Chapter Text
The moonlight shimmered brightly in the night, breaking through the thick fog above. A violent winter chill blew dead leaves across the ground and swayed the branches on the trees. The night was mostly dead, save for a few cars driving on the road. Off to the side stood a restaurant, now closed for the night. Looking from the outside in was a meek human in the lobby mopping the floor, listening to music on his earbuds.
“Sunshine, sweet love my labor.”
Daniel quietly sang to himself as he mopped the floor of the lobby. The human was of average build, a slightly skinny figure with a brown set of curls topping his head. The curls of his hair bobbed back and forth as he moved along with the mop and his music. The outside had gone dark hours ago, the only source of light buzzing from above, usually drowned out by the music played on the speakers during the day.
“Don’t mind, I don’t care no more.” Daniel continued singing along to the music playing in his earbuds, trying his best to pass the time as he continued his work. Once he was finished mopping the lobby, he had to go see his manager – apparently he needed to have a talk with him about something. While his manager had been vague about the topic, Daniel hoped that it was nothing too serious. Perhaps he was about to earn a raise, or maybe he had to cover a few shifts the next few days. Either way would’ve been for the better, as he had been behind on his rent and needed the extra money.
Daniel had been at this job for well over a year now, trying his best to get by on his own. Ever since his parents moved across the country, things have been rather difficult. Despite already graduating from college and taking part in multiple internships, it’s been nearly impossible to find a job. Every day he searched for job postings on multiple websites, hoping to find the right one. Most places he applied to ghosted him, and even when he landed an interview, he would end up disappointed to find an email the next week telling him that they would not be moving forward in the hiring process with him. Even worse were jobs labeled as entry level that required at least a couple years of experience. That was the unfortunate reality of job searching in this day and age.
Despite his struggles in pursuing a long-term career, Daniel persisted in trying to find his purpose in life. While this fast food place wasn’t where he wanted to be, it was the only option he had to be able to get by in life. His shy, awkward nature created a social barrier between him and other people, and may have been the reason why he wasn’t getting past the interview stage. Many of his conversations ended with him babbling about random subjects, which only pushed people away from him, which in turn made making new friends very difficult for him. All he could do was try his best to correct his behavior and not be as talkative as the previous day.
It wasn’t long before Daniel found himself completely finished with mopping up the whole lobby, which made him gleam in excitement. He reached for his phone to pause his music. Now that he was done with his last task of the night, he could finally talk to his manager to see what news he had for him. His heart fluttered in his chest as he rolled the mop bucket to the back of the restaurant, dumping out the water into the drain and propping the mop up against the wall. Finally, he walked up to the door of his manager’s office, and knocked on the door.
“Come in.” He heard from inside. Daniel opened the door to see his manager Scotty sitting on his chair, the short otter doing work on the computer. Daniel closed the door behind him and put his hands together, rubbing them against each other from both anxiety and excitement.
“Y-You wanted to see me?” Daniel couldn’t prevent himself from stuttering every time he was nervous, yet he was eager to hear what his manager was about to tell him.
“You finished all your work out there?” Scotty looked away from his computer, his bored expression could easily be read by Daniel.
“Oh, y-yes sir!” Daniel put up his hand in an awkward thumbs up. “Just got finished mopping up the entire lobby, sir. Is there anything else y-you need from me, sir?”
“Nope, that should be all for tonight.” The otter sighed as he looked directly at Daniel. “Now, about what I wanted to tell you…” Daniel’s eyes lit up when Scotty began to talk about what he had been waiting for all night, though the otter couldn’t see through the human’s long bangs that covered his eyes.
“Daniel…I really appreciate all your hard work, and I’m thankful for everything you have done for us.” Daniel smiled and slightly jumped, hearing this must mean he should be getting a raise, or even a promotion!
“O-Oh, of course, sir! I always try my best sir, you know!” Daniel let out a sigh of relief and an awkward laugh, hoping to appease his boss. “A-Am I getting a raise, o-or–"
“Daniel, that’s not what we’re here for.” Daniel’s heart began to sink as his boss continued, noticing the otter’s frown on his face. “Unfortunately, I’m going to have to let you go, Daniel.” The human’s eyes grew wide with shock and his mouth was left agape – he was just fired.
“W-What!?” Daniel yelled out in shock and confusion. “W-Why? What did I do sir? This is so-so out of the blue! I was just doing my work, a-a-and…” Tears started to fill his eyes, struggling to keep his composure in front of his boss.
“I know, I understand this may be sudden, but…” the otter sighed. “I’ve been getting complaints about your behavior for quite a while, Daniel. A lot of your coworkers are…not willing to work around you.”
