I\'m a father?

Title: I’m a father?

Subtitle: Neko-jins and falcons

Author: Lady Snowblossom

Rating: PG-13

Pairs: Rei/Bryan, Kai/Tala, Spencer/Ian, Tyson/Max and various other pairings

Note: Language in this one.

Disclaimer: Already said it.


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‘Bryan? Why Bryan? Never in a million years would he have believed Rei would pick that nasty, mean-spirited falcon for a mate. Kai, he could almost see, but . . .’ “B-B-Bryan?” He forced the word out.

Ignoring the interruption, Rei continued. “Bryan’s not so bad once you get pass his attitude. He’s a lot like Kai; get passed their masks and there’s a different person lying under all that conditioning.”

Lee blinked in surprise.

Rei turned to face him. He smiled bitterly at Lee’s expression. “Fooled you too, eh? They’re good at it; I’ll give them that. Took me weeks to figure out that Kai was putting up a damn good front. Took even more time to earn something from him, that he hangs onto tighter than a miser hangs onto his money.”

“What’s that?” Lee asked softly.

“His trust.” Rei said equally as soft. “And Bryan is the same way.” A wave of dizziness washed over him and he swayed slightly, whimpering as everything turned yellow. He closed his eyes against the spinning and instantly felt a strong arm wrap itself around his waist.

“You need to get back into bed.” Lee said firmly as he swept Rei up and pivoted smoothly to return to the futon. After laying Rei down, he took a step back and looked the other youth over. Rei was paler than normal and his skin felt colder. He was going to have to ask the doctor if this was normal for a pregnant male: because he sure as hell didn’t know!

An unusual species, neko-jin males, thanks to their physiology were capable of bearing children: although few did. Lee could count the number of times-recently, it had happened in the village on the fingers of one hand. And he and Rei had grown up with the resulting children.

“Lee,” Rei said with a sigh, “I can’t stay in bed. I have to train.”

“Stuff training. You’re staying put until I have Dr. Chiao look you over.” Lee snapped. “And after he’s done, you will do exactly as he tells you.”

Rei looked up at the lion towering over him and started to raise himself up on one elbow to prove that he didn’t need to stay in bed, but as soon as he started to move: the dizziness came back. Admitting momentary defeat, the tiger laid back and put an arm across his eyes.

“All right.” He grumbled, “but only because I feel like a top at the moment.” Hearing a snicker, he peeked over his forearm at Lee, who immediately tried to stifle his merriment behind a hand. “Lee.”

Swallowing his mirth, Lee leaned down and began to fuss with the blanket. “What?”

“When did you become my mother?”

Lee sputtered.


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“Spencer!” The shout echoed down the hallway.

“Damn it! Not again! Can’t those two be quiet!” Bryan sat up in his bed and flung his covers aside. Sliding from the bed and clad only in his boxers, he stormed to the door, yanking it open. Across the hall from his room, another door opened and Tala appeared in the doorway. He looked at Bryan, who nodded.

“Ian! Spencer! If the two of you don’t keep the noise down, Bryan and I are coming down there and neuter the pair of you!” Tala roared.

“And we’ll use a rusty razor!” Bryan bellowed.

Silence.

Then down the hall, a door creak and the head of the largest member of the Demolition Boys appeared. “Sorry, guys. Didn’t know we were being so loud.” Spencer called.

“How the hell could you not know?” Bryan demanded, “considering that almost every . . .damn . . .night, you and Ian try to see if you can wake the dead with your damn noise!”

Ian peeked out from around his lover. “You’re just jealous. If you hadn’t behaved like an ass to Rei, you’d still have the tiger to play with.” He unwisely observed.

Snarling, Bryan headed in his teammate’s direction-murder in his eyes: only to be stopped by Tala stepping in front of him. “No, Bryan.” Tala looked over his shoulder at Spencer, who grabbed Ian and pulled him back into the room; slamming the door shut.

The massive blonde glared down at his lover. “When are you going to learn to keep your big mouth shut? You know, Bryan’s touchy where Rei’s concerned.” Spencer lectured his mate. Out in the hall, they could hear Tala and Bryan arguing.

Ian smirked. “I know.” The sound of a door slamming interrupted him.

Both boys stared at the door, expecting any moment to see an angry Bryan bursting through it. When no raving maniac came through the door, Ian smirked. “Guess Tala won.”

Spencer shrugged and headed for their bed. “I’d say so and that’s a good thing for you.” When Ian didn’t respond, he paused. Turning his head he eyed his lover. Ian was still staring at the door and fingering his lower lip. “Ian?”

