Larro's face was already beginning to change as he stalked toward the bed. He knew that he was overreacting, but his hyena could only think about the idea that the young lion was touching his son. It had already accepted him as family and it did not like a lion anywhere near him. 

Especially in such a physical way. 

His human form could agree with that. He was just about to reach out and grab Arron when he felt an arm wrap around his waist and he was suddenly tossed over Jordan's shoulder.

Unable to help himself, Larro growled, his eyes already dark as his animal sat right beneath the surface of his skin.

"Calm down. They are both wearing clothing." Jordan said.

Larro turned slightly so that he could glare over at Jordan's son who had tossed the blanket covering him aside. Jeans. Larro switched his attention to Arron, who was climbing out of the bed with a blush on his cheeks. He was wearing a sweatshirt that was clearly the other boy's, but at least his pants were his own.

When Jordan noticed that he had calmed down he put Larro back on his feet, allowing him to quickly scoop Arron into his arms. He really wanted to yell at him about being so lovey with a lion, but when the kid started purring loudly he seemed to forget what he'd been angry about and just nuzzled his cheek happily with his own.

"Hey dad."

Arron licked his cheek in return, drawing a smile from Larro, who had finally regained complete control of himself. He glanced over at Jordan and nodded slightly, then turned to head out of the room. Both lions followed on his heels but he didn't mind as long as he had Arron beside him.

As they got downstairs Jordan walked ahead of them and scooped up his wife into a strong hug and gave her a quick kiss.

"Dinner smells wonderful, love." He growled quietly.

He seemed so stern on certain things but the love between the two was easily visible. The thought of having Arron's mother to hug like that... Don't even go there. She just barely trusted him as it were. He needed to earn the basics before he could maybe ask her to dinner. Returning his attention to Arron, Larro pressed a kiss to his hair, then looked over his shoulder at the young lion who was glaring at them.

Sucks that I broke up your make-out session. Come at me, kitty, if you think you can do something about it.

"Dad, this is my boyfriend, Rylan." Arron finally said with a nervous smile up at him.

Larro and Rylan both gawked openly at that.

"You're too young to have a boyfriend!" Larro explained, even though he knew that he definitely wasn't. But a lion! The idea that Rylan would be trying to do anything with his almost not-really son had Larro's hyena pacing angrily in his mind again.

Arron pouted a little but replied without much surprise to his reaction.

"But my body is starting its heat cycle again... or at least that's what the book said."

Arron looked over his shoulder at Rylan and smiled before returning his attention to Larro.

"I like him, and he's been working hard to not treat me like a lion." He added.

Larro was about to tell him no again, but when those little golden eyes met his.

"Please give him a chance?"

That face is cheating!

"Please?" He pleaded.

Dammit. I'm so gullible.

"Fine. One chance." Larro growled out.

Arron shouted in excitement before running into the lion's arms.

"Rylan, Arron, go get yourselves some dinner. Your mom will be back soon to pick you up." Jordan said.

Wait. What?

"Mom? Ariel? Isn't she out of town?" Larro asked, his voice filled with a sudden anxiousness.

Jordan grinned at him as he relaxed into a recliner a few feet away.

"That's for her to explain. I just agreed to test you. Granted, I hadn't planned on it being when Arron and Rylan were kissing, but that worked anyway."

Okay. I'm beyond confused.

They all ended up on the sofa when Jordan refused to answer anymore of his questions. It was about two hours later, around ten o' clock, when a knock sounded at the front door. Jordan answered it, and to no one's surprise, Ariel walked into the living room a moment later with a smile on her face. She was a little pale from the cold outside, making Larro want to wrap her in his arms and warm her up. Don't be stupid. That's not going to happen. Instead, he gave an inward sigh and got up, shrugging off the jacket he often left in his car for cold nights, so that he could drape it over her shoulders. He had a pretty high body temperature, even for a hyena, so he knew that it would be warm.

Wait. What if she doesn't like my scent?

"Larro?"

"Huh?" He mumbled, having spaced out a bit.

She poked his shoulder, making him blink back to himself.

"Thank you." She said kindly.

Her cold hand slid into his slowly and he automatically grasped it to help warm it up. She smiled and tugged him up the stairs into what looked like a small library. When she took a seat, he quickly sat beside her, not letting go of her hand as they rested atop the small table between the two recliners.

"I wanted to talk to you about Arron." She finally said.

She was biting her lower lip, though, letting him know that she was a bit worried.

"Are you afraid of me? I'm not mad about that weird test you did." He said.

Her eyes rose to meet his nervously, but then softened.

"You're not?"

Larro chuckled a little and relaxed into the chair as she slowly did the same.

"No. I'm going to assume that you did that to test my control, though that situation really had me wanting to neuter that lion." He said with a slight growl.

Ariel actually giggled at that and he decided that he definitely wanted to hear more of the sound.

"Jordan told me what happened briefly at the door, but Arron and Rylan are technically dating." She said.

"But he's too young for that." Larro replied immediately, scratching at the back of his head for a moment in frustration.

Even if he wasn't Arron's real father, he still felt like he wanted to have a say in something like that, and he wanted to say hell no!

She laughed again, taking him by surprise. Why was it so funny? Her son would have likely gained some kittens if they hadn't walked in! Okay, maybe that was a bit over-dramatic, but still. As he was going through his head in the hopes of finding something to say that would get her to listen to him about Arron's boyfriend, she said something he really wasn't expecting.

