Things were good as the new school year started for them. Theo was finally taking classes that fully aligned with what he wanted to do, and Hop was getting into classes that would help him with his future career. Football practices had begun and there were a few weird looks from some players when they found out Hop was dating Theo, but no big blowouts. Most of the team just accepted it and moved on to figuring out how to best come out on top this season.
The swim team took it well too. In fact, there were a few out members of the team who quickly became friendly with Theo as they practiced. They were friendly to Hop as well, though Hop got the feeling that they were judging him a little on being bisexual rather than gay. Any talk that had to do with ex-girlfriends always got him the side eye, though it was done when Theo couldn't see it.
The only thing that seemed to shake things up at first is when Theo brought home two cats who had been injured by humans. One was a black cat who had been shot by BB guns which caused her to lose an eye, and needed the wounds cleaned and antibiotics given regularly, and the other was a siamese maine-coon mix with long fur that had recently lost a leg. They had bonded while in a rescue but the rescue leader had been looking for a foster family and Theo had volunteered.
It was clear after a week though that Theo was rather attached to the two cats, who had been named Mewtiny (black cat) and Clawdia (siamese) by the rescue. It was a reminder to Hop just how good Theo was with animals. Even when they were hurting and scared, he could seem to calm them down.
Hop had a chuckle over the names and quietly went along with Theo to the pet store to pick up "catification" items to make their home more friendly for the two pirates. When they got their "haul" home, Hop did most of the work putting the shelves up for the cats to climb on and one of the cat trees together and such. Theo enjoyed watching while he got the shelves up, though, and especially loved when the cats came up to check out what Hop was doing while Theo put together the other cat tree and got the scratching posts spread throughout the house.
Theo got their dinner put in bowls before he gave each cat their pills. He was gentle about it, but sure in his technique. Clawdia took the pill far easier than Mewtiny did, so he would spend a little extra time with the black cat getting the pill into her throat before massaging her neck to get her to swallow. Then he gave them each a treat before putting their food bowls on the ground.
"They're both gaining some weight now," Theo commented as he sat down next to Hop. "They were brought into the rescue from the street but the rescue said they were sure they used to be pets at one point. Clawdia is declawed though, so it's a wonder she did as well as she did outside, the poor thing."
Hop looked at Clawdia, taking in her position bent over the food bowl, still eating a bit like she might not know where her next meal may come from or when, in sympathy. He had already learned not to try to pet them while they ate; they were both still a touch food aggressive. They didn't bite, but their growls left no doubt that they meant business. As much as Hop felt that he may not have been completely ready to care for another living being when they came home with Theo, he had quickly fallen in love with them, particularly when he realized that Theo would not part with them.
Once the two of them were done eating, Mewtiny jumped up onto the cat tree to curl up and Clawdia came over to them to lay across their laps. Her coloring all came from her flame point siamese side, but her size was all maine coon, as was the floof coming from her ears. She could easily lay across both of their laps when she really wanted to spread out. When Theo started petting her belly, she let out a loud purr that showed how content she was. It had taken a good week or two to get her comfortable enough to do this, but now it was her favorite thing.
Hop stroked Clawdia's rear quarters and tail, careful to pet her as evenly as he could to help keep her fur from becoming matted. Clawdia was pretty good at grooming herself, as evidenced by the occasional hairball that the men found on the kitchen floor, usually fairly near the trash can. She probably didn't need regular grooming from humans, but she seemed to appreciate it and Hop liked the feel of her fur. It was soft and luxurious, unlike the wiry, almost coarse fur that Mewtiny sported. The black cat's coat was starting to get softer now that she was being taken care of and petted regularly though.
Despite classes and the care of the cats, they found time for their sports and dates. They didn't go to parties here as often as they did at their other school, but they made appearances and went to each other's games and meets. Theo tended to wear one of Hop's clean jerseys to the games to show his support of his boyfriend.
They got halfway through the semester without anything big coming up before Trevor messaged them to say he would be in Ohio and would love to see them. Trevor showed up with his brother Benji, who greeted them and thanked them for being there for Trevor. Trevor was using a cane to walk around but was out of the cast now.
"Your house looks great," Trevor commented as they sat down. "And you both look like you're doing well here, which I'm glad to see. Are the sportsball people being okay with you, Hop?"
Hop chuckled at the sportsball reference and shook his head to indicate that he had not had any trouble while saying, "I almost forgot about 'sportsball.' They've been fine. Most of them weren't surprised close to the end of the season with an announcement of a big change, either. I don't really blame most of the guys in Michigan who reacted lukewarmly and even mildly negatively. And the guys who acted on their homophobia got what was coming to them."
"They did, yes," Trevor agreed.
"What brought you to Ohio? Just missing our beautiful faces?" Theo joked.
"Always," Trevor laughed and then looked over at his brother with a more somber expression. "Benji here goes to school at Kent State, but he lives in the Akron area. Apparently the Cleveland Clinic is one of the hospitals to go to, so I went and saw one of their orthopedic surgeons."
Hop nodded his agreement with Trevor. "Cleveland Clinic is pretty well-known all across the country, from what I gather. Who knew we grew up a few hours away from such a place."
"Benji used them when he was dealing with a sports injury himself, so he pushed for me to go," Trevor agreed. "Their plan is to replace the joints completely. It's a big surgery but he thinks that they could get me back to some form of dancing if we do it. I probably will never do the jumps I used to do, but something would be nice. Mom and Harper agreed to come down here for Christmas instead of us coming to them, and Benji and his friends are going to help during recovery. I'm terrified but hopeful."
Theo smiled sympathetically at Trevor. "Well, anything we can help with, let us know. Even if it's just sending you a pizza or something."
Hop smiled broadly. "What he said! So you're going to be the Bionic Man? That's so cool!"
Trevor laughed at that. "Somewhat, yeah. They'll replace the knee and ankle with titanium joints instead. It might mean other surgeries down the line to replace them but it's better than my movements being this stiff."
"Use your downtime well," Theo offered. "Sleep, rest, but maybe learn some more skills while you're laid up too."
"I was actually thinking I'd learn more about drumming, guitar, and bass while I'm recovering," Trevor said. "I've done a lot of sleeping but I get bored easily. I've read a ton but I'm itching to do other things."
Hop chuckled, "Here I was thinking you were talking about cross-stitch and knitting for a minute."
Trevor grinned at that while Theo gave a smirk. "I mean, that is a possibility too," Trevor added. "I'm itching to do stuff with my hands, since they still work fine. I figured I'd figure out how to lean into social media to make a name for myself in music, and learn new instruments as I go."
