Chapter Text
When he came to consciousness, he was aware of four things.
- His name is CatNap
- He is part of a group known as the Smiling Critters.
- His role was to help others sleep.
- He is DogDay’s best friend.
When CatNap opened his eyes, a bright light greeted him. He blinked a few times to adjust to the light, then saw lavender above. The space beneath him was soft. He felt it, moving his paw against it.
His eyes widened at the feel of movement. Slowly and carefully, he moves his arm up. He can move. He raises it up, and he can see his paw. He can see… he can feel his fingers move. He feels something else to his right, and he then feels the movement of his right arm, his right paw as he raises it up as well.
He tries to sit up. Underneath him, the mattress he is on moves and dips ever so slightly. It is firm but not too firm that it is hard, but it doesn’t dip to the point that he sinks into it and is unable to move.
CatNap notices he is covered in what he assumes to be a blanket. Catnap moves one of his paws, grabbing it. He can feel the softness, the fluffiness of the blanket. It's a little heavy, but it didn't feel suffocating or uncomfortable. It felt safe.
He moves the blanket and sees a torso with legs and paws. He tries to wiggle the toes on his bottom paws, but finds that they don't move as freely as his top paws. CatNap does find that he can move his paws side to side. He feels a bit of weight on his neck and finds a black necklace with a moon hanging from it.
CatNap then turns his head, looking at his surroundings. He is in a room. His room. At least that was the information his brain supplied. Information he did not have a few minutes ago. The room, just like the space above him—the ceiling— is a beautiful, deep lavender. The room is filled with his favorite stuff. At least he thinks this is his favorite stuff. A comfortable bed filled with plush animals and pillows (he hadn't noticed them until now, but there were a lot of them).
There was a bookcase on the far left of the room, right next to what he guessed was the closet. On the bookcase were a couple of books, some moon-shaped trinkets, and cat toys. On the floor was a fluffy rug, with more scattered cat toys and boxes.
Next to the bed was a wooden desk. There were three items on the desk. A simple yellow reading lamp, a paper folder, and a notebook. He moves to reach—because he finds that he can—and grabs the folder and notebook. He places the notebook next to him on the bed and opens the folder.
He finds that the folder holds papers with information he already knew when coming to. He puts it back on the desk and picks up the notebook. He notices that inside the spiral of the notebook is a pen. He pulls it out and just holds it. It’s small and light compared to the notebook.
He opens it and finds that all the pages are blank. He closes it, puts the pen back in its place, and places the notebook on the desk. He looks around the room again and spots a window in the opposite direction from where the sun rises.
The curtains are drawn up, and CatNap is none too pleased about it. His ears (he can feel the movement of them) fold back, and he lets out a hiss. His eyes widen, and his ears perk up at the sound. He made that noise. He can make sounds, and he can breathe. How had he not noticed? He supposed that was something he just knew to do, that was why he hadn't noticed it.
CatNap looks at the window and makes the attempt to stand. He uses the desk to hold himself up, his legs wobbly from never being used. Once he feels that he is not going to fall, he lets go of the desk and tries to walk. His steps are slow, careful, clumsy, and he almost falls a few times. Thankfully his tail— because of course he has one— helps with his balance. He makes it to the window, and he sees a clear blue sky, trees and bushes. In the distance, he spots what CatNap guesses to be houses.
Did that mean there were others? I mean, he knew he was part of a group, so that had to mean there were others, right? A group was more than one individual.
CatNap surveyed the room once more and decided he would like to sleep. He honestly felt really tired, despite having just woken up. His eyes felt really heavy, and his ears dropped just a bit. A nap couldn't hurt, right?
CatNap yawned and started to make his way back to his bed, moving carefully so as not to trip over the toys on the carpet or his own two feet. Just as he reached the foot of the bed, a loud banging noise that seemed to come from beneath the floor caused him to jump. Following the sudden noise were multiple thundering sounds that only got closer and louder, and what sounded like someone talking. Multiple someones, actually. They were coming from the other side of the door. They were all loud, and Catnap did not like that. Not one bit.
He lowered his ears, covering them with his paws, hoping to block the noises out. This did very little. He looked at his bed, then at the door, then back to his bed. Lamenting that there was no possible way for him to sleep with all this racket. With a sigh, he made his way to the door, grabbed the doorknob, and walked out to a group of unwelcome strangers.
He supposed it was time to introduce himself.