User blog:InklingBear/Life of Pets - Amending Fences

Story #37 - Amending Fences
1:00pm

To a very certain someone that lived in such a huge family, life can be such an unpredictable mess. Being the only boy, better known as the man with the plan and the hero of siblings, there wasn't a single time where he let any of his members down. No matter what the sitch was with anybody, whether it be changing the baby's diaper, or pretending to be dead for a funeral, he would be there for them. So with that, let's see what's going on today in one of Royal Woods' own residents, the Loud House.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon where he had the whole house to himself once again, a shaking Lincoln had his eyes glued to the television as he blasted his music in his ears with his music player. His mind was fixated on getting chores done for his siblings while his nerves peaked. Cliff entered the scene and observed the kid sweeping down the living room carpet. He wanted something, but it'll probably take forever for Lincoln to even find out what the feline wanted.

The child's attention was so focused that he ignored the cat's meow. As Cliff walked towards him, he backed up rhythmically. Not even paying any attention to his surroundings, the kid accidentally stepped on the cat's tail. With a leap of pain, it was enough to catch Lincoln's attention as he jumped from his sudden reaction.

"Oh! Sorry, Cliff. I didn't see you there." Lincoln awkwardly smiled. The feline was angry with him, but it only lasted for just a beat. His tone changed as he calmly meowed to request some brunch. His stomach rumbled immediately after. Wow, talk about good timing.

The middle child was still trying to finish a chore. He wanted to get it over and done with so nobody would make a fuss with him over it. "Hold on, I'm almost done sweeping." He crouched down to sweep under the sofa. "Just hang in there, okay?"

Irritated, but impatient, Cliff walked up to his backside and extended his claws. Oh no. What was he going to do? When he raised up his paw, Lincoln was now done with his task. The boy got back up on his feet as Cliff retracted his claws before he headed towards the kitchen. "Alright, come on-"

But wait. He smelled something. It was the cat himself. The kid picked him up and pulled his head back. "Ugh. When was the last time you had a bath?"

Cliff gave off another meow, this time in a questionable manner. He grew confused as he took a sniff at his paw. Realizing that Lincoln was right, irritation overcame him before he elicited a soft growl. He had to freshen up again.

After a good scrub down later in the bathroom later, the middle child did the honor of brushing Cliff's fur as he laid on his lap. For once in a while, the feline purred. He felt comfortable, given that the brush Lincoln always used eliminated any spots that felt itchy for him. When he was down to his last few strokes, a few spokes caught a piece of the cat's fur, plucking them off his back. Cliff let out a big meow from the painful sensation before he dismounted off of Lincoln, giving off a loud hiss as he harshly leered at him.

"Whoa, I'm sorry!" Lincoln dropped the brush, having his hands to his side. He started shaking soon after. "I didn't mean to do it. Geez…"

Inside the kitchen interior, Cliff licked his lips. The sweet taste of pet food was approaching faster than he'd ever known. Lincoln stood on top of a kitchen chair and opened one of the cabinets. He grabbed onto the sack of food for the cat, but it wouldn't even budge a single inch.

Feeling a bit parched, Cliff stuck his face into his bowl of milk. As he lapped up some of the dairy liquid, the child inadvertently tore open a small slit into the bag. A few crumbs spilled, but he didn't care about that. With just a misstep that stepped in after, Lincoln lost his balance. "Woaoah!" He fell off the chair, taking the sack of food with him as he crashed on the floor. The pebbles rained down on the poor feline as they covered him in a huge pile.

Oh no. This wasn't good.

As Charles, Geo, and Walt entered the kitchen, the feline popped back up from the wasted food. He looked as provoked as ever at the clumsy child. His teeth and those stink eyes of his had Lincoln worried. As he approached the boy, he gave off an angry hiss at him before concluding with a growl. He was out to seek for wrath, and he really wanted to give Lincoln a piece of his mind.

"Cliff, what are you doing?!" Lincoln inched away from the ticked off grimalkin. The three pets shifted from confused to nerve-racking panic. Reacting out of an impulse of saving the kid from Cliff's harm, Charles gave two barks as he sprinted towards the feline. He tackled him down in a small cloud of melee as their wailing ensued.

