Daily Life With Furry Girls

01 - Knock, Knock. Who's There?

Rock music on, something strong to drink, the green cursor waiting inside the text editor for the start of a night of writing. Guy sat back with his laptop on his knees and got ready to write down his thoughts when he heard knocking on his door.
"Blast." he thought. "Always when I'm in the mood for writing."
Another double knock.
'Hai, hai.' he said with a sigh, put his laptop aside and went to the door.
Before he reached it it opened and in walked a white feline anthro in dark blue dress suit. 'How rude to keep me waiting when I'm expected.' she said, frowning at him.
Surprised, he watched her looking around, scrutinising his place with her blue eyes.
'And what is this place? It's so small.'
'Excuse me?'
'Ah. My luggage's at the door. Be careful with it.' she said and passed him into the room. 'Don't tell me this is all.' Her white bushy tail twitched left and right.
He turned back. 'Excuse me.'
'Yes, yes.' she said and waved him off. 'You're excused.'
'Hold it!'
She looked back at him.
'Who are you?' he asked, annoyed at her haughty attitude. 'And what are you doing here?'
'Silly.' she said and sniffed once. 'I'm Feli, the special envoy here on cultural exchange.'
Guy frowned in confusion. 'Gomen, but, I have no idea what you're talking about.'
'The cultural exchange between humans and felines?' she said, raising one eyebrow. 'You had been chosen to host the representative from our people, which is me.'
He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. 'There must be a misunderstanding.' he said, looking back at her. 'I've never heard about this.'
She pulled out a letter and held it out to him. 'This is the official confirmation of the exchange.'
He took it, saw the official logo on top and read it. 'It's all here,' he said after a moment. 'this is the address but the name's not right. Okayado is not my name and it's not even the name of the previous tenant.'
'What do you mean?'
'The address they have sent you to must be wrong.' he said, giving the letter back.
'Are you sure?' she said, reading the letter herself once more.
'If I had participated in any of this I would surely have remembered it, even if I had been drunk at the time.'
She looked up at him, the stern look in her eyes gone. 'So, I'm not supposed to be here?'
'Looks like it.' he said, unsure of what to do next.
For a moment she looked at the letter again, pocketed it and bows. 'Gomen, it was not my intention to disturb you.' she said and went back outside.
'It's okay.' Guy said, following her. 'I'm sorry you had come to the wrong place.'
She took her luggage. 'Thank you for your patience.' she said, bowing quickly once more and walked down the stairs back to the street.
'No problem.' he said as he watched her leave, closed the door, walked back to the cushions and sat back at his table again.
He put his hands on the keyboard, stared at the screen but couldn't gather the ideas in his head to write them down. After a minute he got up again and made himself a big sandwich with meat and cheese. He put the plate next to his cushion and then realised it had started pouring down outside. He enjoyed the sound of rain and opened the door to the small balcony, leaned outside and let the raindrops fall on his face.
The streets were quiet but for the sound of rainwater flowing down pipes and the drainage down the street. He took a deep breath of the refreshing air through his nose, then heard a sneeze. Leaning out further he searched left and right down the street and found Feli hiding under a shade from a store. She looked cold with her arms wrapped around her and he could see the short shade didn't shield her much from the downpour.
'Maybe I'll get a story out of it as well.' he told himself, went to the door for his shoes and umbrella, then went out onto the street, heading for Feli.
'Hey.' he said as he found her pressed against the wall and peeking up at the night sky, her ears flattened and her wet tail tucked between her legs.
She looked quickly at him, then down. 'Hey.' she said softly.
'You have no place to go?'
She shook her head. 'I would only meet the agent in charge of the exchange tomorrow. I have no contact info with me.'
'Right then.' he said and picked up her luggage.
'Wait, what are you doing?'
'You're staying at my place tonight.'
'But?'
'You want to spend the night getting even wetter here?'
'But, I wasn't really nice to you.'
'Forget about it.' he said, hooked her arm in his and pulled her along. 'Let's just get you home and dry and tomorrow we can sort things out, find out where you were really supposed to go.'

