JB || Disney || JB || Sheregheera || JB || Courting || JB || Sheregheera || JB || Disney || JB

Title: Courting – How Their Love Could Have Bloomed

Fandom: Walt Disney; Jungle Book; Jungle Cubs

Disclaimer: All rights concerning the movie reserved to Disney. The book said movie is based of though is property of Rudyard Kipling. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, animal relationships, mating, anal, explicit intercourse, mpreg

Main Pairing: Sheregheera

Side Pairings: HathiWinifred, BalooBaghee (one-sided)

Jungle Book Characters: Bagheera, Shere Khan, Louie, Hathi, Kaa, Baloo, Winifred, Hathi Jr.

Own Character: Bara Shalimar Khan

Sumary: It's mating season and Bagheera is finally off-age. How one little coincident would change his future forever (and would make the Jungle Book rather impossible).

Courting and Loving

How Their Love Could Have Bloomed

Prologue: Playing, Laughing, Cuddling

The young panther grinned broadly, leaning down to hide between the long, green grass, trying to even his ragged breath, his tail brushing the earth behind him. This was the best thing about his day! Sure, he still didn't understand what brought his new, daily routine on, but he loved it nonetheless.

For the past few weeks he had feared that Shere Khan would leave their little group. The tiger had isolated himself more and more from the friends. But he liked the striped one. Very much. And thinking about not being friends with him anymore tore at the panther's heart. So he had gripped all his bravery and tried to confront the tiger.

One afternoon, as the striped feline had laid on a stone in the midday sun, the panther had just pounced at him, surprising Shere Khan beyond belief...

/flashback\

The tiger was resting, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face. Even though his eyes were closed, he could still smell the panther nearing him. He would need to be dead to not tell this smell apart from everything else, he would always recognize the wonderful sweetness. Keeping his eyes closed, he decided to ignore the cute panther. Though the black-furred feline seemed to have different plans, because seconds later he felt a weight crashing against him. Gasping in surprise, he tore his eyes wide open, staring at Bagheera. Am adorable grin was spread over the panther's muzzle, his tail wagging behind him.

"What in the world do you want?", grunted Shere Khan irritated.

"I want to play", declared the black feline and tilted his head.

Why did the panther have to be such a cute thing? It was so hard to ignore, or deny, the other feline.

"Then go looking for the other losers", growled the tiger in fake annoyance.

"But I want to play with you", whined Bagheera with an adorable pout.

"Why? You should know I don't play. Go to the other losers", hissed the striped feline.

"But they're no cats. They wouldn't understand", sighed the panther and hung his head.

"Eh?" Was was that supposed to mean?

"I want to play catch with you!", smiled Bagheera broadly.

"What?", grunted Shere Khan.

"I run, you catch me", grinned the panther, lowering himself onto the ground, waggling his behind.

The tiger blushed, grateful that the other cat had turned around and wasn't seeing him. Though what he saw was rather irritating. He had seen other cat's behinds before, too. Why was this one any difference? He didn't understand.

"Come on, Shere Khan!", urged Bagheera, turning around some to stare at the tiger with big, pleading eyes. "Please, you know the others don't understand that!"

And he was correct. The others didn't understand their cat antics. Shere Khan sighed. How could he deny his panther anything if the cute cat looked at him like that? Not that the panther was his.

"You should run. Fast", grinned the tiger sharply and stood. "Even though that wouldn't help you any, because I'll catch you anyway."

"You wish!", laughed the panther and ran off.

/flashback|end\

"Found you", whispered someone into his ear.

The panther yelped and jumped, crashing against the tiger behind him, both stumbling over the greenery, rolling around in the dirt. Bagheera was still panting hard from all the running he had done in the past hours. He blinked confused at the weight on top of him and looked at the tiger.

Shere Khan gulped at the image of the heavily panting panther beneath him. Something about this scene was intriguing. He just couldn't put his paw on it.

"You... won again...", smiled the younger cat shyly.

Again. Just like every time they played. And they played every day. Even though the result didn't change at all, they still never stopped playing. Bagheera was very proud that his plan had worked so well. Ever since he and Shere Khan had started to play with each other, the tiger spend more time with the 'losers' again. The others didn't understand it, but that didn't matter to Bagheera. He was just very, very happy that his tiger was still close to him. But this was a bit too close.

"Eh... Shere Khan... Could you... stand up...?", asked Bagheera, feeling the heat rising in his cheeks.

His hind-legs on each side of the tiger scratched the striped fur nervously. This situation felt strange. Even he knew that laying beneath another feline like that was a display of utter submission. Normally every fiber of his being would try to fight such a situation. This time, with the strong tiger above him, felt oddly... right. He wasn't sure why, though. So he wanted the situation to end soon, because he didn't like odd.

"O—Of course", stuttered the tiger a bit flustered.

He backed off some to give the panther the benefit of private space. Looking the black-furred feline up and down, he noted how exhausted the panther was. Yes, the cute cat lasted way longer than during their first hunting game. But it seemed to still exhaust the smaller feline a great deal.

"Do you... want to take a nap?"

"What? No!", the panther jumped up hastily. "I'll leave with you!"

"No", objected the tiger. "I meant, if you want to take a nap before we return to the lair."

"Oh...", Bagheera lowered himself onto the soft grass once again. "Well... Yeah... But... Are you tired, too?"

"No", snorted the striped feline ridiculed.

"Then... What are you going to do?", asked the panther confused as the tiger circled him.

Shere Khan curled his own body around the panther, wrapping one paw around the other cat and pulling him close. Bagheera cuddled reluctantly closer to him, enjoying the feeling of the warm, strong body next to his. He soon drifted off to sleep while Khan stayed on alert to watch out for predators, to keep his panther save.