>Mondays were always the worst for you, and you learned to both love and hate them.
>It didn’t help you couldn’t sleep for shit to begin with.
>But the best talks were always late at night with your pals.
>The best shows were always at one am for some god forsaken reason.
>Your neighbours took a book out of the asshole nightclub bible and blasted techno music for hours past midnight.
>This year’s February was the coldest of the decade for no good reason.
>Your job was boring.
>You hadn’t got a date in who knows how long.
>And it was colder than a witches taint.
>Bullshit upon bullshit, cold rain, freezing wind and a whole lot of no sleep.
>Stepping off the bus stop, punching in to work, at least you have two good things to look forward to.
>A warm mug of coffee and some hangout time with Anna after work.
 
>Anna was someone you could always rely on, even if few did.
>A mostly short, five foot seven peppy lynx, a bit of a tomboy, but that was half her charm.
>A soft, silver hue to her fur, small spots of black on her coat, even a few on her cheeks, a puffy silver nub, and to complete the set?
>Deep amber eyes and a smile on her face.
>The spots on her cheeks kinda looked like freckles, the more you thought about it.
>More boy than girl, down to play around with the football or bust your ass in vidya.
>Hell, just bust your ass period.
>Never hit a girl didn’t apply to her, nor would she want it to with the amount of fights she got on.
>Be it you confusing her for a guy, the similar tastes in videogames, just fucking about in PE, you two just bonded since primary and kept at it ever since.
 
>With work being boring as ever and your shift nearing the end, you think back on the whole tradition you two made, a small smile covering your face.
>Bringing eatchother home for sleepovers.
>Playing fighters or racing games through the night.
>A match of football outside.
>Even some wrestling and judo slam practice.
>Usual kid and teenager stuff.
>No sleepovers now, as both of you were on your twenties after all.
>But you two developed this unspoken rule in your almost ritual like meetings.
>Whoever was having the shit week went to the other ones house, and the host had to cheer them up.
>Of course, didn’t always work.
>Be it her teasing you over a cute girl.
>A small jab at her over failing a judo tourney.
>A match of Tekken gone sour.
>Even the age old argument over the legal residence of pineapple on pizza soil.
>Every so often, you two had a small falling out.
>Nothing a good judo slam into the ground from her or a surprise grapple hold from you didn’t fix.
>Course, you knew she could counter your grapple easy.
>And she was so predictable you could already disarm her from the third time she reached for her slams.
>But neither of you ever did get mad over being dunked.
>She seemed happy to have you do martial arts actually.
>Tapping out with a smile from your chokehold, asking where you learned it, faking her struggling rather well.
>You just enjoyed seeing her smile after judo slamming your ass, her outstretched hand helping you up.
>That and grappling her like you saw once in MGS and having her struggle a bit.
>The feeling of soft fur was an added bonus, like holding a blanket of warm and cosy fur, rubbing itself on your face and arms.
>Sure, you were essentially trying to make the blanket pass out from a chokehold over her spamming combos.
>But hey, close enough, right?
 
>Goofy smile on your face, you quit reminiscing and eye the clock.
>Five minutes past your shift end?
>Five minutes too many.
>Punching out, you grab your umbrella and head out to the rainy streets with a smirk on your face, a brisk pace in your feet.
>Sure, the cold sucked, the rain kept pouring and the wind was trying to slice you in half.
>You were essentially a sleep deprived husk of a man fuelled only by caffeine.
>But like fuck you are going to be put down from visiting your childhood friend and shooting the shit over pizza and blazblue.

>A few minutes of walking got you where you needed to be.
>Wetter and colder than you’d like, sure.
>The local cars going at Mach 10 and splashing you wetter than a dog in a flood didn’t help.
>And the feeling of a soaked wool scarf and drenched jeans was anything but pleasant.
>But atleast you arrived at her apartment complex.
>A quick buzz on the 3rd right button, and heavens be praised, you finally found somewhere warm and dry to hide out.
>It was one of those older buildings, the smell of wood, a old feel to it, as a yellow tint came around to illuminate the place, motion sensors detecting your soaked ass entering through the glass door.
>Placing your umbrella on the can, you already felt your spirits getting better, aiming to skip the likely to break down elevator for once and head to the stairs.
>You were tired, deadly tired, but hey.
>Just a few floors away from some warm pizza, some good old indoors vidya and quality time with your childhood friend.
>All while it was raining outside, with you comfy and safe, shooting the shit.
>Nothing more you could ask for, after such a rotten week.

