Carl went at once to check each area housing his special charges again. After he had checked all the cats, he went to the veterinary offices and took care of necessary paperwork. He often neglected that in the press of shots, processing animals in and out, dealing with medical issues and other tasks directly related to the animals' care, which he most enjoyed. Once that was done, he grabbed a sandwich in one of the break areas, but soon found himself wandering back around the cheetah enclosure. He never tired of watching them.
At times, they seemed almost awkward, especially the younger ones, like teenagers. They played some rowdy games and then climbed up to sprawl on the limbs of trees in the compound, all long legs and tail. But when they ran... They flowed like sun-speckled water in a fast-moving stream. That never ceased to enthrall him.
At last he caught sight of the strange male. This time, the cat stopped and looked right at him. He could have sworn it smiled and winked. He blinked his eyes to clear the ludicrous image and decided his imagination was getting too active. The cat gave a shrugging motion that shifted its sleek hide and then strolled away as if it hadn't a care in the world. Carl realized then that the pattern of this one's spots was different in subtle ways from that of the rest. He must have come from a different area, a different bloodline or genetic pool. That got him wondering: in how many places were cheetahs found in nature?
With that question in mind, he went back to the office and logged onto his computer. Instead of working on his records and data, he went to the Internet to do some research. The afternoon passed before he even noticed. No, there was little chance that the strange cheetah had many different genes. According to all Carl could learn, the existing population, wherever located, was amazingly homogenous. Skin could be grafted from one animal to another with almost no rejection. Every member of the species was close to ninety-nine-point-nine percent identical.
Although their range had once been almost all of Africa, the Middle East and over into India, they were now limited to a certain areas in Africa, with a very few on the Arabian Peninsula.
Not good; not good at all.
No wonder they were endangered. They were also becoming hazardously inbred. With this new knowledge, he was more worried than ever about the species, but his curiosity about the strange male was in no way satisfied. The cat was not marked like the rare King Cheetah with the stripes running along the spine; he just didn't quite look like the others. What was the unusual cheetah, and why had he appeared with no paper trail or official notice here in the San Mirabal Zoo?
All too soon it was time to make his afternoon rounds as the day drew to a close. Carl managed to time things so he hit the cheetah area last. The sun had just slid down behind the mountains to the west. Would he encounter the mysterious man again? Not sure whether he wanted to or not, he prowled along the fence, moving at a slow pace. He peered into the enclosure often, whenever there was a view past the trees, tall grass and artificial hills and boulders.
Although he glimpsed others of the cheetah pride, he did not see the one male. A female with two cubs was teaching her babies hunting skills. The caretakers released rabbits every evening to let the cheetahs get some of their own food in a natural way. As Carl watched, the mother made a dash for a rabbit. The little critter didn't have a chance. She could go from zero to sixty miles per hour in a couple of seconds. Although the rabbit could dodge, this one was caught in the open and just ran. It was over in a heartbeat. Mama and babies gulped the fresh meat.
Although Carl felt a twinge of sympathy for the prey, he knew this was a natural thing, and although rabbits might not be the normal source of four-footed food for the cats, they served the purpose here. Then he heard a slight sound behind him. He wheeled around and caught sight of the same strange man. Dressed this time instead of nude, he approached, moving in a graceful glide, almost too smooth to be natural.
"Good evening," he greeted. "I see you're observing the spotted cats again. They seem to fascinate you."
Carl nodded, then sneezed several times and wiped his nose. "That's true. They do. I've been a cat person all my life, even though I'm allergic to them. I guess I should give it up and find another line of work, but somehow I can't."
"You're allergic to cats? How did you ever become a-- What's your title, actually?"
"I'm a veterinary technician. I suppose it's kind of like a nurse practitioner or a physician's assistant in the human medical arena. I have to work under a veterinarian's supervision, but I can do a lot on my own without consulting or receiving specific orders."
"Yet you're hit with these symptoms like runny nose and sneezing just from being near cats. All cats or just some of them?"
