat of his heart. He was small, like any feline, but I've never seen him so\nbig before. \nI gulped down whatever moisture I had in my mouth and bent\nforth to continue my rubbing session. Padi's legs trembled when I reached his\nhindquarters. His muscles shuddered increasingly quicker the closer I\napproached towards the base of his tail, and he growled, pushing his head into\nmy neck to lick me with quick, eager strokes.\n\"Padi, what-\"\nHis tongue rolled over my face, almost entering my mouth. I\nclosed my eyes, allowing him to groom me to his heart's desire. He licked,\nagain and again, his barbs becoming more uncomfortable to my irritating skin\nwith every stroke. \nAs much as I hated it, I had to dig my hands into his\npurring neck and push the eager feline back. Padi licked his whiskers, still\ntrying to lick me like an eager dog.\n\"Alright, I know. You love me. But I told you I'm different.\nYour tongue hurts me if you keep licking so often.\"\nPadi threw off my hands with a shake of his head. I thought\nhe was going to pounce me, but instead his nose went straight between his legs.\nWet sounds emerged along with his tongue. I pulled myself up to see what the\nfuss was about, and remained completely stiff when I saw his tongue rolling\naround his unsheathed maleness.\nMy first instinct was to push him away and save his\nsensitive organ from the unrelenting bite of his barbs, but then I realized\nPadi didn't need my help. He wasn't showing any signs of discomfort. I felt so\nstupid all of a sudden to interfere in feline business. Of course he knew his\nbody better than I did. I just felt responsible for him. Years of raising a cub\nfrom infancy did that to anybody.\nOnly that my cub, my little Padi was no longer so little. He\nhad needs of his own. The way he licked around his member, with such long,\ndelicate strokes sent my mind back an hour ago when I first saw him grooming\nhimself. I asked myself if Padi felt the need for a female companion, and now I\nsaw his member tense and harden under the touch of his tongue. I felt him\ntremble underneath all that fur. I heard his purr hitching in his throat to\nmake room for a soft, needy mewl.\nI finally understood. Once Padi pulled back, I grabbed his\nhead and lowered him in my lap.\n\"Oh dear. Dear me. It's time, isn't it? You're eager to get\na mate, and I...\" I bit my own rambling tongue. \"We'll do something about that.\nI'll get you a mate. I don't know how, but...I'll work something out for you.\nFuck, I can't even imagine how it is to be in this cage all day by yourself.\nYou must get so lonely...\"\nPadi rolled on his back to paw at my head.  I avoided his sluggish strikes. This needy\nkitty trembled with desire, and he still worried about my welfare. Why couldn't\nI do the same? I was a male too. One that understood the absence of another's\ntouch as well as Padi. I needed to teach him how males released the weight when\nthe burden became too unbearable to hold in. Only...I didn't know how. He was my\ncub, yes, but still a feline. My date's words rang in my head. Kitty banger.\nDog shagger. Society frowned upon those who discarded or failed to adhere to\nthe rules, and what I was thinking tethered on the precipice of a dangerous\npit. \nWas I prepared to break the norm for Padi? Could I go one\nstep further and show him he didn't need to suffer from the bitter sting of\nloneliness?\nAbsolutely. I grabbed his head again and stroke him, both to\ncalm him and myself.\n\"I didn't really prepare to have The Talk with you. Heh,\" I\nchuckled. \"Has to do with you being a feline, and me being a stupid human who\nbelieved utter nonsense. I...\" I faltered for a moment.\n\"How to go about this now that you're here, purring in my\nlap, with your needs shamelessly exposed before my eyes? Males have desires\nthat extend beyond feeding or sleeping. We need companionship, and sometimes,\nwe need more than that. You've grown big enough to reach that last part, and me?\nI was too distracted and stupid to realize that until now.\"\nPadi happily purred in my lap. What was I doing, talking to\na cat about mating? Did the beer get to my head? Or was it pity? No. I didn't\npity Padi. I wanted to protect him from all the pain I suffered after she left\nme. I realized I needed more than words to do so. I knew what I had to do. The\nonly problem was willing my hands to do it, which implied breaking through all\nthe stigma created by the same people I branded as idiots a few seconds ago. \nI had to make up my mind. Was I Padi's parent, or the\nchained product of a society that had its head so deep in rules, it forgot how\nto live properly?