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Day one: New house
I like to watch people walking by the sidewalks through the window beside the glass cage they keep me in; it’s one of the things that keep me entertained now that all my brothers and sisters are gone, leaving me behind and a little bored. At least I have the cage and the bed all to myself now, which is nice, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss them. But I’m also happy for them. I know that when animals get out of here with a human, they go to a nice and happy place. Or at least that’s what the dog in the cage next to mine told me. The humans that come in here seem nice, so I’m pretty sure he told me the truth. I hope they’re enjoying their new lives.
Speaking of humans, I’ve recently found out that I especially like the little ones. Every day one or two come to pet me with the supervision of a bigger human, since they’re not allowed to do it alone. I don’t mind that, I know they do that so I don’t hurt them. Not that I’d do that though, not to them, at least. But my sister did it once, so I guess they don’t want to take any chances. But to be fair, that human kind of deserved it. Anyway, sometimes, other little and big humans come and see me through the window, but they leave faster because they’re almost always in a hurry. I always like to see them anyway, that’s why I like staring out of the window, to see if one comes near. Sometimes I wish one would take me with them.
I watched a few humans walking by. No one came near at first, but then one looked at me and stopped in his tracks. He approached the window to take a closer look, I guess. He wasn’t a little one, but he wasn’t an adult either. He had silver hair, and aquamarine eyes. Huh, weird human. Most of them aren’t like this, not at his apparent age anyway. He wouldn’t take his eyes off me, so I just stared right back. He blinked and suddenly he went to the door and entered, making the little bell at the top ring. I’ve always liked the sound it makes, it’s nice. The human approached to me again and looked at me for a little while before reaching a hand inside the cage to pet me. This human was weird, but wasn’t doing anything wrong, so I let him. He scratched behind my ears, right where I like— ooh yes, that feels nice. He smiled and let out a little giggle when I started to purr. But then, he stopped. Ugh, why do they always do that? He headed to the counter and talked to one of the girls that take care of us and pointed at me. After a moment, they both came and she picked me up, giving me to the strange human.
He held me close for a minute and then put me up at the level of his eyes. He stared at me again, this was getting kind of creepy, but then his eyes lighted up and smiled. “You have his eyes!” He said. I didn’t know what he meant by that, so I didn’t say anything. He didn’t seem to mind, though, and just kept smiling. He turned to the girl and said “I’m taking him with me”.
Wait, what?
He took me to the counter and put me there while he scratched my back and talked to the girl, signing some papers. Had I heard right? Am I going to leave? Wow, that’s great! I certainly didn’t expect this, not today. Is his house big? Could he have little ones?
“Oh, right! You need a collar!” My new human said and then headed to a shelf that had a lot of collars of different colors. The girl that takes care of me started petting me, so I turned to her. Namine, I think that’s her name. She smiled to me. I’m going to miss her, she was the nicest human here, but this strange new human doesn’t seem so bad, I’m willing to give him a chance. Ah there he comes, he had brought a black and white collar. “Do you like it?” It was alright, I suppose, but he didn’t wait for my answer before putting it on me. It felt a little weird, but nothing I couldn’t get used to. When I moved I heard a little bell very close to me. Where did that came from? I moved again and realized it came from my new collar. Yes! Thank you, new human.
He laughed as I tried to touch the little bell with my paw. “I think you do! Okay, then. Let’s take you to your new home!” He paid for the collar and then we both said goodbye to Namine and left.
He carried me as he walked on the streets and talked to me all the way to the new house. His name is Riku and he seems like a nice guy. He explained that I wouldn’t be living with him but with his best friend, Sora, and Riku promised that he would visit often. He told me that Sora really likes cats and that he would take really good care of me. Most of the talk was about Sora. Riku said many good things about him so he must be a good human, too.
“We’re here,” Riku said as he stopped in front of a building. “You’re going to live over there, see?” He pointed to a window to the right that was really high. “ Nice, right? I’m sure you’re going to like it there. Now, come on,” he said as we entered the building.