Lincoln was terrified at this point. Were they trying to kill each other? Was there a hidden rivalry the boy didn't even know about? Whatever the case may be, he had to do something fast. Looking away, he pulled a growling Charles and a hissing Cliff away from each other. "You two, knock it off!" He gave glances back and forth at them. "I don't know what the heck has gotten into you two, but please stop!" He finally set the two animals back down.

Charles glanced at the spilled food over the checkered floorboard. Just the mere sight of it had him running to the pile, as well as Geo and Walt. When they dug in, Cliff leered back at the inelegant boy. With a low growl directed towards him, his eyes squinted tightly.

"Now, I'm sorry about my clumsiness today, but you shouldn't have the right to act out like this." Lincoln reached a hand out to the fuming cat. What he didn't see coming was him retaliating with his paw, gestured to inform him to stop. Lincoln backed away a bit. After all the stuff that happened under the span of an hour, Cliff had the urge to verbally tear the child apart. That colorful vocabulary of his blasted at him with all of his might. It had the boy's heart jump a bit. He pointed and pointed as his reign of lashing out continued before he finished with yet another menacing growl. And with that, Cliff went his way down to the basement.

Lincoln was in shock from what the heck just happened. For one, he knew that Cliff wouldn't hold back driving his claws into his tender skin. He's never seen Cliff act this hurt before, and he's surprised that he even restrained himself from attacking him for once in his lifespan. With no idea how to respond, he gave off a heavy sigh. So much for taking care of an animal.

Cliff sat on his litterbox to relieve himself… of the stress he had to endure today. With every inhale and exhale through his big nostrils, it never seemed to get any better for him. Still on the edge, his exhaling conveyed to snorts. No matter how many times he performed this simple breathing pose, there was barely any progress.

"Ohhh, I can't believe dat darn kid." His sights shifted to the floor. "Havin' da nerve ta mess up my fur like dat. And I just got groomed too, and he had ta blow dat as well." Clenching a paw and slamming it in his other paw, the sound of popping knuckles ensued. "Just you wait, ya poor excuse of a human bein'. I'll give ya somethin' ta blow soon enough, so I can sink my delicate claws into yer-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Charles walked downstairs, facing Cliff along with Geo and Walt. "Easy wit' da anger dere, cat."

"I'm sure this is a pretty drastic measure you're taking." Geo grew worried as the feline's anger expressed more.

"Well, I don't think it's that drastic." Walt shrugged, before he fell to the ground, his rump breaking his fall. "Being angry whenever something bad happens isn't exactly an uncommon thing for everyone. Although I don't know what the heck happened between him and the boy, I can see this being normal for the cat."

Cliff growled to himself. "I swear, with ev'ry burnin' passion of my soul, I ain't evuh gonna forgive him fer dis. I'm gonna git my paws on dose cheeks 'o his if it's da last ting I do." He clenched his fist. "I oughta do some painful tings ta dem."

Charles shock presented itself immensely. "Tell me ya ain't talkin' about… eh.. ya know."

"Git yer mind out da gutter dere, ya dip." Cliff crossed his arms. "I'm dead serious wit' all of youse. Ain't none of ya'll gonna make me change my mind!"

"Oh come on now," Geo facepalmed. "You can't just shun the boy out like that! That'd be very bold and petty!"

"Yeah, It ain't like he went out of his way ta misuse ya or somethin'." Charles shrugged. "He'd never wanna do dat ta ya."

Walt got to thinking for a bit. "Um… is it bad that I could actually see him doing that one day?"

Cliff shook his fists. "Yes!" His eye twitched a couple of times. "And if dat evuh happens, I'll physically tear dat boy apart!" He faced the reader. "You out dere readin' dis can complain about dis all ya want." Waving his asserted sharp claws, he spat "He ain't immune ta dese babies here!"

Charles sighed. "Cat, yer my pal 'n everythin' and I love ya, but I tink ya really need ta chill out."

Geo placed his paws over his heart. "That boy's seeking forgiveness," He held a paw out to Cliff. "And he's really counting on you to give it to him."

"C'mon now, mah boy's hurt ovuh dis." Charles added. "Ya gotta find it in yer heart."

Walt irritably rolled his eyes. "How pathetic."

Cliff waved a paw. "Uh, hello?" His thumb contacted his chest. "I'm a cat. I doan forgive nobody."