Back upstairs he gave her a big towel and pointed her to the shower. 'Get the cold water out of your fur before you catch a cold.'
'Arigato.' she whispered as she went into the bathroom while he stashed away her wet luggage. She let the hot water run through her fur until she felt warm again.
Guy knocked once on the shower door. 'Since all your luggage is wet I put your clothes in the dryer and I've left a large sweater of mine out here for you with a couple more towels.'
'Arigato.' she said, rinsing her tail.
While he was looking for something warm to drink he heard her get out of the shower. 'Feel better now?'
'Much. Thank you.'
'Would you like some tea or warm milk or something to-' he asked while turning around.
She saw him staring at her. 'Something wrong?' she asked, checking herself to make sure she wasn't dripping water on the floor.
He shook his head. 'No, gomen. You look real good.' he said with a little smile, admiring the way she looked in his black wool sweater coming down to halfway her thighs.
He saw her shocked expression and realised what he had said. 'Gomen! I meant you look better now that you've gotten dry again!' He turned back to the kitchen counter to hide his blush. 'So what would you like to drink?' Her stomach rumbled a little at that moment. 'Or maybe you'd like something to eat?'
She looked away, fiddling with the hem of the sweater. 'I don't want to cause any trouble.'
'No trouble. I made myself a sandwich just before I saw you outside. Would you like one? I've got cheese, beef, lettuce and tomatoes on mine.'
'Yes please.' she said softly with a little nod.
'Have a seat, it'll be right there.' he said, giving her a gentle smile as he gestured at the cushions against the wall.
She sat down in one corner, looking around at the room again. This time she felt more appreciation to be here.
He handed her a plate with a thick sandwich. 'Oh yeah, what do you want to drink?'
'Warm milk please.' she said, smiling gratefully at him.
'Okay.' he said and returned to the counter.
He sat down to start on his own sandwich after setting down two cups of warm milk on the table. 'What's this exchange anyway?' he asked after swallowing down the first bite.
'It's meant to get to know each other better since there's only been high level contact between our species.' she said, happy to explain her presence more properly. 'If there's anything that clashes between our cultures it's better to find out first before we start mingling any further.'
He nodded. 'I see. So how did you end up here?'
'I was top of my class and I was curious.' she said, chuckling a little at how true the second reason was.
'But then you unfortunately ended up at my place.'
She sat up straight quickly. 'It's really not bad!' she said. 'They said it was going to be a luxurious place with a wealthy family and..'
He laughed. 'No worries. You belong at a more appropriate place than here. All I've got here are books, movies and my work.'
She relaxed a little and looked around again. 'What do you do?'
'Writing.' he said, nodding at his laptop. 'I write short stories for a weekly scifi and fantasy magazine while I work on my novels.'
'You're famous?'
He let out a short laugh. 'If I was I would live in a bigger place than this.'
'Gomen.'
'I make enough to get by and keep having fun. I don't mind because I don't need much to satisfy my life.'
She yawned and he remembered he needed to get her a place to sleep. His apartment wasn't big though and the only free space was in the middle where he always slept. There was no choice, also because he had no spare futon. At least it was big enough for two.
'I only have one large futon, so if you don't mind sharing?' he asked with some embarrassment.
She shook her head. 'I don't want to bother you any further.'
'You're no bother.' he said. 'In fact, I enjoy this opportunity to have met you. Seems not many people get it and it gives me something new to write about.'
'Thank you.' she said softly.
He laid out the futon in the room after putting away the dishes and Feli curled up with an extra pillow while he turned off the light.
'Sleep well Feli.' he said.
'You too.' she said, her eyelids getting heavy. 'Thank you for everything.'

***

Finding Feli sleeping next to him was proof for Guy hadn't dreamt the whole thing last night. She looked serene in her sleep and he refrained barely from touching her creamy white fur and pet her like a pet. He got up and told himself to write something about this for next week's short story.
The weather was nice with a clear sky so he opened the balcony door to let fresh air in. Outside were just a few people at the early hour and he enjoyed the quiet street.
'Nice.' Feli said as she came up next to him a moment later.
He nodded. They watched shopkeepers open their stores and others get ready to go to work when Guy got an idea. 'I've got to get more things for breakfast, why don't you come with me? I can give you a short tour of this street.' he said.
'You wouldn't mind?' she asked, pleased with the first opportunity to observe this world, but a little nervous about it as well. 'People here probably never have met someone like me in real life.'
'I don't.' he said and grinned. 'It'll let me have the honour to be the first person to introduce you to life here and be the envy of others.'
She chuckled. 'Then please.'

