Chapter Text
PROLOGUE
It’s cloudy. It’s hot and cloudy, and a occasionally a breeze rolls in and smooths over the fur of Doge and Cat sitting behind the school. Cat sneezes and rubs their nose; it’s summertime.
“Don’t you think all the hate between cats and dogs is kind of stereotypical?” Doge asks. Despite the shade, their mouth hangs open, panting in the humidity.
“Sure.”
“I mean, I know we have our own thing going on, but it’s all friendly competition. We’re best buds,” Doge continues. “Like if you told me to jump off a bridge I would.”
Cat struggles to hide a laugh. “I don’t know. You can’t sheath your claws. Sometimes you scratch me.”
“Hey— on accident!” they protest.
A pause.
“But I like hanging out with you. A lot. Remember when we got assigned that pair project in freshman year? Our watershed biology project? God, that was awful…” Doge trails off. They’re still talking, but Cat has mostly tuned them out.
A paw shoves at their shoulder. They bristle and tilt their head to face Doge again.
“Isn’t your birthday soon?” they ask.
“Yeah, in two weeks. I’m not going to do anything big or special though,” they answer easily. “My parents don’t really have the time to throw something together because they’re busy with work and stuff.”
“What?” Doge says. “We could always just do something together. Like last year.”
“Last year all we did was stay up late and play card games. Also, I’m gonna be turning eighteen, it’s not that huge of a deal.” they snort.
“Okay, suits you-” Doge digs their claws into the dirt, slightly disturbed. “Got any thoughts about college?”
“Dude!” Cat’s shoulders go up in amusement. “Don’t remind me about it! I don’t want to talk about college. It’s so much work. And money.”
“You probably should have applied to a few during junior year or something.”
“I know. I know, jeez. It’s just that I don’t even know what I’m gonna do. My parents told me not to apply to anything until I graduated because they want to ‘approve things with me’, or some bullshit like that.”
“Sounds pretty tough,” Doge says quietly. “I’m not going to offer any help because I know you’ll just say no or something.”
“Yeah.”
“I got a few letters from some good colleges but I’m really trying to shoot for Stanfor— Hey! Don’t give me that look. Oh my god.”
“I’m sorry it’s just-” Doge clamps a paw over Cat’s mouth, who’s still laughing. “I just— Stanford? For computer science?” Cat waggles their eyebrows. “Why?”
“My old owner would be proud of me. She’d never laugh at me like you are right now. There is nothing funny happening, Cat. Why are you still laughing.” Doge says in a deadpan voice, trying not to start laughing themself.
“ Hah— Okay, okay, oh my god. Okay. Sorry. Actually,” They take a deep breath and start laughing again. “Still— why Stanford?”
“Other than the fact that it’s the best college in the states? Yeah, fine. Okay. I’ll settle with going to friggin’ online college or something. Nothing says hands-on experience in computer science and engineering more than sitting in front of a screen for six hours.”
“Bleugh. Online college.” Cat pretends to gag.
“Agreed,” Doge nods. “Bleugh.”
“You wanta tell me how you’re thinking about getting into Stanford? Application letters, resume, school Chess Club and all that?”
“Yeah. And shut up about Chess Club—that was for one semester.”
Cat lays in bed, not sleeping but not completely awake either. They’re dreaming about chasing mice through the school football field, prancing and bounding across the grass. The doorbell rings.
“Ugh.”
They stand and walk the few pawsteps it takes to poke their out of the catflap. As they do so, a stack of a dozen or so papers fall to the ground. The desk they used to be upon wobbles dangerously.
“Happy birthday!” Doge barks with such cheer and enthusiasm that it makes Cat flatten their ears against the back of their head.
“Oh, hi.” they meow.
“What, not happy to see me?” Doge asks, still grinning. There’s something behind them that Cat can’t quite make out. Their eyes haven’t quite adjusted to the sunlight yet.
“No! No, I am. I’m just kinda tired.” Cat yawns. While talking, they use their back leg to kick the fallen papers underneath their bed.
“What are those for?”
“Um. Application papers,” they answer quickly. “For university. I guess.”
“Oh shit. Glad to see you’re finally planning to do something about that. Can I come inside?” Doge asks.
“Yeah, sure, sorry. Come on.”
Cat retreats into their house and lays back down on their bed. Cat’s house isn’t big, and frankly, they’re a little embarrassed about it. It’s not often that Doge comes over.
There’s enough room for their bed, a desk, and a small table against the wall near the catflap door. It’s nothing compared to Doge’s house, but part of the reason is that Doge’s house was a hand-me-down from their owner.
“Are you okay? You seem kind of sick.” Doge looks concerned.
“What are you here for?”
“Well, it’s your birthday,” Thankfully, Doge seems to push aside the fact that Cat ignored their question. “Hold on a minute.”
Doge squeezes their head through the catflap and tugs something inside with their teeth. It’s a box of premium cat food, labelled on the side.
“Oh. Oh, wow, thanks a million.” Cat says, scratching their neck with a paw. “I um-”
“Of course.”
“This is super,” Cat grins. I’m sick of having to eat only dry food for the past few months since my parents left for work. Gosh.”
“Hey, what are friends for? Happy birthday again, by the way.” Doge lays down next to Cat, not quite on their bed but touching it.
“Thanks.”
“When are they back anyways?”
Cat pauses. “My parents?”
Something sad and upset crosses their face. Their ears flick.
“I um, don’t know yet.” they say. They push the box of cat food against the wall, where it takes up nearly one fourth of their entire house, and exhale.
“Oh,” Doge says. “Sorry for asking.”
“It’s fine.”
“Are you okay? You haven’t really been looking or acting normal this month. Was it finals? School’s over, you can relax, you know.”
“I did well on finals. I just have to leave really soon to help out my parents for work.”
Doge’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. Cat has never mentioned this before. “Where to?”
“Korea.”