Stitch in Fate Chapter One: An Old Thread
By: Monica Vix
Cassidy sat lazily in the corner of the loud and thudding nightclub. Lights of teal and magenta rolled over his naga body, the dark scaled coils of his lower half and the black fur of his upper half bathed in the vibrant lights. A few scars and bandages were highlighted by the lovely glow of the active club, primarily along his tail. Leather of his jacket and long-sleeved shirt that he wore covered up any other streaks of injury. With a lazy gaze over the nightclub, the fox-naga found himself sighing at all the dancing figures. Their bodies moved with an electric energy that seemed foreign to the disillusioned Cassidy.
Then, those teal eyes spotted something. A tuft of tan fur. A pair of sharp fangs. The familiarity of sabretooth fangs and tan fur that instantly sent a shock to the system like getting hit by a bolt of lightning. Now sitting up in his little corner, the naga looked, staring longingly, curiously. Hope that the familiarity wasn’t just an illusion filled his chest. Cassidy’s eyes traced up from the fangs to stare at the hair, the pale blue in the low light solidifying his hopes into a reality; this was Lyla! It’s been years since he’s seen her, since a long-gone childhood that left the two of them a little worse for wear when it ended. The dark scales of the naga’s coils unraveled as he got up from his seat, pursuing the sabretooth tiger with a determined sway of his partially monstrous body.
The tiger was walking away, seemingly disinterested with the club after her brief time being within the loud, thudding, flashing group of people. Her tan furred body covered with a black bra and mesh shirt began to make its way to the exit. Hips and thighs covered with cut off jeans weaved along the crowd. There was no indication that she spotted the naga she grew up with. Lyla’s bare paws continuously moved along the tile floor of the nightclub making a beeline for the door through the other patrons. Cassidy couldn’t help but to follow, the eagerness to catch up with his childhood friend, needing to be with her again just to chat for another night! He knew he could call out, but the stigmatism against people that were naga-like was too strong of a burden to him, doubly so with his more criminal line of work. The dark scaled and furred naga simply followed behind, trying to catch up with one of his arms reaching out towards the tiger!
Tan fur disappeared behind the door and turned down the alley the nightclub was located on, the thudding bass of the music growing faint as she stepped outside. Night air flooded her lungs as she took a deep breath, the cooling wave of relaxation washing over the sabretooth as she closed her eyes for barely a moment. Simply enjoying the air, the second of quiet. It was a blissful experience after the packed nightclub she regrettably came to in order to ‘loosen up’ and ‘try new things’ like her friends have encouraged. It was definitely an experience to go to the club, all right. All the overly horny and needy people shifting along and dancing to music that probably cost a dollar per hour to make.
Violet eyes opened as the door opened once more, the soft slithering of a naga like body filling the air behind Lyla. It initially didn’t set her off as anything to be worried about, until the person was shifting up behind her, the sabretooth tiger almost able to feel the eyes drilling a hole in the back of her skull. Within a moment, the tan furred feline turned and sent an open palm right into the nose of the naga! Surprise filled her face within the same moment as she saw who it was, almost instantly regretting her action of preemptive self defense.
“Cassidy?!” Lyla shouted out in surprise. She watched as the black furred upper half of the naga grasped at his nose, a groan escaping his mouth. “Oh, fuck, I’m sorry! You scared me!” She said, walking forward and taking his other hand from him, looking at the wound she inflicted. “Say something next time, okay? Don’t just… sneak up on a friend like that, dumbass.” The tiger chided with her old friend with that faint French accent. A nervous laugh squeezed out of her lips as she saw those teal eyes staring at her.
There was silence for a moment before Cassidy sighed, slinking back just a little with a proud, pained smile on his face. “I didn’t know you could throw a punch like that!” He said a little congested from the punch. The naga firmly shook her hand as she offered it to him. “It’s been a while! What, like… over ten years?” The naga said, very eager to meet his friend once again.
