Hello, nerds of the world! It's me Moony and I'm back! Okay, remember how I said, or thought I said if I didn't, that these will have random family lifestyles of Daniel. Well, this is one of them. No Avengers, no huge Italian-American family, and no other thing I've suggested. Whole new family! Alright, everyone comfy? Not eating anything to choke on? All annoying siblings and family members away so they don't look at you like you're crazy? Good! Let's go!
Daniel was walking around Arus in the rain with nothing to do. He had already done his normal day routine and had done his daily prank on Lance (Today, he swiped his credit card earlier and ordered a lot of cream cheese crates.). So now he was just wandering around in the rain wearing an oversized hoodie that was his father's over his uniform.
As he walked down an alley, Daniel heard a shuffling noise. He stopped and listened, looking around for the source of noise. He saw something move behind some boxes and walked towards it. Gently moving them away, Daniel peered down at was behind them.
It was a kitten. And not just any kitten, but a lynx cub. Daniel looked around hoping to see someone he hadn't noticed before, but he was the only person there. He studied the cub. It was scrawny, and looked like it just got weaned off its' mother. He reached to pick it up, only for it to let out a growl that sounded more like a mewl.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you." Daniel soothed, picking it up by the scruff and examining it.
Daniel had some experience with animals. After all, his dad ran an animal sanctuary on Earth. Daniel loved helping his dad when he walked around and checked on them all and studied their behaviors and mannerisms. His father's a renowned zoologist, so Daniel could always count on his father to teach him all he wants to know about animals. His mother was a teacher, but she died of lung cancer when Daniel was eight. It's been just him and his father since then.
As he studied the little cub, now identified as female, he started reminiscing about his mother. He remembered that she loved caracals, which was a type of lynx found in Africa. He remembered that she would take care of the baby animals at the house. When his father was on a trip or tour, Daniel would help her and at the end of the day, she would always kiss his forehead and call him her little helper.
Smiling, Daniel gently rubbed the little cub's head. It had been awhile since he thought about the good times of his mother. Usually, whenever he thought of her, he'd think of her laying on her deathbed with a soft smile on her face.
The cub gave a little purr of content, bringing Daniel back to the present world. He smiled again and held her against his chest.
"I guess you're motherless too, huh?" he muttered.
The kit mewed and batted at his hand. He chuckled and began walking back to the castle. He didn't know what he'd do or say exactly, but he did know that he wasn't going to leave her out to die. Maybe he could call his dad and ask him to take her. After his mother died, Daniel and his father took on the job of taking care of orphans. Perhaps he'll know what to do.
As Daniel approached the castle, he suddenly stopped. What would the force say? So, like any child trying to sneak an animal in, he put the tiny thing in his hoodie pocket and strolled in as though nothing happened.
"How's the weather out there?" Lance asked.
"Oh, wet and a little cold. Nothing bad." Daniel said nonchalantly.
"I didn't know you had a hoodie for Duke University." Vince said.
"It was my dad's hoodie. He out grew it and since he caught me several times wearing it, he just gave it to me." Daniel explained, sticking his hands in the pocket so they wouldn't question the slight bulge that was the kitten.
"Your dad went to Duke?" Larmina questioned.
"Yeah, you guys may have actually heard of him. His name is Howard Chandler." Daniel replied.
"Wait, the Howard Chandler? As in, Professor Howard Chandler, the man who roams with wild animals and has his own animal sanctuary in Africa?!" Pidge clarified.
"Uh, yeah… that would be him." Daniel said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
"Wait, you live in Africa?" Vince asked.
"Well, Dad actually owns a lot of animal sanctuaries. So I technically live in like five places. A home in Africa, one in Australia, one in Canada, one in the U.S., and a home in the backcountry of Asia." Daniel chuckled nervously.
"I've read all his works and…"
"Um, I'm gonna go to my room. See ya!" Daniel interrupted Pidge's ramblings and started to walk out.
Sadly, like all genius plans, the plan was thrown away when the cub started mewling.
