The darn flickering light in the corner of the vet's office was driving his lion crazy. Cats liked to chase after flashlights, and his lion didn't get the memo that he wasn't supposed to do that. After a small yawn, his eyes glanced down at the record he was filling out on someone coming in soon. He just needed to put their name, pet name, and give them an ID number for their system but he'd gotten side-tracked by the stupid flashing light.

Wait a second.

A tiny red dot moved along the paper he was writing on, drawing and holding his full attention like a moth to a flame. When the light flicked up, he slammed his right hand down on it. The dot suddenly vanished, making him growl in triumph, but when he lifted his hand to claim his prize, it wasn't there.

Darn it.

It suddenly appeared again climbing up the counter ridge in front of him where they spoke to the clients before taking them to the back exam rooms. Tarren smacked the thing again but it zipped up, making him jump on the desk out of reflex as he tried to pounce on it with both hands. He thought he'd gotten it again, but when he heard a snicker behind him, he realized what was going on. Whirling around on his boss, he growled, letting his lion's canines peek out from his sneering mouth.

That definitely had the human backing up, raising his hands, one holding a red laser pointer, in surrender.

"Okay okay, sorry. That was just too funny, though." The man said with a laugh.

Hmph!

The chime of the doorbell brought their attention to the entrance.

"Welc—of course."

Tiege sauntered in with a small cat carrier, a little meow coming from the cage as it was set down.

"Hey, Tarrrren." He purred when he noticed him.

Stupid kid purring your words like a kitten. Tarren looked down at the sheet he was working on and then back to the computer screen. Wait, Tiege's name was for this appointment sheet... and he's eighteen? Tarren's eyes darted up to him, eyebrows raising at the new information. Pretty mean to mess with little kids when you're already an adult!

"Have a seat, we'll get you back in a few minutes." Tarren growled, though he wanted to say something else entirely as he sat down.

He ignored the look he could feel on him as he finished filling out the appointment chart. Once done, he looked back at the vet and the man nodded before disappearing through a back door to meet them in the exam room shortly. Stepping around the blocked-off area and out into the hallway, Tarren then opened the door to the waiting room.

"Please follow me."

Tiege got up right away and did as asked, but of course not without a smart ass remark.

"I love it when you say please."

Tarren had to bite his tongue to keep from growling at him because the doctor would definitely hear his rumble in the echoing hallway. When they got to the second room he opened the door and walked over to the counter.

"Alright, let's see..." He mumbled as his eyes darted over the chart quickly, noticing the kitten's name and trying hard to hold back his laughter. It didn't work.

Tiege grumbled, though the look on his face told Tarren that he had no idea why he'd just laughed. He held up the chart and tapped the spot where the cat's name was.

"Terror? Really? Can you not handle a tiny little kitty?" He asked.

Tiege's eyes narrowed on him before he knelt down and opened the cat carrier.

"You'll learn..." He said in warning.

A tiny little ball of grey and white fuzz slowly stalked out of the carrier. Suddenly there was a demonic midget-cat clawing its way up Tarren's leg, making him hiss, though the cat completely ignored him.

"You little demon!"

He quickly reached down and detached the crazy ball of fuzz from his pants and plopped it on the exam table, refusing to let go. The cat squirmed but couldn't manage to get any purchase on the metal table.

Tiege was snickering at him but Tarren was going to send him home with an aggressive kitten who had just gotten its shots. The guy was going to be a bloody mess by morning.

"Laugh it up, schoolboy." He growled as he grabbed the vaccines and promptly stuck the kitten. It yowled and whirled around, but when it jumped at him, he dodged, letting the thing jump onto the counter, then down to the floor.

When it turned toward him, clearly intent on killing, Tarren let his lion come out a little, whiskers sprouting from his cheeks as his cat reached out to the kitten. At first he couldn't sense anything but mayhem, but as the thing calmed down and listened, there was one emotion that began to stand out. Fear.

He's terrified of us.

Hey sweetie. You don't have to be afraid. I just had to sneak in that shot before you really started overreacting. He thought to it, glad that it wasn't nearly as hard to think to animals as it was to humans. There wasn't much of a bond necessary.

Hearing the voice in his head made the cat bolt away under one of the chairs and hiss. Okay, no talking. With a mental shrug Tarren tugged off his shirt, then pants and boxers. Tiege had already seen him naked and his boss sometimes needed his lion to calm feline patients. He figured that he might as well try it this time.

His lion was more than happy to be in complete control and, even though it wanted to jump on Tiege as revenge for last time, he knew that his job was more important than posturing right then. So, he nonchalantly crawled parallel to the scared fuzzball. It hissed again but then his lion flopped over and stretched out, then gave a big yawn.He kept his eyes open just enough to see the little kitten slowly move closer with curiosity.

Of course that darn pussy would be the one the doctor had been talking about hiring recently when I'd asked about an appointment on the phone. His tiger was pacing in his head, wanting out to continue the fight they'd had to pause during their last meeting. It purred into his mind.

I know I know, but we can't fight right now.

It grumbled.

Later, we've got his scent. We can track him.

That got his feline to settle enough to focus back on Tarren and Terror. He had found the little kitten in a drainage ditch covered in mud a few days ago on his way home from school. And yes, it was just as vicious then as it was now. His tiger honestly hated the thing since it seemed to think that it was okay to attack him all the time, but as he hungrily watched Tarren undress and shift, he actually got him thinking.

Maybe the kitten just needs some calm in its life.

When Terror finally sat before Tarren, his lion blinked open its eyes and huffed a breath at him. The tiny thing mewed and ran back under the chair, but this time it was quick to return, pouncing on Tarren's face with its claws extended. The lion roared quietly, then rolled over so that the next attack Terror tried just had him landing in a huge fluffy mane. It was kind of funny to see the kitten nearly get lost in Tarren's thick fur. Tiege remembered how soft that mane had been...

