Rain, Rain, Fuck Off

Her day passed by without her even noticing. Jackal spent most of her time looking through the various shops of Burrowgatory, mostly to browse. She had helped an envy succubun move some heavy items for them into their new apartment and they were kind enough to give her some money for her troubles. It was easy enough money for a new carton of smokes but it never hurt to look around. Who knows, maybe she’d find more accessories for her outfits.

The only shitty part about it all was this damned weather. Random downpours weren't really ideal and, despite Dove’s great advice, Jackal opted to not bring an umbrella. Being umbrella-less made most of her shopping time just sitting at the entrance of a store to wait until the rain stopped so she could go to the next.

Rarely did it work in her favor. In her mind the gaps between rain and no rain would be shorter and consistent. You would think at this point in the month she’d know better.

Now she was over an hour away from the apartment and much farther than she intended when she started shopping. Oops.

The walking never bothered her. Yes there was public transport she could use but that cost money. She did not want to spend more than she needed to. Besides, it gave her more time to listen to music and aimlessly scroll her phone.

Thankfully she was lucky enough that her walk was almost rain-free. Scrolling her phone aimlessly almost led her to not even notice the next bout of rain starting. 

The moment she felt the tiniest raindrop hit her hand she looked up on instinct; she was checking the sky for rain clouds as if they didn’t litter the sky on a daily basis.

Even though she was relatively close to her apartment it wasn’t nearly close enough to escape the rain. She was quite familiar with the area here so it’d be easy to find a spot to escape the rain. Hopefully she’d be quick enough to keep her hair and clothes at least mostly dry.

Cool buns don’t run like they’re afraid of rain though. Cool buns power walked.

Thankfully the rain was merciful enough to let her slip into an alleyway relatively dry. There was a metal fire escape stairway attached to the building that gave her something to stand under to escape the downpour that quickly overtook the streets.

Jackal sighed as she felt the rain droplets that hit the gravel bounce back up and start littering the bottom portion of her jeans with tiny wet spots. This better not be one of those thirty minute downpours. She would be real fucking pissy if she had to stay out here with this slight chill wind constantly touching her skin. Sure during the afternoon the rain tended to be on the warmer side but it was far past noon by now. Hell she had dinner at Bunnelbee’s Diner like an hour ago! Ugh, whatever, all she could do was wait it out and cross her fingers that it’d end soon.

Well, what better time for a smoke, huh? She didn’t even have to think about it as she already placed a cigarette in her mouth like it’s second nature. Jackal had to use her hand to protect the lighter flame from the wind and stray droplets.

A little bit of nicotine made everything better.

Her first drag stayed trapped in her lungs as she put everything back in its proper pocket. Once her hands were free she let the smoke escape with a long sigh and watched the rain hitting the empty street.

Ugh. How long had it been already? Not long, obviously, as she still had most of her cigarette left. Jackal was just impatient and wanting to go back to the apartment as soon as she could so it felt like the minutes ticked by longer than they were.

Dove had wanted to take Jackal out to pick mushrooms and she was absolutely dying to have her next trip and relax. Jackal told them she’d be there soon, but with how this rain was, who knew how soon “soon” actually would be now. Maybe she should text Dove to let them know…

…after this cigarette.

If you ignored the damn rain and cold it was actually kinda nice out. The sound of rain was always relaxing and the gentle rumble of distant thunder comforted her. Combined with her cigarettes her stress and impatience started to melt away.

Just as she had started appreciating the rain rather than be pissed off at its existence it began to die down. She was only halfway through her cigarette by that point so she hadn’t been delayed too much thankfully.

Jackal took her chances however when she stayed under the fire escape to finish her smoking session. She never liked interrupting it and just didn’t want to start walking again quite yet.

With the final inhalation of smoke Jackal flicked the butt towards the dumpsters nearby. The water that coated the ground had quickly fizzled out the cherry.

Good, she could go back to the apartment now. Bonus points that she’d only be marginally late; she may have spent too long shopping and lost track of time. What’s a half hour of waiting? It’s a good thing Dove anticipates that and gives Jackal a time 30 minutes before they’d like her back. 

Jackal finished the final stretch home without her eyes glued to her phone. Needed to pay attention to what streets and alleys she turned down.

The moment she walked into the apartment her nose was filled with the smell of fresh food. Took a second for her to readjust from the rain scent outside to tell that it was muffins that Dove had made. 

“Back.” Jackal called out. She rubbed the bottoms of her boots across the doormat before she took them off and shut the door.

“Welcome back.”

Dove was in the kitchen cleaning a few dishes in the sink and seemed to be almost done.

“Mind if I have one?” Jackal asked, already with a muffin in her hand.

“Feel free. They should be cooled down by now.”

Good because Jackal already was in the process of eating it. Dove always made excellent baked goods and were always nice to come home to. Tastes even better when you’re not the one that made them.