"He's eighteen, but his kitten sometimes makes him act younger. Anyways, would you like to foster Arron while I'm away working?"

Larro's mouth hung open for several silent seconds before he was about to scream hell yes! But when he started speaking, all that came out was a hyena cackle. Shit. He had changed right in front of her. Oh yes. I have control. Let me just lose it right front of you real quick. Just ignore the fluffy carnivore being an idiot in front of you for a minute. Not only did he just destroy his clothing, but for some reason his hyena was just too excited to let him change back.

I am frustrated. This is frustrating.

"Someone looks happy and annoyed. I'll take that as a yes?" She asked with a humorous smile.

Larro quickly ran over to sit in front of her chair and lifted a paw.

Shake on it.

That got another giggle from her as she reached forward and took his paw.

"Then it's agreed. I came over tonight to test you, but I also need to see where you live, but uh, I guess we'll just have to wait out your shift before we go." She said.

His ears pinned a little in embarrassment, but he had to nod. There was no way to really translate cackle cackle bark cackle. Sure, he could talk to Arron's mind, but that wasn't nearly as good as driving there himself, and he'd prefer to bring his car back. Not to mention Pascal and Tayn. Oh god. I hope they're finished by the time we get there.

It was about an hour later when his hyena finally got tired of being out and Larro shifted back to his human form while his head had been resting on Ariel's lap. She had been scratching behind his ears. He could never resist a good ear scratch. Thankfully, she had thought ahead and no one had to see some extra parts. She had wrapped one of the throw blankets around his waist so that when he'd changed he grabbed it and quickly ran up the stairs to borrow some clothes from Jordan.

They were soon on the road, Ariel following behind him with Arron and his things he'd brought to Jordan's, and of course, his giant stuffed bear. Larro was kind of glad that he hadn't gotten upset that he wouldn't be staying with his boyfriend. Heck, the lion hardly grumbled about it, either. Maybe they really weren't as far as he'd thought they were.

Good.

When they got back Pask and Tayn were thankfully out cold. He could hear Pask snoring and Tayn was likely snuggled up against him. Larro quickly got some lights on and then lead Ariel and Arron around the place. He had only been there for a bit, truthfully. It was kind of nice to look around, himself.

"There's an extra guest room right here." He said as he opened the door to a really nice room that he had furnished with a simple but nice bed, dresser, and a reading lamp. Arron walked in with a smile and went over to the balcony doors. Ariel followed quietly, hugging her boy to her side when he looked up at her with that cute smile. He had a feeling they were talking between themselves so he stayed where he was until they walked back over.

"Alright. This place checks out." She said, pausing for a moment to hide a yawn.

"I'm going to head back to the house so that I can do a bit of cleaning before I leave tomorrow." She said, her tone sad.

Larro's brows rose a bit at her before he took her hand and tugged her into his own room.

"Wait there for a minute, Arron." He said back to the boy.

He nodded as Larro nudged his door partially closed with his foot and turned to Ariel.

"Why not get a job closer so that you can spend more time with him? Is there a specific reason why you're going out of town so often for this one job?" He asked.

"Of course. It pays enough for me to keep a roof over his head and feed him. Jordan helped me get it when we moved spur-of-the-moment." She said quietly.

Larro leaned back against the wall with a slight nod, but his attention was more focused on what he could do for them. He had his own company and had just begun extending it in the area. The building was up and running and he had a good amount of people already hired since he had planned the place for awhile, but...

"I could use an assistant to file paperwork, run errands, and do general tasks at my business. It's about five miles away and would pay eighteen an hour to start."

Her eyes widened at the offer as she stood in silent shock. He knew that he normally did a strict hiring process, but if she was willing to drive hours and be out of town for days to bring home money for her son's well-being, then her work ethic had to be good.

"The offer will stand for about a week, but I need the position filled as soon as possible." He said.

She began to open her mouth to respond when he added a little bit to what he had said. "Also, it's already really late and you're obviously tired. Stay in the guest room with Arron tonight and just head to work tomorrow. If your place really needs cleaning, I'll go do it."

"But it's my house, I couldn't ask..." She started saying, only for him to raise a hand to quiet her words. "Yes, you can. Very easily. I want to help you both however I can, and if cleaning up your house and offering you a more logical job is the only way I can, then that's what I'll do."

"But, why?"

She looked honestly confused to be offered so much in such a short time. Maybe she thought that he wanted something that he didn't? Taking a risk, he stepped forward and wrapped her in his arms gently before whispering his response against her soft hair.

"I just want to make up for all the years I've lost toward my life while I was a crazy kid, then when I was put away. I had done everything I could think of to make up for what I had done and a good portion of what my company earns goes to those families, but now I want to do some things for myself. I've spent years paying everyone back, now it's my turn to begin a new life."

They were silent for a long moment before she wrapped her own arms around his waist and hugged him carefully. His hyena cackled in his mind but thankfully he was able to keep the sound from coming out of his mouth. 

When they heard Arron sauntering around in the hallway they both chuckled and stepped away from the each other.

"Get some rest here tonight. My friends probably won't be up till the afternoon, and I'm sure Arron would love to have you with him for a night." He said.

She was probably going to argue again, but was cut off by another yawn.

I'm going to win this one.

"Alright. Well, good night, Larro."

He smiled and nodded before replying as she walked out.

"Good night, Ariel."