Chapter 22: Trying for Normalcy
In Celestor Castle...
Wizard Dantre wished not for the first time since the portal collapsed, that he had never found that accursed dimension where Feral had been found. King Bloodnor had him searching for a way to reopen the portal and refused to accept any failure. It didn't matter that he had warned the King that the spell could never be resurrected when he had first cast it.
The King was mad with grief at the loss of his consort but fortunately, no longer driven to mate. That spell Dantre had been able to break. As the King railed at him again, two weeks after the portal had closed, he made plans to leave Celestor Castle. He had enough of having his bones broken and healed to last him an eternity. He knew of others that had already slipped away...the king so preoccupied, he never noticed. Even King Warkil was better than this and it had to be very bad to want that king's insanity over this one's seemingly endless grief and fury.
Megakat City...
Feral had shut him out. It hurt more than he thought it should. After all, he had never cared for the big tom in the first place so he tried to ignore the growing need to help the emotionally beleaguered Commander. He might as well have been spitting in the wind...the bond between them kept him unwillingly aware of Feral's suffering. The harder he tried to get on with his own life the more Feral's would intrude.
From the day Feral was free from the portal's grasp, T-Bone had given him what he wanted ... ...complete freedom to get his life back to normal. Unfortunately, being pregnant wasn't a normal thing and couldn't be ignored. Two months later, someone close to the Commander finally couldn't stand what was going on and sought out T-Bone to confide in him.
The battle for a stolen set of plans was quickly brought to an end when the SWAT Kats captured Hard Drive. As they were handing the slippery criminal over to the enforcers, the Sergeant took that opportunity to corner T-Bone.
"The Commander would be pissed if he saw me talking to you but I can no longer stand by and watch him deteriorate. You need to do something to help him." The Sergeant said urgently.
T-Bone stared at him in surprise. "He doesn't want anything to do with me and I'm just respecting his wishes." He said flatly.
"And I respect you for doing that but he's suffering and won't listen to anyone about seeking help. He needs counseling...everyone can see how depressed he is...and it doesn't help that he can't keep anything in his stomach. The nausea is a constant thing despite the medication the doctor gave him. He's been very touchy and quicker to anger than normal. This just can't go on!" The older enforcer said, worriedly.
"Crud! Alright, I'll see what I can do but I make no promises." T-Bone finally growled, conceding that he could no longer ignore the problem. The Sergeant nodded in relief and left.
Razor wasn't happy about this at all and he made it plain to T-Bone on their way back to the hangar.
T-Bone snarled unhappily as he argued, "He is just trying to be macho about this. It was a humiliating time for him. I understand that! Queen Callista said I was right to be concerned over our future but to not push him and I haven't! I've honored his desire to be alone for a while. But you heard the Sergeant, he's getting worse. But, I didn't need him to tell me that as I can feel it in our bond. I need to see him and convince him to seek help even if he doesn't want to be with me."
"What do you mean you 'feel' it through the bond? You never said anything about that to me." Razor said aggrieved.
"I didn't want to worry you and I was trying to ignore it. It's not like I can hear him or anything. It's just a feeling of discomfort that I know is coming from him." The burly tom explained as he brought the jet into the hangar and shut down the engines. He popped the canopy and they jumped to the floor.
As he yanked his mask off, Jake snapped back, "You should have told me, Chance. How you feel can affect how you fly and fight. That definitely affects how well we survive."
"Sorry! I didn't think it really did affect me that much except in the back of my mind and only when I focus on it. It's not as if it's right there at the forefront, constantly distracting me...it's not. Only when I'm quiet or trying to sleep do I become aware of his pain." Chance said trying to explain something that his friend couldn't grasp unless he experienced it for himself. He stripped his clothes off and put on his coveralls.
Jake was silent for a bit as he too changed his clothes. When they were finished, Jake halted his buddy and said seriously, "Okay, I guess I have to trust you to know what you're saying since there's no way for me to really understand it. Just be careful...okay? I don't want to see you hurt by this."
"I will. It's just, knowing how bad it is for Feral, I can't ignore it any longer. I have to do something. Thanks for trying to be understanding about it. I'd better go try to see him tonight." Chance said relieved he hadn't alienated his partner and friend.
"Probably a good idea. Hope everything works out for you." Jake said, sighing in resignation.
