#hopefully i can finish pt 4 too but even if not ill still post 3

[rosylix]

greetings, the highest spirit, our guardian deity rosylix! i has't not spoken to thee in a while! mine own lab'r is quite tiring and i has't hath found myself relaxing with mine own betroth'd oft these days. art thee well? i most c'rtainly desire thou art! i has't hath kept a watchful eye on thy oth'r asks and i am quite fain thy oth'r subjects art being kind to thee. i desire thy third chapt'r is coming high-lone fruitfully and i am sure the results of thy strenuous lab'r shall beest plentiful. much loveth to thee, mine own highest spirit, mine own guardian deity jem!

awaiting thy replyeth, your devoted subject,

𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖎𝖕𝖑𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖓

greetings and salutations my divine subject.... i doth look f'rward to thy writings, they brighten mine own day so 🫶 betroth'd?? art thee affianced? i bestow you both blessings and good f'rtune

i am well....! forsooth, it seemeth i hast just failed an imp'rtant exam.. such is life. at the least, mine own weekend is free for which i am quite joyous. aye, all of thou art too kind to me. pls await in excitement, the third parteth is coming!! until we speak again, i wish you well ヽ(´o｀;

[simfulwoohoo]

Simblr 2021 Goals

@ice-creamforbreakfast thank you for tagging me! 🥰💖

1. Finish my history challenge. I started it last January and I’m only in the renaissance era so hopefully can get to the end this year because I’ve been dying to complete this challenge for years!

2. Get more knowledgeable with editing. I know the basics but i want to make something cool and worthwhile? Even if it’s just one good edit.

3. Create and put out a story. Half my issue is never putting out what I’m working on because it’s not ready enough or I want to “build up a queue”. This year if I’m planning and taking pictures I’m going to post them when they’re ready instead of letting them die in my drafts, it’s okay if there’s more than a day of time between posts

4. Don’t burn out. 15+ years of sims take a break sometime dude

5. Complete other games. DA:I mainly it’s been more than a year and I haven’t finished 1 play through 🥴 I also got cyberpunk recently and want to vibe out on that more

6. Support content creators. Some of y’all on here be doing gods work and i wanna give thanks

7. Catching up on more stories. I followed so many people for their story and then just never kept up with it because I followed too many

8. Maybe actually post my royalty save. 👀

9. Get better at digital art. This is purely dependent on my child giving me time to do so lol

10. Explore the game more with the Ransoms! I’ve been having so much fun so far with their family and trying to focus on a few aspects of the game with each gen. I’ve been playing with Sims 4 for so long but theres so much I still haven’t done

i tag anyone who’d like to do this! honestly even if i do one of these things ill be feeling pretty good. 2020 beat the shit outta me so if i just take one step next year its better than nothing! but also if next year is just a 2020 pt 2 then ill be needing a hail mary 🙃

[screamingatanemptyroom]

I Can’t Eat Love pt 4

Here is part 4 guys! 

Also, I worried about this, since I’ve posted it in such a piecemeal fashion that it might be a little confusing. Let me  clarify the timeline just a little: 

After the first scene in part 1, where the engagement is broken, the story goes back 3 years to when Lenora first wakes up in her second life. So all the parts I’ve written since have been in the second lifetime, leading up to that scene. (In case you’ve wondered, getting to the broken engagement won’t be the end! Seeing how she prepared for that moment will set the stage for the fallout after the engagement is broken). 

Anyways, hopefully it has made sense so far, and thank you for all the positive feedback on this story so far! 

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3  linked here

_______________________________

“Your Highness.”

I plastered a polite smile on my face, performing a perfect curtsy, but all the while my mind was racing, desperately trying to figure out how long he had been there, how much he had heard.

Even if I was planning to let the engagement be broken up like last time, I needed the three years to get my family back on track financially before that happened. If we broke up too soon… the debtors would come calling and my life would end very much like the first.

Fortunately, Ronan didn’t seem upset or angry, he looked more bored than anything.

I let out a silent sigh of relief. He must not have heard the “temperamental child” comment I had made to my father. I wasn’t too concerned If he had heard my blatant lies about the Queen managing accounts. He didn’t know enough about how things worked in the palace to know if that was true or false.

“… We’ve come down to check out the horses.” Ronan had been talking while I wasn’t listening. 

