A loud metallic clang woke Kanne from her nap, her ears perking up as she glanced towards the kitchen with an irritable glare. The Braixen's trainer, sitting on the sofa next to her bed, looked away from his phone to reach down over the armrest, patting the top of her head consolingly. She nuzzled back against it, grumbling as she tried to curl back up on the big purple cushion she was resting on, glaring in the general direction of the heavy footsteps she heard a moment later. Her trainer looked over that way too, reaching out to the coffee table and picking up his coffee mug off the folded napkin it was resting on.

It was a bad day for the plumbers to be in, but at least the rattling pipes would finally stop waking her up in the middle of the night. She hadn't been terribly interested in the big overalls-wearing man or his Poliwhirl when they had shown up to start working. Plus, since it was raining outside and her trainer had to stay home, they couldn't go for a walk together, and instead Kanne decided to take an early nap. The living room was normally a perfectly nice place to doze: she could be near her trainer, it was always warm, and the big potted plant on the opposite side of the sofa to her bed had nice-smelling flowers. The big TV opposite the sofa was currently off, but even when it was on she didn't mind the background noise.

Background noise was one thing. The racket coming from elsewhere in the apartment was quite another. She'd underestimated just how much noise the plumbers would make going back and forth between the kitchen and bathroom, banging around pipes and wrenches and who knew what else, not to mention the commands the plumber kept barking out to his assistant Pokemon. How was she supposed to get any rest with that cacophony going on?

Only adding to her irritation was a pressure in her lower belly telling her she needed to pee, but that would have to wait too, what with the plumbers going back and forth as they worked on the pipes. Sprawling on the cushion again, she rested her head on it and began to doze off, only to be snapped out of it by the sound of a pipe falling on the floor and rattling around. Irritated, Kanne snapped "Shut up!", knowing but not caring that the plumber wouldn't understand the "Brai-XEN!" noise she had just made; normally she'd never shout at a guest but the whole situation was grating on her nerves.

Leaning over the edge of the sofa again, her trainer tried to console her with more head pats and rubs down her back, but she grumbled in response. "I know, girl, I know," he told her, "But they're professionals, so just leave them to it."

She wasn't very convinced. "It doesn't sound like they know what they're doing."

"I know, I know," her trainer replied again, unable to properly understand her speech, giving her a scratch behind one ear. "I can ask how long they'll be, just wait here and be a good girl."

He got up and pocketed his phone, heading off towards the kitchen. Kanne could just about hear the conversation, but she didn't care enough to listen in, and grumpily kneaded at her bed cushion. The sound of the rain drumming on the windows was not helping her either, both reminding her that she couldn't go outside, and that she needed to pee, making her shift and press her legs together.

She had almost dozed off again when her trainer returned, and he was the recipient of another grumpy look when he roused her with a gentle shake to her side. "It might be a little while," he admitted, patting along her side with one hand, "They said they have to flush the whole system and replace... uh, something. I forget exactly what."

"Oh, come on," she whined in response.

He picked up on what she meant from her tone, and patted her head. "Yeah, I'm annoyed too, but whatever it takes to fix the pipes," he muttered. "It's supposed to stop raining later, we can go out then, how about that?" Settling back in on her cushion, she flicked her tail with disdain. "I know it's your nap time, Kanne, but I can't do anything about it, I'm sorry."

She grumbled vaguely and tried, once more, to settle in, but no sleep came to her. Even though it was quiet for a little bit as the plumbers did whatever it was they were doing, the hammering of the rain on the windows made it harder to sleep when the sound kept drawing her thoughts back to the pressure in her bladder. No matter how much she shifted, squirmed, rolled, or twisted, or what position she held her legs in, she couldn't make the annoying feeling go away, and it only got worse as time went by.

But then she thought she had a break, as the human plumber poked his head around the corner of the living room door, his Poliwhirl adjusting the little blue cap that was on its head. "Hey, we're just gonna go get some stuff from the truck," the human announced, "It'll just be a few minutes."

"All right, thank you," Kanne's trainer replied.

Kanne lifted her muzzle and glared at the plumber, but he only chuckled. "Cute Braixen you've got there," he said with a nod before turning away from the door, his heavy boots making more noise on the way out, the Poliwhirl following after him.

Kanne's trainer reached down to pet her again. "He knows a nice Pokemon when he sees one, doesn't he?" he said, trying to flatter her, but Kanne was getting up. This was her chance. "Kanne, where are you going?" her trainer called out as she left the room.

"The bathroom!" she told him, even though he couldn't understand her, and she made a sharp turn around the corner to head to her destination. But she only made it as far as the doorway, and stopped, giving a despairing little noise: there were tools and pipes lying on the floor, and the toilet had been pulled away from the wall, clearly unusable.

Her trainer caught up to her. "Kanne, what's the matter?" he asked, glancing into the bathroom as well. "Wow, I hope they clean all this up when they're done, he murmured."

Kanne pointed insistently to the toilet. "I have to pee!" she growled at him, growing more irritated; she'd been hoping this would be her chance to get a little relief.

He understood that well enough thanks to her gesture. "Oh. Yeah, sorry girl, you can't use that right now, you'll just have to hold it," he told her, shaking his head. Whining, she pointed at the sink instead. "No, you can't use that either. I'm pretty sure they've shut the water off..." reaching over, he turned the cold water faucet, and nothing happened, so he turned it back. "Yeah, I figured. Come on, let's head back. It shouldn't be long."

He ushered her back to the living room, but she was not happy. She returned to her bed and sprawled out on her back, but didn't try to sleep again, staring up at the ceiling, her trainer paying her a little more attention to try and placate her with belly rubs. They were nice, but didn't really help her problem at all, and soon enough she heard the plumbers returning, with more heavy footsteps. "Whew! It's really coming down out there," the human remarked loudly enough to be heard all the way from the living room.