“Thirteen.” Lyla solemnly corrected with a nod and a somewhat sad smile. “I’ve missed you. Didn’t… know you would be around here!” She said with a slight laugh, shrugging her shoulders while shaking his hand. Looking towards the sky, seeing clouds filling the night and hiding the stars and moon away. Her violet eyes turned to Cassidy again. “Do you… want to snag some coffee? I can pay.” The sabretooth offered, her fanged smile warming the naga’s heart.
The offer made the teal eyes of the fox-naga grow wide, a smile forming across his lips. “Oh, sure! I’d be more than happy to pay! The waitresses at the local diner gives me a discount anyways, because nagas helping nagas and all that.” Cassidy said with a casual tone, starting to slither towards his friend again. He didn’t notice the sabretooth tiger starting to shiver with the cold night air surrounding them, the thudding nightclub and his thudding heart distracting him from the world around him.
Lyla gave Cassidy the go ahead to lead the way, watching the dark scaled tail slide in front of her and begin to travel along the concrete sidewalk. The scars and bandages were instantly seen by her violet eyes, making them grow a little wider as she restrained herself from commenting on them. The sabretooth followed her naga friend, eyes going up the tail towards the jacketed torso, looking at the snake-like hood that seemed so… nostalgic. Thoughts of how Cassidy protected her while they were young, the roughness of the orphanage, even the incident. It all surfaced in her mind as intrusive thoughts she didn’t miss nearly as much as her friend.
The city in the evening was aglow with hundreds of small lights from windows and cars alike. As the two slithered and walked along the concrete sidewalk, they passed small stores that were closing for the night. About a block or so from the nightclub they met at, far, far away from the booming bass that shook pebbles out the door, Cassidy stopped in front of a small diner. There was an old ‘Now Hiring’ sign lit up in the window, another sign displaying the late hours the run down diner stayed open. The naga moved aside in front of the door, holding it open for Lyla with a slight smile on his face. Deep in his heart it felt less like a get together and more like a date, perhaps even a blind date with how much could’ve changed in the years upon years it’s been since they’ve spoken.
A smile on the sabretooth’s lips signaled her silent appreciation as she walked in. She almost instantly noticed the oddly carpeted main floor of the small diner. The sabretooth pressed into the warm atmosphere within, hearing the sound of Cassidy following behind her as she walked towards a booth near the exposed kitchen and coffee pots. A corn snake and golden retriever naga slithered up from the other side of the booth. Her gentle face flashing a simple smile at Cassidy and a more inquisitive, yet friendly, look towards Lyla.
“So, Cassidy, got yourself a girlfriend finally?” The waitress joked a little. A pair of menus were flipped onto the table, the waitress opening a little booklet of orders right after. Cassidy sat across from Lyla as the waitress began to speak. “Can I get you two anything to drink to start you off?” Her friendly tone was expanded to both of them.
The blushing sabretooth was caught off guard by the waitress’s comment, realizing that her childhood best friend was single and still out to potentially do… anything romantic. Or so she thought, assuming based off of the corn snake-like waitress’s words about him, assuming he’s potentially aromantic. “I’m not… his girlfriend.” Lyla said softly, averting her gaze from Cassidy and focusing on the menu. “I’ll have a coffee, please, with cream and sweetener.” Those violet eyes scanned over the laminated menu, looking over each of the meals in turn. All of them looked rather good. With a pretty decent price, too! However, nothing really leapt out at her from the menu, all of the items being some variation on burgers or sandwiches.
“Oh, uh… I’ll have my usual, Rea. Thank you.” Cassidy sat down, his coils tucking in under the rather spacious seat as he didn’t even look at the menu like his friend. “So… Lyla? What has you in town? I haven’t really seen you around here before.” He was trying to be casual about meeting her again, although his nervousness was displayed boldly. Eyes flicked across her face, her posture, anything; just scanning for any sign of disinterest. As Rea brought out a pair of coffees as well as the cream and sweetener for the both of them, Cassidy’s attention bounced to the other naga for a moment.