I blinked, realizing for the first time he wasn’t alone. I was slightly shocked that I hadn’t noticed the young man next to him, he stood a head taller than both myself and Ronan, with dark hair and eyes that contrasted with the prince’s lighter coloring. Odder still, I came to the conclusion that I had never met him before, in this or the past lifetime.

Chastising myself, I was unsure if Ronan had introduced us properly while I wasn’t listening, and if so, how I had responded. I could have performed a formal court greeting by sheer muscle memory, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that I had done something odd.

Ronan’s companion studied me with a curious expression, he stood neither too close or too far from the prince. Hopefully judging by his lack of confusion or disapproval, I had yet to humiliate myself.

Only 3 more years of keeping up this charade, and I’m already slipping. I must stay focused!

I forced myself to listen to Prince Ronan.

“The stupid stable master insists he is too wild to ride, but I think he is just too unskilled. If I were to ride him, he would be tamed in moments.”

That at least provided me with the mental image of Ronan falling off his horse and injuring himself. My smile came much more naturally. “I’m sure your highness could manage even the wildest of horses. “

 Ronan nodded distractedly, already losing interest now that he had finished his horse story. “Is Lady Edith here?”

 Three. More. Years.

“No, Your Highness, I believe she is home today.”

His gaze sharpened. “Is she ill?”

“Not that I know of.” Years of royal court training kept my smile perfectly in place.

Ronan coughed, seeming to realize even with his denseness how out of place his question was. “I was just thinking, since you two are such close friends, if she was ill, you would be visiting her.”

“Would I?” I could barely hear my voice.

_______________________________

“Go to sleep.” Angela tried to tuck me into bed, but I stubbornly refused, sweating profusely from the fever.

“No, with me being sick, surely someone will be by to visit?”

Her face was blank. “No one has come, miss.”

“Prince Ronan? Edith? … Mother?”

“No one.”

_______________________________

“… give her my best when you do see her.” Ronan was still talking. Lucky me. How had I ever not realized where his heart truly leaned? Had I really been so blind?

Even as I felt disdain for my former self, a part of me wanted to forgive her. Not blind. Young. Naïve. A little girl who thought the world would go her way just because she asked nicely. A girl who thought love was the most important thing in life, the only purpose of life.

… I was not that girl anymore.

I curtsied once again as the gentlemen took their leave. My smile perfect, polite, concealing the darkness I felt within.

_______________________________

Hallers set up the office within an hour, surely using some sort of supernatural ability, given the absolute chaos he had to work with.

I sat down at the desk, looking through the stacks and stacks of papers and slowly did the numbers. It was not a simple task. After hours of poring over tax documents, expense sheets and overdue lendings, I had only a few pieces of the overall picture. 

But even from that I could tell it didn’t look good.

It was clearly evident that my father should never be allowed near money. The personal spending habits of our family were appalling. Thousands of crowns wasted on the most frivolous of items.

 This had to stop.

I estimated our projected income, wincing when I realized just how much money was being diverted from the proper channels. If we could cut down on the stealing from the collection services, we should have just enough to cover the duchy’s expenses. But that would leave us almost nothing for personal spending.

Could I convince my family to stop spending? As I looked around at the luxury that surrounded me, I felt a sense of futility take over. No. even though I was sure of the cuts I would make in my own expenses, I would have to find a way to support our family through other means.

 I spent the next few days working my way through all the paperwork, working from morning until night, stopping only to sleep and eat.

I was so focused on my task that I was startled by the soft knock on the door. It was Hallers.

“Excuse me miss. I have taken the liberty of contacting of few of the smaller vendors and consolidating some of the debt with a smaller interest rate.” He handed me a stack of smoothed out bills. I glanced over them, whistling with appreciation when I saw the improved numbers.

“This is perfect Hallers, thank you!” I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my eyes with a sigh. “We will need to set up a meeting with all the men involved with taxation collection. If we don’t put a stop to this corruption, nothing I do will save this duchy.” 

“Very good, Miss.” A delighted grin crossed his face, passing so quickly I almost missed it.

“Let’s aim for next week, I need to come up with a plan for terrifying a group of men into  doing exactly what I want.”

“I’m sure you will be quite successful,” Hallers answered with a perfectly straight face. I couldn’t help but let out an amused chuckle.

“If that’s all, I’ll return to my work… “ I paused as he didn’t move an inch. “Was there anything else?”

Hallers hesitated. “Your etiquette lesson with the Queen is scheduled for tomorrow, yes?”

