1:13 PM Thursday, June 11: Three Hours Before…

⇒Be the devious dirty blonde haired guy texting on his phone

You are now the dirty blonde texting on his phone. You are clueless to your surroundings as you near the yellow crosswalk over the street. You are not far from your home, but all your attention is being consumed to your mobile phone. Or more like the newly received texts on your phone are making you oblivious to your surroundings.

The embarrassed, angry texts you're scoring from your boyfriend every few seconds are too irresistibly cute to ignore replying back to or looking at. These constant heart-felt hate messages are going to be saved and used wisely for a later guilt trip on him. For now they're just funny to re-read and adorable to look at.

You save them in your 'w1n5' file made specifically for him as you idly walk forward. You barely hear, "OH MY JEGUS!" shouted loudly from a familiar voice, but clearly hear it continue on yelling, "MITUNA!", as you get yanked back suddenly by the back of your shirt.

You instantly feel the hot gush of wind breeze over your pores from the two inches of air separating you and a zooming car's side mirror…

You realize that you almost became road kill as your eyes follow after the vehicle driving quickly away from the almost transpired crime scene.

Your specially designed red and blue three d glasses are luckily just jerked down your face, while your grip had tightened on your phone. You were semi-conscious of dropping it could cause it to break during the action, and delete all your undocumented black mailing materials.

People know you, and you knew people. You need that info.

You are shivering and sweat forms on your forehead. You're wide eyed with fear and panic right now, because holy shit you almost got ran over by a fucking car.

No wait.

Not just by a car. A minivan.

A MINIVAN almost made you road kill on your BIRTHDAY… What load of fucking bull shittery nonsense was that supposed to be?!

You can already tell this is going to be a shitty birthday, so the reader is going to try and be someone else in this time frame.

⇒Be Someone Else in This Time Frame

1:13 PM Thursady, June 11: Three Hours Before…

You are someone else or to be more specific, the gelled-back chestnut haired dude standing outside at the back end of his job's building.

You have tooken off the thick-stained, protective coveralls, you call a work suit that you bought for your messy career. You got tired of washing and replacing oil stained, grimed up clothes from the dirt on the shop's floors and brought in cars.

Your regular clothes are denim blue jeans and white or black t-shirts, and you look good in 'em.

You're on your second five minute break you've taken today. You are currently leaning up against the rough, cool brick wall of the building in the summer heat, and a persona completing gimmick cigarette in your mouth.

You are one Cool Cat.

⇒Be The Cool Cat

You already are the Cool Cat, but your image of being a 50's greaser or a punk in the wrong time period is being ruined by the red blush of angry embarrassment scrawled across your face as you mess with your mobile phone.

You are preoccupied by typing and sending irritated text messages to your perverted boyfriend for messing with you at work. He knows better than to start texting you at the auto shop about how he's going to be striping you down for his birthday gift the next time he sees you!

What discomforts you most about this is he would do it. You know from experience he'll willingly stay true to it, especially if faced up to his word. He's done it once before when you were at a coworker's party.

Your first mistake was you started texting him from boredom. This party was mandatory to go to for your job and it did not interest you to be involved chatting with your fellow workers and their gossiping wives. Your second mistake was when you had set up a challenge for him from habit and irritation caused by him and the party. Texting first, he wouldn't dare come to the party since it was employees' and family only, and secondly, he would not be stripping you, but you finally shredding the clothes off of him the next time you saw him. Final sealing-the-deal mistake you made was when you replied to his text.

From: My-tuna

Subject: 837

To: Cronus

YOU W4N7 2 837 0N 7H47.

Message Sent

From: Cronus

Subject: 8ET?

To: My-tuna

I vwas more than 8ETTING on it.

I AM CHALLENGING YOU.

Message Sent

From: My-tuna

Subject: CH4114N63 4CC3P73D

To: Cronus

533 YOU 500N.

Message Sent

These texts must have pushed just the right buttons on him, because after the next forty minutes of non-repliant silence from his last text, he was at the party, you were in his arms upstairs in an unfamiliar bedroom with your shirt ripped half-way off your body.

