"Sorry, cutie!" Jade barked from behind Micheala, and the tabby swiveled her ears around accordingly. There, she was face to face with the girl's big smile and long, curly locks, still beautiful and perfected beyond belief. "I've been cooking allll night, oh my god. It's a piece of work alrightie -- but your wonderful owners need some snacks to sell at the farmers' market, and I've got you down, hell yeah!"
She then paused, stagnant on her feet as her pupils wistfully circled the frame of her eyes. When they had come full circle, they softly fell back onto Micheala with gentle lashes fluttering. "Oh, oh! You're probably starving, you little goob~!" Micheala choked a bit as she was practically thrown back onto the ground, stumbling a bit as her pawpads slid uncomfortably across the floor. (Cautiously, she shot an embarrassed look to make sure Stella hadn't been looking. Oh god, please tell me she wasn't looking... that'd be super embarrassing because I'm super duper clumsy?!) "You can ask Stella, too! -- I mean... if cats talk? To dogs? I think they do, or Catty and Stella wouldn't always be playfully chasing each other or, whatever... -- ANYWAY."
The tabby made an only slightly successful dodge as a bowl came hurtling towards her, getting trapped within the bridge made by her lifted back leg and trembling hind paw. From the other side of the room she could hear Jade just barely suppress a giggle.
"Ohhhh jeez, sorry Mich...! Oh my god. Okay, so," Jade leaned against the counter, crossing her legs as she balanced herself poignantly. The fold of her arms across her chest finished off the look. "Sooo... I've been cooking all night, as I said and as you can see, but I made you guys some snacks since Catty's asleep and I'm a good mom. If you guys need me even though you guys have no idea what I'm saying and I'm just mainly doing this to make myself feel less lonely uh okay uhhh... just scratch on the door. Love you guys~!"
Finishing her speech with an awkward grin, Jade turned back around to tend to the pots and pans simmering like open ships over the bubbling seas. Micheala’s eyes meanwhile floated back to the bowl and Stella, whose warm brown eyes surveyed the tabby welcomingly.
“Did I – uh, wake up late…?” Micheala fumbled backwards – just barely missing a paw in food disaster – and then gave the bowl a cautious sniff. It smelled… warm. “I’m super sorry if I did, I—”
Stella only laughed heartily. “Nah nah, you’re fine, Mich. I just could tell you were tired, so I let you sleep some more minutes before you woke up.” She bowed her head, taking an ample bite from her own food bowl and swallowing it quickly. “I was planning to wake you up soon-ish anyway, but you woke up on your own, so.”
“Oh…!” Micheala shuffled her paws, looking down at her reflection in the silver-plated bowl. “Thank you, Stella…”
Stella shrugged. “No prob, Mich. It’s good to get ready since we’ll be going on our adventure today, after all.”
“Ad…venture?”
The spaniel raised an eyebrow. “The dog? Nearby? Some doors down?”
Micheala’s face flushed immediately. “OH.” She smiled awkwardly again, her paws shifting to accompany her nervous gait. “Y-yeah yeah, sorry, I totally forgot!”
“Pfff, don’t worry about it. We’ll just go in after you eat, alright?” The spaniel commented, her tail flopping idly behind her. “I just hope they’ll be there today…! And that that pesky owner isn’t there, sheeesh. What an asshole he was.”
What exactly did Jade cook up for me…? This looks like nothing Addison or Tom has ever made me…! I mean, Jade is experimental and good-weird with this kind of stuff and like, everything she does. Then the tabby’s eyes flickered back up, meeting Stella’s expectant gaze. “… Oh, oh yeah. Me too!” Taking the plunge and sinking her teeth into the morsel, the she-cat raised her head while savoring what she had managed to get. Well… okay. It tastes good, and fishy, just… different? “I’m sure he was just in a bad mood anyway… Maybe his dog got hurt or something?”
“Hey, Mich, swallow before talking.” The spaniel commanded curtly – to which Micheala’s ears burned again and she swallowed very, very quickly. A bit too quickly, almost choking in the process. Shit. “But – I dunno about that. Not all humans are good, y’know.”
This time Micheala’s pelt burned in a different way. With only one gulp down, she suddenly felt… empty, sick, and not hungry at all. An emotion she couldn’t quite place burned decadently in the pit of her stomach, and she looked away. “I-I… I think they are.” She declared gently, feeling a tug in her heart as she spoke the words. I feel so… conflicted I, want to believe Stella because she’s always right but I can’t here? Humans are all good and they save animals and love them and, does it make me a bad friend to disagree? Am I a bad person?
Micheala suddenly felt sick, and that rancid, gross feeling that had haunted her before and in the shadows for more than half of her life came back with a vengeance. She swallowed hard to try and fight it back, and felt a surge of panic as a very familiar feeling came over her, and she wanted to run.
“Let’s just go, let’s just go.” Micheala fumbled in a panicked rush of words. She stood, pushed her bowl aside, and trotted quickly over to the door.
"Alright," Stella's voice came slowly from behind her, and soon the tabby found herself joined by the spaniel's presence. Don't panic Micheala please dear god not again, all your friends are going to think you're crazy just -- do something else, for heaven's sake, you absolute baffoon.
Please please please not now, please I've been doing so good and I'm going to ruin it for myself and everyone around me and I want to run--
But Stella's harsh bark cut off the unnecessary stream of jumbled thoughts, and Micheala's gaze jumped from the floor to the door as in a hazy, dream-like state of events Jade smiled and floated to the door, opening it and waving cheerfully at the pair.
And the tabby, without even thinking, ran outside and stood in the grass, panting a bit to herself and to nobody else, not even the sky.
Then she heard a voice behind her. "Errr... Micheala? You alright?"
"I need to pee." Micheala blurted, the response a bit incoherent and more of an automatic urge than an actual, thought-out response.
"Ooookay. I'll just walk over here then, so you can do your business, I guess."
"Thank you...!" Micheala gulped, and then traced her steps back to a place behind the house. She didn't even need to pee, did she? Oh well. She just needed a moment to collect herself.
She breathed in, and thought of the clouds, of Tom, and of happiness on the farm. The grass rooted into the ground danced softly around and between the cracks in her toes, and a bit of morning dew lulled softly against the tufts of her ears. The sky was clear -- full of fat, lazy clouds, and autumn’s sunrise filtered a soft warmth through the heavens and onto the wet soil.
Micheala moved her head, watched the sunrise, and breathed out gently. And then she pattered on.
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