Chapter Two: Saint Jurelid's Educational Facility.

"school?! no, no no no no no!"

"oh yes, yes yes yes yes yes!"

(stomps on him) "NO!"

(bites his pads) "YES!"

"OWW!! okay..."

"CUT!! from the top everybody, and do it Right this time!"

-Radin.

-Syrus.

-Radin.

-Syrus.

-Radin.

-emperorwolf. (LOL, i'm a director again) :D

-Carl and Syrus' apartment, 7:30 Am-

A young snow leopard groaned "come on! why do i have to go to school?"

the adult leopard sat down on the couch "because, it's the law."

"it's a dumb law!" the snow leopard argued.

a pinch at the snow leopard's toes made him look down to the little otter standing at his paw.
"look, nobody likes going to school, not even we did, but you have to, there's no avoiding it."

the snow leopard crouched, looking sad "but... i'll be bullied! i know i will, because..."

the otter smiled awkwardly "because you're adopted and because we're gay?"

he nodded sadly "yes... sorry Mr Revino..."

the otter gently patted the snow leopard's paw "it's okay... and remember, it's okay for you to call us your dads, adopted or not, we're a family... and please consider it, 'Mr Revino' sounds too formal"

the adult leopard patted the cub's shoulder "if 'dad' feels to weird, then use our Given Names at the very least." he said encouragingly.

"o-okay... i'll try miste- i mean, Carl and Syrus..."

they hugged him, carl to his upper body, and syrus to his paw.
"just remember, it might not be by blood, but you're our son, and we'd care about you either way, Radin."

he cried a bit "do you mean it?"

carl rubbed his head fur "of course, we treat you as if you were our blood-related son, because to us, you're just as good, maybe better"

syrus sighed "and... if it makes things easier for you... you don't have to go by Blenin or Revino... you can use your old name if you'd prefer..." as he spoke, a hint of sadness crept into the otter's voice.

Radin put on a brave face "thanks..."

outside, radin met up with the school walking group, and headed off with them, using his wide brimmed hat to hide his face as 'the new kid'.

once they reached the school building, Radin could see many tubes overhead carrying non-giants to the large white, old-fashioned building.

he found his locker without issue, and checked his class schedule, then headed off to homeroom.

once there, he could hear all the other students murmuring about 'the new kid' indistinctly, and unfortunately, not all the voices sounded so friendly.

he was walked in by the teacher, and asked to introduce himself to his classmates of his grade prep-one class.
"i- i'm Radin... Radin Vilaria..."

the teacher asked the class to welcome him, and they said in practised union:
"hello, Ra-deen vill-aria..."

the kind beaver that was the teacher directed him to his seat and started to read the morning announcements.

Radin was nudged by a student sitting next to him.
"hey, my name's felicia," the black feline girl said kindly "i'll show you the ins and outs here, so don't worry." she whispered.

"th-thank you..."

she pointed up discreetly "my older brother's up there in the ceiling box"

he glanced up and noticed a clear box attatched to the roof for the non-giant students.
"wanna meet him later?"

"Miss Khyber, please refrain from talking during the announcements." the teacher scolded her.

"sorry miss!"

Radin's mind worked, Khyber... he'd heard that name somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where...
he saw the emblazoned '0' on her uniform, which meant she was part of the prep class, so her brother was likely in grade one, just as he was.

after listening to the teacher drone on about mathematics, it was recess time, and he was given a chance to be scrutinised by his fellow classmates, and, knowing what this is what they'd want to do, he hid in the branches of a tree where no-one would find him, and ate his snackfood of a salmon sandwich.

"psst!"

he looked to the side and noticed a small black cat in uniform standing on a branch that hung next to his head
"wh- why are... oh, right, come to ask a ton of questions about the new kid?"

he shook his head "no, i guessed that's why you were up here, though." he held out his paw "i'm Malcom Khyber, grade one, same class as you. my big-little sis wanted me to talk with you."

radin returned the handshake using his index finger "as long as nobody else knows i'm up here..."

"don't worry, i'll keep quiet. i'd like to be friends, though."

"there he is!" shouted an obnoxious voice

radin's ears splayed as a mass of students came rushing to the tree.

malcom quickly turned to them "hey, leave him alone!"

one of the students simply replied with "no" from the base of the tree.

malcom turned back to radin "touch my paw, i'll get us away."

confused, radin did as he was asked, and suddenly, the world lurched and his vision blurred...
and they sat on the roof of the school building.

