Stone's Throw

[Andreas Amell]

What, no. This isn't-- oh! I asked for supplies, maybe-- "And my gear?" he asks desperately. "My safety gear? Masks and..."

[GamesMaster]

"Hah! You're a funny cat. Now get to work."

[Andreas Amell]

"There's no..." Andreas, face pale and gorge rising, goes silent as he swallows repeatedly.

[GamesMaster]

"Hurry it up, we need the room in half an hour or I'll dock your pay."

[NPCs]

"Half an--" How the fuck am I supposed to clean all that in half an hour? "Okaayyy?"

[GamesMaster]

By the end of the day, Andreas is filthy, and he's actually thrown up twice. But he's done it. He's cleaned the rooms. He's done... manual labor. His muscles are aching from the repetitive motion he's unused to, and the smell! The smell will stick with him to his dying day. 

"Good. Here's your pay," the foreman says as he heads out, dropping four coppers into his paw. 

[Andreas Amell]

Isn't the standard rate for hard manual labour a copper an hour? And the stench and risk of illness should bump it one more at the least. "Thanks," he says flatly. Charon can't possibly like this job, right? I should look for another one for him.

[GamesMaster]

On his way to the nearest bathhouse, he finds a couple of ragged, filthy catfolk kids playing with a ball in the dirt. The littler one is wearing an oversized t-shirt and nothing else; the older is wearing a skirt but no top, relying on fur to cover her underaged nipples. Chasing the ball, the older one bumps into him, turning to hiss angrily as she does. And palm his coin pouch against her stomach to hide it... 

[Andreas Amell]

Dreas might not be a street cat, but not only did he grow up with a hoard of mischievous cousins, more than a few of his elders have less than pristine backgrounds. As such, he reaches to check his purse the second she pulls away. "Hey!"

[GamesMaster]

"Run!" she shouts in Catfolk, and not only does her little brother race off in a random direction, three or four other cats lurking nearby pull back and vanish as well. Suddenly it's an all-human street, save for the girl and Dreas chasing her. 

[Andreas Amell]

Why am I chasing her over a couple of co--shit! I moved my five gold into that purse to buy-- shit!  Panic adding more energy to his limbs, Andreas speeds up fractionally, heart pounding in his chest. 

[GamesMaster]

It's too late; she makes her way into the invisible yet all-too-present barrier into Cattown and now she can climb like nobody's business, all over the passages only she and her friends understand. 

[Andreas Amell]

Slowing to a stop, one hand pressed against a nearby wall, Andreas sucks in air as he stares after her. "Fuck," he finally snarls, running his other hand through his hair in--

"Fuck!" 

He'd never actually gotten to the bathhouse...

[GamesMaster]

And now he's got no cash on him to pay for one anyway. FUCK. 

[Andreas Amell]

Whelp. This is so very, very not how I wanted to go about this but... fuck. Vangal protect, I reek. Gods, I feel smelly. Somehow. Shuddering, Andreas slips past the gate around the art commune but pauses halfway to the door. "Hey, anyone around? It's Dreas!" 

I should try and hose off before I even go inside. Fuck. Five silver and ten copper. Fourteen, with my 'wages' in my pocket. Fuck. There's no way I can get a place for just tonight like I planned, not if I expect to make it last the whole time. I can't even justify using a public bath before showing up, not when I might be able to get a free one here.