TLR CHAPTER 127

Coral and Ryan, a Silly Aside

Written by Snarks and Rosemarie

The week after their return from their honeymoon, Coral and Ryan had decided to go into town for lunch and a change of scenery.  When Coral reached into the closet to pull out his sneakers, he found a large ball of fur and a tail sticking out of his right sneaker.  He gently pulled the cat, who protested loudly, out and tapped his footwear tentatively on the floor, just in case Cas had left a surprise in it.  Finding nothing, he pulled on his socks and slipped his feet in. The still growing kitten pounced on his feet, batting at the sneakers and meowing loudly.

"Ry, I think Cas has gone a little crazy," Coral called out.  "He seems to think my size 16s are large mice!"

Ryan laughed. "He probably just misses you," he said, gathering up his pet. Cas filled Ryan's arms now. He cuddled his large kitten, but the cat meowed loudly and scrambled to get down and began pouncing on Coral's sneakers once more. Ryan just chuckled.

"Well, he's going to have to miss us a little more today." Coral grinned, slipping the cat into his carrier to bring to Mutt to take care of.  "Today is our day to relax since the range is closed."  He frowned a little and tugged at his socks before standing upright again.  "Ready to roll, Angel?"

Ryan nodded. "Yes, let's go. I'm sure Mutt will be able to keep him entertained.  Shorty said that he visited Cas nearly every day while we were on our honeymoon."

Coral chuffed a laugh. "Yep, for a guy who claims to be a dog person, he sure spoils this cat whenever we leave him."  He picked up the carrier by its handle and remarked to his lover, “Cas is going to need a bigger carrier soon.”  Putting an arm around his boy, then leaning down to give him a kiss on the cheek, he ordered, "Forward... march!"

Mutt answered the door and immediately scooped Castiel out of the carrier, groaning theatrically as though the cat weighed a ton. "There's my little nephew!" he crooned as he cradled the nearly twelve-pound animal. Looking at him he chuffed a laugh and said, “But not so little anymore are you? Oooooffff!" He groaned again as he lifted the nine-month-old kitten up to give him a kiss on the nose. 

The fur ball meowed as though in protest, and the young man laughed. "Awww, Cas, you know I'm just kidding," he said, giving the cat another kiss on the nose. 

Mutt looked up at Coral and grinned at Ryan. "He's in good hands. Go on and have fun."

He was surprised when Castiel jumped out of his arms and began to bat at Coral's sneakers. Mutt bent down and scooped him up looking at Coral and Ryan. “He sure loves your sneakers, Cor.”

Castiel scrambled down from Mutt's arms once again and began to bite and claw at Coral's sneakers, pulling at and undoing his laces.

The young man bent down and picked him up once again. “What’s up Cas? I've never known you to have a shoe fettish.” He laughed, holding the large cat under its arms and looking into his face.  "Have you decided to be a dog today, trying to chew on shoes?" he teased.

Ryan said, “He’s been like this since Cor put them on. He found him inside one of them when he was getting’ dressed and hasn’t stopped attackin’ them since."  The young man shook his head and watched his cat.

Castiel meowed loudly and struggled to get down.  Mutt let his furry friend go carefully so that he wouldn't get hurt.  Once Cas was back on the ground he attacked Coral’s large sneakers once more.

Ryan frowned slightly. "I have no idea why he's so fascinated with your sneakers Cor; he's never done this before."

Coral picked the large feline back up and held it at eye level. "What is going on with you today?" he asked the cat, who answered with a plaintive 'Mrrrroooooowwwww!'

"Well," Mutt said, taking his four-legged nephew once again, "he'll be fine. We'll have a lot of fun, don't worry." He grinned.

"We'll see you in about three hours, Mutt. Don't spoil him too much," Coral joked.

"Aw, what's an uncle for if not to spoil his nephew? Besides, I get to give him back and then you have to deal with him," Mutt joked.

“Spoken like a true uncle,” Coral chuckled.

Ryan went with Coral leaving the cat meowing at them as they left.

Mutt watched as the two men left and grinned at the fur ball who would be his companion for the next few hours. “Let’s play Cas.” He rolled a couple of fluff balls in front of the cat and they were immediately pounced on and batted around. The young man laughed fondly. He always loved to see Cas playing. He usually didn’t care much for cats, but Castiel was special to him and because he had grown so large he seemed more like a small dog. He wondered exactly how big his not so little friend would be once he was fully grown. He knew that Maine Coons could grow quite big and he imagined what a bruiser Cas would be.

