Chapter Text
Ever since the nightmare critters had moved into Smiling valley, things had… certainly gotten more interesting.
Most of the nightmares were, maybe not mean, but not exactly nice.
Dogday had asked the smiling critters to at least try and get along with their new neighbors, which had gone… about as well as you’d expect.
But it wasn’t the worst. A few of the nightmare critters were fine, just lazy, or gluttonous, or refused to get rid of their garbage. But at least most of them weren’t really rude, just… passionate about certain things. And Dogday respected that.
He could respect the way Poe loved gothic things, like brooding, and always keeping their curtains closed, and writing lots of poetry with dark imagery. He could respect how Toullie loved to collect and eat garbage, even if he smelled worse than a skunk, and he could respect how Maggie loved to nom down on anything sweet, especially chocolate, if that’s what made her happy.
They just liked what they liked.
Unlike SOME nightmare critters who were just mean for the sake of being mean. *Cough*BabsandIggyandespeciallySimon *cough*
But maybe he’d learn to tolerate them.
One of the nightmare critters was a cute white bat girl, unfortunately stuck with the worst name out of all of them… Rabie Baby.
Unsurprisingly, she hated her name and preferred to go by “Rae.”
Rae was very curious about her new friends, she wanted to know everything about all of them. But she wasn’t a stalker, she preferred to think of herself as more of a ‘private investigator’ that worked for free.
Only problem was whenever she learned a new tidbit, she couldn’t keep it to herself. She had to share every single fact she learned.
Whether a critter had a disdain for a certain food, or a fear of bugs, or whatever, everyone had to know everything about everyone, just like her.
After all, secrets are no fun if they stay secrets. Tea must be spilled.
One day, Miss Rae was sitting in a tree in the park, hiding in the leaves and waiting for someone to walk by so she could spy on them.
Then, she spotted the mysterious Catnap.
Quietly, she observed as he sat down underneath the tree and pulled out a tablet of paper and a purple pencil from nowhere, and began writing something.
What he was writing, she wasn’t sure. Unfortunately, Rae being a bat, though her hearing was noticeably better than most other critters, her eyesight left something to be desired… during the day at least.
Still, she watched as Catnap scribbled, then erased, then scribbled some more every so often.
The poor guy was frustrated, clearly not able to find the right words for whatever he was writing.
Eventually, Catnap gives up, sighing and tearing the paper out, crumpling it up into a ball and then tossing it into the nearby trash can.
He then gets up, sulking away.
“Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow…” He whispered softly.
When he was completely gone, Rae descended from the tree, graceful as a falling leaf, and quickly headed over to the trash bin.
This was a big break in her little ‘case’.
After all she loved to play detective, and this was the evidence she needed to prove Catnap was guilty of something. Hopefully not something bad.
She fishes out the paper ball from the trash, carefully unwrapping it so as to not rip or tear it, then reads what the cat had written.
“Dear Dogday,
How do I start this?
There’s a secret that I've been meaning to tell you, but I don’t know how, because, well, when you find out, I don’t know how you'll react.
There’s this feeling that, resonates within my heart whenever I see you.
I’ve tried to ignore it, I’ve tried to fight it, but no matter how hard I try, the feeling just got stronger and stronger.
I guess what I'm trying to say is…
I’m in love with you.”
Rae gasps, covering her mouth.
She continues reading.
“I have been since, basically the day I met you…
Everything about you is magical, my sun…
Your beautiful onyx eyes that I can’t seem to not get lost in, your soft, fluffy fur that makes you perfect for hugging and cuddling with, your sweet smile and adorable laughter, everything.
I could go on and on, but I don’t think I'll have enough room on the paper to write about it. I’d need at least three more pages to write about everything I love about you…
Anyways, yeah, I love you so so so much.
Love,
Catnap.”
Rae could hardly believe her eyes.
This was one of the best secrets she’d found out.
She giggles, gently folding it up and putting it in her neck fur, where she kept all her secrets.
And then she immediately flew away, off westward toward the large orange Dog House.
~mini-transition~
Dogday was cleaning up around his house, sweeping the floorboards in the living room, when he heard a knock at the door.
“Who could that be?”
He wondered aloud as he went over to go answer it.
It was none other than the chattiest of the nightmare critters, Rabie Baby.
“Hello Dogday.”
She says with a smile.
Dogday gets nervous. “O-oh, hi there.”
He says. “What are you doing here?”
Rae giggles.
“I have a secret you might like to know…”
Dogday shakes his head.
“Um… I-I appreciate it, but I don’t want to participate in gossip,” he says.
He turns to walk off. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I've got stuff to do.”
He says, taking a few steps.
Rae smirks.
“It’s about your friend Catnap.”
She says smugly.
Dogday stops dead in his tracks.
“He’s been keeping something from you… something very important…”
She says.
She sighs and turns away. “But I suppose, if you don’t wanna hear it, I'll just leave…”
Dogday turns to her. “W-wait….!”
Rae turns to him.
“I-is it… really important…?”
Rae nods. “I’d say so.”
Dogday gulps. “Okay… maybe just one secret wouldn’t hurt.”
Rae grins deviously. “Good.”
Dogday goes to sit on the couch, gesturing to Rae to sit beside him.
She does, crossing her legs as she sits.
“Okay… what secret does Catnap have?”
Dogday asks.
Rae smiles.
“Lets just say… he thinks of you as, a little bit more than a friend.”
Dogday tilts his head, confused.
“What does that mean?”
Rae smirks, pulling out Catnap’s letter and handing it to Dogday.
“Have a looksie.”
Dogday takes the letter, reading it, and as he does, his body goes cold and his heartbeat speeds up to 90 miles a minute.
‘Did… did Catnap really write this…?’
He thinks.
It was certainly Catnap’s handwriting…
“I… I can’t believe it…”
He says.
Rae smiles, scooting closer.
“So…”
She says.
“What are you gonna do now?”
Dogday Contemplates this for a bit.
“I… I don’t know…”
He says.
Rae gets up.
“Well, good luck.”
She says before promptly leaving.
She knew her work here was done.
Dogday however was still stumped.
What should he do with this information…?
~To be continued..?~