Hybrid Discovery [SKZ fanfiction]| Lee Felix and Bang Chan

Sweaterpaws, Rapunsel and tiny sips

A few days later they all enjoy a movie night after dinner together. Felix's weekend has started and they want to make the most out of it now Mimu is staying over. They're loud and rowdy whilst choosing the movie and it doesn't take long before something goes wrong.
As usual, Jeongin manages to spill something. Whilst pouring juice in his glass the bottle slips out of his hands and tumbles over taking other stuff with it in a domino effect.
'Oh no!' the Jackdaw hybrid exclaims, trying his best to stop things from tumbling over. 'Jeongin! Why?!' Hyunjin yells, evading an avalanche of popcorn dropping in his lap.
Mimu isn't that quick to catch on what happens behind her and screeches out loud when a glass of coke, together with the juice spills all over her body, onto the ground.
'Mimu!' Felix gasps. He jumps up and runs over to the kitchen where Seungmin is already picking up a rag to clean the mess. Mimu whines softly when the human runs over to her to pat her dry to no avail.
'Oh gosh, I'm so sorry,' Jeongin apologizes to her. 'Let me help.'
Both Changbin and Minho push him back before he can make a bigger mess and the youngest whines to them.
'Ash, she's all sticky,' Felix pouts, trying his best to wipe the juice pulp out of her fur.
Mimu grumbles and escapes from Felix's grasp to walk over to the hallway. She makes a loud noise for the human to hurry up and follow her. Felix freezes as he sees her walking towards the bathroom.
'Uh, ah... I can't- It's... I can't help you, Mimu,' he stutters, remembering his embarrassment from recognizing the last time he helped her bathe without the knowledge of her being a hybrid and female.
'Just turn the showerhead on,' Minho lazily says, not moving a finger whilst lying stretched out on the couch. 'She'll probably manage fine without us. Let her change without us being there.'
He says it without any air and all the others look from him to the black cat hybrid who tilts her head and places one paw on the ground. Yes, she can manage.

'I think this is a good temperature. If it's too hot, turn this knob slightly like this, alright?' Felix's cheeks are burning up. Mimu mewls at him to make clear she understands and gives a look at the door to make clear she's ready to be alone. Felix hurries over to the door to leave her alone. He goes back to the living room and they resume their movie night.
Only now there's a weird tension hanging in the air. All of them too focussed on the sound of water from the bathroom instead of watching the movie.
'Should I check if she's alright?' Minho asks after some time. His lazy demeanor gone and replaced by a straight pose and his leg tapping on the ground.
They're all shuffling around in their places, knowing she might be in her human form, using their shower.
'No! We can't just barge in if she's human!' Felix huffs at the Russian Blue.
'Who says she's in her human form?' Seungmin remarks.
'And who said anything about me barging in,' Minho nags at his human. 'We can knock and ask her if everything is alright, right?'
They bicker back and forth if they should check up on her or not when Chan notices the sound of water has stopped and mentions it. They all turn their head towards the hallway when they hear a click from the bathroom door.
'Hm ah...'
They immediately mute the tv sound hearing a soft voice from down the hallway. They stay silent to make sure they heard it right.
'L-Lix?'
It's a little raspy and faint, but it is clearly a human voice. Felix jumps up and with the others close behind him he walks to the hallway. A small, bleak arm reaches out with a grabby hand. 'T-tow...Towel?'
Felix almost freezes on his spot seeing her slender fingers with long nails. Her skin looks so soft. He shakes his head and sighs relieved when Han is already running back to the kitchen to pick a clean towel from their drying rack. The towels in the bathroom must be used up already, he thinks. Han places the towel in Felix's hand. He looks at his hybrids when Chan gives him a soft push. 'She asked for you,' he whispers to him.
'Ah... Yeah. Of course,' Felix mumbles, making his way over to the outstretched hand.
'I'm not looking,' he says whilst holding one hand before his eyes, placing the fresh towel into her hand. Their hands softly brush against each other and Felix can't help but hold his breath for a second.
