Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Leilani? Lei?"
Leilani's eyes fluttered open.
Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Leilaniiiii!" Duke shouted from behind the closed door.
"Y-Yeah?" Leilani turned on her back.
"I'm up! Ya ready to go shoppin'?"
Leilani yawned. Her eyes snapped back open. She sat bolt upright. "Shopping! Oh, yes! I'm so excited!" She threw her covers off. "Wait! I haven't had breakfast yet!"
"Oh, right."
"You sleep okay?" Leilani threw off her nightgown and slipped on a purple tie-dye shirt.
"Yeah, I slept pretty good. You?"
"Yeah, me too." Leilani pulled on a denim skirt which fell a bit above her knees. She opened the door, causing Duke to back away.
"Wow! You look pretty good! You got a thing for tie-dyes, huh?"
"Yeah, but I'm a little more into florals."
"Yeah, I can see." Duke gestured toward the daisy-shaped pillow on the couch.
Leilani noticed the blanket was perfectly folded. "Ha, yeah. Anyway, you up for Lucky Chomp?"
"Yeah, sure. Never had a problem with it." Duke followed Leilani into the kitchen.
"So, how's work been, I mean, with you bein' a weasel and all." Duke drank what was left of the milk in his bowl.
Leilani, across from Duke at the small, circular table, swallowed a spoonful. "Oh, it's been okay so far. I may have gotten a few odd looks, and someone was surprised they hired a weasel, but it's been going well."
Duke swallowed the milk and exhaled with satisfaction. "Oh, that's good. You know, I worked as a cashier a long time ago, and I think got the least amount of customers. Us weasels, you know. We ain't exactly seen as trustworthy or whatever."
"Yeah, I know how it feels. I've gotten surprised or even scared looks from interviewers when I've searched for jobs." Leilani wiped her napkin on her mouth. "Anyway, you ready to go now?"
"Yeah!" Duke got up from his seat and carried his bowl to the kitchen.
"Wow, Targoat! I missed this place!" Duke remarked as they walked into the large store. "I haven't been here since I got arrested for stealin' one of their laptops."
"Well, you're not going to steal anything today, because we're going shopping!" Leilani sang as she hooked his arm in hers.
"Good to see you're excited about this?" Duke raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, wait." Leilani dropped his arm. "Do you want me to help you pick your clothes at all?"
Duke shrugged. "Eh…I guess I could use some creative input. I mean, you're a marketing agent, so I think that'll sort of help you know these things?"
"Yay!" Leilani gave Duke a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I've always wanted to give someone a makeover! I mean, you're already pretty cute, but you look like a bum, and it's kinda embarrassing if we're married."
Duke narrowed his eyes as a smile spread across his face. "You think I'm cute?"
Leilani froze. "Oh, uh, well…" She let Duke go. "…I mean, I have opinions on everyone's appearances, no matter how I feel about them, or how well I know them."
"Okay, okay, sure," Duke said with a smirk.
"Anyway, where's the men's section? I've only shopped at Targoat online."
"Uh…I think it's that way." Duke pointed to the right, past the women's section.
"Oh, okay. I'll go get a cart."
"So, with your copper-colored fur, I think greens, yellows, and reds would fit you best. I don't think blues would work too well." Leilani said as she and Duke stared into a long mirror attached to the end of a rack of clothing.
"Heh, my shorts are blue." Duke grabbed the sides of his shorts.
"Well it actually looks good, because the blue's really dark. You know what, let's put really dark blue on the color list!" Leilani grabbed a dark blue blazer and ruby red slacks. She brought them over and held them up to Duke. "What about these for formal wear?"
Duke grabbed the clothes. "Hey! These are nice! Okay!"
Leilani squealed and put them in the cart.
"Maybe I should get a white collared shirt and a tie?"
"Well of course!" Leilani grabbed one of the last collared shirts available for species with long torsos. "What color do you want the tie?"
"I guess…black?"
"Yeah, that's what I'd go with, too!" Leilani grabbed a small black tie and put it and the shirt into the cart. "Let's look for something casual!"
"Ah…my favorite type of clothing!"
