Page 25 of By Rude Strength

“Ha ha.” LA rolled his eyes and grabbed the coffee to sip on and take his pills.

Cass eyed the colorful collection. “You have to take those every day?”

“Some of ‘em twice.” LA poked a box of lidocaine patches. “Sometimes I throw those on too. I don’t think they do shit personally, but I get desperate enough to try.”

Cass lumbered back to the stove. He carefully picked out the muffins to set on a plate, asking, “Is there really nothing else that helps?”

LA shook his head. “Nope. Doctors say it’s not bad enough for surgery, pain management says it’s not enough for stronger meds, so here I am.”

“Oh. Well.” Cass fidgeted. “Would you like a muffin?”

“No.”

“They’re nice and warm.” Cass tiptoed over with the plate like he was sneaking LA some forbidden treat. “Just came out of the oven.”

“No, I do not want a fuckin’ muffin.”

“They’reblueberry.”

LA sighed. “Fine. Give me a fucking muffin.”

“Yay!” Cass offered out the plate with a grin. “Oh, get that one there on the edge. It has extra crumble on top.”

“Thanks.” LA grabbed the muffin so he could set it down on the table. He didn’t really want it, but at least it would get Cass to stop babbling about damn muffins.

“So!” Cass clasped his paws together and did a happy shimmy. “While you’re eating your delicious muffin, we can review our itinerary for the day.”

“Which is what?” LA was instantly suspicious.

“Well, first of all, you are going to text your friend, Brannon!” Cass held out LA’s phone.

“Hey!” LA snatched it back, staring at the screen.

There was text message already typed out but it hadn’t been sent:

Hi Brannon! It’s me! Your friend LA. I would like to sincerely apologize for my lack of communication, but I am hoping to rekindle our friendship as I have parted from Gavin. If it’s not being too forward, I would very much like to visit you and catch up! Perhaps we can discuss displaying my art as we once discussed? Hugs and kisses, LA

“You took my damn phone?” LA picked up the muffin, snarling. “How the fuck did you even unlock it? And why did you use so many fucking emojis? Nobody talks like that!”

“Uh, magical imp, hello.” Cass snorted. “And what’s wrong with emojis? They’re cute! Like confetti for words!” He started to raise his paw.

“No more confetti.” LA gritted his teeth. “Please.”

Cass pouted but dropped his paw.

“Emojis are stupid.”

“Is the rest of the message to your grumpy satisfaction at least?”

“Look, it’s fine, whatever. But you can’t just go through people’s fucking phones!” LA threw the muffin at Cass. It bounced off his chest and hit the floor. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“My muffin!” Cass gasped, dropping to his knees to retrieve it.

“Fuck your muffin.” LA glared. “We gotta set some boundaries right now, okay? It’s not okay for you to one, wreck my kitchen, or two, take my phone without permission and—”

“Shouldn’t the phone thing be first?”

“Oh my God. Give me that damn muffin so I can throw it at you again.”