Cat and Dog

"These are larger words. I have a spelling test for you, too."

Sergei shook his head stubbornly. "I... I want to try!"

Cade had learned a long time ago not to tease Sergei. He stayed quiet and doodled on the whiteboard. He was drawing a cat.

"You can try if you want. But don't get angry if you don't do as well as Cade, okay?"

"Kay." He muttered.

I gave Sergei a notebook and a pencil. He gripped it tightly with his right hand.

I went slow, giving them time to write each word out. When I had told them all twenty words, I asked to see their work. Cade passed me the whiteboard. Sergei gave the paper to me very reluctantly.

Neighboor. Laugh. Breaking. Invincable. Jury. Nickel. Extrordinary. Island. Cooporate. Judge.

"You got four wrong, Cade. But you were really close. Just write these words five times. Try to remember what you did wrong.

I set him to writing neighbor, invincible, extraordinary, and cooperate. I took Sergei's notebook and looked it over. His letters were nearly illegible. Sometimes just trailing off into scrawls. I glanced over at him and he looked like he was going to be sick. He looked absolutely miserable.

Nabor. Laf. Brakeg. Invins___. Gory. Nikl. Xtrodry. Eyeland. Coprat. Gug.

Eyeland made me smile a little. In last week's spelling test, Eye had given him the most trouble out of all of the words. He had repeated it dozens of times on the whiteboard.

"Sergei... I told you that this would be really hard. You shouldn't take it so hard."

He shook his head and started to scribble his words out one by one.

"Do you want to try reading in the primer?"

Sergei nodded slowly, and his eyes glittered with tears. It was hard to see him like this. He wanted to learn so badly. He was smart, but words were very difficult for him.

---

After about two hours, school was over. It wasn't official. I just looked up spelling lists and math problems. I bought them both children's books to read and we watched the discovery channel. I gave them a lot of homework, but they didn't mind. They liked having things to do while I was at work.

I had citizen licenses for both of them. If they wanted, they could go outside. They both had clothes and keys to the apartment. They had a cheap cell phone for emergencies. Still, they almost never went. They preferred to stay safe.

"Do you two want to go get treats?"

Cade's ears perked up. Sergei's flattened.

"You need to get outside sometime. Both of you. It's chilly, so we can bundle up. Even visit the park."

"The park!" Cade's tail was wagging. So reminiscent of a real dog. I chuckled and scratched the base of his ears. He wiggled with delight.

"You two need to get some exercise. Plus, we can visit Beth."

Sergei sighed and stomped away to get his coat and socks. Cade bounced behind him.

---

It was chilly. But whereas I was wearing a black pea coat, some gloves and no hat, the boys were bundled up until they were barely visible. Sergei was wearing sunglasses and a sheepskin lumberjack hat with ear-flaps. His tail was tucked uncomfortably down his sweatpants and he was wearing big clumsy mittens. He wore a scarf to cover up the beginning of his ruff. His pea coat was grey.

Cade leaned heavily on the crutch, his jeans pinned neatly at the hem where his missing foot should have been. He had a baseball cap on to pin his ears to his head, and a scarf wrapped around his neck and the hat. He had a puffy red jacket that he was very proud of. He liked the color.

The boys nearly sweated themselves to death just going down the seven floors to the bottom of the apartment. It was a thankfully quiet journey, with no meetings.

There was a gas station and an ice cream shop near our building, but I always walked a mile further. It was always worth the extra walk. The air was brisk on my face. Cade was still bouncing with excitement. It seemed like his energy never ran out.

We stopped at the small C-store tucked in the corner of an office building. We opened the door and the boys ran in to meet the young woman sweeping up some spilled cereal.

Beth looked up just in time to get tackled by Sergei and Cade. I hadn't learned that they were acquaintances until they had been here for two months. I had taken them out for treats, all the way out here because I knew that the owner of the shop was progressive towards Somatics. They had hugged and chatted like old friends.

Beth had soft silvery fur over most of her body. Her face lengthened into a slight pointed muzzle and she had large moist black eyes and a large black nose. She couldn't speak, but she had expressive hands and could write and gesture most of what she had to say.

As the three of them talked together, I went to the front to talk to Stanley. He owned the C-store, and employed Beth. They slept together, and I had been worried that he was taking advantage of Beth, but as far as I could tell, they both really liked each other. Stanley protected her.

