With a great, big sigh, Sasha returned to the Grant Mansion after a long day of work. She was tired and needed some rest. She staggered into the living room, her eyelids heavy. So heavy, that she didn't notice someone very large was sleeping on the couch Sasha was about to flop on!
Sasha fell onto the large figure with a big thud.
"HEY!" they roared.
"EEEK!" Sasha squealed as she jumped off the couch. She gulped when she saw Rath pull himself up to his full height.
"LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN', SASHA JOCKLIN! RATH DOES NOT LIKE TO BE BODY SLAMMED IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS MUCH NEEDED SLEEP!" His yelling shook the room. "YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN AND I'LL EAT YOU ALIVE!"
Sasha was frozen with fear as Rath growled at her. His solid green eyes stared right into her terrified soul.
Rath stomped away in a huff. Sasha couldn't move. She was too scared to move. But her overloaded mind made her faint on the spot.
As Rath walked down the hall, he started to think perhaps he was too mean to Sasha. She probably didn't see him on the couch in the first place. Sasha would never do something like disturb someone from their sleep unless it was an emergency.
Feeling bad, Rath turned back to the living room. When he got there, he was shocked to see Sasha laying on the floor.
Rath scratched his head. "Guess she wanted to sleep on the floor." He shrugged. "Makes sense. That carpet is pretty comfy...espcially near a warm fireplace." But Rath decided to make Sasha more comfortable. He gently picked her up, put her on the couch, and covered her with a good, warm blanket.
The next day, Rath was eating spoonfuls of scrambled eggs when he saw Sasha stagger into the kitchen. She let out a yawn, but choked it back when she saw Rath.
"Mornin', Sasha!" Rath said with a mouthful of eggs.
Sasha swallowed hard. She took a step back.
Rachel looked up from her phone to see Sasha falling into her trademark state of terror. "Sasha, what's wrong? You look pale."
"I'm okay." Sasha said softly. But Rachel knew when her sister was scared.
And right now, she was beyond scared. When Rath stood up, Sasha squeaked and bolted out of the room.
Rachel looked at the tiger alien. "What did you do?"
Rath slumped his shoulders. "Well..."
After Rath explained what happened yesterday, Rachel buried her face in her hands as Rath apologized up and down.
"I'm really sorry, Rachel! Rath doesn't like being woken up like that!"
Rachel glared at the alien. "I'm not the one you should apologize to! It's Sasha!"
Rath sighed. "You're right." He took off to find Sasha. The Appoplexian searched the whole house for Sasha. But apparently, she kept herself well hidden. Because Rath couldn't find her anywhere!
"Come on, Sasha Jocklin! Where are you?!" Rath hissed to himself. He saw Ghostfreak come up through the floor. If you're looking for Sasha, she's hiding down in the basement." He pointed to the floor.
"What?! The basement?! But Sasha's scared of the basement! It's dark and scary down there!" Rath said.
"Well, I guess she's more scared of you now." The ghostly alien said. He floated away, but not before throwing Rath some last minute shade.
Now Rath felt even worse. He had to make things right or Sasha will be scared of him forever! He ventured down to the basement to find Sasha. It was dark, cold, and frightful. Sasha must be scared to death hiding down here.
Rath sniffed around to catch Sasha's scent. He got down on all fours and prowler around for Sasha. He heard faint whimpering not too far away and picked up Sasha's sweet strawberry shampoo scent.
He peered to a nearby room and saw a pair of feet wearing lime green socks under Ghostfreak's bed. Rath recognized them as Sasha's socks. "Sasha?"
"EEK!" Sasha tried to hide under the bed, but she couldn't go any further. So her feet were still poking out from under the bed.
Rath crawled over to Sasha's feet. "Sasha, I'm really sorry I yelled at you." he said surprisingly soft and gentle. "I just...it's in my nature to blow my top. But that's no excuse for making me afraid of you."
"I know, Rath." Sasha said, still beneath the bed. "I understand."
"Then why won't you come out?"
"Because I just want to be alone." Sasha replied quickly.
"Not Because you're still scared?"
"No! Of course not!" Sasha insisted. "So...yeah. You can go now."
Rath was feeling mad. Not just because Sasha was lying, but because she was still scared of Rath. Normally, Rath would throw a tantrum over this, but he knew that he he did, Sasha will be even more scared.
Luckily, Rath, like every occupant at the Grant Mansion, had a simple solution to cure one's fear.
Rath grabbed Sasha by her ankles, the sudden action caused her to scream.
"AAAAAHHHH! RATH! NO! LET ME GO! I'M SORRY!" Sasha yelled in terror.
Rath didn't respond. Instead, he removed Sasha's socks.
"What are you doing?!"
"Just gonna have some fun." Rath said. Sasha felt Rath's tongue slowly lick her feet.
"Ahahahahahahaha! Rath! Stop it!" Sasha giggled. But Rath kept licking Sasha's ticklish feet, making sure he got between her toes too.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" As Sasha laughed, Rath gently pulled her from under the bed and pinned her to the bed. He then rubbed his fuzzy face against Sasha's cheek, purring like a docile house cat.
"Heeheeheeheehahahahahahahaha! Rath! Stop! You tickle!" Sasha tittered.
Rath responded by affectionately licking Sasha's face. Her laughter increased as she slowly began to feel less afraid.
"Maybe you need your tummy rubbed." Rath grinned. "Always works for me." He pinned Sasha's arms above her head with one hand then lifted up her shirt and softly rubbed her belly with his other hand.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NO! STOP! DON'T TICKLE MY TUMMY!" Sasha squealed.
Rath smiled. "I'm not tickling it. I'm rubbing it."
"IT STILL TICKLES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sasha laughed and giggled. "PLEASE, RAHAHATH! STOP!"
"Only if you won't be scared of me."
"YES! YES! ANYTHING! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Rath finally stopped and let Sasha catch her breath. "You okay?" He rubbed her head.
"Yeah, I'm not scared anymore." Sasha smiled at Rath, who looked very guilty.
"Sasha, I'm really sorry I yelled at you." Rath said with a shockingly gentle tone. "I promise I'll never do it again."
"Agreed. And I'll be more careful to look where I'm falling onto." Sasha said honestly.
Rath chuckled and gave Sasha's cheek a lick, making her giggle. "So, wanna hang?" asked Rath.
"Um...sure?" Sasha didn't know what to expect. What do Appoplexians do when they want to hang? Wrestling? Name calling?
Sasha feared the worst.
Rachel had just finished doing paperwork. She got up and left the kitchen so she can watch some TV. But when she went into the living room, her heart melted.
Rath was asleep on the sofa with Sasha napping on his huge, fuzzy chest. Rath purred in his sleep, making Sasha smile and snuggle into the alien's fur.
"Rath loves his cat naps." Rachel said softly.
Ghostfreak materialized beside Rachel. "And it looks like he's got a new cat nap buddy."
Rachel chuckled. "It sure does."