"So…what kind of casual clothes do you like specifically?"
"Let's see, muscle shirts, like the one I'm wearin', T-shirts, sports shorts…" Duke tugged at his shorts, "…and sweatpants."
"So, do you like anything on the shirts, any patterns on anything?"
"I haven't thought about it much, but I like plaid, and I used to own a shirt with Family Goat characters printed on it, and one with Wreck-It Rhino."
"There's a stack of Wreck-It Rhino shirts over there!" Leilani grabbed the cart and briskly walked over to a shelf set stocked with T-shirts and sweat pants. She grabbed a red Wreck-It Rhino shirt and held it up to Duke. "This looks nice on you! You like it?"
"I love it!" Duke grabbed the shirt and threw it in the cart. "Those dark blue sweats would go pretty well with it!" He threw them in the cart as well.
"Glad you love it! I learned through experience that if you don't love something in the store, you won't wear it."
Three more shirts, three more pants, and a set of underwear later (Leilani insisted Duke look for those on his own), they took a taxi out of Targoat and went back to the condo.
In bed, Leilani thought about how grateful she was that she actually had a good day with Duke. She also was happy to get some clothes for herself. It was interesting to see some of the same clothes she saw online.
The door flew open. Miss Leapman, the darkness of the room nearly making her a silhouette, stood in the doorway.
"Miss Leapman?" Leilani stumbled out of bed. "W-What're you doing here?"
"I just came to let you know you'll never be noticed by me ever again! MWAHAHAHAHA!" The leopard pointed at her, her arm growing longer and longer.
"What?" Leilani exclaimed. She ran under the bed and saw a glowing pair of eyes.
"Okay, Leilani! Just count to ten while we KNOCK YOU OUT!" shouted another voice.
Leilani screamed and fell through the floor.
"Leilani! Leilani! Leilani!"
Leilani woke with a start to Duke's crimson eyes peering into hers as he shook her.
"Duke?"
"Leilani! You were havin' a nightmare! I woke up to all this screamin', I ran through your door and saw you were tossin' and turnin'! You okay?"
Tears flowed down Leilani's cheeks. "There was my boss, and then these glowing eyes, and then I heard what the doctor said before my surgery—"
"—You're gonna be okay." Duke reached over Leilani and rubbed her back.
Leilani let more tears flow. "I just…I'm so scared I won't make it in marketing! I've waited so long for this, and I've never lived away from Bunnyburrow!"
"Well, I guess I could only imagine. I've lived in Savannah Central my whole life. Anyway, sorry about the nightmare. Hope you can get back to sleep okay." Duke walked away.
Leilani grabbed his arm. Duke slowly looked back at her.
"Could you please sleep here?"
Duke's eyes widened as his ears pricked up. "Oh, really? Okay!" He threw the covers off. "Oh, wait, I'm gonna get that daisy pillow. It's really comfortable!"
Duke dashed off to the living room and just as quickly arrived with the pillow. He climbed into the bed as Leilani shuffled towards the right.
Duke pulled the covers back up and laid down on his side, facing Leilani.
A small smile brightened Leilani's distressed face.
Duke gave a small chuckle.
"Wait, you had surgery?"
An unexpected laugh escaped from Leilani. "Yeah, when I was little. It was the first time I left Bunnyburrow. It was for my heart. It was one of the scariest times of my life, because I was scared the surgery wouldn't work, or that I wouldn't wake up. When me and my parents were on the train, I saw how beautiful Rainforest District was. I never saw anything like it before, and for a minute, I wasn't scared."
"Oh, wow." Duke's eyes shifted. "That's rough. Sorry."
"Well, at least the surgery worked, and I did wake up!"
Leilani and Duke shared a laugh.
"Duke?" Leilani asked after the laughter died down.
"Yeah?"
"Could you…cuddle me?"
"Uh, okay!" Duke smiled. "Sure!"
Leilani turned to face the wall. Duke shifted closer to her and slowly placed his arm on top of hers. He nestled his muzzle near her neck.
Feeling safe and warm on the inside, Leilani drifted off to sleep.