Mimu quickly retracts her hand and closes the door. Felix releases his breath before the door opens slightly again. From between the gap he hears her ask; 'U-use... Y-your room?'
He blinks twice and nods, forgetting she can't see him. 'Oh-Yeah, Sure, of course. We'll back up for you, alright?'
He turns his head towards the seven hybrids who are almost piled up over each other around the corner to listen in. He waves his hand for them to back up and they scurry back to the living room. He joins them and a few seconds later they hear the door of the bathroom open and even later the door to his bedroom open.
'Why does she need to be in your room?' Han whispers to Felix.
'I don't know. Maybe she doesn't want to keep the bathroom occupied?' Felix replies.
'Maybe she wants some privacy first?' Changbin fills in. 'Not every hybrid can revert that easily back to their human form after some time.'
'Now you mention. She's been in her cat form for what?' Seungmin turns over to Chan who's staring holes into the bedroom door. 'Days? Months? What's the longest you've been in your cat form?' he asks the other black cat who has to avert his attention from the bedroom with willpower.
'A week at most?' he mumbles. 'I had to revert back every evening to sleep as a human, back at the lab.'
They all fall silent with yet another snippet of information the oldest gives them. They don't know if Chan even realizes he lets them in on his past.
Minho clears his throat to get the attention off of the black cat hybrid. 'Longest I've been is three weeks I believe. Back when I was a street hybrid. There were a lot of patrouilles of hybrid control and I was safer to go around as a cat. Took me a day or two to comfortably revert back.'
'Djeez, even though I like being a hybrid I can't imagine being stuck in my bird form for more than two days!' Seungmin shivers. 'Let alone three weeks. How long do you reckon she has been in her cat form?'
Jeongin frowns and thinks back to the day he rescued her from her own home. 'I think she reverts sometimes,' he mentions. 'The window wasn't open when I found her. I doubt she would have opened it as a cat.'
They all perk up when they hear the bedroom door open again. Felix expects to hear her soft mewl, but it stays silent.
'Act normal!' Chan whispers to the others and Felix wipes a hand over his face when he sees them "act normal". Their faces glued to either the tv or a random spot on the ceiling. Jeongin even freezes his limbs like he does when he tries to pose as a taxidermied bird in their home when sudden visitors come over and Hyunjin smacks the younger one on the back of his head to get him to relax. They're all trying their best not to act like she has been gone for a minute, but making it obvious by their terrible acting skills.
A light shuffling sound can be heard and Felix feels how the spot beside him on the couch bends down a bit. Damp, wet hair tickles his shoulder and he can smell she used his shampoo. He slowly removes his hand away from his face and glances next to him to see the small cat hybrid -now in her human form- pulling up her legs to her chest and folding her arms around them. Not making a sound and shyly watching the tv. Nobody dares to move a muscle and they all stay silent.

It's after ten minutes Han practically vibrates from pent up energy on the ground, trying to keep himself calm. 'I can't!' he yelps and none other than Minho slaps him on the neck to reprimand him. He ducks and with both of his hands on his head he turns around to Mimu who's sitting behind him. 'I'm sorry, but I have to look!'
He immediately lifts his eyebrows and points at her. 'Is that Hyung's shirt?' he asks dumbfounded.
Now the silence has been cut off, the others turn around to her as well to observe her. Felix also looks at her and recognizes the sweatpants he wore this morning and left on the edge of his bed. She's also wearing one of Chan's hoodies which make her practically drown in the fabric. She awkwardly shuffles around in her spot, getting flustered with all of them looking at her at once.
'Ah, that's why she wanted to use your room,' Seungmin remarks. 'The clothes issue.'
Mimu plucks on one of the hoodie strings and slowly nods. Hyunjin scoffs and Felix gives him a look, but Hyunjin has his attention not on Mimu, but on Chan who - visibly - is staring at her with a dreamy grin. 'Cute,' he murmurs and Hyunjin shakes his head.
