Work Text:
(Third Person POV)
The town was so much more quiet without him. Every building was still in its place, the trees and flowers still growing where they always were. The wind made the leaves and petals sway in the same direction. All of the birds and bugs moved about as if the stagnant feeling in the air didn’t even exist. The sun was still bright. Too bright.
Slowly, rubbing his eyes, Catto walked out of his house, a stack of papers pressed against his chest with one paw as he handled the door with the others. The space under his eyes were covered in shadow, not having had the chance to close in what seemed like hours. Dawn had only come just now.
As soon as the sunlight hit him, his eyes squinted and blinked, temporarily blinded by the rays. His ears twitched, waiting for that familiar voice to greet him with a good morning. And yet, the birds greeted him instead with coos and tweets.
With his door closed, Catto walked forwards, beginning to hang these papers up wherever he could. Despite how tired he obviously was, he slowly began to move faster as he covered more of the town.
Someone had to have seen him somewhere. He couldn’t just disappear. Could he?
“Catto?”
He slowly blinked, before realizing someone had said his name. Jumping, he turned to look.
“..what’re you doing?” Minori tilted her head.
“Putting up posters.”
Turning her head, she looked at the one Catto had just hung up on the tree in front of him. It was a missing poster with a reward for 5,000 diamonds. The picture wasn’t a printed picture, it was a hand drawn one.
“Did you draw all of those?”
“Yeah.” Catto pressed them tighter against him. “It’s just.. he hasn’t been home for an entire week. I’m so worried about him.”
“Maybe he’s just on vacation.”
“No. He wouldn’t go anywhere without telling me first! I’m the first person he talks to! I even checked his house! The picture that he usually keeps by his bed is gone!”
“..I guess that’s true. That’s also strange I suppose.”
“You haven’t seen him around anywhere, have you?”
“Afraid not.”
He could only sigh.
“..is there anything I could do to help?
“Just.. hang a few of these up around the other side of the village, will you? I have to visit Catto Land to see if I have any more luck.” Thumbing through a few posters, Catto handed a few to Minori.
Posters in paw, she nodded. “I’m sure he’ll turn up.”
With a half-baked smile, he turned away and headed for the bus stop that had a charter exactly where he wanted to go.
…
Opposed to the quiet nature of the village, the city was bustling with cars walking up and down the sidewalks, as if absolutely nothing was wrong. Every post that Catto saw, he hammered a poster to. His tired eyes phased in and out as he bumped into cars just minding their own. The lack of sleep was getting to him. It drove him nuts just to be here. Every now and again, he’d hear a cat that had almost the same meow as his lost friend. He would jerk his head back to look and see no friend. Just a stranger. The brown, white, and black ears began to blend together as he walked.
So many colors, and yet, no light gray.
The crowds grew thicker as the afternoon began to pass by. By now, every meow sounded like his and Catto had folded his ears over his own head just to be able to do what he was here to do. Slipping another poster from his paws, he walked up to the last post and hammered it down. He blinked once before his eyes began to close on their own, only to jolt awake again as soon as his head hit the wooden post.
Rubbing his forehead, Catto shook his head before continuing. That was until something caught his eye. In his peripherals was a fairly larger cat with grey ears. He blinked a few more times, making sure he wasn’t hallucinating, before beginning to haul himself through the busy city crowds. He dashed through the street, ignoring traffic altogether just to reach him. Normally, he was careful in this city. He stopped at every crossing and waved on cars as they passed by.
But right now he didn’t feel like he could care less. He could hear his voice already, talking to him in that same sweet tone.
“Catto, I know you were worried about me, but wasn’t this a little too much?”
“…”
“Hey, don’t cry! It was only a week, silly. I just forgot to talk to you. I’m sorry, okay? Let’s go home and I’ll get you a biscuit!”
“…”
“You wouldn’t mind picking them up.. right?”
And he would say yes. And they would go home together with smiles on their faces.
He never acted like this over any other cat. Why was he here now?
Finally out of his head, Catto could see him. It really was him! He could see him stopped right at the edge of the sidewalk, back turned to him. It seemed like he was just about to turn and greet Catto.
However, a quick head turn left made Catto realize he was about to be crashed into. With a yelp, he fell backwards, dropping the posters on the street, some of them flew away as the car passed.
Heart racing, Catto looked back up.
He was gone. Like he was never even there to begin with.
The streetlight turned red as the cars stopped and cars began to walk. Catto didn’t even bother picking up what was left of the papers. There were only a few anyways. Folding his arms, he blended back into the crowd.
He needed to make his way back towards the bus stop. There was nothing else for him to do here anyway.
