A Lion’s Tail and a Bear’s Hug: Chapter 12
#12 of A Lion's Tail and a Bear's Hug
So here we are. The penultimate chapter of the series for the foreseeable future. I'm kinda dissapointed it took this turn, but oh well. Comments, criticisms etc would be appreciated.
A Lion's Tail and a Bear's Hug: Chapter 12
Letters
Lejon woke up an hour later. Mitchell was sitting on a nearby chair watching him.
"Yo Lejon, good to see you're awake. You had me worried there for a bit." Lejon noticed that he was in the reception of his school and recalled what happened, how he was going to be chucked out of school, how he'd fainted; it was all coming back now. Then he gave Mitchell a confused look.
"Have you been looking at me like that this whole time? It's kinda unnerving." Lejon said as he grinned at the black dragon, who was moving over to the lion and offering him a scaled claw to help the golden feline to his feet.
"Nah, I quickly got bored of your face so I was playing on my itouch for a while. Oh yeah lol. I forgot to mention. The head came in cos I knocked him over when I brought you here. He was getting pissed cos I was being disrespectful and all that shit, but I got pissed off back at him saying he was a hypocrite and all that and he stormed off. It was so jokes." Lejon smiled; Mitchell never failed to amuse him.
"Hmm, where are the receptionists?"
"Oh, it's lunchtime already." The black dragon replied, Lejon gave an over exaggerated gasp.
"Y-you mean... You missed lunch to make sure I was ok" The lion said trying his best not to crack up laughing. Mitchell nodded and grinned back.
"It was hard; I could feel the food; it was begging me to go eat it. Anyway, I am hungry, you wanna go eat?" Lejon nodded and they went to have lunch. It was a Thursday so they had no lessons after lunch, much to the friend's delight. Normally the two would just head home but it was possibly their last two days together in the same school so they decided to stick around and talk. The range of conversation ranged from anime, to hentai, to more porn and sex related talk, but then suddenly Lejon changed topic.
"Mitchell, what would you do if it was you last day alive? Not the end of the world but say you were gonna be executed or something. What would you do?"
Mitchell thought for a sec.
"I dunno I'd probably have the biggest orgy I could with all the buffest girls I could get my hands on. I'd be like, 'ladies, this is my last day so there'll be no regrets or anything for you, so whatdya say? I know you all want it.' Then I'd give them my signature wink and they'd basically all be naked and on me already"
"Yeah. Sure..." Lejon said causing both of the guys to crack up
"Anyway what would you do Lejon?" Mitchell asked, curious since the lion had brought up the topic.
"I don't know I'd have to think about it, probs nothing as exciting as you. Might try some proper free running. I'd have nothing to lose if I fell and broke my neck. Not that I would, since all cats land on their feet." Lejon said with a wink. The two continued talking until about five in the afternoon when Lejon decided it should be time to get home. He didn't want to be walking around his neighbourhood when it was dark. He checked his phone and saw that Bjorn had texted him.
<<Hey lovely, I dunno when you get home from school. So I'll come back to the apartment at say 10pm if that's ok with you. Love you <3>>
Lejon's face lit up. Mitchell saw and poked Lejon in the ribs.
"Was that your bear?" Lejon's jaw dropped.
"How did you... Did you read my texts while I was blacked out?"
"Nah I saw your screen saver and got scared off"
"Ah, yeah, he is my bear. He's sweet, although a pain in the ass to get food for, you'd be so much easier to feed." Lejon quickly replied to the text and made his way to his bus stop as the dragon went to his. Both guys waved as they moved out of sight and Lejon took the bus straight to McDonalds where he worked until 9. It was pretty packed despite being a weekday and Lejon felt himself getting gradually more aggravated until his finally ended.
He took the bus back to his apartment and arrived a bit after 10.When he got in he found Bjorn asleep on the couch. Lejon pounced on him causing the bear to panic, roll off the sofa and squish his lion. Bjorn jumped up quickly.
