Cole appears in the lighthouse with a 2 liter fanter bottle and a sticky note. He sees a new metal door
"Dammit" He bolts up the stairs and looks out across the horizon. It's night and he can see the manor. Cole vaults the railing and starts sprinting for Lock's house. He makes it past the manor and down the road to 234 Mollusk Street. the porch light is still on as Cole climbs up the siding of the house and looks in the window. its the same as before with the four closed doors and a small cactus on the window seal. Cole slowly and carefully opens the window as he climbs in. He tiptoes over to Lock’s room. The door is unlocked and theres a faint scribbling sound from inside. Cole cracks the door open and rolls the fanter bottle in
"AH-" he sees the blur of Lock catching air and almost hitting the ceiling from the scare. theres an instant shifting sound from the next room
"FUCK" Cole bolts out to the open window but before he can make it, the window slams down infront of coles face. The door next to Lock’s door open as Cole tries to open the window.
"HEY WAIT A MINUTE" someone familiar yells
Cole closes his eyes and braces
"That's him-" Lock yells muffled from under her bed. Cole hears steps head over to him. Cole slowly fades into transparency
"...the fuck" they reach out for Cole’s shoulder. They touch his shoulder as Cole opens his eyes. He sees a young male black cat nonferal with yellow eyes and pants looking at him with his head tilted to the side. Lock is standing half behind her bedroom door. Cole keeps staring, slightly shaking
"I can feel you shaking dude, i dont think whatever you're doing is working" The cat sighs
Cole opens his mouth and makes a ghostly echo “Fanter”
The cat looks confused as hell and lock bolts for under bed again. The cat turns to face Lock but keeps a hand on Cole "LOCK, get back over here you're ok"
"you ever had a-" Cole's voice is still partly ghostly
Lock peeks out from the room "No im not! He broke in the house, hes going to kill us all and take everything"
The cat grumbles "No he's not, look at hi- well not look hes invisible- you know what i mean- if he was violent he would have chucked us out the window rather than himself. besides any valuables are down stairs"
"i just wanted to deliver fanter"
"Can you be visible again?" The cat lets go and takes a step back. Cole turns visible and stands to his full eight foot height. The cat looks up and is quiet a moment as he seems to be processing.
"i'm not gonna hurt you i just wanted to do a funny little prank a funny little joke"
The cat holds out a hand "Hi, I don't believe we met, I'm Kaz"
Cole shakes his hand as he hides his confused expression with a smile
"Now I would like to know how you know Lock?" Kaz puts a hand to his chin as he seems to be watching Cole’s every move intently
"So i was talking with them on a Discord chat and they said they never had Fanter and earlier i say earlier but i mean like a couple months ago i tricked Lock into giving their address to me so here we are" Cole is rocking on his heels
Kaz sighs and turns to look at Lock’s room "What did I say about doxing? I didnt give you access to chats just so you can get in trouble. youre lucky blair's still at that dumb book reading"
Lock steps out from her room with a grumble "I thought it was funny ok?"
Cole is staying silent as he slowly grabs his tail to stop it from wagging
"And you said you brought something?" kaz looks over at cole curiously
"hmm? Uhhhhhh" Cole is debating his choices
"Dont worry I wont flip my lid like Blair would" Kaz
"hehe lids" Lock
"i brought a bottle of Fanter"
"Not Blair's Fanter right?" Kaz asks as Lock raises an eyebrow at kaz
"i didn't steal it if that's what your asking"
"No i dont think you would do that, so where is it?" Kaz looks at Cole
"Oh its over here" Lock ducks into her room and returns with a 2 liter of fanter. Cole is still holding his tail
"yup there it is"
Kaz gives Cole a slight look "So uh- how about we all go to the kitchen and try some? I dont think Lock’s ever had normal Fanter before"
"I've had plenty of Fanter before"
"Was it when Blair squeezed an orange into a glass of water?" Kaz stares directly at lock
Lock stares "................................maybe"
Cole quietly snickers as he nods "i wouldn't mind trying it"
"Sounds great" Kaz gives him a smile as Lock heads down the stairs. Kaz looks at cole and says a bit more quietly "I dont trust you yet but you can earn that later" he heads down the stairs
the tip of Cole's tail starts wagging as he quickly shifts his grip to stop it from wagging, causing the rest of the tail to start wagging, then he follows "i look forward to earning your trust"
They walk into a lavish livingroom full of potted plants and pictures hanging on every wall. Theres floral print furniture facing the gas fireplace with a tv above it. Lock turns on the light for the connected small kitchen. in the center of the kitchen is an island with two bar stools, one of which kaz sits on. Lock then climbs onto and stands on the counter to reach a higher shelf. the Fanter sits on the island. Cole walks up to the counter, and doesn't sit as he shoves his tail into his pants as it starts wagging furiously as he scrambles to grab it again. Lock grabs wine glasses with both hands and a wine glass with her mouth as she hops down
"One of these days youre going to do that and eat granite counter top...i swear" kaz mumbles
Lock sets the wine glasses on the table "I dont have a long tail for nothin" She opens the Fanter and starts putting some in each glass
Cole lets go of his tail as it slowly wags "i'm surprised you don't have a ladder or something for reaching the shelves"
"Our ladder is currently at a book club for the weekend" Lock
Cole laughs quietly "of course"
Lock slides a wine glass in front of each of them
"Now lock if you get a bit too energetic I want you to sit down and not break anything like we practiced alright?" Kaz eyes Lock
Lock rolls her eyes "fine."
