Titus March III

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Titus had woken up the morning after the encounter with David naked and curled up on his mattress, having lasted just long enough to see the rat leave before he gave in to the push of his rabbit and shifted that same night.  Perhaps to save what was left of his head.  The Cottontail was used to the apartment because Titus rarely left it for full moons and after a feverish fit of hopping about in a release of pent up energy and his humanity’s own fear it came across the cut veggies.  It made short work of putting a decent dent in the celery and carrots before burrowing under the messy sheets of the unmade bed and eventually succumbing to slumber through exhaustion.

The next afternoon a buzzing, rattling sound slowly started to pierce through what had been a pitch black sleep; the first time in a very long while he slept so heavily at all, not counting the usual post-shift blackouts.  It steadily drilled its way into his consciousness, waking his body and mind up though he would need time to recollect himself.  Tori’s death had settled a great weight of grief on the rabbit’s shoulders and the information David had come to him with only piled on, so much so that his body seemed to physically ache from it all.  As the relentless noise continued, Titus pulled his face from the corner of his pillow it was mashed against to try and spot where it was coming from  His phone was ringing in his pants some distance away but all the young man did was roll over and groan into the palms covering his face.

His old boss at BestBuy left a voicemail for him in his special brand of nail-and-chalkboard tone, his usual fondness for the lazy rabbit apparent in every harsh syllable as he instructed him to come get his last check before they burned it.  He himself would be out doing bossly things, but he could get it from the nerds at the GeekSquad counter at any point that day.  That day.  There was a lot of emphasis on it being that day and given the amount of ‘secret forts’ and ‘sign corrections’ Titus had like to make around the store when he was bored it was more a certainty than a joke that they would burn his check if he didn’t show for it.

Titus finally grabbed himself a shower first thing once he was on his feet, gnawing mindlessly at a handful of cherry tomatoes while waiting as the water ran to scalding.  Even the red-hot shower failed to wake him up completely, however, and he made sure to guzzle his last can of energy drink before leaving.  It wouldn’t help, but he could say he tried. Besides, there was all the caffeine he needed at work.  The thought of the Rookery brought Titus right back to the rat and the things he had said, the things he had known.  Reliving the night put a definite scowl on his face, one he wore as he pedaled the Mongoose along towards the mall while hip-hop pulsed softly into his skull through his headphones.  It wasn’t a good enough distraction, though, and while Titus kept his eyes shielded with a cheap pair of sunglasses it was more than apparent by the time he was wheeling his bike through the store towards the tech help counter that he was lucky to even be dressed, awake, and actually showing up for the wages they owed him.

David: Are you at home?

David: What do you eat?

Titus: Right so ask even more questions.

David: You really buy your own press dont you??/?

David: Fine.Ill be over in twenty. You are at yourh ome right?

David: I need to get some air.

David: I will buy you a beer if you listen to me talk at you.

Titus: Yeah I have that effect, should've flirted you before you warned with me.

David: I thought you said you werent in the mood/?

David: I miss your charming wit.

Titus: Doesn't sound interesting.

David: Good to see your moods improved.

David: Can we meet? Or are you going to try and swing at me again ?

Titus: Not in the mood for you.

David: Hey. Hows your time off going?

David: Have you heard from Tori yet?