See Yourself Be Yourself

[7] Arrival

Lillis was away, rushing back to the truck as soon as she passed through into the hallway. On the wall to her left were a variety of fancy brass hangers stuck up with almost-covered command strips. A little seat and a designated area for shoes did double and triple duty as storage. Everything was scooted very close to everything else. It was to be expected. This was Southern California. Any space was at a premium.

The closet practically butted up against the door and required careful manipulation and folding to not block the opening. Fancy little ornaments hung on the wall. Misty recognized the style of at least some of them as suggesting and embodying the sense of science fiction that Lillis alluded to. Others had traces of what must have been a video game aesthetic. Both made her wish she had more familiarity with one of the subjects, but she... he felt like he was just falling deeper into a bimbo-like role.

Behind the door ahead was a water heater with other utilities, and to the left was a half bath that looked well-kept but not immersed in girly stuff like his mother always scattered around any bathroom she had control of.

Turning to the right, a large sofa faced a couple of windows with heavy drapes bordering on blackout. A modest TV, similar in size to the one his parents had, was placed against the wall with what looked like a homemade entertainment center, painted in a fun flourish of reddish-brown tones. Practically an actual fireplace, though electric, was set off to the side with a mix of decorations ranging from leftover Christmas bits, some floral accompaniment, and little luminescent balls that didn't really fit anywhere.

It was a cozy place. She took off her awkward-fit shoes and placed them where they were supposed to go before continuing around the corner. On the left was a staircase with a faux wood texture. She wasn't sure where to put the food. The table near the TV was a bit cramped with various books and folders, but it offered just enough space for her to sneak everything to the side.

From there, she should have waited for Lillis to come back. But she was curious.

Right before the kitchen, in a small nook, was a washer and dryer. And to her left, she saw a cat tree with a wide-eyed occupant. Skeptical, concerned blue eyes locked on her. She raised a hand to the cat, and it just sat there. Hopefully, this wasn't trouble. Dina talked about cats a lot, but they could never get one because of the rental agreement.

This cat had broad, light whiskers evident in the low light streaming from the back. Its fur was a mottled tone of reddish brown and light gold, evocative of a miniature lion. The cat definitely gave the impression that it expected her to treat it with that sort of regal dignity. She avoided it for now.

The area with the cat tree seemed like a rumpus room, with some musical equipment off to the side, a few layers of board games, and a sliding door leading to a small backyard with plants on a cement slab, strands of white lights hanging in the shape of a gazebo, and some stone decorations as far as she could see. That seemed like enough exploration for now. She walked over to the couch and unfurled the bag with the soup. It was still so hot that the plastic bag was sweating.

Misty pulled at the plastic lid but couldn't get it open. She fussed with it gently and watched in horror as it tipped out of her hands. Acting on instinct, she flailed desperately and managed to slap both pieces together to save her meal. There were casualties.

A big, hot glob of semi-cheesy liquid made a dark, messy stain on the couch, and another splattered on her sleeve, ricocheting off her wrist. She gasped and nearly yelped with a searing welt of pain. She shook it off, and it added more stains to the couch before coming to rest on the floor.

Sitting there in scolding, lancing agony, she looked around at the situation and broke down crying. She didn't realize she still had tears left to give after everything earlier. All the trembles unleashed like she had been tossed in a freezer instead of splashed with burning liquid. She bent over like a broken statue, crumbling and settling to the last bundle of rubble. To make matters worse, she heard the blasted cat hiss and yowl at her. That almost brought on laughter as a final kick to send her off the cliff.

"What's going on?! Astara! Don't you be like that. This is our guest. Go get huffy in your place if you can't be a good girl. Come on."

Lillis returned. She was panting, still holding the umbrella and much of the stuff from the car. That was all Misty could make out as she dried her eyes and cradled the still-stinging spot on her arm. The cat went back into the other room.

Dropping everything she was carrying, Lillis scooted over to Misty's side and repeated her first question. Misty tried to speak, but she wasn't certain of her words. She was in practically a state of shock that Lillis was back and talking to her. After a cough, she absorbed the question and answered, "I spilled some soup on the couch and... and everywhere."

Lillis scoffed, "Forget the couch; it's seen worse. Let me get something for your arm."

In less than a minute, Lillis brought a lightly wrapped cold compress. She encouraged Misty to go over to the sink and run the spot under some water. Lillis had also brought a wipe and some other things to clean up the mess. Soon, it was very hard to tell that a spill had happened. She also brought a large bowl and a support plate for the container Misty had haphazardly saved. Only a small amount had actually been lost.

While Lillis went back to the car to finish bringing everything in, Misty heaved herself to her feet and went to the half bath near the front to rinse her arm and splash some water on her stained clothes. Whatever tears she had left quickly dissipated, leaving only vaporized traces of shame clinging to her cheeks as the shivers of weakness slowly relaxed as she did. Looking in the mirror wasn't any better in this one than it had been in the boutique, so she avoided it as much as she could...as he could.

Slow, ponderous breaths helped as he ambled back to the couch. Taking his time with each step, he had the soup ready to eat, with generous plumes of white steam wafting off it. The first spoonful was a lot, more than he expected.

She coughed, and echoes of stomach acid clung to and blocked off the best of the flavor. She resisted channels of reflux and made her way to the next spoonful. It was a gradual improvement and actually quite pleasant, past where it burned her mouth slightly. Several spoonfuls deep, it finally washed down the turbulence sickness that had struck her. Her rechristened tummy had several noisy new opinions but was holding steady so far.