On the way up in the elevator, Riku told me that I was a surprise for Sora, so that I had to be quiet when we reached his apartment. When the elevator doors opened, we got out and headed to the door with the number 813 on it. Riku made a hush motion and put me behind his back. He rang the doorbell and held his breath.
The door opened and a cheerful voiced greeted him “Riku! Hey, what a surprise!” Sora, I’m guessing, said.
Riku laughed “We saw each other yesterday, Sora, it’s not much of a surprise” he said, going into the apartment, moving carefully so Sora wouldn’t notice me. Hey, wow! This new house is great! It even has a balcony and the couch looks so comfy…
“Yeah, but you always call before coming!” Sora said, I heard the door close. “Not that I mind, though. But what are you up to, huh? You’re acting strange.” I could hear the smirk in his voice. “What’cha got behind you?”
“Oh I don’t know, why don’t you guess?” Riku said teasingly. I wish he would just show me to Sora already, I’m getting kind of uncomfortable here.
“Chinese food?”
“Nope.”
“A cake?”
“No. Try again,”
“Your N64?”
What? Riku laughed and I think he shook his head. “Close your eyes,” he told Sora. When he closed them, Riku held me up in front of him. Yeah, Sora looks like a good human, too. I like his spiky hair. “Okay, ready?”
“C’mon, Riku, of course I am!” Sora looks so desperate hah, amusing.
“Right. Open your eyes in three, two, …one!” Sora opened his eyes and they immediately focused on me. They widened like two big plates as he gasped loudly. A huge smile formed on his lips and he started to laugh nervously. He took me from Riku and pulled me into his chest. Why is he doing this? I can’t breathe—
“Riku! Oh my gosh, Riku!” Sora exclaimed as he pressed me harder against him.
“Stop,” I said, but they only probably heard ‘meow’, humans are still not evolved enough to understand us completely.
“Aw, look how cute it is!” Sora lifted me up and nuzzled his nose with mine. Okay… “Riku! Thank you, so much! It—” ´He lifted me up again. “He is for me, right!?”
“Of course he is, Sora!” Riku said, smiling. “Merry early Christmas!”
“But December is just starting!” Sora said, but still launched himself over Riku, exclaiming a lot of thank you’s, hugging him with one arm and keeping me close with the other one, and so keeping me out of air. Again. It all went worse when Riku hugged him back.
“How did you know I was planning to get a cat?” Sora asked.
“I… didn’t? I just figured from all the cat videos you send daily that you wanted one.” Riku said, holding Sora closer. Ugh, I can’t anymore. I struggled a little but I finally broke free from Sora’s grip and landed on the floor. Wow, they sure are close. Dang, Riku told me he was his best friend, not his mate.
They separated and turned to me as I smelled the couch. “So, how are you going to name him?” Riku asked. Oh right, I get to have a name.
“Hmm… I don’t know” Sora said, “Any suggestions?”
“Well, he kind of reminds me of you,” Riku said, Sora turned to him. “You have the same blue eyes.”
“Really?” Sora picked me up and sat on the couch, put me on his lap and looked at me. “Wow, you’re right! The only difference from me is that he’s blond. And a cat.”
I stared back at him as Riku sat next to us, “You should name him Sora Jr.,” he said, jokingly.
Sora laughed softly and scratched my chin, yes! “Well… My mom always said that if I’d had a twin, his name would have been Roxas, so… what do you think?”
“Roxas is a pretty good name,” Riku said, caressing my back. I like this.
“Okay, then! Roxas it is!” Sora exclaimed, smiling.
Roxas… I like it. And I’m also starting to like these humans, especially when they pet me like this. But in all honesty, I’m content in this place and I look forward to calling it home.
“Riku!” Sora suddenly exclaimed.
“What!?”
“I need to get him a litter box!”
