“Anyway,” The she-dog continued, padding forwards and towards Catty’s home – an immediately recognizable mobile home on sturdy, tall stands. A set of metal stairs led up to the doorway. “Jeez – is it just me, or does Catty’s home look even more cramped than usual?”
The tabby – who had been following in Stella’s steps – swerved her head to get a better look. “Um… no? It seems just as small as usual, I think… I don’t think mobile homes can shrink.”
Stella laughed. “Her house is always so cramped and small, I guess I’m still not used to it… how do you think she even does it?” With a huff, the spaniel clambered her way up the set of stairs, Micheala following hurriedly (and almost tripping on the first step) in her tracks. “Like, heavens, the thought of being caught and confined in such small places just – makes my fur tingle!”
Micheala twitched an ear, scrambling up onto the last step. “Oh, um, I understand!” she said lightheartedly, her gaze climbing up the door where a ring of fluorescent flowers hung stapled. “It’s always so pretty in Catty’s house, though.”
“Mm, yeah, but I’ve never cared about that stuff, really.” The spaniel grunted. “It just feels … scattered, to me. It makes me feel – weird, I guess? But it’s no biggie.”
“I mean -- it’s also kinda fitting that Catty would decorate everything with pretty stuff too,” Micheala added. Her mind had felt awfully scattered today, didn’t it? It didn’t really help the fact that she felt like everything she said only awkwardly derailed the conversation more and more. Maybe it was just the panic? From earlier and from now? Oh jeez, Micheala, don’t start ruminating agaaaain my sky, heavens, clouds, and stars—
But Stella’s playful snort dragged Micheala down to earth. “Yeah, of course. She loves making everything look all pretty and royal and stuff. Kinda ironic she got stuck in a mobile home, huh?”
The tabby nose twitched with amusement. “Yeah – and, heh, also that her pelt is so… so mottled with purple? Have you ever thought about that…? In what world would Catty, self-proclaimed princess of the land and beyond, let a bunch of toddlers smudge purple paint all over her oh-so perfect pelt?!”
“Oh – wow, hey, I never thought about that!” Stella said, quirking an eyebrow. “I just assumed it was, like, supposed to be a flaunt of uniqueness or she just really liked purple. Jeez… that is kinda weird for Catty. Have you asked her about that?”
“Yeah, but… she just got kinda defensive about it? I dunno. Maybe she’s just embarrassed of it now…?”
“Catty? Being embarrassed? More like too prideful to say otherwise, hah!” Stella grinned, before turning her head back from Micheala to face the door. “Anyway – is Catty’s owner not here, do you think? I mean, they don’t have a cat door or anything, so there’s not much we can do right now.”
Micheala peered past her spaniel friend, gazing into what “garden” they could possibly have on such a small space of land, only to find the only vehicle she remembered Catty’s owner having gone. “Well, I don’t see the bike, so… I don’t think she’s here…?”
“Dammit,” Stella huffed, sitting back on her haunches with a mild groan. “Catty’s probably laying on her ass in there somewhere then, and we’re never going to get inside!”
“HEY!”
With almost perfect timing, Micheala’s eyes lurched back up to meet a slim, gray figure standing boldly on the top of her home, piercing yellow eyes buzzing with self-righteousness. “I AM NOT SITTING ON MY ASS, YOU ASSWIPE!!”
“Well, knowing you, you probably were!” Stella shot back with the crack of a hidden, tiny smile, brown eyes lit by the late-day sun. “Now – please come down here, so neither me nor Micheala have to yell anymore!”
Catty scoffed from her perch from way up top. “Actually, I liked my regal perch up here. It just goes to show how your fabulous host me rules from above over you all~!”
“You’re not above me in any way, shape, or form, you idiot,” Stella said irritably. “Now – c’mon and get down here! Me and Micheala wanna hang out!”
Catty stayed where she was for a few more lingering seconds before she mumbled something – most likely something she wanted everyone to hear, but her voice was wrapped and dulled and then tossed back with the wind – and hopped down, her paws landing on the railing above the door and then the floor.
Her paws hit the ground with a welcoming -ting!- as she approached. “So I’ve been requested, huh~?” She mewed with a wide, mischievous grin. (Micheala watched with an amused, somewhat nervous glint in her eyes as Catty stalked her way over to Stella, her playful grin growing meters by the second).
Stella rolled her eyes. “Where the hell did you even come from?”
“I phased through the walls, durrrrr.”
“Wh-… No, you didn’t!”
“You’re right, of course I didn’t!” Catty’s face lit up with amusement as she started forwards, whapped Stella on the nose with her paw, and then turned around quickly, causing her long, snake-like tail to whip Stella’s face once again (which caused the spaniel to yelp with exasperation). “Instead, your great and lovely host did something much more creative and found her own special secret way out of her home!”
“How’d you do that?” Micheala said, very much baffled by what her friend had just proclaimed. Maybe… every house has that? Some sort of secret entrance for… um, oh, animals that need homes!? Humans are weird and creative little guys like that…! It could be a constant!
“Psssh, I have my special ways~!” Catty purred, her face keeping a consistent shiteating grin.
