by J E Mueller
Cat snorted. “Sure, love at first sight could happen, but really it takes time to know if they’re actually the one. A ball isn’t going to be more than a hey, I might like you, sort of intro.”
“Exactly. But there will be plenty who say otherwise.”
“Laaaame.” Cat drew out the word. “Sounds like you need puppy therapy just as much as me.”
“Shall we head out, then?”
Nodding, she stood up, slung her backpack over one shoulder, and offered me her arm. “Let’s go. One step closer to the heart-pounding night of your dreams.”
Snorting, I accepted her arm, and we walked out laughing together.
It didn’t surprise me at all that Olmi and Aggo were running around outside. I carefully pulled into the garage and Olmi was once again, as she almost always was, just about drooling on my window.
Cat snickered as Aggo joined Olmi. “I think they missed you.”
“Olmi probably did. Aggo just knows half the time I come home, I give him a treat.” I carefully opened the door and the dogs stepped back.
Cat got out as well and the dogs moved to greet her. “They’re still slightly intimidating.”
I gave a small laugh. “Olmi, Aggo, inside.” The two rushed to the door. “You’ll get used to them. They’re pretty good at commands. Except maybe Aggo and food. He needs a really stern command there.”
Cat snickered. “I can believe it. Didn’t... Lilly? Yeah, I think that’s what you said her name was... She said something about that last time too.”
“Yes, it’s Lilly. They tend to follow her around the most when the family is out.”
“What will become of all the puppies?” Cat asked as she followed me inside.
“Probably auctioned off. Proceeds going to different things and charities.” I shrugged.
“Do you ever keep any of them?”
I paused in the hall. “Yeah, we got Olmi about six years ago, and Aggo maybe four. We tend to have at least two. Lilly also requested one, and a few other staff members have gotten some. If there’s a particular puppy I really connect with I might keep them. Though Mother doesn’t really like having a bunch around. Father loves them though, so we’ll probably always have puppies raised here.”
“Makes sense.” We turned as footsteps came from behind us.
“Afternoon, you two,” Lilly greeted as she passed by us. “Rey, dinner will be at six. Your mother is hoping your friend stays. Maybe a bit too much. She requested cheesecake for dessert too.”
“Cheesecake? I’m in.” Cat laughed.
Lilly laughed in return. “It’s my family recipe, so it will be to die for.” She turned back to me. “I actually just put the puppies out back.”
“Oh, perfect. Thanks.”
Lilly gave a sweet smile and continued on her way.
“She seems nice,” Cat commented as we changed directions and headed out toward the backyard.
The small yard right off the living room had a nice patio and gated area surrounded by large hedges for privacy. It was a mostly open area now with light landscaping, but it used to have a large swing set and a dozen toys when I was growing up. A much larger yard surrounded the area, covered in gardens and well-decorated paths and the like for when there were important visitors. For the most part, we spent time in the nice and private small yard.
Today, it was covered in puppies.
The litter happily hurried up to us as we stepped outside, tails wagging gleefully. Olmi and Aggo had followed us out as well. A few of the puppies followed after Olmi as she went to go retrieve a ball. The young puppies were getting good at following Olmi’s lead and all picked up something. A few got toys, while one got a stick, and another a rock.
Cat laughed as one brought her a rock and Olmi let the dripping ball drop in front of her. “What’s this puppy’s name?”
I stared at the dog for a moment as I thought. “Resa.”
“I like her.” Cat picked up the stone and tossed it for the puppy before grabbing the tennis ball and throwing it for Olmi.
Resa completely missed finding the stone and instead brought back a stick. She dropped it happily in front of Cat. Snickering, Cat shook her head. “Go get a ball, you goof.”
Resa cocked her head to the side as Olmi brought the ball back. “Go get a ball.” Cat tried commanding again. Resa cocked her head the other way for a moment before taking off, so Cat threw the ball for Olmi.
