Chapter Text
“Mmmm...” Dean groaned softly as he awoke. He didn't remember falling asleep, and couldn't work out where he was immediately. Several sensations hit him all at once. Firstly, not only did he seriously have to pee, but something was pressing uncomfortably on his bladder. Secondly, while he felt pleasantly warm, disturbingly, he also could not feel his legs. Dean twitched his limbs faintly but something was securely pinning him down. Cracking one eye open, Dean saw that the cause of his sudden paralysis was 250-odd pounds of wild jungle cat draped all over the top of him. Oh. Right.
The events of the morning came flooding into his brain with astonishing clarity as he peered downwards only to be met with the sharp blue gaze of said wild jungle cat. His cat's intelligent stare caught him just as off-guard as the first time, and he blinked a few times, wondering how long his cat had been watching him sleep. Creeper.
Dean was reminded of the third thing he'd noticed as it hit him again, simultaneously, on the nose and in the eye. Raindrops. Dammit, was it friggin' raining again?! Glancing up, he saw that the brilliant sunlight that had been bathing them earlier had vanished behind a dense layer of gray, low-hanging fog and clouds. Dean groaned again and threw his arm over his eyes, yawning widely, before attempting to sit up.
But his cat was having none of it. In fact, through the course of Dean's wiggling, his cat seemed to grow even heavier until it felt like he possessed the density of a dying sun. The increased pressure on Dean's bladder made him grunt in discomfort. Fuck, he was gonna pop like an overly full water balloon if he didn't get up and go, like, now.
“Ughhh...kitty! C'mon, let me up, I gotta pee!” Dean begged, bucking up a little beneath his cat. But his cat blithely ignored him, choosing to nose at the arm Dean had flung over his face until he removed it, then rubbed his nose against Dean's stubbly chin, licking it a little before resting his head back on Dean's chest contentedly, blue eyes firmly fastened on him and purring all the while.
“Fine, Cat! You really want me to pee all over you? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that's a thing you wouldn't enjoy. Huh? Or maybe you would, since you seem to like peeing on my stuff, what if the tables were turned, hmm? What then?” Dean ground out, becoming aggravated with the desperate need to relieve himself.
Apparently, his cat did not appreciate Dean's insinuations or his sass, because he rose up like a dark tidal wave, looming over Dean, paws pressing heavily into Dean's shoulders with just a hint of claws and Dean was struck with a sense of déjà vu; his cat sure was a dominant little fucker.
“Oh what? Every time I say something you don't like you're gonna go all alpha-male-wild-jungle-cat on me, huh kitty? Show me who's in charge?” Dean taunted, pushing at his cat's solid chest to no avail.
“Yeah, well you'd better get used to it,” Dean snarked. The leopard stared down at him haughtily for a few seconds, before gracefully walking off of Dean, stepping over him nonchalantly, managing to trail the end of his tail against Dean's cheek, smacking it playfully, as though they had not just had their little standoff. Dean sat up, stretching a bit before rising to his feet to wander into the bushes a few paces away to take a leak, grumbling unintelligibly under his breath at his cat all the while.
Feeling worlds better, he returned a couple minutes later to find his cat openly nosing Dean's backpack, diligently rubbing his face all over it, as he seemed to like to do to all of Dean's belongings. Typical behavior these days; Dean rolled his eyes indulgently, it wasn't like he could stop him.
Dean checked his watch; it was 1:18 in the afternoon and he was feeling lethargic and unmotivated. He was tired but didn't want to nap anymore, he'd never sleep tonight if he did. Dean felt strangely off-kilter; a lot had happened this morning, and he wasn't sure how to move forward in this new situation. He glanced over at his cat, who was now sitting off to the side, daintily licking at a paw placidly; Dean snorted; he supposed his cat felt he had sufficiently scent-marked all of his stuff for the time being and could now move on to more important things. Dean felt a few more drops of rain splash against his arm; the weather couldn't seem to decide if it was going to actually start raining or just continue spitting on him intermittently.
“Well, kitty, what do you feel like doing, huh?” Dean asked. His cat looked up at him immediately, pausing in his grooming, ears swiveling forward, blue eyes locking with Dean's interestedly before abandoning his cleaning to cross swiftly over to Dean, coming to a stop right in front of him. Dean held his out hand, still unable to truly believe that this untamed creature was allowing such close contact. Each time it happened, he was secretly (or maybe not so secretly, from the keen glint in his cat's cool blue eyes) awed all over again.