His response drew out a gasp from Charles, Geo, and Walt. While it might be shocking for them to hear, he was being seriously honest towards them. "Whattaya mean ya doan forgive?" Charles drew out his paws. "Ya hafta do it ta everybody eventually."

The hamster started getting curious. With his head slanted, he asked "But… why is that I wonder?"

Walt crossed his arms. "Let me guess, you're not good at it."

"You're not used to it I guess?" Geo added.

"Maybe ya just doan feel like it?" Charles gave his guess.

Cliff rolled his eyes. "Ya doan need ta know nothin'. It's a complicated answer and ya ain't gonna like hearin' it." He waved his paw dismissively.

Concern filled the three pets. Someone had to intervene. "Well, whether ya like it or not, we're gonna help ya out on dis kinda stuff." The dog winked.

"Yeah, otherwise that boy's going to be the nightmare of your dreams." Geo threw his paws out. "Even though he didn't intend to do anything wrong to you."

"Nah, fugget dat junk." The cat gestured his paws to stop. "Dis forgiveness 'n apologetic crud means nothin'." His eyes squinted halfway. "What mattuhs ta me is having my claws driven down dat sorry face 'o his." Still trying to blow off steam, he got up and headed back upstairs. "Now if you'll excuse me, I hafta go do a lil' somethin'."

The trio's eyes filled with worry and fear. They had an eery feeling that Cliff really did want to lay a claw on the kid. Whatever the case may be, the three animals need to do something. Based on what was given, they could either help out the cat or help Lincoln out. When their decision was made, a light bulb would flash above their head as they gave a smile. "I'll check on my boy, you two soothe da cat somehow." Charles pointed before Geo and Walt responded with a determined nod. With paws and wings in, their plan was a go.

A few minutes later, Lincoln was in the living room tying up a sack filled with used litter from Cliff. The scent of it was unbearable that Lincoln's cheeks shifted to a sickly green color. "Bleh." Charles walked up to the kid before he shook his head. He wanted to check on him to see how he's doing after the lash out from the ticked off cat.

"Hey Charles," he said, petting him on the head. "I don't know if you've noticed but, I think Cliff's furious with me about something." He shrugged. "I have no idea why."

Charles shrugged. "Rur-rahr-rurr…"

Lincoln sighed. "I really hope this blows over soon, boy."

Charles gave a small whimper just before a beat of silence filled the house.

"So, I'm gonna have to make it up to him somehow." Lincoln glanced at the clean litterbox. "His litterbox is poop-free, and now I have to take out the trash before I end up forgetting. When he walked away from Charles, he inadvertently tripped over his laces before he yelped, falling face-first into the bag of waste as it burst open. The dog himself, was in shock, as his eyes grew wider than usual. He had no idea how to react from the gruesome incident.

"Wow…" he mouthed.

Upstairs, Cliff glanced around Lincoln's bedroom. He looked for anything he could take his dominance out on while Geo and Walt shared an awkward glance towards each other. The feline growled as he grabbed a hold of Lincoln's favorite stuffed animal, Bun-bun.

"Er… care to tell us what you're doing?" Geo asked out of curiosity, tapping the inside of his ball by his foot.

"Doan worry about what I'm doin' here." Cliff answered bluntly. He bit down on one of the bunny's ears, with intent to tear him apart. With little to no success, his eyes squinted as his sights were fixated on the toy. When he asserted his claws, he sliced the toy's shirt clean off, rendering him completely bare in the process.

Geo blushed upon observing Cliff's tampering. Walt couldn't help himself but jokingly give off a seductive whistle. In all seriousness, the cat just wanted to get even. "Dere. Dat oughta teach 'em!"

The hamster had no idea how to respond. "I-I… uh… whoa."

"Now he's getting the right idea." Walt smiled.

"You bet yer tail I am." Cliff deviously smiled. "I'd tell ya lil' runts ta leave da room but I have a feelin' somebody out dere'll git da wrong idear." He couldn't help but wiggle his eyebrows after that.

Geo gasped. "I thought this was a kid's show!"

The cat retorted by rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Of course, dat somebody bein' youse..."

"You know, we were never meant for kids in the first place." Walt retaliated before turning to Cliff. "And you, I can't believe I'm even saying this, but for once, I'm siding with the mutt." Cliff's head slanted. "I've been through a lot of situations like that to the point where I end up doing the same things you'd do… except my cases were justifiable."