“Y-yes.” I blinked, confused by the direction of the conversation. “I will head out to the palace in the morning, why?”

It was actually something I was dreading. How many hours had I spent in those rooms, sweating, crying, trying over and over to perfect the lessons the queen had to give me? All to impress a man who had no interest in me. It seemed so ridiculous, now.

“Well, there is a man who works in the Royal treasury…” He paused, looking slightly embarrassed. “My brother, in fact… I have expressed to him your recent efforts over the last few days to organize the Duchy’s finances and enact change and he was eager to lend his assistance.” He bowed. “I apologize if I overstepped my bounds.”

“No need,” I waved a hand, dismissing his apology. “How exactly does your brother wish to help us?”

“He would like to share some of his experience and knowledge regarding taxes, land ownership and financial reform.” Hallers again looked slightly embarrassed. “He’s somewhat of a progressive man, Miss, not exactly a monarchist, but he is very skilled…”

“HE’S PERFECT!” I stood up, smiling.  An experienced person who could give me advice on reforming the Duchy AND didn’t like the monarchy? I couldn’t have asked for better! “Can you arrange for us to meet after my etiquette lesson with the Queen?

Obviously shocked by my enthusiasm, Hallers nodded. “Very good, Miss. I’ll arrange it. He’ll be very pleased.”

“As am I.” I sat back down, settling in to continue organizing the accounts. “We’ll save this Duchy, Hallers.”

“Miss?” 

I chuckled, the sound a little more sinister than I intended. “Whether they like it or not.”

[myforeverforlife]

50 Random Things Tag!

The always lovely @crossandchange tagged me! (thank you!)

1. What takes up too much of your time?

Netflix. Since I’m on spring break, I’ve been relaxing by just going through episodes at a time. I’m limiting myself to four episodes maximum in a day. 😂

2. What makes your day better?

Getting extra sleep!

3. What’s the best thing that happened to you today?

I managed to finish a good chunk of my homework, and I’m hoping I can finish the rest by the time I head back to school.

4. What fictional place would you like to go to?

I don’t really know?? I used to say Hogwarts, but like definitely a post-Harry Potter world (as much as I love magic, I’m not looking to be killed by Voldemort) Now, I feel like any place that’s got magic and is generally peaceful is fine with me, haha

5. Are you good at giving advice?

Ehh, it depends for me too. I’m horrible at relationship advice, and I’m always like”Why are you asking me?? I’ve literally only been on a handful of dates”. I’m more of a shoulder to lean on and someone to empathize with rather than someone who gives out advice. I feel weird about it, like I’m being pushy and telling people what to do or something?

6. Do you have any mental illnesses?

No, I do get anxious about things but it’s not the extent of being a constant looming presence in my life (which I’m really thankful for)

7. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?

Nope! (also thankful for this lol)

8. What musician inspired you the most?

Kacey Musgraves! I really am not a country music kind of person, but she is such a talented lyricist and singer, and she has such a soothing voice! Her lyrics are also witty and fun to decipher.

9. Have you ever fallen in love?

Twice, but they were very innocent and naive. I liked someone from kindergarten all the way until 7th grade, and then someone else from 8th grade until 11th grade. Both times, I was like head over heels, but both times we were just friends and I never confessed.

10. What’s your dream date?

Honestly just doing anything that keeps us moving (going to the beach, party, carnival) I hate having to sit in one place for long and I’d be pretty antsy 😂

11. What do others notice about you?

That I’m tiny! And that I look young for my age.

12. What’s an annoying habit you have?

When I get nervous or bored, I pick at the skin on my thumbs. I know it’s so bad, but I’ve been doing this since I was a kid, and I’m glad it’s gotten A LOT better since then (i made the main character in the upcoming ksoo fic have this habit too haha)

13. Do you still talk to your first love?

No, we stopped talking in high school and grew apart. But we didn’t end our friendship on bad terms or anything, we just had really different friend groups and interests by then.

14. How many exes do you have?

Zero!

15. How many songs are in your playlist?

Oh god I have too many playlists. I have one I listen to before I go to bed and it has like 200 songs.

16. What instruments can you play?

A tiny tiny tiny bit of piano.

17. Who do you have the most pictures of?

School pictures. Like pictures of stuff we made in my class because we have to make a portfolio of everything we did at the end of the semester 😂

18. Where would you like to go before you die?

Also Japan! Or South Korea.

