FIC: Forever Home - Chapter 96 of 100
Title: Forever Home - Chapter 96 of 100?
Author: Shadowc44
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Kadam (Kurt Hummel/Adam Crawford)
Rating: R
Spoilers: AU. If you’ve seen Kurt and Adam interact, you’re good.
Summary: Adam is bored, and realizes he needs a companion. He decides to adopt a hybrid human/cat.
Warning: Mention of past abuse (non-sexual) from other canon Glee characters. This fic is not particularly kind to most canon Glee characters.
Length: About 4,400 words this chapter. About 435,000 words so far.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Glee characters in this story; they're owned by Fox. Any non-Glee characters are my own invention.
Chapter 95
CHAPTER 96
Adam felt his book was very close to a conclusion. He knew he could keep adding more things as he and Kurt experienced them, but the book had to end sometime. He supposed he could always work on a sequel while waiting to see what happened with the first one. But right now, it was time to start on his new project. He’d spent a couple of hours wracking his memory for books and stories he’d loved in his childhood and young adulthood. He asked Kurt if he could think of what books he’d already read.
Kurt looked at the list of books Adam had handed him. “I don’t recognize any of these.”
“But those are classics! It’s not just British authors, but some Americans, too.” He sat down next to Kurt to look at the list more closely.
Kurt sighed. “I think the things you want us to read are for people, not hybrids.”
Adam blinked, not having thought of that possibility. “Oh. What’s the difference?”
Kurt started playing with the pen, batting it back and forth between his hands. “Just a different type of story.”
“Like what? Can you give me some examples?” Now Adam was highly curious to know what sort of books hybrids read.
Kurt thought, then started listing them further down the page. “Well, a lot are short story collections. The stories are things like, “The Brave Little Hybrid.” That one’s about how a hybrid pet saved its owner’s life, by using the phone to call 911. Then there’s a book of stories, “The Adventures of Donny Dog.” He gets into trouble a lot, and you learn a lesson in each story. Like why you shouldn’t run away, why you shouldn’t eat food that’s been put on the counter for dinner, why you shouldn’t play with hybrids you don’t know, or talk to humans your owner hasn’t told you are okay. Things like that.”
Adam was fascinated. “Are there any cat stories or rabbit stories?”
“No specifically rabbit stories I can think of right now. But the cat stories are a little different.” Kurt took a deep breath and continued, his voice changing cadence a bit.
Adam couldn’t quite figure out what was going on.
“Donny Dog means well,” Kurt began. “He’s happy, and he just likes to have fun, and doesn’t always pay attention to what his owner says, ‘cause he gets excited about other things. But Cathy Cat is more sneaky. She’s always trying to play tricks on her owner, and she’s curious about everything. But every time, the owner figures out what she’s doing and stops her, or makes the tricks backfire on her. Her curiosity always gets her in trouble. She always learns her lesson, but then in the next story, does something else she shouldn’t do. She thinks she’s smarter than her owner. Donny Dog knows his place, he knows he’s not nearly as smart as his owner, but he’s always trying to please him. Cathy Cat always ends up being sorry for what she did, but she eventually learns. Poor Cathy.”
Kurt shook his head and impatiently added, “Wait a minute. I know they’re not real, they’re fictional characters. But we grew up reading those books. Like we’d read a Donny Dog story one day, and a Cathy Cat the next. I guess so we could see the difference between us.”
“Did they want you cats to act more like dogs?” Adam asked, though it didn’t make sense to him.
Kurt began playing with the pen again, just shuttling it back and forth between his hands. It reminded Adam of a cat batting a toy around. “Not really, they just want us to learn that it’s better to cooperate and do what you’re told. But there was a book that was one long story, where Donny Dog and Cathy Cat met. They didn’t know it, but their owners were neighbors. They met at the park. They let the hybrids play together, and it took a while, and meeting several times, but finally Donny became a little more serious, not as concerned with having fun. And Cathy learned to listen to what her owner said, and to try to please him.”
“How did you feel about the stories? You and the other hybrids?”
“I actually liked the Cathy Cat stories. We were supposed to like Donny Dog, even if we were cats, and see how Cathy was always wrong, but I - I think I identified with her. Not just because she was a cat, but a lot of things she did made sense. Not playing tricks, but thinking ahead, figuring out what you wanted and how to get it. How to make your owner think it’s their idea to give you what…you…want.” His voice trailed off, and he bit his lip, looking intently at the pen.
“So that’s where you learned it!” Adam squeezed Kurt’s hand to let him know he wasn’t annoyed. “Listen, Kurt, I want to go to the book store. Can you show me the section with the hybrid books?”
“Sure. It should be near the kids’ books.”
The drive over to the store was quiet, and somewhat tense. Adam finally turned the radio on, to give Kurt something else to focus on.
Once inside the store, Kurt brought him to an area midway between the children’s books, and those written for young adults. He supposed it made sense, as the hybrids only went to school until they were 10.
Sure enough, there was a display and several shelves labeled “Hybrid Readers”. Adam browsed through the books, but he thought Kurt might be self-conscious about being in that section. Adam bought several volumes, including the Donny Dog and Cathy Cat stories. Although he read the descriptions on the back of each book, he saw nothing that seemed geared towards building a hybrid’s self-confidence or sense of self. Everything seemed to be about fitting in, obeying the rules, minding any authority figures, and essentially being seen but not heard.
