Back when Liontari was in the selective service, he’d had countless conversations with his squad about what they would each do when they got out. Liontari had always come up empty: no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t see a life for himself after the war. But he didn’t feel he belonged on the battlefield either. He just couldn’t see a future for himself anywhere. He had never been one to make difficult life choices, so instead of charting a path, things just happened to him. The whims of fate would bring him to the next chapter of his life, just like it had brought him into this one.

He would never have guessed that he’d end up taking care of two orphaned cubs, but then Yure and Severo had fallen into his care by some byzantine legal process. And like most times when fate pushed some responsibility onto him, he’d risen to the occasion. Which was not to say that it was easy; it wasn’t. The stipend he received in exchange for looking after Yure and Severo was insufficient to raise two cubs, and his pension could only carry him so far. Making ends meet was stressful, but also rewarding in a way that Liontari hadn’t really felt before the kittens ended up in his lap. While his future still felt like it was shrouded in a thick mind-fog, it was two other futures that he was more invested in.

They only had two beds. Officially, this meant one bed for him, and one for the cubs to share. But more often than not, Yure climbed into his bed, and the two spent the morning in a subdued not-quite-embrace. And so it was on this morning, when Liontari awoke early and became lost in thought, watching the rising and falling of sleeping Yure’s blue belly next to him.

He didn’t feel like a parent. But Yure didn’t feel like a child, either. Although the kitten’s past felt as obscure as Liontari’s future, there was an uncharacteristic maturity in the way Yure carried himself. The precocious cub felt more like a roommate, albeit a roommate that required a tender touch. (Especially when it came to changing Yure’s diapers. Turns out that the “uncharacteristic maturity” did not extend to the kitten using the toilet.) 

While Liontari was thinking about diapers, he decided to go ahead and check Yure’s, sticking a finger inside the leg hole of the cloth garment. Bone-dry, which surprised him. Yure was not particularly known for being dry, especially after a full night’s sleep. He doubted it would stay that way for long. Feeling along, his fingers brushed up against the cub’s stiff member, and Liontari realized that Yure was experiencing a pretty impressive case of morning wood. He had to remind himself that this was a perfectly normal physiological reaction and not something to read into, although his mind was flooded with lurid desires. 

He didn’t know what to do with Yure. He loved him, but somewhere along the line love had given way to lust, and he was scared of that lust clouding his judgment. But could he trust himself to do right by the kitten when he was thinking with his penis like this? Maybe he and Severo were safer in someone else’s hands… but there was no one else. All he could do was his best to teach Yure right from wrong, make him feel loved… and explain why the things they got up to had to stay between them.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice Yure had awoken and was looking at him with serene joy and guiltless hunger. The cub didn’t have to worry about sharing this burden of guilt; Liontari had made sure of that. Which wasn’t to say that Yure’s life was entirely carefree. Rather, the kitten had enough to worry about for Liontari to burden him further with his insecurities.  The two locked eyes, and the cub immediately went in for a kiss, his baby-soft lips pressing daintily against the older cat’s. Liontari’s goal above all else was to make Yure feel loved, and at least in this moment he felt like he was succeeding.

Liontari didn’t know how much of his worries were showing, but some of them must have been, because when Yure broke the kiss, he frowned. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“It’s nothing.”[i] Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing I don’t think about every day.[/i] “Just thinking about how much I love you.” This sappy response got him the flat of Yure’s paw shoved playfully into his face. “What? You don’t like that?”

Yure wasted no time stripping off the bed sheets that were covering Liontari. “I was thinking you could show me how much you love me instead,” he said as he scurried between Liontari’s legs. He could see a hunger in Yure’s eyes that exceeded even his own, and he let the cub take charge: they still had some time before they had to get up anyway.

A soft paw pressed against the bulge in Liontari’s underpants. “You really were thinking about me, huh?” Yure teased as he rubbed the shaft through the thin barrier, then pulled the fabric down to eye his prize. Liontari gritted his teeth and nodded, ashamed at his lack of self control but loving the attention. He envied the younger cat’s ability to let go of his fears, if temporarily. Yure hopped up into his lap, his body weight pressing his padding into Liontari’s crotch, making him groan. Yure loved those groans. When he was feeling frisky, he wanted to hear him squirm.

Liontari was in bliss. “Yure, if you do that…” He grabbed the cub’s hips and tried to steady the cub’s bounces, and when that didn’t work, picked Yure up, flipping him over and dropping him back on the bed, the larger lion pinning him to the mattress. Yure looked back over his shoulder, egging him on, and he didn’t need to be told twice. He straddled Yure’s legs with his own, his dick finding its proper place rubbing between the cub’s ass cheeks.
 
