"And the prince and the princess lived happily ever after!" Kaeloo said, shutting the book. It was 8:55 pm, and Stumpy and Quack Quack were about to go to sleep.
"Quack!"
"Yeah, that was a great story! Too bad Mr. Cat couldn't join us," Stumpy added.
"He had an assignment due at nine, so he's finishing it up," Kaeloo explained. Kaeloo had always warned her friends about the dangers of procrastination, but they never listened to her.
"Quack", Quack Quack said, expressing his hope that Mr. Cat would be able to join them tomorrow. Story time just didn't feel the same without him.
Kaeloo put the book back on its shelf.
"Good night, buddies!"
"Night!"
"Quack!"
Kaeloo exited the room and closed the door, bumping directly into Mr. Cat.
"Watch where you're going!" he snapped.
"Sorry! What are you doing here?" she wondered. There was no particular reason for him to be going to Stumpy and Quack Quack's room at this time.
"Well, story time. Duh," he pointed out.
"Uh, about that…" Kaeloo began nervously. Mr. Cat stared at her expectantly.
"We already read our story for today since you were doing your homework."
Kaeloo saw a flash of hurt cross his face, even if only for a second.
"Understandable. Maybe next time," he muttered, trying to pretend that nothing was wrong. Kaeloo winced guiltily. She knew from experience how it felt to be left out of fun activities, and she felt doubly awful knowing that it was her fault that her best friend was feeling this way. She racked her brains for the right thing to say to him, and suddenly, inspiration struck.
"I thought we could do a little reading of our own! You know, fanfiction!" she explained, hoping that he would find that answer satisfactory. A grin spread across his face, and relief flooded her body. Mr. Cat grabbed his laptop and the two of them sat on the couch, browsing the archive together.
"Oh, look! There's a new one!" Kaeloo pointed to the top of the screen, indicating a fic that had been published only a few hours ago.
Mr. Cat clicked on the link to the new fanfic. A random screen popped up but before either of them could read it, Mr. Cat clicked "Proceed".
"What was that?"
"No idea," the cat replied. "I didn't read it."
"Mr. Cat! That message could have been something important!" Kaeloo admonished him. Kaeloo had always been the type to carefully read the terms and conditions on everything.
"Yeah, whatever. Are we going to read this story or what?"
Kaeloo grabbed the laptop and began to read.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the following fanfic, Kaeloo and Mr. Cat are both eighteen years old. They are also humans.
"Is this one of those stories where everyone's in college or something?" Mr. Cat wondered out loud.
It was a beautiful, sunny day. Kaeloo was sitting on the sofa. Mr. Cat entered the living room. The living room is where the sofa was. Therefore, Kaeloo was also in the living room.
"You know that feeling you get when you have to write an essay but there's a word count?" Mr. Cat remarked dryly.
"Hello, Kaeloo. You are very beautiful," said Mr. Cat.
"A Mr. Cat with manners?" Kaeloo laughed. Mr. Cat laughed with her.
"Hello, Mr. Cat. I think you look amazing too," said Kaeloo. It was true. Mr. Cat looked very amazing.
"The author has good taste," Mr. Cat smirked. Kaeloo thought the same, of course, but she wouldn't tell him that.
Kaeloo got off of the couch and walked towards Mr. Cat. She got down on her knees in front of him and unzipped his -
Kaeloo stopped reading out loud, her face engulfed in a fierce blush and her eyes the size of dinner plates.
"What's the matter, froggy?" Mr. Cat inquired.
"N-nothing!" She slammed the laptop shut and tried to pull it away from him, but he grabbed it and resumed reading from where she left off. Kaeloo covered her face with her hands as Mr. Cat read the rest of it, too embarrassed to even look at him.
"Froggy…"
Kaeloo's heart rate accelerated.
"This seems interesting."
Wait, what?
"We should try this sometime," he smirked, edging closer to her. Kaeloo stared at him in bug-eyed surprise. There was only one thing to do now.
Stumpy walked into the dining room the next morning, hungry for breakfast. Kaeloo was standing at the stove, making pancakes for everyone.
"Hi, guys!" he raised a hand in greeting, still half-asleep.
"Good morning, Stumpy!" Kaeloo greeted him cheerfully.
"Hey," said Mr. Cat from behind a copy of the daily newspaper.
Quack Quack walked in as well, considerably more alert than Stumpy. He grabbed a yogurt from the fridge.
"Good morning, Quack Quack! I really wish you would make better eating choices sometimes," Kaeloo sighed, flipping the last of the pancakes onto a plate. She set the plates down on the table. Mr. Cat put his newspaper aside, eliciting sharp gasps from Stumpy and Quack Quack now that his face was visible.
"Wow, that's a really big shiner, Mr. Cat!" Stumpy remarked.
"I hadn't noticed," Mr. Cat responded sarcastically.
"Quack?" Quack Quack was very concerned about the black eye and bandages, and asked to know where they came from.
"Literary debate," Mr. Cat explained.
"Quack?!"
(What kind of book club do you even go to?!)