\n\"Alright, get on your belly,\" I slowly guided him into a\nperfect, belly up position. \"There you go. Now stay like that. You can look at\nme and growl all you want, but try not to kick me in the face while I do the\ndeed. I have no idea what's about to happen.\"\nOr how to do it for that matter. Padi looked so adorable,\nwith his front paws hovering above his chest and his hind ones spread on either\nside. He looked at me intently. Too eagerly, as if he wanted me to take the\nextra leap.\nI rubbed his belly reassuringly, yet more to reassure\nmyself. My stomach felt tight due to nerves, and my hands unreasonably stiff.\n\"Alright boy. Try to...try to enjoy yourself, alright? I'm\ngonna...yeah, I'm going to do it.\"\nI was going to jerk a leopard off, and all I did was now was\nbabbling, slurring and breaking my own conviction. That was stupid. I fell on\nmy knees for a better position and advanced towards his hind legs without the\ntrace of a doubt. I cared for Padi too much to bail out now. I loved him. I\ntold myself I would do everything for him.\nAnd now was the time to prove that. \nPadi's tensed when I slid over his muscular flanks. I rubbed\nhim around to get him used to my touch and test his reaction. Everything went\ntoo well. He could barely keep his legs still with excitement, and his tail\njerked furiously from side to side. Glistening beads fell down from the\nlurching tip of his maleness. He was throbbing so hard.\nWithout flinching, I took my hand off his fur and cupped the\nbase of his member between three of my fingers. Padi jerked up, causing my\nfingers to slide down the hard flesh of his member and into the soaked mess that\nwas his bloated sheath. He was warmer than I expected, and wet. The silky fluid\nfelt nothing like urine. I realized he must have been hard for a long time to\ncoax out so much lubrication.\nI took a deep breath, then rubbed my way up his member. His\nbarbs flared with the might of his throbs, catching into my skin like the soft\nneedles of his tongue. He was hot. So slick, so warm, so little. My breath\nstuck in my throat while I gently cupped the entirety of his penis. Padi kicked\nat the air with a paw. Liquid warmth oozed down my fingers to trickle between\nhis flaring barbs. I embraced his member hard for a few seconds, then let\nloose. Padi's mating instinct urged him to thrust when the pressure vanished.\nHis legs jerked, and drops of fluid spurted into the air from his cock. \n\"Stay still,\" I said as I tried to grab his jerking cock.\n\"Still, Padi. Freeze!\"\nHe didn't listen. I got jabbed a couple of times as I tried\nto grab him, but after a few failed attempts I took hold of him and held him\ntrapped despite the thumps pounding in my chest. Padi mewled strangely. He\nspread his claws out. A shiver traversed his body, making his tail stiff and\nhis member stiffer. From the way he panted, I knew he wanted more.\nUp and down. That had to work given how lubricated I was. I\nslowly slid towards his tip, watching his reaction with wide, eager eyes. Padi\nspread his legs even further apart. His toes flared under the rising shivers of\nhis member, then curled once I slid down to his base. \nI repeated that motion a couple more times. Padi's claws\ncame out of their sheath. He stretched his spine like he often did after a good\nnap, but I knew better. His member throbbed harder and faster within my grip.\nHot strings of fluid hit my palm. Crap. He was going to let loose in my own hand.\nA crazy thought speared through my head, and in the half drunk state I found\nmyself in, I believed it.\nI didn't want Padi to just spend his first time in such an\nordinary way. He deserved better. He deserved a female. I looked upon his eager\nmember, then licked my lips. I didn't have a female to offer him right now, but\nI had something that felt similar.\nI released his little member and lowered my head to his\ncrotch. The spicy smell of his musk almost made me choke. It was pungent, like\nhis urine, but also had a sweet tinge to it. I rubbed his legs and belly a\ncouple of times, taking one last look at him. Padi's wide, lust filled eyes\nstared right back at me. I needed no more encouragement. I formed a thick ring\nby pursing my lips, then slowly took him in, one row of barbs at a time.