19. What’s your zodiac?

Aries!

20. Do you relate to it?

Aries are like the stubborn, hot-headed people right? That’s definitely me. Like I’m a big listener and listen more than I talk, but if I really disagree with someone and our decision is gonna end up affecting something big (grades, other people, etc.) then I am always 100% backing my own opinion and trying to convince the other person to see the same thing or at least see some of the benefits of it.

21. What is happiness to you?

Finding a bit of peace where you can relax and know that even if other stuff is stressing you out right now, you have this moment to just focus on the here and now.

22. Are you going through anything right now?

I’m always going through it. I’ve got a 12 page (minimum) paper due at the end of the semester, and I’ve been so annoyed with the fact that I can’t work on continuing fics. It’s been months since I updated anything, and I know that I have school stuff to take care of first, but it still gets to me seeing all these projects I wanted to have gotten done by now.

23. What’s the worst decision you ever made?

Literally any decision where I decided not to speak up when I was feeling lost or unsure.

24. What’s your favorite store?

Ooh, this is a hard one. Maybe Sephora?

25. (HALFWAY!) What’s your opinion on abortion?

Pro-choice. I don’t like to judge others for their decisions, and hope that they respect mine as well. Forcing other people to go through with a pregancy that they aren’t prepared for/that they don’t want/that could end up being terrible for their health is wrong to me.

26. Do you keep a bucket list?

Mentally, but I’ve been trying to get in the habit of writing one out. I do have tiny lists on my phone or on post-its (shopping list, homework to do, due dates)

27. Do you have a favourite album?

I can’t pick one! Some of my favorites are Gfriend’s Rainbow and Snowflake albums, EXO-CBX’s Blooming Days, EXO’s Exodus and of course, Jongdae’s April, and a Flower! I also used to love BTS’s The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2 (I listened to that on repeat for a good month or so omg)

28. What do you want for your birthday?

A durable and cute purse. I’ve been using the same one since high school, and it’s still holding up but I want a more “professional” and “mature” looking one.

29. What is most people’s first impression of you?

That I’m quiet. 😂 People assume that I’m very shy (which is partly true) or that I don’t want to talk to them (which is almost never the case)

30. What age do you seem according to most people?

Kids think I’m a teenager, people at school think I’m a freshman or sophomore in college.

31. Where do you keep your phone when you’re sleeping?

Next to my pillow.

32. What word do you say the most?

Either “Oh god” or “What the heck”

33. What’s the oldest age you’d date?

25

34. What’s the youngest age you’d date?

20

35. What job / career do most people say would suit you?

A teacher (which is good cause that’s what I want to do, haha)

36. What’s your favorite music genre?

Pop in general!

37. If you could live in any country in the world where would it be?

Maybe Japan?

38. What is your current favorite song?

Gfriend’s Love Whisper!

39. How long have you had this blog for?

Since November 2017

40. What are you excited for?

Getting through this final semester!

41. Are you a better talker or listener?

Definitely a listener. I like listening to what other people have to say!

42. What is the last productive thing you did?

Get started on my monster 12 page paper and finding references for it.

43. What do you want for Christmas?

I never know! I guess I’ll get ideas as it gets closer to the date.

44. What class do you get the best grades in?

English

45. On a scale of 1-10 how do you feel right now?

5. I’m like half-dead from doing all this homework, and my eyes have been a bit red from staring at the screen 🙃

46. What can you see yourself doing in 10 years?

Hopefully teaching! If not, just working with kids in any form. Marriage isn’t something I need, but I do want to have kids and pets, so hopefully I’ll be in the process of/have had adopted.

47. When did you get your first heartbreak?

At 16? Or 17.

48. At what age do you wanna be married?

I really don’t have a preference. I’m of the mindset where if I get married, great! If I don’t, that’s still great! I’m glad to just have supporting friends and family, and while it would be nice to be married, it’s not something that I feel I need.

49. What career did you want to have as a child?

I wanted to be an author or a doctor!

50. What do you crave right now?

Sushi!

i’m tagging @byunfirstlady @g-exo @abangtanfangirl @trishmarieco @daelicious-jongbulge @marshmallow-phd and @crazy-gingerbread-lady

[pineapplekeith]

House Cat - Pt. 10

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Pairing: Klance

Universe: Modern Earth/Fantasy

Rating: T (language/sensitive material)

Word Count: 3K+

Part: [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ]

Summary:  Werecats are hard to find outside of lab facilities now-a-days and Lance has had a suspicion that a small stray that comes by his house now and then is one when he noticed a new face around town around the same time. / Modern AU setting with werecats for fun and seriousness now and then. Klance heavy with Garrison Trio and maybe some more ships making an appearance later on.

