Ratalouis' Extreme Feral Adventure

Ch. 5 And She's Calling A Cab

As Eleanor lifted her keen rat eyes about the bustling Paris scene, she landed on the familiar sight of three beautiful twinks with lavish style. She gasped. One Direction. Feeling refreshed after having a good cry-and-introspect sesh, she scurried up to the towering boys.

"Hey, Eleanor! What are you doing out here?" said Zayn.

"Hey, Eleanor! What are you doing out here?" said Niall.

"Hey, Eleanor! What are you doing out here?" said Liam.

"I just came out here to think," Eleanor admitted.

"Tight," said Niall.

"Tight," said Zayn.

"Tight," said Liam.

"So what are you thinking about?" Zayn asked concernedly.

"Well," Eleanor sighed and then poured out, "I just don't think Ratalouis and I can be together anymore. We had this awful argument and things are coming crashing down."

"Oh," said Niall.

"Oh," said Liam.

Zayn, the only boy with free will, gave an annoyed glance at his musical mates and turned to Eleanor. Under his breath, he uttered in rat pitches, "Do you want to talk about this some more in private? These dull playback machines aren't going to be much for conversation, and I think I can get us out of here."

Eleanor was confused but warily nodded. Zayn gave a subtle nod back and turned to his boys. "Oi, look, it's a pigeon!" Zayn announced while pointing frantically behind them.

"It's a pigeon!?" Niall shouted.

"It's a pigeon!?" Liam shouted.

As the boys turned in excitement and eagerly tried to spot the "pigeon", Zayn swooped up Eleanor into one of his big guy-sized pant pockets and made a dash through the crowd of people. He had his eye on the prize; a taxi parked 500 meters up ahead. Then, he heard the familiar steps of Liam and Niall catching up behind him.

"Why did you run off, Zayn?" they both yelled, "We're supposed to be headed in one direction, not two directions!"

Zayn cursed and picked up the pace until he was full-on sprinting. He gasped and panted, but at last he made it to the taxi and ducked into the backseat before the boys could reach him. Zayn locked the doors and threw a wad of cash at the taxi driver. "Get us to the Plaza hotel!" he urged. The white-haired driver raised his eyebrows and aggressively peeled onto the road. Once Zayn had a chance to catch his breath, he pulled up the divider between the taxi driver and took Eleanor out of his pocket.

"You alright?" Zayn asked gently to the rat in his hand.

Eleanor nodded timidly. "That was crazy. What did you do that for?"

"I've been dying to get away from those clods for just one moment," he answered bitterly, and then his demeanor softened, "and you looked like you really needed somebody to listen and be there for you. So what's going on?"

"Well, my relationship with ratalouis has been struggling. I feel like he hasn't considered how big of a deal this upcoming world tour is. And I can't help but feel hurt by the way he jabs at my bourgeoisie background as if I'm some sort of close-minded freak," she squeaked.

Zayn frowned empathetically. "I'm sorry, Eleanor. You don't deserve that kind of treatment," he asserted, and then followed up with, "and, I know we haven't talked all that much, but every time we've chatted in the studio I've felt like you have this amazing air of intelligence about you. It's amazing and it's inspiring. You're a refined rat, Eleanor, and that's deserving of respect. I know you don't need validation from me, but Ratalouis' comments shouldn't get you down."

"Thank you Zayn," Eleanor's already-resolved heart seemed to grow an extra layer of strength and affirmation.

Zayn smiled as he added, "Now, you didn't hear this from me-- Ratalouis is one my closest mates after all and he's loads of fun-- but I'd say you're out of his league. He'd never admit that because the fame can really get to his small rodent head (no offense, Eleanor, your cognitive functions are actually astounding) and I think he needs a dash of humility sometimes."

"Isn't that the truth," she laughed. All at once, she realized just how good it felt to laugh again. It'd been a long time since she'd done that.

They let the silence hang in the air as they looked at each other. Zayn's beautiful brown orbs began to signal sparks to her the way they did in the studio long ago.

"Hey, Zayn, thanks for helping me," Eleanor gushed. "It's like you don't see me as a diRtY rAt or an eLiTiSt MeMbEr of the uPpErClAsS. You treat me like, well, me."

"I just feel like rats are people too," Zayn shrugged, "I mean, we've got Ratalouis in the band for crying out loud and he's one of my closest mates."

Upon hearing Zayn bring up her bf Ratalouis, Eleanor recalled they still needed to talk to each other. She was internally bashing her head against her own code of conduct and values as she contemplated what to do. Then, she decisively hardened her heart and let the flames of vengeance and toxicity consume her.

"It's really admirable that you're a rat ally. Not to perpetuate a negative rodent stigma or anything, but, would you say you're willing to lie down with the rats and wake up with the fleas?" Eleanor spoke suggestively.

Zayn was into it. "I mean, I can be an animal in b*d," he winked.

Suddenly, the taxi came to a stop and the driver announced that they'd arrived at the Grand Plaza Hotel. Zayn carried Eleanor as he exited the taxi and they both marveled at the setting sun's colors.

"Shall we get a room?" Zayn asked.

"Well it's getting dark," Eleanor noted, "and we've got to continue this somewhere." Then she blushed, "But then again... a rat and a human, we'll disturb the residents and employees for sure-"

"So what, we'll piss off our neighbors," Zayn said defiantly, slipping into a melodic tone with that boy band voice of his, "in the place that feels the tears, the place to lose your fears."

With that, they checked into their hotel room. The sounds of squeaking, tenor belting, and voices saying "Aw, rats!" filled the night.

(A/N: I do NOT condone the acts in this chapter)