"All, everything from my grandma's little tabby to the African lions and all in between. If it's feline, I react. Crazy, I know, but I just can't get away from them. Life would have no meaning if I couldn't work with animals, felines in particular. I don't understand, but I seem to have some kind of link or bond."
The strange man stepped closer, just an arm's length away, and studied Carl with a pair of keen green eyes and an intent expression. He made a slight sound, a "hmmmm" that almost had the quality of a purr. Then, after a short silence, he spoke again.
"I think I know what's wrong. There's a cat inside you needing to get out. If you could let that happen, I'd wager your allergies would get a lot better or even go away."
* * * *
Zyl almost laughed at the shocked and puzzled expression on the zoo man's face. As he watched, the guy's mouth opened and shut a time or two before he spoke.
"W-w-what do you mean? A cat inside me? No way. That doesn't even make any sense."
How much should I, can I, tell him? I'm starting to think he really is a latent shifter. There's something about him...
Zyl struggled to frame all he sensed into words the man would understand, words that would not reveal too much, words to explain in the least threatening or jolting way he could.
"What would you say if I told you there are beings who combine human traits and beast traits...maybe have the power to go from one to the other?"
The other man shrugged, irritation and a need to reject the idea out of hand in every sign he displayed. "Sounds like science fiction or some crazy video game to me."
Zyl's turn to shrug. "Yeah, maybe. But the authors, the game designers...don't they have to get their ideas from somewhere?"
"Maybe. Like folklore or mythology, I guess. I never understood how writers did that, come up with the ideas and plots and everything like they do. Programmers, too. But I still think that's fiction and make-believe."
The man wasn't ready. Zyl could tell that. For now he'd back off. Instead, he'd try a different tactic. "You busy in the evenings? This evening?"
Although the other man hesitated a few seconds, he answered readily. "Not really. I'm on call, but there's seldom a medical emergency at night. As long as I can be at any part of the zoo in...oh, maybe thirty minutes, I can do whatever I choose. I'm off the clock."
"Good. I was getting ready to head out to a little bar I found a while back. It's not rowdy and the drinks are fairly priced. I think we all need to hang out, relax and let things go now and then. Want to come along?"
"Sure, why not? So long as I only have a beer or two I won't be under the influence. I guess maybe we should introduce ourselves if we're going to spend some time together. My name's Carl."
"They call me Zyl. Oh, I guess I didn't say, did I--this joint is kind of a gay bar. You all right with that?"
"Yeah," Carl agreed. Zyl noted he showed no hesitation at all about that. "I wouldn't go to one looking to pick somebody up," he continued, "but if I'm with you, it'll be okay." Carl grinned before he went on. "I'm not going over any fences or walls, though. I can let us out through a gate. I have the combination to override the electronic locking codes."
Zyl grinned back. "That'll do. I can save my superman tricks for another day. Might need that energy tomorrow. Let's go."
* * * *
Carl started toward the nearest gate, a walk-through--the only one in a rather out of the way corner. Although not sure why, he felt it safest to slip out as unobtrusively as they could. Zyl fell into step with him at once. The strange man moved with a smooth gliding step, light-footed and supple in his movements. He was one unusual guy, for sure. Carl did not quite know what to make of him, but he found himself drawn with much more power than he was to most strangers. He tended to be shy and reticent, taking his time before he accepted anyone as a friend, even just a casual one.
Once outside, Zyl assumed the lead, walking so fast Carl almost had to trot to keep up with him. The bar they went to was only a few blocks from the zoo, a bit off the beaten path and not one of the city's trendy nightspots. It seemed more like a little neighborhood pub than an upscale nightclub. That suited Carl just fine. He wasn't a big drinker or accustomed to much partying.
Only a few patrons looked up when they stepped through the door together. Zyl led the way to the bar, and they each ordered a beer.
"You want to stay here or find a booth or a table?"
Carl shrugged. "What do you usually do?"
Zyl swept a quick glance around the shadowy room. "At least step back to the side. I'm not trying to catch anyone's attention."