Adam spent some time reading the books after they got home. Kurt picked up a couple he said he hadn’t yet read, and retrieved his glasses. He sat in a chair in the corner of the living room, while Adam made himself comfortable on the sofa. The books were quite short, Adam thought, and took another look at the receipt from the bookstore. Short and expensive. The colors were bright and cheerful, often using primary colors. There were a lot of illustrations, mostly line drawings, and the paragraphs were brief, and the sentences simple, the phrases repetitive.
“Kurt, may I ask you something?”
“Huh? Sure, Adam.” Kurt put his finger in between the pages he was reading to mark his place. He looked at him over the rim of his glasses. Adam tried to tell himself it did not look sexy.
“Do hybrids have a particularly short attention span, usually?”
“Yeah. Unless something captures our interest.” Kurt sounded bored.
“Hm. I’ve seen some examples, but for the most part, you seem quite able to focus your concentration on things for a couple of hours at a time. Like your sewing projects, and Artie’s cart, for instance.”
Kurt shrugged, and explained, “Well, if it’s interesting, yeah, it’s not a problem. But if it’s something boring, or if we’re left to entertain ourselves, then yeah, we can be easily distracted.”
“I see.” Adam shook his head and glanced down at the book in his lap. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your reading. I’m just rather surprised we’ve never discussed this before. About these hybrid books, I mean.”
“You didn’t ask,” Kurt pointed out. “I guess it didn’t occur to me to tell you. I always wanted to read the books for humans, but we were kind of discouraged. The teachers would tell us we wouldn’t be able to understand, we’d get confused, or wouldn’t be able to relate, because our lives were so different from humans. But Dad let Mom read books for people, and she’d read them to me. Sometimes he would, too. Like bedtime stories.”
Adam didn’t like the implications. He suggested, “I wonder if that was one more situation where the school, or the government, didn’t want you to get unrealistic expectations? Or to think you were the equal of humans?”
Kurt nodded, his gaze far away. “I think so.”
“Kurt, look at me.” He waited until Kurt’s eyes were focused on his. “You do realize I don’t think that way, right? I don’t think you’re inferior to humans. You or the other hybrids.”
Kurt shrugged. “I’m glad you feel that way, but I’m still not sure how I feel about that. But they want us to act like we’re beneath you, and think that way. It’s easier.”
“Easier for whom? The owners, I’m sure, and probably the government. But it certainly doesn’t seem in your best interests.”
Kurt blinked, and moved his glasses further down his nose, the better to see Adam. “But most owners aren’t like you, and they want us to be quiet, and know our place, and not make our own decisions. Can you imagine what it would be like, if suddenly all the hybrid pets started saying, “I want this kind of food for dinner, and I want that toy, and I want to watch that program.” It would be chaos.”
“But you do those things. Well, you’re starting to.” Adam still didn’t see why it would be a problem.
“Yeah, ‘cause that’s what you want me to do. I mean, I adapted, right? But I don’t think most owners want that much change from what they expect. We’ve always heard, once we’re adopted, our owners can do what they want, within the legal limits. But they can re-train us to meet their expectations, if they want something different from the way we learned things at the pet store.”
“I see. Sort of like how I helped re-train you?” Even as the words left his mouth, Adam realized how naïve they were.
“Probably not. You were pretty patient with me. But I really don’t want to think about it, so if you don’t mind, can I go back to my book?”
Kurt’s voice sounded funny, more hesitant than it had in a while. Adam didn’t know if it was the conversation, or just reading the hybrid book that was making Kurt seem to regress, but he didn’t like it. However, it seemed far wiser to keep that opinion to himself for now.
“Of course you can. I’m sorry for interrupting you.”
“That’s okay.” Kurt quickly looked down at the book, but Adam wondered if he was actually reading the words, or just hiding.
“Kurt, sorry to interrupt again.”
He looked up, both impatience and concern on his face. “What?”
“If you want to finish your book, that’s fine. If you’d like some cat time instead, that’s fine, too. Or you can do that when you finish -“ He stopped reading when Kurt took off his glasses, and set them and his book aside. He’d already made his choice. Adam watched Kitty Kurt jump down to the floor and stretch luxuriously, before turning around and running towards his room. The room with all his toys, his castle, and his friends.
Adam wished, not for the first time, that he could be a cat, too, and push aside all the uncomfortable thoughts, and just play instead. Instead, he tore the page of book suggestions off the pad, and started writing on a fresh page. He wanted to write out a list of things to discuss with Dr. Hanover.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Kurt was restless, but he didn’t know why. Usually changing helped him feel more himself again, but it wasn’t working. He looked up and up and up at Buckingham Palace, but didn’t want to climb it. His babies waited for him on the bed, but he glanced at them and saw they were sleeping, and didn’t want to wake them. They needed their rest.
Maybe he was hungry? He supposed he could stand to eat something. Now that he’d made his mind up, he wanted to be in the kitchen. It took a bit longer than he wanted, even streaking across the living and dining rooms as fast as he could. He thought the human said something, but he didn’t feel like listening. He skidded to a stop before he got to his bowl. There were crunchies in it. He tested a few, and they were fresh enough he was willing to eat them. The same with the water; it hadn’t gotten stale yet. His human was actually very good about things like that, making sure he had the things he needed. He did his job well, which made it easier for Kurt to do his job well, too.
When he’d satisfied his hunger cravings, and had enough water that the crunchies wouldn’t just sit like tiny rocks in his stomach, he ran back to the bedroom. He didn’t check to see whether his owner looked at him, but he didn’t hear any sounds.