The walk back was slow, the brush with death leaving him rattled, but not as much as seeing his friend for just a moment did. Trying to take his mind off of it, he looked up at one of the buildings he walked under. The cats here grew flowers out of their windowsills. The one he saw was a mix of white lilies and red spider lilies. The cat who cared for them opened their window and began to water them a little too much.
Catto looked down with a weird pit in his stomach. A thought that made his heart sink down to his feet. It was a thought that he never wanted to fathom. But bad thoughts have much more staying power than happy ones. Before he knew it, he was at the bus stop and the sun was beginning to lower behind the endless maze of concrete.
The bus arrived.
…
Another week passed.
Still, nothing.
Catto couldn’t sit still. How could he? He could barely even sleep at this point, risking himself of being alone with his own thoughts. He couldn’t handle that, not alone, but the absence of his best friend made the hole in his chest grow even wider.
Rubbing his paws together, Catto left his house and began to walk around the village. What if everyone else had disappeared too? What would he do? He felt like he should be picking something up by now, or going on some grand quest to save his friend from the clutches of villains. What if it all just went away? The quiet nature of the village was broken up by his light hyperventilating.
“Ah, my flowers!”
A light voice snapped Catto out of his thoughts. His head turned to see Floaty. Their paws scrambled across the ground, trying to pick up what they had dropped. A bunch of multicolored flowers laid themselves out across the soft grass.
Running over, Catto bent down and began to pick them all up.
“Ah- here. Let me help you with those!” He smiled.
“Catto! Thank you!” They smiled, holding the few flowers they had picked up themself.
“Of course!” Once all of the flowers were bundled up in his paws, he handed them over.
“I don’t expect you to be out so early, nor did I expect you to rush over to help so quick!”
“I.. didn’t either.”
Catto rubbed the bags under his eyes.
“..have you been getting any sleep?”
“Not really.”
“..it’s about him, right?”
“…haha, how could you tell?”
“You haven’t been on a fetch quest in a while, it’s just the fact that you rushed to help so quickly.”
“What? I hate picking up stuff! You just needed help, that's all.”
Floaty looked at him with concerned eyes, before a smile formed on their face. They could take a little guess as to what mix of emotions Catto could possibly be feeling.
Digging through their flowers, they pulled out a rose.
“You know, Catto, they do say absence makes the heart grow fonder. I think you’re thinking about things you weren’t thinking before, right?”
“Well..”
Before he could say anything else, Floaty held the rose out for him to take. “A gift. Maybe it can help you process these things just a little bit better?”
Hesitantly, Catto took it. “Thanks, Floaty. I’ll take care of it. I should be going.”
“Take care!”
Walking back, Catto looked at the rose in his hand, feeling the slightly rough petals with his paws. He probably had a vase at home, didn’t he? Somewhere in a cabinet, probably. Putting his nose up to the flower, he gave it a smell. It smelled.. nice. It gave him a sense of peace. Yes, it was fleeting, but to have his breathing at a normal rate was relieving. He thought about the little flower as a gift, not from someone to him, from him to someone else. That gray coat crossed his mind as warmth painted his face.
That.. that couldn’t be it, right? It wasn’t love, it was friendship. Well, that's all it had ever been. But, Catto looked back on their time together. The signs started to rear their heads. The light stuttering that he’d always do around him, the fact he’d say hello every morning without fail, the gifts, the light head bumps. Was he that oblivious? And was it only now he realized that being with him wouldn’t be all that terrible?
He stopped in front of his door, holding the rose to his chest. He had to take care of this plant. He had to give it to him when he turned up again. He couldn’t give up hope just yet.
…
Paws intertwined, Violet and Minori walked down the dirt village path together. The sunset was such a beautiful mix of orange, pink, and yellow. The crickets in the grass began to wake up and chirp their dusk light songs.
“Who knew pixels could be so pretty?” Violet smiled, looking up.
“Yeah. They really are.” Minori nodded.
The two had done a lap or two around the village by now. They could talk, but both of them found the ambient noises of the fauna comforted them both much more. It was their third lap around where they finally stop. It was on the right side of the village. Both cats turned to Catto’s house, hearing a commotion.
A grey shorthair in a police uniform was speaking to Catto, handing him some sort of picture. It was completely waterlogged, the colors inside melting just a bit. Tears streaming down his face, he grabbed the photo and sunk down to his knees, trying so desperately to not fall apart.
“..what’s going on?” Violet tilted her head.
“He’s been missing for weeks. I’m assuming whatever news it is isn’t good.” Minori whispered back to her. “We shouldn’t stay around. Let’s leave him alone.”
Violet looked between her and the scene before beginning to walk away in silence.
And yet, the quiet sounds of the fauna didn’t return. Instead, all the two could hear were the broken wails behind them. The crying, begging, and pleading to the officer to wake him up from whatever nightmare he was having. The choking on tears and crying until blood dripped down his nose in anguish. One tear drop followed by a small drop of blood. He didn’t even care about the blood he was losing. He couldn’t think about anything else. Not anyone else.
