The Mandela Catalogue

Truth Or Dare

I wake up, Fox is next to me.
He's still asleep of course, he looks so cute...
I check the time: 12pm.
I sit up quickly, 12PM!!!???
How did we sleep so late?
I think. I get up to go to the toilet, I walk in to see Bee laying in the bath like a human.
"what the-!" I say.
She meows at me.
"sorry Bee!" I say.
I walk out.
I'll just have to wait for her to get out.
I walk into the kitchen to make Brunch.
I see Twig sitting, watching the TV with Michael and Jackie.
"good morn- evening." I say.

"evening, did you just wake up?" Michael asks.
"uh, yeah" I say.
"damn, you were tired!" he says
"yeah." I say.
"is Fox awake?" he asks.
"not yet but I'm gonna let him eat brunch in bed." I say putting four slices of bread in the toaster.
"make sure it's not peanuts." he says.
"I'm prettyyyy sure I know not to give him nuts, I swear the idiots allergic to everything." I say.
"well, everything gives him rashes, he's got echzma for gods sake, but he's only allergic to peanuts and wasps, weird how he's not allergic to Bees though." he says.

I laugh.
How can a man be allergic to wasps but not bees?
The pieces of toast pop up and I put them on a plate.
I put butter on them both and walk into the bedroom, I close the door behind me.
Fox was sat up, he had just woken up.
"Hey" I say sitting on the bed and setting the plate down.
"hey" he says.
"I made toast." I say, motioning to the plate.
"that's alot of toast." he says.
"there's two slices for me and two for you." I say.
"thank you." he says, picking up a piece and biting down on it.
I do the same.

"what time is it?" he says.
"12pm." I say.
"ouh." he says.
I get up and feed Bean, she has started growing her feathers now and is starting to be able to leave the box.
"is she OK?" Fox asks.
"yeah, you wanna come see her, she started growing her feathers." I say.
Fox comes over and peers into the box.
"aw, they grow so fast." he says, he rests his head on my shoulder.
"I need to start teaching her calls, speech, objects and whatever." I say.
"I think she'll be a quick learner like Pepper was." he says.
"yeah." I say.

"I'm gonna go get tea. You want any?" I ask.
"yes please!" he says, sitting on the bed.
I go back into the kitchen with the plate, it had one more piece of toast on it.
I refill the kettle and press the button on the side, it starts to heat the water up inside.
I take a bite of the toast.
"so when are you gonna ask Fox out or some shit?" Michael says out of the blue.
I nearly choke on the piece of toast.
"what?" I ask, I can feel myself go red.
"I mean you guys flirt with eachother alot so I thought, you know, there's something going on between you?" he says.

"I uh- no." I say.
"you know you can tell us anything right? Well, me anyways, not sure about them." he says, he looks at Jackie.
"I guess- I'm still questioning my sexuality and shit but Fox is- well he's my best friend and my roommate." I say.
"doesn't mean you can't like him." he says.
"well if I did he probably wouldn't like me back." I say.
"you wouldn't know unless you tell him!" Michael says.
I stare at the floor for a while.
I make the cups of tea and go back in my room.
I give Fox a cup.
"you took a while out there." he says.
"yeah. Just talking with Michael." I say.
"what about?" he says, sipping his tea.
"just random stuff" I say.
"ooook then." he says.
"oh, um, I just want to say, your cat is in the bath, what's up with that?" I ask.
"I mean, he's a special cat, acts like a human but I'm not sure why." he says.
Bee walks in and jumps up onto the bed, she lies down in Fox's lap. Fox strokes her.
"wanna play truth or dare, we can ask the others to play?" he asks.
"uh, sure." I say.

___________________________________

We're all sat around the room, Twig on the floor, Michael and Jackie at the end of my bed, me and Fox are sat at the top.
Bee is in Fox's lap and Max is lied down on the floor.
I go first.
"Jackie, Truth or dare?" I ask.
"Truth." they say.
"how long have you been living in the building for?" I ask.
"a couple of years." they say.
"Michael, truth or dare?" Jackie asks.
"dare." he says. Jackie thinks for a while.
"I dare you to tell us your biggest secret, or a secret." they say.
"let's see, when I was 14 I sold illegal drugs to a celebrity and he betrayed me and got me arrested, I eventually stopped not long after that." he says.
"damn." I say.
"truth Or Dare, Fox?" Michael asks.
"uh, dare" he says.
Michael laughs evily.
"I dare you to hold a green caterpillar." he says.
"shit" he says.

I get out a caterpillar and go over to Fox.
He groans in fear.
I put it on his hand and he starts shaking.
The caterpillar squirms.
"OK I DID IT COME ON GET IT OFFFF!!!!" he yells.
I pick up the caterpillar and put it back in the tub.
Fox sighs.
"Twig, Truth or Dare?" he asks.
"oh, I did not know I was involved, how about a truth." he says.
"what is your actual opinion on humans." Fox asks.
"hmm, I guess... They are ruining the earth, puffing out pollution and animals going extinct because of them. But even though after all of this, humans are special, just like every other animal, in their own way. They thought of all of this technology and discovered new things and I guess not all of them are killing the earth, some are even trying to help it. By taking in animals and helping them, picking up rubbish that the others didn't get rid of properly." he says.

"that's deep as fuck." Michael says.
"Well it is just my thoughts." he says.
"Damien, truth or dare." he says.
"ahhh, dare." I say.
"you ever hugged one of my kind?" he asks.
"no?" I say, confused.
"I've never hugged anyone." he says.
"are you implying that my dare is to hug you?" I ask.
"maybe so." he says.
I smile.
I get up and hug Twig.
"oh." he says.
I go back to my bed and sit down.
"i was not expecting you to actually..." he says.
"Well your one of us now, why should I?" I ask.
"well, thank you." he says.
"no problem, Fox. Truth or dare." I say.
"truth." he says.
"ummm, how many peos have you dated? " I ask.
"Ben was my first." he says.
"oh!" I say, surprised.
"I guess you thought I would've had more?" he asks.
"I can't see why you wouldn't!" I say.
He blushes.
"I take that as a compliment." he says.

They go on for the night and eventually they all fall asleep.