He started climbing the stairs to Buckingham Palace, and kept climbing from one level to another until he reached the top. He surveyed his kingdom. It was small, but he had a few loyal subjects, and it would do. He crawled into the nearest bedroom and curled up to take a nap. Maybe he just needed to rest.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Adam had picked up the book Kurt had abandoned, curious to see if it might have upset Kurt. “Benjy Bunny - Easter Surprise”. He read the back of the book, and it seemed a bit different from the others. He glanced through it, and soon found himself fascinated, if repelled. Benjy was adopted to be an Easter present for a little girl. The problem was, she liked him just fine as a bunny, but not so much as a human. As a human, he looked just like a boy, a teenage boy, and the little girl knew teenage boys were no fun. She insisted he stay as a bunny as much as possible. She would pick him up and carry him around, and let him sleep on the foot of her bed. Whenever he’d turn human, however, she got angry, and would walk away. Benjy was sad most of the time. No matter what he said or did, he couldn’t get the little girl to like him.
One day, when he was in rabbit form, he was picked up by the little girl’s father, and put into his carrier. He was taken back to the pet store to be returned. They would try to sell him to someone else, but it was always harder to sell pets who had been owned before and returned, for any reason. The store owner couldn’t pretend he’d never been sold before; he had a special collar that none of the others wore. The other hybrids didn’t want to talk to him, and ignored him as much as they could, because they didn’t want any of his bad behavior, or bad luck, to rub off on them.
Benjy stayed in the store a few more years, but nobody wanted to adopt him. On his 20th birthday, they gave him a special meal, that tasted really good. They let him run around in the exercise area as much as he wanted, while the other hybrids stayed in their cages. He was finally really sleepy, and laid down to take a nap. He didn’t wake up. The moral of the story, as far as Adam could figure out, was: once you’re adopted, do whatever you’re told, and whatever will make your owner happy. If that meant staying in your animal form 100% of the time, that’s what you did. Or in your human form all the time. Even if it made you miserable to do it, it would be better than being sent back. Adam shuddered, and planned on “losing” the book before Kurt could finish it.
He glanced at his watch and saw it was nearly time to go to their appointments with Dr. Hanover.
“Kurt!” he hollered. He expected to hear the sound of a thundering herd of cats, which is what Kurt sounded like when he ran at full tilt, but he heard nothing. He’d heard and seen him running at top speed a while ago, presumably to get some food. He’d told him to slow down, but wasn’t even sure Kurt heard him. He checked the kitchen. The food bowl didn’t have much left in it, and the water bowl was almost empty, too. He filled them both, then walked toward Kurt’s room.
He wasn’t on the bed, though his little friends were. He debated asking them if they knew where Kurt was, but was half afraid they might answer.
Kurt might be under the bed, or possibly…Adam squinted, and was pretty sure he could see him up near the very top. It was hard to see Kurt’s dark fur when he was inside one of the dark openings, but he thought he saw some of the lighter streaks. There! That was an ear twitch, he was sure.
“Kurt, please come down. We have to go to see Dr. Hanover. There’s not much time if you want to change and clean up.”
It seemed as though Kurt was very slow to respond, but he finally climbed out of his nest and delicately sauntered down the castle. Adam wanted to tell him to hurry, but didn’t want to make him lose his footing.
Kurt was finally on ground level. He walked up to Adam and wound around his legs, back and forth in a weird pattern. Maybe a figure 8. Adam sighed quietly.
“Kurt, please. Are you going to change?”
In response, Kurt sat at his feet, looked up at him and meowed.
“I take it that’s a no. Fine. I’ll get your carrier cage and you can ride in that, instead of sitting on the seat like a person.”
Kurt lifted one paw and washed it, placid and relaxed.
“I’ll be right back. Stay there!” Adam actually pointed to the floor, then rolled his eyes in self-disgust. Kurt ignored him, and started to wash his other front paw.
By the time Adam brought the hard plastic carrier in and got Kurt settled inside, he was a little frazzled himself. “Just relax in there a bit. I’m trying to think of what else we may need.”
He looked around the living room, and saw Kurt’s glasses. He put them and some of the books into Kurt’s bag, and slung it over his shoulder. He was about to pick up the carrier and leave, when he remembered the leash. He opened the door of the carrier and just set the leash inside. Kurt didn’t try to get out, just sniffed the leash curiously, then ignored it.
After making sure he had his laptop in its case, with the rest of the other new books inside, and his wallet, glasses, phone, and keys, he was ready. And also ready to take a nap himself. He wondered briefly if Dr. Hanover would allow him to use the patients’ resting room, but thought it was unlikely.
He was a little annoyed that Kurt wasn’t in human form, to help him carry everything. But then, if he were, the carrier wouldn't be necessary. He finally got everything into the car, settling Kurt’s carrier on the front seat, with the seatbelt around it.
“Are you ready to go, Your Highness?” he asked, before putting the key in the ignition. Kurt meeped politely in response. They were off and running.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Kurt didn’t mind the car ride, though he had to agree, Adam had a point. It was more comfortable to be able to sit his human butt on the seat. He had a comfortable towel underneath him, and Adam was driving fairly slowly, but he still got jostled around in the cage a lot more than he wanted.