"It's nice out," the Poliwhirl replied, and Kanne rolled her eyes, huffing in annoyance. Of course a water-type wouldn't mind the rain, but she would be miserable if she went out in this weather. Not that she was particularly enjoying her current situation, but despite all the annoyances piled on her, at least she was dry...

She whined a little and pressed her legs closer together as she felt a pang in her lower belly. If she couldn't relieve herself soon, she might not even get to stay dry much longer. Her noise made her trainer look over the armrest at her again, and he patted her head. "Sorry, girl. Soon, though, soon."

But she only whined louder in response, and her trainer leaned over further to pat along her side. "I know, I know. Do you want to play and take your mind off it?" he offered.

She shook her head. The last thing she needed was to be moving around vigorously. "I need to pee," she insisted again.

"You have to wait," he told her, and she looked away with a frown. She had to squeeze her legs together again a moment later, whining as she waited out another surge of desperation. Once it passed, she got up – she didn't want to risk leaking anything onto her bed. She began to pace around the living room, frustrated by every thump the plumbers made, every time the wind picked up and lashed the rain harder against the windows, every little twinge from her bladder...

Shuddering, she put both forepaws between her legs and whined louder, her knees buckling a little, fighting off another strong urging from her bladder to relieve herself. She was considering just going to the bathroom anyway, but the plumbers would be there now. Even if they weren't, they could walk in on her at any time. She looked up at her trainer pleadingly, and he gave her a concerned look in return, sighing and beckoning for her to approach him.

She walked over and he reached out, scratching gently under her chin. Her ears splayed a little, but she whined again, keeping her paws between her legs. "Is it really that bad?" he asked her, and she nodded.

"I really need to pee," she whined at him. "I'm going to make a mess soon if I don't."

He got the general idea from her tone and the look she gave him, and he sighed, looking around the room. "Not on the carpet..." he muttered, looking thoughtful. After a few moments he patted her on the head, and began to get up. "Wait there," he instructed, and she watched as he went to the door and pushed it almost all the way closed, enough to block anyone from looking in.

Looking up at him curiously, she watched him return, and he sat down again. "You really can't hold it?" he asked again, and she shook her head, whining again and bouncing a little on her feet. "Okay. Just this once, then..."

She looked towards the coffee cup he had left on the coffee table, but he shook his head. "No, no, not there. Over there." He pointed, and she turned her upper body to look. His index finger was extended towards the potted plant next to the sofa, on the opposite side from her bed. "It's not ideal, but at least the soil will-"

He didn't get to finish before she was moving: she didn't need to be persuaded. Kanne immediately scuttled around the sofa to the plant. It was a tall thing, at least compared to her, with big long stems, and the planter itself was some heavy ceramic in a cubic shape. Approaching one corner, she reached out with one paw and steadied herself on the sofa's armrest, taking advantage of the planter's shape to straddle it and squat down, positioning her slit close to the soil, and also hiding her behind the sofa for a little more privacy.

She was still lining up when she felt another pang from her bladder, and with her legs spread and her arms out, she couldn't fight it. With a little groan she immediately began hosing down the bottom of the plant's stems with urine, her stream coming out strong and spraying across the soil as well. She trembled a little as she held onto the sofa, her other arm and her tail extended for balance as she remained in her squatting position.

The gentle pattering of her urine against the plant soon grew louder as the top of the soil was saturated, and the droplets of her pee began to splash against the growing puddle, but Kanne simply stayed where she was. After having gotten so desperate, being able to finally let it all out felt wonderful, and her tail swished a little from side to side. Her trainer kept quiet, thankfully, and she was so glad to finally get her relief that she didn't even mind hearing another pipe rattle against the floor from the kitchen.

Kanne shifted slightly closer, hosing down the base of the plant's stems a bit more as her bladder emptied out and her stream started losing its power. She didn't want any to get on the carpet, after all, as that would make her trainer mad. Letting out a sigh as her stream slowly trickled off and stopped, she made sure to get the last of it out with a clench of her muscles, a final squirt splashing in the puddle at the top of the soil.

"All done?" her trainer asked quietly after a few seconds of silence, and she gave a little yip in confirmation. But normally she could use some of the toilet paper in the bathroom to dry herself off, and she didn't have any here. Stepping back a little, she looked up at her trainer, who picked up his coffee mug to sip from it again, his other hand reaching out and patting her on the head. "Sorry you had to go through all that, Kanne," he told her after taking a sip.

She watched him set down the mug on the napkin, and an idea came to her. Reaching out, she gently grasped the edge of the napkin with one paw, and pointed to her loins with the other. "Can I have this?" she asked him.

"What?" he replied, looking at her, figuring out what she wanted from her gestures. "Oh... sure. Leave it on the planter and I'll throw it out later," he told her, lifting up the mug for her so she could take the napkin. It had a brown circle on it from the coffee, but was otherwise clean, so she slipped behind the side of the sofa again to dry her loins off, wiping the napkin up and down her legs and over her slit. Folding it once, she dropped it onto the rim of the planter, next to the soaked soil. The puddle was already gone, the fluid having soaked into it, but the soil was still visibly wet.

Satisfied, she started to walk past her trainer, but he reached out and rubbed along her head and she stopped to enjoy the attention. Without her bladder nagging her, she was in a much better mood, and leaned into it, resting herself against his legs.

"How do you feel? Do you want to play now?" he asked, and she nodded. "All right, I'll go get a toy, and we can play until the plumbers are done," he told her. He got up, and she hopped up onto the sofa to sprawl in the warm space he had left behind, feeling far more relaxed, now. Her day was finally starting to look up.