Lyla took her coffee and began to stir in one, two packets of sweetener, dropping the contents of the cream container into it before stirring. “Well…” With a single word, a single syllable, she stole the attention of her old friend again. “I live here, but I don’t really get out too much. Helping out at a little martial arts studio downtown. Not the best pay, but I can sleep there for free!” The sabretooth joked before raising her coffee to her lips, taking a sip of the caramel-colored mixture. “What about you?” She said with a little huff, the fresh and hot coffee burning her tongue momentarily.
“Oh, what I do here?” Cassidy seemed a little surprised, his fox hand raising up to stroke the back of his snake hooded head. “Well… there’s not too much official work around, but I got a little… gig I work at every now and then.” The naga let out a soft, nervous laugh, averting his teal eyes as she asked. Cassidy did his best to keep it vague and not scare her off. “Currently on break, but I got enough for a little apartment here, if you… ever need a place to crash not in a sweaty work out center.” He joked, leaning forward and taking a sip of his black coffee, taking it a little slower than the sabretooth.
A little blood came out of his nose as he leaned forward, wiping it away with a soft laugh. “But really,” Cassidy began to speak again, “That explains how you hit so hard. I guess you don’t need me to help you out in that regard anymore, huh?” There was admiration in his voice. Those teal eyes sparkled as he gazed towards a blushing Lyla.
“Pfff, come on. You know we’re not little kids anymore, Butch Cassidy.” The sabretooth joked with his old nickname. A laugh came from her fanged maw as the naga gave finger guns. “But, uh… thanks.” Lyla’s tone changed from a lighthearted joke to serious words in a moment, her violet eyes staring at Cassidy, the smile fading. “You really helped me out a lot back then. It’s kinda… the reason I stopped just taking it myself and started at this place. I didn’t have you around anymore after, well…” She trailed off, her voice dropping further from seriousness into somberness.
With a slow nod and a breif sigh, the dark furred naga looked away. A slight, nervous laugh escaped from his lips. “Mhm. I’m still on a watch list after that. But we didn’t know what we were doing, did we?” He asked, looking for confirmation in the sabretooth’s eyes. “We never… set out to kill her. No one even hated her, she’s the reason we were alive for our early years. Hell, I didn’t even push her off the roof, you know that guy… that shark girl did it and I just… haven’t heard anything of her since. Marina blamed it all on me, even though I wasn’t doing anything.” His voice was dry and filled with a regretful spite, something that burned deep in the back of his throat more so than the heat of any scalding coffee.
An awkward silence flowed over the two of them like a wave of pure negativity, Lyla’s brow especially furrowed in anger. Reflecting on the past never felt right alone and it felt marginally better together, the quiet air a circuit where the silent understanding of the shared trauma was relayed. The silence was cut in two as the waitress naga slithered up again, laying out a turkey sandwich with hashbrowns out before Cassidy. Rea looked between the two and chose to cut the uneasy air, clearing her throat to get their attention again.
“So, pretty kitty? You decide on anything yet, sweetheart?” The golden furred paws clicked a pen and set it to the notepad, ready to write down an order.
Snapping out of the trance like uneasiness, the sabretooth tiger blinked a few times and looked at the menu. “Oh, uh, I’ll just have what he’s having.” Lyla said quickly, not wanting to take up too much time with her answer. She wasn’t all too hungry, but she felt bad about saying no. As Rea slithered away with the note written down, she looked up to Cassidy’s gaze again. “Hey… are you okay? With… all of that?” The violet eyes were full of concern, staring at the dark furred naga with worry as if he was crying.
“Well…” The fox crossed his black arms over his jacket covered chest, letting out a puff of air. “I’ve done worse since then.” He said dryly, groaning as he leaned forward and planted his face into his dark furred paws, breaking the gaze before almost whispering out. “I didn’t want to disappoint you, but, Lyla… I’m in an armed service escort… thing. I can’t do anything else in this damn city, especially with a track record from just a simple accident.” Cassidy laid it all out, bare and blunt with his words as he admitted his less-than-ideal status to his friend. He found himself going silent within a moment of speaking his heart out, being needlessly honest to set the record straight.