Would he ever be able to again?
The sky was still beautiful. The world kept on turning.
…
“Gosh, you really can’t stop dropping your things, can you?”
Catto smiled and looked out across the field. Biscuits were laid out across the grass. Placing his paws on his hips, he sighed and shook his head. “It’s ridiculous how much you drop everything. Biscuits, pearls, toys… oh? What? You want help picking everything up?” He sighed again. “Well, I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?”
Crouching down onto all fours, he set himself into a running position before taking off, jumping and grabbing biscuits while he rushed through the place. Eventually, he stopped while grabbing one and realized that he had already collected half. But he didn’t want to be done yet. He wanted this to last. Looking ahead to the next biscuit, he began to walk while talking behind him.
“You know, we should have our next picnic out somewhere away from the village. Out in the open planes, somewhere nice!”
Reaching the next one at a snails pace, he picked it up before slowly walking on.
“You could catch a fish and cook it up. You know how much I adore your food.”
Another.
“Oh! I could stop at the store and buy us soda! I’ll get your favorite flavor. Yeah, I remember it! It’s vanilla! And I’ll bring ice, so you can have it cold.”
Another.
“And we could watch the sunset. No one else, just you and me like you’d always ask to do.”
…
“And you could.. lay your head on my shoulder and fall asleep. And this time I wouldn’t wake you up so I could go home. We could stay there, bring a few blankets.”
He picked up the last one.
“That would be so nice, wouldn’t it? We could sleep under the stars together. I won’t get impatient with you. We can stay there and never let go.”
Finally, he came back to where he started, staring at the empty patch of grass in front of him.
“Here, you can take them. They’re yours after all!” He held them out to no one.
Slowly, his arms dropped to his sides, all of the biscuits he had collected falling into a pile on the ground.
“Please pick them up.. they’ll get dirty!”
Catto looked down at them, and then back up at the nothing in front of him.
So he stood, waiting for the biscuits to be picked up, looking back at the fields he had just walked across. Planting all of the biscuits was exhausting for him, but he needed this. He wasn’t used to the emptiness.
“Please pick them up already.”
The sight was painful, but Minori and Violet still look from a distance.
“Isn’t this.. a little concerning? Maybe we should do something now?” Minori frowned.
Violet shook her head. “No. Let him be.”
“But this feels super unhealthy.”
“It’s just how people grieve. He’ll find his footing eventually.”
…
Box of biscuits in hand, Catto walked back to his friends house just as the sun was already halfway below the horizon. His eyes were empty. They had nothing to say as he reached a paw out and opened the door. He entered the house.
Everything inside was covered in a thin layer of dust. The kitchen, the living room, even his pearl collection that sat on the shelf was getting more neglected by the day. Catto sneezed, walking further in and shutting the door behind him. This wasn’t acceptable, but there was no one here to take care of it.
Sitting the box down and sliding it to the side, he grabbed a broom and feather duster, beginning to sweep every bit of dust and cobweb he could find. The dust, the dirty dishes left in the sink, the bugs, even the stains in the carpet. He cleaned it all, just to preserve it. When he finished, the whole place sparkled. The only place left to clean was the bedroom.
He stopped in front of the door, paw extended to turn the knob. Ironically, as long as they had been friends, he had never really been in here. If he was gonna clean every room, he needed to do this one too. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the knob and twisted it open.
The room was messy. Food containers were piled by his bed. The bed was messy and completely unmade. His desk was full of papers with weird writing on all of it. What made Catto choke up, though, was the picture at his bedside, or lack thereof.
Walking to the bed, Catto sat down the supplies and laid down on it, trying his best not to let tears stain the mattress. Grabbing the empty frame, he put the waterlogged portrait back in its rightful place. A picture of him and Catto smiling together. However, his face was too water damaged to make out clearly. He looked at the portrait for a long time. He didn’t want to look away, trying to remember exactly what he looked like in this picture. Every time he tried, though, his mind conjured up something different. He couldn’t help but cry. Cry because he couldn’t remember his face after all of the tears they’d spent together. And here he was, in his bed when he could barely think about what he looked like.
Was he a bad friend? Is that why?
Catto pushed himself up, a mess of tears as he hicced and choked. He grabbed the blanket in his paws and held it close to his chest. It still smelled like him. Like the smell of freshly baked biscuits and his favorite shampoo. He forced himself to wipe his tears and to start cleaning. Catto gently redid the covers on the bed, arranging the blankets with care and swiping off the crumbs. He refluffed the pillow with his best abilities. He was never as good as kneading as he was, but he tried. He deserved it. Catto rounded up all of the empty containers, carried them back to the kitchen and cleaned them all, finding space to keep them. Once that was taken care of, he began to sort through the desk. There were a lot of papers, all lain with cryptic diagrams and maps. Catto didn’t know what any of them meant, but he didn’t want to throw any of them away. Instead of throwing them away, he instead gathered them all up in a pile and laid them to the side. The last thing he saw on the table was a journal.