\nPadi shook violently. His throat burst with a wild growl. He\nbarely lodged himself inside my mouth and he already started trembling\nerratically. I steadied his trembling legs with my hands while my lips\ntightened around his eager shaft, taking in his warmth, his taste. I felt the\nsame heated strings hitting my tongue, only that now I could taste their salty,\nsea-water like taste. I licked around his little cock with my tongue. The barbs\ncaught onto my flesh, irritated it, but I swirled around him and bathed him\nwith all the saliva I had in my mouth. Padi remained still for a moment. His\nmemebr tightened once, twice, thrice/ Then, the leopard loosened inside my\nmouth with a loud, moaning growl.\nHis flanks shivered madly during his peak, undoubtedly\nworking up the strong jets of seed that splashed against my tongue. I took them\nall in. With my eyes closed, my nose buried in the leopard's fuzzy crotch, my\nchin seated upon his firm spheres and my mouth wrapped around his cock, I took\neverything he offered. I felt not a tingle of shame as Padi's surging pleasure\nrushed through his muscles to liberate within my mouth. I didn't feel gross,\nweird, or abnormal. For me, the metallic taste of his aqueous seed was the\nultimate proof of success. Padi grew into a beautiful young male. He had his\nwhole future ahead of him, and the fact that he produced healthy, fertile seed filled\nme with a warm sense of pride. \nHis eager member gave me everything it held inside. I gulped\ndown the hot slickness of his ejaculate after every three bursts. He spurted\nreally fast, and with every throb his barbs flared wider to grip onto the\nfemale's receptive walls. Padi only had my tongue, and my lips to penetrate,\nbut I knew the semblance was uncanny for him. His eagerness to spend his seed\npushed me to lick and suckle his member to completion while I rubbed his belly\nand kneaded the pads of his hind paws. They trembled constantly, curling and\nclawing at the air every time his crotch tensed. \nAfter a few intense moments, his bliss subsided. I liberated\nhis paws first, then slowly pulled my head back. The haze of seed clung to his\ncrotch, the same pungent taste that now filled my mouth. I gulped down as much\nas I could while my sore tongue worked overtime around my lips. \nThe next time I blinked, Padi jumped me. The bastard fell\nright onto my chest and gave me a grooming to remember. His eager tongue was\nall over my face, and would have entered my mouth if I wasn't quick enough to\nclamp my jaws shut. \n\"Clean yourself,\" I pushed him away to take a breath of\nrelief. \nHe wasn't overly eager to do so. Spending his essence made\nhim feel overly affectionate. I spent a couple more minutes stroking his\nbeautiful body, convinced that his own scent would enter his nostrils.\nIt did. While Padi groomed his privates, I walked away a\ncouple of steps to still my racing mind. Yes, I sucked off a leopard. Yes, my\ndate would have been furious. But who gave a shit about what she thought? I\ntold her what she wanted to hear. Nobody knew how much I really loved my\nfelines. Not even Dan. I told him the truth, and he barely believed me. I was\nsurrounded by organized monkeys, and the truth was what I wanted to make of it.\nPlain and simple.\n\"I gotta pee.\"\nI pulled my pants down on the eastern edge of the enclosure.\nThe trees had many claw marks on them and reeked of leopard urine. I let out my\nown stream, thinking of Padi while my bladder emptied itself in the grass.\nWhere was he now? Was he still grooming himself? \nA rush of warm air touched my bare butt cheeks. I turned\naround, placing my wet, flaccid member straight in Padi's face. The leopard\nmanaged a quick sniff before I stumbled away from him.\n\"Freaking stalker. Find your own tree to pee on.\"\nPadi sniffed the wet ground, then turned around, spraying\nhis own fragrance over the tree. \n\"Happy now?\"\nHe swung his long tail around and shoved his head again towards\nmy crotch. I wasn't prepared for this. One part of me really wanted to push him\naway, while the other felt bad for chastising an innate curiosity. I felt him\nwith all my senses. Denying him this curiosity felt wrong, and selfish.\n\"Padi, this isn't...get away. Please. You-you did your crotch\nsniffing, alright?