Lyla stared at him with nothing but concern. One of her tan paws reached out to grasp the naga’s hand out from under his head. “Are you… at least safe when you’re doing your jobs? I saw all those bandages.” A soft nervous laugh came from her lips as she gently rubbed her thumb over his, squeezing Cassidy’s hand in her own with an affectionate smile. “If you’re just as reckless as you used to be, that’s definitely not good. Especially now that guns are involved.” The sabretooth attempted to joke about the serious topic, trying to raise the mood between the two of them. Her voice lowered in the silence between them, almost not even noticing as a mirror to the naga’s meal was placed before her. “Can you… promise something?”
Cassidy looked up, his fingers squeezing tightly around Lyla’s. “It… depends. What do you want me to promise?” He spoke in an exhausted tone. Cassidy slowly dragged himself to sit up straight in the booth again, gazing at the feline before him.
“That you’ll try to be safe.” She said bluntly and to the point, her violet eyes almost quivering with the simple intensity from her words. “If not for yourself, then… stay safe for me?” Lyla leaned in, holding onto his hand and squeezing back with the same amount of pressure. Pausing for a moment, staring into Cassidy’s teal eyes, the sabretooth pulled away in mild embarrassment about her forwardness. “Sorry. I just… I’ve worried about you, BC. I haven’t seen you in over a decade and now I see you all hurt and bandaged up.” Lyla stopped herself. She let out a soft sigh as she shook her head, taking a long sip of her half-emptied coffee.
Nodding slowly, the black furred naga leaned back and broke eye contact as they stopped holding hands. A gentle warmth rolled over his body from the sweet yet bold words from his friend. “Okay.” Cassidy said solemnly. “I promise I’ll be safer.” He smiled a little as he stated this, reaching forward towards his meal. “But gotta start with a full stomach, right? Can’t make a big change like that without a little pick me up.” The little joke shifted the mood just a touch, the pair of them smiling after such an intense moment shared.
In the little diner, not much happened other than the two childhood friends talking together for the first time in ages. It was still, quiet, and rather empty other than Rea and a wolf boy behind her checking his phone, waiting to start cooking again. To Cassidy, it was a familiar place that he frequented every other day, but Lyla saw it as a new experience as she bit into her turkey sandwich across from him. Familiar face with a decent meal was all she needed at the moment. A soft smile along her lips as she chewed and devoured the meaty meal. After around fifteen or so minutes, the pair finished their meals and drinks down to the ceramic bottom of both the mugs and the plates, hardly a scrap left from the voracious eaters.
Groaning as he stretched, Cassidy closed his eyes and yawned loudly as the sleepless day started to catch up with him. Across from him, Lyla had her arms behind her back, trying to pop her back with a look of discomfort on her face getting replaced with relaxation after a soft pop was heard. Then, in the same moment, each of them reached for their wallets within their pockets upon seeing Rea walk up with the check. The bill only had one of the coffees on it, the other completely absent as if it was never poured in a cup, let alone drank to nothingness.
Snatching up the bill first with her agile hand, the sabretooth looked at it and her face furrowed in mild confusion. “Wait, miss, you forgot one of the coffees.” Lyla spoke up, getting Rea’s attention again.
The golden retriever naga gave a soft smile and a wink in response. “Yours is on the house, pretty kitty. If you’re out on a date with this guy, you’ll need the pick me up.” She joked, patting Cassidy on the back before slithering away once again. “And let him pay. His stubborn ass won’t let you; I’ll tell you what.”
The black furred naga rolled his eyes while leaning forward, taking up the check from Lyla’s hand and looking it over. “Besides,” Cassidy began to speak, drawing out a twenty from his wallet, “you said you’re an unpaid intern? Money’s gotta be tight for you. Pay when you actually start getting some money from them, okay?” He joked a little, placing the money on the check and dropping an extra dollar or two to cover the tip.
