Animal Shelter ↠ Larry AU [slow!]

one

   There was nothing special about Harry. He was like every other boy in his town, and probably the whole world. The only thing that separated him from most of the boys he hung around was that he did not like sports. Physical activity was just something he could not come to do.

   "You need to get out and do something. You're seventeen, you have no job, you don't play any sports. Sitting in your room doing absolutely nothing isn't going to get you paid in the future, so you need to start preparing for something," his Mum told him, which seemed like the thousandth time. He decided to finally do something that would make her happy for once; get a job.

   Unfortunately, he was not accepted anywhere except the animal shelter, where he didn't get paid, but instead volunteered.

   "Harry," his Mum groaned at the news he told her. "Volunteering at some small, nobody's-heard-of animal shelter isn't going to buy you a home or a vehicle or anything!" She rolled her eyes and forced a smile after taking a deep breath. "But I'm proud of you for going out there and trying something." She lightly kissed him on the cheek and disappeared into another room. As soon as she was out of sight, he ran back upstairs to his room. From there, he laid down on the bed and plugged in his earbuds, listening to the music it played.

x

   Twelve hours later, louder music than what was playing blasted in his eardrums, causing him to jump up and rip the earbuds out. His heart raced as he took the time to recover from the jumpscare. He then looked at the time. It was ten in the morning. Why was there an alarm this early in the Summer?

   Oh, that's right. The animal shelter.

   He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and got up, to make his way into the small bathroom connected to his bedroom. Thirty minutes later, he walked out, feeling fresh from the shower and other hygienic duties.

   "Wow, you're up before twelve," his Mum said, confused, as she saw him walking down the stairs.

   "Yeah. I start today. I've got to be there at eleven." He grabbed a banana off the counter and unpeeled it.

   "Oh. I didn't think you'd start so quick."

   He took a bite off the tip of the banana and swallowed it before speaking. "I said I'd like to start as soon as I could, which would be today. So, here I am."

   "Good." She smiled, then looked down at her watch. "I should probably get going. I've got an appointment soon." She stood up from her seat at the bar and walked over to Harry to kiss his cheek, then walked outside. She was a therapist, and she must've been a good one from all the money she made, but Harry thought with her having that job that she'd be more understanding and helpful in situations. He figured children were an exception with parents in that occupation.

   He spent the next ten minutes walking around the house before he left. He didn't have his own vehicle, and bicycling wasn't his thing, so he just walked to the shelter. It wasn't that far anyways.

   When he arrived, he walked in, and was greeted by the same person that hired him. "Hello, Harry!"

   "Good morning, Mr. Saling," Harry replied back, keeping eye contact. He read it was always a good thing to do just that when talking to your boss. Eye contact could be awkward, but with Mr. Saling, it didn't. He was fairly young, being in his late twenties, and had a great personality, from what Harry had seen so far.

   "Since today is your first day, we're just going to start by having you be a cat socializer. It's pretty simple. You just play with them. Love them. Cats love attention, most of the time, and if they don't get the attention they want, they can get quite feisty. That's not what we need when people drop by to adopt. Follow me." Mr. Saling turned around and began walking towards the back. Harry followed him, stopping when he walked into the room full of cats. It was a cat playground. Obstacles were set up everywhere on the tiled floor. A few pet-taxis were here and there, along with some pillows. It must've been for if they needed to get comfy. "I'm just going to close this door. Like I said, all you have to do is play with them and love them. These are all females, so don't worry about any mating. Anyways. Simple enough, right?" Harry nodded. "Good. Alright, I'll leave you be. Two hours would be a long enough time for you, but just however you'd like to stay is fine. We close at five," Mr. Saling then with a smile before closing the door.

   Harry sighed then looked down to his feet, where a cat was rubbing up against his leg. "Well, hello to you, too," he said, then sat down on the floor, crossing his legs, to be more closer down to their level. The cat meowed, then crawled up into his lap, as did a few others. So far, so good.

---

So, this is mainly just an introduction chapter. That explains why it's so boring, but I have great plans for this story! Let me know what you think so far. (: