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Nico lived a somewhat average life. As normal as he could anyway, his father is a CEO of a big company and his mother, well, he didn’t like to talk about her. He had a few friends, well he had his sister and his cousins and their significant others and he guesses that’s good enough. However, his life was going to get a bit more interesting, and no, not in the normal way, not in a normal way at all.
Nico and his sister Hazel were eating dinner in the apartment they shared with Hazel’s boyfriend, Frank. The door then opened signaling Frank had come home from the emergency he had explained he needed to take care of at his veterinary clinic.
“Hey, Hazel, hey Nico,” Frank greeted as he walked into the kitchen carrying a cat carrier.
Nico scowled at the cat carrier. While Frank and his sister loved animals, Nico did not. Nico thought that was fair considering the only two animals that didn’t hate him were his cousin’s dog and his dad’s dog. Nico understood that Frank was a vet and that sometimes meant that he had to take animals home but Nico just really wished that every single animal Frank has ever brought home didn’t hate and/or run away from him like he reeked of death.
Hazel on the other hand got up from her seat and excitedly peered into the carrier.
“Aww,” she squealed, “He’s so cute! I’ve never seen a cat with that colouring before. Where’d he come from?”
Frank smiled a little sadly, “Someone brought him in when they found him on the side of the road with a gunshot wound in his side. He doesn’t have a microchip or anything but I don’t think he is a stray considering his breed and colouring so for now he’s staying here.”
Frank put the carrier down and opened the cage door. Nico finally had a good view of the cat who was blinking its bright blue eyes tiredly. Its fur looked like it was orange mixed with cream that created a very light blond colour. Nico also saw bandages on its right flank and felt pity for the poor creature. The cat must have somehow sensed Nico looking at it because its blue eyes turned up to look calmly at him. The blue eyed gaze was fixed on him for a long moment before the cat laid its small head back down on the comfortable bottom of the carrier. Hazel and Frank were looking at him curiously, the ladder having an odd glint in his eye. The raven, suddenly feeling embarrassed, quickly finished the rest of his dinner and bid the couple good night as he retreated to his room. He didn’t notice the knowing glance Frank gave the blonde cat as its eyes tracked Nico’s movements all the way to his room.
***
The cat (Sunshine, as Hazel dubbed it) was unlike any cat Nico had ever met before. Other cats wanted nothing to do with Nico; they avoided him and hissed at him if he got too close. Sunshine however, seeked him out at any chance he got. Meowing when Nico came home, carefully walking up to Nico when he was on the couch or bed and softly bat at his leg to be lifted up and put next to him and letting Nico pet him without hesitation. Hazel just cooed at them while Frank was having a good laugh at it, the bastard.
Currently Sunshine was nuzzling against his hand where Nico and him were sitting on the bed. It had been about a month since he first came and Frank said that he was going to go soon and honestly, Nico felt really sad about it, but Frank had found his rightful owners so he had to go back. As Nico was scratching the blue eyed cat's chin he felt surprised as tears started falling down his cheeks. Sunshine seemed to have noticed this because he snuggled closer to Nico and after another half hour the two fell into a peaceful sleep curled up side by side.
***
“Hey, so I invited a new co-worker over for dinner tomorrow.” Frank said.
It had been a week since Sunshine left and Nico was feeling more grumpy than usual and the notion of a random stranger coming into his apartment did nothing to help that. Based on Frank and Hazel’s reactions, Nico could safely assume that his displeasure was very apparent on his face.
“C’mon Nico, Will’s a really good guy. I promise.” Frank said.
Nico just grunted in response and went back to the vegetables he was washing.
Throughout dinner Hazel lectured him about being “nice” and “welcoming”. Nico however, wasn’t having it. Frank, the bastard, mentioned that Will was both single and bisexual so Hazel, being way more involved in his romantic affairs than she should be, started asking her boyfriend for the “deets” and despite Nico having sworn off relationships after his last boyfriend cheated on him couldn’t help but listen in. What he learned was concerning, the guy was a little shorter than Frank, had blonde hair (natural) and light blue eyes, and if that wasn’t enough he also had a bit of a southern accent when he gets excited, and dammit, is exactly his type.
***
When Nico was walking up to his apartment he heard laughing from inside, Frank’s deep yet quiet chuckling, his sister’s quiet snorting laughter, and someone else's laughter. This laugh was a loud, joyous baritone, Nico thought it was beautiful.
As Nico opened the door he was met with the sight of his sister and Frank cuddled up on the couch and another man- Will lounging on the carpeted floor a few feet away from them. As Nico walked inside Frank and Will quickly turned their heads to look at him. It was then that Nico got his first good look at Will. He had short to medium length blond hair that curled around his ears, bright, curious, light blue eyes and a mouth that was set in a gentle smile.
“Hey Nico,” Hazel said, running up to him and grabbing his hand to drag him into the living room, “Come meet Will, he’s really nice.”
Will got up off the floor and went to shake Nico’s hand. When their hands touched Nico’s eyes widened, it was like an electric spark shot up through his arm and spread to the rest of his body, he blushed hard and it was very prominent on his pale skin. Frank, who was watching this exchange snorted and Hazel hid a smile behind her hands. He scowled at both of them.
The four of them started getting dinner ready and as it turns out Will’s a terrible cook so Frank set him on vegetable washing duty with a pointed look that Nico couldn’t interpret.
They all sat at the table and dug in. Nico doesn’t eat much, he never really did even in his teenage years so he finishes first. As he’s looking around at the other plates he sees that Will, much like Frank, has lots of meat on his plate. That’s fine with Nico, he just doesn’t think he could eat as much meat as Frank and apparently Will do. He thought maybe it was a tall person thing but he doubts it.
After dinner they all watched some tv, Frank sitting on the left side of the couch with Hazel on his lap, Nico in the middle and Will on the right. When it was time for Will to go home he took Nico aside and expressed interest in seeing him again. They decided to meet up after work in three days. As Will was leaving he hugged all of them. Nico, who usually didn’t like to be touched, sunk into Will’s warm hold. After Will has closed the door Nico caught his sister’s look and yeah, he was screwed.
***
It’s been one year since Nico met Will. They had officially been dating for ten months and Nico had noticed he had some of the same weird quirks that Hazel’s boyfriend Frank has, his insanely good hearing, his speed, his immense love of meat. He also has some quirks that are all his own, namely his love of taking short naps in the sun, his tendency to sleep curled up in a tiny ball despite his 6,2 frame and Nico’s least favourite his love of eating canned fish straight from the can (Nico has a rule that he can’t kiss him until he brushes his teeth).
Nico is reading a book while Will is asleep with his head on Nico’s lap and the rest of his body curled inwards. Nico rolls his eyes affectionately at the display. It may seem kind of odd considering Will is human but Will reminds him of Sunshine a lot. Maybe that’s why he was able to find peace that his furry friend is happy somewhere else so quickly.
He still wonders about the cat but Nico can only assume that he’s happy now. Besides, when he asked Frank that question he got that weird glint in his eye and told him that Sunshine is very happy now. That’s another thing, Will and Frank are close, Frank eventually told Hazel and him that he knew Will from years back and that was why Will was working at the specific vet clinic that Frank worked at. Their relationship is kind of odd. Sometimes one or the other will send a certain look the other’s way and Will joins Frank on his weekly hiking trips that Frank has made very clear is his alone time. Maybe Nico is reading into this too much, when he confronted Hazel about it and just said she was glad that we all liked each other. Besides, Nico’s not worried about it he’s just… curious.
Will shifted a bit in his sleep and let out a slow breath. Nico smiled a soft smile and kissed the top of his head.