After parking, Adam was struggling to get both bags over his left shoulder, while lifting the carrier with his right hand. Kurt debated about changing, but considering he was in the carrier, didn’t want to see what would happen if he changed while in an object that was far too small. He wasn’t that curious, because he knew damn well he didn’t have nine lives, only one.
While Adam checked them in, Kurt looked around as best he could through the mesh of his carrier. Actually, his nose told him more than his eyes did. A lot of other hybrids had been in the room lately. Otherwise, the waiting room was empty.
Adam set the carrier on the chair next to him. He leaned down to talk to Kurt.
“Let’s see what Dr. Hanover wants, but you should probably see him first. Maybe he can examine you like this for now, and you can take a nap later on while I’ve got my appointment with him.”
Kurt let out a “mrrrrrrr” of agreement. He really didn’t feel like having the vet do anything to him, but it wasn’t like he had a choice, was it? It wouldn’t do any good to complain, and wouldn’t even make him feel any better.
Once they were in the office, Adam unlocked the carrier. Kurt moved to the back and waited until it was fully opened. He allowed Adam to pick him up and put him on the examination table. The metal was cold against his feet, but not too bad.
Adam petted Kurt with one hand, while removing the carrier with the other. He left the leash inside, since Kurt wasn’t likely to need it.
Kurt settled comfortably against Adam, resting his side and his head against Adam’s stomach. He could have fallen asleep like that, if it weren’t for the arrival of the vet.
“Good morning, Adam and Kurt.” If he was surprised to see Kurt in cat form, he didn’t show it. Well, his nurse had probably told him.
“Hello.” Adam’s voice sounded weird, like he was faking being cheerful. “I was hoping you wouldn’t mind examining Kurt like this for now. He wasn’t in the mood to change back when we left home.”
“That’s fine.”
Hmph. Nothing seemed to bother the vet very much. He was always calm. Actually, it was soothing, the way he kept his voice low and steady. He started petting Kurt, so Adam moved back just a little bit to allow him more room. He had large hands that were soft and gentle, but still didn’t feel as good as Adam’s hands.
“How are you doing, Kurt? Do you want Adam to stay for this part of things?”
Kurt wondered what Adam wanted. He was the owner, he should be making those decisions.
“Kurt?” The vet’s voice still seemed calm and controlled. “I’d like you to pay attention to what I’m saying, please. Do you want Adam here or not?”
He was still trying to figure that out, and Adam wasn’t helping. But he was annoyed the vet was talking to him like that. He wasn’t a kitten; he knew when it was important to listen.
“Why don’t I stay here?” Adam suggested after a few moments. “He’s been in kind of a funny mood this morning. Funny-odd, that is. I’ll talk to you more about it later when we meet, unless he’d prefer to talk to you himself.”
Kurt lashed his tail back and forth. Why did these humans always want to talk? Talk, talk, talk, like the stupid words meant anything.
“I’ll ask Kurt when he’s human again,” the vet said, “if he’d like to talk to me about anything, how’s that? If he doesn’t want you talking to me about him, he can say so then.”
Kurt stilled his tail, and put up with the exam as patiently as possible. It wasn’t too bad; there were no needles or anything else being poked or prodded into unwelcome places. For the most part, the vet measured and weighed him, and checked his eyes, ears and mouth for signs of anything wrong.
“Alright. Everything seems to be fine. Kurt is a little bigger and a little heavier than when I first saw him. It’s not unexpected, but he’s almost 14 pounds now. He’s not full-size yet, as either a cat or human. He’ll probably reach his full growth in the next two years. He could be anywhere from 15 to 20 pounds or so. I’ll weigh him and take some measurements when he’s human, just to make sure he’s growing at an equivalent rate for both aspects.”
“What if he’s not?” Adam asked. He had moved closer and started petting Kurt again once the vet was done with his exam.
The vet hesitated a moment, maybe trying to think how to say it in people terms. Non-vet terms, that is.
“It’s not common, but it does sometimes happen that the animal metabolism is a little faster than human, and he might be gaining weight, for instance, faster as a cat than the human equivalent should be. In that case, I might have to monitor him more closely to see what’s going on, and possibly give him some medication to speed up his human growth. But it’s unlikely, so please don’t worry about it.”
“Okay. But he’s within the normal range of growth you would expect for his age? I just want to make sure I’m not over-feeding him, or underexercising him, or anything like that.”
“No, it’s about what I’d expect. He seemed a bit small for his age before, and he’s starting to catch up. Now I’d like to examine him as a human. Kurt, would you please change forms for me, please?”
Kurt stretched out as long as he could. It felt good, as always, to be able to move his body as much as he could, He kept stretching until he was human again.
The human part of the exam wasn’t all that different, with the exception that it was easier for him to answer the vet’s questions.
“Okay, I think we’re done with the medical part of things. Kurt, I’m going to talk to you first, while Adam waits outside, then I’ll talk to him and you can rest. Maybe you can visit Artie a bit, if you’d like.”
“That would be great, if he doesn’t mind.”
“I’ll have Sarah check on that. But before Adam leaves, do you remember him saying he might want to talk to me about your behavior earlier today?”
Kurt shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, I remember. Um, sure, it’s fine. I think I know what he means, but I don’t know if I can explain things all that well.”
“Just do the best you can. Adam, I’ll see you later.”
Adam hugged Kurt before he left. It startled him a little because it was unexpected, but not unwelcome. He hugged him back, then tried to relax in the chair when they moved to Dr. Hanover’s office. He was more comfortable there than in the examination room.