"...Anyway, all this aside, you need to apologize to him." Geo kindly suggested.

Cliff was quick to his rebuttal. "I ain't got nothin' ta apologize fer, Ham."

Geo's arms extended out. He was a tad angry. "You basically lashed out at the boy over nothing!"

Walt was curious for answers. "What did he even do anyway?"

"Oh puh-lease! Ya were too busy stuffin' yer face in all dat food ta even know what da heck I was doin'!" The feline spat.

"Come on!" The hamster kneeled, begging for his obedience as a friend. "If you won't do it for him… at least do it for us!"

Cliff looked down at himself. As he clenched his fists and shook them, it hurt that he had to do one simple thing. But it was for Geo, and more importantly, himself. He sighed before he uttered one more response. "I'd nevuh thought I'd say dis, but... let's git dis ovuh wit'."

A few minutes later, Cliff sat at the table in the living room. Lincoln presented a bowl of pate for the feline to dig into, in hopes it'll be enough to dumb down the tension between the human and his house pet. "Well, there you go!" He nervously smiled.

Cliff just sat there, staring at the dish. It's almost as if there was something wrong with it. But to him, there is. It wasn't even warm enough for him to devour. He angrily meowed at Lincoln.

"What do you mean you don't want it?" His confusion boosted immensely. Did the cat think that he did something to his delicacy? He would never even think to do that. Did he prepare it incorrectly? He's been knowing how to make it for months. "I've made your food the same way every time! What makes you think this time would be any different?" Cliff's eyes came halfway shut as he flipped the bowl, the contents splashing over his shirt.

The child gasped. "What the heck? Why did you do that?" He stretched his shirt out. "This was the only shirt I had left in my room while the rest of them were getting pressed at the cleaners!" He groaned as he quickly rushed upstairs. "Now I have to go upstairs and try to clean this off before it starts to get worse."

Cliff rolled his eyes before his stink eye focused on the reader.

A couple of minutes later, Lincoln tried another tactic to gain Cliff's forgiveness. With an ironing board behind him, he took a step to his right to present something he's never tried before. "Step right up for the massage of your dreams!"

Cliff meowed in confusion. He had a hunch that the boy would go out of his way to try and get on the cat's good side again. He tried to have a straight posture, but something cracked inside of him. With a meow out of nowhere, his ears flopped and let out a whimper. Rubbing his back, he'd eventually give in.

Lincoln grabbed the cat. "Don't worry. It's on the house." He set him down on the board. Before the boy even had to think, he pushed the cat down and massaged his back. For a while, it didn't feel comfortable with Cliff. After it went on for a good while, Cliff's tongue began to roll out from comfort. He gave off a purr from the good sensation Lincoln provided. Hey now, it was starting to work. The boy thought if he kept it up, Cliff wouldn't be so mad with him anymore.

By the time the massage session was halfway complete, Charles, Geo, and Walt joined in to watch the entertainment. The cat was living a dream. Literally nothing could ruin this soothing moment for him. Unfortunately, there's a harsh reality that good things don't normally last forever. While the kid chopped the cat down by hand, his palm hit his cranium, accidentally causing him to bite down on his tongue. "Me-owwwww!"

Charles and the others had to omit a quiet gasp. This could be bad. Lincoln jumped back, unaware of what just happened. Cliff was getting even more furious with him now. As he would expect, he hissed at the child once again. "I'm so sorry, Cliff! It was an accident, I'm telling you!"

After gritting his teeth, the cat didn't have a choice on what he was going to do to Lincoln in a beat. He had crossed the line one too many times. He was sick of feeling disrespected for no reason whatsoever. He didn't count any accidents as an excuse with the way his body language was presented.

Lincoln reached into his pocket and pulled out a bill that had a good amount of value, twenty dollars. "Here, can we please forget this ever happened?"

Forced to put the kid in his place, Cliff lunged at Lincoln without any warning. Charles and Geo had their paws over their heads in shock. Walt just stood there, watching the battle as he began pecking at a piece of popcorn he found on the floor. There wasn't anything they could do from there. Slashing at his face, another melee cloud ensued. Lincoln resorted to screaming from the unsuspecting attacks Cliff had to unleash on him. After the cloud cleared up, Cliff dusted off his paws. The only thing that mattered to him was done and out of the way. Now, he was satisfied.

