Ser Bobby, the First of His Name, was getting worried. Of course, a big proud British Shorthair like him always had plenty of worries: which place had the most sun for a proper nap, why was breakfast two minutes later than usual, was it really necessary for the human to use the vacuum cleaner three times a week, and so on and so forth.

But lately, he had mostly been worried about his fellow furry feline in paws, Ser Alex, the First of Their Name. Usually a lively Scottish Fold, and the living terror of many a mouse around these parts, the kitty cat had been somewhat depressed as of late, and it wasn’t hard to understand why. Alex’s boyfriend Chewie had left. Not necessarily *left him*, but had gone on a long, extended trip around the world with his momma, and wasn’t sure when, or even if, they’d ever be back. The whole wrestling world seemed to miss Chewie dearly, but perhaps none so much as Chewie’s significant other. And it was noticeable in the way Ser Alex walked. Their head was slumped over, their tail was barely up in the air, and their ears were even flatter than usual. They barely ate, causing them to lose weight, and their fur had lost quite a bit of its shine as a result of poor nutrition.

Ser Bobby felt for Ser Alex, even though he had always found the relationship between his buddy and the chinchilla a bit odd… not in the least because Chewie’s momma was also called Alex… but in the end, Ser Bobby just wanted Ser Alex to be happy. And these days, they clearly weren’t.

Ser Bobby got up from the Catj Mahal that Momma Angelica had so meticulously constructed, and stretched himself out fully. He yawned, then slowly made his way over to Ser Alex. First, she smelled their butt, as cats do, but he barely got a reaction. Ser Alex remained curled up, staring at the open window.

“Hey Alex,” Ser Bobby said, before tapping them on the shoulder with his paw. “Wanna climb up those curtains? I know Mom doesn’t like it, but it’s *so* much fun!”

Ser Alex simply sighed.

“Meh.”

Ser Bobby’s bright orange eyes, in heavy contrast with his thick dark grey fur, blinked. But he wasn’t going to give up so easily.

“Fine, fine. We’d probably get in trouble anyway. How about we get outta here and go chase some chickens? They’ve been getting lazy, barely laying any eggs these days. And you know Mom won’t punish them for it! Last I heard, Henna the Hen’s trying to unionize, can you believe that? They think it’s unfair we get to sleep in beds, and they only get straw. Where’s this world going to, am I right?”

“Meh.”

“So how about it?”

“Meh.”

Ser Bobby was getting mildly frustrated about the lack of response he got, but also knew that getting mad about it was only going to make things worse. Luckily, he still had a few aces up his sleeve.

“Hey, I heard Ambrosia’s in town! Wanna try and break into the Pigeon Palace? That uppity pigeon has been having too easy a go as of late, we can try and get in there and ruffle some feathers!”

For a second, a glimmer of joy seemed to spark in Ser Alex’s eyes, but it was gone almost as quickly as it came.

“…meh.”

That was… unexpected. Usually Ser Alex would never pass up the opportunity to go and smack some dignity into Sarah Lacklan’s flock of albino pigeons, the absolute worst of all of them being Ambrosia, who was every bit as dreadfully entitled as her Mistress. If Mom hadn’t expressly forbidden it, Ser Bobby would’ve bitten the head off of that plump breasted bird ages ago.

At that point, Ser Phyllis of Dra#Cool, came flying in through the window before landing on the windowsill.

“HA HA! Ser Bobby has a crush on Ambroooosiaaaa.”

Ser Bobby hissed before violently turning his head towards the giant flying fox bat that Mom had, for some reason, adopted into the family.

“Shut up, Dracool! I told you ages ago, I do NOT! What do you know about that stuff anyway, you’re as blind as a… bat…”

“Daaaaang, mad burn, champ! My sonar can detect heart flutters, ya see? And you get all doozy woozy whenever you mention her.

“No, I get mad! Like I’m getting now! Now go away. I’d bite your head off if you weren’t so riddled with disease!”

“Hey, I got all my shots, champ, I’m the healthiest bat in town!”

“Whatever, I’m trying to cheer Ser Alex up, and you’re not helping!”

Ser Alex, for the first time in a long time, lifted his head up. A slight grin appeared at the edge of their mouth.

“I bloody knew you had a crush on Ambrosia!”

“HA HAAAAA HAAAAA!” Dracool sonared throughout the room. Ser Bobby hissed and swiped at the bat, who flew off again, screeching with laughter.

Ser Alex’s joy was short-lived however, and they put their head back down on their paws, before staring back out the window and sighing. Ser Bobby went “harumph” and looked around the room. Karma the Chameleon was sound asleep, like 95% of the time, and was about as useful as a toenail clipper in a snake’s beautycase. If not for its fun color changing parlor trick, it might as well be a figurine.

Luckily, the jingling of keys signalled the arrival of a human. And as soon as the door opened, Ser Bobby picked up the smell of…

“Momma Angelica!”