Next - Chapter 97
Author: Shadowc44
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Kadam (Kurt Hummel/Adam Crawford)
Rating: R
Spoilers: AU. If you’ve seen Kurt and Adam interact, you’re good.
Summary: Adam is bored, and realizes he needs a companion. He decides to adopt a hybrid human/cat.
Warning: Mention of past abuse (non-sexual) from other canon Glee characters. This fic is not particularly kind to most canon Glee characters.
Length: About 4,400 words this chapter. About 435,000 words so far.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Glee characters in this story; they're owned by Fox. Any non-Glee characters are my own invention.
Chapter 95
CHAPTER 96
Adam felt his book was very close to a conclusion. He knew he could keep adding more things as he and Kurt experienced them, but the book had to end sometime. He supposed he could always work on a sequel while waiting to see what happened with the first one. But right now, it was time to start on his new project. He’d spent a couple of hours wracking his memory for books and stories he’d loved in his childhood and young adulthood. He asked Kurt if he could think of what books he’d already read.
Kurt looked at the list of books Adam had handed him. “I don’t recognize any of these.”
“But those are classics! It’s not just British authors, but some Americans, too.” He sat down next to Kurt to look at the list more closely.
Kurt sighed. “I think the things you want us to read are for people, not hybrids.”
Adam blinked, not having thought of that possibility. “Oh. What’s the difference?”
Kurt started playing with the pen, batting it back and forth between his hands. “Just a different type of story.”
“Like what? Can you give me some examples?” Now Adam was highly curious to know what sort of books hybrids read.
Kurt thought, then started listing them further down the page. “Well, a lot are short story collections. The stories are things like, “The Brave Little Hybrid.” That one’s about how a hybrid pet saved its owner’s life, by using the phone to call 911. Then there’s a book of stories, “The Adventures of Donny Dog.” He gets into trouble a lot, and you learn a lesson in each story. Like why you shouldn’t run away, why you shouldn’t eat food that’s been put on the counter for dinner, why you shouldn’t play with hybrids you don’t know, or talk to humans your owner hasn’t told you are okay. Things like that.”
Adam was fascinated. “Are there any cat stories or rabbit stories?”
“No specifically rabbit stories I can think of right now. But the cat stories are a little different.” Kurt took a deep breath and continued, his voice changing cadence a bit.
Adam couldn’t quite figure out what was going on.
“Donny Dog means well,” Kurt began. “He’s happy, and he just likes to have fun, and doesn’t always pay attention to what his owner says, ‘cause he gets excited about other things. But Cathy Cat is more sneaky. She’s always trying to play tricks on her owner, and she’s curious about everything. But every time, the owner figures out what she’s doing and stops her, or makes the tricks backfire on her. Her curiosity always gets her in trouble. She always learns her lesson, but then in the next story, does something else she shouldn’t do. She thinks she’s smarter than her owner. Donny Dog knows his place, he knows he’s not nearly as smart as his owner, but he’s always trying to please him. Cathy Cat always ends up being sorry for what she did, but she eventually learns. Poor Cathy.”
Kurt shook his head and impatiently added, “Wait a minute. I know they’re not real, they’re fictional characters. But we grew up reading those books. Like we’d read a Donny Dog story one day, and a Cathy Cat the next. I guess so we could see the difference between us.”
“Did they want you cats to act more like dogs?” Adam asked, though it didn’t make sense to him.
Kurt began playing with the pen again, just shuttling it back and forth between his hands. It reminded Adam of a cat batting a toy around. “Not really, they just want us to learn that it’s better to cooperate and do what you’re told. But there was a book that was one long story, where Donny Dog and Cathy Cat met. They didn’t know it, but their owners were neighbors. They met at the park. They let the hybrids play together, and it took a while, and meeting several times, but finally Donny became a little more serious, not as concerned with having fun. And Cathy learned to listen to what her owner said, and to try to please him.”
“How did you feel about the stories? You and the other hybrids?”
“I actually liked the Cathy Cat stories. We were supposed to like Donny Dog, even if we were cats, and see how Cathy was always wrong, but I - I think I identified with her. Not just because she was a cat, but a lot of things she did made sense. Not playing tricks, but thinking ahead, figuring out what you wanted and how to get it. How to make your owner think it’s their idea to give you what…you…want.” His voice trailed off, and he bit his lip, looking intently at the pen.
“So that’s where you learned it!” Adam squeezed Kurt’s hand to let him know he wasn’t annoyed. “Listen, Kurt, I want to go to the book store. Can you show me the section with the hybrid books?”
“Sure. It should be near the kids’ books.”
The drive over to the store was quiet, and somewhat tense. Adam finally turned the radio on, to give Kurt something else to focus on.
Once inside the store, Kurt brought him to an area midway between the children’s books, and those written for young adults. He supposed it made sense, as the hybrids only went to school until they were 10.
Sure enough, there was a display and several shelves labeled “Hybrid Readers”. Adam browsed through the books, but he thought Kurt might be self-conscious about being in that section. Adam bought several volumes, including the Donny Dog and Cathy Cat stories. Although he read the descriptions on the back of each book, he saw nothing that seemed geared towards building a hybrid’s self-confidence or sense of self. Everything seemed to be about fitting in, obeying the rules, minding any authority figures, and essentially being seen but not heard.