A little later they walked down the street and entered a convenience store, the doorbell chiming pleasantly. It wasn't a big store because the village also had a butcher, bakery and vegetable store in the shopping street to serve the need for the people living in this area. Feli looked around at the rows of shelves with cans, boxes, bags and bottles and racks decorated with a few plants and warm lighting, giving her a welcoming feeling of coming to someone's home.
'Uncle!' Guy called out as the store was empty, then turned to Feli. 'My uncle and aunt own this store and occasionally I help out when they're short-handed. Everyone here calls them Auntie and Uncle since they treat everyone as family.'
'Guy! You're up early.' his uncle said as came out the back and said 'What have you-' until he saw Feli.
Guy gestured at Feli 'Let me introduce you, this is Feli. She's-'
'Honey! Come here!' his uncle called out to the back before Guy could continue. 'Come meet Guy's girlfriend!'
'Wait!' Guy said. 'I didn't say-'
'Oh dear!' his aunt said as she came quickly and saw Feli. 'I had never expected this to be honest, but she sure is beautiful.'
'Thank you.' Feli said, embarrassed by the sudden compliment and smiled at the middle aged couple who could be mistaken for anyone's friendly relatives. 'But I'm-'
'Would you like some tea or something else to drink?' his aunt asked, took Feli's hand without waiting for an answer and pulled her along. 'Come sit down with us. This is the first time he's come over with a girl.'
'Auntie, she's not-' Guy started and then his uncle slapped his shoulder.
'Come, tell us how you met her, and how the hell you managed to hook up with her.'
Guy looked helplessly at Feli while they were led to the back and she giggled back at him.

Eventually Guy managed to explain that Feli was not his girlfriend and why she was here.
'Oh dear.' his aunt said, cupping her cheeks. 'I'm so embarrassed.'
'Don't be.' Feli chuckled. 'It was an honest mistake.'
'Yeah, I'm the one who should feel embarrassed here.' Guy said.
'Why would you?' his uncle asked with a little devious grin. 'She's quite the catch.'
'That's not what I meant. I meant for her to end up with me would be embarrassing for her.'
'Don't worry.' his aunt said and pat his cheek. 'Once she gets to know you it'll be fine.'
'No, I-' he started and then decided to give up with a sigh while Feli suppressed her laughter with her hands.

After Guy had collected the things he needed for breakfast he and Feli said goodbye at the door.
'You're thinking of staying here?' Auntie whispered to Feli as she leaned closer.
'Eh? Why? I'm supposed to be at another house.' Feli said, looking quickly at Guy.
Auntie smiled. 'I've seen the look in your eyes. It's the same for human girls.'
'Wait, I haven't even thought of that.' Feli said, a little shocked at the possibility she could entertain such a though. 'I'm only here to observe your culture.'
'What better way to experience the life here?' Auntie asked and nudged her closer to Guy. 'Enjoy it to the fullest.'
Before Feli could say anything back Auntie and Uncle waved and went back to work.

'Sorry about that.' Guy said on the way back to his place, grinning a little while still feeling embarrassed.
'It's okay. I like your aunt and uncle.' Feli chuckled. 'They really do feel like they're family.'
'I hope she didn't say anything further embarrassing things to you just now.'
Feli looked a little away. 'No, it was nothing.'

***

After breakfast Guy called a few information numbers and found the department who was responsible for the exchange.
'They're sending an agent over to fix the situation.' he said after a short conversation on the phone.
Feli nodded.
'It'll be some time so, what would you like to do in the meantime?'
'I don't know?' she said, clutching her hands. 'I don't know anything much about your way of living.'
He thought for a moment looking outside. 'The weather's good. How about going to the park at the end of the street? On days like these I like to go there and write.' he said. 'I'll leave a note on the door on where to find us.'
'Okay.' she said, always happy to spend time in nature.

