Chapter Text
Catnap tossed and turned, occasionally waking up briefly only to fall right back into the warm embrace of sleep. Eventually, they stirred, finally letting go of the half-asleep frequency of awakenings to open their bleary eyes, the gentle hands of sleep loosening their grip on them. As they finally took back their senses, they could hear the faint but recognizable sound of festive music playing softly outside their room. They grumbled, stretching and letting out a yawn as they slowly sat up. On any other day, they would just go back to sleep, but today was Christmas. They sat on the edge of their bed, tempted to go slumber once more, but fought the urge as they crawled off the bed and set their paws on the cold wooden floor. Ambling down the stairs, each step felt like a chore as they continued to fight the desperate call of their bed. As the soft padding of their paws finally reached the last step, they turned to the room where their faux tree lay, focusing their eyes to look at the tree, and… being met with something that shocked every ounce of fatigue out of their body.
Every Christmas, they would wake up to maybe one or two presents and some drawings or cards. Every Christmas, they would wash away the disappointment of the empty tree bed by spending time with their large family. Not this Christmas. Tears welled up in their eyes as they rubbed their eyes, seeing if they were still dreaming. No, they weren’t. The tree in front of them was littered with all kinds of beautifully wrapped presents, taking up nearly half the room. All wrapped with care and love, there had to have been at least four for each of their family members. They wiped away their tears, walking up to the tree and gazing at it in awe.
“Catnap! Are you awake?” Their mom, Pretty Panther, called for them.
Catnap let out a choked, “Mhm,” fighting the sob bubbling up in their throat.
They ran to their mom in the kitchen, looking up at them with shiny, tear-filled eyes. “Mom, how did you and Mama afford all of that?”
Their mom smiled softly, fondness and appreciation hidden behind those fierce eyes. “We didn’t. You’ll see soon.” She reached out, her scarred paw gently petting her child’s head.
Catnap sniffled, the entire situation tugging at their heartstrings. Their mom saw this and pulled them into a gentle hug, letting them cry softly.
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The sounds of laughter and wrapping paper tearing filled the warm house. Everyone circled the tree, each with presents in their laps and tearing them open.
“It’s like a staff! This is so cool!” Leafeline exclaimed, giggling as she unwrapped a faux tree-like staff.
“Be careful with it, sweetie. We don’t want any bruised knees,” her mama, Noddy Nebulynx, laughed, unwrapping a gift of her own.
Just as Catnap was about to search for a gift of their own, they heard a soft knock at the door.
“You should go get that, Catnap,” their mother smiled.
They were confused, but stood up nonetheless, trotting over to the door and opening it slowly.
Behind the door, waiting in the cold, was a familiar orange puppy. “Ah! H-hey, Moon—Moonbeam, kitty, pal, haha…”
*What are you doing here?* They signed, looking up at him.
“Uhm, well—“ he stammered, pausing to take a deep breath. “I guess there’s no point sugarcoating it. Besides, I know you hate sugarcoating,” he began, voice trembling slightly. “Catnap, I’ve spent weeks practicing for this moment. Honestly, I never thought it would be possible for me to feel this way about someone. But you’re not like anything or anyone else. Everything you do makes me think that you might just be an angel. So I’ll say this plainly…” He pulled out a beautifully made basket filled with all of their favourite foods and flowers. “I love you, Catnap! Will you be my partner?”
Catnap covered their mouth with their paws in shock, a million thoughts rushing through their mind all at once. They stuttered, unable to process everything. They turned, running back into their house and slamming the door.
Dogday felt the atmosphere immediately shift. What… just happened? He was so sure everything would go well, but what did he do wrong? He thought they loved him just as much as he did. What did he miss? Would Catnap hate him now? Would they feel uncomfortable around him? He messed up everything, the strong friendship they built, the trust between them, all broken because of his *stupid* dog brain. He let the basket drop onto the snowy ground, soft sniffles escaping him.
“I guess I should’ve known,” he hiccupped, “…Still hurts.”
He stood in the cold winter. Just a few moments before, the cold felt like a refreshing scoop of ice cream at the beach; now, it just felt like the chilly air was shoving past him and whispering insults amidst the wind. What should he feel? He should’ve prepared for this to happen. Of course, his stupid, egotistical brain thought everything would go perfectly. He just lost his most dear friend and his moon all because he was stupid enough to give in to his feelings. He should rip out his own heart for what it did, for how it separated him from his beautiful kitty. But he didn’t have the energy to. All he could do was sob, letting tears flow like a waterfall. He didn’t know when the tears started, but he couldn’t exactly ignore the freezing feeling of his salty tears running down his cheeks while the wind felt as loud as a siren to his ears. He didn’t know how long he had been standing there like an ice sculpture, the snow clinging to his fur and melting all at once. It could’ve been hours, it could have been seconds. Who knows?
It felt like time itself froze. Did he regret things? Did he regret *everything?* He… he didn’t know. Nothing had been processed yet. It was too much to take in. Sure, he’s heard rejections can be rough, but his love for Catnap felt… otherworldly. Like he was born just to hold their hand, just to whisper sweet nothings in their ear. They were day and night, sun and moon, dog and cat… was the universe taunting him? Was this a punishment for something? It probably was. No matter how much he always tried to fix things, it would always be his own problems he needed to fix. Why would this time be any different? Catnap made their choice. The right choice, probably. They chose to—
The door flung open, and a large bouquet of lavender and vanilla flowers was shoved into his arms. Catnap panted, their chest heaving. Dogday stared wide-eyed at the fluffy bouquet in his arms, his heart burning hotter than whatever fireplace awaited them. He looked back at Catnap, gently and delicately setting the bouquet in the snow and smiling at them as he took them into his arms.
“You overexerted yourself, Moonbeam.” He smiled lovingly, gently scolding them.
Catnap panted, still exhausted as their chest heaved. When they finally regained *most* of their breath, they looked up at him with those sweet amber eyes of theirs.
“I love you, Sunshine,” they uttered, voice sweet as honey.
Dogday looked at them, eyes wide and tail thrashing furiously. “You—you spoke! You spoke to me!”
He quickly scooped them up in his arms and spun them around, keeping a tight grip on them as he laughed. “You *actually* spoke to me!”
They giggled at the feeling of being twirled around in his arms, holding onto him tightly as their tail curled into various shapes.