Faith & Prudence (Patreon)

It was an early Sunday morning, and the subway had few passengers, leaving me and Faith sitting next to each other. Well, me, Faith, and her ball of nerves that is.

“Are you OK?” I asked, offering her a small hug.

“I’m OK, I’m just… I’m a little anxious to see Prudy. She’s been my best friend since we were kids and now, she’s moving into the city. It’s a lot to take in.

“I knew you were close, but I didn’t know you were that close. Since you were kids, you say?”

“Since kindergarten,” Faith said. “A lot of kids teased us for being mutants, so we really leaned on each other for support. We used to go everywhere together. They used to call us Tom and Jerry,” Faith said, looking out the window and letting nostalgic memories wash over her.

“If you knew a dog girl they’d have called you Tom, Jerry, and Spike,” I said.

“Oh OIli,” Faith laughed. “Don’t be silly. Nobody remembers Spike.”

We both shared a small laugh as our train pulled into the station. We were supposed to meet Prudy on the platform, and even though our train was mostly empty, the station was bustling with activity.

“Where were you supposed to meet her?” I asked, barely dodging being shoulder checked by the passing traffic.

“Well, she told me her basic schedule but… that’s about it. I’m kind of surprising her. We just have a way of finding each other.”

With that, Faith crouched down on all fours and started to sniff. I blushed a bit. It was always just slightly awkward when Faith acted a bit more animalistic.

“FOUND HER!” Faith said, and suddenly she started bounding at high speed through the crowd. I could barely keep up with her, squeezing my way through the packed station.

“EEEEEEEEE!” Came a scream from the crowd. I hustled toward it. It wasn’t a scream of fear, but a scream of elation, as the two girls met each other and shared a big hug. Faith was hugging a small girl with mouse features and a third leg.

“Oli, Oli come quick. This is my best friend, Prudy!” she practically shoved my hand into the mouse girls, to make us shake. “Pru this is my boyfriend, Oliver.”

“Nice to meet you,” Pru said in a friendly tone as Faith practically shook our hands for us. “Faith has told me a lot about you… but uh… not so much that you were coming today. This was a bit of a surprise.”

“How could I not come! You don’t know the city yet and it’s much safer with a guide!” Faith said eagerly.

“No, I mean, I knew we were going to meet up eventually, but… the first day? I mean… I kind of… had other plans.”

“Oh?” Faith said, her ears drooping. “Like what?”

“Like… I’m meeting my boyfriend…” Pru said sheepishly.

“BOYFRIEND!” Faith said, practically jumping for joy.

“Y-yeah. I mean… No… I mean… like… we only know each other from video call. We are meeting up for the first time today. I planned to tell you if things went well,” Pru said, blushing and turning away from Faith.

“You should have told me before!” said Faith, somewhat annoyed.

"I'm sorry, please don't be mad," Prudy said and flashed me what could only be described as puppy dog eyes.

"Fine," Faith said, cracking a smile. I got the sense that she could never stay mad at Prudy for very long. "But tell me where you're meeting and what his name is and promise me if there's anything fishy going on you'll leave immediately."

"Yes moooom," Prudy said and rolled her eyes. "There's still a bit of time before I'm supposed to meet him. Let's go get some ice cream." She grabbed Faith's hand and yanked her up the stairs out of the subway station leaving me to follow behind as best as I could.

They were quite the duo. Tom and Jerry were very apt descriptions of them. Faith wasn't a tall girl, but she looked like such next to Prudy. The two talked constantly, waving their hands around expressively. I'd never seen Faith as happy as she was now.

I led them to an ice cream shop not far from the train station. A little place in Chinatown that had a lot of different and interesting flavors that I couldn't resist stopping by any time I was in the city. We ordered our treats and found a place out of the way to stand and eat them.

"I'm pleasantly surprised to see people being so conscientious of your mutation, Faith. Though then again I'm surprised that Prudy has three legs."

“Yeah, I got the extra leg, Faith got the extra boobs, and Hope got the extra arms and something more…” Prudy said before scooping a big spoonful into her mouth.

“Hope? Who is she?” I asked.

