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For as long as Catnap could remember, Dogday and him had been the very best of friends.
Ever since they’d met in school as a kitten and a puppy, the two of them had been practically inseparable.
They’d studied together, they ate lunch together, they hung out all the time, and even when they were away from each other, Catnap still thought of him.
Even after they’d both graduated college, they were still together, Catnap having asked to move in with him since splitting the rent money would be easier, and Dogday accepting.
There was no point in denying it, Catnap had a major crush on his best friend and roommate, deep feelings that were rooted in his heart, and had been for a very very long time, even if Dogday would never know about them.
He especially loved to think of Dogday when he danced.
Whenever he was home alone (Which he often was, because he worked from home as a writer, while Dogday worked part-time at a nearby daycare), Catnap would often practice dancing in his room or in the living room, without anyone knowing.
He wanted to keep his hobby a secret, because, much like his crush on Dogday, he thought that if anyone found out about it, they’d all laugh at him, because dancing was a “girly” thing to do.
But, he could still have his secret dreams.
One fine morning, he was eating some breakfast at the kitchen table, when Dogday walked into the kitchen, back from getting the mail.
“Hey Catnap, look at this!”
He says, sitting across from him.
Catnap looked up, and Dogday handed him a flier.
The flier was an advertisement for a masked ball, which would take place at city hall in about a week, where there would be fancy food, romantic dancing, and classy music.
“So, you wanna go?”
Dogday asks, eager to hear his response. "It'll probably be really fun!”
Catnap thinks for a bit.
It would be amazing, going and dancing under the fancy lights.
Plus, nobody would know his identity, so they wouldn’t make fun of him.
Nobody except Dogday that is…
So, he just shakes his head, taking another sip of his coffee.
Dogday’s smile faded. “Why not?”
‘I’m not really one for big parties and events…’
Catnap signs. ‘You can go if you want to though.’
Dogday gently takes his hand.
“Aww, come on, naps, it’ll only be for one night…”
Catnap blushes a bit, but still shakes his head.
“No.” He says. “I’m gonna stay home, I'd rather just chill on the couch and order takeout.”
Dogday sighs.
“Alright fine… I'll just go by myself…”
Catnap smiles sadly.
“I hope you have fun.”
Dogday smiles back.
“I will!” He says.
He then gets up and goes to start planning what he’s gonna wear, leaving Catnap alone.
Meanwhile, Catnap looks at the flier.
After mulling over it for a bit, he starts coming up with a plan of his own…
~sparkly transition~
Over the next week, Dogday got his suit ready, practiced etiquette, and made sure to find some sturdy shoes, all while being very excited.
So now, it was finally time for the gala.
It was a beautiful Sunday evening, and Dogday was standing in the glittering ballroom, wearing a fancy golden suit and a matching eye mask, so everyone could tell who he was.
He was standing by the snack bar, drinking some punch and watching all the couples on the dance floor.
He sighs silently.
‘Kinda wish I had someone to dance with.’
“Excuse me sir…”
A soft voice suddenly says, snapping Dogday out of his thoughts.
Dogday looked over to see that another masked guest had approached him.
He was wearing a silvery-black suit, a long black cape that was purple inside with a matching bandito hat, and a full face -covering mask that was the sun on one side and the moon on the other.
Dogday couldn’t see his face, but he seemed… familiar.
Unbeknownst to Dogday, it was Catnap, wearing the costume he’d been secretly working on for a week.
The mysterious ‘stranger’ offered a hand.
“Would you like to dance?” He asks.
Dogday smiles softly, nodding and taking his hand.
The mysterious man sweeps Dogday off his feet, whisking him away as they twirled across the dance floor.
The two spun together in a beautiful waltz, Catnap not breaking eye contact as he moved impressively lightly on his feet, not stepping on either his cape or Dogday’s feet even once.
Dogday smiles, letting himself be lost in the rhythm of the music and dance and mystery of his strange but amazing dance partner.
As they danced, Dogday glanced down, noticing his mysterious partner was wearing black shoes that had a golden sun and a golden moon embroidered on them.
Catnap gently twirls Dogday around, making him look him in the eye again.
“I love you, Dogday…”
He suddenly says, making the spaniel blush.
“You are the only light in my bleak world, the star in my night sky, and the only reason that I feel happy…”
Catnap finally felt safe saying this, because he knew that Dogday didn’t know it was him.
Dogday’s eyes sparkled.
“R-really…?”
Catnap nods gently.
“You shine brighter than the sun and moon.”
Dogday smiles happily.
“Thank you…”
He says softly.
At the end of the song, Catnap lifts his mask a bit, trying to dip-kiss Dogday, only to be stopped by the dog putting a paw in front of his mouth.
“Woah, hey-“
The dog says.
“I know this is a romantic moment, but… maybe not in the middle of everyone-“
Catnap glances around, seeing that a few of the party members were staring at them.
“You’re right.”
He says, putting his mask back and standing him back up.
“Let’s go to the balcony.”
Dogday nods, letting his mysterious lover lead him away.
~starlight transition~
The two were on one of City hall’s balconies, sitting next to each other on the bench.