Day 7: Kairi
It’s been a week since I arrived and what can I say, so far so good. Sora’s got me some toys and we play daily, the food is really good and I have a human sized bed, even though I have to share it with Sora. But anyway, I like my new home. My former neighbor dog hadn’t lied about going to better places! Sora is, indeed, a good human and he takes good care of me. Riku too. When he comes, he gives me some treats just for the sake of it. Sora calls him out on that, but he doesn’t seem to care, so I don’t either.
I’ve also noticed that Sora looks noticeably happier when Riku’s around, and that’s saying a lot because he’s almost always smiling. So you could say that when Riku comes, he starts beaming. Both of them do, actually. I wonder if they’re really not mates.
I’ve also met a new human! It was a girl named Kairi, and she kind of reminds me of Namine. It was one day that I was lying peacefully on the couch that I met her. Someone had knocked the door and Sora shouted at them to come in. When she did, I was the first thing she saw. She gasped and immediately came to me and pulled me into her lap. I was taken a little by surprise, so I tried to get away, but then she started scratching the back of my ear and, well, I just realized that she didn’t mean any harm at all.
“Sora!” She exclaimed, loudly, “Why hadn’t you told me you had a cat!? I’m so mad at you right now!” what she said could have been taken more seriously if she hadn’t been smiling that widely.
“I’m so sorry, Kairi! I’ve been quite busy with him lately!” Sora said from the kitchen, he was getting my food ready before she came.
“He’s soooo cuuuuute!” She said, caressing me all over. “Tell me, kitten, what kind of adorable horrors have you brought into Sora’s life already?” Adorable horrors? I don’t have any idea of what she’s talking about.
“His name is Roxas,” Sora said, coming into the living room with my plate filled with food and put it in my usual place. I broke free from Kairi and headed to it, I’m hungry. “And he made a mess in the bathroom two days ago.”
What? I haven’t done such a thing.
Kairi giggled “Really? What did he do?”
“He tore all the toilet paper apart! And then decided to put some remaining parts in the sink and who knows how he managed to turn it on!” Sora said. Ah, that. But I just thought the place needed some decoration. Fine, I’m never offering my help ever again. I’m better off here with my food, anyway.
“Wow!” Kairi said, still giggling “Looks as though you got a troublemaker, then!”
“Huh, it’s fine,” Sora said, scratching the back of his head, looking at me “I expected this kind of behavior from him.” He went to sit beside Kairi and sighed as he flopped down. “Besides, it’s kind of impossible not to forgive him.”
“Yeah, they have that ability,” Kairi agreed, and then turned to Sora. “So when did you get him?”
“Last week, but I wouldn’t said I got him,” I heard Sora shift a little. “It was a surprise from Riku.”
“What?” Kairi squealed, excitedly. “Really!? That’s so cute! And why, may I ask?”
“Hah, I wonder that myself!” Sora admitted. “It was a total surprise! A really happy one, I’m not complaining. I don’t even know how he found out I wanted a cat. He said he figured because of the videos—”
“An endless number of videos.”
“—that I send you. Hey! They’re not that many!”
“The whole chat is filled with YouTube links, Sora.” Kairi said, laughing. I finished eating and went back to her so she could continue her petting, “And anyway, he knows you better than he knows himself so it’s understandable. Or” she bumped her shoulder with his “He’s trying to woo you!”
“W-what!?” Sora stuttered, blushing a lot, wow. “Of course not, Kairi! Where do you get these ideas!?”
Kairi only laughed harder, “Well, yeah, of course he was! That’s so romantic. Love is in the air and it’s not even its season. Please let me be the Best Woman at your wedding!”
Sora was still blushing, but the corners of his lips were turning just a little upward. “Stop it, Kairi, we’re not getting married,” he said, “I don’t even know why I told you Riku was the one that brought Roxas, I’m not telling you anything ever again.”
“Well, I can see that, since you didn’t tell me you had the cat in first place!”
“I’m sorry!”
Kairi continued teasing and Sora arguing back, but both laughing happily. Eventually they changed the topic of conversation and Sora looked really glad for it, but their last talk had got me thinking.
So I wasn’t the only one seeing things in this relationship, Kairi did, too. So I’m guessing the ones that didn’t see it were the subjects in question, naturally.