His cat obligingly sniffed briefly at his fingers before ducking his large head under Dean's hand, encouraging Dean to stroke his plush fur and scratch his ears. Just then, Dean's stomach decided to startle both of them by growling loudly enough to rival the leopard's own impressive growl. If Dean didn't know better he'd say his cat was staring up at him now with the world's biggest smirk.
“Oh don't even look at me in that tone! I know, you're thinking I should've eaten that deer leg you brought me this morning, right?” Dean smirked back ruefully. His cat gazed at him shrewdly, then gently butted his face into Dean's belly, as if to say, 'Well, duh,' before turning away, rubbing against Dean's legs as he went and flicking his tail against Dean's shins, glancing back once as he prowled off into the undergrowth; Dean took this as his cue that he was supposed to follow his cat into the jungle. Yeah, he liked adventure as much as the next guy...so...sure, why the fuck not? Let the wild jungle cat give you the grand tour. Good plan.
Rain was still lightly pitter-pattering overhead, so Dean dug his green poncho out and pulled it on, just in case the weather suddenly decided to get serious and drop a fucking monsoon's worth of water on him. Shouldering up his pack, he sauntered after his cat at a measured pace, trusting that his cat knew where he was going and wasn't about to lead him off a cliff or something for fun. The leopard led him southeast for about a mile, veering off from the more southerly direction Dean had mostly been heading in order to reach the village of Ciptagelar. Dean tried to keep track of the way they went so he could correct his course and orient himself later after this little nature walk with his cat. Dean kept his cameras at the ready and managed to snap off a few shots here and there of interesting birds and cool tree configurations so he felt like he was getting a little work in too.
They finally came to a glade that was populated with medium tall trees whose bark was nearly black with thick, glossy leaves that held dull-looking fruits that were about the size of apples and were a deep purple color. Dean attempted to jump up and snag one, but even the lowest branches were just out of his reach. Again, he received a superbly smug look from his cat, who then easily scaled the tree, plucking several of the fruits in his mouth before leaping back down to Dean and spitting them out at his feet, staring up at Dean with a definite air of self-satisfaction, nudging the fruit forward in offering with his nose.
Dean picked one up, examining it closely. It didn't really look like any fruit he could just buy at the supermarket back home in the States; it had three thick tab-like leaves growing out from the stem that was as big around as one of his fingers and the rind seemed fairly dense, not easily peel-able like an orange or a banana. Huh. This was an edible piece of fruit, right? Mildly perplexed, he glanced down at his cat for guidance. His cat seemed to understand Dean's puzzled look and stepped forward. Placing one large paw on top of the other fruit still on the ground, the leopard exerted light pressure until the outer rind easily cracked open. Purplish, inky juice immediately leaked out and his cat batted the split fruit til it lumpily rolled into the side of Dean's boot.
“Ahh, so that's how you do it, huh kitty? Thanks,” Dean smiled gratefully at his cat, which seemed to only heighten the cat's air of pleased self-satisfaction.
Shrugging off his bulky pack and plopping himself down on the ground, Dean set aside the unopened piece of fruit in favor of the one his cat had broken apart for him. Squeezing it between his hands a bit more, it fully split open into two large halves, revealing more reddish-purple juice that was sticky like sap and was, frankly, making a mess everywhere. Inside the rind though, the fruit itself was white and arranged in fleshy sections just like an orange. Peeling off the rest of the thick rind, he then gently pulled apart the segments; eyes flashing up to his cat, who was watching avidly, he wiggled his eyebrows in playful anticipation, before popping a piece into his mouth. Expecting the fruit to taste like an orange because it vaguely resembled one, Dean experienced a pleasant surprise when instead the flavors of strawberry, peach and...(was that vanilla ice cream?) burst across his tastebuds in a rich, delicious, refreshing cascade.
“Mmm! Damn, that's good!” Dean mumbled appreciatively through a mouthful. His cat puffed his chest out proudly as if he had grown the fruit himself and edged closer to Dean before sprawling out gracefully next to him, a warm line of heat accompanied by a decidedly happy, rumbling purr.
Dean gobbled down another hunk of the sweet, juicy fruit hungrily, trying to lick up the liquid that kept dribbling down his fingers and wrists. In his peripheral he caught sight of movement and glanced over to see his cat side-eying him intently, nostrils flaring and tongue poking out a bit as if tasting the air.
“Here, kitty, want some?” Dean grinned, waggling a piece of the pale fruit a few inches away from his cat's nose enticingly, 'cause, hey, sharing is caring, right?