"how did...?"

"i can teleport." Malcom puffed, teleporting having exhausted him "cool, right?"

from their hidden position, Radin allowed questions from the little feline, who in turn, allowed questions to be asked about himself as well.

"so, how can you teleport?"

"i get it from my dad's side, he can do it too, but felicia can't. plus, it tires me out moving big things. now, the roster lists a 'Radin Blenin-Revino' in our class, not a 'Radin Vilaria'... so what's up with that?"

his white ears splayed "well... i used to be Radin Vilaria... but... my parents died a year ago..."

"oh... i'm sorry... how?"

"they... they were at work... a robber came in... they tried to stop him... and he shot them..."

malcom's ears went flat to his scalp "sorry... i shouldn't have asked..."

radin continued nevertheless "... and, about a month ago, i was adopted by my... new... parents..."

the class bell rang.

"err... i guess we'd better get to class..." malcom said cautiously "sorry about bringing that up..."

radin shook his head "at least you were empathetic about it."

malcom grinned "that's a big word."

"well, i'm a big guy!"

they laughed and malcom teleported them to class.

at the end of the day, Carl picked radin up from school, walking him home.
"how was school?" he asked as he held the snow leopard's paw.

"it... was alright... i guess..." radin said shyly "... i think i made some friends..."

carl beamed "that's wonderful! who are they?"

"um... Malcom and Felicia Khyber... i think..."

"i know them! their father is a close friend of mine!"
the adult leopard looked him in the eye "anyone bully you about either of those issues from this morning?"

"well... no, not really... but, i didn't really tell anyone...."

carl rubbed his head fur affectionately with his free paw "it's alright, you'll tell people when you're comfortable with it. should i pick you up from now on? keep up appearances and whatnot?"

radin bowed his head "i'm sorry..."

"it's fine, might be safer for 'you know who' if i do, anyway, because of the size and all."

radin felt the fur on the back of his neck prick up.
"i think... someone's watching..."

carl looked around, spotting a group of shady-dressed weasels following them.
he whispered to the scared snow leopard "stay close to me," he said sternly "and don't let go."

they walked into an alleyway, and suddenly more shady weasels emerged in front of them, blocking the path while the first group blocked off the route behind them.

radin clutched carl's paw tightly.

one of the weasels drew a switchblade "hand ovah teh dough. do et now, or'n ya' might lose yer lil' kitteh..."

carl glared "you so much as touch even a single strand of his fur... you'll wake up in a pool of your own blood with shattered bones!"

the weasels laughed and they started to close in.

radin panicked "Mr Carl, i'm scared!"

carl clutched his paw tightly.
"whatever happens, do not let go."

"o-okay..."

carl dove his free paw into his pocket...
and pulled out a shiny silver stun-shot loaded handgun.

the weasels halted.

"radin, get on my back."

he didn't object.

"hold on tight and keep your eyes closed."

he did...

carl leapt forward, knocking the weasels out with a series of kicks to their heads and, whenever one was too close, a stunshot in them.
eventually, only the apparent leader was left standing.
carl growled as he knocked the switchblade away with his stungun.
"if i ever even think you guys are doing this kind of SHIT again, i'll make good on my promise to leave you in broken heaps, drowning in your own blood!"

the weasel shyed away as carl stormed out, reemerging onto the street.
"radin," he said cautiously "are you okay? did they get you?"

the snow leopard was trembling "n-no..."

carl knelt, and helped him off his back, then hoisted him up in a hug.

"don't worry, i only got so scary because i didn't want them to hurt you. as my son, you're more precious than platinum to me."

"pl-platinum?"

"it's a very valuable metal, worth more than gold."

radin clutched the adult leopard's coat tightly, burrowing his head into him.
"you were scary..."

he hugged him tighter as he walked "i'm sorry, i promise i'll never get like that with you, not ever."
carl smiled reassuringly as radin reopened his eyes.
"i'll never hurt you like that, because you're my son, adopted or not, i'd feel the same way."

radin whimpered "do you... mean it...?"

"i do."

---

"you WHAT?!" syrus yelled in surprise and anger after carl told him why he'd returned covered in cuts and bruises.

