drabbles

I Didn't Order That

Forrest had been out with friends for the better part of the night. It was someone's brother's birthday, or something; Forrest couldn't really remember. He sat at the end of a long marble topped bar, it seemed quieter back here. He had lost sight of his friends as soon as they had convinced him to enter "just one more club." He sat hunched over his empty glass, his hair oily and unkempt, shadowing his face. Everyday that Forrest managed to drag his feetpaws through seemed harder that the last.
"Hey, Kid," a tall, slender, horned bartender leant over the marble, and her shadow blocked the harsh spot lights that illuminated the bar, "for you~" Forrest curled his lips back in a snarl as she slid a beautifully sparkling purple drink across the bar, making a inking sound as it lightly collided with his current glass. "I didn't order this?" Forrest meowed, eyeing the gazelle suspiciously as she motioned down the bar. "He said he came with you," she shrugged, but Forrest couldn't make out which Patreon she meant and squinted in the lowlight.
"Who?" He muttered, but she was already swindling more tips from a particularly burly lupine. Forrest sniffed at the front and was overwhelmed with the fruity syrupy smell of the alcohol in it, but it didn't fizz and Forrest felt a strange calm as he stared in its swirling glitter. He knew deep down it was probably a mica powder in some overpriced vodka and mixer but he took a sip off it anyways, and it was delicious. Berry flavoured and sweet, Forrest found his mood lightening as a softer voiced rabbit exchanged the stool beside him, and turned to stare at the dancefloor as it writhed to the beat of a slow song.
Forrest caught a glimpse of what he thought was his friends pink hair and stumbled off of his stool to the railing between him and the dance floor. His eyes were dry, and standing quickly made his head rush, but otherwise, Forrest felt fine, and forced his way across the floor looking for his friends, who were nowhere to be found. He shoved his paws in his pockets to suddenly be alarmed : his phone was gone. His cigarettes, his wallet, his phone, how could he of been so stupid?
Now in a panic Forrest spun around, making his vision sparkle as his head rushed, and whatever was in that drink began to hit his system. "Hey," he began, reaching out for a blurry animal in front of him, who turned and seemed concerned, but their voice sounded warped, and Forrest stumbled out the door of this shady bar into a dimly lit alleyway.
The sidewalk still writhed into these wee hours of the night with pedestrian traffic of all kinds, and Forrest found himself tripping into it, being caught by a strangers paws, and their soothing voice seemed to echo, "Hey buddy, let's just get you in the taxi, you look like you've had one too many.." but Forrest was already in a panicked state and being grabbed like that made him yowl like a kitten in distress, unable to form any real words at this point, as his vision felt watery and his mouth dry.
A sudden jostling and yelling broke out around Forrest as he slumped to the curb of the sidewalk, unable to keep his footing or balance in this state. A larger golden brown dog in a raggedy jacket and jeans shoved a smaller, dark brown dog into the taxi called for he and Forrest before immediately kneeling besides Forrest and rolling him onto his back, "Dude, Kitty Cat? You Okay? This ain't no part of town fo-" Forrest tried to listen to this retriever as he spoke, and tried to help Forrests limp body to his feet, but he could only stare blankly at the dogs fluffy red dyed hair as he slowly lost consciousness.
After what felt like only moments, Forrest lurched awake, sitting up with a start and rubbing his incredibly sandy eyes, breathing hard and heavy, in a panic and struggling to get to his feetpaws. "Hey, hey, whoa, Calm down!" A rasped voice made his fur prickle on end as he was tangled up in a blanket, feeling trapped. Suddenly Forrest was brought out of his panic by a large leathery handpaw being placed upon his shoulder, and slowly the large retriever from the night before leaned into his clear vision and squinted to look into his eyes. "Some bastard almost taxi'd you last night, my dude. What're you doin in such a bad parta town?" Forrest hesitated, fur bristling, "Who are you?" He managed to groan, flicking his gaze all over, noticing the small room they were in, and becoming a bit claustrophobic. "My name is Dusty," the dog barked, slowly moving to sit beside Forrest, and allowing him a clearer view of the tiny shed-like room they were in. "I saw you stumble out of Clooneys Sunday night at like two in the morning and some dude was nabbing you, you uh, seemed really out of it, and I def saved your ass there." Forrest took a moment to let the information sink in before muttering, "what time is it?"