On the way there Guy noticed the looks on the faces of people they passed. 'It really is special to have you here.' he said, feeling a little pride to be with her. 'Apart from watching you on the media, nobody has met anybody from your species in real life.'
'I guess it would be the same for us when a human walks down our street.' Feli said, noticing she'd have to get used to some amount of staring from now on.
'I'd better not botch up the time with you, otherwise I could cause an international incident.' Guy said and chuckled.
She grinned a little. 'Yeah, you'd better be on your best behaviour and make sure to keep me satisfied, otherwise I'll have to report you and then you'll get in so much trouble.'
He clamped his head and moaned. 'The pressure! The pressure! I can't take it anymore!'
She laughed as they entered the park and he led her to a spot near the pond. He had brought big towels to sit on and they watched the ducks swim with their brood and the few people who walked by.
'It sure is nice and peaceful here.' she said, squinting while she looked up at the sun and enjoyed its warm rays.
'Yep.' he said, leaning back on his hands, thinking she had a beautiful profile with her ears standing upright. 'Sometimes I spend a whole day here with a good book instead of writing. You probably have places like that too, where you can quickly step out and enjoy a relaxing time in nature.'
'We do, but I hardly took the time. I was always studying.' she sighed.
Guy nodded. 'I see.' he said and spotted something she probably hadn't had before. 'In that case, wait here for a moment.' he said and walked away.
When he came back he handed her an ice cream cone. 'Not sure which flavour would suit you so I chose vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. Those are most popular.'
She looked at the cone with three coloured balls on it, then at him eating his. 'You can eat this?'
He nodded. 'Very important ingredient on summer days.'
She sniffed it, then licked the ice carefully. 'Cold!'
He chuckled. 'That's the point.'
She tried every flavour and he heard her approve them all from her hums increasing in pitch.
'I can hear you really like this.' he said with a satisfied grin when he had finished his ice cream cone.
'You do?' she said, not expecting a human to understand the expressions of her species.
'Well, I guess that your purring means you're enjoying it.'
She looked down, then realised she was indeed purring. 'I-, you're not supposed to listen to that!' she said, taking the last bite of the cone and pushed him.
He laughed out loud and she pounced him. 'Stop that!'
She playfully punched him until she noticed a little girl looking at her. They looked at her as she fiddled with her pink and blue dress.
'Hi there.' Feli said.
'Hi.' the girl said.
'Are you looking for something?' Feli asked, moving off Guy's chest.
'Can I pet you?'
Feli blinked. 'You want to, pet me?'
The girl nodded, plucking at her dress again.
Feli looked at Guy who shrugged his shoulders. 'I guess it can be expected of kids who don't yet know any better. If you want to I can handle it.'
She shook her head. 'No, it's okay.' she said and sat down in front of the girl. 'Go ahead then.'
Carefully the girl touched her head and stroked it.
'Soft.' she said and Feli smiled, leaning a little closer.
A young woman hurried toward them. 'I'm so sorry!' she said and pulled the little girl back. 'I lost sight of her for a moment and she's just really fond of pets.' She held her hand in front of her mouth. 'I mean, not that you're a, I'm so sorry.'
Feli smiled. 'It's no problem. She's a sweet kid and I can imagine how I look to her.'
'Come.' the mother said to her daughter. 'We have to go home now. Daddy will come home soon and we're going to granny.'
The girl looked up at her mother. 'Okay.' she said, then looked back at Feli. 'Bye kitty.'
'Bye, little one.' Feli said and waved a little as they walked away.
'Cute.' Guy said.
Feli nodded. 'Yeah, cute kid.'
'Well, I was actually talking of you.'
She looked at him in surprise. 'What? Me?'
'Yep. The way you let her pet you.' he said and smiled. 'Cute kitty indeed.'
'No way!' she said and punched him again as he laughed.
A cough made them both look back at a young woman dressed in a black suit. 'Excuse me, you must be Feli.'
'Yes?' Feli said as she examined the suit the long haired brunette wore. It looked better than the suits of the officials she had met so far. 'Are you from the exchange department?'
The woman nodded. 'We found the note on the door saying we could find you here.' she said and looked at Guy. 'And you must be Guy. I'm Tesha, agent assigned to Feli.'
He stood up and helped Feli up. 'Yes. Nice to meet you.' he said, shaking Tesha's hand.
'My apologies for the mix-up with the addresses. Someone made a typo on the contact information sheet.'
'No harm done. We had fun, right?' he said, looking at Feli with a smile.
Feli nodded, returning the smile. 'I think it was actually a good start on my stay here.'
Tesha nodded in though. 'In that case, it would make things easier right now.'
'How so?' Guy asked.
'Unfortunately, the family Feli would stay with had an accident last night. A kitchen fire burned their house down.'
'Are they okay?' Feli asked, her ears at attention.
Tesha nodded. 'They are, only the house got damaged and they live with relatives for the moment now. But that would also mean having to find a new address for Feli to stay, and that would take some time. Going through qualification processes again and all that.'
'I see.' Guy said, looking at Feli.
'So,' Tesha continued. 'if you don't mind? You will be compensated of course.'
Guy turned to Tesha. 'I will, what?' he asked, frowning a little, then raised his eyebrows as it dawned on him what she meant. 'You mean you're asking me to let her stay at my place?'
She nodded again. 'For the time being.'
Feli looked at him.
'It's really up to you.' he said to her. 'I don't know if you can stand staying at this small apartment of mine. Not much room for two.'
Feli smiled softly at him. 'I don't mind if you won't. I already like it here.'
'Room won't be a problem.' Tesha said and turned around to make a phonecall.
Guy didn't understand what she meant but shrugged it off, there were more important things to take care of now. 'In that case, welcome to my humble home.' he said to Feli. She gave him a light bow. 'Thank you for taking care of me.'
Guy gave her a warm smile and gathered their belongings to go home.
'Everything's settled.' said Tesha as she put away her phone. 'Let's go to your place and take care of the formalities.'

