The next time I saw Kurloz was when I was hanging out with some friends about a sweep later. It was me, Mituna, and Aranea. We were playing a simple game of hacky sack. I kicked the ball with the side of my foot, and it flew past Mituna, hitting Kurloz in the side of the head while walking past.
"Sorry dude!" Mitchy had yelled, and walked over to retrieve the stray ball. That's when he noticed me. His face seemed to light up a bit.
"Hey, are you motherfuckers playing hacky sack?"
Mituna nodded in return.
"Mind if I up and join you guys?"
"Sure! It's always better with four."
He walked over with Kurloz, and they took their respective spots in the circle. We tossed it around for a while, and I had to admit, he was very good. He never dropped the ball, even once. After a few good games, everyone lost interest and we decided to sit down on the soft grass and chat.
"So what is your name stranger?" Aranea had asked.
"It's Kurloz. What about all of you?"
"I'm Aranea," She had said with a prideful posture, "That's Mituna, and she's Meulin."
"Meulin? That sounds… really fucking familiar."
"Hey, aren't you… Aren't mew that one guy I accidentally pounced on a while back?" I had said, suddenly realizing who he was. He looked so different now, with his face paint plastered thickly on its canvas.
"Yeah, Yeah! That's where I know you from. How you all up and been?"
"Heehee, I've been great! You?"
"Same. It's nice to see ya again Meu."
I nodded. Aranea gave me a smile, and her and Mitchy both looked at us expectantly.
"So you two know each other from another time?" She asks.
"Yeah! We met a long time ago, when I was hunting. I thought he was something to be preyed on and I accidentally tackled him!"
"Yeah. But it's motherfuckin' okay. Man that was quite a while ago! I think we should all try to keep in touch."
"I agree with the juggalo boy, we should all trade handles with him! And Meulin, maybe we can introduce him with the rest of our group," Mituna said, looking at me again.
"That sounds purrfect! Purrloz, you'll love the rest of our furriends!"
We all laughed together. There was more chatting that day, and Mituna and Kurloz were talking closely, as they do now. They seemed to be moirails from the start. But as they were talking, Aranea had pulled me to the side.
"Psst," She whispered.
"Yeah Aranea?" I had whispered back, leaning in to hear her.
"You seem to have a strong feeling toward that boy there. Do you like him?"
I giggled quietly and glanced over at him. He caught me looking and smiled before returning to Mituna. "Purrsibly, why?"
"I can sense it. You two might be cute together, have you thought about asking him out?"
"Huh?" I said, looking at her. "I don't know, I might have considered it, but purrhaps I should wait."
She nodded in agreement. "Waiting would be smart." She glances over at him and grins, whispering in my ear again. "But, for the record, he has strong feelings toward you too."
I gasped and covered my mouth. I yelled a little loudly in my excitement. "Really?!"
She had laughed at my exuberance. The other two looked over, wondering at what I was so happy about, but soon returned to their own conversation.
She nodded. I couldn't have stopped the grin from slipping on my lips if my life had depended on it. We continued to gossip, and every now and then we'd look over at the boys while they were talking.
When the moon began to set, we all headed home. Kurloz was nice enough to offer to walk me home, and when he did, I looked back at Aranea to see her wink.
"Go on you two, shoo!" She had said, waving us off and giggling uncontrollably. "We can take it from here, you be safe."
"Mew too Aranea, see you later!" I shouted as we walked down the road to my hive. The other two had taken their own respective paths, and waved us off.
I watched my feet as we walked. It was silent until Kurloz said something to me.
"So, you live down by the forest? Not surprising I guess."
"Yeah. Cat mom said it would be the purrfect place to have my hive bepaws hunting would always be an option!"
"I bet." He laughed nervously, and scratched the back of his messy tangled hair.
"Yeah. So uh… where do you live Purrloz?"
"Down by the ocean. It's got a great motherfuckin' view."
"That sounds furry pretty. Mew must be so lucky!"
He nodded. He seemed to be lost in his own world staring at me. I looked up at him, and when I realized he was looking at me with a strange fondness, I glanced down and blushed. His foot caught in a stray tree root. He was almost instantly yanked down.
"Fuck!" He screamed, as he face planted onto ground.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?" I had said, quickly kneeling down next to him.
He sat up and brushed the dirt and most of his face paint off. He grimaced at his palms. "Yeah, I'm fine Meu. Look at this mess though. Damn."
I giggled. He shot an angry look up at me, but his face lightened almost instantly. "Want help up?"
He nodded and took my hand. I yanked with all of my weight, but it wasn't enough. Almost as soon as his body left the ground, it slammed back down. One of my feet slipped on the gravel and I almost fell on top of him, if it weren't for him catching me at the waist with both hands.
"Careful!" He had said. I blushed as I look down at him holding me up. He stood up slowly, keeping his hands in place. "You really gotta be careful Meu. You almost fell."
I gave him a nervous smile. He returned mine with a sincere one, letting me go. "Come on. We need to get you home."
I stuttered incoherently. I don't even know what I had attempted to say, but all that came out was "Mhyeh." He chuckled lightly. I glanced up and saw my cave standing out right in front of the tree line.
"Look Purrloz, there's my hive!" I yelled, as I pointed. That's when Kurloz grinned at me.
"Race ya there Meu," He blurted, as he took off down the path.
"Purrloz waitttt!" I ran after him, but his legs are so much longer than mine, so he was catching his breath at the doorstep before I was half way down the trail. I started run-walking until I reached him. He gave me another grin as he leaned casually on the door.
"I win," He said.
I punched him playfully in the arm. "No fair Purrloz!"
"That was so fair! I didn't cheat or nothin'." I glared at him. He grinned at me yet again though, and I couldn't help but smile in return.
"Okay okay. You win." I moved to open the door, and beamed back at him. "Bye Purrloz. See mew later."
"Bye Meu," I heard him say, as I closed the door behind me.
After it was shut, I leaned up against it and slid down. A loud sigh left my mouth. I hugged myself quietly in the dark, watching the sun rise through a window to the side built into the wall.
I bit my lip, and quietly whispered to myself, "There's just something about him, I don't know what, but I really… really like Purrloz."