NOVEL WEB 16. Exclusive
=::= Bailey's PoV =::=
I'd just emerged from the bedroom when a calico-coloured blur pounced from around the corner. The little sneak bapped me right on the snoot, then turned and fled down the stairs with her tail standing up tall and proud.
It only took a split-second for me to recover from the shock, then with a flick of my own big floofy tail I took off after her. My ears were folded back as I charged downstairs, and her scent led me straight into the living-room. That's where I found her, sitting on the back of the sofa looking all smug and pleased with herself.
That's also where I found the fluffy black cat, curled up on one of the sofa cushions. I knew she was awake though. Her ears were both perked up and pointed at me, and one of her eyes had opened a crack so she could monitor my next move.
Meanwhile the calico flicked her ears then turned her back on me, as if to let me know she was finished playing now that she'd won. And I couldn't help thinking, she might be done but I sure wasn't. Not until I got my revenge.
With a thrust of my powerful hind legs I launched myself right overtop of the black floof and landed on the back of the sofa practically ontop of the little calico. She obviously wasn't expecting that, and her reaction was pure gold. She jumped straight up at least two feet into the air, then came down on the cushion next to the other cat which startled her as well. Then the pair of them both took off running, with their ears folded back and their tails completely puffed out.
The chase was on, and I charged off after both of them, although the small calico was my primary target. The cats stuck together for now, as they led me on a wild chase that brought us into, around, and back out of the kitchen, then up the stairs where we ran into and out of both bedrooms. From there it was back down the stairs and into the living-room again. They led me in a circle around the sofa before darting back out into the hall, then finally through the kitchen and downstairs into the studio.
I chased them under my desk and over Serenity's, then we ran up and across their sofa and back down the other side of the new guest chairs. The pair of them made another dash for the stairs up into the kitchen, then straight under the chairs and table while I tried to cut them off by heading directly for the doorway.
They just managed to get past me, but I'd gained enough ground that I finally caught up to them back in the living-room. The pair split up there, with Callie jumping up onto the sofa while Serenity took a sharp left to go around it. I stayed with the calico, and my pounce had more range than her leap.
As foxes go I was actually kind of small, but I was still about twice the size of the little calico. So when my pounce brought me down ontop of her I easily tackled her into the soft sofa cushions. I knew she'd wriggle free if I gave her a chance, so I made sure to pin her down beneath me as I growled softly in her furry little ears.
She wasn't scared though, and she didn't struggle. Instead she just purred happily as she let herself go limp under my body. Then a second purr joined in, as Serenity hopped up onto the sofa next to us. A moment later she curled up against my side as if nothing at all had happened.
I finally relaxed as well, and just like that all three of us were chilling together. I was a cute little red fox tucked in between a pair of kitties, and the three of us formed a furry cuddle puddle as we all shared a single sofa cushion.
After all the fun and excitement of our zoomies faded I was left with a warm feeling of contentment. There was always lots of work and chores the three of us had to do, but all that faded away while we were in our animal forms. We could relax, play, even enjoy a little afternoon nap, all without having to worry about those silly human things. It would still be there when we changed back, and that's all we needed to know.
Except this time our nap was interrupted by some unexpected noises coming from our front door. My ears twitched and one eye opened to peer out over my floofy tail, while I tried to figure out what I'd heard.
It only took another second or two before I placed the sounds. There was a delivery van parked on the street in front of the house, and someone had just left something on the steps in front of our door.
I automatically filed that away as 'people stuff' to be looked at later, but the little calico next to me seemed strangely excited about the interruption. She got to her feet and stretched, then hopped off the sofa and dashed out of sight upstairs. Meanwhile Serenity and I stayed where we were, the two of us curled back up to continue our afternoon nap together on the sofa.
A half minute later Callie came back downstairs in her catgirl form. I opened one eye to see what she was doing, as she moved past the living-room doorway. She'd pulled on a pair of track pants and a t-shirt, but from the way she was bouncing and jiggling on her way to the front door I could tell she hadn't bothered with a bra.
My ears twitched again as I heard her exclaim, "Yes! It's here!"
Despite our girlfriend's excitement, neither Serenity or I were curious enough to go and find out what was so important it made her skip nap-time. We continued cuddling on the sofa as we listened to the sounds of the small calico catgirl struggling with what must have been a heavy package.
It was another minute or so before she came back into view, dragging a large rectangular box into the living-room. She left it on the floor next to the far end of the sofa, then hurried off towards our laundry-storage room. When she came back a moment later she had our dusty old toolbox in hand.