A grunt of a roar got his attention away from a rather unsavory daydream only to see Terror... pawing at one of Tarren's giant paws looming right over its head.

Huh?

Tarren bopped the kitten on the head just to get it swatting at his paw playfully while it tried to stand on its hind legs. When the kitten lost its balance and fell forward the lion leaned in and let Terror fall onto his fluffy mane again.

Tarren was so busy playing with Terror that he hadn't realized Tiege had shifted until there was a huge tiger trying to hump his leg. With a deafening roar Tarren spun around and pawed him right in the face as he tried to jump back to dodge.

They were on the verge of fighting again when the door to the office side of the exam room opened and Dr. Green walked in with a glare.

Glare at him, too!

"Tarren, this is no way to treat a client." He reprimanded.

It was his fault!

Tarren's lion grumbled and shook out its coat before letting him shift back to his human form.

"I had changed to play with the cat so that it would calm down, but..."

His eyes turned to the tiger nonchalantly licking its left front paw before he continued.

"He started humping me."

The last word was hissed out in anger. His lion didn't take being dominated very well, at all.

"Tiege, shift please. I'll check you out up front." The man said.

The tiger sneezed, then did as told. When the vet walked away Tarren eyed Tiege, but that just got a smirk out of him as he flexed his muscles.

"Like what you see, little cub?" He asked.

Cub? I'm bigger than you in every meaning of the word!

"You wish." Tiege replied verbally.

Pulling on his clothing, Tarren quickly walked down the hall toward the door. Glad that he'd run home during his lunch break to get his car.

"I'll see you later, Doc, heading out!" He shouted, receiving an "okay" back before he ducked out the door.

The moment he got outside he looked up, smelling rain in the air. The dark clouds overhead also gave away the impending storm. It's definitely going to rain at some point, but dad's having a cookout and wanted me to come. Maybe the rain would stay away until afterward. Besides, his lion could never ignore free food.

He was just about to get into his car when he heard a familiar, unwanted purr coming up behind him. Why can't this kid just go find himself a mouse to fuck with. Wait, never mind. I just saved a mouse from him, no need to go find another to torment. Guess I'm the proxy for now. With an annoyed sigh Tarren turned around, leaning against his pitch black mustang with an air of nonchalance.

"What do you want now?" He asked.

"I need a ride home. Left Terror there to get clipped."

A ride?

"No." He replied immediately.

Tiege's eyes glanced up and Tarren followed them just as a loud boom of thunder rumbled through the dark sky.

Dammit.

"Whatever, get in. But you're sitting in the back." He growled.

Tiege smirked and walked around the front before sliding into the passenger's seat. Of course. Cocky bastard. Deciding it wasn't worth the argument, Tarren sat down in the driver's seat and slammed his door shut before pealing out of the parking lot.

"How old are you?" Tiege asked after a moment of silence.

Tarren ignored him as he turned toward the main street and instead asked him a question of his own.

"Where do you live, kid?"

He could feel him pout at that, but of course he couldn't just give him the answer he needed to get rid of him. Instead he just stayed quiet.

Dammit all.

"I'm twenty-four. Now where do you live before I dump your fuzzy ass on the side of the road." He nearly roared.

"Lakeline Road. Near the new church." Tiege replied.

Eh? That's at least twenty minutes away, driving.

"Did you walk all the way to the vet?" Tarren asked, surprised.

"Of course, genius, because my mom couldn't drop me off or anything obvious like that." Tiege grumbled.

"You're a little brat, you know that? So why didn't your mom pick you up?" He asked.

"Cause I texted her that I got a ride home." He said with a smirk.

Tarren was honestly about to tell him to get his ass out and walk but that's the moment when the storm decided to start. In seconds the visibility on the road decreased to near zero, making him slow down to stay in his lane.

Darn it, there was no way they were going to safely get to his place right then. He was about to tell him that he'd just bring him over to his parent's house until the storm stopped, but the words caught on his tongue when Tiege leaned over and lapped at his neck.

"H-Hey!" He growled as the car swerved, but thankfully Tarren got it realigned quickly before he pulled over into an empty parking lot and put the car in park. Once he knew that they weren't going to crash into anything, he turned on Tiege to yell, but he was on him in a blur.

"Wh-What are you doing?"

Tiege started moving on him, making Tarren wince. It was not comfortable being humped by a horny teenager.

"Tiege, S-Stop!"

The guy completely ignored him as his hips sped up, grinding against him. A disgruntled rumble from his lion slipped out, spurring on Tiege's awkward affections as he leaned over to start trying to kiss Tarren. Okay, this is getting way out of hand. Control your damn tiger! With a growl Tarren tried to fight his hands off as they began to shred his shirt. He could feel his claws slice off Tiege's bracelet and thought that he'd heard the ring of a small bell chime as the thing hit the floor... but he didn't remember much after that. 

When Tarren finally awoke from his daze some time later he was on top of a very naked and sweaty Tiege. He wasn't quite asleep yet but his eyes were closed and he was purring deeply. Somehow they had managed to get into the backseat and subtracted clothing and uh... he was pretty sure that he added something to him that he shouldn't have considering he could smell quite a bit more than just sweat in the car. Dammit. Why had I blanked out so suddenly? It felt like I'd been sedated abruptly, but we clearly hadn't slept, in the literal sense. How the hell did they end up having sex after only knowing each other, and hating each other, For less than a day...

A slight movement beneath him brought his attention down to an awakening Tiege.

"Um..."

At the sound of his voice Tiege's eyes snapped open, then he sniffed the air and sneered... right before punching Tarren in the mouth.

Love you too, asshole.