A/N: So far, this has been well liked on AO3 and FF so I decided to post the full parts on here. Links to AO3 and FF are on my story blog @kal-i-ka-stories 

-----

Me: Hey Mamá. I won’t be home for dinner tonight. Matt came home so I’m going to Pidge’s to study and to catch up. I’ll probably be back late or spend the night. I promise not to wake you and pops if I come back late.

Mamá: That’s good that Matt made it back home safe! Tell him I said hi and that he should come visit the twins before going back. Be safe if you come back home tonight. Love you honey!

Me: Will do! Love you too!

-----

Lance then put his phone away in his back pocket and turned away from his usual route home and headed in a different direction.

..::::..::::..::::..::::..

“Kid wake up!”

The sound of Val’s banging on the door made Keith jump awake. He looked around for a bit, not sure what was going on. Val banged on the door again, bringing Keith fully into reality.

“Are you alive in there? I need help opening.”

“Uh, yeah I’m up. Sorry, I’ll be down in a minute.” Keith responded as he pushed himself out of bed.

“You better or I’m keeping your tips.” Val yelled out as he started to walk back down to the shop.

Keith stared at the back door that led to the shop until he heard the door at the end of the stares close. He then let out a heavy sigh of relief and rubbed at his face so he could wake up some more. “What the hell is wrong with me?” Keith asked himself as he thought about his recent habits over the past few days. Like clockwork, Keith would usually would wake up as the sun rose and fall asleep once he hit his bed. But lately he would find himself lying in bed awake all night, and then sleep in every morning till Val or his alarm to leave woke him up. Keith ran his fingers through his hair as he let out another frustrated sigh. His frustration quickly turned to concern once he felt something on the sides of his head that should not be there.

“No. No. No. No. No.” Keith mumbled as he hurried over to the small bathroom in his apartment. He looked in the mirror and his gut instantly dropped. Poking out through his hair, there were a pair of black cat ears on each side of his head in place of his human ears. Hesitantly looking behind, Keith then saw a long cat’s tail poking out from his pants’ waistband and it made him drop his head in defeat. “This can’t be happening.”

Being in hybrid-form after maturity was rare for most werecats, but common for half-breeds. Researchers discovered that this was a biological warning signal within half-breeds that would go off before something were to happen to them internally. Illness, stress, or anything else big or small would cause for a half-bred werecat’s ears and tail to appear whether they wanted to or not.

Keith looked at himself in the mirror for a moment before taking in a deep breath to calm his frustration and focus on correcting the situation. Go away. Go away. Go away. Keith chanted to himself in his mind as he tried to focus on making his feline features disappear. This was something that Keith wasn’t sure on if it would work or not. Focusing on which form he wanted was easy to do when he wanted to be fully human or fully cat, but when a half-breed finds themselves in their mixed form, waiting for things to resolve themselves was always the solution that they were told would work. But Keith didn’t live in the lab anymore and waiting wasn’t going to work.

After his mind settled and he was sure that he was focused on what he wanted, Keith peeked into the mirror to see if he was back to how he should be. Black cat ears were still poking out through his hair. He groaned out of frustrated as he grabbed at his ears, tempted to rib them off his head himself. “I hate these things!”

“Kid get down here! I’m not taking the chairs down myself!” Val yelled up the shop stairwell, growing more annoyed with how late Keith was with coming down.

“Coming!” Keith yelled back, trying to figure out what he could do to hide his secret from everyone. He quickly changed out of his sweatpants and shirt and into clean clothes, making sure to make his tail trail down one of his pants’ legs. He then dug through his dresser, trying to find something he could use to cover his ears. He could just wear his usual jacket with the hood up, but Val would instantly tell him to pull it off once he saw it. Keith slammed one of the drawers closed after reaching the bottom of it and instantly opened the next one underneath. He didn’t own much clothing, just the basics necessities and a few things he randomly picked up while traveling from the lab or was given to from Val when he first moved in. Pushed back in the corner of the drawer, Keith finally found a grey colored beanie that could hopefully help him. He snatched it up and hurried back into the bathroom. The beanie was luckily from one of Val’s sons so it was stretched out and worn and hopefully he won’t have an issue with Keith wearing it while working.