After exchanging hellos, I looked back to the three of them. They were heading to the backroom so they could take off their jackets and talk without feeling self conscious. There were a few customers in the back.

"Stanley? Have you ever heard of Animal Farm?"

I expected him to cock his head, unknowing. To maybe bring up the book by George Orwell.

I didn't expect him to stare at me like that. Anger, hatred, suspicion went through his eyes. Not entirely directed towards me, but enough to make me feel like I was pinned to a wall.

The hostile stare dissipated, and he put his hand over his heart. "Sorry, Eric... Its just... I can't think rationally when I hear about that place. Did the boys finally tell you?"

Finally?

'Yes' was on the tip of my tongue. My lack of knowledge infuriated me. I wanted to know. I wanted to know about Cade and Sergei. My beautiful, fragile friends.

"No." I said softly, letting my hands wander, and play with a cheap green bic lighter. It was getting close to christmas, so there was a display of red and green lighters.

Stanley leaned back and sighed. "I shouldn't tell you then. That's for them. But It's a bad place, and they left it. So did my Beth. She wasn't pretty enough for their videos, but they made her do horrible things."

His hands were in fists.

"Those monsters." He murmured.

---

Like all felines, Sergei couldn't taste sweet things.

Cade had bought a large bag of M&Ms, and Sergei had chosen some peanuts and peppered beef jerky. He was telling Cade that it wasn't fair to give him bites of jerky, because Cade had made his choice, and he wouldn't be able to return the favor.

I was smiling, Cade was making the cutest pouty face, and Sergei was being joking and condescending. It was only an argument in context. All I could see was love.

"You three, the hell are you doing out and about? You freaks come with me!"

Cade flinched and the bag of candy dropped from his hand, sending multicolored beads of chocolate everywhere. He dropped his crutch and wobbled, before dropping gracelessly to the ground, cringing.

Sergei looked tense and ready to run, glaring at the policeman huffing closer. He knelt and put his arms around Cade's trembling shoulders, whispering into the side of his neck and killing the policeman with his gaze.

I stood in front of them.

"I am a citizen and I have guardianship of both of these Somatics." I said in a cold official voice. "I have their papers."

The policeman looked slightly taken aback, but he glared down at the boys and demanded to see the papers.

At his glare, Cade shrank down even further, and Sergei bared his small pointed teeth. People were stopping to stare at us. I could hear Cade starting to cry.

I felt a deep well of hatred for the officer in the center of my chest. It had been a good day. The boys were in good spirits, joking and laughing. But he had ruined it. I knew that Sergei would be cross and prickly for the rest of the day. Cade would be silent and liable to burst into tears.

I brought out their papers and the officer spent a good three or four minutes extensively checking them. I helped Cade up and put his crutch under his arm. I picked up the bag, but most of the candy had fallen out.

"Get back inside." The officer said gruffly. "They have no business walking around."

I nearly blew my lid at that, but Sergei put his hand on my shoulder pulling me back. "Let's just go." He muttered.

I was startled, but I saw how miserable Cade looked. Sergei was more worried about Cade than he was about that pig officer.

We went on after that. Cade was silent and pale. I offered to go into another c-store and get him some more M&Ms, but he just shook his head. I asked them if they still wanted to go to the park, but both of them were too tired and not in the mood.

I hated the officer for that.

---

The boys were distracted and listless. Sergei was so frustrated that he threw the notebook to the ground and went to sulk in the bathroom.

Cade looked down at the workbook that I had printed for him. He looked up and asked quietly if we could finish later.

"Of course, baby." I murmured, kissing his forehead. He got up and hobbled to the bedroom. I felt tired enough myself.

I went to the bathroom and knocked. No answer. "Ser? You don't have to keep working on your workbook. Cade's taking a nap."

Silence, and then the door opened. Sergei liked to sit in the tub when he was upset. Something about the porcelain tub comforted him. His large triangular ears were laid back. His tail was thrashing.

He sighed and his tail went limp. "Thank you Eric." He hugged me, and I could barely contain my surprise. Aloof wary Sergei, coming in for a hug. He was a lot taller than Cade, but also very slender. When he stood straight, the top of his head reached my eyes. But now, he was slouching slightly, so his head fit under my chin. His soft orangey hair was silky against my throat. The skin of his cheek warm and smooth.

