🐱
today was gonna be awesome!! with a spring in their step, the small catboy practically skipped down the trail toward the meeting spot everyone had agreed to. the boy was dressed a bit differently for today, forgoing the usual turtleneck for a light shirt and a tan scarf with a sawtooth pattern and shorts - THE purrfect attire for a long day of hiking! they tightened their pack along their back and quickened the pace.
they found themselves in a large grassy clearing below a canopy of trees, freckled with picnic tables and log benches for family outings and cookouts. jayde scanned the environment, noting that things seemed pretty quiet today with a distinct lack of anybody hanging around. their attention shifted around the park, going from bench to bench, table to table.. suddenly: ‘jaayydee!! over here!’ a voice called out.
those soft, chocolatey kitty ears perked in the direction of the voice and spotted none other than aura, sinclaire’s friend! looks like she beat us here! jayde thought to themself with a smile and gave her a wave as they crossed over to her table. 'hii aura! i hope you haven’t been waiting too long!!’
'oh nah no worries at alllll, i’ve only been here about ten minutes or so.’ she said with a silly thumbs up and a wink. 'wait.. i thought sin was gonna be with you?’
jayde nodded and pointed a thumb over their shoulder, 'yeah! she stopped at the convenience store back there to get some extra water for everyone. she shooould be here soon?’ at least, she Better be, they thought. 'what about the other two?’
the girl’s soft, cream colored hair briefly hid her golden eyes as she looked down at her phone. she scoffed and shifted her weight. 'dunno, haven’t had any reception since i got here. i’m assuming these trees are at fault here..’ she said, eyeing the canopy above. jayde stifled a snicker and pulled out their own phone. quarter past the hour..
'you diiid give them the right place right..?’ they asked, trying to hide the note of worry in their tone.
'relaaaaaaax dude.. you in some kind of a hurry?’ aura sighed and began to root around for something in her pack as she spoke. 'we have all day to kick our own asses on this trail. so enjoy having functioning legs while you still can.’
fair enough, they thought. sinclaire wasn’t even back yet, so it’s not as if they were going anywhere at the moment. with a loud exhale, aura fell atop the table and looked up toward the leaves above. 'ahh damn it.. well i hope sin gets here soon.’
jayde nodded and dropped their pack beside her and set off to wander about the grassy grounds. hop, hop, pounce! the catboy went as they bounded up and atop one of those picnic tables, reveling in the opportunity to finally enjoy the simple pleasures of jumping on top of stuff. they stood tall, gazing down at the grounds from their perch like a monarch observing their kingdom from their tallest tower. a soft breeze ruffled across their cheeks and quietly swayed the trees above as they looked over the empty picnic grounds… not quite as magnificent a kingdom, all things considered. not even a single subject to rule over! however, something quickly caught their eye. 'hang on… is that..?’ the catboy leaped back down to the earth and dashed back toward the entrance of the park. the others were finally here!
–
'heyyeee aura, ya still with us?’ sinclaire taunted as she stepped toward the meeting spot, with jayde close behind, followed by rye and niles.
'nah. died. jayde said you were bringing water? i forgot mine.’ aura remained unmoving, the shadows of the leaves above dancing on her face as her eyes stared into the abyss.
'yeah. but they only had those little mini bottles, so we have something like 30 little guys to our group.’ jayde frowned. would the refrigerated section truly not have any proper sized water bottles? especially on such a quiet day.. there was so many things sinclaire did and said that made no sense to the perplexed cat. so lost in thought about their friend that jayde let out a little yelp as a paw slapped against their back.
'good to see ya jayde! this better be an easy trail.’ niles said cheerfully. jayde nervously smiled up at him. meowdy niles! heylo hallo niles! meow meow meow niles! ..can i think of anything normal to say to him? they thought.
jayde cleared their throat. 'n-niles! it’s gonna be okay, it just goes on for quite a while..’ the kitty timidly trailed off, hoping niles wouldn’t get discouraged. apparently it took a lot of convincing to get him to tag along for the hike they had planned for today.