\" I said as his warm breath fell upon my bare cock. His nose\nseemed awfully interested in what I had between my legs. Then, his tongue poked\nout, rubbing all those barbs along my much too sensitive sack. I jumped away\nfrom him, pulling my pants up in a rush.\n\"Don't do that again. Ever! I'm sensitive down there, and\nyour tongue is...it's no good there.\"\nLike he listened. The bastard rushed straight to me, shoving\nhis muzzle between my legs once more. I fought him off this time, only that he\nwas awfully stubborn. I had to pinch his ears and pick on his whiskers to\nfinally get a break. Even then, Padi walked at my side, following me wherever I\nwent. \n\"What do you want now, eh? Want to see me when I take a shit\ntoo?\"\nHe rubbed his head against my legs, one at a time, purring\nsoftly. I steeled my heart and kept walking around the enclosure to vent\nwhatever steam I had inside me. Padi still followed me. He passed between my\nlegs, rubbed himself against me, licked my fingers and sought affection like an\noversized house cat. \nI could only last until we reached the far end of the\nenclosure. Once we reached the bushes, I allowed my hands to rub him freely.\nThe leopard thoroughly enjoyed his treatment. He marked from time to time, then\nreturned, demanding more ear rubs, chin scratches, or tail straighteners as I\nliked to call my tail scooping technique. \nWe managed a whole tour around the enclosure. I prepared to\nlay down when Padi turned his tail towards me. \n\"Another round?\" I asked.\nI did get it, straight in the freaking face. And I barely\nhad time to wipe off the pungent urine. Padi took me down with a single leap so\nhe could roll all over me. I entertained his behavior because he was a stubborn\nbastard, but I didn't expect my arms to go numb before his limbs did. He was\nstill on top of me, with his crotch pressed against mine, his head placed on\ntop of mine, his front paws wrapped all around me. And he licked and nuzzled me\na lot. I was completely clean off his urine, yet he still insisted on grooming\nme until I finally found the guts to push him away. \nPadi rolled on his back. He purred so loud, and seemed so\nenergetic. I looked over his body to find what irked him, and I found it. His\nmember was out and about again, throbbing defiantly in the breeze created by\nhis restless tail. \nI crawled over to him.\n\"Sheesh, Padi. You're really worked up tonight. Is one of\nthe females in heat?\"\nHe pushed his muzzle against my lips, wet and eager to lick\nme. I pulled back.\n\"I can't solve your problem right now. I'm sorry, buddy, but\nit's just us.\"\nJust us. Two healthy males cursed by fate to never find a\nproper female to love right now. I looked over to his equipment again and\nflexed my fingers. I had the means to relieve the fire burning inside his\nfluffy belly. If I did it once, I could do it again.\n\"Alright, hold still my boy. I'll take care of you,\" I\nrubbed him from the top of his head to the far edges of his hind toes. Then, I\nnoticed myself hesitating before his private parts. I realized I never touched\nthem properly. For a man who prided himself on knowing every part of his\nleopard, I was still far away from my goal. His perky spheres stood just out of\nmy reach. They looked so fuzzy and soft. I was so tempted to touch them. I\nrubbed Padi's hind paws with a hand while my bold one reached for his pouch.\nThen, I touched them. Padi's claws came out as soon as I made contact. He\ndidn't kick me, just growled loud enough to make me know that spot was\noff-limits. \n\"Alright. I got it,\" I slid my fingers towards his sheath.\n\"But what about this?\"\nPadi tensed like a spring once I got hold of his cock. He\nstarted humping and trembling into my hand, pushing his flaring barbs eagerly\nagainst the hard flesh of my fingers. I held his member for a few moments to\nget myself lubricated, then slid down towards his tailhole. His paws curled\ninwards when I touched him there. The purr reverberating from his throat gave\nme the reassurance I needed to properly inspect his pucker. It was warm, and\nhard, not unlike his cock. The creases created by his flesh felt slightly\nstrange to the touch, though not stranger than the spasms quivering from\nwithin. How did a leopard feel down there? Did Padi want me to pierce him? I\nlooked upon his member, noticing how wet it got after rounding his tailhole a\ncouple of times.