Adam spent some time reading the books after they got home. Kurt picked up a couple he said he hadn’t yet read, and retrieved his glasses. He sat in a chair in the corner of the living room, while Adam made himself comfortable on the sofa. The books were quite short, Adam thought, and took another look at the receipt from the bookstore. Short and expensive. The colors were bright and cheerful, often using primary colors. There were a lot of illustrations, mostly line drawings, and the paragraphs were brief, and the sentences simple, the phrases repetitive.
“Kurt, may I ask you something?”
“Huh? Sure, Adam.” Kurt put his finger in between the pages he was reading to mark his place. He looked at him over the rim of his glasses. Adam tried to tell himself it did not look sexy.
“Do hybrids have a particularly short attention span, usually?”
“Yeah. Unless something captures our interest.” Kurt sounded bored.
“Hm. I’ve seen some examples, but for the most part, you seem quite able to focus your concentration on things for a couple of hours at a time. Like your sewing projects, and Artie’s cart, for instance.”
Kurt shrugged, and explained, “Well, if it’s interesting, yeah, it’s not a problem. But if it’s something boring, or if we’re left to entertain ourselves, then yeah, we can be easily distracted.”
“I see.” Adam shook his head and glanced down at the book in his lap. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your reading. I’m just rather surprised we’ve never discussed this before. About these hybrid books, I mean.”
“You didn’t ask,” Kurt pointed out. “I guess it didn’t occur to me to tell you. I always wanted to read the books for humans, but we were kind of discouraged. The teachers would tell us we wouldn’t be able to understand, we’d get confused, or wouldn’t be able to relate, because our lives were so different from humans. But Dad let Mom read books for people, and she’d read them to me. Sometimes he would, too. Like bedtime stories.”
Adam didn’t like the implications. He suggested, “I wonder if that was one more situation where the school, or the government, didn’t want you to get unrealistic expectations? Or to think you were the equal of humans?”
Kurt nodded, his gaze far away. “I think so.”
“Kurt, look at me.” He waited until Kurt’s eyes were focused on his. “You do realize I don’t think that way, right? I don’t think you’re inferior to humans. You or the other hybrids.”
Kurt shrugged. “I’m glad you feel that way, but I’m still not sure how I feel about that. But they want us to act like we’re beneath you, and think that way. It’s easier.”
“Easier for whom? The owners, I’m sure, and probably the government. But it certainly doesn’t seem in your best interests.”
Kurt blinked, and moved his glasses further down his nose, the better to see Adam. “But most owners aren’t like you, and they want us to be quiet, and know our place, and not make our own decisions. Can you imagine what it would be like, if suddenly all the hybrid pets started saying, “I want this kind of food for dinner, and I want that toy, and I want to watch that program.” It would be chaos.”
“But you do those things. Well, you’re starting to.” Adam still didn’t see why it would be a problem.
“Yeah, ‘cause that’s what you want me to do. I mean, I adapted, right? But I don’t think most owners want that much change from what they expect. We’ve always heard, once we’re adopted, our owners can do what they want, within the legal limits. But they can re-train us to meet their expectations, if they want something different from the way we learned things at the pet store.”
“I see. Sort of like how I helped re-train you?” Even as the words left his mouth, Adam realized how naïve they were.
“Probably not. You were pretty patient with me. But I really don’t want to think about it, so if you don’t mind, can I go back to my book?”
Kurt’s voice sounded funny, more hesitant than it had in a while. Adam didn’t know if it was the conversation, or just reading the hybrid book that was making Kurt seem to regress, but he didn’t like it. However, it seemed far wiser to keep that opinion to himself for now.
“Of course you can. I’m sorry for interrupting you.”
“That’s okay.” Kurt quickly looked down at the book, but Adam wondered if he was actually reading the words, or just hiding.
“Kurt, sorry to interrupt again.”
He looked up, both impatience and concern on his face. “What?”
“If you want to finish your book, that’s fine. If you’d like some cat time instead, that’s fine, too. Or you can do that when you finish -“ He stopped reading when Kurt took off his glasses, and set them and his book aside. He’d already made his choice. Adam watched Kitty Kurt jump down to the floor and stretch luxuriously, before turning around and running towards his room. The room with all his toys, his castle, and his friends.
Adam wished, not for the first time, that he could be a cat, too, and push aside all the uncomfortable thoughts, and just play instead. Instead, he tore the page of book suggestions off the pad, and started writing on a fresh page. He wanted to write out a list of things to discuss with Dr. Hanover.
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Kurt was restless, but he didn’t know why. Usually changing helped him feel more himself again, but it wasn’t working. He looked up and up and up at Buckingham Palace, but didn’t want to climb it. His babies waited for him on the bed, but he glanced at them and saw they were sleeping, and didn’t want to wake them. They needed their rest.
Maybe he was hungry? He supposed he could stand to eat something. Now that he’d made his mind up, he wanted to be in the kitchen. It took a bit longer than he wanted, even streaking across the living and dining rooms as fast as he could. He thought the human said something, but he didn’t feel like listening. He skidded to a stop before he got to his bowl. There were crunchies in it. He tested a few, and they were fresh enough he was willing to eat them. The same with the water; it hadn’t gotten stale yet. His human was actually very good about things like that, making sure he had the things he needed. He did his job well, which made it easier for Kurt to do his job well, too.
When he’d satisfied his hunger cravings, and had enough water that the crunchies wouldn’t just sit like tiny rocks in his stomach, he ran back to the bedroom. He didn’t check to see whether his owner looked at him, but he didn’t hear any sounds.
