"A severe thunderstorm warning is underway through the area. People are instructed to stay inside to avoid injury. The storm should blow over by early morning, until then stay safe. And now Bill with sports…."
Ominous clouds covered the sky over the town of Nearburg, a telltale sign of the storm already starting to come. Storms rarely occurred in that town, but once every millennium, a storm would show up, and it doesn't disappoint.
Catdog were resting in their bed, Cat reading a novel and Dog filling in a coloring book cat got him a couple of days ago. The look on dog's face when he got it was one just like a child being told he could eat candy for the rest of his life! Humming giddily to himself he was currently coloring in a picture of a superhero, going outside of the lines with a green crayon. The superhero had a dialogue box that said 'Lightning and Thunder hear my cry!' An eyebrow rose in question, and turned to look at his companion.
"Say Cat, what's thunder?"
Cat looked at him from his book for a moment to stare at dog. He was about to berate him for asking a stupid question, but then he remembered;
Storms rarely ever occurred in Nearburg, (except for that vampire fiasco, even so dog was out of it) and the only reason Cat knew what it was was because he watched the news more often than dog.
This was Dog. His idiot for a brother. So arguing would be pretty fruitless.
With a sigh, he decided to humor his friend and tell him about it.
"Thunder is a sound that accompanies lighting after it strikes." Cat said nonchalantly.
"Oooh…..what's lightning?" Dog asked shortly after. Man, all Cat wanted to do was read, and here he was, being asked dumb questions.
"Lightning is an electrical discharge from the sky down to the earth that lasts for less than a second." Cat said with a grunt.
"Oooh sounds cool!" Cat just shook his head and went back to reading his book. A few hours of silence accompanied the scratching noise of dog coloring and his humming it was getting to the late hours of the night.
"Alright dog, I'm packing it in." Cat said with a loud yawn to accentuate his point. Setting the book down on a nightstand, he covered himself with the blanket and snuggled deeper in the covers. Being dragged around on garbage day when you have a certain canine attached to you really wares a certain Cat out.
"Me too, pal." Dog replied with an equally loud yawn. He closed his book; happy about the masterpieces he created. Settling himself in bed he moved around until he deemed himself comfortable. "Goodnight, Cat." Dog said with a smile.
"Night." Cat said half-asleep. Neither one taking in the fact that the thunderstorm was almost close to their part of town.
"Hey Cat! Let's go play fetch down at the park!"
"Yeesh dog we did that yesterday!"
"I know, I know, but I like playing Fetch. Its my favorite game, Pleeease?"
"Oh nononono, not the puppydog-eyes, Dog no! Bad dog! Don't do…. augh fine. Let's go. I hate it when you do that. You're lucky you're my brother you know."
"I sure am"
A thunderous crash shook the house, ripping Dog out of the happy memory. Wide dilated eyes darted around frantically, looking for the source of the sound. The canine couldn't find anything.
'What was that?' It wasn't his fault he didn't know what it was. The entire time they lived there, thunder never occurred. It was almost always peaceful weather.
'If that's thunder, then I don't like it'. Just as he thought it, a bright light flashed the room and a terrifying clap of thunder made Dog whimper and shot his hands to his ears, cowering in fear. Usually Dog was fearless in his own idiotic way, but it just happened that he was a dog, and just like some other dogs, don't like loud noises. Dog figured out the source and saw that it was outside. A part of him wondered why it sounded so terrifying and the other part just wanted to get away from it before it can get him.
'Cat! I bet he can help me figure out what to do.'
Dog glanced over at his brother, and saw that the feline was still knocked out.
'How can he not hear all this?!' Mind reeling, the spotted animal kept wondering what he should do. He can't just ignore it, but he can't accept it either. He needed a blockade from the storm. He needed reassurance that nothing would get him. He needed comfort. He wanted, no, needed his brother.
'Ah, I can't do that though. He's sleeping. It would be rude…plus it wouldn't turn out well…' The last time he tried to wake his brother in the middle of the night for something stupid he was rewarded with claw marks all over his face and fur missing on his half of the body. Unfortunately, nature sensed his hesitance and unleashed another powerful crack in the air. Caught off guard, the canine dove under the sheets and hid his face under his pillow, shivering and whimpering from the force of the storm.
'Anything is better than this torture.' He thought, eyes scrunched and pushing back tears. He slowly turned around and started towards his brother. Crawling on his belly he slowly inched closer. There was a split second where he thought of almost turning back but knew he wasn't going to make it through the night without help. A hand was just about to wake up the feline but then a thought occurred…
What if he turns me away?