He got a wand with fluff balls hanging from it. Cas attacked them, biting and clawing playfully as Mutt wiggled them across the floor. He watched and then got a puzzled look on his face. The cat was attacking the fluffballs like he had been doing to Coral’s sneakers. He laughed, imagining Coral wearing size 16, fluffy slippers with Castiel chasing after them as the big man walked. 

After lunch the two security guards went window shopping. Coral steered Ryan into the pet store to check out larger carriers for their fur baby.

Ryan pouted when Coral thwarted his want to get Castiel more playthings. He had noticed that his furry friend had lost some of his fluff balls and had wanted to get more of them.

“How do you think Cas would like a halter and leash, Angel?” Cor asked fingering one of the brightly colored harnesses.  “He might like to explore outside.  He would be safe on a leash.”

Ryan thought about it while he examined the harness then agreed with his lover, “I know he would love being outside.  Can we get them now?”

“We can get the carrier today, but we need to talk to Shorty and get an idea on how large he thinks your powder puff will be before we get the harness.  He can tell us the best one to get too.”   Coral whispered in his brat’s ear, “Then the rest of today is for us.”

After spending a leisurely afternoon together, the two men arrived back at the resort, they picked up Castiel from Mutt who reported to them that he had been good.

“He loved playing with the new fluff ball wand I got for him when he visits here,” Mutt reported to his friend.

Ry told him with a laugh that Cas was crazy over those particular toys and pouted as he told how Coral wouldn’t let him buy any more. “Cor says I have to find the missing ones before I can get Cas anything new.”

Mutt laughed and squeezed the other young man’s shoulder. "If you buy any more stuff for him there won't be any room in your place left for you and Coral," he joked. "You'll have to ask James for a second bungalow just to live in."

As Mutt and Ryan were talking Coral transferred Castiel's blanket into the new carrier, and placed their friend inside. The cat sniffed around a little before curling up, purring loudly.

"Hey guys," Mutt said with a thoughtful expression, "if it's ok with you, I think Shorty might be able to use the old carrier, if you're sure you don't need it anymore, that is."

Coral looked at Ryan for his answer.

Ryan sighed, not really wanting to give up part of Castiel’s kittenhood, but agreed because his pet didn’t need it anymore. They left Mutt and tiredly, but happily arrived home where they let Cas out of his new carrier before sitting down on the couch to remove their sneakers.  Immediately, the large cat jumped into Coral's sneaker, meowing and obviously reaching for something.

Ryan looked at Coral puzzled. "What do you have in there Cor? He wants somethin' in your shoes."

Once again, Coral removed the cat from his sneaker, and curious, reached into it.  He felt something soft and squishy and grimaced, wondering what it could be, and hoping it wasn't what he was thinking.  Eventually he was able to pull out the item. It was one of Castiel's fluff balls, very squashed and a bit worse for wear, which had somehow ended up wedged in the toe of his sneaker.

 Ryan began to laugh. "You didn't know it was in there?" he asked.

"I was wearing thick socks, and the insoles are very soft," Coral laughed.  "I just thought my socks were bunched up a little." He frowned again as he noticed Castiel wriggling into his other sneaker, making the same noises of frustration that his little sister used to make when she was a toddler.

Ryan grinned. "Better check that one too Cor... you never know what you might find."

He removed the cat once again, reached in, and this time found two fluff balls.  He couldn't help but to laugh. He too was surprised that he hadn't felt them.

Ryan laughed as he tried to restore the squished fluff balls to a semblance of their roundness.

The large cat meowed and rubbed against Ryan waiting for his human to give him the toys. "You shouldn't leave your playthings in Coral's sneakers if you don't want them squished," he told his impatient kitten.

Cas batted one of the more or less restored toys out of Ryan's hand and began to chase after it while the two men sat and laughed at the spectacle.  

"Remind me to check my shoes and sneakers from now on." 

 Ryan laughed and said, "I will."

Coral laughed as he took turns with Ryan, tossing the playthings across the floor, watching Cas chase them around the living room.

The half-grown kitten finally got tired and plopped down at Ryan's feet, seeming to fall asleep instantly.

Coral leaned toward Ryan with a glint in his eyes.  "While the cat's away, or in this case, asleep, the mice should play.  What do you think, Angel?"

Ryan nodded eagerly, a wide grin on his face. "Yes, let's go!"

Coral whisked Ryan into their bedroom, closed the door quietly, and proceeded to pretend that he was a cat and that Ryan was his favorite toy.