\n\"I have a crazy idea. I'm not sure if you're into this, but\nit's worth trying.\"\nMy words and his purr lent me some heavily needed\nreassurance. I used the slime from his cock to lubricate his entrance, but it\nwasn't enough. I needed something stickier, and in greater quantities. Padi was\nmore than eager to supply me with his saliva. The smell of his own member made\nhis nostrils flare, and his tongue was much too eager to clean me. I rounded\nthe insides of his lips to get the slimiest lubrication upon me, then smeared\nit over his tailhole, feeling his eager contractions pounding under the pads of\nmy fingers.\nHe was ready.\n\"I'm going to get inside you now. Don't claw me too hard,\nalright?\"\nHe was way too aroused to even care about what I said, and I\nwas much too curious to delay. I pushed my middle finger in, gasping at how\nquickly I penetrated his hidden shelter. Padi's squirming muscles drew me in on\ntheir own, and the leopard certainly enjoyed his treatment. He clawed at the\nair, making a wry face between a growl and a snarl. He breathed quickly through\nhis flared nostrils, heated by the pounding beats of his frantic heart. I\nrubbed his chest reassuringly while my naughty finger probed his insides. He\nwas as hot as I presumed, and rather loose. I slowly pushed my finger out, then\ndelved back inside. Padi's cock jerked up when I was halfway in. His muscles\ntensed. I remained trapped within his halls until three quick spasms squirted\naqueous precum right onto my chin.\n\"Drat,\" I mumbled as I worked myself back inside him. \"You\nlike it. I can tell by how quickly you squirm. Are you sure this is your first\ntime?\"\nBad joke, I know. I must have been the only maniac crazed\nenough to suck off and finger a leopard. Padi liked it though. He was receptive\nto my touch, craved for it whenever I pulled out. I stimulated his sensitive\ntailhole a couple more times before I took my squelchy finger out. \n\"That's...yeah. That's the first time I touched a cat like\nthat. Crazy, huh?\"\nHe didn't share my opinion. After he found his tailhole\nliberated, Padi fixed me with an intent gaze, his paws reaching towards me. I\nleaned forth to see what he wanted, and found myself trapped by his quick\nlimbs. His tongue bathed my face, his purr deafened my ears, and the smell of\nhis overly lubricated cock entered deep within my nostrils. He needed me. I was\na fool to convince myself otherwise. \nI gently pried his limbs apart to stand up on my feet. Padi\nremained on his back, still looking at me, still hard, still throbbing. Damn. I\nhad to go way over the edge, didn't I? Once he tasted pleasure, he was eager to\nfeast on it once again. \nI took my clothes off. Fuck apprehension. Fuck society. Fuck\nall those who got between me and my desires. Nobody ever knew me as well as\nPadi did. Nobody believed me when I shared my feline joys with them. Padi was\nalways here for me, when all the people I considered important in my life were\nbunched up in their homes, too busy earning cash, banging others, or\ncriticizing anything that stepped on their sensitive toes. \nMy shirt definitely lost some buttons as I raced down my\nbelly. I threw it on the ground, and my pants quickly followed. I even took off\nmy socks so I could be completely naked. Down to my skin and hairs, just like\nPadi was. \nEven with my mind made up, I hesitated before joining him. I\nnever made love to a feline before. I thought about it a couple of times, but\nthose were just fantasies. \nAnd things were about to get real as soon as I embraced the\nfluffy belly laid in front of me.\n\"Stay there,\" I kept him down with utmost authority. \"I'll\ncome to you. Just stay on your back. It's perfect that way.\"\nI dropped on my fours, then descended upon him slowly and\nsurely. First, I pushed my face into the fluffy fur of his neck. Padi nibbled\nat my ear like the ticklish bastard he was. I allowed his tongue to roll along\nmy earlobe as I lowered the rest of my body upon him. My chest touched his paws\nfirst. Padi kept them against his chest, but found that hugging me was much\nmore pleasant. His heated pads kept me warm while my bare abs felt the warm fur\nof his belly. I didn't put my whole weight on top of him, just enough to feel\nhim as I've never felt before. I never knew how ticklish fur felt on my bare skin\nuntil I embraced him like this. I never anticipated how my own cock would stir\nand harden when it met the leopard's hardened meat. My erection forced Padi\nflat against his lower belly, and our balls touched, making us both shudder and\nshake from the rush of strangely intoxicating feelings. \n\"Shh,\" I smothered his rebellious growl with careful rubs\naround his ears and quick, feline-like nuzzles. \"It will feel good. I promise.