AAOOOSC!: Gulls' Adventures!

The new morning has dawn over San Diego. The sun is raised, high and bright, giving a boost of optimism to any who acknowledges the lovely sun-drenched weather.

Yet the weather is not quite reflecting the mood of the residency of the Monarossabergie House. The house is calm and sleepy, dim and quiet, until the new leader wakes up.

Joseph’s eyes blink open, inches from the pillow. In an instant, all that has happened in the past day rushes through his mind: Brandon is a cat, Ryan is a cat, Ryan’s fiancee is expecting him to come today thanks to Matt, and there’s practice today-- PRACTICE--!

Joseph flies out of bed and rushes to the bathroom that is attached to his room to get ready.

A few minutes later, he bursts out of his bedroom in his day clothes and dashes down the hallway. As he slides into the living room, he has to maintain his balance to avoid falling. He then stays in place, spotting what is going on in the other side of the room:

In the dining room, Nick is munching on a massive American breakfast with eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, and coffee displayed around the table. On the table as well is Brandon the cat and Ryan the cat, who are feasting on the food just like how regular house cats would eat.

Before Joseph could react to the sight, Matt appears next to Joseph and takes in the view too. A happy expression appears on his face. “Ryan! You’re fine!”

He skips over to the dining table and scoops up the cat, hugging him against his chest. “Did you have a good night sleep?”

Joseph steps over to the table and takes a seat closest to Brandon the cat. He spots the cat licking some eggs that are on a plate. “You’re not suppose to be eating that as a cat.” He then plucks him off with both hands and plops him on his lap.

Matt is on the other side of the table while Ryan is on the table, having him pet him. He turns to Nick. “You made all of this?”

Nick sleepily turns to the goalie. “I just called the Pancake House.” He then turns back to finish up a buttermilk pancake.

Joseph stares disgustingly at the food. “And you let the cats have this?”

Nick turns to his roommate. “They were hungry.”

“They eat fish, not breakfast stuff.” He huffs and shakes his head. “Anyway, forget what cats eat, we have practice today.”

“In one hour and seven minutes and twenty-two seconds,” Nick adds in precisely.

“Thanks, timer,” Joseph says sarcastically to him with a nod. He reverts his gaze at Matt. “The problem is that one, Monty and Ryan are turned into cats, and two, they gotta be supervised in case they make some mess around here…” He scrutinizes his surroundings, looking out for any potential mess the cats created.

Matt pets Ryan the cat’s brown fur. “I think they can do just fine alone!”

“As much as I trust Monty, I don’t trust him as a cat,” Joseph nods to the fluffy brown cat, who has now resumed eating the eggs on the table once again.

Nick slowly raises his hand in the air. “I’ll take care of the cats.”

Joseph narrows his piercing eyes at him. “I trust Monty as a cat more than I trust you.”

“I will then,” Matt volunteers. “I’ll take great care of them.”

Joseph turns to the goalie. “We need you for practice. You and Ryan are the only goalies; Ryan is already gone and we can’t have you be gone, too.”

“Oh…” Matt’s face falls.

Joseph gazes at the two. “I’ll take care of them.”

Matt’s eyes light up. “Really?”

He shrugs and comments sardonically, “Sure, why not? I’ll just miss practice and possibly be scratched for the next game or two.” He lets out a huff. “At least Monty’ll be on the same boat as me.”

“Are you sure--?”

Joseph lifts his hand at Matt. “Don’t make me any worse than I already feel.”

Matt presses back against his chair. “Okay,” he squeaks. He then slowly straightens up. “So what do we tell Coach when he asks where you, Ryan, and Monty are?”

“Say we’re sick. We’re all sick. We didn’t eat something good.” He eyes the cat-infected food.

“Okay…” He makes an unsure expression. “Are you sure this will work?”

“Yes.” Joseph then nabs Brandon the cat from the table again and pulls him close to him. “Now go.”

Matt exchanges expressions with Nick before they both rise up from their chairs.

Matt walks over to Joseph and gingerly places Ryan the cat on his lap. He pats his shoulder. “See you later, Crammer.” He then strolls off down the room and disappears in the foyer.

“Bye, Joey,” Nick tells him sluggish as he lumbers behind the goalie.

“Hm.” Joseph turns away from and spots his new task to tackle: two teammates who are now cats.

And they are staring up at him with big, colourful eyes, mocking him to see if he can actually be a great cat sitter.

Notes

E.4 "Cat Café"
Part 2/4
Episode 4/20