Keith put the cap on and tried his best to tuck away his ears in a way that wouldn’t give him a headache or make it hard for him hear everything around him. He winced a bit as he pushed each of his ears back and pulled the beanie over them. Once he finished situating everything, he took a final look at himself in the mirror before deciding that it was all he had and he would have to hope that it worked.

He grabbed his jacket and hurried down to the shop, still trying to will his ears and tail away in the back of his mind as he headed down. He walked into the shop and saw that Val was already done prepping the bar area and was heating up the grill. He used the opportunity to sneak by and start to take the chairs off the tables and set up everything else in the shop.

“What’s with the hat kid?” Val asked, not skipping a beat with what he was doing.

Keith mentally cursed at himself, annoyed that it was brought up so soon. “I, uh, didn’t wash my hair last night.” He answered, hoping it was believable.

Val stayed quiet for bit, making Keith wait for a response. “Ok. Just don’t tell the customers and stay away from the grill today.”

“Yes sir.” Like you ever let anyone go near your grill. Keith thought to himself as he rolled his eyes and continued to focus on his work.

..::::..::::..::::..

“Hey kid, once you finish with that, go take out the trash.” Val ordered as he continued to sit and catch up with his regular customers before officially closing the shop.

Keith’s day seemed to continue go downhill since his frustrations that morning. Once the usual customers started to come in that morning, it was nonstop teasing from them about the beanie he had to wear. Val then got irritated with his phone constantly buzzing throughout the day and warned Keith that if he wouldn’t turn it off, he wasn’t going to be paid for the day. Now he was stuck doing all the dirty work in the store and closing by himself as punishment for being late.

He carried the dirty dishes that he collected from behind the bar and dropped them off by the wash station, pausing for a moment for a slight break from closing. The store has never been as busy as some of the other diners in the area and because of that Val never really cared for the trash to be taken out every night. But the next morning was trash pick-up, so taking out all the trash in the back was added to Keith’s already long list of closing chores. Deciding that the last bit of dishes could wait and his other closing task were already done, Keith went to go empty the trash cans in the back and clear the bags that have been sitting in the back waiting to be taken to the alley by the dumpster.

The smell of the trash usually wouldn’t bother him, but today was different. Throughout his whole shift, Keith’s senses were working in overdrive. His head was pounding from the mixture of sounds being louder than they were and his ears being pushed back. His stomach would turn whenever he took in a big breath of coffee, grease from the grill, or even when he got close to the fishermen that came in to the shop. The trash was no better, making him want to puke right into the bin when he walked up to it because of the over powerful smells from the bags that sat and waited to be taken out. Keith took in a deep breath before moving closer to the open trash bags so that he wouldn’t have to inhale the different smells as he tied up the bags. He quickly tied up all the trash bags in the bins, making it a bit easier for him to breathe when taking them out and adding them with the other bags piled up by the back door.

Keith looked at the different bags of trash by the door, thinking about if he should really take out the trash in his state or wait and take them out in the morning before it’s picked up. He reached up and touched the side of his head, feeling his feline ears under the beanie along with feeling his tail brush against his skin under one of his pants legs. Finishing his chore right then seemed to be the better option to do instead of waiting and hoping he turns back to normal in the morning. He pulled his shirt over his nose and grabbed some of the bags and headed outside.

His shirt was no help at all. Once Keith was out in the alley near the dumpster, he almost threw up in his shirt from all the smells hitting him. Not only was the smell of damp and moldy trash nauseating, the salt air and the smell fish coming from the docks was too much to handle. Keith dropped the trash bags halfway to the dumpster and backed away so he could gather himself.

“I really hate today,” Keith mumbled to himself as he tried to steady himself. Once he felt he was ready, Keith stood straight up, took a deep breath, covered his nose with his shirt again, and then went to finish what he started. His motions seemed to be done all at once as he threw the trash away. Right when he thought he was in the clear and finally able go inside and get the rest of the bags, Keith’s shirt slipped down right as the dumpster lid closed. Nausea instantly hit him and everything in his stomach ended up on the wall of the alley.

Keith’s throat burned and stung each time he coughed. His headache was turning into an intolerable migraine and it made him want to rip the beanie off his head and yell all his frustrations out to the world.