You thought he was bluffing.

Whether you both were alone to begin with him first or after dragging you upstairs into the guest room, you'll never know. You only know you both were alone after a literally breath taking kiss, your shirt ripped off of you, and your half-lidded, lust-filled half-conscious eyes warily glanced around your surroundings for people out of worry.

You automatically start blushing anytime you think about that night, and Mituna knows. He knows how you feel about it, and he loves to teasingly remind you of it anytime he feels it's the right period of day to make you flush red in the face.

When you went back to work at the small businessing auto shop the next day, everything was the same at work. Though your boss did an off schedule mandatory inspection of everybody's work area that day, everyone acted no differently than you regularly thought they did… except, Meulin Leijon. Whenever you spotted her visiting the garage for the working nephew of one of the co-owners, Horuss Zahhak, she giggled with shining eyes that radiated out fan girl affection whenever she looked at you. It creeped you out for a little while, but eventually the stare faded away...

Or at least that's what you keep telling yourself.

You're generally okay with Meulin, her kitty cat attitude, and keen intuition. She makes it a habit of giving pointers to your boyfriend on what could additionally make you "purr". This tends to pisses you off, when she helps him and he actually follows the advice, but unnerves you knowing that it actually works. Mituna thinks it's hilarious as hell.

For a deaf girl she is very sharp on listening to the status reports of her friends' relationships. Or reading their lips as they speak. She is well known between her friends for shipping them together, even if they're currently dating someone. She's a nice girl overall, but behind that entire cute, nice-girl personality is a devious side hidden in plain sight.

You fail to notice the creaky sound of the back building's rusty door open, but hear the last few warning footsteps scuttling towards you over the gravel floor. Startled you turn quick enough towards the shuffling sound of feet on gravel, to land flatly on your back from the force of one, Miss little kitten, Meulin Leijon. Speak of the she-devil.

"Ouf!" escapes your lips as she pins you to the floor giggling. You raise a questioning eyebrow and a sly smile as she speaks in a giggly tone, "What, cat got your tongue Cronus?" Your fake cigarette has fallen out from your mouth to lie beside you, and your phone is tightly held in your grasping hand. God damn, does this girl have to have so much power to her tackle hugs?

"No, but a cute kitten does hawve me dovwn on the ground." in a calm, slight suggestive tone. A smirk plays at your lips as you tease her. You're holding back on the comments you could be spouting.

She giggles at you with a mischievous tone adding to the witticism, "Purr-sobily, but I'm not one to really fur-lirt with Mituna's adventurous mouse, rather purr-lay with him fur fun."

Your smirk grows a little wider, "Oh vwell, you don't knovw vwhat an adwventure you vwouldd be missing out on kitten. I'd be a ride you vwouldn't forget. Vwould not forget anytimesoon." You lift up your hips into the air a quick moment to emphasis your comment. You couldn't help yourself. You're playing lightly on dangerous waters out of habit and personality trait. You're a continuous flirt by trade.

She giggles, "Oh I might, or not, but you would de-fur-neitly not fur-get anytime soon." Her eyes are daunting, while her face matches the impish ring in her voice, "We both know though, what you would be receiving fur purr-taking in such im-meow-ral things. Also fur the record, I don't purr you with me." She doesn't leave the uncomfortable position of her sitting on your stomach though.

You place your elbows behind you to lift you up off the ground some, Meulin slides down to sit on your lower thighs and knees, allowing you to rise and setting herself into another comfortable sitting position on you. "Only like to tease vwith you kitten. Vwouldn't dare go beyond that vwith anyone else, but My-tuna."

A nickname you favor for him. He dislikes you using the cute fish pun name. It was created with help from your online internet buddy, Meenah Peixes. She's another Cool Cat in your book, but can be quite a mean Cat'fish' to 'catch'.

"Though~, you have taken it a bit fur-ther than you should've when fur-lirting, as your past escapades have purr-esented." She's giggling and you know exactly what she's talking about. You sigh and nod in agreement.