Dogday leans his head on his mystery man’s shoulder.
“Who are you…?”
He asks softly.
Catnap hums a bit.
“My name isn’t important… all that’s important is the here and now.”
Dogday was confusing.
“Okay…”
Catnap gently takes Dogday’s chin, lifting up his mask a bit to reveal his mouth.
“If you kiss me… maybe I'll tell you who I am…”
He whispers.
Dogday blushes, smiling a bit.
“Okay.”
He leans in, closing his eyes.
Catnap does too, gently pressing his lips against Dogdays.
It was a kiss that was pure, blissful, and full of wonderful passion.
His heart was full, and his eyes were nearly tearing up.
Doing what he’d wanted to do for so long now… what he’d yearned for day and night… what he thought would never happen in his life…
It was a dream come true.
Eventually, Dogday pulls back, his eyes sparkling brighter than the stars.
“That was…”
He says, quietly.
“Magical.”
Catnap finishes, smiling.
Dogday nods, gently taking his hand.
“Indeed…”
“Now… will you tell me who you are?”
He says, smiling softly.
Catnap gets nervous.
He knows he promised, but…
This was only one night, and the consequences for revealing himself to Dogday would be dire.
“I… I can’t!”
Suddenly, he lets go of Dogday, getting up and bolting away.
“Wait WHAT?!”
Dogday says, giving chase.
Catnap weaves his way through the crowd and through many rooms, trying to shake the dog off his tail.
“He can’t know…”
He repeats to himself as he finds the exit, running outside. “He can’t know!”
As Catnap ran down the steps of the building, he accidentally trips, causing one of his shoes to fly off.
He turns around to pick it up, but as he does…
“Come back!”
He looks up, and there’s Dogday.
Catnap panics, continuing to run off, and leaving his shoe behind, vanishing into the night.
Dogday sighs sadly, knowing he’d lost him.
“Who was that guy…?”
He says.
He then notices he’d left his shoe behind, leaning down and picking it up.
“Oh well…”
He says with a soft smile.
“At least I have a memento of this beautiful night.”
~Meanwhile~
After getting home, stashing his ‘masked Casanova’ costume in the closet, having a nice long shower, and changing into his pajamas, Catnap felt better.
Sure, it was only one night… but the night was the most beautiful, wonderful night of his life.
He’d savor Dogday looking at him lovingly and the feeling of his lips on his for the rest of time.
As he lay down to go to sleep, he smiled softly.
“I'll always keep the memory.”
~the next day~
When Catnap walked into the living room the next day, he was greeted with a very happy Dogday.
“Good morning!”
He says, his tail going at 90 miles an hour.
Catnap smiles, yawning.
‘Good morning, Dogday.’
He signs sleepily. ‘How was the party?’
Dogday smiles. “Oh, it was AMAZING!”
He says, petting the seat next to him.
Catnap nods, sitting next to Dogday. “Tell me all about it.”
Dogday’s tail wags as he tells Catnap all about his mysterious dance partner.
“He was an angel, Naps…”
He says. “The way he swept me off my feet, the way we danced, talked, heck, we even kissed…”
He sighs softly. “It was magical.”
Catnap gives him a soft smile.
‘Well I'm glad you had a good time.’
Dogday’s smile fades.
“But then, right after I asked his name, he BAILED on me.”
He says. “Like, he straight up dipped and left me alone.”
Catnap feels a twinge of guilt.
‘What a jerk.’ He signs.
‘He doesn’t deserve you…’
He says, looking down.
Dogday notices, not saying anything but raising an eyebrow.
He then remembers something.
“Oh!” He says, getting up. “I even have a memento.”
He says, walking off to go get it.
Catnap was confused, wondering what Dogday was going to show him.
When Dogday came back, he had his hands behind his back.
“While he was running away, he left his shoe.”
He says, showing Catnap the black, moon patterned shoe.
“I dunno why he didn’t pick it up…”
Catnap’s heart skips a beat when he sees the shoe.
‘...You kept their shoe?’ he signed, trying to keep his hands shaking from nerves.
Dogday nods.
“Well yeah.” He says. “I mean they dropped it, so it only made sense to at least try to give it back to them, right?”
Catnap simply shrugged, not wanting to say or do something stupid that would reveal himself.
“So… Do you know who it might belong to?”
Dogday asks.
Catnap quickly, almost too quickly, shakes his head.
‘How would I…?’
Dogday sank a bit, “Worth a shot,” he sighed.
When the quiet set in, Catnap was just about to relax, thinking that Dogday would change the subject. Until…
“Do you think it’d fit you?”
He asks, smiling.
And just like that, Catnap’s stress levels skyrocketed.
Catnap’s face goes red, and his spine goes cold.
.
‘W-why would it fit me?’ He signs. ‘I didn’t GO to the party!’
Dogday giggles.
“Well, could you try it on anyway?”
He asks. “Please?”
Catnap was nervous, shakily sighing.
‘O-okay… fine…’
Very nervously taking it… he slowly slides it onto his foot.
It was a perfect fit.
Catnap started acting nervous and shaky, hoping that the other's brain was working slow today. But, unfortunately, his nervousness was the first clue that Dogday noticed.