'Earth to Bang Chan. You're drooling,' he teases the oldest who snaps out of it with a blush rising up from his neck, quickly excusing himself, leaving the room for a moment.
Mimu hides most of her face behind her knees, obviously uncomfortable with the sudden compliment and for a moment Felix thinks she'll transform back to being a cat.
To his surprise and relief she doesn't and softly pulls on the end of his shirt. 'S-sorry...F-for taking- For taking the clothes,' she almost whispers.
Felix gets all warm and giddy hearing her speak. He shakes his head and reaches his hand out to her head to pat her. She flinches for a moment and his hand pauses, realizing his automatism of patting her to comfort her. She gives a tiny nod where after he gently pats her. She visibly relaxes a bit under his touch and that makes Felix sigh with relief. She's still the black cat hybrid.
'Your hair is still wet. Did you brush it?' he asks.
She shakes her head. 'No comb.'
Ah. That makes sense. Felix gets up to grab his comb from his room and hands it to her when he returns.
'Mimu?' Hyunjin stares at the comb in her hand. 'May- Can I brush your hair?'
They all look at him perplexed.
'Who's this Hyunjin and what did you do with him?' Seungmin asks the reptile hybrid, not believing his ears.
Hyunjin rolls his eyes and holds up his hand to Mimu who hesitates before handing him the comb.
'I'm the only one of you barbarians who knows how to handle long hair. Did you notice how long hers is?' He points at his own shoulder length hair and after that to Mimu who fumbles with the hem of the hoodie.
Hyunjin shoos Felix out of the way and takes his place next to Mimu who slowly grabs her hair behind her neck and pulls it out of the hoodie.
'Is she a real life rapunzel?' Minho scoffs and Han almost climbs over his lap to reach out to her hair. It reaches all the way to the seating of the couch and although it's pretty tangled and thin on the ends, it's an impressive length.
'Isn't that heavy?' Han asks Mimu.
She shyly nods and makes a cutting sign with her hands.
Han gasps. 'Nooooo! You're not gonna cut it, right?' he exclaims, earning another slap from Minho to calm him down. 'What? I bet it is super pretty when there's no tangles!'
'N-not, pre-pretty,' she mumbles to the enthusiastic hamster hybrid. 'H-heavy.' she huffs.
Hyunjin takes a strand of her hair and tsks at her. 'It may need some taking care of, but I'm sure we can make it pretty. Tell me if I'm hurting you, alright?'
They all try not to give her too much attention while Hyunjin takes care of her. The movie ends without them following it completely. Changbin and Seungmin debate if they should start another one while Jeongin asks Felix if he may play a game on his phone.
'We'll get everyone something to drink,' Minho tells them whilst plucking Han off his lap. Chan has returned from wherever he hid himself and slowly lowers himself on the couch.
Minho and Han come back with mugs filled with everyones favorite evening beverages. Han hesitantly places a glass of water before Mimu who smiles at him. 'I didn't know if you wanted something else when you're... like this.' He gestures at himself and gives an awkward smile.
Hyunjin is making the last efforts to braid her hair in two long braids and stretches himself when he finishes. She thanks him and picks up the glass of water to make small sips. She is slow with her drink, probably it being different for a human, Felix thinks. He sees her glance at Chan's mug with curious eyes when the older blows on his tea before drinking. He nudges Chan who looks at him with a questioned face.
'Mimu, did you perhaps want some tea?' Felix asks.
Her cheeks flare up in a blush as she gets caught staring , but she is brave enough to slowly nod, earning a few coos from Changbin and Han. Chan looks from his mug to her and stretches his arm out to her.
'Here, be careful. The mug is warm,' he says, handing her his beverage.
She has to stretch her hands up to make the sleeves fall back over her hands so she can carefully take over the mug. She sniffs the warm liquid and shakes her head with a little confusion. After that she takes a tiny sip and Chan notices how her eyes lit up before taking another sip.
'Welp, There goes your drink. I'll make another one,' Minho grins, turning back to the kitchen to boil some more water.
