Work Text:
DogDay: “I do care about you, but it’s been 13 years! You can’t expect ANYONE to remember everything after that much time. You probably forgot all about me too, so don’t act like you’re the only one who’s hurting!”
CatNap: “Forgot about you?” CatNap’s voice was tight with disbelief, a sharp laugh escaping him. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his tail flicking sharply behind him like a whip. The streetlights cast long shadows across the cracked pavement, and his ears twitched at the faint sound of the city around them. “I hate you, DogDay. But more so, I hate the fact that I still fucking love you.” He stepped closer, his claws scraping lightly against the ground. His breath misted in the cold night air. “You can’t expect anyone to remember something so simple after 13 years? Really?” His voice dripped with bitterness. “You don’t care. You never fucking cared, did you? Was it just pity that made you decide to be my friend at the orphanage?”
DogDay: “Why would you even say that?”
DogDay shifted uncomfortably, his tail curling slightly as he glanced around the dimly lit street. His ears drooped, but he kept his gaze locked on CatNap, clearly not registering the confession, his focus locked on the bitterness in CatNap’s words.
CatNap: “Why? Because you don’t remember, DogDay!” His voice cracked, eyes narrowing as he fought to keep control. He took a step back, folding his arms tightly across his chest, his claws digging into his own fur. “You don’t remember shit about me.”
DogDay: “That’s not fair—”
CatNap: “No! What’s not fair is that I remember everything. Every. Damn. Thing. You say time blurs things? You say it’s been too long to remember?” His voice grew colder, sharper. The wind gusted down the empty alley, causing the leaves to rustle against the brick walls. “You don’t forget things that matter. You don’t forget someone you care about!”
DogDay’s ears drooped further, his tail falling limp behind him as he stood in the soft glow of a flickering streetlamp.
CatNap: “Your tail wags not just when you’re happy, but when you’re nervous or embarrassed. You always try to hide the fact that you’re tired, even when it’s so fucking obvious it hurts to watch. You smile when you’re in pain—always acting like it’s nothing.” His voice grew lower, more intense. His eyes, gleaming faintly in the dim light, stayed locked on DogDay as his claws flexed against his palms. “And you never ask for help. You just keep pretending you’re fine, no matter how bad things get.”
His breathing grew shallow, the alley suddenly feeling too small for the weight of his emotions. The smell of rain hung in the air, a storm brewing on the horizon.
“You chew on the tip of your ear when you’re thinking too hard. You flick your tail just before you lie. And when you make a promise, your ears droop, like you’re already carrying the weight of breaking it.” He stepped even closer, so close now that he could see the faint tremor in DogDay’s ears. “I remember all of it because I cared. Because you meant something to me. But you… you’ve forgotten everything about me, haven’t you?”
DogDay: “That’s not true! I remember you. I just… it’s been so long—things blur—”
CatNap: “Blur?” His voice dropped, almost a whisper now. His breath came in slow, shallow bursts as he stared down at the ground, unable to look at DogDay any longer. “You don’t forget things that matter, DogDay. Yet, you’ve fucking forgotten me.”
There was a long silence between them, the air thick with unspoken emotions. CatNap’s eyes bore into DogDay’s, waiting for something—anything. An apology. An explanation. Something that would make the years of pain seem less empty.
DogDay: “I never meant to hurt you. I didn’t forget you, I just… I thought you didn’t need me anymore. That maybe you’d moved on without me.” His voice wavered as his eyes darted away, staring into the puddles forming on the concrete.
CatNap laughed bitterly, a low, hollow sound that echoed off the alley walls. He shook his head, raindrops clinging to the fur around his face. “Moved on?” His voice was low, dangerous. He clenched his fists at his sides. “You think I moved on? You were all I had. You left, and you didn’t even look back.” He paused, the words coming out even sharper now. “You were smiling when you left, DogDay. I watched you walk away, smiling like none of it fucking mattered.”
