Ends and Friends

It took Lena nearly and entire day to conceptualise, formulate then write and rewrite the message she wanted to send Zan. It was the first time she was opening a conversation over text, and it made her oddly nauseous. She wondered if everyone got so nervous when texting first, or if that was just a Lena thing.

After a long deliberation, Lena finally pressed send.

Hi Zan, I was wondering if you would like to go to the aforementioned cat café with me? I’m not entirely sure how to get there, but I don’t have anything planned for tomorrow, if you also happen to be free.

Zan’s response came in a matter of seconds.

HELL YES!

Lena giggled. It was short and sweet, and very in character for Zan. Another message quickly popped up on her hologram.

I’ll come over to yours at 10:30 tomorrow and we can make our way to the café together?

Still smiling, Lena took a few minutes to type out her response.

Yes, that sounds lovely. Thank you.

--

The cat café immediately lived up to its name through theming alone. The exterior was a dome, shaped to look like a cat. It had cat ears atop, windows for eyes, and double doors that functioned as its gaping mouth. It was almost as silly looking as the ugly cat sweater that Lena was wearing.

Making their way inside, the girls beelined for a quiet table in the corner with cushions on the floor – aka Lena’s favourite spot. Zan ordered brunch and drinks for the both of them, while Lena stared at the cats lingering nearby. A black cat very slowly skulked over to her side.

“Are you alright?” Zan asked, looking at Lena’s bouncing knees.

“Yeah… No, I just…” Lena took a deep breath. “Do you remember how you said I could talk to you about anything? Does that offer still stand?”

Zan nodded. She only made that offer two days ago. “Yeah. Of course it does.”

The black cat pounced into Lena’s lap, instantly settling her bouncing knee and shaking bones. Lena gently scratched its chin and looked down at the cat with great fondness.

“What did you want to talk about?” Zan very gently prompted Lena, who looked back up from her lap.

“Well, uh... Do you know who the Naturals are?” Lena asked. Zan shook her head, so Lena continued, “They’re basically a community of religious people who think that technology is an affront to nature, and using it is an insult to God and his creations.”

Zan furrowed her eyebrows. “So, they don’t use any technology? Like, at all?”

“None at all.” Lena shook her head, and took a deep breath to settle her nerves.

It took a moment for Zan to pick up what Lena was putting down.

“Ohhhhh.” Zan had a moment of realisation. “That’s where you’re from?!”

Lena couldn’t help but smile at her dramatics. “Yeah.”

“Damn.” Zan put her hands flat on the table and stared into the middle distance. Lena recognised that look from the mirror – it was the look of someone allowing their brain to play catch up.

A waiter wearing cat ears came over with their order, forcing Zan out of her stupor. She quickly turned on her socialising switch, and was polite enough for the both of them, thanking him and wishing him a nice day.

Cat still nestled in her lap, Lena very carefully stirred her coffee, putting an ungodly amount of sugar in it. Another cat approached her from behind and forced its way under Lena’s arm to receive pets. She grinned at the ginger idiot who reminded her of her old cat, Paul.

“So, you really didn’t have any technology?” Zan asked. She ignored her drink and scrambled eggs, and leant forward on the table.

“No.” Lena took a sip of her sugar and coffee, amused by how incredulous Zan seemed.

“No power?”

“Nope.”

“No running water?”

“Nope.”

“No holograms?”

“Nope.”

“No bracelets?!”

“No- wait.” Lena stopped looked down at the bracelet on her wrist, a wrist which was busy petting a cat. “I mean, we had normal bracelets. But not these really neat ones.”

“Right.” Zan exhaled deeply and pushed herself backwards. “But you had cats?”

“Yes?” Lena paused. “D-doesn’t everyone have cats?”

Zan pursed her lips and nodded. After a moment of silent contemplation, she said, “I think I understand why Gio was a bit freaked out. I can’t imagine living without any of that.”

“That’s… Uh…” Lena stopped scratching the cat’s head to scratch her own. “That’s not what I told Gio.”

“It isn’t? Then what did you-“ Zan stopped herself mid-sentence. “Sorry, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”

“No, I want to.” Lena said, sighing. “It’s just, uh…”

She turned her attention to the cats on her lap, listening to their soft purring for comfort. Zan stayed silent, allowing Lena to collect her thoughts.

“It’s a bit depressing.” Lena murmured.

“It’s okay.” Zan offered her a small smile. “I can handle depressing.”

“A-are you sure?”

Zan slowly nodded, still smiling.

Lena took a deep breath, and spoke, “So, I told Gio I have an ex-fiancé.”

Zan’s eyes widened at this reveal. She wanted to make an exclamation of surprise, but she sensed there was more to the story so quite literally bit her tongue.

“And I thought that he’d…” Lena trailed off, and looked to the ginger cat for the courage to continue. “I thought if I told him I was leaving, he’d get violent.”

“What the fuck.” Zan couldn’t hold it back, and spat her words out like venom. “Seriously?”

Lena nodded very slightly.

“What the fuck!” Zan repeated louder, stirring the cats in Lena’s lap for just a moment.

Lena watched Zan’s rage bubble over, and wished she could feel that anger too.

“Sorry, I just-“ Zan interrupted herself with a sigh. “Your parents let you be with a man like that?”

Lena stared at her blankly, unsure of what she meant because it was her parents who arranged the engagement. And then she remembered that wasn’t normal here. None of it was.

“I actually didn’t tell my parents either.” Lena took a sip of her sugary coffee to try and wash away her bitterness. “They would’ve reacted the same way.”

Her words stunned Zan into silence, though rage was still obviously boiling under her skin. Zan’s eyes filled with tears.

“I’m so sorry, Lena.” Zan said quietly, wiping her tears away as soon as they spilled. “You deserve so much better than that.”

Lena managed to blink away her own tears. She’d spent so long thinking the way she was treated was normal, and okay, that she’d learnt how to hide her pain. But Zan hadn’t learnt that, and emoted her anger and sadness with great openness and sincerity. It was affirming for Lena to watch her; it was like Zan was emoting enough for the both of them.

“Thank you.” Lena’s voice cracked. “I’m just… I’m glad I got away.”

“Me too.”

Sniffling, Zan scooted off of her floor cushion and around the table, so she was sat beside Lena. The black cat jumped out of Lena’s lap and into hers. Lena leaned to the side and rested her head on Zan’s shoulder, and Zan put an arm around Lena’s side to hug her in return.

“Th-” “Tha-”

The two spoke over each other, then giggled.

“It’s okay, you go first.” Lena said, looking out the very top of her eyes to watch Zan.

“Thanks for telling me all this.”

Lena smiled. “Thank you for listening to me.”

“Of course, anytime. I mean it.” Zan used her free hand to pet the black cat. “And I’m sorry if I came across angry. It’s just because I was…. Angry, I guess. Not at you! Obviously!”

“Obviously.” Lena laughed. She pushed herself off of Zan’s shoulder to sip at her coffee again, and take the first nibble of her sandwich.

With a cat in her lap, it was illegal for Zan to move. So, Lena leant forward, grabbed her brunch items, and dragged them to the closest side of the table. Zan chowed down on her scrambled eggs with aggression, and Lena couldn’t help but watch her with great affection.

“Thank you for being my friend.” Lena said tenderly.

“Mmh.” Zan spoked through a mouth full of eggs. “Of course!”