Walker and Sheldon
Walker looked up as he heard the doorbell ring. Frowning slightly, he stood and made his way to the door.
When he opened it, he found Sheldon with a backpack and small suitcase. Sheldon smiled.
"Hey Mr. Hanson," he greeted, almost bouncily, "Tay or Zac around anywhere?"
Walker gave him a blank look for a moment.
"Not at the moment, no," he replied.
Sheldon shrugged.
"I ah... heard Tay's been having some trouble recently. Is he ok?"
Walker shrugged.
"We don't know. Haven't you heard about the Carnegie concert?"
Sheldon hesitated, then shook his head.
"No..." he began, "don't tell me the guy's been taken again. I keep getting messages saying he's been kidnapped and that he's back, and... I never know what the hell's going on because everything tells a different story..."
"Sheldon? What are you doing here?"
Sheldon gnawed his bottom lip for a moment.
"I got some chick pregnant, and she aborted it," he admitted.
Walker groaned.
"I swear Mr. Hanson, I didn't want her to. I would have kept it. But anyway, Dad found out, and yeah... don't have no place to call home at the moment."
"So you need a place to stay, do you?"
"Well... I don't have any money either," Sheldon shrugged.
"How did you get here?" Walker raised his eyebrows.
"A mix of hitchhiking and walking does wonders."
"Sheldon..."
"Yeah I know it was stupid. But I'm not trusting some of the animals these days anyway. I think there's some mutant or something in town that's throwing their senses out of whack..."
"What, here?"
"No, OKC. And anyway, I couldn't have called on Taylor because... well, he's not here, is he?"
Walker hesitated for a moment.
"Pleeeeeeease Mr. Hanson! I'll do chores! I'll... look after the fuzzles and everything while Tay's gone! I'll even scrub the toilet! You have to help me on this..."
"I don't have to," Walker raised an eyebrow as Sheldon's face fell, "but I will."
Sheldon looked up and grinned.
"Thanks Mr. Hanson!" he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around the older man in a hug.
"Ok, ok..." Walker pushed him away, "we'll have to set up another bed..."
"Oh I can sleep on the couch. As long as someone else isn't that is."
"No, no..."
Sheldon grabbed his suitcase and entered the house.
Zac
Zac was carrying a sleeping Saku in his arms back home. He had taken Saku to the park where he had an absoulte ball chasing jumping insects and other such catlike pastimes until he had gotten rather tired and fell asleep in Zac's arms.
They arrived home, and Zac carefully opened up the front door with one hand and made sure he still had a good hold of Saku.
"Hey, I'm home, if anyone cares," Zac called.
Zac had intended on staying at the mansion for a few days. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to arrange this, and so decided to go back to New York later in the month.
Sheldon
Sheldon grinned from the couch where he'd been watching TV.
"Zac man!" he exclaimed, before seeing Saku.
"Oh, sorry man, didn't know he was asleep."
He tilted his head a little.
"Kinda cute. He yours?"
Zac
Zac nodded.
"Yep," he replied. "This is my son Saku. I don't believe you've met..."
He grinned broadly.
"So, what brings you here?"
Sheldon
"Saku? Interesting name."
Sheldon nodded.
"I'm stayin' here for a while. Just until I get things sorted. I've already seen your Dad about it."
He scratched his head.
"Got a chick pregnant and she aborted. Dad found out, so yeah... not happy."
Zac
"Ahh," Zac nodded. "Welcome to the club. Let's see, Saku's name means 'Zac' - his mother is a goddess. And of course, there's Julie as I'm sure you know. Had twins, B'Elanna and Tom. And this other girl Desiree is having my baby, and Rachel."
He stuck his tongue out.
"But hopefully the only other person I'm going to add to that list will be Faith. She's my fiancee."
Sheldon
"I know what Saku means..." Sheldon began, before almost choking on his words.
"Your... your what? Zac, you're getting married?"
He raised his eyebrows.
"Now this is a shock if there ever was one. I mean... man, it's you! Taylor I can understand, but you?"
Zac
Zac grinned.
"Yep, I'm getting married. Go me. And for the record, Isaac had the exact opposite reaction. He was like 'took you long enough'," he replied.
Sheldon
"Yeah, but Ike's Ike," Sheldon rolled his eyes.
"Where is he anyway? Obviously Taylor's missing again. For the love of God someone needs to nail him to the floor in the rec room or something."
Zac
Zac laughed.
"Yeah!" he agreed. "Ike and Zac got abducted by Miette and the Eye. Right after the last concert."
He shook his head.
"This is getting monotonus. Not to mention boring. Don't tell Mom, but I'm actually not really worried about them. They've always come back safe and sound before. A little worse for wear maybe, but nothing untreatable."
Sheldon
"I'm not that worried either," Sheldon shrugged, "Ike's a big guy - if only mentally - and he can look after himself. Tay has the Rascal Patrol. They already know, but they keep getting their facts missed up... so thanks for clarifying that it's actually Mi and Eye."
He chuckled at the way that sounded.
"Sound slike I'm blaming myself. Well, I hope Tay's back before I ship out... I do wanna see him."
Zac
Zac nodded.
"And when are you shipping out?" he asked. "What are your plans nwo that you've been kicked out of house and home, with only us crazy, overpopulating Hansons to turn to for help?"
Sheldon
"Well it depends on how long your 'rents can put up with me," Sheldon shrugged, "or how long Dad holds out. He's been in and out of hospital for a while now."
He scratched his nose and put his hands on his hips.
"I think there's a couple of girls around here I can stay with if worse comes to worse. I'm not too willing to stay with wild animals again."
Zac
Zac grinned.
