Never Feed a Stray (Deante and Vega)

[Deante]

By the time Daniel got off work, the rain had choked out the sun early and turned ugly. The wet came down cold, blown regularly by chilly gusts. At the intersection, with the headlights and neon signs and all the other ambient light, he caught sight of something in his peripheral vision. The flash of a bright tan face.

Daniel recognized it, the mouse ven. He'd seen it, always from his car window, shuflong from one spot in the neighborhood to the next. Couldn't even tell the gender, not with the layer of clothes, and he distance, just the tail covered in a sock, the ears sticking out through slits in a hoodie.

A horn blew and he moved on. But even past the intersection, the thought of that ven, out in the cold rain, stuck with him. He'd never had a pet. Mom was allergic to everything, so he never had anything bigger than fish, and those sucked. But his best friend Joey has a two legged dog, who was responsible enough to watch them as they rambled through yards and would be responsible when Joey's parents stayed out late. The dog ven had been sweet.

Daniel had to go to the store. He had a mess of dishes and no dishwasher cartridges, and damn if he was going to do it by hand. He made a promise that, if the ven was still there on his way back, he'd stop and ... offer something. Food, an umbrella, something.

Which was on a way a terrible thing, because at the store he kept wondering if he should get something for the mouse. But what if the mouse wasn't there when he got back? And what could he get? Did they have a shopping cart or backpack with Stuff? The ven had huddled under a credit union's awning, so that wasn't their...uh...home.

He didn't buy anything helpful. And on the way back, sure enough, there the mouse was. "Well shit." And he was on the wrong lane to turn. Finally he managed to pull into the parking lot.

Grabbing an umbrella from the back floorboard, he pushed out into the wet. It was cold, and the wind blew it onto his face before he had the umbrella up. Daniel moves out towards the ven, calling out, "Uh, hey there. Do you...ah, need any help?" He winced at how lame he sounded.

 

[Vega]

Sally knew that if she stayed on this block until it was dark, so would the chance of finding something to eat much bigger than if she continued down the road. She had found a restaurant that sometimes set out the days left over in the back for vens or strays like herself. Maybe with some luck would there be enough for her as well as the puppy that had found the back door the same as her. The owner, however, didn't like her being there, more than once had he threatened her, throwing empty cans toward her to make her go away. So now she made sure that the owner wouldn't see her. It was tricky but it was the best thing the evening could offer.

Being a ven was tricky. You were more than just an animal you were still less than your superiors. Sally had a few owners in her life, two very nice couples when she was younger and up to her teens but then did things change. She met a man that she thought loved her. Everything she had dreamed about love and romance did he first do... everything was just a trap. He ruined her innocent, her trust and herself included. When he was done, tired of her, did he give her to a co-worker of his. The man was even more harsh and demanding.
However, this time as the man got tired of her he just threw her out. He didn't care.

Sally had stopped trying to keep up the good smile for herself. There was no point. The weather was awful as it got colder and colder each day. She had started to build her own nest in an abandoned shed close to the harbour. No one would bother her there and no one would seek the place out. Sally tried to find as many blankets and wool clothes as she could as she had a feeling that the winter wouldn't be kind this year. The first month after being kicked out she went back to the superior and asked for him to take her back. He had ended up breaking her leg and tail.
After that, she never went close to that block again. Instead, she tried the homeless shelter. Even if she stood first in line, and waited a whole day just to sleep safely at night did other vens go past her. No one wanted a mouse. They were dirty and disgusting. Sally knew that she smelled, but it was hard to keep herself clean on the street. No matter what she did was it not enough. The vens that was related to a more housepet got everything.

Sally winced as she came out from the alley at the restaurant. Not only did her leg hurt but also her head. The owner had been the one working and had this time aimed the can perfectly toward her head. She looked up, enough to see a man with an umbrella walking toward her. Not sure what he said she shook her head.
"I'm leaving, okay? I am leaving." She answered as she tried to hurry past him.