What a milestone, Chapter 10!

There where quite the different versions of this chapter, but I found this approach to be the most effective. Other versions of the chapter felt a little overwhelming and to some degree brought the story to a halt, so i hope i was able to overcome those issues after some re-writings.

Anyways, hope is enjoyable!

Chapter X - Cup of Coffee

Oh, no, he had screwed up again. OH NO. Allen couldn't believe his own foolishness. Under the rage and desperation, he had forgotten one of the most obvious things he should have kept in mind. He forgot had neighbors! Why can't this day end already!

"Hey! Can you hear me? Are you ok!" Rufus worried by the second. Wouldn't be the first time a brawl broke out next door. "What happened!" called out the tiger as he dusted off his bedcovers.

OK. Think clear, Allen reassured himself. Calm down, he breathed deeply and turned on the desk, his legs now hanging. Let's make a plan, just like this morning, but more cunning.

"Buddy, I don't want to call the cops at these hours. Can you even hear me?"

Ok, scrap the cunning plan. We'll make it as we go. "I'm fine, uh. Kitten?" Made up slang, awful start.

"Ki-Kitten?" the tiger chuckled.

"Yeah. he heh…" Allen let out an awkward laugh as he leaned on the stricken wall. "Just been having a bit of a tough day," he patted the desk surface at his sides. He didn't know what he was doing, or even saying, and this could end badly for the both of them.

"Yeah…" Rufus let out an audible sigh as he let himself fall on the mostly cleaned mattress. "Can say the same. A horrible daunting day, but," he recalled the comfort he felt minutes ago, "things don't look so grim now." The tiger always had trouble when interacting with many other tenants, but he couldn't blame them. Most just wanted to leave their day behind. To leave the world for a night just that they could try to survive for another day. It's ok to not have the best mood in the world when most other mammals approach you only when they need something from you, or, in most cases, just to tell you to go fester another street. Being treated as a plague and not a mammal. But he's not one to give up.

Is true that he had his tendencies to dramatize, but if he didn't try, then he could end losing more than he could gain, so he was sure about his next step with this other cat. It felt worth it. "Want to share it?" He caught the human off guard. He certainly didn't expect for someone to ask him that. Not here, and not so out of the blue.

Why not? There were certainly many risks, but rephrasing it should help. Right? He inhaled, all the tension and stress still tightly packed inside, and he exhaled. "Yes. I would love that."

"Let it all out, buddy." Rufus got comfortable in his bed. It was as scruffy as Allen's, but some tape and elbow grease made it usable, and a bunch of bedsheets he brought with him certainly help dampen it.

"Well, it all starts this morning, the moment I woke up." He took his legs back up to hug them as he retold the events of the day, adjusting it for the felid to not catch on who he was.

"After all that panic and running away, I got hit hard. A car made fly to the intersection." The human gesticulated for his listener. It helped him get track of his words.

"My, you good now?"

"That's the weirdest part! I'm perfectly fine, and I completely forgot to tell my doctor!" An interesting performance took place in that dusty room. The human kept signaling and drawing in the air, sharing this altered version of this day as he was trying to pitch it for a movie studio.

"You need to call him asap! You might not feel it, but you could have broken a rib! They take a while to hurt." Rufus had gotten tangled in the story of this other cat. He was quick to feel empathy as he was quick to panic, and he couldn't avoid but to worry about this felid.

"They do?"

"Well, that's what I heard, anyway. But can you breathe well?"

"Oh, don't worry, I got checked for a lot of stuff, it was just that I forgot to ask why I was so fine."

"… You sure?"

"Speaking to that news guy. Horrible. I just didn't know what to say! I got hit by a car, and what? He expects me to tell him a secret revealed by some kind of vision?"

"Haha, well, in slow news day he might end writing that on the paper, but today was anything but slow news. They might not even run that story at the end!" The tiger's side was another curious sight. He had a paw behind his head as he raised the other one to the hole in the thin wall that separated the two mammals.

"That's my biggest wish right now. I just want to relax, to take it easy. But it seems impossible at this point."

"Well," Rufus yawned and stretched on his mattress, "I think is time to doze off, buddy."

That's my call, Allen thought, and let his body fall to the side.

"Sleep tight… uh, what's your name?" They both realized that they've been talking for more than an hour without knowing each other's name.

"You can call me Al," yawned Allen, "and you?"

"Rufus, Rufus Altail."

"Good night, Rufus."

"Night, buddy." At those words, both mammals swiftly fell at sleep.

"Could you calm down!" yelled a man. Tall, clear brown hair and a slightly tanned skin. He was well and improperly dressed for the forest, stumbling constantly but keeping pace with his brother up front.

