New Player In Town

8

You groaned as you woke up to loud knocking on your front door. Rolling over, you glance at the clock. 7:00 am.    

Too early.    

Rolling out of bed, you tie your robe around you and head towards the door, Larry the cat following at your heels. "I'm coming," you call out as the person starts knocking again.    

As you opened door, you were met with Sam's face. "Good morning!"   

You grunted in response, still half asleep.    

"Can I hang with Larry?"   

"Sam," you sigh. "It's seven in the morning."   

He puts his hands together and pleads. "Pleaseee. I'll do anything, I swear."   

You sigh again, contemplating your options. You could let him in, go back to bed, and try to sleep through it. Tell him no, suffer through whining, and feel guilty later. Or..   

"Make breakfast again? It was good yesterday," you rub your eyes, stifling a yawn.   

"On it!" He books it to the kitchen, cooking at the speed of light and smiling at the cat every now and then. Still groggy, you sat at the table with your cheek smushed against it, eyes half closed.    

Sooner than you thought was possible, a plate of food and a cup of coffee was placed in front of you. "Thank y-" you sit up but stop midsentence as you realized he wouldn't hear you anyway.    

He was sitting on the floor with a cat toy, playing with the cat and grinning like a idiot. You smiled to yourself and watched as you ate.    

"Oh, right," Sam says, looking up at you from the floor. He seemed very comfortable at your place, like it was his own. "I had another reason for coming here."   

"And that is?"

"Well, Robin told mom who told me to check my phone because Robin told mom that Maru had told Robin to tell Sebastian to tell me to tell you that Maru said she-"   

You hold out a hand. "Dude, slow down. What?"   

He huffs. "Robin told mom who told me to-" he shakes his head. "Never mind the details, basically Sebastian texted me asking to pass a message to you from Maru."   

"Oh." you say, standing up and brining your dirty dishes to the sink. "And that was?"   

"She wants to hang out today," he picks up Larry, cradling him to his chest. "Anyway, Robin was fed up with it because she gave Sebastian your number but he wouldn't text you directly. And Maru's phone was dead or something. I don't know, but it was a mess and-" he rambles on and you let him, enjoying the background noise as you clean the dishes. It wasn't long before that task was done and you turned to look at Sam.    

"Alright, Larry bear," Sam says as he stands up. "I gotta get to work."   

You smile as the new name for the cat. "What am I, chopped liver?" you tease.   

"I was getting there," he grins. "Seeya around. Thanks for letting me see Larry."   

"Anytime. Thanks for sending word from Maru."    

He waves and exits. You head outside and do your daily farm work, in a much happier mood than usual. You were excited to see Maru, and it was also partially due to Sam's happy energy rubbing off on you.    

Heading inside, you took a shower and picked something to wear other than your worn work clothes. You looked nice but not fancy or anything. Satisfied with everything, you grab your stuff and head out, making the pretty walk over to Maru's house.