During a cold, rainy November night in the heart of a small city, a lion was inside of his bakery, applying frosting to the last batch of cinnamon rolls. The bakery still had its lights on, despite being almost midnight outside. The building had a welcoming aura to it; if someone were to walk in, they'd be welcomed by the pleasant warmth of the inside, along with the big, charismatic lion standing behind the counter, working on a batch of sweet-looking baked goods.
 
Unfortunately for the baker, business had been running slower than it usually should. Although other employees were hired to work at a bakery, a recent injury left them unable to work, and the large feline having to take over for them. Being a lion (and being on the top of the food chain in addition), Griffin was feared by many of his otherwise loyal customers, with his smile coming off as him baring his teeth and his gentle, soothing purr appearing as a growl for dominance over the customers. Matters weren't made better when an article about his bakery was published in the local newspaper, focusing more on how the owner was a big, intimidating lion rather than the baked goods themselves. There had even been rumors spreading around about the lion, most of them stating that Griffin would eat any customers that got onto his bad side.
 
About five minutes before the bakery was scheduled to closing (about 1 am) Griffin heard the familiar "ding!" of the door opening up. As he looked over, he saw a young, small raccoon with ragged clothes walking into the store, staring down to the various baked goods lying about on the counters. The boy then looked at the tray of carefully frosted cinnamon rolls lying in front of the lion, stomach loudly growling.
 
Almost instinctively, the young boy picked one of the rolls up and started to eat into it, frosting getting all over his face as he hungrily dug into the roll. Watching the boy eating, Griffin cleared his throat, calling attention to himself. "Hey there, little guy, I know you're really enjoying that, but could you please pay for that?"
 
Hearing the lion speak out clearly made the raccoon jump. He looked up from the cinnamon roll in his paws, slowly creeping up to meet the lion's stare. Despite the smile on his face, the small boy shivered when he looked at the lion, watching him point to the little sign next to the cinnamon rolls, reading "99¢." He started to dig into his pockets, setting coins on the table as he found them. Unfortunately for the boy, he was only able to find three dimes, a nickle, and two pennies before he had completely emptied his pockets. He started to shake, looking up to the lion with a frown. "I-I'm sorry, Mr. Lion, p-please don't be mad! I promise it was just instinct, I-" the raccoon stopped as he felt Griffin giving his head a gentle pat, starting to whimper to himself.
 
"I understand, little guy, no need to be so nervous." Griffin gave the little raccoon a smile, pointing to a row of chairs resting against a nearby wall, "I've had kids come in here before and do stuff like this, they just catch a whiff of my food and come running here without their parents. Go on, you can take a seat there and enjoy your cinnamon roll, your parents should be coming back here soon." The boy sat down on one of the chairs, starting to slowly eat the rest of the roll, though he still looked uneasy.
 
"B-but Mr. Lion, my parents are gone," the boy frowned, still chewing on the roll in his hand. When he left the counter, he still left the change on the counter.
 
"Hey, no need to be pessimistic! You may have gotten lost, but I bet your parents are coming over here right now. I'll keep open late for you too, no need to worry!" Griffin walked from behind the counter and decided to join the raccoon, sitting down right next to the small boy.
 
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About two hours had passed, and there were no signs of the raccoon's parents anywhere. However, in the midst of having to babysit the poor boy, Griffin was able to find himself a crowd of hungry, half-asleep customers in the middle of the night. As Griffin finished feeding the last one of these well paying customers, his attention had focused back on the raccoon, who was eating another cinnamon roll (that Griffin himself gave the boy about twenty minutes ago).
 
"Are you sure that your parents are coming, little guy? I was thinking they'd be here by now, but do they even know that you're gone? Did you run off while they were sleeping?" Griffin asked, putting a ten dollar bill into a cash register. The boy seemed to be reluctant to answer the lion's question, looking down to the floor almost in shame.
 
"Aww, I'm sorry for not telling you this, Mr. Lion, b-but my parents are gone. I don't have my mom and dad anymore..." The boy looked down to the ground in shame. "Please don't be mad at me, it's just that I really liked being in here. It's so warm in here, and even if I didn't get food from you, I still love the smell of this place. I just wanted to stay in here a bit longer before I had to head out."
 
"Hey, no need to be ashamed about that, little guy, I understand!" Griffin smiled down to the boy, patting his head gently. "From the sound of it, it sounds like you don't have a home, is that true? If you want, I can take care of you, and you can live with me until we can find you a family that you'd feel safer around." Griffin looked down to the boy, waiting for his response.
 
The little raccoon whimpered a bit, hearing the lion's offer. The offer of being able to sleep in a warm bed did tempt the boy, although he didn't exactly seem to trust the lion. "Well, I'd love to stay here, Mr. Lion! It's just that, uh, I..." The boy stopped, starting to shake when he met the lion's eyes. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm just scared of lions. Please don't be mad, i-it's just instinct, I promise!" As he looked up to the lion, Griffin was able to notice the raccoon was clearly in distress, with tears forming in his eyes.
 