Angelica walked into the room with a paper bag full of groceries in one hand, and a box full of freshly picked vegetables for tonight’s dinner. Ser Bobby greeted her enthusiastically, swirling around her long legs as she made her way towards the open kitchen.

”Awww, hello there, my beautiful boy! Careful, you’re going to make me trip!”

Angelica started unpacking the groceries and vegetables. She had also brought freshly milled flour to make fresh lasagna sheets. Well, her mother was going to make those, obviously, Angelica was the worst cook in both the Northern and Eastern Hemisphere. She had once managed to burn an egg before breaking the shell.

Ser Bobby leapt on the kitchen counter top. He knew that was going to earn him a reproach, but he did it with good reason.

”Ser Bobs! You know I don’t like it when you get your beautiful fur all over the kitchen counter!”

The big cat responded with an emphatic *MEOW*, and brushed against his Mom’s hand, loudly purring. She cupped his head and gave him some scratches behind his ear.

”What’s wrong, my darling?”

Ser Bobby stared intently in the direction of Ser Alex, and Angelica followed his gaze.

”Oh noes. They’re still feeling down? Poor kitty. I wish I knew where Chewie and his Momma Alex were, they dropped off the grid completely. I can’t even ask them to send a postcard or do a Facetime. Why are so many people dropping off the grid these days? First J-Madz, which… you know, fine, eye dee cee. But now John Grayson too, apps. Not a peep from him! I told the world he had to take this wrestling thing a bit more seriously, or his career was going to crash and burn before it was over. I’d almost hate to be right, but I am *not* going to hold back against him, eff why eye!”

Ser Bobby tilted his head in confusion. He had spent a lot of time with humans, but one of the things that he had never understood, was how a lot of them, and especially Mom and her wrestling colleagues, could spin almost every fact or topic into a long tangent about their wrestling career and who they happened to be facing on the next show. And they ALL did it! It was like if he were to talk about the softness of the new grooming brushes and then start talking out of the blue about the mouse he was intent on catching later. Humans were proof that a bigger brain didn’t mean more intelligence. But luckily, Mom had a big heart, and kept up a regular feeding schedule, and that was more than enough for him. It was enough for all of them.

”And obvs Sar-Sar has been too busy to go out and do stuff with me because she’s too busy out doing stuff! Not blaming her, prepping for a match against Raion Kido is hard work, but she could’ve at least sent me a thankies text for letting her pigeons stay here all Winter, isn’t that right, Ser Bobby?”

“Mraw?”

Angelica sighed, and left the groceries alone for now. She went over to Ser Alex and crouched down next to him. She stroked the back of their head, eliciting a soft purr that was nowhere near its usual volume. Angelica looked worried, and did as all concerned Moms do. She picked Ser Alex up, rolled them over and held them like a baby. Ser Alex stared up at Angelica’s angelic face, and she booped him on the nose with a freshly manicured finger.

”I’m sorry you feel depressed, Ser Alex. I know what it’s like to feel like you’ve been abandoned by those you love the most. But don’t worry. What you both had was special, and I’m sure Chewie knows that too. But he has to follow wherever his Momma goes, you see? I’m sure that if it were up to him, he’d be here right now, taking a dust bath out in the sun while you watch over him.
Now, I’m not going to tell you that it’s not okay for you to feel sad about losing something or someone. Not all tears and sadness are born from evil. But it’s important to realize that, while you’re reminiscing about how great things were, and longing for what *might* have been, you could also be missing out on fantastic, wonderful new adventures and memories with those who care for you. But you can’t force such things, I know that. It’s important for you to take your time, and move forward at your own pace. But moving forward is the only thing you can do, or you’ll be stuck in a rut. I have more experience with that, than I care to.

SO I guess we both have to move forward, my dear kitty. You from Chewie, and me in the March Madness Tournament. Vastly different things, I know, but I think we will both be able to realize our full potential if we do those things. And not realizing your full potential… Now, that would just be a waste, wouldn’t it? I want to beat John Grayson in this round! Maybe face Ned Key in the next round, that’d be fun! Or umm, whatshisname, Bluster Goves? Doesn’t matter! I want to keep winning, keep moving forward, until I face my Sis in the finals, and beat her in a showdown for the ages that we both can look back on with pride. And I want you to remember those immortal words of, whatshisname, Bert Cocaine? It’s better those have loved and been abandoned, than to have never known that joy in the first place. I think it was something like that. So take all the time you need, Ser Alex. I will do the same. But when the time comes, we have to move forward.”

Angelica put her cat down, and Ser Bobby immediately trotted on over, sniffing their butt. Ser Alex’s tail rose, and they looked up at the window again. And then jumped through.

“Come on, Bob. Let’s go chase some chickens.”

They were lucky their Mom couldn’t understand them.

-fin-