"Alright, so after what just happened, we knew we needa take a break. We needed to get some chicken in our bodies, and then we can go back and attack this capsule hotel!" Josh sat with friends Dan and Norah at a restaurant in Japan, filming his vlog after the three had checked into their hotel and looked around.
Norah was a rabbit, and Dan was a bull with carved horns poking out under his Pokemon baseball cap.
"Look what we got the biggest, huge, big party worth of chicken for just us. On the inside, is just...cheese. Oh my God. We're goin' hard today." He turned the camera back on himself. "We're eating right now, we're recharging, we're going back inside that capsule - we're gonna go attack it."
"By that he means we're gonna go shower and crash." Norah spoke up and the camera was pointed at her. "Oh and just for the record, I'm not eating any chicken - I'm having myself a nice salad and some fruit."
Josh set the camera aside as they all laughed.
-
Another brief clip was inserted here, a view of the Tokyo skyline and mountains beyond where dark storm clouds were gathering.
"In the horizon," Josh said behind camera. "-you can see, that's actually Mount Fuji, guys. I had no idear. That's awesome."
-
"Back to the program."
Josh and Dan were getting off of the elevators onto a section of the hotel that was for men only.
"We are super full from all the cheese, and the chicken. It's time to go shower." Josh went to his locker and took out a bag. "By the way, if you were wondering, Norah is in the girl's side, she said goodnight to us before we got on the different elevators."
Dan nodded. "Yeah I feel bad she has to be alone, but, she's got her phone if she needs us."
-
When the video cut back to Josh, his fur was wet and he had changed into a pair of comfy pajamas provided by the hotel. He filmed his and Dan's capsule, took a few photos, and filmed an outro while sitting inside his capsule.
After turning off the camera, he used his computer and phone for a bit before he turned off the light in his capsule and lay down.
He heard the first rumbles of thunder as he was drifting off to sleep.
-
Josh was startled awake soon after falling asleep. Being on the very top floor of the building made the storm slightly louder although the capsules were on the inner portion of the building and not near the windows.
He thought at first that it had been the thunder that had woken him up, but then he heard another sound: footsteps.
It had to be another guest trying to find their way to their capsule, right?
Looking past his feet into the dimly lit hallway, he could see the lights on the floor in the shapes of each capsule number. A shadow flickered past them.
Thinking he could help whoever it was to find their capsule bed, Josh grabbed his cellphone and turned on the flashlight. The bright light made him squint.
He heard the frantic footsteps stop - right in front of his own capsule.
Josh slowly sat up in the tight space and peeked around the corner into the hallway. The eyeshine of someone shone out of the darkness as that someone crept closer.
"J-Josh?"
Josh relaxed immediately and lowered his flashlight. "Norah?"
Another loud thunder clap from outside sent the rabbit diving into Josh's ground level capsule. She stood with her back pressed against the inner wall, shivering and gripping her long ears to her chest as he turned on the light within the capsule to a dim setting.
"Norah, yo, are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, I...it's the storm and I forgot to charge my phone-"
"Oh, are you scared? Wait, how'd you get in here?"
"I snuck in behind some other dude, b-but then I got scared cuz I couldn't find yours or Dan's capsule-"
"He's above me," Josh pointed at the ceiling of his own capsule.
Norah nodded in understanding as she wrung her tiny paws together. "Listen, Josh, I-"
"Do you want to stay here?"
Norah seemed to relax a bit as she nodded. "Oh yes please!"
"Okay I gotchu, you can like chill with me until the storm's gone." Josh stifled a yawn.
"You can go back to sleep - I swear I'll be quiet." Norah cowered when another crack of thunder erupted outside.
"Lemme know if you need anything, alright?"
"Yes, thanks so much...er, could I charge my phone by chance?"
"Oh sure!" Josh unplugged his fully charged phone and gave the cord to Norah. Thankfully they both had the same type of phone.
Josh lay back down and moved some of his blanket so that Norah could use it where she sat by the entrance to the little capsule. She was so small they could both lay inside comfortably.
Norah pulled the blanket over her head to muffle the noise from the storm as it raged outside. She saw her friend's hind paws and could smell luxurious shampoo in his fur, both of which provided her with some comfort, if only to know she wasn't alone anymore.
The rabbit remained still until a violent clap of thunder shook the building and she darted out from under the blanket to bounce around the capsule in a panic before she hopped onto her friend.
Josh gave a startled grunt when the tiny rabbit landed on his chest. The canine could smell her fear and clearly heard her ragged breathing and racing heart. Before she could rocket off of him, he gently placed his arm across her back.
Norah relaxed immediately and flattened like a pancake against the sleepy canine. When he eventually held the blanket up for her, she crawled under the blanket and huddled up to his side.
The rabbit could now hear the low grumbles of Josh's belly, still full from their large dinner, and she found herself inching closer. Her paw went to his stomach, then she rested one long ear over it, then reached out with her other paw...
When Josh suddenly rolled over on his side and cuddled her to his tummy, she closed her eyes and hugged him gently. She was sure he had fallen asleep again, but found comfort in the gesture all the same.
-
When Josh woke up the next morning, Dan was outside of their capsules quietly gathering his things. The bull had changed out of his pajamas and wore a new outfit for the day; baggy cargo pants and a loose shirt and of course his favorite hat.
"Mornin," As Josh leaned forward to wave to his friend, he felt a heaviness in his belly.
"Good mornin," The bull whispered back. He bent down to greet Josh and let out a soft gasp then chuckled. "Whoa man, did you go out for a midnight snack, then?"
"No, I-" Josh looked down at his belly, which appeared slightly bloated and peeked out beneath his pajama top. His belly was slightly misshapen, as well...
"Norah??" The canine struggled to keep his voice down so as not to awaken anyone else in the nearby capsules.
"Mhmmm," A sleepy sound was heard from the rabbit as she stretched inside Josh's tummy. "Yes?"
"H-how did you get in there?!"
The bull looked bewildered. "Norah? You ate her?!"
"No! Well, I don't remember! I just remember her, she came in last night looking for us cuz of that storm-"
"You really don't remember eating me?" Norah giggled a bit. "You did seem half asleep... but after you kinda almost rolled over on me, I asked if I could...go somewhere where I couldn't hear the storm anymore, and...well, yeah that's what happened. I was finally able to get to sleep!"
The canine blushed and rubbed his belly with both paws. "I'm glad I could help!"