\nYou know I'll never hurt you, Padi. You're everything to me. The only companion\nI got in a world full of strangers.\"\nI closed my eyes and allowed the soft hum of my voice to\nspeak instead. Padi got accustomed to my weight. He certainly enjoyed being\ntreated like a feline. I rubbed along his head, sniffing the grass-leaden\nscents trapped within his fur while my body gently rubbed against his. The\nlonger fur of his belly tickled my chest, my abs, my sides. His bare cock made\nmy shaft moist and hard, and his warm fuzzy balls rolled under mine slowly,\ngently, sublimely. \nI slid closer towards the base of his tail to poke around\nhis tailhole, and found his entrance wet and needy from the previous session. I\npressed my tip against his muscles, then squeezed my eyes shut as the thrill of\nmating heated my blood. My hairs stood on end. Sweat poured out from every pore\nin my body. My cock hardened like steel, eager to feel more of that warm needy\nshelter. The heaviness in my crotch became harder to bear with each heartbeat,\nand I wasn't even inside him yet. \nI remained above my lovely feline, frozen by feelings I did\nnot understand, with Padi's squirming muscles kissing my overly sensitive tip.\nI felt a string of lubrication rush out to kiss his entrance. Damn. If I\nlingered too much, I would definitely spill and never know the warm comfort of\na feline that trusted and desired me with every part of its body.\nI buckled my knees and pushed myself inside. A crackling\ngroan burst from my throat, threatening to choke the breath out of me.\n\"Aaaagh....ahhh.....ackkhhh...\"\nI never believed a single thrust would feel so good. My skin\nretreated to lay my head bare before the heated assault of Padi's muscles. His\ntailhole clenched from all sides, urging me inside, begging me to let go of the\ngreat burden seething within the depths of my crotch. In my eager rush, I slid\ninside him more than I intended. Our balls met once again, tense and eager to\nspill their load.\n\"Ghhh...too hot...mfffff....too tight,\" I moaned within Padi's\nfluffy neck. The leopard tried to latch his jaws around my own mandible. He was\nenjoying this a lot more than I did. Every muscle in his body tensed with\neffort. I felt his trembling paws spread their toes along my back, the tips of\nhis claws kissing my naked skin. His tail slapped and rubbed around my thighs, swinging\nfrom side to side with the eager spasms of his insides. Padi was doing all the\nwork for me, and I was sure that within a dozen throbs, I would burst inside\nhim harder than a hurricane. \n\"M-more...\" I bit into clumps of fur, then slowly pulled\nmyself out. \"Mrrrrhhh....\"   \nI slid like silk out of his tunnel, keeping just the tip\ninside to feel the strong contractions of his outer rim. The massage drove me\nmad with lust, and before I lost myself, I thrust inside my Padi yet again. The\nleopard shook with the weight of my passion, sending me into another groaning\nfit. His claws dug into my skin enough to draw blood, but the pain was just a\ntingle of pleasure among the heated tide surging through me. I forgot how it\nwas to live. I ignored my most basic desire. The feel of somebody else hugging\nme in loving embrace made me feel complete after being broken in so many\npieces. I slid my whole length inside Padi, feeling the hot kiss of his needy\ninsides before I retreated out for a break. I could never resist much out\nthere. The comfort of his body became a needed addiction, and I was most eager\nto sink my rock hard length inside him and let him spray his hot precum onto\nthe base of my shaft. \nAfter a couple more thrusts, Padi started trembling really\nhard. I felt his hind paws kicking around my sides and pushing into my lower\nbelly. His flanks thrust wildly into my crotch, slapping our balls together\nwith crackling delight. He was close. Much too close. I leaned my whole weight\non a single hand and rushed towards his tiny member. I found him hard,\nlubricated, and extremely eager to cum. I clutched his tiny meat inside,\napplying great amounts of pressure and stimulation from the base of his soaked\nsheath to the spurting tip of his member.