>Walking up the final steps upwards, you see her standing in the doorframe, leaning into it.
>Sporting a barely filled grey hoodie and black track pants, her amber eyes scoured your soaked clothes top to bottom, while her arms remained crossed upon her chest, a shit eating smirk on her lips.
>How she managed to be so smug while dressed like a workout slob was beyond you.
>”C’mon anon, didn’t know you were sneaking swimming lessons after work! Didn’t have time to dry up or did you just rush here straight from the pool?”
>You can’t help but chuckle, raising your hands to take off your soaked scarf and walking towards the door.
>”With how much it’s been raining, I could’ve canoed here. Think I would have gotten less wet that way.”, a small, tired sigh escaping you.
>“Thanks for having me Anna. It’s been a hell of a shit week.” 
>”C’mon anon, you’ve covered for me before plenty of times. Don’t sweat it, yeah?”, nodding and walking inside her home.
>Even if her hoodie wasn’t exactly packed, you couldn’t say the same about her track pants, taking a peek at her behind as she walked inside.
>Usually, you’d feel bad about eyeing your best friends ass, but for one?
>You already knew she did the same to you.
>A lot.
>And two, with her being so boyish, she was flattered at best, flustered at worse.
>You had to admit, she looked damn cute when you managed to get her flustered.
>“You can dry your stuff in the laundry room, already ordered the pizza. You like peperoni, right?”
>”Long as it has no pineapple, I’m down for anything!”, shuffling inside, a wide grin already on your face.
>”Hey! You never even tried pineapple on pizza Anon!”
>”I don’t need to play Bad Rats to know it’s bad, do I Anna?”
>”It isn’t the same and you know it! If you tried, you’d actually like it!”
>Heading to the laundry, you really can’t help but laugh at how you still made fun of her over liking pineapple on pizza.
>Over ten years of doing it and it never got old.

>The two of you keep on chatting over silly nonsense, with you shoving your damp clothes in the drier for a spell, leaving you only in your boxers.
>Anna was courteous enough to let you use the laundry room and just kept chatting with you outside the door.
>Be it over your shit job, your neighbours, she managed to make you blurt out and vent with her, all of it.
>She was always a good listener, even if you were one of her (sadly) few friends.
>By the time your clothes dried and with all that talk, the weight on your shoulders seemed to almost disappear entirely.
>Deciding to switch it up a bit, you ask about what she had been up to.
>Judo and sports, a new fighter game you never even heard of coming out, new workout routines for you both.
>Meetings with high ranking students, cross country tourneys, how the rank system worked overseas.
>Compared to your mostly mundane life, she was out there kicking twelve shades of shit out of everyone.
>Getting paid for it too.
>Despite that, she never did delve into it much, instead insisting on you and what you had been up to.
>Only thing to stop the questions was a ringing of the doorbell, with her scampering off to get her wallet.
>”Hold on a sec Anon, just getting the pizza!”
>The ancestral blessings of the Italians had come to your aid, letting you finaly put on your now dry and warm clothes without being asked twelve questions about your job and workouts.
>Stealthily slipping into the living room, you decide to bask in the heat of your now dry clothes and slip into the sofa.
>Few things could beat wearing warm clothes straight out of the dryer and relaxing on a couch.
>Those few things included a cute and short tomboy lynx, some hot pizza on her right hand, a cold beer on her left and some videogames to play.
>And you had them all in one spot.
>Flashing you a smile and placing the beer and pie on the table, Anna walked to the console and turned it on, throwing you a controller, bending down and placing in the disc on the old ps3.
>A very, very nice view.
>Still, you were her guest, staring at your friends ass when invited to relax was just plain rude.
>Turning our eyes aside from the view, you look out the balcony windows, checking if the weather had calmed down. 
>Heavy rain and grey skies, same as when you walked here.
>The primal feeling of comfort hits you like a pillow sledgehammer, staring out to the rain, safe and warm, while outside was a frozen, wet hellhole. 
>Your attention snaps back to the couch, as Anna unceremoniously flings herself to it, the loud jap intro music to the game playing out of the speakers.
>She always did like her anime fighting games.
>Grabbing the controller, you just let the intro play out, ready to kick the 7 hells out of her ass in versus mode.

