Raised by Lions

Chapter 12: New face: Dope

Louis yawned, trudging down the stairs slowly. He was surprisingly tired this morning, despite yesterday having been no different than any other Tuesday always was. He'd done training as usual, homeschooling as usual and then roughhousing with Free just for the fun of it. He was only 9, but this has been  normal ever since the incident.

He was surprised to see the lions all heading out, since according to his knowledge, they shouldn't have any jobs today. He grabbed onto Dolph's hand when the lion walked passed him. Dolph stopped and bent down onto a knee to be more level with the fawn.

"Hey Louis." He said, offering a smile without a care if his fangs showed. Louis offered a sleepy smile back, "Where are you guys going? I didn't know you had jobs today." His sentence ended with a yawn. Dolph found the sleepy kid as cute as ever.

"It's actually not a job this time. We're taking a new recruit for initiation. Ibuki and Free are still going to be here though, if you need anything." Dolph ruffled Louis' head with his free hand, but didn't stand up until Louis let go of the occupied one. He offered Louis one more smile before walking off to join the others.

Louis watched the lion leave and then trudged to the kitchen, as was his original destination. He wondered who the new recruit was as he gathered some things to make tea. He pushed a chair over to the counter and hopped up, starting the kettle.

Halfway through the kettle heating up, Free came into the room, a slight sideways sway and squinting  accompanying his steps. He opened the fridge and did his famous gremlin squat, rummaging for leftovers.

"Hangover?" Louis asked the young lion, receiving a hum in return. Louis chuckled, but noted to keep his voice down when he saw the way Free flinched at the sound. He was no stranger to the lions having hangovers some mornings. They drank both for leisure and sometimes for jobs.

Louis made his way around on the counters, getting stuff for another cup of tea and paintablets they kept in one particular cabinet, and jumped back down onto the chair. He poured the two cups of tea and finished them up before taking the extra one over to Free.

The young lion raised an eyebrow at the offered cup and pills, mouth full of leftover ribs. He swallowed the meat and asked, "What's that?" He still took it, only due to Louis' insistence for him to do so. "It's peppermint tea. It's supposed to help for headaches and hangovers. Oh, and painkillers." Free scoffed but took a sip anyway, watching Louis turn to grab his own cup of tea. He swallowed the painmeds quickly, while the fawn's back was still turned.

"Where'd you even learn that?" He asked quietly between sips. Even if it was malarkey, at least it tasted nice. "Hino told me. Apparently he has constant headaches and the peppermint tea helps." Free frowned, not having known that, but shrugged and kept drinking. Louis smiled at him, happy the lion was accepting his help.

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By the time the sun started setting, the lions had long since returned, a joyous air to them. Apparently the new guy had passed his initiation and was welcomed into their inner ranks.

Louis had caught a glimpse of the teenage lion as Dolph showed him to his room. Louis was on his way to his own room to play with some toys he had there, when the new guy exited his own room two doors down from Louis'.

They shared a look for a tense second and then Louis smiled at the lion, shocking him. "You must be the new guy. What's your name?" The lion seemed surprised at the bravery of this fawn, though most of the lions had that reaction to him initially, even Free.

"Dope. What's yours?" He asked and Louis took note of the gentle, calculating voice he had. "Louis." The teenage lion hummed and Louis took a moment to take in how he looked. He was a little smaller than the other lions, not as scrawny as Free though, and looked good in his own regards. He was wearing the usual Shishigumi uniform and had his mane gelled back. It fit his face. 

"Well, see you at dinner." Louis said before continuing on to his room again. Dope blinked for a second but then nodded and headed off to go find the others again. He'd been informed there was a fawn amongst them, but he hadn't believed Free, thinking the slightly older lion was crazy. Guess he wasn't after all.

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When dinner rolled in, Dope was inwardly surprised to see the fawn, Louis, sitting right next to who he assumed was the Boss, who was at the head of the table.

Dope had just quietly sat down in the chair Free gestured him to, since Free had been the one to show him to the diningroom. Free sat down next to Dope as a silent kind of comfort. Free knew being the youngest lion in the mansion could be frightening, so he tried to alleviate that slightly for Dope.

Dinner had gone normal enough, all the lions talked happily amongst each other. Dope even had the chance to talk to Ibuki, who welcomed the young lion into their pride and assured him this was their normal. After that, his attention had shifted to Louis again, all while still making conversation with Jinma.

He'd been surprised to see a piece of sirloin on the fawn's plate, though much smaller than any of the servings the lions had and with some equal amount of veggies. It seemed off, but the fawn looked to be enjoying it. Free noticed Dope staring and chuckled, successfully catching the younger lion's attention.

"Yeah, that's a real surprise at first. As strange as it may seem, he likes it and as long as he still gets some greens, the kid is healthy." He shrugged and took another bite of his own steak. Dope blinked, glanced at the fawn once more, and then returned to his food. He apparently had a lot to learn about the inner circle of the Shishigumi.

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After dinner, Louis suggested some of the lions join him for a movie night. Some, like Ibuki and Dolph, still had work to handle, so they passed, others, like Hino and Miguel claimed to be too tired to stay up for a movie and passed as well.

That's how Louis ended up sitting on the armrest of the couch with Free, Dope, Sabu and Jinma, all watching Nightmare on Beast Street. It was a simple slasher movie, which made it a little more funny than actual horror and suitable for Louis as well.

At some point the killer, Freddie, a burnt gazelle, popped out after a tense second of silence and the four heard an undignified yelp, turning to look at Free, who was now crouched behind the couch, shivering. Louis and the other three lions burst into laughter, making Free glare at them. "It's not funny! Jumpscares are cheap scares!" He stood at his full height and pointed his clawed finger at them. This just served to make them laugh even harder at his misfortune.

Free sighed in defeat and sat back down on the couch, pouting at the sidesmile Dope would show his way everytime they slightly turned their heads.

Louis did find it peculiar though, while he himself jumped a little, he also noticed Dope and Jinma flinch, but not as bad a reaction as Free completely ending up behind the couch, and then there was Sabu, who had been as still as a brick wall. He also didn't think he's ever heard a sound like the one Free made come from one of the lions and found it funny.

Almost completely through the movie, Louis turned to face Jinma, his big herbivore eyes curiously shining, "Jinma, what's the chance you know a place that'll custom make me a set of those?" He asked, gesturing towards the TV. The killer being a herbivore that had leather gloves with artificial claws made of blades. Jinma thought for a moment, "I might know someone, but if you're serious about getting something like that, we'd had to run it by Ibuki first."

Louis nods happily, "Great! I'll ask Dad in the morning!" With that, they finished the last bit of the movie, both Free and Dope wondering if that would be a good idea. Louis was already armed with a gun, at such a young age nonetheless, should he really be allowed to have something like blade claws?

Once the movie was over, Sabu just quietly left and Free, Dope and Louis walked to their rooms, which conveniently were all in the same hallway.

"Night guys!" Louis called before shutting and locking his bedroom door. Free and Dope looked at each other and Dope cleared his throat first. "Should we be worried about our own personal Freddie Cougar?" Free's eyes shifted to Louis' room. "I don't think we have a problem unless he actually gets those gloves... which... knowing Ibuki, he probably will."

Dope sighed but bid Free a goodnight and entered his room, the latter doing the same.