Finally Callie sat down on the other end of the sofa then set about opening up the box. One by one she pulled out everything inside it, and laid it all out across the top of our coffee table.
Serenity and I watched as our girlfriend loaded up the small table with various rectangular pieces of pressboard covered in pale pink carpet. There were also a number of cylinders, about half of which were wrapped in more of that pink carpet while the rest appeared to be tightly-wrapped in pale beige rope. Finally she also pulled out a little plastic bag full of shiny chrome-coloured nuts and bolts, and a larger bag containing something soft and pink.
There was also a folded instruction booklet, and with that in hand our calico girlfriend got to work.
Over the next half hour or so the two of us watched quietly while Callie struggled to assemble what was obviously some sort of elaborate example of feline furniture. The cylinders were like upright columns separating carpeted pressboard levels, which apparently would be home to various nooks and crannies where kitties could hide, or scratch, or sleep, or climb.
Unfortunately the assembly didn't look like it was going well. It seemed like our calico was getting frustrated, and the parts appeared to be both heavy and unwieldy. Or at least, the small catgirl was having a lot of trouble manipulating the components on her own. Callie was definitely working up a bit of a sweat as she struggled with the construction process.
At one point she sighed and mumbled to herself, "If my pa was here he'd have had this thing all put together in no time."
Then her shoulders slumped as she added, "At least, he'd put it together after he finished watching me struggle while he lectured me about all the stuff I was doing wrong."
"Then again," she frowned and tilted her head to one side, "That's what he did when I was a boy. Maybe now that I'm a girl he'd just step in and take over? I don't remember him ever giving Savannah a hard time about not being as handy with tools and stuff as him and Dean are."
Finally she frowned at the black floof and I then stated, "Y'all could help out, you know? Instead of just laying there watching me do all the hard work."
Her words seemed to have an effect on at least one of us. Serenity uncurled herself from my side, then hopped from the sofa onto the coffee table. She was careful not to scatter any of the small metal bits and pieces Callie had in a little pile next to the larger parts. Then the fluffy black cat quietly stepped over and around the various components as she made her way towards the partially-assembled structure.
She paused there to study it for a few seconds, tilting her head to one side then the other. Finally, with a little wiggle of her behind she leaped from the coffee table and landed in the middle of the latest carpeted pressboard piece Callie had just added to her creation. The black cat slowly circled once, then curled up on the spot as if she meant to go back to sleep in the middle of the calico's half-finished project.
"Oh no you don't!" Callie exclaimed. She carefully picked Serenity up, then unceremoniously dumped the black cat back onto the sofa next to me.
Then as she got back to work she grumbled, "If that's all the help I'm going to get, maybe this thing's going to be declared calico-only territory. I'll call it the Calico Condo, and it'll have a very exclusive guest list. Callies only, no lazy black floofs or foxes welcome."
My only response was a wide yawn and a big stretch, as I sprawled out across the sofa cushion. Serenity was equally unimpressed, she just curled up on the cushion next to me and closed her eyes. Her ears were still alert though, and continued to monitor our girlfriend's progress.
It ended up taking another full hour before Callie finally finished her project. When she was done the cat tower was taller than her, a monumental construction of particle board and cardboard wrapped in pale pink carpet and sisal cord. At its peak was a plush pink cat bed, while a large pink hammock-style bed was located part-way up. There was a small enclosed hidey-house just above that, with a carpeted lazing platform for a roof. And finally, dangling from the underside of penthouse bed and down one side of the whole tower was a thick rough rope with a big knot at the bottom, that just begged to be attacked and climbed.
"There!" the calico announced. "I'm going upstairs to use my plushie again, and I better not catch any other cats or foxes using my new Calicos-only Kitty Condo when I get back!"
With that she turned and hurried away for the stairs, while Serenity and I both exchanged a glance. And needless to say, by the time our little calico returned a half minute later there was a black floof curled up fast asleep in the plush pink bed at the top of the kitty condo. And a sleepy fox lay sprawled in the large comfy hammock that made up the third floor.
That in turn led to some growls and hissing, followed by another exciting round of zoomies all over the house. The whole thing wrapped up with an entirely predictable ending though, after the three of us all tired each other out.
I was passed out in the comfy pink hammock once again, while Callie and Serenity both curled up asleep together. They weren't in the penthouse bed though. The pair of them were inside the big cardboard shipping box, that lay discarded on the floor next to the sofa.