***
Last night there was an eerie howl that echoed throughout the whole neighbourhood. Will and Frank both excused themselves saying they had “Things to take care of.” That was fourteen hours ago and Nico and his sister were both worried.
They waited for a couple more hours and then went to look for them themselves. They didn’t have much to go on, they hadn’t taken their phone or Frank’s car.
“Hey Nico,” Hazel said nervously, “Don’t you think it’s weird that they both left after that creepy howl?”
“Yeah, I do,” Nico replied, “Hey Hazel in the seven years you’ve been dating Frank has he ever done anything strange?”
His sister looked confused, “It depends what you mean by “strange” but come to think of it there have been some weird things he does, besides the weird behaviour you’ve seen from him of course.”
Nico pressed her to elaborate.
“Well he sleeps curled up most of the time, like the way an animal would, he always seems to hear or smell things that I don’t, there are his walks that he’s been going on ever since I’ve met him that he never let anyone on but now he let’s Will go with him so that’s strange…
There were plenty of other strange things she’d noticed about Frank after that, some correlated with Will, some did not, all Nico knew was that he was confused and kind of suspicious.
It was getting dark when Hazel and Nico arrived at the forest Frank and Will hiked in. After searching everywhere else they could think of, they decided that this was their last shot at finding them. Sure, it was stupid to go into a relatively untouched, unfamiliar forest at night but they were desperate.
As they were trucking through the brush with their phone lights on they heard the crashing of branches and suddenly a huge wolf ran by them. Nico didn’t even think wolves could be as big as this one was. What was more concerning was when it suddenly halted and looked at them with panic in its eyes and the siblings saw that it had clothes in its mouth- Frank and Will’s clothes to be exact.
Hazel screamed and Nico stood shocked in his fear about what must have happened to the two of them. As Hazel started crying the wolf whimpered and tried to come closer but Nico shouted at it trying to get it away, it stood still seeming indecisive. Before Nico could try any other tactic, what looked to be a cat climbed onto the wolf and started to bat at the wolf’s jaw. The wolf made a sad sounding noise but eventually went back further into the woods.
Hazel, who was balling at this point, hadn’t seen the strange exchange between the animals. Nico knew he should probably be acting the same way as her but something was off, and that cat… it looked like… Sunshine. Nico didn’t know how long he stood processing the information but the next thing he knew there were footsteps coming from behind them. Nico and Hazel quickly turned around only to be met with their boyfriends, in the same clothes that they just saw in the wolf’s mouth.
Hazel jumped up and barrelled into Frank squeezing him hard and then doing the same thing to Will.
“I thought you guys were dead!” She wailed, “There was this big wolf that had your clothes and I thought something bad had happened to you and, wait,” She finally seemed to notice what Nico had noticed when he first saw them, “The wolf had the clothes you have on right now…”
Frank and Will shared a guilty look, Frank took a deep breath, “There’s something we need to tell you.”
***
Nico learned a lot that night, like how there are actual werecreatures and that Frank and Will are ones, a werewolf and a werecat to be specific. Meaning that, at will, both of them can turn into animals, Will being a normal cat and Frank being an overgrown wolf. Both Frank and Will were born with their abilities but people can be turned as they called it. Werecreatures are able to tell who other werecreatures are and are able to live a peaceful existence with them finding allies in people who have the same secret. The stereotype is that werecreatures are dangerous, cursed and demonic, when in reality there have only been a few who meant any harm. Will and Frank were introduced when they were 9 and 10 respectively at one of the international werecreatures meetings and have been friends ever since. A year ago Will was being chased by werecreature hunters and ended up getting shot and Frank was able to find him and bring him to his shared apartment. Oh, and another thing, if Hazel and Frank have biological kids those kids have a 50% chance of being werewolves, fun
So all in all, Nico has a boyfriend that can turn into a cat and his sister has a boyfriend that can turn into a wolf. Not exactly the normal things someone would expect from a relationship but hey, who defines what is normal in a relationship anyway?