***

When they arrived back at his apartment, Guy found the door open and heard a lot of noise coming from inside. Just as he wanted to enter to see what was going on a construction worker came out.
'All done, boss.' the bulky man said, handing a list to Tesha.
'Very well, thank you.' Tesha said and walked inside.
Guy and Feli followed her and saw the wall to the next apartment had been torn out. They looked at the other side and found the rest of Feli's belongings there.
'Plenty of room now.' Tesha said.
'Wow. That was quick.' Guy said, gawking at the suddenly increased space.
'Now, since this exchange is an important matter, I don't have to remind you that we expect perfect behaviour from you.' Tesha said to him with a stern look. 'If you in any way try to take advantage of her I will come down on you like a ton of rocks.'
He held up his hands. 'I won't! She'd probably shred me to pieces if I dared anyway.'
Feli chuckled. 'I trust him.' she said. 'He's been a real gentleman all this time.'
'Those are the worst.' Tesha said looking at him. 'Anyway, I'd like you to take care of the program we created and show her the places we listed. These include historical sites, museums, festivals.' she said and handed Guy a thick folder.
Guy flipped quickly through the pages. 'That's quite a lot.'
'Yes, but you can take your time with them. There are special passes which allow you access any time you want.' she said and turned to Feli. 'Now, do you have what you need?'
'Yes.' Feli said, looking at the room and Guy. 'I think I'll manage.'
'Very well then. I'll keep in touch so if there's anything else let me know. Enjoy your stay here.'
Guy walked Tesha out and dropped on the newly received couch when he got back. 'Wow. This is quite something.' he said, checking out the new floor mats making it look as if the two apartments have always been one.
Feli looked around the room again. 'You sure you won't regret this?'
He smiled. 'No way. Things have gotten really interesting now. As long as you can stand having me around I think we'll have plenty of fun.' he said, leaning forward. 'I've been thinking of using this situation as inspiration for my stories, but maybe I should start an online diary of sorts.'
Feli's ears pricked up at the idea. 'Could I write too?'
'Of course. I think plenty of people would like to know how this exchange works out from both our perspectives.'
Feli smiled. 'Okay then. Let's do it.'
Guy created accounts for the both of them on a website and they took turns to write about their first day.
'Now we'll just have to see how it goes.' Guy said and looked at the list in the folder he had received from Tesha. 'I see they included movies. Unfortunately most are pretty dry stuff, but then I think I've got better ones to show you. Movies that are actually fun to watch. I suggest we end the day with that seeing it's already this late.'
She agreed and he let her search through his collection while he started on dinner. She ended up with a light comedy and they settled down on the couch with their food while watching it on a new large screen TV. He was glad she enjoyed the movie and liked to see her laughing, getting caught in it and soon laughing at scenes that were less funny than they should have been.
After the movie and clearing the dishes he laid down her new futon in the new part of the room. 'Sleep well.' he said across the room as they went in for the night.
'Good night.' she said with a warm smile.
He couldn't fall asleep right away, thinking of how his life changed so much now and stared at the ceiling. They hadn't had the time to paint that anew, but where the wall had been was now a low wooden beam.
'Guy?' Feli whispered.
He turned on his side and saw her on her knees next to his futon. 'Feli? What's wrong?' he asked, sitting upright.
'I can't get used to a new unfamiliar room just yet. Mind if I sleep next to you?'
He smiled softly at her. 'I understand, come on in if that feels better.' he said and lifted his cover. 'I have to get used to having this much space myself.'
She crawled under his futon and closed her eyes. 'Good night.' she whispered, smiling.
'Good night Feli.' he whispered back. He heard her breath slow down soon and knew she had fallen asleep. After that it didn't take long for him to fall asleep as well.