'aww, what’s wrong niles~? afraid of a little exercise?’ rye stepped up and slung his shoulder around the serval. 'doooon’t worry jayde, i’ll make sure this one keeps up with all of us who actually appreciate the outdoors.’
with a smile, niles threw his own arm around rye’s shoulder and nuzzled his fluffy cheek. 'does that mean you’ll carry me if i simply cannot go on, oh biiiggg tough guy~?’, his tone was drenched in sarcasm despite the overtly flirtatious gesture. jayde lowered their ears.
the indigo feline rolled his eyes, all the humor in his expression quickly vanishing. he looked at jayde, 'ugh.. kid, try not to hang around this guy too much. his attitude is a vacuum of all that is good in this world.’ niles winked and released his prey, who immediately retreated to sinclaire and aura’s side.. jayde noting the soft blush on rye’s face.
aura crossed her arms. 'are you guys ready to go? i wanna get this started already!’ it was clear to everyone she was ready to move regardless, and so the gang followed in her stead to head off toward the trail together. they left the shroud of the trees behind and watched as the world bloomed into view. the landscape before them was painted green with plantlife, with large cliffs and canyons rising above it all. it was an intimidating sight to behold, but jayde had been here before and this particular path was relatively easy to handle. their eyes focused on a distant waterfall at the bottom of a canyon that fed into the river; that was where the smooth dirt path would be taking them next. the small kitty glanced backward at niles who was just a few paces behind and gave him a little wave.
the serval smiled back at them before taking in the sight once more, 'i’ve never been out this way before.. i can see why you were excited to get us out here.’ jayde gripped the straps of their pack and scrunched their shoulders.. they were really excited to hang out with niles today. but before they were able to get another word out, a paw tightly grasped theirs and hastily tugged them to the front of the pack and away from the serval.
–
grumble.. the catboy thought. they were only kind of paying attention to sinclaire prattle on about her last bout in the fight club, apparently she won! which is. good. seeing as that takes care of rent for a little while. sinclaire is one heck of a fighter, and normally jayde was totally on board for these stories. the boy glanced over their shoulder again, catching a brief glimpse of niles looking off into the distance. a sigh. they were just hoping for something a little different today.
the quintet trotted alongside the river, their relaxed pace matching the gentle flow of the stream as it ran down the slope. the quiet sounds of the water made this a particularly strong candidate for a napping spot, Especially with the warm sun bearing down. however, the peaceful atmosphere stood no chance as sinclaire continued to recount her tale. ’..and this guy? i don’t think i’ve ever SEEN anyone that tall before!! must’ve been at LEAST six and a half feet.. you know the one i mean, yeah?’ she gestured at aura, who had stopped to guzzle down one of those tiny water bottles.
'hold up, you fought that dude?’ and WON?’ sinclaire nodded, pleased with herself. aura grinned, 'well hey, maybe next time you’ll be able to hold your own against me when i show up for a few rounds~’
the blue catgirl scoffed and raised her fists to lightly tap at aura’s arm, 'oh you are SO on.’ the two laughed and continued onward after hoisting their packs over their shoulders. and there they go, jayde thought. sinclaire and aura really seemed to be hitting it off ever since they started practicing together, something the catboy was happy to see. when the two first came to LX, jayde was pretty sure they were sinclaire’s only friend for quite a while.. and it was some time before they were reunited with rye and niles. it was nice to have everyone back together again just like how things were before, even if ocelot was still somewhere halfway across the world.
jayde shook their head and kept moving, catching up to rye and niles. “.. and yeah the stuff just never really sat right with me.. oh, jayde! humor me for a sec, how do you feel about coffee?” jayde stared down at the trail as they all walked, their eyes bouncing from pebble to pebbles that speckled the dirt. “yyyeah! i like coffee!”. they didn’t, and niles was staring back with a skeptical look. jayde tried not to blush and stared ahead, the memory of sneaking what they thought was hot cocoa from sinclaire’s mug began to rush back. coffee was weird!! they never really had an issue with needing energy in the morning either, so it just didn’t seem worth the trouble to overcome the 'acquired taste’ phenomenon. as they walked, the ground sloped upward and they began to move beyond the river and out of the small ravine.
'well jayde! i didn’t know you were into coffee.. if you’re ever in the area, feel free to swing by where i work and i’ll treat you~’
badump, went jayde’s heart. in fact, more than just once did it thumpthumpthump against the boy’s chest. they mustered a faint grin in niles’ direction and returned their gaze down to the safety of the ground below.
'hahaha, you sound like you’re about to take jayde out on a date or something.’ yes please? jayde thought. yes yes yes.
'you sound jealous. you jealous, rye?’ jayde squeaked as niles then pulled them close and squeezed them to their side. 'jealous that sweet little jayde here is gonna have the best dinner of their life with me, while you go off and do.. well, whatever it is you do after the sun sets?’
rye rolled his eyes and kept walking. 'you must really think you live in the minds of everyone around you, huh?’, he chuckled. 'though, to be honest jayde.. you really ought to take him up on that. this big cat really knows how to spoil his friends.’ the compliment sat for a brief moment.