Oh, well, they’ll have to notice it, at some point, no need to rush.
I like this human, Kairi. We kind of think alike.
And she’s really good at petting.
Day 23: Gifts
“WHAT AM I GONNA DO, ROXAS!?”
Well, I don’t know, you’re asking me, I’m a cat.
Sora is apparently late for buying gifts for this thing humans do. It’s called Christmas and part of it giving presents to people you love. But it’s two days away from now and it looks like buying things at this point is pretty much impossible and that’s the reason Sora is hyperventilating, pacing everywhere.
Poor thing.
“Where do you think I can buy the purse my mom wanted? Macy’s said it’s already sold out!” He is in a really bad state; he spent last night calling all the stores he knew looking for the presents he wanted to give to his family and friends. I kept him company, so he wouldn’t have to suffer alone, but then I fell asleep, so…
“Roxas I just— ugh, come here,” He fell on the bed and pulled me close to him before I could escape. “I’m such a bad person, Roxas. I procrastinated the procrastination and now… I’m here. Suffering. Worthless” I tried to go away, but his grip was firm. His situation couldn’t be that bad, seriously, he’s got to be exaggerating.
“I don’t deserve love from anyone”
Sora, stop. Let me go.
He grunted for a very long time, lecturing himself about presents and timing until suddenly he fell silent. “…Maybe I don’t have to get them the perfect gift now…” Sora muttered, mostly to himself, softening his grip and getting up. Thank you for setting me free. “Maybe I just have to get them something meaningful, something that’ll lift their Christmas spirit up… Quick, Roxas! Where can I get a partridge in a pear tree!?”
I just kept staring at him.
The doorbell rang and Sora shouted a ‘Come in!’ before flopping back into the bed, grunting again. Riku came into the bedroom moments later and raised an eyebrow when he spotted Sora with his face on the pillow. My pillow.
“Okay… You said you needed my help,” Riku said, examining the mess in the room. “Hey, Roxas” he said when he spotted me.
“It’s an emergency, Riku!” Sora said, rolling over, almost over me, but I managed to move in time. Humans really lack grace in their movements. “I don’t have any Christmas presents! For anyone! Anyone!”
There was a moment of silence in where they both stared at each other, Sora worried, Riku confused.
…
“What!?”
“I know!” Sora said, standing up. I stretched a little.
“But your family!”
“I know!” Sora was getting a little embarrassed now. “I don’t even have a present for you!”
“You don’t have to get me any—”
“But I do!” Sora grunted and put his face in his hands. “Almost everything I wanted to get is sold out by now! What am I gonna do?”
I still didn’t have any suggestions for him. Riku shifted where he stood. He approached to Sora and patted his back awkwardly. “Uh… look, I’m sure they really won’t mind,” he tried to reassure Sora.
He looked up “Well, not my parents… but do you remember my aunt?”
They both grunted.
“You feel my struggle now?”
“I do,” Riku said. I don’t. “Uh, well, you don’t have to get them exactly what you planned…” then he perked up “Hey! Let’s go get them something right now, I’ll go with you and help! But I mean, right now”
Sora looked at him, surprised “Really? I mean, great, thank you but… wouldn’t you be wasting your time?”
Riku scoffed “Of course I would! But then again, when am I not when I’m with you?”
“Hey!” Sora pushed Riku, laughing, “Remind me again why I put up with you?”
“Because you wouldn’t last half a day without me,” Riku said, smirking.
They were doing this thing again, where they start to make rivalry and teasing comments, with no bad intention, that slowly transformed into flirty ones. And in the end, that actually was what they were totally doing: flirting.
“Huh, fair enough” Sora said, grabbing his wallet “Okay, let’s go! Bye, Roxas, don’t destroy anything!”
“See ya, Roxas” Riku said as both of the left the room.
Ugh, humans. ‘Don’t destroy anything’. I already explained I tried to decorate that place. I hope you can’t find any presents, Sora.
Day 24: The day it finally happened
I just realized that there are many places waiting to be discovered in this apartment.