"Hey, it's fine, little guy. I understand if you're scared, just, please don't cry." Griffin frowned as he watched the boy's tears streaming down his face. "I know you probably can't help it, but I'm not going to hurt you, I promise! I just don't like seeing people crying because of me, it makes me feel like a monster." Griffin slowly picked up the raccoon and looked into the boy's eyes, though he immediately turned his head back, as staring into the boy's innocent, fear-filled eyes were too much for the big cat. Griffin then hugged the boy to his warm, soft chest, gently petting him at an attempt to soothe the distressed boy. "Now, would you like to tell me your name, little guy? My name's Griffin!"
 
The hug did help the little raccoon out, and he instinctively attempted to return the hug, although his arms weren't long enough. Despite the lion's threatening appearance, being hugged to someone so warm and soft was very soothing for the boy. Every time the lion started petting him, the boy would start swishing his tail around faster. "H-hello, Griffin, my name's Roy. I'm sorry for not paying for the cinnamon rolls..." Roy frowned a bit, looking back up to Griffin. He wasn't crying anymore, and seemed much less terrified than he previously was, but still seemed rather wary around the big feline.
 
"I don't mind, Roy. I even gave you that second roll, too, so you don't have to worry about paying me for them!" Griffin stood up from the chair, still holding the smaller male in his arms. "Now, it's getting pretty late for the both of us, I'll take you up to bed, okay?" Roy nodded up to Griffin and held his arms up, letting the lion pick him up. Griffin then headed to the front door and locked it, turning the lights off as he walked to the counter. Griffin then went behind the counter and turned the last light off, heading upstairs and locking the door behind him.
 
As Griffin walked up the staircase, Roy looked around, taking in the view of the room he was in. The stairs were rather large in the boy's eyes and, as the door to Griffin's apartment opened up, he noticed that everything from the couch to the television set was much bigger than what Roy was normally used to. It almost felt as if everything around Roy grew while he stayed the same size. The lion then set the boy down on the couch, looking around the room.
 
"Okay, my bedroom is in the other room, but I only have one bed. We can share the bed, but if you'd rather sleep on the couch, I'll let you do that." Griffin smiled down to the little raccoon, heading into the nearby kitchen to wash his hands. Despite still having a bit of fear towards the lion inside of him, the boy immediately knew his answer.
 
"We can share the bed, Mr. Griffin, I won't mind!" Roy nodded up to Griffin and jumped off from the couch, looking up to the lion. Griffin then started to head to his room, making sure not to go too fast for the raccoon. He then stopped at the door to his bedroom and opened the door up, smiling down to the raccoon. "After you, little guy!"
 
Roy headed into the bedroom apprehensively, looking up to the massive bed before him. It was almost as if the boy was living in a fantasy; he had never seen a bed so large, massive enough to make regular king-sized beds look minimal. Roy eagerly climbed up onto the bed and scurried under the sheets, making sure not to ruin how the well done bed looked. On contrast, Griffin jumped directly onto the bed, landing on the bed with an impact that made the boy fly out from under the sheets.
 
"Aah!" Roy yelped as he was sent flying from the impact. He started scrambling around for some sort of solid ground, eventually finding himself on top of the lion's warm, soft belly. As he got on top of Griffin's belly, he found himself gently hugged against it, getting stuck between the lions big strong arms and his soft belly. Roy then started to calm down in the big lion's arms, hugging himself against the gut in reply. The little raccoon could hear the inside of the lion's stomach, the growls and gurgles filled his ears along with his warm, steady breathing. Roy then looked up from the belly and up to Griffin's face, noticing his eyes were closed, though he didn't seem to be sleeping.
 
"G-Griffin?" Roy piped out, hoping to get a reply from the lion.
 
"Yes, little guy? Is something bothering you?" Griffin let out with a bit of delay, he seemed rather tired.
 
"W-well, I was just wondering if, u-uh..." Roy stuttered on, "if, uh... I just wanted to know if, well, i-if the rumors are true?"
 
"Huh? What rumors are you talking about, Roy?"
 
"Well, I've heard people talking about you and your bakery. They said that you always eat the customers that can't pay for the stuff they buy. Is this fake, Mr. Lion, o-or am I just an exception?"
 
Griffin paused for a bit, and the boy didn't hear an answer from him for a solid minute. Roy even thought that the lion fell asleep until he heard the lion's deep, booming voice speak out. "I'd rather not answer that little guy, don't wanna scare you."
 
Roy let out a quiet whimper from the lion's answer, staring into the baker's eyes. "H-huh? What is that supposed to mean, Mr. Lion? You're just playing with me, right? Y-you wouldn't eat anyone." Roy let out a nervous chuckle, starting to shake in the lion's arms.
 
"Oh, no need to be worried about it, Roy." Griffin continued to pet the little raccoon, closing his eyes as he started to drift into sleep. "I'll just leave that up to your imagination, little guy. Now, we'll talk in the morning..."