>As the two of you played, sipping beer, eating pizza, you keep eyeing the windows outside every so often.
>What used to be just heavy rained turned into small hail.
>It was still raining, but you had this eerie feeling you couldn’t shake.
>”Hey anon, quit daydreaming! I still gotta beat your ass before you need to leave!”
>And just as you focused back on the game, you see it.
>A flash of light from the corner of your eye.
>Oh fuck.
>OH FUCK!
>Was it real?
>Better count to make sure.
>One, two, three, fou-
>The rumbling explosion confirmed your worst fears, your muscles tensing, as you slowly turned your eyes to Anna.

>Petrified.
>Her silver nub puffed like a British soldier hat. 
>Her hands deathgripping the controller, claws unsheathed.
>Ears flipped down, staring dagger to the ground.
>Her gentle smile and cheery attitude seemed to vanish completely.
>Shit.
>This was bad.
>Anna /feared/ thunderstorms.
>Not disliked. 
>Feared.
>Like a wounded animal fleeing a hunter, with nowhere left to go, limping, unable to resist their fate.
>And the second flash behind you didn’t help at all.
>Eyes closed, you pray it’s longer before it hits.
>One, two, th-
> BWOOOOM!
>Panic started to overcome you, as you saw her breath shorten, her arms beginning to shake.
>Falling silent, unmoving, paralyzed.
>”H-Hey Anna? Are you feelin-“
>Another flash.
>Oh god.
>On-

>As the thunder hits, the booming sound of a explosion ringing out, you feel yourself be tackled.
>Pushed to the corner of the sofa, Anna simply embraced you as hard as she could, laying above you, arms around you back, claws poking at your ribs. 
>You could feel her heart from how close she hugged you, beating like her life depended on it, even across the fabric of her hoodie, as she pushed herself towards you as hard as she could.
>Head buried deeply in your neck, tears soaking it, trying her best to ignore, to escape the storm.
>Trying to find safety, something to distract her from the storm, to shelter her.
>And then the realization hit.

>/You/ were her shelter. 

>She could have hidden in a closet, ducked under a bed, but instead?
>She went to you.
>She went to you to cover her, to protect her, to keep her okay.
>Without knowing what to do, paralyzed by the realization, you simply return the embrace, feeling her heart skip a beat.
>She didn’t stop.
>If anything, she seemed to be doing it harder, squirming above you, nuzzling deeper in your neck, claws poking at your back.
>Still crying, but her tears seemed to slow down.
>Your own heart began racing, your hands rubbing themselves on her back and her head, soothing, soft words whispered into her ear, as you caressed and cuddled her.
>”Shhh, its okay Anna. Just relax, it’ll all be over soon…it’ll all be over soon.”

>The storm raged on, more and more flashes of light appearing.
>More booming explosions, every single one sending her claws digging deeper into your back and ribs, and you swear you could feel some blood coming out.
>But every new flash felt longer to come, and half a hour later, the thunder seemed to fade away
>Nothing but the sound of plinking rain on glass filling the room, the game paused and silenced.
>The two of you were still hugging eatchother, her claws finally retracted and your hands still rubbing at her back and neck, whispering sweet nothing at her ears.
>Her heartbeat had calmed since the storm, but she still squirmed and hugged you tight, unwilling to let go.
>You did much the same, a primal urge telling you, whispering you what you wanted to hear.
>To keep going.
>Neither of you felt like stopping this embrace.
>You both just wanted to deepen it.
>Pulling her up and towards you, your hands slid underneath her grey hoodie, rubbing alongside her toned back, shamelessly touching her, hands gliding amongst the smooth, velvet like fur.
>Anna herself moved her hands underneath your shirt, fingers traveling across your back, rubbing at your nape, a small sigh leaving her, slumping herself more unto your chest.
>The feeling of soft fur.
>Her paws traveling across your back.
>Her heartbeat on your chest.
>The soft smell of strawberries from her perfume.
>No words were needed, as you both simply basked in the embrace of one another, greedy hands grasping at one another, pushing yourselves together as close as you could, in a warm, pure embrace.
>Soon enough, both of you ended up falling asleep in that couch, the sound of drizzling rain in the background.

>You dream of Anna that night
>The lynx in a white summer dress, a picnic on a hill, the sun shining bright above.
>The two of you below a tree, leaning in on eatchother, the smell of strawberries in the air, hands interlocked, enjoying the breeze and eatchothers company.
>A vision of paradise.
>But for now?
>Even if you had bad neighbours, even if you were tired or had a bad week.
>You preferred real life and holding her close.
>And something told you that was something you were going to be doing a lot from now on.
Fin


(I made a small sequel to this over at https://pastebin.com/3UmUNMhT so if you want some more, go and check it out)