You have a long history of shiners, three broken noses, countless handprints laced across your face, and poorly planned flirtatious remarks. Attaining these well gossiped about injures from a few friends, random hot chicks at theaters, sometimes dudes, and one or two from your boyfriend. The remarks were all forgiven from friends for a little groveling, but a jealous boyfriend was a different story though.

It took quite a lot more to be in his good graces again. Some of the things you will never speak about. EVER.

She catches your attention back to her from your incoming thoughts as she starts to speak again. "Hehehee, well to ask what I searched fur you about~" (=^ω^=)

She has a smile like a cute little cat and you pass her a friendly beam back. "Vwhat do you need from me kitten?"

"I need to ask a few purr-sonel questions as a hy-purr-thetical matchmaker!" (=^•ω•^=) Her tone is cheery as the smile on your face slowly forms into a crooked grimace.

"Uhmm… kitten, I am sorry you came to find me about this, but I don't really think you need to be vworried about matching me up vwith someone. I got Mituna to be pairing vwith and… I really like him." You can feel a light blush creeping across your face. You have admitted to yourself it's the other L word of affection you feel for him, but you aren't ready to say it too anyone, yet. You're waiting for the perfect moment out of hesitation of his reply, but today seems just right as a birthday gift for him you're going to tell him how you feel. You hope he loves you too…

Meulin seems to catch on to your drift and blush as her eyes do the familiar fan girl shine to them. She sighs and gives in quite easily to your resistance. Quizzically she speaks again, "Fine, but, how meow-raculous would it be fur you and your favorite boy-fur-iend to come to the park at four o'clock today? We are having a large fur-actor of our fur-iends gathering there to spend time and purr-lan what to do next together." (=^. .^=)

Daily meeting arrangements and group activities were usually planned by Meulin, Horuss, Kurloz, and Kankri. They said this was necessary for the group to stay connected outside of just using the computers and chat blogging each other every day. The group meetings were usually fun, if the group wasn't having relationship tensions hanging in the air.

"I knovw Mituna vwon't be able to make it today vwith it being his birthday. From vwhat I knovw he already has plans made by his parents today, but I could come after vwork." You aren't hyped up about giving your feelings straight out to him with knowing the possibility of being really rejected. You have told each other you like one another and accepted each other, but telling someone you love them is more than you think you could handle if they rejected you. You're more than just a little anxious from your recent arguments, so some time with friends and away from him, might give you the self-preparation you need. Kankri could give you some good advice, if he doesn't start rambling off with the topic.

"After a shower would be much purr-fur-able, if purr-ossible though." (=`ω´=) She says as she pinches her nose closed in an exaggerated fashion and giggles.

You roll your eyes at her and start motioning her to get off of you. "That vwould happen quicker, if you vwould be so kind as to please get off me kitten. I need to get back to vwork, and I'll take a shovwer before I come to the park. Deal?"

She doesn't move off of you and speaks cheerfully, "Okay! Still~, see if Mituna can come after he's done doing, whatever, okay!" (=^ω^=)

You sigh, "I'll text him to see if he can come, alright? Now get off~ I've wasted my entire break." You start gently pushing her off of you. She rolls away from you giggling and pounces up onto her two feet. She would have made a perfect gymnast if she hadn't had the accident that caused her to go deaf.

"You would have wasted it all anyway. I just helped purr-suade you to use it more purr-oficiently." (=^•^=) "Catch you around later!" (=^ω^=) and skips cheerfully off back towards the building's back door.

"Later kitten." You're smiling a bit from the encounter with your cat enthusiastic friend. You always get a little kick from seeing the strong girl. You find her cool for staying positive after she went deaf.

She had an accident when she was younger at her first championship gymnastics tournament, though you don't know much on the details, you think of her as a good example of what a little bit of hope can do as she started up practicing gymnastics again two years after she lost the ability to hear. She's in regular competitions now with the support of Kurloz and Horuss. You don't really keep track on her daily life. You're not one for much gossip and you get more than enough from Kankri, when you're not tuning him out.