This time Resa brought back a chew toy and a leaf. “Well, at least that’s better.”
I went around throwing toys for the others until they were fairly well worn down. Then I started to explain and show Cat some of their training. I was surprised she actually was interested in it and tried some of it herself.
After about a half hour of that, we were ready to head back inside. I glanced at my phone as we stood in the kitchen drinking some water.
“I didn’t plan things out very well. We’ve got about an hour and a half until dinner,” I commented.
Cat shrugged. “Games?”
“Sounds perfect.” Then I remembered one small fact. “Oh, everything is up in my room anymore.”
“How taboo! The Prince’s room! What shall we ever do!” Cat gave a mock look of horror before laughing.
I could hear Lilly snickering nearby.
“Thanks for the help!” I called over to her.
“I’m sure your room is no worse than the disaster James keeps.” Cat commented, “Though if its that big of a deal I’m sure you can move a console somewhere else.”
I shrugged, deciding to go off of how cool she was with things. “Nah, having friends upstairs should not be a big deal. Even more so as adults.”
“Fun fun. On a scale of one to ten, how much is this going to bother your mother?”
“I don’t think it’ll bother her, but she will one hundred percent think we are more than just friends,” I confessed.
“Doesn’t she already?” Cat laughed.
“Probably.” I shrugged. “So I guess nothing new. Let’s go.”
Laughing once more, Cat followed behind me.
It didn’t take us long to figure out what game to play, but it did take me several minutes to figure out what cords were where and to get everything hooked up. When I finally was ready to go, I noticed Cat had moved on from the games I owned to looking through my bookcase. I hadn’t read as much in recent years, but my collection was big enough that two of the shelves were slightly bowed and books were stacked on top of each other.
“Do you read?” I asked curiously.
“Not as much as I used to, but it’s kind of fun to see how many similar books you have to me,” Cat commented. “Not really surprising. We like a lot of the same games and RPGs, so why wouldn’t we enjoy the same fantasy books?”
“Makes sense.” I handed her a controller. “Ready?”
“Always ready to kick your butt.” She smirked, confidence radiating off of her.
Of course, I thought I was good at this game, but I quickly learned that she was equally as talented. Every level was a race, neck and neck, to see who would outshine the other.
We ended up switching out for a game we were both not that great at after a while. Going from such an intense battle to both falling off ledges and laughing seemed to get Olmi’s attention. I had no idea when someone let the dogs back in, but Olmi happily laid on my feet as we played games from the bed.
It was just like any time we played online together. There was plenty of teasing, bantering, and name-calling – so much so I didn’t realize until after one level that Mother was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, smiling. She looked a bit too amused at the situation.
“Oh, hey Mom” I said loudly so Cat knew we were being watched.
“Hello there. I was wondering if you were ever going to notice me. Seems like you’re having fun.” Mother gave me a very amused smirk.
“Nice to meet you, Your Highness. Sorry we didn’t see you there.” Cat gave an apologetic smile. “We p
robably were a bit too engrossed in the game.”
“Reyfair always seems to be,” Mother teased. “Dinner will be ready shortly, so don’t lose too much track of time.”
“We won’t,” I said as politely as possible.
Still smirking, she headed down the hall and Olmi jumped up to trail after her.
“Sorry, that sort of derailed the gaming vibe.” I sighed, not really surprised Mother had come up to see what was going on.
Cat gave a small laugh. “Sort of, but not terribly. Moms are like that. She seems nice though.”
“She has her moments,” I agreed and glanced at my phone. “We probably have time for one more level.”
Cat glanced at her phone. “James wants to know why we aren’t gaming.”
“We are, just not with him.” I mused.
“Should we send him a selfie for the lolz?” Cat smirked evilly.
“So he knows he’s been replaced?” I joked back.
Laughing, we sat shoulder to shoulder and both took a picture together and sent them to James. In a short moment, he sent me back a frowny face.