Sora left with Riku a while ago to buy some other things he needs for tomorrow. This year, Sora will be hosting Christmas, it seems. He’s really excited and wants everything to be awesome, so he’s putting a lot of effort into it. So, as I was saying, they left a while ago and I have the house all to myself again. Except this time I actually have something to do: explore! I had already decided my favorite place was the cardboard boxes Sora has in the extra room. I don’t know why, they’re just so… dark. But I’ll give a chance to other places I can find here.
I walked into the kitchen and tried some open drawers and cabinets. They were good. Also the space behind the refrigerator! It was so warm. After some time there, I went into the room Sora and I sleep in and noticed he’d left the closet was opened, as usual. Curiosity got the best of me, so I got in. Hey it’s really dark in here. Like really dark. Nice, I like this very much. In fact, this might be my new favorite place now. Yes, it was that good. I took one of Sora’s sweatshirts that were lying on the floor and put it in the farthest corner of the closet, then I settled myself on it and… ooh yes, so comfy. I think I’m going to take a nap here. I curled a little closer to it and closed my eyes.
I don’t know how much time passed, but I was awakened by Sora calling my name. So he’s home already. I’m really comfortable here, I don’t really want to move. I’ll just wait for him to find me.
“Roxas? Where are you, kitty?” Yes, I’ll definitely wait for him to find me. “Riku, do you see Roxas anywhere?”
“No,” I heard steps coming into the room “He’s not in his usual spot?” Riku asked.
“No, and I already checked the cardboard boxes he likes,” Sora sounded kind of worried. “Where do you think he could be?”
“I don’t know. Did you check your closet?” Someone came closer and opened the closet door. When the light of the room met my eyes, I curled under a sweater that was next to me. I heard Sora shuffling some clothes and another shirt landed on me. Sora sighed a little agitated.
“Riku, he’s not here! Nor in the kitchen or anywhere else!” Sora paused and there was a moment of silence. “Riku?”
“Sora… Was the balcony door open all day?”
Silence. The only thing that I heard for a moment was Sora’s breathing growing heavier. Then “But he’s a cat!” Sora said, mortified.
“Exactly, Sora! He’s a cat!” Riku sounded as equally mortified as Sora. But why? The balcony? What did it have to do with anything?
Or… do they think that I…
Oh.
This place is still too comfortable to move though.
“He’s still small, Riku!”
“I don’t think that limits his abilities!”
“B-b-but—”
“Wait, wait” Riku said, I heard steps again, so he was probably pacing. “We need to calm down.” he said, but his voice was shaking. “I’m going to go out there and look for him, okay?”
“But it’s night already! And who knows how long’s it been since he jumped!” their voice tones almost made me feel bad for staying here. Almost.
“IF! If he jumped, we’re still not sure about that!” Riku exclaimed, “U-um… so you stay here and keep looking for him! I’ll go do it outside, got it?” It seemed like he was walking quickly to the door.
“But Riku!” The door opened.
“Keep looking!” And then the door closed.
Silence occupied the room again and I put myself in a more comfortable position. I heard Sora start breathing fast and heavily again before he started to move and shuffle things around the house again.
Time passed before I started to hear sniffs. Wait. Oh no… Was Sora crying? Suddenly this place doesn’t seem that comfortable anymore. I might as well get out of here already.
I got out of the closet and went to the living room, where Sora was sitting on the couch with his hands over his mouth. His eyes were glistening but his cheeks were dry, and his nose was a little red. He didn’t notice me at first, so I walked a little faster so the bell on my collar would sound. When it did, Sora’s eyes widened and he turned around so fast I thought his neck would break. When he saw me, he gasped, smiled overjoyed and stood up, “ROXAS!”
I stood there and let him pick me up, pull me to his chest, kiss my head and spin around while he laughed. When he stopped, he put me at the level of his eyes. One second he was smiling, and then the other one he looked furious “You ASSHOLE!”
Gee, thanks.