He started climbing the stairs to Buckingham Palace, and kept climbing from one level to another until he reached the top. He surveyed his kingdom. It was small, but he had a few loyal subjects, and it would do. He crawled into the nearest bedroom and curled up to take a nap. Maybe he just needed to rest.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Adam had picked up the book Kurt had abandoned, curious to see if it might have upset Kurt. “Benjy Bunny - Easter Surprise”. He read the back of the book, and it seemed a bit different from the others. He glanced through it, and soon found himself fascinated, if repelled. Benjy was adopted to be an Easter present for a little girl. The problem was, she liked him just fine as a bunny, but not so much as a human. As a human, he looked just like a boy, a teenage boy, and the little girl knew teenage boys were no fun. She insisted he stay as a bunny as much as possible. She would pick him up and carry him around, and let him sleep on the foot of her bed. Whenever he’d turn human, however, she got angry, and would walk away. Benjy was sad most of the time. No matter what he said or did, he couldn’t get the little girl to like him.
One day, when he was in rabbit form, he was picked up by the little girl’s father, and put into his carrier. He was taken back to the pet store to be returned. They would try to sell him to someone else, but it was always harder to sell pets who had been owned before and returned, for any reason. The store owner couldn’t pretend he’d never been sold before; he had a special collar that none of the others wore. The other hybrids didn’t want to talk to him, and ignored him as much as they could, because they didn’t want any of his bad behavior, or bad luck, to rub off on them.
Benjy stayed in the store a few more years, but nobody wanted to adopt him. On his 20th birthday, they gave him a special meal, that tasted really good. They let him run around in the exercise area as much as he wanted, while the other hybrids stayed in their cages. He was finally really sleepy, and laid down to take a nap. He didn’t wake up. The moral of the story, as far as Adam could figure out, was: once you’re adopted, do whatever you’re told, and whatever will make your owner happy. If that meant staying in your animal form 100% of the time, that’s what you did. Or in your human form all the time. Even if it made you miserable to do it, it would be better than being sent back. Adam shuddered, and planned on “losing” the book before Kurt could finish it.
He glanced at his watch and saw it was nearly time to go to their appointments with Dr. Hanover.
“Kurt!” he hollered. He expected to hear the sound of a thundering herd of cats, which is what Kurt sounded like when he ran at full tilt, but he heard nothing. He’d heard and seen him running at top speed a while ago, presumably to get some food. He’d told him to slow down, but wasn’t even sure Kurt heard him. He checked the kitchen. The food bowl didn’t have much left in it, and the water bowl was almost empty, too. He filled them both, then walked toward Kurt’s room.
He wasn’t on the bed, though his little friends were. He debated asking them if they knew where Kurt was, but was half afraid they might answer.
Kurt might be under the bed, or possibly…Adam squinted, and was pretty sure he could see him up near the very top. It was hard to see Kurt’s dark fur when he was inside one of the dark openings, but he thought he saw some of the lighter streaks. There! That was an ear twitch, he was sure.
“Kurt, please come down. We have to go to see Dr. Hanover. There’s not much time if you want to change and clean up.”
It seemed as though Kurt was very slow to respond, but he finally climbed out of his nest and delicately sauntered down the castle. Adam wanted to tell him to hurry, but didn’t want to make him lose his footing.
Kurt was finally on ground level. He walked up to Adam and wound around his legs, back and forth in a weird pattern. Maybe a figure 8. Adam sighed quietly.
“Kurt, please. Are you going to change?”
In response, Kurt sat at his feet, looked up at him and meowed.
“I take it that’s a no. Fine. I’ll get your carrier cage and you can ride in that, instead of sitting on the seat like a person.”
Kurt lifted one paw and washed it, placid and relaxed.
“I’ll be right back. Stay there!” Adam actually pointed to the floor, then rolled his eyes in self-disgust. Kurt ignored him, and started to wash his other front paw.
By the time Adam brought the hard plastic carrier in and got Kurt settled inside, he was a little frazzled himself. “Just relax in there a bit. I’m trying to think of what else we may need.”
He looked around the living room, and saw Kurt’s glasses. He put them and some of the books into Kurt’s bag, and slung it over his shoulder. He was about to pick up the carrier and leave, when he remembered the leash. He opened the door of the carrier and just set the leash inside. Kurt didn’t try to get out, just sniffed the leash curiously, then ignored it.
After making sure he had his laptop in its case, with the rest of the other new books inside, and his wallet, glasses, phone, and keys, he was ready. And also ready to take a nap himself. He wondered briefly if Dr. Hanover would allow him to use the patients’ resting room, but thought it was unlikely.
He was a little annoyed that Kurt wasn’t in human form, to help him carry everything. But then, if he were, the carrier wouldn't be necessary. He finally got everything into the car, settling Kurt’s carrier on the front seat, with the seatbelt around it.
“Are you ready to go, Your Highness?” he asked, before putting the key in the ignition. Kurt meeped politely in response. They were off and running.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Kurt didn’t mind the car ride, though he had to agree, Adam had a point. It was more comfortable to be able to sit his human butt on the seat. He had a comfortable towel underneath him, and Adam was driving fairly slowly, but he still got jostled around in the cage a lot more than he wanted.
After parking, Adam was struggling to get both bags over his left shoulder, while lifting the carrier with his right hand. Kurt debated about changing, but considering he was in the carrier, didn’t want to see what would happen if he changed while in an object that was far too small. He wasn’t that curious, because he knew damn well he didn’t have nine lives, only one.