"I won't. I'm tired of you two!" answered the younger brother. As Allen approached a tree, an idea came to him. It was silly, but it will annoy him enough for him to leave.

"Allen, ugh, get down from there!" The younger brother had gotten up a tree, clumsily reaching for low branches to propel himself upward.

"What's the matter? Wasn't I an immature child?" he turned back to his brother, hanging just above his height as he arrived to him. "Kids play on trees, right?"

"I'm more worried about you splitting your skull op-" A creak was followed by a sudden thud and a groan. "So, what did you won with breaking your hip?"

"Shut up, I broke nothing." He laid on the ground, still holding onto the broken branch, which subtly smoked as Daniel kneeled at his side.

"Let's just go home, ok?"

"And where would that be today? A fancy conference hall at the outskirt of the forest?" Daniel just stared back at him. "Alright, I'll go with you, just give a minute to rest."

"Can't do, we have a tight schedule ahead," he said, and tapped on his watch, "So let's stop making Adam wait." He reached down to pull him back up, but burnt the palm of his hand. "Allen Alexander, what did you do, agh!" he yelled, "now!"

"What now? Oh…" he had tried to lift himself, but lost his strength and fell back to a bed of scorched leaves.

Then the floor.

The human jolted up from the dusty floor. He had fallen off the desk.

His vision was blurry and tired, his head beating and his whole body felt like a wrecked car. "What…" He tried to recover his senses as a drowned knock repeated itself behind him. "Happened…" The knocks were followed by unintelligible mutters that slowly shaped back into words.

"-wfully sorry if that noice was my fault, euh, but don't worry! I have the perfect remedy for everything!" The tiger held a 12oz coffee cup. "Made plenty too, to make sure you are back with us in no time!" Rufus received no answer from inside the room, and waiting for one, he awkwardly rocked back and forth in front of it.

What is that guy talking about? Allen's head kept throbbing in pain as he tried to stand back up. He looked around at the run-down apartment, unable to recall his memories from last night. "Where am I?" he whispered. Altail played with his claws as he held the cup. His maw agape, and a lost gaze, unsure about the mammal's well-being.

He resolved on to continue with his day. "I'll leave the cup here, and happy Tuesday!" He kneeled down and aligned the cup in the middle of the door borders. But he soon changed of thought. He moved it a little more to the right, to make sure it was in the middle of the felid's view once he came out of the room. With a smile, he got up and walked back into his day, but he was soon hit with dread. What would mammals think of yesterday? He can't show his face out, not today. Altail fidgeted with his claws again, but after a minute of deliberation, he huffed out and reluctantly walked back into his room. He'll keep on practicing for today, so that he would be twice as ready for tomorrow.

A cup… Tuesday? Allen tied his thoughts together, rubbing his forehead with the palm of his hand. He opened his bloodshot eyes and said, "A cup of coffee!" He straightened his posture and took in more details of the room. Decolored and rundown wallpaper, all with uneven patterns of spots and stripes. A desk to his side, with a crumpled bedsheet resting on it, and partly hanging off the edge. His boots and socks to the other side of the room, next to an ancient mattress. "What a night it must've been," he said and turned, taking into more of the room, the door being his first sight, and he soon walked to it. He griped the handle and turned it; he peaked his head outside. The place looked abandoned, but looking down to his feet. A cup.

He reached down and brought it in. The morning sun creeping from between the taller buildings in front of the one he stood inside.

He took the lid off the cup, and soon was hit by a powerful scent, a very pleasing one. Though, he didn't know how to describe the smell, heck; he doesn't even know if he's awake at this point. Might as well play along with the serial killer, he joked. His mind was still numb, and the shock and dimension of the situation was still too far to catch up on him. Smiling at his own remark, he took a sip from the beverage, and it was good. Particularly good. He sneezed afterwards, a little too strong for his tired body. This was certainly not coffee, but also kind of tasted like it, but the most noticeable difference was its hue. It was a dark but soft purple. A little unnerving. He smelled it, again bringing him to sneeze. It smelled like a sweet perfume, but way too strong. Should probably hold off on drinking it whole. I should check on the net about it. He put the lid back on and brought his right hand to his pockets, but he could only find his keys, wallet and earphones, which weren't in a good condition anymore from whatever happened yesterday.

Did I lose it? He put the cup on the desk as he searched for it. Looking everywhere in the cramped space. He entered what he believed to be a closet, but was actually a tight, but abnormally well kept bathroom. He looked under the mattress and looked under the bedsheet on the desk but was again unlucky in his search. "Oh, great," he huffed between his teeth, "It must have been stolen…"

He was taken off his worry by a knock at the door. The guy from before. He went back to it and slowly opened the door, memories trickling back at the sight of the uniformed Timberwolf.

"Hi."

End of Chapter X

Have a good night/day!