“Alright, alright, fine.” Lyla said, rolling her eyes with a smile as she tucked her wallet back into her pocket. “Well… I think I should get headed back to my place.” She said before stepping out of the booth. Lyla stretched her long legs, reaching up and giving a long stretch with a groan. “Do you want to… walk together? If your place is along the way?”
Cassidy looked at her body, the rather slim figure getting his attention as he could even see the back muscles rippling beneath the mesh shirt she wore. “Going north, right? Aren’t you… cold?” He said as he slipped his coils out from under the booth, bringing himself to stand next to the sabretooth. Teal eyes traced over the rather toned figure of his friend, trying to force any romantic thoughts out of his head before he said something stupid. “Do you want to borrow my jacket for the walk?” Cassidy mentally cursed himself for pulling a classic dating move like that.
“Oh? Yea, I guess it is pretty cold out. Isn’t it down in the fifties now?” Lyla asked, her eyes locked onto the snake as she strode over to the door, pressing it open for both of them. A gust of wind blew her pale blue hair all over the place, causing a shiver to run down her spine. “Yep, I need that.” She laughed softly as she walked back in, retreating from the cold winds just outside the door.
Cassidy without any complaints peeled off the dark leather jacket, revealing a wrinkled magenta long sleeve shirt underneath. He slithered over to the door with Lyla, holding out the jacket to her. “Go on and lead the way.” The naga held the door, giving her the chance to get out before he followed right behind.
Lyla began to walk along the sidewalk, slowing down just enough to walk alongside Cassidy; the pair took up the entirety of the empty walkway. A soft snicker came on her lips after they crossed a road, looking towards the naga. “Hey, out of curiosity, do you still have that plush of me? The ones we made when we were like… what, eight?” The sabretooth asked out of the blue, her violet eyes trailing from the magenta shirt of her friend to his teal eyes.
“Yea?” Cassidy said, returning her gaze before moving out of the way for a lamp post, his long tail shifting around it before he continued. “I have it on my dresser. Got a few other plushies from my work friends as a joke after I showed it to them once.” He snickered softly, shaking his head. “They’re assholes, but they mean well.”
Letting out a somewhat relieved sigh, Lyla put her hands in the pockets of Cassidy’s jacket, feeling the warmth of it squeezing around her body. The wallet brushed against the back of her hand, keeping his money out of her grasp to just be considerate at the very least. “Your plushies now! Their money’s gone and you benefited from it.” The sabretooth jokes, laughing softly as she walked alongside the naga. “You can never have too many plushies. I still have the one of you, even if it does look a little… derpy. Had to patch it up a few times, too, which probably doesn’t help.” Lyla paused for a moment to press the switch to a crossing light, watching the sparse cars run through the dark, midnight city.
“I might need to get you to fix the plush of you, then.” Cassidy sighed, shaking his head as he watched the traffic fade, slithering out onto the white painted asphalt. “It got a little roughed up when I moved here, so I had to put it away to keep it from ripping more.” He chuckled uneasily, hearing Lyla starting to walk with him as he jaywalked on a yellow light. “I’m taking a turn here, by the way, my place is down that way.” The black furred finger of the fox pointed down to the right, the magenta shirt much easier to see than his hand.
Lyla sucked on her teeth, standing with Cassidy on the sidewalk after a quick little stroll across the mostly quiet street. “I’m going straight ahead.” She huffed, a cloud of warm air coming out her nose as she looked away, starting to take off the jacket. “Do you want my number? So we can maybe talk later and get together?” The mesh shirt was revealed underneath the jacket, the teal eyes of the naga noticing it and holding his hand out to her.
“Just keep the jacket.” He said bluntly, slithering forward to get the contents from the jacket his friend was now borrowing. She handed off a small smartphone and his wallet to the slightly taller naga without any fuss or making a point of it. The two traded contacts and went their separate ways, Cassidy slightly shivering against the cold wind of the night while Lyla looked back towards him, an apprehensive feeling in her heart as she left with his jacket.