“Keith?” Someone called out from the end of the alley. Keith looked down the alley and his stomach turned again at the sight of one of the reasons for his horrible day. “Dude are you ok?” Lance asked as he started to walk in the alley to check on his friend.

Keith jumped back in defense mode when Lance got closer to him. He covered his nose with his shirt again and pinched it tighter than he did when taking out the trash. “What the hell?! You stink!” He snapped, reaching his limit with the day and feeling sick again.

Lance froze about five feet away, feeling a bit insulted. “Excuse me,” he asked as his irritation started to boil.

“You stink! When was the last time you showered?!”

“An hour ago, after gym class. Who the hell says something like to a friend that’s trying to check on another friend?! I just saw you puke and got worried but somehow you’re still a jerk even when you’re sick!”

“Showered an hour ago my ass! You smell worse than the trash!” Keith argued back, still focused on Lance’s overpowering smell.

That made Lance snap. He takes his personal hygiene very seriously. He even taught his sisters how to properly wash their faces and put together spa days with them. “I’ll have you know I leave gym class smelling nicer than anyone else in there! Not only do I bring my own body wash, I also make sure to put on deodorant and body spray before leaving! You need to have your senses checked because if you think I smell bad, something is seriously wrong with you!”

“Something is wrong with me idiot!” Keith yelled back without thinking.

..::::...::::..::::..

“Woah! That is a problem.” Lance said as he stared in awe at Keith’s ears.

“Yeah. They’ve been causing me trouble all day.” Keith admitted as he scratched at the slight pain that was still behind one of his ears.

The two were alone in the closed restaurant. The sun was starting to go down and was casting a glare on the windows from the outside, blocking people’s view of the inside. Val had left for the night to go on a short fishing trip with some of his regular customers, leaving Keith in charge of the building till he opened back up the day after he came back. Lance was sitting at the bar while Keith was finishing up the last of his closing chores.

“Well, the beanie did look pretty out of character for you. But not as much as that mask.” Lance said, making sure to point out the dust mask that Keith was wearing over his face now. “Seriously, I finished taking the trash out for you, so is that really necessary?”

“Yes, because you stink!” Keith answered quickly. After throwing up a second time from the smell of the garbage, Keith searched all over the back room for something to use to reduce the smell. Luckily, he found a dust mask that Val had left in the back from when he did renovations to the shop while Lance handled the rest of the trash for him. Keith kept it on while he finished his cleaning in the back, but realized that he still needed to keep it on around Lance.

Lance smelled his jacket, thinking that maybe Keith was smelling the scent of the dumpster on his clothes, but all he could smell was his body spray he put on after gym class. He even ran his fingers through his hair, thinking that maybe his hair smelled sweaty, but that wasn’t it either. “I don’t know what it is you’re smelling on me, but since you said that your senses are heightened maybe they’re just so strong they’re making you think that good smells are bad smells.”

Keith chose not to respond to Lance’s suggestion. He knew he was smelling a bad smell, or at least a smell he wasn’t used to. His senses would heighten whenever he was cat, but with his hybrid form, they’re much stronger and make it harder for him to pinpoint the sources exactly.

“So, does this kind of thing happen a lot?” Lance asked, the question practically killing him.

“No. This is only the second time this has happened to me.” Keith admitted as he put the mugs away under the coffee station. “It was years ago and I had a bad fever then.”

“Well, you were throwing up a lot so maybe you’re sick again?”

“I threw up because of the trash. The smell was so bad, I could taste it.” Keith complained, internally shivering as he remembered the experience.

“Then what do you think is wrong?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, a bit irritated from not knowing what to do. “All I can do is wait it out and see what’s wrong.” Keith put away the final mug and decided that talking about the elephant – or cat – in the room was annoying. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“I said I was coming over! Did you not read my text?!” Lance asked a bit offended. “Why would you respond if you didn’t read them?”

“Because you wouldn’t stop messaging me and the old man threatened to take today’s pay away.”

“His name’s Val.” Lance reminded him, something that was becoming normal between them the more they interacted. “Oh yeah, that reminds me! Do you know what an emoji is? Or at least an emoticon?”

“A what?”

“The weird symbols and squares I kept sending you. What kind of phone do you have anyway?” Lance asked as he leaned over and looked behind the bar for Keith’s phone, knowing that he usually kept it behind there when he was working.