Mimu seems content with her new discovery and wraps both hands around the mug and holds it against her chest to inhale the scent of the tea whilst taking an occasional sip. Felix looks at his cup of hot choco. Maybe another night.

Seungmin and Jeongin are the first ones to retreat to sleep. Seungmin flies up to his enclosure and Felix makes sure to drape the cloth close around the hanging cage. Seungmin prefers it that way. There's no curtains in the living room and with their irregular lifestyle they often sleep when it's light outside. Jeongin doesn't seem to mind sleeping in the light and makes himself comfortable in his nest outside on the balcony. He built it on top of the air conditioning unit all by himself. He loves the freedom it gives him to fly out whenever he wants in the mornings when the others are still asleep. Although Felix whined often enough for him to come sleep inside when the weather starts to get bad, Jeongin refuses until he literally gets waterboarded by rain. It's in his nature. Sleeping outside gives him peace.
Hyunjin is the next to get tucked in his enclosure by Felix. The Slow Worm showing off his fangs with a big yawn. Changbin had changed to his dog form halfway through the second movie they watched and now a very tired Mimu is hugging around his fluffy black brown pelt. Felix felt the urge to take a picture of them but withheld himself. He was pretty awake due to the nature of his night job.
Minho was also dozing off with Han on his lap. The hamster hybrid was already out of it before the first half of the movie.
'Hannie, you're heavy. Can you please change?' Minho grumbles at him.
Han mumbles something back and within a second there's only a pile of clothes on Minho's lap with the tiny hamster somewhere hidden in them. Minho scoops him up and wobbles over to the cage on the kitchen table, placing the rodent in it.
'I'll sleep in the bedroom,' he yawns at the others before walking off.
Now there's only Felix and Chan who are left awake.
'More tea?' Felix asks Chan who nods.
They both sip in silence on their tea whilst looking at the Estrela Mountain dog and the now human cat hybrid cuddled around him.
'Should we wake her up?' Felix asks.
'Nah, let her sleep like this,' Chan answers.
He's been observing her the whole night, but can't seem to lay his finger on what it is that reminds him of her. There's a vague familiarity seeing her like this, but that can also be blamed on the pure curiosity he has in her.
Felix notices how Chan is looking at her and softly snickers. Is this the power of being around someone of the same race? He knows Jeongin often looks up in the sky when a flock of Jackdaws fly over. The young Jackdaw hybrid hasn't told them much about his time with his family. All he knows is that Jeongin was part of a Jackdaw cult. Wild hybrids often seclude from the human world and form their own tribes or cults. Some allow their members to venture out, others staying in their own world for generations. Felix remembers when he found Jeongin. Or rather, how Jeongin found Minho. Minho's cat instincts kick in from time to time and this time he hunted the poor hybrid out of the air, wounding him to the point he couldn't fly for a while. Jeongin landed on him in his human form, crushing the Archangel cat with a bloody arm. Minho never hunted after that incident.
Felix frowns his brows when he notices a pattern with all of his hybrids. All of them were found. They either were found by him, or they found each other. The only exception being Changbin, who Felix technically bought thinking he was a normal dog, but turned out to be a hybrid to the unbeknownst of Felix. It still counts as being found, Felix thinks.
He looks over at Chan - also found- and back to Mimu, who found them. At least she still has her owners, though maybe not the best ones. Felix knows he can't take her in even though he would love to. His house is already crammed full with the seven other hybrids and while she won't take up that much space, her owners own her. She never has to fear being picked up by animal or hybrid control. She has papers which state she's legally owned which will save her if she ever gets in trouble. Unlike five of the seven hybrids he lives with.
He isn't brave enough to try to get them registered. What if one of them does have a rightful owner? They would be taken away from him and brought back to their owners. None of them seem to have happy memories of their past humans. Felix wouldn't dare to put them in the positioning they have to go back. So, even though he would love to keep Mimu here as much as possible, he knows her owners will wait for her some time.

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Writer here:
All cute and comfy? 
This part made the tea-lover in me so happy! 
What's your favorite beverage on a cozy evening?