Well, sometimes.
“Who’s the greatest friend on Eaaaarth? I am, I am!”
“Would you knock it off? It doesn’t even effing matter.”
“Whhhooo is the greatest? It’s me, it’s me, it’s me!”
Ugh, what are they fighting about now?
Micheala was poised behind the nearest hay bale, eyes alert and watching her two bickering best friends with … well, a pretty exasperated expression. A mixture of vexation and the genuine blend of worry-confusion that comes from having a pair of friends who constantly have their claws at each other’s throats, but still make up excuses on the daily to why they hang around together. That was Catty and Stella, a hatred crafted excellently in the heavens above -- nobody could quite climb all over Stella’s nerves like Catty could, and nobody could handle Stella’s hotheaded tongue with a blanket of bad jokes like Catty could.
Well… a match made in Hell was more like it.
The thing that snapped Micheala out of her observance – and the stars trying to align in her head over her best friends’ constant quarreling – was the shine of Stella’s fangs in the corner of her eye, a sign caught too late that signaled Catty had stepped one toe too far into too far territory.
Arguably, Stella’s nature did make it a bit… difficult, at times, to tell when a remark went a few steps past the okay border.
“Oh my fucking god -- I am sick of how stubborn you are, you goddamn asshole-“
… Sometimes…?
Within a quarter of a second, Stella had wapped her paw down hard on Catty’s head, causing the she-cat to retaliate with a whiny screech of pain; however, the she-dog only lurched forwards, butting Catty over and onto her back. Flailing like a fish out of water, the gray she-cat hissed and yowled as she scrambled to her paws, only to be knocked over (and eventually pinned down) by Stella’s bull-like fighting strategies.
“Heeeeeeey – let me go…!!” Catty whined, desperately continuing to fling her paws (with not much success either, Micheala noted halfheartedly) at Stella’s chest and wriggling from side to side.
Stella, on the other hand, seemed to have hit her BS limit for the day. “Huh? What was that? Maybe you should’ve said something before you started being an annoying little prick!” Her paws stealthily moved upwards, now pinning the gray she-cat down by the shoulders rather than standing (kinda dangerously) on her chest.
Wheeeeze. Micheala gently crept out from behind the haystack, analyzing the situation with what had turned into a trembling smile and a giggly sense of amusement.
Between overexaggerated coughs and spittles (Stella wasn’t even standing on her chest anymore, the doof! That she-dog was much smarter than that!) being teased out of Catty like a balloon losing air, the she-cat managed just about the fakest expression by far. “What… did I do…?!”
“Are you serious?” Stella pressed farther into Catty’s fur by now, her expression a mixture of absolute amazement and bewildered irritation. “Wow, it couldn’t be the fact that you’re a little shit who just loves crawling right up my ass and then acting innocent, huh?”
Catty quirked an eyebrow mischievously. “Soooo…?”
“Do you want to get attacked again?”
Catty looked precariously between Stella’s claws dug tightly into her fur and then back at the she-dog multiple times. “…N-Nooooo...”
As Stella snorted out some arrangement of contempt (“yeah, and that’s what you get for being stubborn, Catts”), Micheala crept farther from her spot, putting herself directly in the two’s line of vision with a bobbing tail and friendly eyes. “Hey, guys!” Pause. “Uh, had another fight?”
The Cocker Spaniel swerved her head with a lighter look by now -- her jaw open and ready to respond -- but unfortunately for her, Catty had beat her to it, a smirk crawling up her face as soon as the opportunity came between her paws, giggles rising in her throat before she had even spoken.
“No, Stella just confessed her love to me and decided we should get it on and create some hybrid pupcat—Mmmfg--!!!”
“Shut up.” With a sudden stroke of genuine anger that sent chills down Micheala’s back, Stella shoved her paws into Catty’s face, got up, and sent a cold look over her shoulder at the two. She rolled her eyes once and stomped off.
… Oh. Micheala watched as the she-dog practically stalked her way back towards her house, not turning around once or anything. Despite the Spaniel’s easily irritated disposition, it took a lot to get her genuinely aggravated and heated. Micheala… didn’t really… know why – it seemed like sometimes the tiniest things could set her off. The tabby frowned, barely noticing how strangely quiet Catty had been for the time being.
Wait, is Catty okay? Shit, if she’s not okay, one second-
“Jeeez, what crawled up her ass and died?” Catty scoffed.
… Nevermind.
A part of Micheala wanted to say 'you, you’re the bug that crawled up her … ass, and died’, but the other part felt even a comment like that would be too harsh. It was Stella and Catty’s nature of playful hatred after all, not hers and Catty’s. Micheala and Catty were close, sure, and any relationship with the bratty gray gal always had that fair dosage of playfulness, but none got even close to the nature of Stella and Catty’s odd, vicious cycle. It was just how the two showed their love and appreciation for each other, Micheala believed. Stella would’ve left a long time ago if she genuinely didn’t like Catty, or even her for that matter.