"It's almost noon, on Tuesday."
"I slept through Monday?"
Dusty snickered and offered Forrest his phone, "you should be thanking me, you slept in my bed that whole time. And uh, no one called. Sad shit, bro." Forrest snatched his phone and opened it, and sure enough there wasn't a single notification. "who were you with, anyone?" Dusty whispered, his voice warmer now.
"Friends." Forrest murmured.
"Some friends they are."
"They're the only folks I know."
"Well you know me now, or at least, I sortve know you." Dusty laughed and patted Forrest's back, "how do you feel, kitty cat?" Forrest stretched and popped in all the wrong places, groaning. In the background you could hear the densest of City Alure noises, sirens, animals talking, the roar of a million or more engines, but it felt quieter in this tiny corner, "I think I'm okay, I just have to piss." Dusty laughed, "you can go outside, I don't have the luxury of a bathroom attached to my shed." Forrest eyed his surroundings once more and realized they actually were in a shed with a broken window, covered in a tarp cut with a Velcro window, and the door had several locks, none of which were actually locked. "where am I?" Forrest rubbed his eyes again.
"Youre in Slumbers backyard Shed, rented by me.. we uh, we're in Portal Woods on the south west side of the city." Dusty slowly explained, leaning back against a balled up tyedye blanket. Forrest shook his head.
"Not where you wanted to be, aye?"
"I've never been this far into the Southside but it's better than where I was," Forrest slumped back into the soft, warm bed he had been sleeping on and mumbled, "Anywhere would be." Dusty reached over to the end of the bed and rummaged through some stuff Forrest couldn't see as he spoke, "I donno man, I'm just here until I figure out what I'm doin with myself, your welcome to stay as long as you need," he leaned back into place with a small grass pipe between his pawpads and a lighter in the other, and smoked it before continuing, "but I'm gonna have to offer you a cot and not my bed for your stay." Forrest smiled and went to get up but Dusty rested a paw on his chest, making him lay back, "I didn't mean you had to like, get up now, you fool." Forrest sighed and relaxed back against the pillows and mumbled, "you just good sumeritan or somebody with a hero complex?"
"I guess you could say that. I just think animals shouldn't be taking advantage of other animals in the middle of the night."
"Thanks, again."
"No problem, Kitty Cat."
"You can call me Forrest."
Dusty shrugged and pointed at Forrest's phone, "whose the pretty Cat on your lock screen?"  Forrest glanced at the only photo he had of he and his sister before becoming estranged from the family, "oh that? That's my sister." Dusty nodded, blowing smoke towards the window, "you running from somethin?" Forrest sighed, "you could say so."
Dusty nodded and was quiet for a moment, "we all run from stuff all our lives, y'know? Till someone stops ya." He tapped Forrest's arm, "maybe I just had to stop ya for a minute." Forrest smiled, and Dusty smiled back with snaggle teeth, "you feel free to take a rest, now that I know youre not dying" Dusty stood, still in the same jeans and jacket, before turning to a tiny mirror hung crooked on the wall to fix his hair, "I'm jus headed out to get some food at the gas station at the end of the street." He turned to go but then stopped to continue, "I mean, you don't have to stay, there's a bus stop at the end of the road too, and it connects to all the different-" but Forrest cut him off, "no, no. I'll be here, thanks." And as the dog shut the door behind him Forrest found himself purring into the blanket checking through his phone to see his location history of the night before, and more importantly, send his sister a text.