Sighing, the tiny blader turned and joined him. “Spencer, if we contacted Rei, do you think he’d listen to us?”

“Ian,” the blonde rumbled as he picked up the smaller boy and tossed him onto the mattress. “Stay out of it. Neither Bryan nor Rei would appreciate your getting involved in their business.” The whole bed shook as Ian landed.

“Probably,” Ian agreed sitting up. “But you know as well as I do, that since Rei left Bryan’s game has been shot to hell.”

“Can’t argue with that. But let Tala handle him. It’s what we pay him the big bucks for.” Spencer grinned; pleased with himself when Ian began to laugh. Spencer crawled into bed and made himself comfortable.

Ian curled up on his lover’s chest and fell to sleep. But sleep eluded Spencer as he stared at the ceiling and listened to Ian’s soft snores.

Despite his words to Ian, Spencer was worried. Bryan’s performances during their training sessions had been mediocre at best, abysmal the rest of the time. If they had still been at the abbey, they would have earned him a severe punishment. As it was, if Bryan didn’t get his shit together, they were going to be at a big disadvantage. And that was something he didn’t want to think about, not when they were going to be confronting old enemies turned barely civil competitors.

Feeling sleep steal over him, Spencer sighed and wrapped a massive arm around Ian, who responded by nuzzling his chest and sighing. ‘Maybe Ian is right and we need to talk to Rei. Persuade him to give Bryan another chance.’ With that thought, he drifted off.

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Both boys ignored the slamming door as they stood locked in a furious battle of wills. When Bryan tried to force his way past the redhead, Tala growled and in one swift motion shoved the younger youth against the wall and pinned him there with his hands on his shoulders.

Bryan grabbed Tala’s wrists and attempted to pry his captain’s fingers from his skin. Tala responded by pulling his surly friend from the wall and slamming him back forcefully. Bryan grunted as his head impacted with the wall. Fire blazed in his eyes as he glared in impotent fury at his friend.

“Now, are you going to calm down or are we going to stand here all night?” Tala inquired as he tightened his grip. Bryan ignored the increasing pressure to try and slide out from under his grip. Only Tala had anticipated this and shoved a knee into the lilac haired youth’s solar plexus. Bryan froze. Lowering his knee, Tala sighed and released the other boy and stepped back. “Bryan,” he said wearily, “you know Ian only rags you because you make it so damn easy for him!”

Bryan pushed away from the wall and rubbed at his left shoulder, his eyes never leaving Tala’s face. “Damn you, Tala.” He spat, “I bet you wouldn’t try to protect that shrimp if he was riding you about Kai!”

“I’m not protecting him, you jerk!” Tala growled, “I’m protecting you!”

“Me? I don’t need protecting!”

“Oh, really? Care to refresh my memory about what happened the last time you and Spencer tangled. Because as I recall you spent four days in the medical wing; recovering from the beating he gave you.” Tala snarled as he folded his arms across his chest.

Bryan snorted. “Yeah, well he spent three!” He spat.

Tala hissed in exasperation and ran a hand through the hair that fell around his shoulders. “Look, Bryan, we all know its’ been rough since Rei left, but fighting with Ian isn’t going to solve anything. I’ll talk to him in the morning . . .”

“Talk to him!” Bryan growled angrily. “You’ve done that! Spencer’s done that! Hell, even KAI has done that! And he still keeps riding my ass!” He turned away from Tala and headed for his room. Pausing just inside the door, he looked over his shoulder at the other youth. “Do me a favor and just drop it. I’m tired of dealing with this shit.” Then he stepped inside and slammed the door.

Tala stared at the door, then shook his head and sighed. Turning, he went back to his own room, regardless of what Bryan wanted, he’d speak to Ian and try to get the idiot to back off, before Bryan did something they’d all regret.

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Bryan sagged against the door and slid to the floor. He wrapped his arms around his knees and put his head on them. ‘They just don’t understand.’ He thought, ‘Rei helped me find a small spark of humanity and without him . . . I’m afraid I’ll fall back into the darkness.’ A single crystal tear fell onto his knee. “Rei,” he whispered into the hollow emptiness of his room. “I’m sorry.”

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“Cock-a-doo-dle doo!”

Lee raised his head from his knees and groaned, his back was killing him! “That’s the last time, I fall to sleep sitting on the floor.” He hissed as he rose and stretched – yawning. Behind him, Rei grumbled and rolled over. Lee waited to see if he was waking. When he didn’t, Galeon’s companion padded to the door and opening it stepped out into the early morning sunlight. He drew in a deep breath of clean fresh air and blew it out. On the breeze, he could smell baking bread, the strong scent of rice and a hint of meat.

