A Bit of Happiness chapter 3.
Story by STRONG on SoFurry
Chapter 3!
Chapter 3: High Hopes
Jack awoke to sunlight streaming through his window, with a few birds bouncing along tree branches outside. No doubt they were working on making a nest full of shed Anthro fur to keep their eggs warm. Jack sat up slowly and looked around his small apartment. It's just as Meghan said, he was no decorator; but having her point it out made him more self-conscious about it. He would have to do something about it later, because now was the time for damage control. Namely managing Meghan's inevitable hangover.
He stood up and stretched, earning a choir of pops and creaks from all over his body. First things first, checking on the inebriated, and probably still half naked Snoon. Walking to his bedroom door, he slowly opened it and peeked into the darkness within, then waited for his eyes to adjust. He had always enjoyed having blackout curtains in his bedroom because his window faced the east, meaning he would always be woken up first thing if he didn't have them.
Now however, they were more to prevent any extra pain on the behalf of Meghan, who laid on his bed amongst scattered blankets. Still topless and breathing softly, it looked like she had at some point grabbed the water bottle Jack had left her and drank most of it. Jack couldn't help but admire her body, even though he knew it was wrong to look at her like this. Supple breasts, nipple piercings that glinted the light and a soft tummy usually concealed beneath loose fitting clothing.
Jack tore his eyes away from the spectacle that was her beauty, focusing instead on the water bottle. Sure, she had drank a bunch of water in the night, but she would still have a hell of a hangover, although a lesser one. He quickly grabbed the bottle and left the room, preferring to be out of the room of the half-naked Anthro. Sure, he could look all he wanted at this point, but it would be wrong and he would feel disgusted with himself for ogling a defenseless girl. Sure, she had come onto him hard, but she didn't deserve to have her dignity stripped away by prying eyes.
"Just a matter of time" Jack muttered to himself as he left the room and walked to the kitchen. She would wake up soon, and feel miserable; either she would be heavily hungover and have forgotten about stripping down in front of him, or she would be heavily hungover and remember stripping in front of her coworker. Which would be worse? It's hard to say honestly; on one hand it would make the interactions with her simple, she would just be blackout drunk and forget stripping, or she would remember. That brought a whole new line of problems, would she remember and hate herself? Would she remember and hate him for not acting? Or would she remember and thank him for not taking advantage of her?
"Jackkk?" came a loud groan from the bedroom as Jack walked through his apartment, guess so many years living alone had caused his ability to sneak around to suffer.
"Yes Meghan?" he called out.
"I-I think" came unsteady speech, followed by shuffling footsteps out into his living room "I think I might have overdone the vodka" The Snoon groaned finally, collapsing on Jack's sofa, slumping back into the cushions in anguish while covering her eyes, with her fluffy tail.
"Why is it so bright out here?" she moaned pitifully, trying to shield her eyes from the sunlight pouring through.
Meghan didn't have her own shirt on at this point, she had tossed it and her bra somewhere into a corner of Jacks apartment, so now instead she wore one of Jack's old t-shirts. "STEXKNOK" was the solid white lettering on a Black t-shirt, sure, it was one of Jack's favorite shirts from his favorite band, but somehow seeing Meghan in it was seductive.
As Meghan leaned back against the couch with one of her armed raised, he noted how her nipples, and their piercings were VERY visible through the t-shirt. How many times would he have to pull himself away from looking at her? It was a totally different feeling from work. At work, she just kinda was there, a slightly chubby and cute Anthro who at times tried those odd workout fads, like sitting on a giant inflatable ball, but here in his t-shirt and nothing else, it was adorable and sexy.
Quickly going to the window and closing the blinds and curtains, Jack turned back to the hungover Snoon with a bit of pity. How many times had he been in that same position? His mother never limited his alcohol intake when he was younger; she said a person should make their own decisions at life. What resulted was Jack being able to drink from a young age but not throw parties like so many of the other people in his age group, sure people showed up to them, but his parties couldn't compare to everyone elses. The Yeens threw great parties that usually ended with the cops getting called, the lions had parties turned orgies, and Jack...he had alcohol. People showed up, drank and had a good time, but how many were his friend in the end? Not many it turned out.
