TAKE IT EASY • TC ✔️

4: The Dreaded Cassette

Lucia awoke the next morning feeling like she'd been dragged through hell and pulled back at the last second.

Her couch was relatively comfortable, and sleeping on it the last few nights hadn't proved too difficult, however that morning her aches and pains were not the sofa's fault. During the night, she had managed to sprawl one leg over the arm of the couch, one over the back, one arm tucked into her chest and the other flailing limply off the sofa and onto the floor.

It was Julius' rough little tongue scraping delicately on the aforementioned arm which woke Lucia up. She opened her eyes groggily, immediately wishing she hadn't. The nightlife spectacle from the previous evening was, of course, brilliant - that is to say, was.

Unfortunately, the relentless watching and listening wore her out pretty quickly, and soon enough she had stumbled to the sofa, barely pausing to remove her slippers before she had crashed onto it, stifling a yawn. Naturally, half-asleep Lucia hadn't stopped to think about closing the blinds - she was practically out like a light as soon as her head hit the soft material of the sofa.

Now, however, as hot rays of sunlight surged through the glass with unmatched intensity into her poor, unassuming eyes, Lu wished she had.

"Stop that, Jul," she muttered, retracting her hand from his line of sight and wiping it clumsily on her pyjamas.

Julius leapt onto the coffee table opposite, sitting demurely as he waited for Lucia to wake up and start making breakfast so he could badger her for scraps.

"Why doesn't somebody close the fucking curtains?" she whimpered out to the silent apartment, voice cutting through the serene atmosphere created by the breaking of day.

Lucia threw an arm over her eyes, gathering all of her limbs and burrowing further into the sofa so that the light could not further penetrate her vision.

Julius usually had quite a large amount of patience when it came to matters such as this, but as it so happened, he was really rather hungry, and so he deemed a few pained yowls necessary if he was to acquire his breakfast any time soon.

Lu relented at the harrowing sound, sitting up on the sofa with her arms tucked around her knees. Julius strutted over to his food bowl, as if leading an example for Lucia to follow. Begrudgingly, she heaved herself off the sofa, stretching her arms high above her head and slouching over to the corner of the room where Julius sat impatiently. His tail swept against the floor, undeviating.

"Sorry, bud," she mumbled, grabbing the cat-food box from the counter. It emitted a hollow-sounding rattle when she shook out some biscuits which Julius instantly pounced upon. Looking dejectedly into the box, she sighed. Only a quarter of it was left, meaning she'd have to go out and get some more some time next week.

Her nose wrinkled at the smell of tuna, and she set the box down, leaning against the counter to watch Julius devour his meal with seemingly no regard for its appalling stench.

"How do you eat that stuff?" she mused, giving her fingers an experimental sniff and subsequently gagging at the smell. Julius didn't deign to answer - all Lucia got in reply was the sound of him chowing down.

"Ew," she muttered, turning to the sink so she could thoroughly rid her hands of the scent. Upon opening the fridge, Lucia was met with half a loaf of bread, a pack of cheese, a quarter of a bell pepper and a jar of pickles which she'd had since last Christmas. She hadn't opened them yet - they didn't go off quickly - and at times found herself wondering why they were there in the first place. She'd come to the conclusion that she had no valid answer. They were just, there.

And, considering neither Lucia or Julius had a propensity for eating pickles, they would likely remain there for the foreseeable future. Hmm.