Mousey: tonic, next breed, my ear—waaahhh
Jade Hayes came to find him today with a "what's-the-point-anymore" kind of desperation, trying to ride the genius student's coattails—what if this academic prodigy had some secret study trick?
The only problem was, would the hamster prodigy still talk to her after finding out she was a tabby?
Mousey couldn't help but flash back to last night's scene: a big black cat falling from the sky and smashing his window. Under the cat's cap, two small gray, furry ears had popped out where no human ears should be.
Jade felt a faint ripple of otherworldly energy and her eyes lit up when she looked at the hat on Ollie Blake's head. Her stare had an X-ray intensity, like she wanted to bite straight through the cap and nibble those hamster ears.
Mousey cowered.
He was a weak, kind little hamster, and cats—no matter how cute—were terrifying. Under Jade's indescribably intense look, the timid little hamster quietly covered his head.
"Don't—don't eat my ears. If you want my notes, I'll send you the compressed files after we land. I even have a limited collector's edition of Evan Chase's notes—I'll send those too!"
Jade: "!!!"
What a surprise!
Evan Chase was the apex of academic celebs—just glancing at his notes felt like it could bump your score up five points...
Tests, hee hee hee... pathetic little quizzes... hee hee hee... This year I will conquer you...
"Thank you so, so much!"
"Evan Chase? Ollie, you actually know Evan Chase?"
Jade had been completely distracted by the idea of prodigy notes; Ollie, still half-scared of the tabby, hadn't noticed anyone approaching. Luckily, everything they'd been saying was perfectly normal—if it had been anything else, they might've looked insane.
Jade's cat instincts snapped back. She shot the newcomer an annoyed look and opened her mouth to say something—then forced herself to stop.
"Are you a fan of Evan Chase too?" Shane Keane saw that both of them were a little cold toward him and tried to smooth things over.
"Evan Chase is an amazing actor. Of course I'd want to learn from him."
Jade gave Shane a sliver of face, preventing the situation from freezing over completely. She'd clawed her way into human shape through cultivation; Shane always made her uneasy, and since she really liked Ollie, she naturally didn't warm up to anyone he disliked.
"Evan did a great job with the Lin Xue role. I don't suppose we could exchange notes sometime?" Shane tried again, pitching it as collegial.
Ollie had been planning to ignore Shane from start to finish—this guy's arrogance wouldn't let him beg for face. Still, some things Ollie could see that others couldn't. He was scared of cats, yes, but he knew Jade was a good cat and didn't want to see a good monster get pushed around.
"You act, Evan—well, you sing, I guess. What experience is there to exchange? If you've got time to chat, why not think about what you want to put on your next album instead?"
The cabin fell instantly quiet. Even Grace Jiang and Anna Lang, who had been snuggled together gossiping, stopped. No one blatantly stared, but every eye was on them.
Everyone already knew Ollie and Shane were rivals, but nobody expected it to be this bad. Ollie, with his soft, almost shy university-student vibe, was zeroing Shane out without mercy. It was odd.
The only two who knew a bit of backstory, Theo Adams and Mason Yu, watched like they were watching a good show.
Many people in the industry chase resources, but even resource-chasers have hierarchies. Mason, for example, might chase perks, but he'd mostly gotten them through, well, legitimate channels—family, his company. Shane was different; both Theo and Mason had felt the sting of having opportunities snatched away by this guy. He'd tried underhanded moves, but they'd been too stubborn to budge—and that made Shane's type easy to notice.
Maybe Ollie's dislike came from being through the same thing—maybe Shane had tried to steal Ollie's resources too.
"It's been a while, Ollie. You still don't like me, huh? Wasn't there some misunderstanding back then? Since we're on the same trip today, why don't we clear the air—bury the hatchet, you know?"
Shane was confident—he was sure Ollie had no proof that he'd pushed him down the stairs that one time. In that world, without evidence, even telling the truth could backfire.
He always loved moments when people could seethe and hate him but never do anything about it.
Too bad Ollie Blake wasn't the helpless little hamster he used to be. He now had someone backing him: he was Mousey from the Noble House of Niuhu. He took off his baseball cap; the ears that had popped out earlier had already tucked away while Shane spoke. Ollie brushed aside his flattened hair and revealed sharp, pretty features.
Jade was surprised. Ollie always seemed gentle—clean, almost adorable. That made you forget how strikingly handsome, almost dangerously pretty, his face really was.