You get up off the gravel road and brush off your clothes. You're going to have to change clothes when you get back home. You look at your phone in your hand and start texting your boyfriend as you listen to the rusty back door open and close. You can hear machines and drills starting to be used in the shop for changing, fixing, and replacing car parts. You need to hurry the fuck up and get inside before your boss discovers you are gone from your station.

From: Cronus

Subject: is wvital

Date: June 11, 2006 01:21:22 PM MDT (+)

To: My-tuna

hey.

just got informed by meulin, gathering at park today 4:00 PM.

im going to be there. i vwanna knovw if you can come.

Message Sent

From: Cronus

Subject: wvery wvital

Date: June 11, 2006 01:24:11 PM MDT (+)

To: My-tuna

you 8ETTER come to the meeting.

i hawve something important to tell you.

happy birthday my-tuna.

Message Sent

⇒Be (My-tuna) Mituna Captor

1:15 PM Thursady, June 11

You are Mituna Captor and your rapid heartbeat is echoing through your head between thoughts. You're breathing heavily from shock and the sudden rise of adrenaline through your veins. You feel light headed and a migraine coming on.

Fucking Minivans. You god damn hate the eight seated vehicles. Mini vans are sad excuses for driving vehicles in your opinion and you would feel rather pathetic to get ran over by one.

If you were ever going to be ran over and had a choice in the matter of what car, you would want it to be a 1970 Chevelle SS (Prowler Yellow with Black Stripes ), or anything else that is not near or below the standards of a Minivan or a Prius.

The Prius is just sad, sad little car. No need for further description.

Though, using general common sense of things; you would rather choose not to be run over by anything at all. Being ran over on your seventeenth birthday and the beginning of summer vacation from school would be a load of fucking bull shittery nonsense.

The angry-filled, rant-screaming of a familiar voice knocks you out of your disconcerted state of mind.

This voice surprises you. Not only because it belongs to the person who pulled you from the street's cars zipping along it, but it is Kankri Vantas's voice! You know he rarely to none existently ever yells, due to Porrium's and her mother's fondly enforced mannerism and radical feminist ideology teachings tooken to the extreme levels when they adopted him.

He is a shining ball of politeness that justifies people's downfalls and masks his own mind's judgmental meanings of his up rises to them in classier ways. He is an up prompt douchebag like all the rest of your friends, but he does seem to give advice when it's helpful to you. Or at least when you're listening to him between his deathly rants.

He spends quite a bit of time with Latula and Cronus. You think he's trying to get with Latula and having problems, so he's going to his gossip listening buddy for advice, your boyfriend. He doesn't like coming over when you're around, because you enjoy having all of Cronus's attention when you're with him. Plus you like to repeatedly test a theory you hold on Kankri.

Adding on the fact that Kankri has told you time and time again, he doesn't want you flashing your relationship around him, because it creates, "Triggering visuals of you on Cronus, and there is all that needs to be supplied of reasoning on the subject…" Probably the shortest sentence he has ever told you. It makes you want to do the opposite because it's funny to see him freak the fuck out over it. He says he doesn't swing around the pole, but you doubt that.

This doubt causes you to go over to his house at any chance with your boyfriend and promptly start making out, or sometimes worse on Kankri's favorite plump couch to test your indication. You never seem to get a clear answer.

"WHAT IN ALL THE BLAZING STARS OF DAVID WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU WERE ABOUT TO WALK INTO THE STREET FULL OF ZOOMING CARS THAT COULD, I DON'T KNOW, KILL YOU! OH MY GOG… HOW COULD YOU BE SO IGNORANT?! WELL, NEXT TIME YOU TRY TO KILL YOURSELF, I AM NOT GOING TO SAVE YOUR SKINNY RUM-"

"Okay, okay Kankri." Agitation is clear in your tone as you provide the calm down motioning with your hands, "I know I am an unintelligible piece of shit that should know better than to space off while walking around. Thank you for saving my meaningless existence, but could you save me from the rant you got coming for me too? I got important places to be at", you look at the time on your phone and ignore his scowling expression, "in like the next twenty minutes." You cut him off because your friend could ramble to himself all day, and you don't have the time or patience to wait for him to cool down.