“I thought we were buds.” He jokingly texted.
“She games better.” I joked back.
“Tough love. I thought we were bros,” James shot back quickly.
“The best bros,” I agreed.
Cat snickered as she leaned over and read the messages. “You two are ridiculous.”
“We’ve been friends for just about forever.” I shook my head at her.
“Yeah, yeah, and we pretend I haven’t known him just as long.” Cat laughed and got up to stretch.
“Are you sure you won’t come to the ball? It would be so much more fun with you.” I really meant it, too.
“Awww, but you’ll have your bro, James. Won’t that be all the fun you need?” Her teasing smile made my heart pound.
“While it is always fun to dance with your bros, it’s not nearly as.... I’ve got nothing.” I sighed, defeated.
Cat laughed. “Shall we go have some dinner, then?”
I got up, stood next to her and offered her my arm. “Let’s be off.”
Laughing, we headed down the stairs, but removed our locked arms before we got to the dining room. That was probably for the best seeing as both my parents had already beat me there. They would totally make it more than it was. We were just friends... Totally.
“Cat, these are my parents. Mr. and Mrs. Queen.” I joked from the doorway.
Father actually laughed while mother was far less amused. “You can call me Wistari, or as your cousin likes to call me King Rey’s dad.”
Cat laughed. “I can so see James doing that.”
“And you may call me Maylin. Do you go by Cat, or would you prefer another name?” Mother asked politely.
“Cat is perfect, thank you.” She blushed slightly.
I took my normal seat next to Father and motioned for Cat to sit next to me. I wasn’t sure if she’d want to sit next to Mother or not.
Cat didn’t hesitate to sit down, ready to be out of the obvious limelight. With her seated, food was quickly brought out. Of course, as we filled our plates, Mother wanted to ask even more questions.
“So, what do you do aside from gaming, Cat?” Mother asked, feigning mild interest.
“I help out my family’s catering business. Most days there are just small things to do, and primarily breakfast stuff, but there are plenty of bookings done for weekend gatherings and other events this time of year,” Cat answered quietly.
“Oh, wonderful. Did you go to school for cooking, then?” Mother loved talking about school, even when she already knew the answers.
“No, not at all. I’m great at following a recipe, so work isn’t a problem. I went to school for enchanting.” Cat smiled and quickly took a large bite of food. At least she caught on that she wouldn’t have much time to eat between questions.
“Enchanting? That’s wonderful. What do you enjoy about it?” Mother asked right away, hardly giving Cat a chance to enjoy her food.
Cat gave a genuine smile, and launched into the topic with ease, giving Mother a run for being the most talkative. She had zero problems pattering on and on about the subject. From the feel of magic flow to infusing things with power, to finding and learning how to gather and harvest ingredients, I was impressed with how much she was able to talk about. Finally, she gave a shrug. “It can be a fairly neat subject.”
My mother nodded, not sure exactly how to respond. For once, she had been out answered. “It does sound like it.”
I was surprised how questioned out Mother suddenly was, but Cat happily ate her meal while Father talked a little about his day and asked me about the paperwork I had finished.
Plates were being carried away when mother finally found another question. “I heard you weren’t interested in the ball. Is there a reason why?”
Cat nodded. “I just don’t care for big crowds. It’s not a problem with catering since I’m in the background so much, but I doubt anyone would let me just stay off to the side the whole night. Even more so with our whole guild being there so...” She shrugged.
Ah, so I had been asking the wrong question. It made sense why she didn’t want to come.
“That’s true, crowds aren’t for everyone and there would be a lot of pressure to dance. I take it you aren’t too upset to miss out on that?” Mother inquired. Oh, that was a sneaky question.
“Yes and no.” I was surprised with how easily and quickly Cat answered. “Dancing is fun, but this event is going to be just too huge. Your planning skills are killer. I haven’t seen this much hype over something in a long while.”
