Just Dumb Enough to Try

Funtimes in Babylon Pt1

       Louis stirred up from his pillow. It tempted his head to sink back into its soft depths. Legosi slept soundly, but not soundlessly beside him. His jaw hung open, releasing a growling snore, along with a tiny trickle of drool. Louis squinted at the normally quiet wolf, offended that he could make such a racket. He had half a mind to smother him with a pillow.

      Too annoyed to go back to sleep, he got up and checked the mini fridge. His salad was mostly gone and wouldn't make for a full meal. Everything else, except for the egg sandwiches, had expired. Turning his nose up, Louis put on his hat and sunglasses and left for the nearest grocery store.

      Knowing full well that the lack of table, stove, and kitchenware in general would hinder his ability to make anything, he stuck with fruit; from not quite ripe bananas to a bag full of squishy tangerines and one that seemed to be frozen solid.

      With his underwhelming haul in tow, he climbed back up to legosis apartment and plopped his grocery sack next to the cardboard box in the center of Legosi's room. The rustling of the bag stirred the sleeping wolf.

      "Glad to see that you could join me." Louis teased. The comment bounced off of Legosi who was in no state to process anything yet. His body groggily stumbled over to the box, blanket dragging behind it.

      Louis began putting the fruit on the box. It was then that he noticed the stains. Various grease marks, water stains, and scratches decorated the box's worn exterior. He grimaced at the sound of Legosi's nails on the cardboard when he grabbed a banana. Louis grumpily ate his own fruit. The tangerine's sour juices assaulted his tongue. He felt dissatisfaction bubbling up, watching Legosi eat the unripe banana without opening his eyes.

      "That's it!" He announced. "We're getting you a table today."

      Legosi nodded along, not registering what was said, and munched his banana. Louis got up and went over to Legosi's dresser. To his pleasure. There were more clothes. Legosi was finally listening to him. He grabbed some clothes and tossed the bundle to the wolf.

      Louis rummaged through his duffel bag and pulled out an outfit for himself. He stretched and pulled a sweater over his antlers. No matter how many times he did it, it never looked anymore graceful. By the time Louis had poked his head out from his sweater, Legosi had started putting on pants. The wolf had taken it upon himself to hold eye contact with Louis as he hopped them up to his hips, causing Louis to look away.

      Dressed, they went out and caught a train. Louis and Legosi held onto the silver pole in the middle of the crowded car. Louis noticed the tag sticking out of the front of Legosi's shirt.

      "Your shirt's on backwards." He pushed the tag back into the shirt.

      "Where are we going?" Legosi yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

      "We're getting you some new furniture."

      "What's wrong with what I have?"

      "I'm not going to allow you to continue eating off of a box like some animal off the street." Louis huffed.

      Legosi went quiet and looked around. "Where do trains go?"

      "What?"

      "Where do the trains go when they're not in use?"

      "I don't know, probably some storage facility." Louis answered.

      "How do they get there?"

      "What brought this up?"

      Legosi shrugged.

      They transferred twice before reaching their destination. It was a bit warmer than Louis would have liked to be wearing a sweater. He rolled up his sleeves and hurried Legosi to the blue building. Louis sighed when the doors opened and a burst of AC hit him. Legosi looked thankful as well.