He looks short of breath, bewildered, concerned, and fearful. A hint of guilt builds up in you, because you caused the wrecked state he's in…

Your conscious decides you can spend a little time dealing with Kankri's shenanigans for now, but you really need, and want to wrap this up quickly. You don't want to get chewed out for being late again and become deaf by a double daily dose of rants.

You've wondered before who would win a ranting lecture, your dad or Kankri? It's undeterminable.

"For starters, no, I will use my right of free speech to lecture you for your unwisely decided actions anytime and even after if, my vocals ever lose the ability to produce sounds coherently. Secondly, you do not, have not, and are not a meaningless existence due to you having people who actually care about you or when you remember that we do." The guilt keeps rising higher, "Furthermore what is so important that you have to miss out on a lovely conversationwith your friend after the fact you almost got ran over by a car?" your irritation is rising too, "And you better not be just saying this to get away from my rants like you did last time. I will force you to seventy-two straight hours of repenting by listening to my blissful vocal cords ringing through your auditory ear ducts from recorded job interviews again. And I assure you there will be no distractions this time to save you from the perfectly demonstrated way to handle an interview."

You're on perfect queue when you roll your eyes at him, "No. I am not trying to get out of listening to your shitty ass rants, though it'd be nice of you to shut the fuck up for two seconds." He humps* at you, "I have to go baby sit my little brother, because my parents think I have nothing better to do on my birthday, and are being asshats by choosing to go on a movie date today, because I denied them the privilege of throwing me a fucking birthday party."

You actually had scheduled special plans for today. One was to fix up your old skateboard, because its wheels have been particularly loose lately, and spend the night out with your boyfriend when he got off work. You rejected the idea of them celebrating your birthday this year, because your seventeen and wanted to be alone with your boyfriend. They had already given you the new software for your computer and a new ipod classic, same series as the one you broke a month ago, as birthday gifts, so no point for a birthday party. You wish they had planned their movie date ahead of time or to another day.

"So, I'm sorry. Okay?" You try to sound legitimately sorry for not wanting to talk with him because you're in a rush.

He firmly stares at you for a moment in silence, his eyes study you and revel nothing of his thoughts. Daily city life around you doesn't help to fill the tense silence. You hate this stupid tension.

He finally closes his eyes then sighs with frustration at you. "Fine. Go, but you are going to be giving me intelligible feedback on how my latest recorded interview went" You groan in discontent from just imagining yourself listening to his annoyingly, boring voice on screen. He has locked his eyes onto yours and you can see the raging fire behind them as he continues to speak and accusingly points his index finger at you, "and if I ever find you making out with Cronus on my couch again, I will make it my personal goal to stop such triggers from forever happening in my presence everagain. Understand?"

His tone is dark, serious, and non-comical as he says this, but it could fool any walking by innocent spectator as normal. Ignorance is bliss.

This is not only meant to be the last warning you receive for you actions, this is an all-out promised threat that he has planned to follow out with against better judgment. You could only respond by doing a slow nod and have saucer sized eyes look at him from his tone.

He seems okay with your response and returns to a more comfortable manner again, "Good. I'll text you later. Happy Birthday, and try not getting ran over by any more cars. I don't need or want any more triggering events in my life." He waits for the street's crosswalk light to switch from stop to walk and looks thoughtfully from side to side of the road as he slips from your sight, opposite of the path you're going. You didn't feel like you needed to say goodbye to him after such an encounter.

You wait for your path to be signaled safe and walk across in the small crowd of people. Once your feet reach the sidewalk, you step out of the group, and lean against a building wall. You are safe from being bumped into by random people walking on the sidewalk and stepping into the street if you do this.

You quickly look at your phone's slide screen. At first you notice the icon alerting you of two new unread messages sent from Cronus, but you ignore them to answer your bigger question.

How much more time do I have left to get home three and half blocks away?

You close the informing alert to view what's behind it. It was largely blocking the view of the screenshot picture tooken of you and Cronus making stupid comical faces at the oddly angled camera phone as your wallpaper, and the glowing numbers telling time in the right upper corner of the screen.

It's 1:27 PM.

Fuck.

Not good.