Catto knew it wouldn’t be right to pry, especially considering the situation. But, unfortunately, the emotions were too big to keep him away from what he had to say.
He flipped through. There were so many earlier dates full of old recipes and paragraphs talking about Catto, some about Cheese, others about daily things. The last entry, though, made his stomach churn.
“??/??/26
They found me there and I wanted to vomit.
No matter how hard I tried to keep them away, they keep on trying to come back, wearing the faces of my closest friends. I hate them. I hate them so much. I don’t need to be saved by them. I HATE THEM.
But what can I do? In retrospect, there’s nothing I can do. But.. I think there’s at least a way to get out of here. No one ever goes in the water. You can’t get there normally. I don’t know what will happen, but I prefer it to whatever will happen if I continue to stay here.
I’m.. scared to try. But.. I’m more scared of them. My life isn’t good, either. All I do these days is drop things and beg for help from others. I feel so useless.
Maybe Catto won’t have so much to worry about, haha.
I love you so much it hurts.
I love you, Catto.”
…
Ever since getting the news, Cheese had wanted to go see his old friends house before it was sold off to another cat. Apparently not long after he left, someone bought it and was now moving in. He doubted the cat wanted all of the stuff left behind, so he’d offer to take it off their paws.
Physically, it was hard for Cheese to even look at the residence once he arrived. He just wished that he could’ve seen him sooner. That he could go back and convince him to stay here. He couldn’t even imagine how Catto could be feeling right now. Sure, Cheese was close to both of them, but those two were practically inseparable. They were together since they were kittens. And that one sided crush..
Sighing, Cheese swung open the door. To his surprise, the place was spotless, and there was a cat already in here, polishing the pearl collection on the wall.
Hearing the door open, Catto turned around.
“Cheese? Hey, what’re you doing here?” He asked, with an oddly empty smile.
“I should be asking you that, Catto. You know this house has been bought by another cat, right?”
“I know, cause I bought it.”
Cheese was a bit taken aback by this. “..really?”
“Mhm! Sold my old one and now I’m moved in.”
Cheese walked up beside him as he turned back around and continued to polish the pearls.
“..you know that polishing them like that can damage them, right.”
He stopped. “What-? Really?!”
“Yeah. Here, let me show you.”
Cheese took the supplies off of Catto and started to show him the way to properly take care of the pearls. Once he finished them all, they looked infinitely better.
“Thanks, Cheese.”
“It’s no problem, Catto.”
They both just.. stood there and stared at the pearls.
“How’ve you been holding up?”
Catto sighed. “As well as I can be!” He mustered up a pitiful smile. “There’s… nothing I can do about it now anyways.. I can’t dwell on things I can’t change!”
That was a lie. He dwelled on it so much.
“Catto.. you don’t have to mask around me.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“If it’s any comfort.. me and him.. we talked a lot. He talked about you.. a lot.”
Catto looked at him.
“He absolutely loved to talk about you. About how great of a friend you were. About how much he..”
“Loved me?”
Cheese turned in surprise.
“You know?”
“…I realized it too late.” His face started to break. A few blinks came first, and then the tears.
“Catto-“
Suddenly, Catto grabbed his shoulders and turned to face him.
“AND, FUCK, I REALIZED TOO LATE THAT I LOVE HIM TOO!”
“…”
“I LOVE HIM SO MUCH… AND I WAS SO OBLIVIOUS! I WAS AN IDIOT! I NEVER GOT TO TELL HIM THAT I LOVED HIM TOO BECAUSE THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!” He shouted through tears. “HE’S NEVER COMING BACK AND ITS MY FAULT!”
He sunk down. “It’s.. it’s my fault. He loves me and I never saw it. I’m.. such a fucking idiot.”
Cheese sunk down with him, wrapping his arms around him in some form of comfort.
“It wasn’t your fault, Catto. He would never do this because of you. He loved you, even if you didn’t like him back.”
…
The ocean was beautiful tonight.
Starlight danced across the water, reflecting off the waves.
Slowly, Catto approached the water on the edge of the island, holding the rose that he had kept alive since Floaty gave it to him.
Sitting by the edge of the water, he pulled out a bottle and a piece of paper with something written on it. Stuffing both the rose and the message into the bottle, he sealed it up tight, taking one last look at the message inside.
“I love you too. I’m sorry.”
Giving it a small kiss, he threw it into the water.
“I hope it finds its way to you.. somehow..”