“W-What?” Daniel’s voice was empty. “But I-I thought that was all sorted out! We all talked it out and everything was fine! W-Why are they suddenly bringing this back up? Please sir, just give me another chance!” Scotty shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Daniel, but this has been going on for too long. I care a lot about my workers and their wellbeing, okay?” The otter stood up fully at Daniel’s chest level and pointed to the door. “You can go now.”
“Scotty, please!” Daniel got onto his knees and put his hands together. “I-I need this job! I-I’m behind on rent! Just two more weeks is all I need, p-please!” He looked up to his manager with tears in his eyes, whose expression did not change one bit.
“I’m sorry, Daniel, but the answer is no. You’ll have to figure that out on your own.” The otter put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder to try and comfort him, but that did nothing as the tears rolled down his cheeks. “Please go now, let’s not try and escalate this.” Slowly, Daniel got up and turned around, opening the door and closing it softly. He tried his best to hold back his sobs as he clocked out for the final time, grabbing his coat hanging on the rack before finally leaving through the back door.
The bitter cold stung his face, but it felt even worse now that he just lost his job. He sniffled as tears continued to roll down his face, not bothering to wipe them off his face. The short walk to his car was painful, like he was carrying a massive weight on his chest that was unyielding. All his hard work, all those hours he spent up late at night have come to an end. He had no way of paying his rent now, which meant that he could be evicted any day now. Once Daniel reached his car, he slowly opened the door, got into the driver’s seat, and closed the door.
That’s when the dam broke, and the tears began gushing out of his eyes. Daniel broke out with a loud wail, letting his head fall onto the top of the steering wheel. The only thing keeping him afloat was now gone, and it was all his fault. Yet he still didn’t understand why he would be fired if he had already talked things out with his coworkers and promised to improve his behavior. What if he didn’t improve and he didn’t realize it? What if his coworkers were working against him? Rhetorical questions raced through his mind as he let out a scream.
“Stupid, I’m so fucking stupid!” Daniel raised his hand in a fist and punched his steering wheel squarely in the middle, causing the horn to honk. “Why am I so fucking stupid!? Why does it always have to be me!? Why!?” His meltdown only intensified as he kept screaming and crying, but no one would hear. Not in the empty parking lot of the now empty restaurant this late at night. The sounds of the night were filled with the violent breeze of the chilly wind, drowning out any of the cries coming from his car.
As the minutes passed by, Daniel’s cries slowly began to die down. No longer was he punching his steering wheel; all that was left was his sobbing. Daniel was bent in a shrimp posture in his car, his hands clinging weakly to his steering wheel as his arms hung limp. It was really cold in his car, and he at least wanted some heat. Grudgingly, he took his keys out of his pocket and put it in his car, starting up the engine as he slowly lifted his head, looking into the dead parking lot in front of him. A blast of cold air hit his face once his car started up, having been stewing in the freezing, bitter cold for the past eight hours.
Daniel shivered, even in his coat, as he waited for his car to heat up. As he waited, he couldn’t shake off the thought that he was about to lose everything. Many people in his life told him he wouldn’t amount to anything, and they were just so close to being right about that. How have I not learned anything? He wondered. It seemed as if no matter how hard he tried to change his self-image, to better his behavior, and to straighten out his actions, he’d always end up back at square one.
After thinking to himself for a few minutes, hovered his hand in front of his vent; it was warmed up. With an exhausted sigh, Daniel put his car into drive, turned onto the road, and began his trip back home.
…
The drive back to his apartment was uneventful. Usually he would play music to make the drive more bearable, but this time he just wasn’t in the mood. Daniel's head felt empty, like it was about to completely roll off his shoulders. Sometimes he would space out when he approached a red light, only slamming on his brakes at the last minute whenever he realized he was about to cross the intersection. This might as well be the worst night of his life, he thought.
His apartment building came into view as he took a right, the dark cloud of despair still hung above him even as he rolled into the small parking lot. With a sigh, he turned his key and shut his car off, opening the door and making his way towards his apartment building. Once he had made it up the short flight of stairs, he slowly walked past the railing and towards his door, each step bringing another feeling of agony with him. Soon, he wouldn’t be seeing this apartment any longer, it was just a matter of time when he would be evicted.