Ollie gave Shane a look rich with meaning and dropped a bomb in a tone as calm as a winter morning: "Misunderstanding? We were never in a misunderstanding. We were mortal enemies. You tried to kill me and failed. Isn't it normal that I don't like you? Has society's moral baseline gotten so high that I now must smile at the person who once nearly killed me?"
Shane froze. He hadn't expected Ollie to say it so bluntly in public; it stunned him.
Mason, watching from a distance, suddenly looked at Ollie with new respect. He'd thought Ollie was a soft, manager-protected pushover—turns out, key moments, he had spine.
"We only crossed paths once, over two years ago," Shane said. He'd done this kind of thing many times; his nerves were steady. He didn't want to be shoved into a corner by a few words.
Ollie put Jade behind him and gently nudged Shane out of his blocking pose. "If we only met once, why would you try to hurt me?"
"I—"
"Shane, actions leave marks. Don't you think?" Ollie patted him on the shoulder. A chill ran through Shane; he felt, perhaps imaginatively, the power he'd relied on being pushed down.
"I don't know what you mean—"
"You'll understand soon." In a corner only Jade could see, Ollie flashed a quick hand sign. Shane felt the world blur for an instant and, without control, slid back to his seat.
When his head cleared everything had subtly shifted. Grace and Anna, who'd been chatting with him moments ago, now wanted as little to do with him as possible. Mason and Theo, who'd been mildly unfriendly before, now didn't even give him a look.
Ollie had only meant to test it—he'd thought someone who could push him down stairs couldn't be that strong—but the little charm worked. He hated Shane now; he just hoped Shane would stay out of his way until Captain Harper took him away.
"You're so handsome, Cub!"
Jade's involuntary compliment made Ollie jump. He knew how fans called him, but—she was a cat!
He was just a weak, helpless little Mousey. Being called "Cub" by a big cat—was that supposed to be cute?!
"Anything else, Ms. Hayes? If not, I'm going to sleep. Night!"
(﹏)
Was he crazy a moment ago?
He'd been worried a human like Shane might hurt a feral cat—no, a cat spirit!—and had behaved like some kind of overprotective… guardian? The town was scary. He missed home. Waaahhh X﹏X…
Jade didn't want to keep a sleepy Ollie bothering her. Reluctantly she returned to her seat, declined Grace and Anna's chat invites, and focused on reviewing her notes for the exam.
Sob… it's already late April. Riverside University's entrance exam is on the same day as the state's graduation tests. When will I actually get in—ahhh!
Ollie tried to treat this variety show like a vacation, but Jade's reminder shoved exam fear back into his head. After twenty minutes of failing to nap, he gave in and pulled his tablet from his bag. He opened Riverside University's exam outline and began studying.
So tired...
Feels like my brain's getting filled to the brim...
Stupid tabby...
Maybe it was Ollie's resentment radiating off the screen, but nobody else came to bother him for the rest of the trip. He sulked and studied, wishing someone would come chat with him.
Traveling with Memories was only a travel show but had become hot by being outrageous and—let's be honest—stirring drama. The production looked flush enough to charter private jets for guests, but when it came to locations they still cut costs wherever they could.
This season they'd taken eight guests to a remote mountain region in the northern U.S. After plane, train, bus, and then a smaller car, they finally arrived at their destination after a day's journey—Easton Village.
The route kept getting more remote. If the livestream hadn't been on, everyone might've joked the production had sold them off into the boonies.
The final stop was unexpectedly nice. Easton Village was secluded, but neat—most houses were modern two-and-a-half-story homes, the main road newly paved. Not city-level, but way better than expected.
The crew had rented two nearly-new houses on the edge of the village: one for guests, one for staff.
[Hmm... gotta admit, this production found a solid spot for once.]
[So... what's there to travel to here? Earlier episodes had real cultural sites. What's the point?]
[I looked it up—there aren't really famous tourist spots nearby, but there is a legend. Maybe this theme ties into it.]
[Easton—this is Haven County, right? Like that Moon Bay legend? Hidden in the mountains is a crescent-shaped lake that looks silver by day and gold by night. People say if you drink from it you'll live forever—classic regional folklore.]
Note: author's commentary removed.
If a little hamster ball rolls into a pile of kitties... kehehe...
Every cat would come up and sniff the soft, fragrant hamster ball. The poor little hamster would be too scared to open his eyes, terrified of being chomped by some cat—awwww [starry eyes]
Half-Summer Stories — lots of happiness