That thought alone made Dog stop completely. Cat wasn't known to be affectionate, and rarely cared for someone other than himself. Sure they hugged each other and did other nice things, but they were forgotten the next day. Dog pulled his hand back and stared out the window, wondering if it was really worth it. He still had time. He can turn back now and it would be as if nothing ever happened. But…
'I gotta try'
Poke. "Cat"
No response.
"Cat" he said a little louder, with a light shake to his shoulder.
A mumbled response came from the Cat's lips "Mmmnnh…"
Flash- CRaaAAAcCCkkkkkkk!
"CAT!"
"WHA-What what happened? What's going on?!" A tired cat finally sprang awake from the high level of noise. He expected a broken vase or one of Winslow's many pranks, but all he saw was a shivering mutt in front of him. The feline stared at his companion, waiting for an answer as to why he woke him up in the middle of the night. And it better be a good one or else…
"Dog, do you have any idea what tim-"
"I'm scared."
That shut Cat up fast. The almighty dog, Fearless dog, jumping out of airplanes and chasing speeding trucks….scared? The voice dog used was whispered and sounded… just so sad. Upon closer inspection, Cat could see Dog shivering in fear, eyes darting to the window and back in the room, twiddling his fingers rapidly as if trying to calm down but failing miserably. To get to the point, Dog looked awful. That still didn't make cat any less angry that this couldn't be dealt with in the morning.
"And what, exactly, are you afraid of?" Cat questioned. Dog just looked at Cat and saw the annoyance on his face. He simply pointed outside for Cat to see. The smarter of the two looked outside to see black clouds riddled with lighting. While scary looking, the feline reassured it's nothing that will harm you so long as you're inside. Dog wasn't as confident though. Cat was about to go under the covers, sure that Dog was satisfied, but stopped halfway when Dog uttered something.
"Hey cat…"
"What?"
"Can I sleep on your side with you?" Dog asked almost too quietly. To someone with human hearing they would have missed it but Cat picked up the question just fine.
"Dog it's just a little thunder, grow up." Cat said heartlessly. That crushed Dog more than anything. Here he was, asking cat for help in his time of need, and he just gets pushed away.
Dog started to whimper pathetically, "B-b-but Cat, y-you d-d-didn't say that it w-was sc-c-cary. Please C-Cat. Just once….p-please…" and to top it all off, Dog used the ever famous puppydog-eyes (unintentionally). And not even Cat is immune.
Trying to resist, Cat complained, "Oh c'mon dog don't be like that, it won't hurt you." Dogs only response was a pathetic whimper. Damn that mutt and his own conscious.
With a roll of his eyes and a begrudging tone he said, "…ok. One nigh-" Cat didn't even have time to finish because Dog crawled right next to cat and snuggled right up to him.
"Thanks pal." A cute giggle escaped dog's lips. Cat just rolled his eyes again and crawled back in bed. Dog decided to be the biggest cuddler ever and wrap his arms around Cat's torso. The feline just layed there uncomfortable and for a second thought of shoving dog off of him, but decided to leave it. He was just too tired to care. He wrapped his arms around Dog, and dog just smiled and tucked his head under his brother's chin. Both of them started closing their eyes, hoping they can get some sleep. The storm didn't appreciate being ignored. A bright light flashed in the room and Dog tensed once more, knowing what was coming. Sure enough…
Crraaaaaaaaassssssssshhhhh! CrrrrAaaaacCCccccckkkkkk!
A wince and hands just clenched his brother's fur. Cat couldn't help but feel sad for his brother being so scared. He still cared for his brother, even though he rarely showed it. Cat just nosed his brother on his forehead, trying to help him calm down.
"…thunder is really loud."
"I know buddy." Cat just pet Dog's back in an attempt to comfort his canine.
'The storm will probably keep going all night. There's got to be a way to block out the noise for dog.' Suddenly struck by an idea, he maneuvered dog away to get a better position. Dog however thought Cat was pushing him away and made an upset sound.
"Don't worry dog I'm trying to help" Cat said with a soft voice and an even softer smile.
He moved them so Cat was as curled as he could get around dog, protecting him from seeing the bright flashes of light. That solves one problem.
'Mmm, cozy.' Thought dog. A low rumbling sound reached his ears and dog realized that Cat was purring. It managed to make a pleasant sound instead of the nasty thunder raging outside. Dog always liked it when Cat would purr. It made him get butterflies inside. Curling up more to the comforting sound, he started to relax and drown out the storm.
"Thanks Cat. I love you."
"Yeah yeah I know you do. Now get some sleep." A nod and a yawn was the only answer given to the spotted feline. Curling himself closer to Dog, he rested his head next to his canine companions. And Cat whispered…
"I love you too, bro. "