While Adam checked them in, Kurt looked around as best he could through the mesh of his carrier. Actually, his nose told him more than his eyes did. A lot of other hybrids had been in the room lately. Otherwise, the waiting room was empty.
Adam set the carrier on the chair next to him. He leaned down to talk to Kurt.
“Let’s see what Dr. Hanover wants, but you should probably see him first. Maybe he can examine you like this for now, and you can take a nap later on while I’ve got my appointment with him.”
Kurt let out a “mrrrrrrr” of agreement. He really didn’t feel like having the vet do anything to him, but it wasn’t like he had a choice, was it? It wouldn’t do any good to complain, and wouldn’t even make him feel any better.
Once they were in the office, Adam unlocked the carrier. Kurt moved to the back and waited until it was fully opened. He allowed Adam to pick him up and put him on the examination table. The metal was cold against his feet, but not too bad.
Adam petted Kurt with one hand, while removing the carrier with the other. He left the leash inside, since Kurt wasn’t likely to need it.
Kurt settled comfortably against Adam, resting his side and his head against Adam’s stomach. He could have fallen asleep like that, if it weren’t for the arrival of the vet.
“Good morning, Adam and Kurt.” If he was surprised to see Kurt in cat form, he didn’t show it. Well, his nurse had probably told him.
“Hello.” Adam’s voice sounded weird, like he was faking being cheerful. “I was hoping you wouldn’t mind examining Kurt like this for now. He wasn’t in the mood to change back when we left home.”
“That’s fine.”
Hmph. Nothing seemed to bother the vet very much. He was always calm. Actually, it was soothing, the way he kept his voice low and steady. He started petting Kurt, so Adam moved back just a little bit to allow him more room. He had large hands that were soft and gentle, but still didn’t feel as good as Adam’s hands.
“How are you doing, Kurt? Do you want Adam to stay for this part of things?”
Kurt wondered what Adam wanted. He was the owner, he should be making those decisions.
“Kurt?” The vet’s voice still seemed calm and controlled. “I’d like you to pay attention to what I’m saying, please. Do you want Adam here or not?”
He was still trying to figure that out, and Adam wasn’t helping. But he was annoyed the vet was talking to him like that. He wasn’t a kitten; he knew when it was important to listen.
“Why don’t I stay here?” Adam suggested after a few moments. “He’s been in kind of a funny mood this morning. Funny-odd, that is. I’ll talk to you more about it later when we meet, unless he’d prefer to talk to you himself.”
Kurt lashed his tail back and forth. Why did these humans always want to talk? Talk, talk, talk, like the stupid words meant anything.
“I’ll ask Kurt when he’s human again,” the vet said, “if he’d like to talk to me about anything, how’s that? If he doesn’t want you talking to me about him, he can say so then.”
Kurt stilled his tail, and put up with the exam as patiently as possible. It wasn’t too bad; there were no needles or anything else being poked or prodded into unwelcome places. For the most part, the vet measured and weighed him, and checked his eyes, ears and mouth for signs of anything wrong.
“Alright. Everything seems to be fine. Kurt is a little bigger and a little heavier than when I first saw him. It’s not unexpected, but he’s almost 14 pounds now. He’s not full-size yet, as either a cat or human. He’ll probably reach his full growth in the next two years. He could be anywhere from 15 to 20 pounds or so. I’ll weigh him and take some measurements when he’s human, just to make sure he’s growing at an equivalent rate for both aspects.”
“What if he’s not?” Adam asked. He had moved closer and started petting Kurt again once the vet was done with his exam.
The vet hesitated a moment, maybe trying to think how to say it in people terms. Non-vet terms, that is.
“It’s not common, but it does sometimes happen that the animal metabolism is a little faster than human, and he might be gaining weight, for instance, faster as a cat than the human equivalent should be. In that case, I might have to monitor him more closely to see what’s going on, and possibly give him some medication to speed up his human growth. But it’s unlikely, so please don’t worry about it.”
“Okay. But he’s within the normal range of growth you would expect for his age? I just want to make sure I’m not over-feeding him, or underexercising him, or anything like that.”
“No, it’s about what I’d expect. He seemed a bit small for his age before, and he’s starting to catch up. Now I’d like to examine him as a human. Kurt, would you please change forms for me, please?”
Kurt stretched out as long as he could. It felt good, as always, to be able to move his body as much as he could, He kept stretching until he was human again.
The human part of the exam wasn’t all that different, with the exception that it was easier for him to answer the vet’s questions.
“Okay, I think we’re done with the medical part of things. Kurt, I’m going to talk to you first, while Adam waits outside, then I’ll talk to him and you can rest. Maybe you can visit Artie a bit, if you’d like.”
“That would be great, if he doesn’t mind.”
“I’ll have Sarah check on that. But before Adam leaves, do you remember him saying he might want to talk to me about your behavior earlier today?”
Kurt shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, I remember. Um, sure, it’s fine. I think I know what he means, but I don’t know if I can explain things all that well.”
“Just do the best you can. Adam, I’ll see you later.”
Adam hugged Kurt before he left. It startled him a little because it was unexpected, but not unwelcome. He hugged him back, then tried to relax in the chair when they moved to Dr. Hanover’s office. He was more comfortable there than in the examination room.
Next - Chapter 97