Animal Sides(Sanders Sides Au Short Story)

Chapter 1

"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream~" Thomas, a young man with dark brown hair, and eyes and dressed in casual wear, sang fancifully to himself while walking down the sidewalk. 

It was near noon, and despite the light colors, and thin clothing, the man could feel the blistering heat from the Florida sun scorching his back. He scanned the walk in front of him. He was still a couple blocks from his house, and his shoulders felt like they were on fire. Figuratively, of course. He caught sight of a break in between two buildings, something similar to an alley. His anxiety gnawed at him, telling him to just keep walking, but he was only stopping for a few moments to get out of the blistering sun, so he ignored the feeling. 

Speeding up his walk, Thomas ducked into the small alley way, sighing in relief when the sun was off his skin, and clothing. The man took a moment to glance around the alley. It wasn't anything special, not really. There were a few dumpsters lining the brick walls near the doors to the different buildings, with a bit of scattered trash. Flipped over by the nearest garbage to Thomas was a ripped cardboard box with the words 'Kittens for Sale' in sloppy, leaking black scrawl against one side. 

"Hope the kittens found good homes." Thomas thought aloud, his morality twisting at the thought of any animal being placed in a bad home. 

Thomas himself had pets, three dogs. Patton was a golden retriever he got as a gift from his parents before he moved out. He was bubbly, and very aware of Thomas' emotions. Logan was a border collie that Thomas adopted. He was a stray that wandered around the library until Thomas was able to befriend him. He was a bit stand offish, but he was smart, and reliable. Then there was Roman, a red colored Husky. He found Roman outside the theater after work as a puppy. He never did find the owner, if Roman had one, and just brought the over dramatic, and over protective pup into his home. Just thinking of his three fur babies caused a fond smile to pull at his lips.

"Mew~" A tiny squeak snapped Thomas out of his thoughts faster than someone could say uno.

Thomas looked desperately for the sound, zeroing in on the upturned box, which was weakly scooting against the rough ground. Quickly, Thomas flung himself into action. He carefully approached the box, and removed his top shirt. Very carefully, he pulled up a side of the box. He moved quickly as a black blur slipped out. Thomas used his shirt to wrap up the animal's paws, so he wasn't scratched.

Now wrapped in his shirt was a tiny black kitten. It's fur was short, and dusty, with every hair along it's spine standing on end. It's eyes were wide with fear, showing off their baby blue-grey eyes. 

"Shh shh shh. It's okay!" Thomas cooed, keeping his voice even. Holding the kitten to his chest securely, he shimmied his phone out of his pocket to call his vet. "Hey Dr. Harley its Thomas. I know your closed today but I just found a stray kitten....thanks so much! See you soon." He smiled, redialing for a ride. "Hey Joan, I need a ride if you're not busy....The vet...No, no they're fine. I found a kitten...Thanks, at that old Mexican restaurant..Yeah thank you so much."

When Thomas hung up the kitten seemed slighting calmer. It's fur was still on end, and it's eyes were still wide but it wasn't tearing to get away. It just rested in the bundle it was in, eyeing Thomas and their surroundings wearily. When Joan pulled up Thomas grabbed a small cat crate they brought for the kitten. He set the kitten in with his shirt and secured it in the back seat before sitting down and letting Joan drive him to the vet, thanking them again for the ride. 

----

Thomas walked into the deserted vet's office, waving at Dr. Harley's Pit Bull as the dog chewed on a rawhide in the office that he passed while Dr. Harley lead him in to the vet room. "So where did you find the doll?"

"Trapped under a box near that old Mexican restaurant on 20th street." Thomas answered, setting the carrier on the table, getting a hum for the vet. "It's kinda scared."

"Obviously." Dr. Harley scoffed, rolling their eyes.  They opened the carrier, and a violent hiss sounded. "Saucy boy." The vet snickered, walking towards the cupboard. They pulled out a can of kitten food, and opened it before setting it just outside the carrier.

"You know it's a boy?" Thomas questioned, getting a shrug. 

Slowly, a piece of shadow slipped out of the carrier, diving towards the food. Dr. Harley moved their head, watching the kitten eat with a hum. "This little thing shouldn't even be away from their mother. Can't be any older than 6 weeks." They sighed angrily. "They seem to be eating fine," They reached out and put their hand on the kitten's back. The kitten stiffened, and growled, wrapping their front paws around the can protectively. "Hungry, and scared obviously. And yes, he is a male." They added, glancing under the tail before starting to feel around the kitten as he ate, and hissed. "I don't feel anything wrong, right not I think he's just hungry, and scared. I'm going to give him a little bit of de-wormer for now just to be safe, but you can bring him back if he seems to have eye problems."

Thomas nodded along, watching the kitten eat. 

"If you don't plan to keep him I ask you take him to a shelter, or wait until he's back to being socialized, and 8 weeks before you give him away." Dr. Harley stressed, making eye contact as the kitten darted back into carrier.

----

Thomas sighed as he sat back down in the car, staring at the kitten through the bars. "Looks like you're stuck with us for a while." He informed the shadowing.

"What about your allergies?" Joan asked, eyes on the road.

"Its only for a few weeks, besides I have plenty of my allergy medicine if I need it." Thomas shrugged.

"What about dogs?" They reminded.

"It'll be fine! I'm planning on keeping him in the spare room for the time being. Dogs'll never know hes there." Thomas promised. "Besides, Patton loves everyone, Logan is mostly indifferent, and Roman is....Roman. It'll be fine." 'I hope.'