Raised by Lions

Chapter 59: Familiar Friends

Louis is smoking on the balcony attached to his room, watching the sun set, when a commotion by the Manor gate draws his attention.

Three of his lions seem to have their hands full dealing with a young buck. He doesn't appreciate their hesitancy, but at the same time he can understand why they seem hesitant to just manhandle the fear-rowdy deer.

Free manages to pin the young buck to the wall without getting gored by his antlers. They can both thank their personal sparring matches for that. Louis throws his finished cigarette into the nearby ashtray and whistles loud enough for the lions to hear him by the gate.

A simple gesture has them bringing the buck inside to Louis' office, where Free manhandles the kid to sit down, gentler than he usually is. Yeah, the kid is definitely too young to be this deep in the Market, but Louis also recognised the fear stricken amber eyes.

He's confident he can handle the kid on his own, so he dismisses Free and Miguel, knowing full well they'll just loiter around the office door outside until this comes to a conclusion.

Once the door closes behind the two lions, Louis allows the kid a minute to calm down a bit and get his bearings. He seems to be entirely running on prey instincts and that is never a good idea.

"Terry?" He asks, voice gentle but still carrying enough of an edge to get the kid's attention. It takes a tense moment, but Terry's ears flick in that way that shows he heard him and once the voice sinks in, he finally looks away from the floorboards and towards Louis.

Louis allows Terry another few moments to take in this information, a patience that he's only learned by growing up with sometimes very slow or emotionally constipated male big cats.

"L-Louis?" The kid manages to stutter out and Louis nods, offering the kid his glass of whiskey. Yeah, he's still a kid, and by Louis' calculation, Terry should be in second year now. It brings him right back to the biggest question he has, why he was in the Market.

Terry refuses the drink and Louis takes a sip with a shrug. Once Terry stops trembling, Louis let's out a sigh, "I'm not gonna pretend we aren't exactly where you think we are, so let's cut to the chase." The ice cubes in the glass clinked as he set it down firmly.

Terry's eyes watch his hand and then drifts up to look at Louis' twisted antlers, a sign he's both older and far more mature than the kid sitting opposite him at the desk. He swallows nervously and nods his agreement to answer any questions.

"What are you doing out here, Terry? The Black Market is no place for young herbivores," Louis asks, voice once again taking on a gentler tone. He has no need to ascertain dominance here, Terry already looks like he's still seconds away from bolting and Louis has been commanding the lions with ease since the kid got here.

"They grabbed me, b-but I got away. I-I don't know where I am or how to get home a-and I'm scared, s-scared to get eaten or-or sold or something worse," Terry rambles so much that he doesn't even notice Louis getting up from behind the desk, his eyes glued to the floor again.

A gentle hand lands on his shoulder and he goes quiet, eyes tracking up to Louis' honey eyes again. Louis offers him a gentle look, something akin to what a father might give his scared child and Terry can't help but place a hand on top of where Louis' rests, almost as if to check that this is actually happening.

"Who's 'they'?" Was the simple question Louis asked and Terry went into another stuttering reply. "Leopards! Strong ones with big hands and fancy swords and kimonos a-and-and..." Terry keeps rambling, tumbling off into incoherence, but Louis has already heard all he needed to.

He pats Terry's shoulder and takes his hand away again, only to be stopped by a trembling grip on his wrist. Terry mumbled something akin to not wanting Louis to go and Louis wondered if the warmth blossoming in his chest is what the lions felt when he was younger and would ask them to stay with him after particularly bad nightmares.