Stella narrowed her eyes. “Wait a second – didn’t you tell me like… a long while ago that you have a secret entrance and exit through a hole in the ceiling?”
Oh.
The look on Catty’s face was almost paralyzing in its defeat. “… Yes, but it’s so special and secret that only I can get through, obviously!”
“Mm, suuure.”
The lanky gray she-cat scoffed and then turned more towards Micheala, her head bobbing in the sunset. Wow – it was already sunset? It felt like she had just woken up, but at the same time like she had been awake for days and hours and years on end. Time is weird.
“Sooooo… let me get this straight,” Catty said, furrowing her eyebrows. “You guys came over here just to hang out?”
“Yeah!” Micheala cheered, smiling cheerfully. “We’re best friends, and best friends stick together…! I’ve also, um – nevermind, heh.” I’ve been having weird days lately and weird dreams and I’m very confused and scared but I… don’t want to worry them. I’m probably just being silly, and I-I don’t want Stella to think I’m a coward or Catty to think I’m stupid and gosh golly darn shit this is really weird.
The gray she-cat gave Micheala a curious look, but the face was dropped and attention was redirected when Stella spoke. (Micheala, on the other hand, gave a silent sigh of relief). “Plus, me and Mich were out on a walk together, and we decided to check on you on the way back!”
Stella winked at Micheala, and the tabby had no clue what was going on.
“Hey, what are you guys planning about?!” Meanwhile, Catty looked back and forth between the two, her eyes suspicious and her muzzle drawn into a tight line. “This isn’t fair, you guys can’t hide stuff from me!!”
Micheala blinked. “Oh, well-“
“Don’t worry about it, it’s not about you,” Stella said, in possibly the least reassuring tone possible.
Unsurprisingly, Catty didn’t seem convinced, and Micheala was, again, deathly confused to why Stella was so hellbent on keeping the new dog a secret. Did Catty have some sort of vendetta against new animals? Was she jealous? Upset? Ugh, now Micheala already felt icky and fed up with her overreactive mind, and it had barely been a few seconds. Her thinkpan really had been kicking her tail the past few days, huh? She averted her gaze, twitching her ears as Catty and Stella began to mildly bicker.
But they were interrupted and Micheala’s head was dragged straight out of the clouds when the trio heard a nimble -ding! ding!- ring nearby. When the tabby lifted her head and searched for the source of the sound, her ears swiveled and pupils dilated until they finally settled on a familiar figure—
“Jade!”
Coming up now on the gravel pathway came Jade, Catty’s prideful owner. She was a pretty girl, with dark skin and long, tousled black hair. Her dark eyes shone as the sun set, and a deliberate smile wiped the sweat from her face as she parked her bike in one swift movement and came running towards the steps.
“Oh, Catty! Stella, And – Micheala! You’re all here, hahaha!” Vivaciously, the cheerful girl picked Catty up in her arms and swung her, giving the gray she-cat a loving peck on the forehead. (Her odd-pelted friend seemed to very much appreciate this attention, Micheala noticed). When she was done coddling her purring pet, she settled her down on the ground and instead began to furiously pet both Stella and Micheala as she crouched.
“Oh my god, the whole gang’s here, huh?” Jade beamed excitedly, propping herself back up to balance on her heels. “God, I sound crazy – talking to animals, some that aren’t even mine! … Oh well, I’ll never have kids, at least biological ones, so… I might as well hope you lil dorks can hear me.” With another big, fat grin, Jade got to her feet, shuffled through her purse passionately, and eventually pulled out a tiny key, to which she unlocked the door. “Come one, come all … three! You can all have a sleepover in here, yes, yes, yes! God!”
As Catty darted in, mewing excitedly and squeaking every few seconds, Micheala looked towards Stella. “Do you… know what Jade’s saying?
The spaniel shrugged and moved past the tabby. “I understand some of her words,” she commented briskly. “Just not all of them. Like, I recognize them and all, but I don’t know the meanings. But hey, she’s happy!”
While the she-dog entered, Micheala continued to stand outside, unsure if she was allowed in. But her questions were luckily answered when Jade turned to her, holding the door open, and gave her a call and wave; then the tabby padded in, welcomed by an energetic scuff over the head.
Catty’s home was fitting despite all the odds against it; bright, shimmering lights were hung from post to post, board to board, and small, handmade orange lanterns decorated any empty space. It was like a princess castle designed from the contents of recycling and tossed hand-me-downs. Tight, full, cramped, but full of life and vivacity, Micheala felt … warm. And welcome, like a blanket had been tied snugly around her shoulders.
Taking a deep breath and feeling merry in her current environment, Micheala watched from the corner of her eye as Jade threw down her keys and bag and they began eagerly invading her cheap counters for – something? Her round, gorgeous brown eyes danced across the room like matching balls of shining bronze, and her gaze continued this way until she squeaked out an -aha!’ and clamped one hand around a cereal box. Once she had acquired this item, she moved on to shuffle around until she managed to dig a phone out of the clutter (and then slide it onto the plastic dining table smackdab in the center of the room). From there, she poured her cereal gaily into a bowl she had swiped from the cupboard and grabbed a spoon from the drawer, settling herself down as she began to eat.
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