Thoughts for another time though. Jack went to his kitchen, disliking the feeling of cold linoleum under his feet but putting up with it to make some food. Filling the water bottle once more, his stomach growled slightly, making him painfully aware how hungry he was.
"Meghan want some foo-" he called out to the Hungover Anthro, only to stop mid-sentence. The food. He had no food in his fridge. His mind wandered quickly, thinking of nearby places for quick meals. Breakfast burritos stuck out to him at the moment, greasy steak meals with great hot sauce filled his mind and his hunger.
"Want some breakfast burritos? I'll run out and grab some if you like" he asked her, setting down the now full water bottle. Gathering his wallet, phone and car keys from the small table near his front door he quickly pocketed all three. When he looked back at Meghan he saw her looking at him, still leaned back with an arm over her muzzle, but with one of her deep purple eyes locked on him.
"I. would. LOVE A BURRITO! NO GIMME 2!" She yelled excitedly, bouncing in excitement with her hangover forgotten, which startled Jack slightly. What caused this outburst? It was cute that she was now bouncing excitedly on his sofa, seemingly recovered from her hangover, but was it necessary? As soon as the outburst started though, it ended with a moan and Meghan reaching over to get the now filled water bottle on the kitchen counter, however she couldn't quite reach from the couch, and an angry groan at her lack of reach. Jack took pity on her and grabbed it for her and put it into her outstretched paw.
"Ok, I'll go grab us some steak burritos, I'll be right back" he said as she took the bottle and drank from it.
"Kay...Thanks Jack" Meghan said as she lowered the bottle from her lips and gave him a faint smile.
Jack left Meghan in his apartment and walked down the stairs, thinking about Meghan, food, and her coming onto him and her following disappointment.
"You think I'm an ugly mutt too, don't you?"
Her words echo back to him like a broken record as he got into his car and started driving. She wasn't ugly at all, nor was she a mutt. Well she was a hybrid, but not a mutt, that made it seem so negative. No, she was a pretty Anthro, and seeing her in this new light, not as an office co-worker, but as a friend.
Before long, Jack arrived at his restaurant of choice; "Burrito Bandito". It was a small hole in the wall place that was owned by a very large black man who everyone just called "T", and his Bear wife. It always seemed like no matter what time of day Jack went here, it was open and T was in the back making burritos. It almost seemed like he lived there.
"Eyyy its Jack! You want the usual brother?" T called out from the kitchen as Jack walked in.
"Yea T, Plus 2 steak breakfast burritos, I got company at home" Jack responded with a smile and short wave. T Peeked out of the kitchen and looked Jack over.
"A LADY friend?" He asked simply, raising both his eyebrows in anticipation.
"A lady who is a friend" Jack responded, trying hard to emphasize on "friend".
"Oh hell yea buddy, Ima make these burritos fucking bomb then" T said before disappearing behind a wall. Jack heard the satisfying sound of meat sizzling as it hit the stove and the smell of cooking meat mixed with various spices wafted through the air. Jack sat down at a nearby table and pulled out his phone for a bit of time killing. Scrolling through PawsApp, the social media of choice for Anthros and some humans, he saw Meghan had sent him a friend request. Was it wise to accept it? Would it be professional to add a co-worker? His thumb decided for him as it hit the accept button as he pondered accepting.
Might as well snoop around a bit right? She was probably doing the exact same thing now anyway. As he scrolled through, he noticed lots of selfies; her at home in her apartment, at the local docks looking at fresh fish, stuff like that. But there were almost no pictures of her with other people. There were a few with her family, and a few formal graduation pictures, but nothing else.
Poor girl...No wonder she latched onto Jack the moment he showed her kindness, but then again looking at some of the pictures of her "Modeling" various outfits, he couldn't complain about it.