“I don’t know. One that one of the old man’s kids had. Hs wife reactivated it and gave it to me when she found out I didn’t have a phone.” Keith explained as he went to carry the dish bin to the back.

“Val and Ellie!” Lance yelled as Keith walked through the back door. “And this really does look like one that their kids’ might have owned.” He said to himself after he found and picked up Keith’s phone which was an older version of the first few smart phones. “I don’t even think they make stuff for this model anymore.”

“What?” Keith asked as he peeked through the small window above the grill.

“I said your phone’s old!” Lance yelled as he turned the phone back on, a bit surprised that there was no passcode to get in but then remembered that passcodes were before the model’s time. His text messages that he sent to Keith started to pop up after a few moments. Lance then went into Keith’s text messaging app and saw that he only had three conversations saved – one that was mostly from Val saying when he planned to open the shop or not, another mostly from Keith to Rufus of when he planned to stop by his bar to eat. The last one was of Lance’s conversations with Keith, his number still not saved. When comparing the conversation with the others, it looked more casual with all of Lance’s broken messages and Keith’s few responses back. Lance quickly saved his number in the phone as Keith walked out of the back room, giving himself a nickname like he did with his contacts in his phone. “Anyway, emojis and emoticons are what those weird symbols and squares are. They’re like little faces to show the context of a person’s message. Some of them aren’t showing up on your phone because it’s a dinosaur.”

“It works, that’s all I need it to do.” Keith answered as he grabbed his beanie and the store keys Val left behind the counter.

“You don’t even have games on here.” Lance mentioned as he continued to snoop through the phone. “Or photos.”

“It’s a phone. I just need it to make calls and send messages.” Keith said as he went to the front of the store to pull the blinds down over the windows.

“Yeah but you have to live a little sometimes. What if you’re stuck on a bus or something and you’re bored?”

“I’ll probably take a nap.” Keith answered, not really getting Lance’s point.

“Spoken like a true cat.” Lance said as he finished his less that fun exploration through Keith’s phone. Lance opened Keith’s camera app and was a bit disheartened when he saw the poor quality of it. He turned around in his seat and pointed the camera at Keith. “Smile,” he said to get Keith’s attention as he walked back from the front, snapping a picture right when he looked up.

“What did you just do?”

“Took a picture of you,” Lance said as he saved the photo and sent it to himself.

“What the hell?! Why would you do that when I’m like this?”

Lance shrugged his shoulders. “Because I’m a teenager and that’s what we do. Besides I wouldn’t worry about other people seeing it. Your camera is really low quality so I’m sure if someone were to see it, they would think the ears were fake.”

“I don’t care! Don’t ever do that again!” Keith snatched his phone out of Lance’s hand and instantly deleted the photo.

“Ok, sorry dude.” Lance apologized as he held his hands up in defense.

Kieth let out a tired sigh and rubbed at his forehead. “Sorry, it really is no big deal. I’m just really hungry, being in this form takes a lot out of me.”

“Then why didn’t you eat during your shift? Doesn’t Val usually cook you something?”

“He does but I told him he didn’t have to today because you said you were bringing actual food over.”

“So you did read my text!” Lance shouted, feeling triumphant that Keith really did read his messages.

“I skimmed them. Where’s the food?”

Lance went quiet, falling hard from his high horse. “Uh, probably being cooked or eaten right now.”

Keith glared at Lance, irritated that he missed his chance on free homemade food. He then woke up his phone and started a new message. When he finished, he put his phone away in his pocket and put his beanie back on, tucking his ears to the side so that they wouldn’t make noticeable bumps on his head.

“You ok there buddy?” Lance asked, feeling a bit nervous.

“We’re going to Rufus’s and you’re paying.”

“What? Why? You’re the one with the job!”

“But this is your fault.” Keith said as he walked to the door. “Now come on, I’m hungry.”

Still fuming, Lance grabbed his bookbag and willing followed Keith out of the shop. Keith locked up the shop and the two started to walk down the street and towards the town’s square. The two continued to bicker as they walked, catching the attention of a shopper walking out of the nearby convenience store. The stranger focused on Keith as the two teens walked down the street, something about him peeking his interest. He then smirked as he let out a small chuckle.

“I knew I smelled a stray in the area,” he said to himself before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

A/N: Want to keep reading? Jump over to my [ AO3 ] or [ FF ]page and continue the fun with 3 more chapters! And please remember to reblog!