"Sorry hun, shoulda told you before, never surprise wake me; it can have dire consequences." He picked Lejon up and kissed him softly. "Anyway, how you doing?"
"Yeah, I'm good now that I'm with you" Lejon said as he kissed Bjorn lightly on the lips. Bjorn moaned into the kiss and fell onto the sofa with Lejon in his arms. The two mashed their muzzles together as they let their fleshy tongues explore each other's mouths. Bjorn was trying to get as much of his tongue into Lejon's muzzle causing the lion to murr in pleasure. Bjorn remembered something and rolled over on top of Lejon. The hardening of Lejon's member in his trousers told Bjorn that he was doing something right. They continued to mash their lips together for some time before Bjorn slowly pulled away.
"Love you Lejon" He said as he stroked the lion's head fur.
"Love you too Bjorn. Oh, question, if you knew it was your last day on this earth what would you do?" Bjorn didn't hesitate in responding.
"As long as I'm with you, I don't really care." He rolled over and cuddled Lejon, gently nomming on the young lion's ear.
"What about you? What would you do?" Lejon thought again, he hadn't been sure the last time he'd answered but had a clear answer this time.
"I'd write letters to all the people who were important to me, thanking them for all the things they'd done for me over the years. Thing is I'd want people to move on after my death. I wouldn't want people to grieve for me once I'd gone. I'd like those letters to be some form of comfort for them, but I'd want them to move on. Even if I passed away before you, I'd want you to move on and find someone else, who's as, if not more, special than me."
"Same here, if I ever pass away I want you to continue to love. I'd want you to live your life without me. Or in Zacks' words from Final Fantasy 7: crisis core 'live our lives, for the two of us' I love you Lejon" Bjorn lightly kissed Lejon on the cheek and the two moved off the couch and towards the bed. As they lay together Bjorn nuzzled Lejon lightly. "So what did my lion get up to in school today? Did you learn anything?"
"Um, no" The lion said cringing briefly.
"And you go to a private school" Bjorn shook his head in mock disapproval and kissed Lejon lightly again, causing Lejon to kiss him back and snuggle up against his furry brown body.
The two were soon asleep and Lejon's nightmares came back to haunt him. This time he was stepping into his mum's house. Fortunately he'd decided to wear shoes as needles and glass bottles cracked underpaw. The smell of alcohol permeated the house. Lejon sniffed the air and guessed it was some wine, although there were some cheap beer bottles littering the floors. Lejon opened the door to the sitting room and saw his mother with a syringe in one hand, splayed out on the couch.
"Mum!" Lejon ran across the room to his mother. She gave him an absent stare and smiled. "Why hello lovey, aren't you handsome?" Lejon's mother moved to snog him. But Lejon backed away. He could smell alcohol on her breath and a lump caught in his throat. This wasn't his mother. This wasn't the lioness that had brought him up from a cub, who had fed him, clothed him, sent him to school; this wasn't her. Lejon wiped away a tear. It couldn't be her. Lejon's mother stared at him as a small amount of recognition entered her eyes. "Oh Lejon, my baby, come here." She chucked the syringe over her shoulder and hugged Lejon.
"Mum, why are you doing this? This isn't you." Lejon whimpered as more tears ran down his muzzle. His mother sighed and looked up to the ceiling.
"Lejon, ever since your father went into a coma, life just got worse for me. I was lonely, I lost my job, and bills just kept getting bigger. This was the only thing that kept me sane. It was like before I had you. I used to be into this kinda stuff. I guess it was a way to relive the past pretend like some things had never happened. I'm just glad you're here now. How are you anyway?"
"I'm good. Mum do you need to see anyone, I mean I could arrange for a councillor or someone to talk to you and help you with your grief about dad."
"I'll be fine Lejon. How's school. You still getting all A*s"
"Well I got a B in maths; I didn't really have time to study what with work and all that." Lejon squirmed uncomfortably. He didn't want to be here, he knew this was a dream but still, why did the past always haunt him?
"Anyway mum, I have to go" Lejon lied, "I'm meeting up with a friend." Lejon watched as his past self made one of the biggest mistakes of his life.