"it's okay, he wasn't hurt..."
"i know, but look at yourself!! yes, i'm glad radin's unharmed, but i'm mortified you put the both of you in harm's way!!!"
"but--"
"AND you cursed in front of him!! he's only seven! what were you thinking?!"
"but sy--"
"NO BUTS! i'm VERY displeased Carl!!"
"you'd rather i let them attack the both of us!?"
"NO!! of course not! but the point remains, YOU SHOULD HAVE RUN! instead, you endangered not only yourself, but Radin as well! go ahead... TELL ME I'M WRONG!!"

carl didn't answer, he just sat down on the couch, head in his paws.
"what the hell were you thinking?!" the otter angrilly yelled from the coffee table.
carl groaned "i wasn't... i acted on instinct, my only concern was protecting radin, I didn't matter."

"is this my fault?"

they both turned to see radin looking scared.

syrus's expression became apologetic "sorry radin... no, no it's not your fault. i'm not mad at you," he glared at the older leopard "i'm mad at him, because instead of running away, he put you in danger!"

"but... i'm okay... he--" radin stopped, looking carl over "oh... it's because he's hurt, isn't it?"

syrus looked ready to cry "try and understand, i care about you both more than you can understand... i can't bear to see either of you hurt... if something happened i... i don't know..." he started crying "... what i'd do..."

radin slowly moved forward, and crouched beside the coffee table.
"please don't cry... please don't, Mr Syrus..."
he cradled the otter in his snow-white paws.
"please stop crying... dad..."

the adult leopard and otter looked at him in surprise.
"did... you just call me...?" the otter's teary eyes lit up, but then his expression darkened "oh, but you're just trying to cheer me up... aren't you?"

radin looked sad.

"it's fine... i don't expect you to be open with us right away... and i'm sorry if we-- ... if I upset you..."

syrus wriggled out of the snow leopard's grasp "almost 6:00PM, i'd better get dinner started..."

radin sat beside carl on the couch while syrus fiddled with the computerised dining system to prepare the food from his smaller size in the towering kitchen.

radin whispered "is he mad at me?"

carl sighed "no, he's just dissapointed that i didn't run and get you to safety, that i fought instead."
"i see..." radin groaned "so, he's mad because you chose the less safe option?"
"yes..." carl sighed "that about sums it up, but it's only because he cares about us... because he loves us as a family."

radin smiled weakly "i get it... poor Mr Syrus... he can't even step in to help in those situations..."

carl grinned "size isn't everything. there are some things he can only do because he's so much smaller than us, things that are completely beyond us!"

radin was confused "like what?"

"for starters, he's still the only dentist available to giants, he's also able to get into tight spaces, plus, he's smart, too!"

radin nodded "okay, i see what you mean... does that make um... 'us' lucky, Mr Carl?"

carl hugged him "oh yes," he laughed "very, VERY lucky!"

soon, they sat at the dining table eating a simple meal of cooked potato and pan-fried meat rissoles, however, the potato had been cooked in the juices of the meat for extra flavour.
"the meat's good, Mr Syrus."

"thank you, radin. i appeciate it."

carl shoveled the potato down "MMM! love it!"

"oh?" syrus gave him a suggestive look.

"don't worry, i still love you way more, sy."

radin tried the potato and coughed.

his adoptive parents looked at him, concerned.
"something wong? did i burn the potato you got?"

"no- (cough) -it's not that, it (cough) went down the (cough) wrong way."

carl helped him clear it, and radin rubbed his throat "i think i've got heartburn..."

syrus groaned "aagh... carl, get him some milk, that'll help a bit."

carl got up to retrieve it.

"i'm sorry..." radin rasped "... for causing you all this trouble..."

syrus walked over to radin's paws and sat on them
"trouble? no, it's okay, these things happen."

he raised his paws to his throat, and syrus gently rubbed the area.
"this help at all?"

"no... sorry..."

"well, that's okay, you need honey, that's what you need, that'll soothe your throat."

soon, he'd drunk his cup of milk and was sucking on a honey throat-lozenge.
"this is helping lots."

syrus sighed "good. should we fridge your food for later, when the burning feelings are gone?"

he nodded "probably..."

carl took it and put it in the fridge.

"radin?"

"yes, Mr Syrus?"

"if you need anything tonight, just call for me."

he cocked his head "but... won't you be sleeping?"

"no, i get Insomnia, which means i can't actually sleep at all."

radin recoiled "that sounds bad..."

"very. but, if you need anything, just call for me, okay?"

"okay... thankyou..."

(next chapter: a case of Nyctalopia and a Nightmare to boot!)