When he walked away feeling proud of himself, Charles glared to him in mere disappointment. Cliff stopped to take notice of him. He just couldn't let one simple thing go. Instead, he just let it get the better of him. He had to shake his head, along with Geo, who covered his face. It's like he didn't even want to see the face of a monster. The monster, happened to be Cliff. As he continued staring at his disappointed pals, his ears flopped down. Happiness quickly shifted to sadness.

.

.

.

"What have I done…"

Three hours had passed after the beatdown. Lincoln laid in his bedroom, treating his wounds with a couple of bandages. He was really furious with Cliff after all that he's done to try and make amends with him for the accidents he didn't intend to cause. "That crazy cat," He muttered under his breath. "So this is how he wants to repay me? After everything I've done?"

Curious but fretful, Cliff poked his head into the child's room, holding a rose in his mouth. Seeing his face after what he did, had the feline feel something. He's never felt it before, and it never happened with anybody. He looked down as he gave himself a silent sigh. Both parties were hurt, and one of them only wanted to make peace with the other. All the boy wanted was for him to stop having a fit over questionable situations. But now, the tables seemed to have turned.

After setting the flower down, the feline gave off a sorrowful meow to Lincoln. As much as he didn't want to see him right now, he had no choice but to leer at him. "What do you want? Come to attack me again?"

Cliff replied with another meow. He looked down for a bit before he avoided making eye contact with him. Lincoln had no idea what the cat was up to from this point. But, the moment he flopped his ears, he paid him with his undivided attention.

"Why are you doing that?" Lincoln sincerely asked.

The feline had uttered a bunch of meowing, trying to start off a simple monologue about the way he's been acting towards him today. He rubbed down his arm as he started to look up to him. As it went on for at least a few moments, the boy of the siblings was starting to understand. The feline finally managed to realize that what he did to him wasn't entirely his fault. Because he had to overreact and scar his face over something that wasn't even a big deal, he felt like it left a stain on their bond between a kid and his pet.

Lincoln's head slanted down. "No Cliff, I'm the one who needs to say sorry..." He felt that he was partially to blame too for what had happened. Never mind that he really had nothing to apologize for what happened, he decided to do this to himself. "It's my fault that I've been so clumsy recently. I have no idea what happened, I've been nervous about doing favors for all of my sisters for the day and I'm afraid of letting them down."

Cliff thought to himself. "Ya weren't nervous when ya listened ta whatevuh you were listenin' to."

"As the only brother they look up to, I have to fulfill my promises that I have to keep… even you and the rest of the pets. But, seeing how much you're not being happy with what I've done for you… I… I've failed you. I'm… I'm sorry it had to come to this..."

Cliff's sympathy arose. Now he's starting to understand what led to all of this happening. As much as he didn't want to feel sorry for the boy, it was an appropriate action for him to perform. But what Lincoln didn't expect, was a little bit of advice from the cat… of anyone on the planet they lived on.

Cliff began his meowing again for a bit before he concluded with a confident smile.

Lincoln was confused for a bit. "You're saying I shouldn't be apologizing so much?"

Cliff gave a thumbs up before he winked. From the boy's honesty, the cat did have a point about what he was saying. He shrugged to show off an example. "Meow-wow."

"Oh well…" Lincoln's head raised high. "You're right! I guess that sometimes in life, accidents happen. Whether it was just a mistake or an accident we didn't mean to cause, it's not worth beating ourselves up over."

Cliff smiled before he meowed once again.

"I'm glad that this is all between us now." Lincoln held his hand out, intended to be a simple handshake. "No hard feelings? Do you forgive me?"

Cliff stood there for a moment. He figured that a handshake wouldn't be the best choice to seal the deal. He had a better way. Catching Lincoln off guard, he lunged at him as his paws wrapped around him. It was a hug that the boy never thought he'd see coming. A smile took over his face as he purred, snuggling upon his cheeks. Lincoln guessed it was safe to say the Cliff forgave him, finally.

"Aww, thanks Cliff." He scratched him on the head before his eyes widened up upon seeing Bun-bun and the shredded pieces of his shirt. "What the..?" He grabbed the toy animal before he glared at the nervous feline. "Care to explain?"

The feline pulled out the exact same twenty dollar bill he got from the child before he gave an awkward chuckle and a smile. Let's say we... forget about this?

~End~