"Shhh!" Daniel hissed, but they heard it.
"Daniel." Keith called sternly.
"Yes?" Daniel answered, trying to remain innocent looking.
"What was that?" Keith asked.
"What was what?" Daniel responded, tilting his head.
"What was that noise." Allura asked.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Daniel denied.
It would've worked, but the cub mewled again.
"It sounds like you're hiding something in your hoodie." Lance stated.
"Daniel, show us." Keith sighed.
Knowing he'd been caught, Daniel gently pulled up the little lynx.
"Oh, no! No! We are not having any animals… in… here- Oh, God! Daniel, don't give me that look!" Lance exclaimed, looking at Daniel's kicked puppy dog face.
"I found her out there. All alone. In the pouring rain. Alone. What if I were out there hiding behind a bunch of boxes with no family and homeless? Would you throw me out if someone brought me here?" Daniel questioned, his eyes glistening with tears to add affect.
"What?! No! Of course, not!" Lance exclaimed.
"Then what's the difference?!" Daniel cried.
"Uh… Keith! Help me out here!" Lance beckoned.
"Well, as long as you take care of it and have plans to give it to someone. We can't keep it, Daniel." Keith contemplated aloud.
"Yes! Thanks, Keith!" Daniel chirped and ran out with the kit in tow.
"You're just gonna let him keep it?!" Lance yelled.
"Daniel understands the importance of animals, considering who his father is. He knows how to take care of it. Also, what Daniel will probably do is get his dad to take the cub." Keith said.
"We've all gone soft." Lance groaned, knowing that he was cracking too.
"Daniel's only fourteen. Let him remain that way." Allura said, walking out after Daniel.
Three days later…
Daniel walked into the kitchen with the little cub, now named Covington after Daniel explained that all the boxes he found her with all said Covington, trotting behind him.
"So, Daniel, what's the plan for her?" Keith asked, petting Covington's head as she brushed up against his leg.
"Well, Dad and I talked about it, and we came to the decision that Covington will become a part of the family. She's old enough to not need her mother, who was probably domesticated. And we don't have any mother lynxes, so they'd kill her instead of teaching her how to hunt and be a lynx. Our Shepherd, Goodman, will take her in and teach her how to be a herding cat. She'll get big enough for that kind of job, and we think she'd enjoy it." Daniel explained, opening a can of tuna for the cub.
"Goodman? Herding cat? I am so lost!" Lance exclaimed.
"We named her Goodman because my mom loved Benny Goodman. Goodman took to herding the small farm we have near the sanctuary. And a herding cat is basically the same as a herding dog. The only difference is that it's a cat." Daniel told him.
"I thought cats were lazy and hated work." Larmina said.
"Some are." he admitted, "But we have gotten some big cats before that do the herding job. Our old tamed bobcat Imp was the one that taught Goodman. But now that he's extremely old and stuff, Imp is the lazy house cat now. He's earned it though, so we really don't mind."
"Daniel, your home life scares me." Vince said.
"Aw, Vince, I haven't even scraped the tip of the iceberg yet! I could tell you all about my adventures running with cheetahs or roughhousing with lions! Or about the time I wandered off when I was six and fell into the croc pit! When my parents found me, I was laughing my head off as they tried to eat me!" Daniel scolded playfully.
"You were okay though, right?!" Allura asked.
"Yeah, totally! They can't exactly drown me if I'm squirming all around." Daniel assured her.
"That doesn't comfort me." she muttered.
"Then I guess I'll keep the more dangerous things I did to myself." Daniel shrugged.
"Have you ever climbed into an animal's mouth?" Hunk suddenly asked.
"Yeah, several times." Daniel answered.
"Why?!" Allura demanded.
"Uh… Oh! Look! I hear my dad calling me! Gotta go! Bye!" Daniel exclaimed and ran.
*Gasp* Will Daniel survive mama bear mode Allura? Will Covington get accepted by Goodman? WILL I GET A LIFE?! Tune in next time on The Daniel Drabbles!