Carl trailed him on a diagonal across the room to a vacant booth and slid into it opposite his new friend. For a few minutes, they sipped in silence. The place had an old-fashioned juke box, as well as a small band stand, for the moment vacant.
"You say they have live music?"
"Often, not all the time. This being midweek, there may not be anyone playing. We'll see if they show up--" Zyl cut off his words and looked away from Carl as another man approached their booth.
"Hey, Zyl, who's your friend?"
Carl looked up then to see a big man, both tall and bulkily built. His instant impression was a likeness to a bear, a really big black or brown, even a grizzly. The man's low, rumbling voice added to the resemblance.
"This is Carl. He works at the zoo. He's a vet technician, helps to take care of the animal's health and wellness stuff." Zyl offered the explanation right away.
The big man held out a paw-sized hand. "Glad to meet you, Carl. I'm Ruric."
Carl started to stand, but realized it would be awkward, so he just extended his hand to shake. The big man had a firm although not crushing handshake.
He turned his attention back toward Zyl. "Okay if I join you or is this booth private?"
Zyl smiled. "Sure, we're just kind of getting acquainted. Carl said he hasn't been here before, so I thought why not? We just met...well, it was the other night. I think I gave him a start, actually." He glanced at Carl, one eyebrow lifted in a sardonic arch as he winked. "Didn't I?"
Carl nodded. "Yeah, you could say so. I thought everyone was gone for the night, since we shoo the public out and close the gates before dark."
Ruric laughed. "Yep, Zyl can slip around quiet as a cat..."
He slid into the booth beside Zyl and ordered another round for the three of them. As the evening wore on, Carl began to feel more at ease. Other patrons came by and chatted, joking and badgering each other in a mild way as friends and easy acquaintances tend to do. Pretty soon he felt like he was nearly one of the group.
The odd thing was, though, every one of the guys who came over to talk reminded him of some animal. It was uncanny. If he just shifted his focus slightly, he could almost see lions, wolves, bears, badgers, deer--dozens of different creatures in the group of varied men. As far as anyone being gay, if they were, they were very laid back about it, nothing too obvious. That made Zyl's caution seem almost foolish.
He didn't see anyone who acted like the typical twink or the more feminine type of gays. They were all very distinctly male. Was this really a gay bar, or was it maybe something else? Like a hang out for guys who were... No! There was no such thing as shapeshifters. That was fantasy, fiction and game stuff. He could not and would not believe anything so bizarre.
Backing off from the confusing thoughts, he decided there was nothing he could do right now, except write off his impressions and enjoy a rare night out with a group that felt congenial for all its oddity. Zyl especially had a dry, droll sense of humor. The rest of the motley group displayed a range of personalities and responded in a variety of ways. Still, everyone seemed to be good-humored, regardless how raunchy, ribald or sly the joshing became. They included Carl to the point he began to feel like he'd been part of the gang for months. The novelty delighted him.
Closing time came before he realized several hours had passed. He was feeling a little woozy and had lost count of the beers he'd drunk. That was not proper of him, being on call, but thankfully he hadn't been summoned. Still, he couldn't do that often! He wasn't really inebriated, but it was good he didn't have to drive home. When the group split up to go various ways, he found himself walking back toward the zoo with Zyl.
Although he was sure the other man had put away at least as many cold ones as he had, Zyl seemed to be stone sober. Without anything being said, the athletic man assumed the lead and headed unerringly back by the shortest and easiest route. In a vague corner of his mind, Carl wondered how his new friend had become so familiar with the area when he'd never seen the guy around before two nights ago.
They entered again through the gate they'd used before. Zyl waited to let Carl input the combination. It took him two tries because his fingers had gone a bit dyslexic on him, but he got it and they went in. Carl then headed toward his cottage, somehow not surprised when Zyl strolled along beside him. It felt right.
Carl rarely brought friends home. The little house was very small, very plain, and very cluttered. In some ways, it was more of a den than a home, with books and papers, medical gear, and an odd collection of souvenirs and mementos covering every surface, both horizontal and vertical. In most cases, he felt compelled to apologize for the disarray. This time he didn't.