Dipping her nose against the steaming bowl was quietly but vividly therapeutic, like spiritually imbibing tea. She was roused from her moment by Lillis returning with the last of the last things. Nervously, she motioned to set the soup down and help her, but the young woman was done and on her way to tidy up, followed by feeding the cat, which gave Misty a lingering stare as it scampered across the kitchen tiles, claws clicking.

Once done in the kitchen, Lillis stretched her arms this way and that and slipped out of her rain-saturated top layer. Misty's eyes shot as far across the room as she could send them when she noticed her gaze wandering to the girl's shadowed nipples. She didn't want to know if Lillis noticed where she was looking. She blew on the soup and continued eating.

"Is it good? Worth it?"

Misty nodded as she stared at the remains in the bowl.

"I'm glad. I still have to figure out a good kitchen or dining table space. Astara's not always the best dinner companion, especially with guests. But she should be better now that she's eaten. Or I can put her in the spare room with the litter box."

Guilt clung to Misty, as if she could see the cat's glare through the wall. She was entering its domain. It wouldn't be right to force it into a confined space, and then she might take it even more personally.

Lillis laughed. "It's a cat. No matter her attitude, she's not the one in charge of the apartment. She likes to go in the spare room, especially when she's horny. I don't ask what she does in there, as long as she doesn't make a mess. Sometimes, she comes out to ask for a belly rub, and then she just fucks off when she doesn't want any more. She'll leave you alone, or she'll face the consequences."

Misty finished the soup and reiterated her thanks. After changing into a looser, more comfortable pale blue top, Lillis plopped down on the couch next to Misty and extracted her order. She didn't have as much to jiggle as Misty did, but she still wound up with a little chest quake.

Looking at her made Misty want to apologize again, say something, find some incisive or monumental words, or be nervous or terrified in some new way. She'd had enough stress already. That was the plan. Instead, she was throttled into the grip of a long yawn.

"So sleepy. Aww. I can grab you a big blanket from upstairs if you just want to stretch out here for the evening. Your call." Lillis started to eat but stopped to swallow and speak. Misty ate the rest of her order gently, the quiet, subtle rumbling of her lower digestive system muffled by slow sips of water. She pondered the blanket offer before giving a nod that started small at first before becoming clearer and easier to recognize.

Lillis carried a taco with her upstairs and crunched through it, finishing it before returning with a wide, overwhelming mound of silvery blue blanket and a soft, square pillow. "This is one option. There are others. Oh, wait, are you allergic to cats? I didn't think to ask before. Also, because of your changes, you may have replaced, changed, or removed allergies. Just because of random happenstance. The boutique didn't put anything in you on purpose, but I'm sure your ex would have if she could have."

Also, by chance, Misty sneezed right then. She used a rough corner of a napkin from the bag for her nose. Then she remembered that she still had the handkerchief that Lillis gave her. Her friend gave her a chuckle when that came out. And those little delays gave her time to consider her response. She didn't feel allergic. Her mother… His mother had a strong reaction to onions and mustard, two things Brent loved to eat, often in combination.

Her sensitivity had actually popped up when she was pregnant with him, and although she referred to it as often as possible, she would qualify that she didn't blame him for it. He couldn't help but interpret it that way, at least occasionally.

Misty sniffed the air. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to get evidence or a conclusive sense of whether she might be allergic to cat stuff now. At least the food she just finished hadn't triggered an allergy. A small clump of light fur sparkled like straw on the lower, weathered part of the couch. She brushed her hand over it, but nothing happened. In the absence of anything, she had to conclude, "I think I'll be fine with the cat. What are the other options?"

The lowest rung of the choices was a massive, stashed beanbag chair, which Lillis vouched for as being incredibly comfortable and plush. It previously found a place near where the cat tree was now. But, given Astara's hostility, that was probably out. Above that was the couch that they were both on. Higher than that was the spare room, with a much more spacious but randomly saggy couch with dimensions that dwarfed a double bed, especially with Misty's petite size.

If that didn't work for her, there was a vacuum-packed air mattress in what used to be a garage. And finally, Lillis was willing to share her bed, provided she had enough time to tidy up that space.

A riches of options. Misty felt drawn to the more comfortable ones, but her brain was listless as to how much she cared for comfort. She slept in what felt more like a traditional ship cabin bunk from a movie or documentary, and it was fine. She didn't desire much. Just somewhere to lay her head. She imagined rolling some dice to pick. Only five choices, but there were five-sided dice. Don't worry about it; just choose something.

[Welcome to the Seventh Book in the Cerberus Saga. Yup. We’re doing this. I never thought I would delve into such a big part of the backstory and this may be a good idea but I like writing about all sorts of characters. I have the ending of the story in mind already. But is it the ending you might expect from what you know now? We’ll see…Provisionally, I am focusing on one chapter a week and we’ll see how things go from there. They might be longer or shorter and more numerous. Always feel free to offer suggestions. Reader response is going to be very important going forward. I’m open to anything. Although the squirrel thing is probably the closest I’ll ever get to furry. I’m gonna have some fun and funny characters this time too. Dunno how long this will go. It might be much shorter due to the different pacing. I hope you enjoy it. I plan to get the earlier books together and released in an official form. Look forward to that hopefully. As always, vast details, especially types of characters, character names, and more are wide open for this narrative. Feel free to add any idea which doesn't show up in the eventual options. Also, if you see any random typos or uncapitalized starts of sentences, please pass them along. I am currently using Quillbot and DeepL to assist with speedy editing, but that’s not 100%. Thank you for reading!]

Poll after this. Since I've change the schedule, polls are more important than ever. Feel free to offer as much feedback as you can to help the story.