Later that night, near ten o'clock, T-Bone peered into the Commander's bedroom window. His mate's bed was empty. He jimmied the lock and slid the window open silently. Dropping to the carpeted floor, he froze and looked around. Through the door leading to the living room he saw a dim light flickering.
Moving silently over the thick carpet, T-Bone reached the door and peered out. Sleeping in an uncomfortable position in his recliner and fully dressed was Feral. The flickering was the TV on mute.
Shaking his head, the tabby tom walked up to Feral. He was about to touch the big tom on the shoulder but then had a thought and knelt down beside the chair instead before gently caressing the arm next to him.
His foresight had been good. Feral jerked awake and made a warding off gesture that sent a piece of sculpture on a pedestal behind T-Bone, flying toward a wall and smashing it to pieces. If he had been standing he would have been the one flying against the wall.
"Good reflexes." He murmured softly.
Feral blinked in shock and looked down at the kneeling SWAT Kat.
"What are you doing in my apartment?" He demanded with a snarl.
"Seeing you!" The burly tom retorted.
"Well I don't want to see you!" Feral snarled standing up then paling suddenly. He pushed past T-Bone and just made it to the bathroom.
T-Bone moved quickly after him. He sighed unhappily as his mate heaved in the toilet. He stepped past Feral to grab a glass on the counter and fill it with water. When the dark tom finally leaned back to sit on the floor, T-Bone handed him the glass without a word.
Grimacing, Feral took it and rinsed his mouth out. T-Bone leaned over and flushed the toilet. He knelt down beside his mate and took the paw without the glass and began to rub his wrist hard as he had seen Razor do that time in the park.
Feral didn't pull away and sat still, eyes partly closed.
"Is that a little better?" The burly tom asked softly.
"Yeah, a little." Feral muttered setting the glass on the floor then resting his head on his raised knees.
T-Bone released the wrist then began stroking Feral's back in a comforting caress to help further ease the tom.
"You don't have to prove how strong you are." T-Bone said quietly "Everyone one knows you are. But you need help dealing with what happened to you. You can't just tough it out on your own. If you haven't noticed yet, it's not working." He said with wane humor.
"I just...I can't deal with it...I'd rather just put it in the past and move on..." Feral growled unhappily.
"But you're not moving on Ulysses and, unfortunately, the bond and your pregnancy are physical reminders of what happened so you have to learn how to deal with it. It's just not going to go away." T-Bone said plainly.
"Why should you care? It's not your problem...you can wipe your paws of it and go on with your life." Feral raised his head to look at him, snapping nastily.
T-Bone sighed and didn't get angry at his defensive mate. "Unfortunately, it is. The bond between us may not be telepathic or empathic but it does make itself felt when one of us is feeling really bad. I can't ignore you even if we both might want that." He said heavily not stopping his caresses.
Feral dropped his head down again with a groan of defeat. They sat there in silence for some time.
"Let's get some sleep. You're exhausted. We can talk in the morning." T-Bone finally said coaxing Feral to get to his feet.
Feral reluctantly complied but stood still for a moment to insure his stomach would stay quiet. When it seemed to behave, he walked out of the bathroom and began to strip his clothes off.
T-Bone let him be and stripped down to his boxer and tee. He opened the bed and waited for Feral to close up his apartment for the night then return to climb into the bed. As soon as he was settled, the burly tom also climbed in and spooned his mate from behind.
Feral stiffened and seemed unable to relax. T-Bone understood why and simply draped an arm over the big tom's midsection and nuzzled his neck but made no sexual demands. It had been a long day so it wasn't long before he fell asleep.
It took Feral more than half an hour to relax but finally, comforted by the warm weight behind him and the sounds of his mate's even deep breathing, he succumbed and slipped into slumber.
It was late Saturday morning when the two males finally roused. T-Bone's morning erection pressed against Feral's tail. Realizing this might not be welcome, the sandy colored tom pulled away and prepared to get up. A powerful arm reached out behind it's body and pulled him back close.
"It's okay. I missed this more than I realized." Feral said softly moving his arm back, pausing only to caress T-Bone's thigh before returning it to his front.
"Are you sure? I don't want to do anything you'll regret later." The smaller tom asked cautiously, beginning a gentle caress of Feral's side.
"Yes, I'm sure." Feral answered without hesitation.
"Okay." T-Bone said agreeably but still taking his cues from Feral. Not willing to go any further than the dark tom was willing on this first step back to intimacy for them.