“Our other friend, she is a dog girl,” Faith scooped another bite of ice cream into her mouth as she tried to hide her terrible poker face. "Say Spike and I'm leaving."

"I didn't say anything," I said and took a bite of my own ice cream.

“Oh my god, DAVE! Over here!" Prudy was suddenly waving her arms around frantically as she tried to get his attention. "That's him," she said quietly to the rest of us. She had the biggest smile on her face.

We looked down the street and our jaws immediately hit the ground. Making his way through the crowded street and straight for us was our old classmate who used to relentlessly make fun of Faith.

“Prudy, my little mouse… I was so looking forward to meeting you at last,” said Dave as she slid his arm around her shoulder with a big grin on his face. "Oh hello. I didn't know there would be a whole group here. Are you friends of Prudy's?”

"Faith is my best friend, and that's her boyfriend Oliver," Prudy said. A slight frown crossed her face when Dave seemed bothered by the fact that her friends were with her.

"You're smaller than I remembered. Just makes you even cuter," Dave said and tucked her further under his arm as if to protect her.

I eyed him suspiciously though. It was odd to me how he went from teasing her to smitten with her, and I didn't trust it. I hadn't said a word, but Faith must have picked up on what I was thinking. She looked at me with an expression that clearly said she was thinking the same thing.

"Did you know about this?" she whispered low enough that only her and I could hear it.

I just shook my head fervently. If I did anymore it'd draw attention to us.

"Prudy, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but can you join me in the bathroom for a moment?" Faith said.

“Oh yeah sure. I'll be right back Dave," Prudy said. I watched her and Faith walk back into the ice cream shop together, but Prudy only tore her eyes away from Dave at the very last moment.

"Girls going to the bathroom as a pack. Some things never change," Dave said when the girls were out of ear shot.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" I said, hands balled in fists inside my pants pockets. "Mutants exist only to mock?"

Dave held up his hands in the typical surrender position. "Hey, I know I said some stupid things, but that was a long time ago. My opinion has changed since then." He must have been able to tell I didn't really believe him since he kept talking. "See when you started dating Faith, I saw how happy she made you and cool she was. For a bit I was even a little jealous. So, I hopped online and had some conversations with other mutant girls. They were all great and really nice, and I came to realize they are just people like we are...they just look a little different. Prudy was actually one of those girls I met, and we've been talking ever since. She mentioned she had a friend in town, so we decided to meet up and, well, here we are. Never imagined that friend would be Faith though. Kind of love that they are a cat and mouse. Kind of like-"

“Yes, just like that. But that's probably something best to avoid mentioning," I said. Dave seemed genuine, and when Prudy and Faith walked out of the ice cream shop his face lit up with a smile again. It seemed that maybe he actually had really changed for the better.

The four of us hung out awhile longer, chatting and wandering around Chinatown. Just before we went our separate ways Faith and Prudy agreed to meet up again tomorrow.

"So," I said as Faith and I headed back to the train station. "What did you and Prudy talk about in the bathroom? If I'm not being too nosey."

“I just asked about Dave. What she had told him, what she knew about him, etc,” Faith said as she rested her head on my arm. “From what she tells me he's really changed from how he used to be, and I choose to give him the benefit of the doubt. But if he hurts her these claws are coming out!" She swiped the air with her hand, claws fully extended, in demonstration.

As we were walking Faith’s phone rang and her eyes widened and her face went ghostly white when she saw who was calling.

"H-hello?" she said. She sounded nervous.

“HEY CAT, since when does Prudy have a boyfriend and why don't I know about it yet?!?" the caller demanded. She was speaking loud enough I could hear her even though Faith didn't have the call on speakerphone.

“I just found out today," Faith said. "I'll keep an eye on her though."

"You know, I think it'll be good if you do a little recon on what kind of boyfriends my two henchmen have."

“Did you say henchmen?” Faith asked incredulously.

"I'll see you next week," the girl on the other end of the line said before hanging up on Faith who just stared at her phone. I don't think she even realized yet that her fur was standing on end.

“Everything okay honey?” I asked. I was worried. I'd never seen Faith act like that before. I moved closer to her as if to shield her from anything that could hurt her.

"I HOPE," she said, swallowing hard.