‘Food,’ he thought. ‘Need to get some breakfast ready.’ He watched as a pair of birds started squabbling over nesting space, ‘but since Rei’s still sleeping, I think I’ll slip out and go ask Dr. Chiao to stop by as soon as he can.’

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Inside the house, Rei lay listening. When he could no longer hear Lee’s footsteps, he slowly sat up and smiled when the room stayed right where it was supposed too. Rising, he headed over to a chest, opened it and pulled out a pair of boxers along with a pair of black pants and a red tunic. He swiftly donned the clothes and grimaced, when his stomach rumbled.

Leaving his hair until later, he headed into the tiny kitchen. Quietly dipping water from the wood bucket on the gray stone counter, he poured it into a copper teakettle that he then took out to the fire pit and set it on the coals. Returning to the kitchen, he opened a box and removed the single loaf of bread, setting it on the counter, before rummaging in a drawer for a knife that he used to cut a single slice from the loaf. Setting the knife aside, he left the bread where it was and opened a cabinet and pulled out a brown jar and set it down next to the bread.

He spent a few more seconds rummaging around for the jar of tealeaves; he’d shoved up on the shelf the night before. By the time, he’d located it and got out a teacup, the kettle was whistling. Fetching it, Rei filled his cup full and dropped in a handful of dry tealeaves, leaving them to seep, while he spread honey from the brown jar onto the bread he’d cut. Finished fixing his meager breakfast, he took the bread and his teacup into the main room and sat down on the futon. He’d just begun to eat, when Lee stepped back through the door.

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Lee jogged back towards Rei’s home, plans revolving in his head. After the doctor left, he’d round up the rest of the White Tigers and each of them could take turns helping Rei out. And he’d get some advice from the men, who’d borne kittens in the past. Hell, he’d even talk to his mother. Of course, knowing her, she’d just take over and then Ancestors help Rei, cause he was gonna need it!

As he hurried along, he waved at a couple of kids, who were out feeding livestock and scattered some geese, who were pecking at the bare ground; searching for some stray kernels of corn. Reaching the house he hopped upon the porch and slipped inside.

At his entrance Rei looked up and smiled, “where’d you go, Lee?” His smile faded, as Lee frowned. The older boy was appalled, ‘is this all he’s been eating? A lousy piece of bread and honey!’ If Lee had needed any evidence that Rei needed taken care of, this was it.

“Is that all you plan on eating?” Lee asked softly, hoping to be proven wrong.

“Y-yes,” Rei replied hesitantly, he couldn’t quite decipher the expression on Lee’s face. “It makes me sick to eat too much in the mornings. I usually eat more in the evenings.”

“Maybe you are eating the wrong things. I’ll ask Dr. Chiao when he gets here to give us a list of things we can try. You have got to eat more! And I’ll see that you do!” Lee growled as he paced toward the slighter boy.

Feeling threatened, Rei got to his feet and glared at the advancing youth. “How dare you!” He hissed, “who told you to send for Dr. Chiao! I’ll decide when and what I’ll eat, not you!” Then, he defiantly tossed the last bit of crust into the fire.

Lee stared as the bit of bread turned into char; then he bristled. “Now that was mature.” He said sarcastically, as he looked pointedly at the fire. “Now sit down and I’ll go make you some more tea and another slice of bread.” He reached out to take Rei by the arm, only to stare in surprise when Rei yanked it away from him.

“Rei?”

Rei bared his fangs at his friend and Lee backed up. The raven-haired tiger clenched his fists and gritted out; “I . . .don’t . . .need . . . any . . . more . . . fucking . . . tea! I don’t need another piece of bread! And stop running my life, Bryan!” As soon as he said his lover’s name, Rei clamped his hands over his mouth, eyes widening with horror. Time stood still for both young men, before Rei broke the spell by spinning and racing for the dubious safety of the kitchen.

It wasn’t until he’d vanished into the recess of the kitchen, that Lee shook off his shock and went in pursuit. He was going to find out what Rei meant, or know the reason why!

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Cliffy no. two!

Ok, on those rare occasions that I’ve fainted, everything turns yellow, then white and down I go!

Rei: God, she’s torturing me again!

Heh, you love it. It just means you get cuddle with someone eventually.

Bryan: Why am I always the one who gets blamed for everything?

Must be your charming personality.

Ian: What personality?

And the point goes to the mini Cyrano De Bergerac. I think I’ll retreat from this before I lose any more points.

Ian: That’s right – leave: just when I’m actually getting the better of someone.

First time for everything.

Bryan: Point to her.

And I declare it a draw.