I had a vast amount of experience with feline-like creatures. There were many feral felines in the city that I grew up in. They wandered the streets, constantly looking for food or attention from the many passersby, and even going as far as to be allowed into the restaurants or cafes clogging side streets. For some reason, they had been happily accepted into our society which made it fair more acceptable when my siblings and I wandered home with stray cats all the time. I was vaguely reminded of this sort of behavior by the way I had all but adopted the feline-man as a companion for the time being. He had come into the shop with me, then proceeded to change the schedule of my day without a care of mine to be had, which was far from normal. I didn't mind sharing the afternoon, or evidently my bed but my opinion hadn't been taken into account, nor would it be. I had watched in amusement as my newfound feline companion had dueled it out with my significantly smaller, more domesticated personal feline. Church was obviously amused with the events of the day, and I was content to leave them be as they were.

"If only it worked that way for humans. What, do you just pee on it and bam, it's yours?"

I was almost curious about the animal world. Was it really that easy? I had good experiences with animals, and I was generally in tune with nature, blah, blah, blah. But did I understand the actual rules of were-animals? No, and I was sort of genuinely curious as to how they divided our city up amongst themselves. Clearly, Tobias had a wealth of knowledge that he was so generous to share. With his lackadaisical sprawl over my bed, he looked like a king on a throne. Who was I to tell him otherwise? With a snort of amusement, I leaned back into my chair to watch as he rolls the words I've given him on his tongue. Neutered? Church looked up at me, then, his eyes narrowing as if he understood that he may be significantly less manly than Tobias. The black cat gave nothing more than a disgruntled huff before he returned to licking his paws and leaving the "humans" to their mangled speech. Tobias seemed oblivious to Church suddenly as he rose, instantaneously desiring to understand the room and possessions decorating its interior. Was it really necessary to stick everything in his mouth? I bit my tongue, finding my eyes narrowing at this behavior. Granted, I think I would have tried to eat everything too if lipstick was my favorite food in order to discover a new more delectable treat. Resigned, I went back to my sandwich.

"I stand corrected."

My words were little more than acknowledgement that he had been speaking to me in particular. Sex had to be different for animals... I had made the mistake of mentioning bestiality to the only female were-creature I was even close enough to, to have a conversation with. Incredibly insulted, she had glowered at me before I realized I had said something that was less than acceptable. With a wry smile, I entertained the idea of mentioning such a thing to Tobias. Surely, bestiality was something to bring up at a later date, but ... Did they like ... Was this a human interaction, or did they ever entertain the idea of their animal bodies? How ridiculous would the different species be, and could they even procreate? Because a giraffe-leopard kind of deal might be humorous, but the logistics would have been lost on me. I had been lost in zoological thought too deeply to grasp that the leopard was going to do something to investigate my prior claim. Wait, really? My eyebrows skyrocketed towards my hairline, probably getting lost somewhere up there to express my serious concern for what I've done. It was now obvious I needed to keep my tongue in check, and refrain from using the word penis ever again, lest I want to see things I really, truly, would rather be kept in the dark about.

"Yeah, let's... Let's not do that..." I grumbled, probably mirroring his petulant expression. Two nearly full grown men looking like punished children sitting in my bedroom. Really? That's what this has come to? With a huff, I refused to even acknowledge his statement of dominance in all things, whether physical or... anything else. My attention returned whole heartedly towards my dwindling sandwich, until there were fucking grubby paws on it. The bread was suddenly on the floor before I could slap his hands away.

"Get your grubby paws off my sandwich, you miscreant."

The words weren't harsh, and they were of such a nature that he probably wouldn't understand them as an insult. Significantly more annoyed, I grit my teeth, debating if I wanted to answer his question with some truth. The women in Tobias' life clearly wanted a relationship. I understood "Birdie" to be Raven, but the other woman? I couldn't have spoken anything for her, and so I vaguely disregarded her mention.

"I think Raven or... Birdie, whatever, " I waved off the name, "perhaps, wants a relationship. Not just a lot of smelling good and sex games." The last part brought a ghost of a smirk to my lips. "Besides, how many times do you want to get slapped? She's pretty good at it." Sex only for mates, hm... Relationships were work, but the sex was a benefit. And outside of a relationship? The sex was a benefit there, too. In an attempt to keep from saying something I didn't want to explain, I simply shrugged off his question of whether or not sex is simply for a mate.

I attempted to, at least.

"Some women don't care, and some want to be... mates, first. Women don't like to see men have their cake and eat it too."

Sorry, Nadya and Raven. Oops.

At the mention of making dinner, I felt my eyes roll. I had taken him through the market to acquire food which he had surely done. He wanted more?

"As much as I would love to become your indentured servant, I am sorry to inform you that my care taking abilities have diminished since walking in the front door. Use your animal instincts and find your way to the kitchen."