A small shiver ran down the tabby’s spine – with Stella’s caustic, sudden mood swings, she realized that the fear that the she-dog would just up and leave her was always there, right in the back of her mind. She thought Stella was, well, really cool – like the cool elder sister everyone always loves and wants to be like. Brave, steady, serious and grounded… what wasn’t there to like? She was just… so cool!
“Maybe she just took something the wrong way…?” Micheala said suddenly, shaking her head to hopefully rid the anxieties swimming in her head. Thinking of anything else, doing anything else… that’s how she’d wriggle away from the bad thoughts. It worked that way – usually, anyway.
I hope she doesn’t hate us now … she wouldn’t do that, would she?
“She always takes things the wrong way,” Catty whined under her breath before shooting Micheala a look over her shoulder, her tail bobbing just above the grass. “You say one thing and suddenly, you’re right under her skin! You can never tell when she’s joking or just pissed off!”
Micheala flicked an ear, relieved she had something else to focus on … even if it did loop right back to the thing originally causing her anxieties. Oh well, she’d deal with that later. “Don’t you -- like bothering her, though?”
But I hope Stella’s alright… she did look really mad. I hope I didn’t do anything to upset her … maybe she’s mad I didn’t say anything? Mad I took too long?
“Well, duuuurrr, but there’s still a difference between friendly fire and actually being offended!” As Catty spoke, the tabby lifted her head to meet her friend’s eyes and found the she-cat had gone from an irritated grumble to a playful sneer in seconds. Despite her childish reactions, upon closer inspection Micheala knew the gray she-cat had a hidden softness in her eyes – even if she wouldn’t ever admit it aloud.
Micheala scrounged up a tiny smile in response, but before long she found her gaze gliding down and resting firmly on her restless paws, staring holes big enough to ground her in the earth. Maybe… maybe this is my fault? I should’ve have stepped in sooner, not lurked around and been probably kinda creepy… The tabby gulped nervously as her blood turned icy in a way that made her want to run and jump – that made her want to turn tail and do something, anything to get away from the wild sensation of black goop pumping through her veins. If Stella’s upset with me, I mean, no wonder-
“Micheala?”
“Aaahh-!!”
Micheala’s head snapped up only to just barely avoid bumping into Catty, who stood a few inches in front of her with a puzzled look. Gray head tilted and ears flicking, the she-cat’s face was obviously confused. “Gee – are you okay?”
“O-oh…!!” Micheala gasped for air, desperately searching for a way to play her obvious nervousness off as something else. Think… think… “Y-Yeah, yeah yeah!! I’m fine Catty, I’m fine, just…hmm…” She trailed off, her eyes rolling to one side of her head in a desperate Easter egg hunt for the golden treat: a manageable and believable story that’d drive the worry away from her. “Uh…”
Catty quirked an eyebrow suspiciously. “Micheala?”
When the tabby drew a blank and the storm inside her head stiffened only to watch Catty’s eyes dart round – yellow lightning bolts striking every event and setting around her with bolts of amusement – she felt the negativity simmer in her stomach like a meal undigested, clawing at her insides and ripping into her chest and veins. She wanted to run. She wanted to run, run, run, think think THINK-
“Well, hey! I know what’ll getcha going into Micheala gear again!” Catty’s voice and presence threw the antsy tabby’s tornado thinking off once again. Before she could really analyze the situation, the gray she-cat was beside Micheala and flashing her a big, goofy smile, her tailtip sliding across the brunt of her friend’s shoulders. “I saw this super weird thing in the forest yesterday?”
Run… think… run… Micheala’s felt her thoughts dwindle away along with the once-rapid pacing of her heart, her bright blue eyes now focusing on Catty. “I… huh?”
“A super weird cool thing in the forest! The creepy forest!” The gray she-cat began to pad forwards, her tail drawing the tabby closer and guiding her alongside a similar path. Micheala followed reluctantly.
“Oh… oh, yeah!” the she-cat said, eyes beginning to light up again. “The… one that we think is -- haunted?”
Run…
“Yeah!” Catty trilled.
“What did you see?” Micheala’s eyes twinkled with newfound curiosity as she caught up to Catty, stubby legs not doing her much good in keeping a steady pace.
“Oh, umm…” the gray she-cat blinked a few times. “I saw this… big, black statue! He was huge and smelled bad so I couldn’t get closer because I hate gross stuff like that, but it was enormous enough that I could see it from the house window!
(CONTINUED ON NEXT EP.) ->
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