Canine Chaos 01 (Patreon)

Beatrix plucked the strings of her bass. The amp shook the walls of her small cluttered apartment, causing little paint flakes to peel off. Her music was intense, emotional, an outlet for her frustrations. As the sun set, the adrenaline subsided. She hung up her bass and put on an oversized sweatshirt, and pulled a hood tight over her furry ears. Nothing left but to get the chores done.

The neighborhood was the same as always: quaint but dirty, street art on the sidewalk, the picturesque view of a slum if you saw it in a Broadway musical. It was a neighborhood with enough empty apartments that a mutant girl trying to make it in an indie band could still afford a few months rent.

The bodega was lit with flickering fluorescents. It’s almost as if the building itself was exhausted from being open 24/7. There was a new cashier, a lanky guy with an easy smile. She kept her gaze down hoping not to be noticed.

"Hey, welcome," he said.

Crap, he was an overachiever. Beatrix could feel his gaze linger on her, trying to piece together the shape of her mutant body underneath her hoodie. She hugged her limbs cloister to her body.

“Hello,” she murmured back.

“Running a late-night snack?” he tried again, despite Beatrix’s attempts to not be perceived.

"Something like that," Beatrix replied in barely a whisper, throwing a couple items on the counter.

"Haven’t seen you before. Are you from around here?" he said, scanning her items.

“Haven’t seen you either,” she said.

"Heh, well I just moved here. This place certainly has a unique vibe."

“Yeah… a vibe,” she said, but she was thinking ‘full of old people, failed art students, snobs, and cheap bars.’

“So uh… know any good places to listen to live music?” he asked, desperately trying to make friendly conversation.

Beatrix hesitated, then sighed. He wasn’t going to give up. "There's a dive bar, The Rusted Nail. They have bands playing all the time"

"Awesome! Do you go there often?" He handed her the shopping bag with a sickeningly sincere smile..

She shrugged and adjusted her hood. "I’ve… played a few gigs there."

"Wow, you’re in a band! That’s cool, what’s it called?"

"...Canine Chaos"

"Badass."

Beatrix tried not to crack a small smile "Yeah, we’re pretty wild…"

"I'd love to see you play. When’s your next concert?"

"Friday night," she said before thinking. ‘Great," she thought. ‘Now he might actually show up.’

"Awesome, I’ll try to make it." He seemed genuinely interested.

Beatrix nodded silently and turned to walk out of the store.

"Hey,” he called out to her. “Look, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I’m just… trying to adjust to the neighborhood.”

Beatrix paused and sighed."It's okay, I’m Beatrix." she said dryly. She adjusted her hoodie slightly while she arranged all of her extras under it.

"Troy” said the cashier with a genuine smile. “Come back soon, OK!"

“Later,” she said, heading out the door.

Back home, Beatrix tossed her purse on the counter as her mind ran over the conversation. Nothing was worse than someone who couldn’t take a hint. And she was stupid enough to tell him her name. What was she thinking? Was it pity? Or was she just dumb?

“He’s probably just some rich snob slumming it,” she said to herself. “Or maybe he’s a mutaphile and he moved here because we have a large mutant population,” for a second she wished she had a mutation that was easier to hide.

With a sigh, she took off her hoodie and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her furry ears twitched and she touched her truffle-like nose gently with her sharp black nails, halfway between a goth manicure and a claw. She took off her three combat boots, fishnet stockings and her skirt, leaving herself just in her underwear. She stretched out her four arms, causing her four breasts to bounce slightly and wiggled her two tails while she felt the cold of the floor with her three feet, her toe claws clicking on the linoleum..

"Or… maybe he's just being friendly," she muttered to herself, a tinge of sadness in her tone. "Well, whatever… it's best not to think about it," she told herself as she headed to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich.

The next day, Beatrix got up from her bed and walked naked through her house. Living in an old neighborhood with half-empty buildings had its advantages. She had no annoying neighbors to complain about her music, and the apartment across from her was unoccupied for so long that Beatrix had even given up the idea of using curtains.

She poured herself a bowl of cereal and went about waking up for the day, but when she passed the large window that overlooked the balcony, she almost choked when she saw Troy, the cashier from the night before, in the neighboring apartment holding a broom.

“I…um…hello,” he muttered awkwardly.

The two stood in silence for a few seconds before Beatrix screamed and threw the bowl of cereal at Troy, who barely dodged it.

"Pervert! What are you doing in there?" Beatrix said angrily as she took her bass and put it in front of her to cover herself, while her other hands continued to throw trash and discarded foot containers at troy.

"Hey, I'm just... OUCH!... I live here!" Troy said, trying to cover himself from the rain of refuse.

“That doesn't give you the right to spy on me!” Beatrix shouted.

“I didn't mean to… OWW,” he said, getting smacked with a half eaten granola bar. “Who walks around naked with no curtains on their windows!”

“I didn’t need curtains until you showed up! Look away already, dammit!”

Beatrix went to her bathroom and quickly threw on clothes. “This is going from bad to worse. Stupid nosy cashier. Probably a pervert. Now he’s seen me naked. Ugh.” She angrily stuffed things into her purse as she readied herself for work.

Meanwhile, Troy hurried to hang up curtains in his own apartment. He didn’t want another misunderstanding.

Still… that was a pretty lucky coincidence.

“Wait…” Troy said, clipping a ring around the curtain rod and thinking about how attractive he thought Beatrix was. “Do I like mutants now?”