Cole's tail wags slightly faster as he takes his glass
"You want to make the toast?" Kaz takes his glass and looks over at Cole
Cole shakes his head "no you do it, your the man of the house"
"Id hardly call this a house" Lock
"Come on man, you brought the Fanter" Kaz
Cole shakes his head again "no, no i'm the guest, guests don't uh make toasts"
"In that case the only one who should make the toast here would be ol' pumpkin spice" kaz smiles and looks to Lock.
Lock sighs and sets down her drink "Fine."
Cole quietly sighs in relief. Lock gets out a toaster from the cabinet and plugs it in
“...” Kaz
Cole watches with a slight smile "the toast is happening"
"yeah...yeah...its happening..." Kaz mutters
Lock pauses as she looks around then back at them with tear filled eyes "we're out of tooooast"
"you need bread to make toast" Cole says
She suddenly looks fine "oh ok" she turns and glances around, then looks back at them with teary eyes "We're out of breead"
Kaz puts his head down and sighs
Cole shakes his head and sighs "so should i tell her?"
She looks fine again "OH we have waffles" she rushes to the fridge and gets some frozen waffles out and puts them in the toaster
"I hope you didnt have plans in the morning" kaz says to Cole
"oh trust me i have absolutely nothing going on"
"Good this could take all night if we arent careful." kaz sounds tired
Lock is just staring at the toaster waiting for it to cook
Cole shrugs "i mean we could just tell her what it actually is"
"Believe me. You'll just have to keep explaining everything if you start now." he sounds annoyed as he watches lock. When the toaster finishes Lock nearly jumps out of her skin
Cole snickers at lock jumping from the toaster "yeah, i'd figure"
"God i just wished she had a chance." kaz says a bit more quietly.
Lock gets the waffles and just tosses them on the counter infront of them "Done. Can we drink the Fanter now?"
"sure, as long as i get to eat the waffles" Cole smiles
"Go ahead or we'll be here forever" kaz grumbles.
Lock smiles and grabs her glass. Cole grabs the waffles and eats them in one bite. Kaz stares at cole while lock tries the Fanter. Cole downs his glass of Fanter as his tail starts wagging furiously again.
Kaz looks about to say something before hes distracted by Lock who starts chugging "ohhhh boy..."
"this is gonna be fun" Cole mutters as he watches lock
"Fun? Im going to lose another 10 years of life dealing with this..." Kaz doesnt seem happy at all here. he looks the same age as lock but carries himself much more maturely.
Lock almost slams the glass down but stops herself and sets it down gently "THAT WAS THE BEST COLOR I EVER TASTED."
Cole watches "what other colors have you tasted?"
"YES" Locks eyes are wide with big smile, her tooth is still chipped
"urgh.." kaz groans
"that's amazing lock" Cole glances at kaz with a slight look of understanding
Kaz didnt drink any and sets the glass down "Go take a seat Lock. I can already see it in your eyes"
Cole doesn't say anything, his tail is still wagging furiously. Lock skips over to the sofa and sits down shes smiling ear to ear and starting to shake some "hehehhehehehhehehehe"
Cole looks over at kaz "you look tired, have you been sleeping alright?" Cole whispers
"No." he whispers back as lock takes the tv remote and starts wildly flipping channels.
"i'm assuming it's because of lock?" Cole whispers
"What ever gave you that idea?" he says sarcastically
"well mostly the fact that you look miserable but other then that you look fine" Cole whispers
"Dealing with her and her batshit crazy mother is definitely taking a toll"
"okay, so why are you dealing with her?" Cole's head tilts to one side
"She can’t be happy here and she needs someone to pull her out of it. I just have to figure out how. Ive been there before…and Im not abandoning her like others have to me”
Cole tears up as he mutters "i wish i could have done the same" Cole's tail stops wagging
Kaz looks over him. Cole looks at kaz as he quickly wipes his tears "anyways uhm what are your hobbies?"
He stares at him a bit longer before nodding "you're a real one"
"thanks i guess" Cole smiles slightly
"You can leave whenever you want, ive got everything here handled"
"i'll be heading out, it was nice getting to know you" Cole walks over to the front door and opens it as he heads out of the house.
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