His ears were very expressive. The large triangle swiveled and twitched, against my face like a soft velvety fan. I kissed his ear. The ear twitched slightly.

I was careful with my arms, Sergei didn't like to be trapped. I didn't cross them behind his back. I kept one hand on his shoulder, and with the other I cradled his head.

He stayed in my arms for a full minute, breathing softly, silently. Not saying a word.

"Do you love us?" He finally asked. His words muffled into my neck.

I kneaded my fingers in his hair, thinking of what to say. After a while, I couldn't think of anything but the truth.

"Yes."

I felt him shudder as he took a deep breath, still snuggled under my chin. "I... I want... I think..."

He shook his head and broke away from the hug, wiping his eyes with a quick swipe of the back of his hand. "Sorry." He grunted, sweeping past me to the bedroom.

I was left standing, still feeling his warmth, and my confused arousal.

---

I had to do some things online for work. I spent an hour checking and sending various emails and reports. Out of simple curiosity, I checked the bedroom. I couldn't see anything but their soft curled shapes under the blankets. Cade's crutch was leaning against the foot of the bed. Their clothes were scattered on the carpet.

I closed the door gently, hoping the squeak wouldn't disturb them. I went back to my laptop, and I typed Animal Farm into the search engine.

The 'artwork' of the site had changed. A boy with glassy eyes and fluffy white feathers covering his shoulders and arms was on his knees, a ring-gag in his mouth and a series of large infected piercings weighing down his soft genitals.

He was on the left side of all of the links and videos. On the right side was a woman with intricate tiger-striped skin and patchy fur. She had large dildos being worked in and out of every orifice. The ropes around her torso were so tight that her breasts were swollen and dark red.

I felt sick looking at the two somatics. I didn't want to continue, but I had to find out. I clicked on 'models'. Afraid of what I would find.

Almost seventy pictures. I wasn't halfway down the page when I found Cade.

My stomach felt hollow, staring at the picture. It was from the side. Cade's face was red and streaked with tears, his mouth open in sob of pain. Massive hands were clutching him around the narrow waist. A huge man was fucking him. Cade was on his hands and knees, his mouth frozen in that agonized scream.

He had both of his feet in that picture. But I could see his hands were covered with raw fresh pink burns.

Sergei was near the bottom of all of the models. His hair was longer, falling in a matted tangle down to the middle of his back. The picture was a man holding the frail young man's head up by his hair. Sergei was naked except for a collar around his bruised neck. One of his eyes was obscenely swollen. A purple knob. His nipples were pierced, and bleeding.

The look. The look in his one normal-sized eye...

I turned the website off. My face felt hot. My mouth was a trembling tight line and I felt sick. My cock felt like it was trying to shrink inside me, that's how disgusting I felt.

I glanced up at the clock and it was almost seven. None of us had eaten yet. I went to the kitchen to rustle something up.

---

I heard the soft rubber thud of Cade's crutch against the linoleum of the kitchen floor. I turned and saw them both standing there. Cade was rubbing his eyes and Sergei looked sleepy and messy-haired and adorable. He seemed less tense than normal.

"I made stir-fry."

"Thank you." Sergei murmured, going to grab dishes.

"Thanks." Cade murmured, swinging himself forward to look curiously into the wok. He sniffed the air and smiled. "Smells good Eric."

They were both a little quieter, but they didn't look quite as down. I was grateful.

I stirred around the potatoes, onions, garlic, ground beef, and snow peas in the big wok, stirring in some brown sauce. In a smaller pan I seared some bell peppers. Cade and I loved them, but Sergei was picky, and liked it if they weren't even cooked together. I checked the rice cooker, and the light had gone from red to orange, meaning it was done.

Cade went to the fridge to carefully bring the milk out. Sergei was getting silverware. I felt a little choked up, all of a sudden.

All of my friends had thought me insane. My mother refused to see them, my father had liked them well enough, but his Alzheimer's meant that he never remembered them, or even me. I had given up most of my social life, and the closeness of my family to pick up these strays.

But we were like a family.

"Ow." I mumbled. The sauce in the wok had started to boil, and was flecking my bare arms with hot specks of grease. I hastily turned down the heat and tried to clear my head.

---

Dishes were clean. Leftovers sealed tightly in plastic containers. Teeth brushed.

I changed to an undershirt and boxers and slid into the bed. The boys were already there. I closed my eyes.