"Then why are you staying with us if you don't like wild animals?" he joked. "Don't let Saku's slient sleepign form fool you, he really is a wild child. How has your Dad been anyway?"
Sheldon
"Getting on," Sheldon sighed, "can't live with him, can't live without him really. Sometimes you wish he'd just give up already. Mum's been fussing over funeral ideas in front of him and it's making him $#!+ himself. I know."
He pulled a face.
"But Saku sounds like he could be fun when he's awake," he grinned.
Zac
"Yeah... Saku's going to be trouble when he's older. Nothing but trouble," Zac grinned. "The very thought makes me so proud. That's pretty cruel though, discussing funeral ideas before they're even dead."
Sheldon
"Well he knows he's going, but that's no real excuse. I still say he can make it to the new year. Maybe longer to spite me," Sheldon chuckled, "but yeah, you gotta see the bright side."
Then he grinned.
"And if Saku is anything like his father, then hell yes."
Zac
Zac chuckled.
"I should probably get him to bed. Wanna see all the fun redecorating I've been doing?"
Sheldon
Sheldon raised an eyebrow.
"Fun redecorating? Now this I gotta see," he chuckled.
He stood back a little.
"Still in the basement where no one can hear ya?"
Zac
Zac grinned and headed to the stairs.
"Yep," he replied. "What with Saku with me now, and Dez's baby, I kinda needed more room for them... sooo..."
He opened up the door.
"Ta da!" he grinned.
There was new carpet on the floor, the walls were painted, and the last of the junk had been disposed of. Saku's bed and toys had been moved in.
Sheldon
Sheldon stuck his head in, then let his body follow. He looked around for a moment, and nodded.
"Yeah, not bad..." he smiled slightly, "compared to all the crap you had in here last time I was here that is."
Zac
Zac grinned.
"Wasn't all my crap," he said, gently placing Saku in his bed.
Saku stirred briefly, but went right on sleeping.
"The only thing is... trying to tell Saku he's not supposed to claw the carpet," Zac smiled. "Oh well, if he destroys it, I'll just polish the floorboard underneath and he'll have to deal with cold feet."
Sheldon
"Claw the floorboards?" Sheldon raised an eyebrow again.
"What exactly is he a cross with, anyway? And for that matter, how's your mom?"
Zac
"Clawing floorboards?" Zac repeated. "Now that would be a sight to see. But hopefully he'll stick to his scratching post, and not claw the carpet."
He gestured to the big scratching post.
"Saku loves that," he grinned. "His mother, Nyx, is a werehuman. She's a cat goddess. Took her mother, Bastet's place when she died. Saku has hydrokinesis and can do fire magic. So don't upset him while you're here - or he's likely to throw a fireball at ya."
Sheldon
"So... a werehuman huh?" Sheldon grinned, eyeing Saku off, "oh he's gonna be fun when he grows up. Before I left I spent a couple of nights with the OKC werewolf pack. You know, Jason's old lot before he got killed."
He hesitated for a moment, and screwed his face up.
"It's so weird coming here and not seeing Tay. The fuzzles are here, right?"
Zac
Zac grinned and nodded.
"Yeah, they are. We're all taking care of them. Though... it's better for Saku to stay away from them... he likes to chase them you see, not so good."
Sheldon
Sheldon scratched his head.
"Well, I do remember being told he has a black one. And if they were born late April..." he pulled a face trying to remember something.
Then he relized that Zac might not have been told.
"Ah... nevermind. Well yeah, fluffy thing, cat, moving fluffy thing actually. Probably not a good idea to have in the same room at the same time."
Zac
"Nope," Zac grinned. "So, where are you sleeping? I have a couch..."
His eyes twinkled mischeviously.
Sheldon
Sheldon squinted at him for a moment, before a grin spread across his face.
"Why do I worry when I see that look?" he wondered out loud, "I should know you well enough by now. I'll probably be sleeping on the couch in the livingroom, unless there's a couple of beds free."
He coughed, saying 'Ike' and 'Tay' at the same time.
Zac
Zac's grin grew wider.
"Yeah... you probably don't want to know... it has stains."
He poked his tongue out cheekily.
"Well, I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad won't mind if you sleep in Ike or Tay's room."
Sheldon
"Well I wouldn't sleep in Tay's bed. Not while Mouse is around anyway. It'd be like an invasion," he rolled his eyes.
"But Ike's? Sure. And if this was my house there'd be a lot of stains on the couch as well."
Zac
Zac chuckled.
"I'm sure there would be. Ahh, you're better off in Ike's room. It's cleaner than Tay's - he's always cleaning up telepathically."
Sheldon
"Such a lazy bastard," Sheldon rolled his eyes again.
"Oh well."
He looked at Saku again.
"Do you normally stay in here while he sleeps, or what?"
Zac
"Oh you're just jealous because you can't," Zac replied. "But that's okay, because so am I."
He grinned broadly.
"Well, was there something in particular you wanted to do?"
Sheldon
"Well you're an entertainer for a living, think of something," Sheldon winked.
"But first I guess I should do my rounds again. Check up on the chicks I did last time I was here. Anyone new I can get?"
Zac
Zac shrugged.
"I wouldn't know. Haven't been home for a bit and in any case, I haven't been looking. Hmm... PlayStation 2?"
Sheldon
Sheldon sighed.
"This is gonna be absolutely no fun with you engaged, I swear..."
He glanced at Saku.
"You know, I haven't played PS2 in... Hmm... Months?"
Zac
Zac laughed.
"Well, I guess we both know who the real man is around here. C'mon, it's upstairs. When Saku wakes - and that won't be for a few hours - he'll let me know, believe me."
He turned and started up the stairs.