“What were you thinking!? Why did you do it!? I was so worried, Roxas, don’t ever…” He started rambling and lecturing me on what I did and told that I can’t ever do it again. I suppose he was right, it was kind of a jerk move. But hey, I was comfortable. “…for like 20 minutes! And half an hour ago Riku left looking for—… Riku! I gotta tell him!”
Now, I don’t know how long “half an hour” is, but Sora acted as though it had been a long time. He pulled out his cellphone, pushed some buttons and then put the thing to his ear. After a moment he made a strange face and put it down, then repeated the process. When he put it down the third time he said “Weird… He didn’t answer the first two times and in the third one his phone was off.” He stared into space, thinking. When I was about to climb on the couch, Sora grabbed me “We’re going to look for him.” We headed to the door and when he opened it he said “And you’re coming with me! You won’t be out of my sight for a while, young man. I mean, cat.” He locked the door and went to the elevator.
By the time we were at the building entrance, I had already struggled and begged countless of times for Sora to put me down. He was struggling too to keep me in his arms. “Put me down!” I kept saying.
“Roxas, stop! Rox— hey, just, keep still! Roxas! Keep— ugh” He put me up in front of him and with a stern face and voice said “Hey, listen, Roxas, I know you can understand me so help me out and let’s make this a win-win situation.” …Okay, I’m listening. “I put you down, you walk beside me, stay close to me as we look for Riku and don’t hide or run away. If you start running, I swear, Roxas, I’ll run after you at the speed of light and summon a leash from thin air to put it on you as if you were a freaking dog. Understood?” We both held our gazes for a long time, but I looked away first. Okay, Sora, agreed. Now, put me down.
“Okay,” he said, putting me down slowly. “Remember, stay close to me!” he said before he started walking. Of course I’ll stay close to him, where would I sleep if I ran away?
So we looked for Riku, yeah. We went to the park a few blocks away, to a coffee shop that was even farther, we even went to the building Riku lived in, and other places, but no sign of him. Sora was getting tired, he said we had been looking for Riku a little more than 45 minutes and it was getting really late, so he decided to go back home.
We were walking side by said when Sora sighed, “Where could he be, Roxas? I already called Kairi, too, and she has no idea either. And his phone is still turned off.” Sora looked really worried. I guess this was how he looked when he was looking for me, it does make me feel a little bad. We continued walking when I suddenly smelled something… it was a food I liked, Sora gave it to me once or twice, it was…
I walked faster and let my paws guide me to a little store in front of us. “Roxas? Where are you going? Come back!” I ignored Sora’s voice as I entered the store. There it was. My heart started beating faster. It was not just one, it was many of them! All of them in front of me. A big nest filled with great, wonderful, delicious fish.
It’s beautiful. I am in love.
“Roxas!”
I don’t know what happened then. I just knew a lot of fish were in front of me, and then, suddenly, one was in my mouth. And it was really good.
“Roxas, oh my gosh!” Sora exclaimed as he grabbed me and quickly ran out of the store, but not without me taking the fish with us, and also not without the old lady attending the store noticing.
“Hey! You two!” The old lady screamed as she came out of the store, chasing after us.
It was Sora’s fault for being so loud.
Sora ran quickly, but unfortunately, so did the lady, even at her age. It was obvious that Sora could outrun her, but she made it a good challenge. At least the streets were almost empty now, that was a good thing. Or not.
We had lost sight of the lady by now and I had dropped the fish somewhere along the way, sadly, but Sora still ran. He turned into a corner that led us to the park we visited earlier, and when he was running in front of it, he spotted someone sitting on one of the benches.
“Wait…” he panted, “Riku?” He said as slowed down.
Riku had been sitting with his head in his hands, but when he heard Sora, he stood up fast with a mix of surprise and anguish in his face “Sora!?”
“Riku, what the hell!?” Sora said, running up to him “I looked for you!” he exclaimed, “I looked everywhere for you!”