I felt a soft small body cuddling into my back. "Cade?" I whispered, sleepily.

"Wha?" The sleepy mumble came from the other side of the bed. Sergei was the one cuddling into my back.

"Nothing." I mumbled back. I turned around, and I saw Sergei's eyes, reflective green disks in the near-dark. Silent and watching.

"Why?" I whispered, too dazed to think of something smarter to say.

Sergei shook his head, refusing to say anything. Instead he nuzzled his head into my chest. I felt the first chords of panic in my chest. I could feel his cock against me. Semi-hard through his briefs, against my thigh.

"Ser... What about Cade...?"

"Sleeeeeeppyyy." Cade whined. Pulling a pillow over his head. Sergei glanced over at him, and even in the near-dark, I could see the conflicting guilt and confusion.

I slid out of the bed, leaning forward, hoping that the shirt would cover my aching erection. I bolted to the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

I swore under my breath as I leaned on the tank of the toilet and reached in my boxers. I fumbled my cock out and frantically rubbed, just trying to get the feeling out. Not for enjoyment, just to get it done.

I came into the toilet bowl with a soft grunt. I put the seat down and sat on it for a few minutes, waiting for my breathing to slow, and my cock to wilt. This wasn't healthy. This wasn't right. I didn't want to feel sexually attracted to them. Not when I was basically their guardian. They had come from a horrible place. I had found them starving and filthy and covered in parasites. They loved each other. I felt like a homewrecker. Like a pervert and a monster. Sergei was eight years younger, Cade was eleven younger. It was just wrong. Wrong on so many levels.

I got up and urinated. I washed my hands, and my face.

I went to the closet and took out the comforter that had been washed and put away (I thought for good) after the boys started sleeping in my bed. I went out to the couch instead.

I felt a little chagrined, kicked out of the bed in my own home, but mostly, I felt guilty enough that the couch seemed like an escape, and not an exile.

---

I couldn't stop thinking about them the next day.

All day at work, talking to customers, working on my computer, talking to my coworkers, I couldn't get them out of my heads. I couldn't stop thinking about the shame in Sergei's green eyes, or the way Cade had snuggled into me the last few nights. Something had to happen. Things couldn't just keep going like this.

I couldn't handle it anymore. At lunch, I locked myself in my office and video-called the home computer.

"Hiya Eric." Cade chirped. My webcam was very low-quality. His pixelated face smiled and lagged as he bounced up and down in his seat. "Whatcha doooooing?"

I couldn't help but smile. It was impossible to not be happy when Cade was happy. "Nothing much pup... It's my lunch break and I just wanted to see how you knuckleheads were doing."

"Oh... We're good. Sergei's trying to read in the primer. I'm playing Aliens." He turned from the screen. "Sergei! Eric's on the computer!!"

I saw Sergei slink into the screen. "Hey Eric, you never woke us up." He murmured, quietly. The camera was poor quality, but I could hear the soft hurt in his voice. The dim apology. He was like a kid who knew he had done something bad. He was trying to atone. "Can we go to the park, maybe?"

Cade made a surprised noise and hugged Sergei. Sergei was not a huge fan of the park, but Cade loved it.

"Of course... I'm going to get off at four thirty today. Have your coats ready by five. It's chilly."

"Kay Eric. Thank you!" Cade chirped.

"Thanks." Sergei was quieter, withdrawn.

---

No one was at the park with the weather being as cold as it was.

Cade ran for the play park, dropping his crutches and hopping so he could grab the monkey bars. He swung and crawled around the park, with me hovering like a nervous parent (he was going to break his fool neck one of these times) and Sergei huddling in one of the tunnels. After a few minutes, Cade bothered Sergei to come play with him.

The fresh air was good for both of them, and for me too.

Cade got plenty of exercise fooling around in the park, but I had to stimulate Sergei. I played basketball with him in the small asphalt court. He was very quick, light on his feet, but I was very good at defense. Cade usually watched our games on the sidelines, cheering us both on, because he couldn't decide who he wanted to win more.

We took a little walk away from the court when a woman was walking her dog on the asphalt path. Sergei and Cade both donned their hats, and we waved at her as she passed. She waved back, oblivious that two of us were considered second class citizens.

---

Their faces were rosy from the exercise, and they were sweaty from the layers of clothes that they had worn out of fear.