\nPadi couldn't last at all. He snarled fiercely, letting out\na hissing moan before he grabbed my jaw with his huge canines, dug his claws\ninto my back, and growled out his passion. Within the span of a heartbeat, his\nseed spurted out, slamming my crotch in quick, raging streams of heated bliss.\nThe feel of his spurting cock was the best thing I felt aside from the sudden\nspasms clutching around my length. Padi's wild orgasm sent all his muscles into\na seething frenzy. His passage collapsed around my cock, applying startling\namounts of pressure around my bare head. Then, heat trickled inside my cock,\nand all the months of abstinence broke loose in a fiery stream of unbridled\npassion.\nThe pleasure was so intense I saw stars before my eyes. I\nsqueezed my eyes as hard as I could, tensed harder than the leopard below me,\nand let go of that hot, consuming pressure that raced through my shaft with a\nwild, muffled cry. Slick warmth raced through Padi's clamping tailhole,\nlubricating him even further. I tried to remain still inside him, but my\ninstinct to inseminate beat my feeble mind. I rocked my hips back and forth,\nworking in and out with squishy sounds, delighting in the hot haze that reigned\nover my body. Everything felt on fire. Everything felt perfect. I held on to\nPadi with everything I had. I grabbed around his neck just like he grabbed me,\npumped my fingers around his member, and embraced his crotch with every thrust.\nPadi's warm breath rolled over my neck in waves. His trembling hind paws tried\nto latch around me, jerking wildly with the might of his passion. \nI pushed myself all the way in. Padi growled, I groaned, and\nboth of us lost ourselves in the frenzy of instincts that took hold of us. I\npoured my love and my passion inside him with every lengthy burst, and Padi was\nmost eager to receive my seed. After all, he continued spurting his own thanks\nto the large amounts of stimulation my member applied to his sensitive flesh.\nWe remained there, tied by the primal strength of our\ninstincts, groaning, growling, and grabbing at each other until we surpassed\nthe peak of our passion. With the brunt of the pleasure reached its end, I\ncould finally feel the price paid for soaring so high. My body felt horribly\nweak. My knees hurt, my legs trembled, my back stung with vivid pain, and my\nmember still shuddered weakly inside Padi's slimy hole. \nThe leopard recovered faster than me. He was licking at my\nchin and pawing at my sweaty chest like nothing happened. \nI blinked. The ground spun before my very eyes. I retrieved\nmy seed coated hand back to enhance my wavering balance, but even so I still\nforced myself to fall on my side and spare Padi's body of all my weight. My\nmember came out with a wet plop, dropping into the rather uncomfortable grass.\n\"Haaah...\" I groaned out loud, panting like a beast. \"That\nwas...wow. I really needed that. What about you?\"\nPadi swished his tail and perked his head up to look upon\nhis messy hindquarters. He pushed his head towards his raised hind leg, but\nhesitated.\n\"Go on. Clean yourself,\" I encouraged him with a quick\nscratch around an ear.\nPadi went to work. His tongue straightened his fur and\ncleaned his member of all the seed, milky and aqueous alike. It took a dozen\nlong strokes to clean his tailhole though, and even after he pulled back he was\nstill leaking. I was tempted to help him, but if my own limp cock offered any\ngood clue, it was that males hated being stimulated after such a copious\nejaculation. \nSince I couldn't clean him, I allowed Padi to groom me instead\nand was pleasantly amazed by how careful he was with his tongue. Only the soft,\nbarbless tip touched my cock. He kept the barbs for my balls, and the other\nresilient areas. \nI gave him a good ruffle once he finished, then got onto my\nfeet. I must've spent a good hour or two already. Padi walked around me while I\ndressed. He must have sensed I was about to leave. That made my decision all\nthe more painful. \nI set my eyes on the gate. If I looked at him, I would\nfalter. If I touched him, he would feel betrayed by my departure. It was easier\nfor both of us to make this quick and painless. \nSo I ran towards the door. Five strides. That's all I\nmanaged before Padi tackled me to the ground. I shoved him off with all my\nmight, but the bastard held strong. He wanted me to stay. Pleaded me with long\nlicks over a face that failed to even smile. \nWhy was it so hard to remain? I was a human being. Mistakes\nwere part of our lives. What was the biggest price to pay for lingering for a\ncouple more hours? What was the comfort of my lonely bed compared to the warmth\nof Padi's fur, or the voices in my head compared to his hearty purr?