And the answer to that was placed right on his front door. Daniel saw it clear as day, a red paper with the words “NOTICE OF EVICTION” printed on it. He had already long exhausted his tears for the night, so instead of crying out, he aggressively ripped the paper off the front door and crumpled it up. At this point, he didn’t care – a meteor could strike his apartment and destroy everything inside and he just wouldn’t care, he felt too empty and numb inside to feel anything at this point. He just lost his job, and now his home. Reluctantly, Daniel took his keys out of his pocket and inserted them into the doorknob, entering his apartment and quickly walking to his bedroom before laying on his bed. No taking his clothes off, no shower, just lying on his bed exhausted. This was rock bottom for Daniel, and there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel for him.
———————————————————————————————————————
4 hours earlier…
The empty neighborhood was filled with luxurious cars sitting on the streets and well-kept lawns right next to them. Most residents stayed inside to shelter themselves from the cold, while other, more ambitious residents chose to fire up the grill in their front lawn. Many were busy cooking dinner for their families, others simply enjoyed a night of reading or watching television, either by themselves or with their significant other. In one particular home however, someone had slightly different plans…
In the kitchen of a mini-mansion stood a big Bernese mountain dog woman. Her curvy figure went well with her tall stature, being the perfect balance of fat and height. She was adorned with an apron with the words “Kiss the Cook” sewn on the front, the top being stretched to its limits due to the size of her bust. And underneath, she wore a set of black lingerie. Surrounding her were multiple cameras, each one pointed at a different angle of her body, ready to switch at a moment’s notice to show off a new view of her half-nude figure.
“Alrighty guys, just five more minutes in the oven and this cake will be done!” Abby bent over with a wiggle of her rear, switching the camera just in time to capture the wobble of her cheeks and the wagging of her tail. She looked to her laptop off to the side and smirked when she saw her chat go wild at the sight of her wide rear before she quickly switched to a camera from above.
Abby made a sizable amount of income streaming on Twitch, but her OnlyFans is where the real money came in. She took pride in capturing all the right angles of her body, angles she knew her simps would throw hundreds of dollars at her for. Her simps loved seeing her body, and she loved the attention she received — it was a win-win.
“Smells good, guys! I’d share it with you guys if I could.” Abby giggled as she switched tabs on her laptop to view her donations. “Alright chat, let’s look at some donos!” Abby scrolled through all the donations, doing her best to ignore the more horny comments thrown her way. As much as she loved her fans, seeing someone begging her to sit on his face or smother him under her tits for the hundredth time got old fast. But there were a handful of genuine questions, cute compliments, and comments about the stream.
“ApolloDog with the $20, thank you! ‘Where did you get that apron? It looks cute on you!’ Oh, thank you! It was just something I saw on Amazon that I figured you guys would love, I know how much you guys love these cooking streams so I figured I’d surprise you all this time around!” Abby giggled as she looked at her timer once again – three minutes remaining.
“PixelHowl, thank you so much for the $50! ‘Can you tell us about a time someone was crushing on you?’ Oh, well…” Abby laughed, her blush hidden by her fur. “There wasn’t really anyone who had a crush on me in high school, to be completely honest, so sorry if that doesn’t answer your question! Appreciate the donation though!” Abby continued on scrolling through donations, looking for a new message to read until a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
“Well actually, there was this one guy I think had a crush on me. He was a good friend of mine, actually. His name was Daniel. I met him sophomore year I believe, and he was probably one of the most goofy, obnoxious people I have ever met in my life.” Abby laughed as she recalled being in class with Daniel. Sometimes he’d make terrible, esoteric jokes, other times he just acted flat-out weird, but she still saw a kind-hearted person beneath his silly persona.
“But he was fun to be around sometimes. We were both being fucked with by other kids, and so we just started watching each other’s backs.” Abby sighed as her timer approached one minute. Recalling this information made her cringe slightly as it brought back bad memories of her time in high school. But at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel nostalgic. “I remember this one time, when it was senior year, it was around prom time, and he walked up to me during lunch. I was in my teacher’s room studying, right? And he came up to me looking nervous as hell, like he had something to say to me. He’s like, ‘Abby?’ and I’m like ‘Hey Daniel, what’s going on?’ Then suddenly he just asked me about my shampoo.” Abby let out a hearty laugh recalling the awkward situation.
“I was like, ‘Uhhhh, why do you want to know about my shampoo so bad?’ and he just suddenly went ‘Bye!’ and walked away, it was so weird! He probably wanted to ask me to prom but chickened out at the last second.” She let out another laugh as her timer finally rang out, the digital beeping causing her ear to lift up. “Oh, that’s the cake guys! Let’s check this thing out!”
