"There are giants in the sky! There are big tall terrible giants in the sky!"  

The shower was the best place to sing. The smooth walls, the small space, and the sharp angles all lead to an echo chamber that made anyone's voice sound awesome. Sashi knew his voice was no more spectacular than anyone else's, but singing in the shower always gave him a rush. He belted out the lyrics over the hissing of the water while scrubbing shampoo into his short, dark hair. He worked his fingernails into the scalp and scratched vigorously on the long notes to make his voice wobble. 

As he climbed out of the shower, something bumped in the living room and Sashi froze, one hand still reaching for the towel. He glanced to the vanity, where the kitten was taking a bath in the empty sink, then to the back of the toilet, where Dahini was dozing in a tidy loaf of calico fur. "Gecko...?" He called for the third cat, not expecting an answer but Mandy rolled over in the sink and trilled a questioning sound at him. Slowly, Sashi pulled down the towel and wrapped it around himself, tucking it under one arm as he edged around the corner to look into the living room.  

A long-haired calico went streaming past him from the kitchen to the living room with a chirp and he frowned. If Mandy and Dahini were in the bathroom and Gecko was in the kitchen... He wrapped his hand around the baseball bat he kept in the hallway between bedroom and living room before peeking his head around the corner. 

Rochelle was sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine. 

"What the buttered hell?" Sashi stomped into the living room to glare at his ex-girlfriend, hands on hips and baseball bat still in one fist. "I thought they changed the locks." 

"It's a habit of mine to prove you wrong," the silver-haired woman on the couch replied without looking up and she turned a page in her magazine. "Mmm, doesn't this look good?" She turned the magazine around and showed him a picture of a taco lasagna.  

Sashi's eyes tracked the photo. "Oh, yes... wait, no." He shook his head and caught the edge of his towel when it started to slip. "Dammit, let me at least get dressed before we have this conversation." 

"You're the one who busted in with a bat and a towel," Rochelle said, turning the magazine back to herself again. "Your voice sounds nice, by the way." 

"Thank you," Sashi snapped from the bedroom as he hunted up a binder and a pair of boxer shorts. "I'm serious about the invasion, though, 'chelle. You should have at least called." A clean t-shirt followed the binder, then a grey and blue flannel shirt and a clean pair of jeans. He grabbed a pair of socks and stomped back into the living room. "So, nobody's confiscated your lock picks?" 

"You mean the lock picks that are illegal to possess, so obviously they are theoretical in this conversation?" Rochelle flipped past a few pages of advertisements. "No, nobody's taken them. You're still dancing?" 

"Of course I'm still dancing." Sashi scooped Dahini up from the floor and settled himself into a recliner facing Rochelle. The tortie looked up at him in disgust, then curled up in a ball on his lap, tail curled around her orange toes. "I'm still eating, aren't I?" 

Sashi massaged the cat behind her ears and Dahini closed her eyes, purring. "'chelle, why are you here?"

Rochelle sighed, snapped the magazine shut, put it beside her on the couch, and leaned forward, elbows on knees. "Is it so hard to believe that I missed you?" Her amber eyes glittered in the dim light and Sashi squirmed, displacing the cat to cross his legs uncomfortably. 

"Yes, actually," he said. "Since the last time you saw me, you called me a worthless teabag."

"Oh, baby." Rochelle prowled across the room and leaned over him, bracing her arms on the arms of the chair. "You didn't think I meant that, did you?" 

"You need a place to lie low." Sashi gave her the steeliest glare he could muster and Rochelle returned it with a slow, sultry smile. 

"As long as you're lyin' there with me," she purred, running her fingers up Sashi's thighs and leaning closer over him. "C'mon, baby, you know we were awesome together. Just for a few days. Then I'll leave you alone. I just want you to taste how wet you make me."

Sashi pulled back a little, his jaw tight. "Rochelle, you are poison. You know that? Pure poison." 

The sultry look melted off Rochelle's fine features and solidified as a sneer of disgust. "You know what's wrong with women like you, Sashi? You don't know a good thing when you've got it."

"I'm not a woman," Sashi snapped back and gave her a shove. "Back off." When Rochelle rocked backwards, Sashi lurched to his feet to face her, hands balled into fists. "Why is that so damned hard for you to understand? I'm a man."

"Who takes her clothes off and dances around a pole for money," Rochelle snarled, bending her body into a mockery of the dances that fed Sashi's soul every night. "Who flirts with REAL men in the front row and shakes her ass, wishing she had a dick. You're pathetic. I don't know why I thought you'd be a good place to hide out."

Sashi stood, cold and hot flashing over him in waves. He struggled hard to keep his breathing even and calm. "Get out. Now." From the back of the couch, Mandy hissed, all kitten fangs and fierceness. He felt bad for the poor kitten: she was feeding off his own anger and there was very little he could do for her.

Rochelle swung her hips wide with a smirk, then picked up her magazine and headed for the door. "Your fucking loss, bitch. Hope you have a nice night at the club tonight." She strode out the door and slammed it after her, leaving Sashi in a heap on the floor, sobbing and reaching for his cats, who rushed to huddle against him.

"Shh, babies. It's okay," he whispered brokenly, stroking the multicolored fur. "Daddy's here."