\nI grabbed his head with both hands and touched his nose with\nmine, feeling his warm breath, smelling the wild scents that made him so unique.\n\"I'll stay,\" I whispered, then kissed him right on the\nmuzzle. Padi didn't understand the meaning of this at first. He kept licking\nme, and I licked back, and kissed, tasting the saliva off his slick black lips\nand rolling my face along his lengthy whiskers. He snarled when I did that. I\ntook that opportunity to kiss one of his beautiful fangs before I got him onto\nhis back.\n\"I'll lie with you like we did before,\" I said as I prepared\nto unbutton my shirt. \"We don't need these clothes. Not when we warm each other\nup.\"\nI embraced him again, bare, just as nature always intended.\nHis paws were my pillows, his fur my blanket, and his privates were what kept\nmy member tingling with the pleasant warmth of arousal. As I closed my eyes and\nbasked in the suave smell of his fur, I slowly realized what I've been doing\nwrong all along. I chased girls I didn't want to meet to satisfy a relationship\nthat had long since extinguished. I had no need for a woman in my life, or a\nwife, or a hot date. Not when I had an amazing feline at my side. I always\ntreasured Padi. I just failed to realize how deep my love for him went until\nthis night, when a proper mix of alcohol and loneliness allowed me to\nunderstand a crucial truth. \nWe all chose our own paths. Some liked to lay with women,\nothers with men, and others with felines, canines, and others. Why was the\nworld so bent into changing our core and placing us on a path that led us\nastray? I chose who to love, who to embrace and share my body with. If anybody\nhad a problem and wanted to obsess over it, that was their choice, because I\nalready made mine. \nWithin Padi's embrace, I felt complete. He loved me, just as\nI loved him. I laid my head on top of his neck and placed the warm pads of his\npaw over my ear to rest.\nAnd for the first time in months, I closed my eyes with hope\nin my soul and love in my heart. I wasn't planning to sleep all night, just\nrest for a little bit. One hour, two, three, it didn't matter to me, for I knew\nthat the next time I opened my eyes, I would be a broken man no more. \n***END COMMENTS***\nAaaand we're done. It was quite an\nadventure to realize a simple truth, wasn't it? Our guy got mugged, went\nthrough a horrible date, incurred some heartache from one of his few friends AND\ngot marked by Padi before getting it on with the kitty. \nI really want to know your thoughts\nabout this story. What you liked, what you disliked, what could've been\nimproved and so on. It was a bit of a challenge writing in first person and\ndepicting the guy's feelings after all the crap he's been through. I hope I did\na decent job at that. He's part nutty, part depressed, part anxious, and a full\ntime lover of felines even if those around him are a constant source of\ndistress.\nThere will also be sequels coming up\nin the future so the more feedback I get, the more awesome ideas I'll creature\nfor the future installments. \nAnd as always, I hope\nyou guys enjoyed this deliciously naughty adventure. If you did, please show\nyour appreciation to the artist by doing the following: More so, If you want your own,\npersonalized story, Click here to commission me and start your own adventure\nFav if you read it\nVote if you liked it\nComment if you're feeling awesome\nLiked this work? Want\nmore amazing stories like it? Then please consider Supporting\nme on Patreon for novel chapters, two to three 5.000 words or longer\nshort stories with various themes and characters, and more exclusive content!\nEvery bit helps, depending on your possibilities, and I'm extremely grateful to\neach and every one of you for being the driving force that pushes me to write\nthese great stories for your enjoyment.\n\n"}