"Ok my dear. You go have fun." The lioness breathed in slowly. And a cognitive look returned to her eyes once more. "Now Lejon, listen to me while I'm not high or drunk. Well I am, but listen to me while I'm composed at least. I know so many friends who have died of HIV/AIDS. I don't want that to happen to you. Now, if you're anything like me you'll be raring to get with another guy as soon as you can, but Lejon, I'm sorry to say, but you'll be at risk, even if you're safe. Please, if it's the only thing you ever do for me from here on out. Please promise me you won't have sex until you're 18 years old at least." Lejon nodded and shook his mum's paw.
"I promise. Now I'm gonna head. You keep well y'hear me?" Lejon smiled as he left the house, his mother waved back and gave Lejon an absent minded smile, already slipping back into her stupor.
Lejon's dream fast forwarded to a week later when he got a call from the hospital.
"Hello, is that Lejon Fangrir?"
"Yes, may I ask who's speaking?"
"I'm calling from the Sacred Heart Hospital. I regret to have to inform you but... you're mother has passed away from a drug overdose. The pathologist estimates that she passed away one week ago as a result of heroin use mixed with alcohol. Um, would you like us to arrange for a funeral, or would you prefer that your family did it.
"I'll do it..." Lejon murmured. The voice at the other end of the phone faded away. If only he'd called someone. Everything would've been ok...
Lejon slipped fitfully and woke up in the middle of the night. He went back to sleep about an hour later and continued to sleep badly until early morning. Lejon woke up early again and got ready for school. Meanwhile Bjorn stayed in bed. He couldn't help but wonder whether he'd been dreaming last night when he woke up to find Lejon not in the bed and a light on in the sitting room. He'd drifted into another dream quickly so perhaps it was only a dream, but it felt real...
Lejon got to school and registered with his class. He hung about at the back with Mitchell and one of his other best friends, Yusef, a tan coloured liger with dark brown stripes. The three chatted and just as registration was about to finish Lejon got up and jumped up onto a table; clapping his paws together to get the attention of his classmates. All eyes turned to him.
"So, uh, yeah, just to let you all know, this is my last day. I'll miss all you guys, you've all been great and I just want to thank you all."
One of his classmates, a spiky haired cheetah let out a whoop and all the people erupted into applause. Lejon felt himself blushing and as he left the classroom a tear came to his eye.
"I'll miss you guys..." the lion whispered under his breath.
Meanwhile Bjorn was finally waking up in Lejon's apartment. He got up and looked around drearily, trying to find his clothes somewhere in Lejon's apartment. He suddenly remembered that his clothes were in the sitting room. As he was walking over to retrieve them from the couch he noticed a lamp on a table in the corner of the sitting room. He proceeded to get dressed and was about to leave when he realised he didn't have the key that Lejon had given him. All of a sudden it dawned on the bear, the night before he'd left his keys on the counter when he got a glass of water as he got in.
As the bear moved over to pick his keys up off the countertop he noticed a scrumpled up piece of paper next to the bin. He took it in his paws and scanned across the contents. It was a short letter.
<<Dear mum
I know you won't receive this but maybe you'll still be able to read it. I don't know what happens when people pass on so I don't know if you can read this. Either way mum, just in case I don't meet you today, I want you to know that I always loved you. Mum I'm sorry. I never meant for us to break apart like this. I know it's my fault that dads in the state he's in and it's my fault that you're y'know. I should've watched out for you back then. I don't know why. Any other day of the week I would've taken you to live with me. I don't know why I didn't mum, but it's one of the many things that I have come to regret in my short life. Just know that I will always love you mum, even if we can't be together. Oh and if you can, and if I'm not able, please watch over Bjorn for me.
Love you mum
Your son, Lejon
X X >>
Bjorn smiled at the sweet letter but then his eyes widened in horror. As he remembered the words Lejon had uttered to him the night before. The letter slipped from his hands and glided slowly to the floor. Bjorn trembled in the kitchen. He didn't know what to do...