Abby reached over the stove to turn off the timer. Then, with a switch of her camera, she slowly opened the door to the oven. The aroma of carrot cake immediately filled the air, causing Abby’s nose to twitch in excitement. “Oh my, that smells really good, chat! I think this is the one…” The Bernese mountain dog set down the cake pans on the top of the stove before grabbing a toothpick sitting on the edge of the counter. “Alright guys, toothpick test. Let’s hope I don’t have to put these back in because I spent the entire night making them.” She slowly inserted a toothpick into the center of the cake before pulling it out, noting that only a few moist crumbs were stuck to the toothpick. With the first one done, she pulled out another toothpick for the second one, this time it was completely clean.
“Alright, two for two chat! Let’s just go ahead and wait for these to cool down before we put the frosting on them.” With her baking out of the way, Abby went back to reading chat and donations. It was mostly uneventful – some interesting questions and comments were thrown around here and there as she waited for her cakes to cool down, but nothing too out of the ordinary, save for the same five horny comments. Abby loved being a showoff, but sometimes it got annoying to deal with the same sexually charged comments in one night. Despite that, her stream continued without a hitch. She kept her ears perked up expecting another big donation message to pop through the speaker, but none would pull through to her surprise as she began frosting her cake. Once her cake was covered in a thick, white coating of frosting, she pulled out some diced pecans from a small bag and began to pour it over the cake in a thin layer. Finally, her cake was complete.
“Oh my God, chat, look at that!” She switched to the camera sitting on the dining table, showing off her creation in its full glory – a delicious carrot cake. The frosting had only slightly melted, causing some parts of the cake to be seen through. Nevertheless, Abby was proud of her baking and enjoyed every opportunity she got to show it off. Reaching into her drawer, she grabbed a knife and cut herself a slice, not forgetting to show off the cross section of her freshly cut cake.
“Alright, moment of truth chat, let’s try this out!” Grabbing a fork from the drawer, she took a bite from the cake. A moist, creamy, crunchy texture filled her mouth, followed by the taste of the cake itself mixed with the cream cheese frosting. Letting out a hum of satisfaction, Abby looked to her camera and gave a thumbs up, indicating that she had indeed made a fantastic carrot cake.
“I need to start using that KillerRecipes site from now on, we’re two for two on that place, God this is so good!” Abby savored the sweet taste, the warmth, the moisture, all euphoric feelings right in her mouth. Even her chat was begging for a taste.
“Alright guys, I think that’s going to be it for me tonight! That…was the best carrot cake I have ever had. Ever.” Abby reached for her laptop and opened up her streaming software. “And as you guys know, tomorrow won’t be a stream day, so I’ll see you guys on Saturday. Thank you all for coming, I’ll see you guys later! Bye!” With a little wave towards the camera, she clicked the “Stop Streaming” button and ended her stream, leaving her completely by herself.
The dark cloud of reality quickly settled in now that she was alone. No chat to read, no donation messages to listen to, just her, and a load of dishes to clean. Despite her newfound emptiness, Abby sighed, satisfied with getting through yet another stream.
…
Abby had long changed into her pajamas after cleaning the dishes and taking a hot shower. Now she sat on the couch watching a romcom on her TV to retire for the night. Despite the change in attire, the loose fitting shirt and pants still accentuated her curves, those that she was always proud of showing off. During her show, there was a particular scene where the husband was trying to record a silly video of his kids for social media, much to the disapproval of his wife. That sparked something in her head, reminding her of something that she spoke of while she was on stream: Daniel. Her mind suddenly blanked as she was brought back memories of high school. Of when he would record her without her permission.
Of when he would crack esoteric jokes that made no sense.
Of when he asked her about her shampoo that one day for no particular reason.
An idea sparked in her mind as she pulled out her phone and opened Snapchat. Her fingers quickly scrolled to the right as her recent chats popped up. She didn’t know if this idea would work, and wasn’t sure if he was still around, but she had to at least try. Opening up the search bar, she typed in his name — Daniel Cutler.
No results.
Abby sighed and flopped back onto her couch, disappointed. He must’ve deleted his account a while ago. Now there was no way of being able to reach out to him. Abby cursed at herself as she tossed her phone on the other side of the couch. It was a shame that she didn’t keep in touch with one of her closest friends from school. Abby reached for one of the pillows on the couch and brought it to her chest, hugging it tightly as she curled up into a ball and began rocking back and forth before letting out a whine.
Although she had a successful career and was living a dream life, deep down, she felt alone. People only showed up to her streams to compliment her looks, but not herself. Daniel was someone who knew her deep down the time they were in school together, and looked at her as if she were a person, not as entertainment. But now she feared that he has completely moved on from her and has gotten a new life in a place where they'll never cross paths again.