It was the sounds of a city coming to life and the bright sunlight piercing his bedroom window that woke Evan up. The lion stretch out while lying on the mattress of his absurdly large bed. So wide was it, in fact, that he could easily stretch out his arms and reach neither side. It was far bigger than he needed. Yet he didn't buy it. It was one of the features of apartments in places like Port Zaftig, Evan came to learn.
"That's just part of the culture here at Port Zaftig," said Simone when she was on the phone with Evan some weeks ago. She was one of the building managers and wanted to go over a few things about the rental agreement with Evan before he made the big move. "You know how when most furs move, they'll just leave the plunger for the next residents? The same kinda goes here. The last tenet didn't want to have to pack up a bunch of his furniture, so he just left it for the next fur to have. Lucky you!"
Lucky Evan, indeed. He had limited space in his car and there was no way he would be able to bring anything like a bed or couch or television or dresser with him. But he hit the jackpot, apparently. Not only did the last tenet practically left the apartment fully furnished, but the bed and the couch were absolutely massive. Hell, Evan figured that the couch alone was bigger than his old bed.
The lion scratched the cream-color fur of his flat abdomen as he yawned. He had woken up from a long nap and now it was late in the morning. However, Evan had only been in Port Zaftig for a few hours. Dawn was breaking as his drove over the final hill on his route. Rays of golden light shined off many of the city's tall skyscrapers. Rather than spending one more night at a dingy motel, Evan decided instead to drive through the night on the last leg of his journey. It had taken him nearly four days to get from his small hometown of Bastion to the city of Port Zaftig and the lion was so eager to get there that he was willing to stay up the entire night if it meant one less day on the road.
It didn't take him long to find his new apartment building located at the edge of town. Being so early in the morning, there was a parking spot for him in front of the building. He grabbed a couple of duffel bags full of clothes and approached the door. Out of a manila envelop, he pulled out a key card, a mail box key, and the key to his apartment.
"Typically, I'm there to see new tenets to their place," Simone explained over the phone. "But none of the building managers will be there that day, so I'm sending everything you need so you can see yourself in."
A small black box was mounted on the wall next to the absurdly wide front doors. He swiped the key card in front of the box, and the light on it turned from red to green. A metallic clunking noise let Evan know the door was unlocked. He opened it up and walked through the warm and bright lobby. Nobody was around. The door to the elevator were equally as comically wide as the front door. When it arrived, Evan stepped inside and noticed the sheer size of the lift. It reminded him of a cargo elevator at one of his past jobs.
"Maximum weight: 12,000 pounds" a shiny placard on the button panel read. Evan chuckled as he pressed the 7 button. His apartment was number 703.
The hallway on the seventh floor was equally as wide as the doors. The lion could have easily driven a car down these hallways. He noticed that there weren't many other rooms on the floor. Maybe, he guessed, there were seven other apartments on the floor. This was far fewer than he expected, but when he opened the door to apartment 703, he saw why. Despite the cheap rent, the apartment was incredibly massive with a huge living room, a spacious kitchen, a vast bedroom, and a bathroom equipped with the largest shower stall the lion every saw in his life.
Half a dozen trips to his car later and it was entirely unloaded. Various boxes and bags laid about the living room. Evan was in no rush to unpack everything, though. It was still very early in the morning and he was working on no sleep whatsoever. So he pulled off his clothes and jumped into bed.
Now it was a few hours later and Evan had just hopped out of the shower. He laughed when he first got in there. The stall was several times bigger than he was and wondered why any fur would need such a large shower to begin with. He padded his gold and cream colored fur dry and dug a fresh pair of jeans and shirt out of one of this duffel bags. Well, as fresh as they could be considering they've been in that bag for four days now.
Today marked Evan's first day in Port Zaftig.
As the lion stared out the window, he pondered what he should do with the day. Port Zaftig was known for its clean beaches and bright oceans. Evan spent all of his life in a tiny town in a landlocked state. The lion had never even seen the ocean and considered spending a day at the coast.
Evan's stomach gurgling in protest. He placed a paw on it to sooth his empty belly. He realized that he hadn't eaten much in the last day. And while he packed some food with him, most of it was snacks to munch on while traveling. The lion realized that he should probably find a bite to eat nearby, or maybe take a trip to the grocery store.
He had saved up enough money to live in Port Zaftig for a few months without any financial problems. That being said, he'll eventually need to find work. The sooner, the better. So Evan thought it might be productive to hunt for a job.
But then again, the past few days doing nothing but driving. The nap was refreshing, but still felt a bit exhausted. Perhaps the day would be better spent relaxing at home, maybe doing some unpacking, but in general taking it easy.
Or, he thought, he should be a good neighbor and introduce himself to the other furs on the floor, at least the ones on the left and right of his apartment. Hopefully, they haven't left for work yet or anything.
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