The leopard glared up at him imperiously, before deigning to lean forward and sniff gingerly at Dean's offering, but instead of taking the fruit or even turning his nose up at it, his cat surprised him (although at this point, he really shouldn't have been surprised at all) with rough strokes of his tongue, swiping up the droplets of juice with long licks, all the while gazing inscrutably up at Dean while he did so. His cat's tongue felt like if velvet and sandpaper had made a baby, all rough-soft n' slightly scratchy and again, Dean felt that same flush of heat from earlier flood through him, accompanied by a full-bodied shiver and goosebumps breaking out along his arms that wasn't altogether unpleasant. He couldn't stop his brain from thinking about where else that long tongue might feel good; Dean shook himself, trying to laugh off the sensation, chalking it up to the fact that he hadn't been laid in months, and that doing so was at the top of his list once he returned home.
“Tastes pretty good, huh kitty?” Dean blushed immediately as he realized how not-so-innocently that comment could be taken. But what the fuck was he thinking? This whole situation was so fucking insane. This wasn't a human he was dealing with here. As smart as he could tell his cat was, he doubted that the wild creature was familiar with sexual innuendos, it was just Dean with his mind in the gutter. God, what was wrong with him? A little hand-licking and he was off imagining all sorts of dirty stuff about a jungle cat that was way more likely to make a tasty snack out of him rather than to initiate any of the (probably illegal) things that were flitting through Dean's depraved mind.
Dean wasn't quite sure what expression was on his face but from the stare his cat was directing at him, he was pretty sure he didn't want to know and fervently prayed to any God listening that his cat wasn't clever enough to guess Dean's not-so-chaste thoughts. The leopard nudged his hand a bit and with one last swipe of his tongue against Dean's thumb, plucked the fruit dangling from his fingers and gulped it down.
Dean found himself mildly mesmerized by the display of his cat's glistening fangs and candy-pink tongue. Okay. Enough of this. Dean checked his watch; nearly four in the afternoon; it was time he started heading back and scouting out a place to camp for the night. He ate the last remaining slices of fruit, deciding to save the other one for breakfast, packing it away carefully in his gear.
Looking down at himself, he grimaced, it looked as though he had gone full-on Hannibal and gutted someone with his bare hands. Lovely. Levering himself up carefully, trying not to touch his clothing, he crawled over to some shrubs and cleaned his hands off as best as he could for the time being. Better, but he was going to have to find some fresh water soon to really do the trick.
The rain had tapered off again and along with the sun inching its way back out from behind the clouds, the mugginess was also setting back in, making Dean feel sticky underneath all his layers. He decided to shed his poncho for now, cramming it into the back pocket of his pack.
He glanced over at his cat, who was vigorously chewing at a spot on his hind leg; Dean whistled a little and his cat's head shot up, ears perking up at the high-pitched noise, Dean whistled a few more notes and his cat eagerly strode forward to where Dean was crouched down, getting ready to heft his pack to his shoulders. His cat rubbed his cheek against Dean's arm and shoulder cheerfully; Dean repeated the notes and cat butted his face into Dean's bicep, as if to say, “Yes? What?” Dean chuckled, rubbing his fingers between his cat's ears affectionately.
“Hey kitty, d'you think you could grab me some more of that fruit?” Dean put on his best puppy dog eyes and waited. His cat eyed him with that same little smirk before wheeling around and ascending the nearest tree with a mighty leap that rustled the leaves of the tree loudly.
“Show-off!” Dean called out, moving forward and craning his head up to see where his cat was. In answer, a branch shook overhead and Dean glanced up with a squawk just in time to avoid being walloped in the face with the several pieces of fruit that rained down unexpectedly. Whipping his rain poncho back out of his pack quickly, Dean was able to maneuver it like a makeshift net and catch the four pieces of fruit without any falling to the ground. His cat dropped out of the tree like a stone, shaking his fur off with a full-body shiver of the small sticks and leaves that stuck to his coat, before strutting proudly up to Dean.
“Good work, kitty! Ya nearly beaned me in the head, but job well done. You're pretty pleased with yourself there, aren't'cha?” Dean smiled lopsidedly as his cat puffed his chest out again, purring all the while, contentment rolling off him in near tangible waves. Dean bent down to store the fruit his cat had just knocked down with the other piece, along with his rain poncho before zipping his pack closed securely.
“C'mon, let's head back, I want to find a good spot to camp out before it gets too dark,” Dean said, standing and shrugging his pack into place. His cat trotted forward a few steps, looking back at Dean expectantly over his shoulder.
“Alright kitty, lead the way!” Dean grinned as his cat disappeared into the undergrowth with a flick of his long, dark tail. Dean followed complacently, whistling merrily.