'awww, hey what can i say. i like you guys, is all.’ another mewl as niles gave jayde another squeeze and released them.
rye smiled, 'i’m gonnaaa catch up with the others! see you guys up there.’ as rye hurried on ahead, the serval made no effort to keep up, remaining at his breezy relaxed pace with jayde still following along. the tall cat tilted his head and grinned with an evil, yet oddly seductive stare. he snickered, 'there is No way you drink coffee.’
caught. 'y-you don’t know that! maybe there’s a coffee i just haven’t found yet..’ the boy shrugged and twiddled their thumbs.
niles raised an eyebrow and shook his head. 'my treat extends beyond coffee y'know~’ he said as he approached jayde, pulling the blushing kittycat back to his side. 'hell, we don’t even need to get dinner. maybe we could always just.. find some place around here. away from the others. you and me. hmm~?’ his big, long tail that was extremely uncharacteristic of a serval curled around theirs. badump-badump-badump.
was.. was he being serious? jayde kept their eyes down on the trail, terrified to see the level of sincerity in niles’ expression. even still, niles was always cracking jokes and teasing people, so it was hard for them to get a read on how serious anything they said was. was that same look from before the same when he flirted with the others? the same look that the flustered boy wanted staring at him for so long now? '…unless, i’ve been misreading whats going on here?’ no. no no nonononono.
'it’s not that niles! it’s just… r-right here? right now? the others.. they’ll notice we’re gone.. and we’re already kinda falling behind, haha.’ but please insist, the boy thought.
'hmmm. i guess thats a good point.. and hey~ speak of the devil!’ jayde lowered their ears as they looked up. sinclaire, please.. they pleaded internally as she bounded toward the pair.
the girl came to a stop and scanned over the two. 'hey guys, is everythin okay back here?’ like i said, they’d notice! jayde giggled to themself.
'we’re okay! we were just talking about hanging out after this.. plus somebody needs to make sure niles doesn’t fall too far behind!’ jayde grabbed at niles waist and finally got him back for those squeezes before.
'sounds great! count me in, where we goin’?’ the meddling catgirl cheerfully asked. a fire lit behind jayde’s eyes. sinclaire PLEASE, they thought.
however, before jayde could protest, 'aaaactually, we were just thinking of keeping it between the two of us since we don’t really get to hang out all that much~ no offense, sinclaire.’ jayde looked up at niles, to which niles briefly flashed a smile back down at them. that same face..
'ohh, well hey! i get ya.. but i’m gonna have to insist we hurry the hell up. i think aura misses you two.’ as she gestured behind her, jayde could imagine the impatient look on aura’s face, with feets a-tappin’.
'but i’m sooooooooo tired, sinclaire!’ niles whined as he limped forward and collapsed against her front. 'carry me, won’t you..?’
sinclaire recoiled with a scoff. 'oh my GOD carry yourself, dumbass! and don’t you dare make jayde carry you either!’ as much as they wished they could, niles would probably crush jayde in the process. don’t tempt me with a good time, a voice in jayde’s head whispered.
a pat on their back foisted them back to reality. 'look alive jayde, seems we are needed elsewhere.’ the boy gave a nod and they followed behind sinclaire to reunite with the others. the rest of the trip continued on without incident, aside from a bit more whining from the dramatic serval. soon the familiar clearing began to greet them as the sun set behind the hills, taking the view of the natural world with it. turned out aura wasn’t kidding, it was a long day and everybody’s asses had been thoroughly kicked. the bus ride home felt long, but the chance to sit down for a while and just watch the city lights roll on by was a much needed respite for the tired catboy.
–
the bus came to a slow halt, and doors of the bus hissed. time to disembark. jayde and sinclaire waved goodbye to the others and made their way down the aisle. jayde looked back to where they sat as they stepped down onto the curb, though unable to catch a glimpse of the others through the tinted windows. 'well, at least we have more water than we’ll ever need.’ sinclaire muttered as she sat her pack full of those tiny bottles down on the table. jayde thought to remind her that water was kind of essential to being alive and would thus run out eventually, but opted to silently collapse on the bed instead. the comfortable silence was quickly and briefly interrupted by a startled Mewl! that rang out through the studio apartment as sinclaire flopped atop the boy. a dull, fuzzy darkness soon overtook the shock and the day drearily played back in their mind. 'we’ll be in touch.’ his voice said. with the aches that pulsed throughout their body and sound of sinclaire’s soft breathing in their ears, the world came to a stop and the boy plunged into a comfortable, velvety sleep.
how do you draw women so pretty...
the secret is to be a Freak
now playing - ♪bio bop
emotes for my server!
all done ʕ /• - •ʔ/