“I didn’t want you to find me!” Riku cried, flustered, “I left the balcony door open, Sora! It’s my fault Roxas is gone! I’m so sorry, I really am! I turned off my phone because I didn’t know how to tell you and I just— I’m sorry!” he looked so ashamed and altered; in any other given situation, I might have found it amusing. But now…
“What? No!” Sora said, putting me in front of him. “Roxas is right here, see?”
Riku froze as he saw me and his eyes shifted between Sora and me “What?”
“He—”
“Where are you, you thieves!” the old lady’s voice sounded from afar, but not as afar as we would’ve liked and coming closer.
With a gasp, Sora pushed me under the bench and before Riku could ask, he whispered “No time!”, put his hands on the sides of his head and pulled Riku’s face towards his own, kissing him right on the lips.
If it weren’t for Riku, I wouldn’t have ever known humans could turn that shade of red and have their eyes as widened as he had them in that moment.
Well, about dang time!
After a second, I saw the old lady turning into the corner. She was no longer running, but she was walking angrily, you could say. When she saw no one in the park but those lovebirds kissing, she sighed and murmured something like “stupid cat” and then left, going back where she had come from. Hey.
Even though the old lady was gone, Sora and Riku stayed in their position for a little longer than necessary, and just as it looked both of them were beginning to enjoy it, Sora pulled away.
Riku’s eyes had closed somewhere along the way, while Sora had had them closed all along, but it took a little while for them both to open them again. They looked at each other fixedly for a moment, and then Sora smiled widely.
“Well, that was close, wasn’t it?”
What?
“Huh?” Riku voiced my thoughts, kind of.
Sora laughed and crouched to pick me up again. “C’mon, let’s go back to mine, Riku. I think I’ve had too many searching parties for the night. I’ll tell you everything on the way home. Oh, and I’m not letting Roxas walk on his own ever again.”
And Sora did explain everything on the way home. How I appeared in the living room, the win-win agreement, the fish, etc. But even though Riku was looking at him, it was obvious he wasn’t listening to him. He was staring at him like I was at the fish nest earlier: like he was in love.
Except that his was probably real love, you know? I just really like fish.
But Sora didn’t mention anything about the kiss. Like he had forgotten it, like it hadn’t meant anything to him. Something shifted in in Riku’s eyes as we walked and Sora still obviated it, and the joy that had been there little ago, was slowly drifting away.
When we reached the apartment, Sora put me down and I immediately started stretching. I really needed this. Sora opened the door and we went inside.
“Whoa, I’m starving!” Sora said, closing the door. “How about a nice grilled cheese to call it a night, huh? I promise I won’t set the toaster on fire this time!” Sora shouldn’t be allowed near the toaster after that one time but okay.
Riku took a while to answer, “Yeah, that’d be nice…” he said, staring at the floor.
Sora looked at him worriedly “Riku, is everything okay? You didn’t say a word the whole way back.”
I climbed on the couch just as I heard Riku sigh. When I looked back, he was looking at Sora. “Do you really not know, or are you just playing dumb?” he asked, not quite angry, just a little sad.
Sora looked taken aback by Riku’s answer. He opened his mouth, but then closed again. He shifted where he stood and after a moment he said “I do…”
“Sora…” Riku said, “Why did you—”
“I’m sorry! I really am!” Sora suddenly exclaimed loudly, surprising Riku and me a little. “I’m sorry for making you feel uncomfortable for what I did, okay? I just saw the chance and took it, I wasn’t thinking, I’m sorry if you’re mad but!”
“Sora… Sora, stop,” Riku tried to calm him, but Sora still rambled nonstop. He walked to him and put his hands on his shoulders and shook him a little “Sora, calm down!” Sora stopped his ramble and looked up at him “I’m not mad” Riku said, keeping his hands on Sora’s shoulders, “I just want to know why.”
Sora sighed and looked away. He took a big breath and “I just wanted an excuse to kiss you…”
Oh-uh, truth time has begun.
Both stayed in silence as Sora’s words hanged in the air. Sora grunted, “I’m sorry, again but I—!”
“Wait, wait!” Riku interrupted, with a surprised face. Also, was he blushing again? “Can you say it again?”
