Fire Meet Gasoline || Karl Jacobs

four

Karl woke up and his surroundings were rather unfamiliar. Though, he doesn't sleep in his guest room, so quite frankly it's to be expected. He turned over to lay on his back and found his cat next to him with the bedroom door cracked a bit. He grabbed his phone on the end table and checked the time. 2:39. He was confused as to how he only slept for three hours.

He pushed the thought from his mind, standing up and walking to the closet in the room. He pulled out the spare sheets and started changing them. His cat moved to lay on the floor by his feet. She was unfazed, tired. Karl could relate. He remade the bed for Nick and picked up his phone and Lana. She just readjusted in his arms. He walked over to his room and could hear the call still ongoing.

"He's back?" Nadia asked, disgust lacing her tone. He was too tired to care anyway.

"I changed the sheets for you if you wanted to move into the spare room." Karl said, petting his cat behind his ears as he paused behind Nick. Lana was purring and she knew Nick would want to pet her too. As expected, he reached up to pet Lana.

"Lana!" Alex said with a wide smile. Lana meowed softly before going back to sleep.

"You named your cat, Lana?" Nadia asked. Karl could hear the girl holding back laughter and he paused his movements. He looked dead at the camera, glaring daggers at the picture of the girl only illuminated by a monitor screen.

"I dont give a fuck what you say to me but you leave my damn cat alone." Karl said, his voice cold as ice. Everyone stopped speaking, except for Nadia who was really pushing her limits.

"Oh, going all big and bad now, are we?" Nadia joked.

"Nads, dial it back." Alex warned, knowing Karl's change of tone almost immediately.

"I'm not fucking around, Nadia. Ruin my damn image if you want but leave my cat out of it." Karl said before walking over to his bed, out of the camera frame. He laid Lana on the bed and she curled up in her normal spot next to the wall.

"Jesus, it was just a joke." Nadia scoffed. Karl knew he was probably overreacting. I mean, she's just a cat. But Karl has had Lana since he was fifteen. She was an old and frail cat. She didn't eat much anymore and Karl knew her time was limited.

His parents had picked her up from a shelter when she was just a kitten just after his grandmother has passed away. He named her Lana after his grandmother. Cats usually attach to one person as their owner, being the independent animals they were, and Lana chose him over his two siblings and parents. He'd never been too far away from her for too long of a time period. It just evoked a different type of feeling when Nadia started in on trying to make fun of him for having a cat.

"Everything seems to just be a joke with you." Karl muttered, walking over to the desk to grab his abandoned monster from earlier, He cracked it open and chugged it. He was awake now anyway.

"If you have a problem say it." Nadia pushed on. He crumbled the can after pulling it away from his mouth and trashing it in the bin under his desk. He leaned on the back of Nick's chair, wrapping his arms around his neck. Nick took kindly to the physical touch, having grown accustomed to how touch oriented Karl was after some time.

"I have a lot of problems with you." Karl laughed, resting his chin on top of Nick's head. Alex was not amused. "But I'll keep them to myself."

"No, I wanna hear it." Nadia said. She was pressing a nerve and Karl really wanted to lay into her. He wanted to shout just how fucking much she pissed him off. How much he wants to change about himself because of her. How insecure he'd gotten because of the words that run on loop in his head, all coming from her mouth.

He wants to ask why.

Lana meowed from the bed, making Karl's head turn with concern. She was sitting up now, blinking at Karl slowly before meowing once more. She was simply protesting her lack of Karl in the bed.

"Pussy." She muttered with a laugh.

"No, I just wouldn't get away with it like you do every single time." Karl said, moving away from Nick and walking to his bed. He laid on top of the blankets, Lana meowing her complaints once more before curling up next to him.

"What a fucking bitch." Nadia scoffed before it was obvious she left the call.

"You couldn't just leave it alone." Alex whispered before he too left the call. Nick stayed silent, shutting down the monitors and pc before turning to look at Karl.

"Please don't be mad at me." Karl whispered, running his hands through the gray fur of his cat.

"I'm not. She's a bitch to only you for no reason." Nick sighed, leaning back in the chair. "What did you do to her?"

"Absolutely nothing!" Karl yelled. Lana yelled back and the boys both laughed.

"Well, I'll give queen Lana what she wants. I'll see you in the morning." Nick said, walking towards the door.

"See you in the morning." Karl said with a yawn. He got more comfortable next to Lana and quickly drifted off to sleep once again.