Nicely turned around. Mother nodded approvingly. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure how Rey’s request for it to be costumed would go over.”
Cat laughed. “It really is only for a certain crowd, but I like how it’s forced a creative hand. People either have had to make things for it, or find those who can. So overall I say that’s a win win.”
Father jumped in, moving the questions away from the ball. “I heard Rey was going to show you how we train the puppies.”
“He did. They’re pretty smart when they can focus. Some of them seem to really have the hang of things. It was pretty neat,” Cat replied.
“And your favorite kept picking up rocks.” I laughed.
“Yeah, she’s a good pup. A little daft, but good.” Cat laughed.
“Ah, little Resa. She’s slowly getting things down. She’s probably not good for a first time owner. It’ll take a lot more reinforcement to get her on top of things.”
Finally, cheesecake was brought out and conversation died. No one could deny the cheesecake. Of course, after that I knew it was getting late.
“What are you two up to for the rest of the evening?” Father asked, as he always did.
“I’m sure you need to get home soon, don’t you.” I eyed Cat to see what the plan was.
She glanced at her phone. “Oh yeah, it’s gotten later than I had expected. Yes, I will have to be heading home. Dinner was great, though.”
“Cheesecake was the best.” I smirked.
“It really was.” She nodded and laughed.
“It was lovely meeting you Cat, don’t be a stranger.” Mother smiled as she got up to shake Cat’s hand.
Father nodded. “Tell James the same thing. Haven’t seen him in months.”
Cat nodded back happily. “Will do.”
We got up and headed out. Once in the car, Cat let out a sigh of relief. “Well, that wasn’t horrible.”
“I think you conversationed my mom out there for a moment.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.
“Well, it’s super easy for me to talk about enchanting so, I just went for it hoping to answer all her questions at once. I think I did? Maybe?” Cat shook her head. “I’m so tired now.”
“Well, I’m glad you stayed. It was fun having you around.”
“It was fun.” Cat smiled as she looked out the window
. “Sucks I have to be up early tomorrow. It would have been way better to get some more old school gaming in. You have a lot of great games.”
“Thanks. We’ll just have to do it again sometime.” I shrugged. It was true.
Cat glanced over at me and nodded. “Yeah, we should. I did have fun.” She turned to look at the window and her shoulder slumped a little.
“Everything okay?” I asked, confused by the shift in demeanor.
“Yeah... Just a little bummed. I don’t feel like heading home yet. Dad and my step-mom have been stressed about getting a few big gigs that are coming up and it’s just annoying hell. Even more so since they know that while I care, I would rather not be stuck with the family biz forever.”
“They don’t like that you want to do your own thing?” It sounded tough not having that acceptance.
“Mad is a good word for it. Overly disappointed and ready to disown me if I wasn’t cheap labor is another good word for it.”
“That’s more than one word.” I tried to joke.
Cat smiled, but it faltered. “So, yeah, things could be a little better. Hopefully, some time and distance will help things, but I kinda doubt it. At least I have my guild family.” Her smile was a bit stronger at that.
“For the guild,” I called, trying to bring some light to the conversation.
“For the guild!” She laughed back. “It’ll be all right.”
“Eventually, I am sure it will be,” I agreed.
7
I had barely gotten back home and into my room when I noticed a message from Cat. Surprised to already see one, I opened it.
SkepticalMouse: I need your help with something.
ReyWraith: ???
SkepticalMouse: I need a way to the ball.
ReyWraith: I wasn’t expecting this change. What’s up?
SkepticalMouse: Despite saying I wasn’t going, and have made it clear I have zero intention to go to every last person who has asked... Step Mother has decided to ban me from the ball.
ReyWraith: How? You’re an adult.
SkepticalMouse: Ignoring logical details, and the fact she doesn’t care for them... She thinks I’ll outshine my bratty step sister and therefore I can’t go. She’ll just never meet the prince if I’m there! Psh, whatever.