DogDay’s ears twitched at the mention of the smile, but he said nothing, his tail curling close to his legs as the guilt settled over him like a heavy weight.
CatNap: “I never forgot that. I never forgot you.” His voice softened, almost cracking under the weight of the memory. “I was standing right there, and you didn’t even fucking see me.”
DogDay’s eyes glistened with guilt, but he was silent, his chest rising and falling in slow, heavy breaths as the rain began to soak into his fur.
DogDay: “You think it was easy for me?” His voice was barely more than a whisper, and his tail flicked weakly as he tried to meet CatNap’s gaze.
CatNap’s breath caught in his throat. For a moment, he thought he might break, that all the years of pain might finally surface.
But then the coldness returned.
CatNap: “If you cared, you wouldn’t have fucking forgotten. If you really cared, you’d remember.” His voice trembled with the weight of those final words, barely masking the pain beneath his rage.
He reached for the crescent moon pendant around his neck, yanking it free with a sudden sharp motion. The metal felt cold in his palm, like the weight of their past together, now useless. He stared at it for a moment, as if it were the last remnant of something he didn’t want to hold onto anymore.
“Take this back,” CatNap spat, throwing the pendant to the ground at DogDay’s feet. “I regret that I ever met you.” His voice wavered at the end, the lie barely holding together.
The rain fell harder now, the sound of it drowning out the silence that followed. Before DogDay could respond, CatNap turned his back, his footsteps splashing in the puddles as he walked away into the night.
CatNap’s footsteps echoed in the silence as he walked away, his heart hammering in his chest. He didn’t look back, even though part of him wanted to. The sharp words he’d thrown at DogDay, the pendant lying discarded at his feet—they were meant to hurt, meant to drive him away. But as CatNap disappeared into the night, he could feel the ache settling in his chest, heavier than before.
The rain soaked through his fur, chilling him to the bone but it did nothing to ease the burn in his chest. What did I even expect?
He shoved his hands into his pockets, his claws scraping against the lining of his hoodie as he quickened his pace. This is how it’s always going to be, isn’t it? He had pushed DogDay away, thrown words like knives, hoping they’d cut deep enough to sever the bond between them. He had wanted it to hurt—because if it hurt DogDay, maybe it would stop hurting him.
But it didn’t.
Not even close.
His claws dug into his palms as he walked faster, putting more distance between them. I hate you, DogDay. The words repeated in his mind, bitter, cold, desperate. I hate you for making me feel like this. I hate you for being the only one I’ve ever fucking cared about. He swallowed hard, blinking back the tears threatening to rise again.
The alleyway swallowed him up, but the emptiness that followed felt even darker.
As he rounded the corner, far from where DogDay still stood, CatNap paused, his hand lingering near his chest where the pendant had once rested. The absence of it felt hollow, a weight lifted but not in the way he’d wanted. He had always been alone, even when DogDay had been at his side.
And now? He was alone again.
But the worst part wasn’t that DogDay had forgotten so much. It wasn’t the years lost or even the words left unsaid.
It was that DogDay still fucking cared.
Even after everything, after CatNap had basically told him to fuck off and die, DogDay had still tried to reach him. Tried to make him forgive. Tried to hold on. He always did that, didn’t he? Always tried to fix things.
Why?
I’m so lucky I had a friend like him.
The thought hit him harder than any physical blow. Lucky. But it wasn’t enough. It had never been enough. DogDay’s friendship had been a lifeline once—something that had kept CatNap tethered to this world, back when everything else felt like it was slipping away.
But DogDay only wanted a friend.
CatNap’s chest tightened, a hollow laugh escaping his lips, echoing in the dark alley. Too bad he only ever wanted a friend.
That was the tragedy of it all, wasn’t it? DogDay’s heart had always been open to him—so open, so full of care—but never in the way CatNap had wanted. Never in the way he needed.
DogDay had been everything to him. And now DogDay would walk away thinking he’d lost a friend, when in truth, he’d never known what he’d meant to CatNap.