"Here ya go Jack, Piping hot Burritos for you and your lady!" T said, thrusting a brown paper bag into Jack's face, causing him to jump slightly. He was so engrossed looking at Meghan's pictures that he had zoned out, focusing not on his surroundings but on the pictures of the Snoon before him.
"T-Thanks T" Jack stammered as he stood and went to the register, pulling out his wallet. He paid and earned an enthusiastic "Thank you for your business" before getting back into his car and heading back to his apartment. As he drove the enticing smell of the burritos made his stomach growl louder. God damn T and his addicting food. Jack resisted the urge to grab a burrito and dig in while driving, instead opting to get the food to its final destination.
It didn't take long for him to drive back to his apartment and then walk up the stairs to it. Even as he opened the door to his apartment, he didn't expect much. What Jack found though, was Meghan, one paw holding the water bottle, and the other scrolling through pictures on her phone. All of the apartment lights had been turned off and Meghan sat in the dark, looking at her phone while lying on the coach. Her ears perked up at Jacks arrival, and her eyes moved to look at him as soon as he entered the apartment.
"Uh... I got food for us" he said with a smile, holding up the brown paper bag. Her muzzle and face lit up in a happy smile at the sight of the bag.
"Is that from Burrito Bandito?! Those are my favorite burritos!" she said staring at the bag with a happy smile
"Yep, I got you 2 like you asked for" Jack said sitting down on the couch next to the fluffy Snoon. Her tail wrapped around his waist as she dug into the bag for a burrito.
"Ooo that smells so good! T makes the Best burritos" she said before biting into hers and chewing happily
"Mmmm Thash good" she mumbled to herself as she chewed.
Jack smiled as he opened his own burrito, noticing that hers had a bit more steak and cheese. Did T make her burritos better by adding a bit more? Either way Meghan seemed happy. As they eat together, savoring the food and the company, an odd sound Jack couldn't pinpoint was heard. A low rumbling? What was it? It took a moment for him to realize that it was in fact coming from Meghan.
"Meghan... are you...purring?" He asked delicately, not wanting to harm her self esteem.
"uhm...Yea.... Sorry I'll stop if its-" she started
"NO! I mean No, don't stop, it's cute" he said cutting her off "I...I like it, just wasn't expecting it". Her ears perked up at that.
"Cute? Me? Even after I made a fool of myself last night?" she asked in surprise, nearly dropping her burrito from her startled jump.
"I won't hold that against you, besides, we were playing Slaughtersphere and we were playing shots on death" He said between bites of his meal.
Meghan looked down of a moment, staring at her burrito before looking up at Jack.
"Would...Would you ever consider dating someone...like me?" she asked hesitantly, then shutting her eyes hard as if in anticipation of a scolding or insult. Jack thought about it for a moment, as far as he could see there was no downside to dating her, just some company for him and for her, plus who knows? It might lead to something more.
"Well Yea, Meghan, I don't really know you all that well, but you seem nice enough. and us being together would fix that" he replied casually, chewing on a bit of leftover steak that had fallen from his burrito into the paper wrapper. Meghan's eyes snapped open and she looked at him hard.
"Wait... seriously? Like not a prank or joke?" She said in disbelief. This took Jack by surprise slightly, had that happened before?
"Uh yea seriously Meghan" He said with a confused smile. He purple eyes grew wide and a bright smile painted her muzzle.
"YAY!" she said suddenly, pouncing onto Jack in a hug. "I can't believe I got an awesome guy like you for my first boyfriend!"
First? That took Jack By surprise but he wasn't going to question it as he hugged her back.
"Can we have a date night?! Can we go to the Movies!? Can we play more SlaughterSphere?" she asked excitedly into his chest.
"We can do all that Meghan, let's just try to avoid more hangovers" he said, rubbing her ears gently with a thumb and forefinger. This increased the purring from the Snoon as she looked up at him with those beautiful purple eyes.
"I'm glad I met someone like you Jack" she purred happily, nuzzling into his chest.
"I'm glad I met you too Meghan" he said with a smile. Maybe this would all be ok.