Of course, this concerned Dogday.
"Catnap? Are you ok? What's wrong?"
Then, Catnap made the mistake to cover his face in embarrassment.
Catnap scoots a couple inches away.
"Nothing!"
He says, trying to hide the fact that he was sweating up a storm.
Then, from the way his face was covered, it was familiar. He looked up at Catnap, then the shoe, then back up, rinse and repeat until…
"...IT WAS YOU?!"
Catnap was frozen for a few moments, nearly crying.
Then, he slowly nods, whimpering.
Dogday was absolutely mind-blown before he facepalmed. How did he miss it? The purple fur? His voice? His TAIL?! 'You dumb dog!' he thought to himself, "You knew Catnap all your life and yet you didn't even recognize a lick of him? What the heck is wrong with you?' But his frustration went to realization as another thought came to him…
He looks back to Catnap, before saying three quiet words.
“…You love me…?”
Catnap was silent for a few minutes…
…then finally started to tear up.
Tears roll down his face as he looks down.
“Yes, I do…”
Those words…those three little words…practically punched Dogday in the face as he heard them. He stood, frozen, silent, processing. While inside, it was like fireworks exploding in every part of his body as if they were waiting to be launched. But nothing burned or hurt…if this is joy, it was the most amazing feeling he ever experienced.
However, outwards, Catnap mistook his stillness for something else and it made him cry harder.
“I-I’m sorry…”
He says softly, through the rivers of tears running down his cheek.
“I-i’m sorry for everything…”
He says. “For lying to you… for basically forcing you to kiss me… and for acting like a total creep…”
He sniffles, slowly wiping his eyes and looking back up at Dogday.”
“I-if you want me to… I'll… I'll pack my things and move ou-“
He was interrupted by Dogday tackle-hugging him.
“You big dummy!”
He says, laughing happily.
He then picked up the feline and started spinning around the room in excitement, laughing as he held him close while Catnap yelped and flailed in confusion and was starting to get dizzy.
Then, like at the dance, Dogday dipped him gently and pressed his lips against Catnap’s, giving him a soft kiss.
Catnap’s ears and tails shoot up as he makes a “MMPH!?” noise.
Then, he slowly melts into it, closing his eyes and squeezing Dogday even tighter.
The moment was magical… This kiss was somehow even better than it was last night.
When it was over, Dogday gently stood the confused Catnap back up, looking deeply into his eyes.
“I’ve been waiting for you to catch up for months…”
He says, a loving smile on his face.
Catnap’s eyes widened at the statement. Did that mean that Dogday loved him too? This whole time?
“W-Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” he said, throwing his arms in the air, expressing how it could’ve saved him months of anxiety and love sickness.
Dogday giggles a bit nervously.
“Well, I didn’t want to overwhelm you…”
He says.
He gently takes Catnap’s hand.
“I know I can be a little… much… and so I figured that if I just came up to you one day and said ‘Hey Catnap, I’m deeply in love with you! Wanna get married?’ It would have ended up with you fainting on the couch.”
Catnap just stared agape at him. As much as that is true, he’d rather have fainted than go through the turmoil of fearing rejection. But instead of ranting, he just groans and leans onto the canine; his face in his shoulder.
“You’re lucky I love you, you dumb dog,” he says, his voice muffled in the other's shoulder.
Dogday giggles, giving Catnap a kiss on the head.
“I love you too, mysterious desperado.”
The cat groaned again at the new nickname, already annoyed that it’ll be used quite often. But regardless, the purrs vibrated from his chest.
As the golden morning light spilled into the living room through the window, Dogday gets another idea.
“Say, Catnap?”
He says, pulling back from the embrace a bit.
Catnap looked up at him, “Yeah?”
Dogday smiles.
“How come you never told me you were such an amazing dancer?”
He says. “I mean last night I felt like one of those helicopter seeds!”
Catnap covered his face in embarrassment once again, “I thought you and the others would laugh at me…”
Dogday gasps.
“LAUGH at you!?”
He says. “Why on earth would I ever laugh at you? Especially for doing something so mind-blowingly beautiful?”
Catnap…didn’t have a proper answer. So, instead, he looked away, bashfully. Blush dusted his cheeks like roses.
Dogday gently takes both his hands.
“Nap… dancing with you was the most fun I've had in a long time…”
He says with a gentle smile.
“Would you… maybe like to dance some more?”
Catnap smiled at those words and gave a cheerful smile as he nodded.
As they walked into the living room, Catnap’s tail slithered up to the shelves to pick a certain record.
“Let’s see… here it is.”
He says, pulling out the vinyl soundtrack to the film Cinderella, before walking over to his record player and carefully taking it out of the sleeve, putting it on and letting the needle drop.
He then goes back to Dogday, gently taking his hand as the slow, romantic notes of “So this is love” start to pour out of the funnel of the record player.
And so they danced. Slowly and quietly, as the song played. They swayed and they twirled, careful not to bump into anything. But their eyes never left each other as if they were in the ballroom itself, where it was no one else but them, and them alone.
So this is love? Indeed it is.