Sora huffed and narrowed his eyes “Don’t do this, Riku! I’ve wanted to do it for some time now but—“
“What, how long?”
“For… for… Oh hell, Riku I don’t know, a very long time ago but—”
“So you mean, you didn’t just do it because you wanted to hide from the old lady?” Riku was talking really fast now.
“Well, I mean, yes, mostly in that moment, but not only for that, I—!”
Sora didn’t get to finish his sentence again because Riku started laughing loudly and pulled him into a kiss, much in the way Sora had done to him earlier. This time, it was Sora’s turn to show me this color changing ability humans had.
It took Sora a matter of seconds to start kissing back, pulling Riku closer. So, here they are, kissing good-naturedly, and this time it was not because one was running from a lady. It was nice seeing them happy like that. The tension they had around themselves before is now long gone, which was nice too because it was a little stressing having to watch them pining for each other and them not knowing about it and, ugh, I’m glad those days are over.
They pulled away, panting a little. They smiled and looked at each other. Sora laughed nervously “Wait… what?”
“I’ve also wanted to do that for a very long time” Riku admitted sheepishly. “But I didn’t know how or anything.”
“Riku, you dork!” They both laughed and I just grunted. I’m now realizing that they were already very cheesing before becoming this, and now that cheesiness will increase in one hundred percent.
Sora turned and looked at me “Oh, Roxas! You’re still there!” he said. Well of course, but I’m this close to go and hide again. His eyes looked up to the wall clock and then he gasped, “It’s 12:01am! That means it’s the 25th already!” he said, running to grab me and then back to Riku and hugged him tight. “Merry Christmas, guys!” This reminded me of my first day here.
Riku chuckled and held us closer, “Merry Christmas!” he said happily “And thank you, Roxas!”
Sora laughed, “Yes, thank you, Roxas! We couldn’t have done it without you!”
Oh well, you know, I only do my job.
Wait, what? But I hadn’t done anything! Oh, I can’t even think straight anymore, I’ll just let them be.
I can’t deny that being here, in a hug with my two favorite humans, felt really nice. Day 24 had a happy ending and day 25 a happy start. This day will be great.
Merry Christmas, humans.
“So who wants that grilled cheese?”
Oh right, I still have to watch out for Sora burning the kitchen up.
Bonus:
Day 255: New Friend
Sora and I are visiting Riku today. Sora says I’ll make a new friend there and that I have to be nice and tolerant when I met him, but anyway, I always have to be nice and tolerant to everyone, otherwise I wouldn’t like anyone.
We reached his apartment and he greeted us and let us in. Sora put me down (he still didn’t let me walk on my own when we went outside) and then asked Riku “Where is he?”. I wonder who “he” is.
“Ah, there he comes” Riku said, pointing ahead. What, who?
My question was answered when this big, fluffy, red dog came running right in my direction. He was just about to crush into me when he managed to stop and started smelling me all over. Hey, what the heck?
“Ah, I think they’ll get along just fine.” Sora said, putting his hands behind his head.
“They sure will,” Riku agreed.
The dog was still smelling me, but I didn’t know what to do! S-should I smell him back or— “Hey, HEY! No sniffing there!” I told him as he tried to sniff… there.
“Hah, sorry,” He said, pulling back and letting his long tongue out of his mouth. Um. “Nice to meet you! Name’s Axel, got it memorized?” he said with a smug expression.
I huffed “I’m Roxas. And I don’t think I need to get t memorized since you’re carrying it in that tag on your collar everywhere you go!”
“Hey!” He protested, playfully, wagging his tail “it looks good on me!”
“Sure, whatever makes you sleep at night, Alex” I teased.
“Huh? No no, it’s Ax— oh, you did that on purpose!” he said, wagging his tail even faster. “You really got me on that one!”
If I were human, I’d probably be laughing. Axel looks like a good dog and I like him. Sora is right, I have the feeling that Axel and I will become really good friends.
“So, Alex…”
“Axel!”