“I bet you wish you could put it in me,” Yure taunted. Liontari shuddered again; God, Yure was right about that. He badly wanted to penetrate the cub, but he knew Yure didn’t like that. Yure knew how much he wanted it too, and relished the opportunity to tease him about it, safe in the knowledge that the older cat cared for him too much to ever push that boundary. Sometimes Liontari wondered if it was less the case that Yure wouldn’t enjoy it, and more that the cub had hangups about losing his virginity, and this teasing was a way to explore that safely. But in the end, this speculation didn’t matter. The source of his reservations didn’t matter. Liontari would be who Yure needed him to be, and do what Yure needed him to do. And either way, Yure would drive him up the wall with his precocious sexuality.

Liontari hit his limit a lot sooner than he thought he would. “Shit…” he said under his breath before he drove his hips in one last time and came, blowing ropes of sticky seed on Yure’s back. He panted for breath, and the cub rolled onto his side and looked back up at him with a lusty grin. The two took a moment to compose themselves.

“Okay, now we need to get ready for school,” he said. “We should probably clean you up first though.”

Yure rubbed his back, assessing the damage. “Oh yeah. Imagine if I went to school with your cum on my back.”

Liontari felt like he had a small heart attack right then. “Don’t even joke about that.”

---

The third member of the family, Severo the black kitten, did most of his morning preparations in the privacy of his bedroom. So when he finally came out and stopped by the kitchen for breakfast, Liontari and Yure were already there, the former scrubbing the latter’s back with a sponge by the sink, while Yure fidgeted from the rough treatment. He rolled his eyes, knowing them well enough to know they were cleaning up after some amourous escapade. Horndogs. He walked past them and grabbed a magnetic whiteboard off the fridge wall, then made himself a bowl of cereal and sat down to watch their antics as he ate.

“Your diaper’s clean, so you don’t need a change,” Liontari told Yure as he helped the cub off of the kitchen counter. “But just because you’re wearing a diaper doesn’t mean you have to use it, okay?”

Severo watched Yure roll his eyes, and he felt that too. This conversation wasn’t new for any of them.

“I mean it,” said Liontari. “You have to get over your fear of the toilet, or you’re going to outgrow your diapers.”

Yure turned back and smiled wide at Liontari, as if the lion had just told a joke. “You say that, but you’d miss changing me.”

Severo quickly scrawled his thoughts on the whiteboard and held it up for them both to see:  [i]Give it up, Liontari. He’s not changing his mind.[/i]

Liontari sighed. This wasn’t a battle he would win today, or any time soon. “Fine. Just try not to make a mess at school. I need to be downtown today and won’t be able to pick you up early if you need a change.”

Yure must have felt like this meant he had won the argument, because he wiggled playfully in his seat. “Don’t worry! If anything happens, Severo will clean me up.”

The mute kitten’s written response was immediate: [i]You couldn’t pay me enough to change you.[/i]

Liontari finished getting dressed and made sure that the cubs were presentable too. Yure was in just a diaper and a shirt, and Severo was just in his briefs, which was as good as it was going to get for either of them. At least they were clean, and Yure was free of any signs of their misdeeds. “Just take care of each other, okay?”

That was never in question. Yure may have been an annoying piss fiend at times, but to Severo he was still his younger brother. He felt responsible for getting him to and from school safely.

---

On the way to school, Severo noticed that Yure still hadn’t stopped wiggling. In fact, the spring in his step had only increased. Severo realized what this surely meant, and he felt foolish for not putting it together sooner. He was still carrying the whiteboard around (a practical way to communicate without speech), and he was quick to use it: [i]Yure, do you have to go to the bathroom?[/i]

If this had been Liontari asking, Yure probably would have lied, but with just Severo around, he tended to be more honest. “Uh huh!” He seemed proud of himself. “I’ve had to go since I woke up this morning. It was a lot of fun to hold it in while Liontari was rubbing himself between my butt cheeks!”

Did his little brother have no filter? Fortunately, they were alone on the street. No one could have heard them. [i]You should have gone to the bathroom before we left home. Liontari’s not going to be happy if you have an accident at school.[/i]

“That’s okay. I can hold it in until we get home.” But the way he continued to wiggle cast doubt on that claim. When they stopped at a crosswalk, he even pressed his hand against his diaper.

[i]Sure you can...[/i]
