thenearshore | [open mingle] close your eyes, feel the present

Who: Everyone! This is an open mingle log, so feel free to toplevel and thread between yourselves as much as possible.
When: October 27th
Where: Calico Cat Cafe, somewhere vague in Tokyo. An address was posted on the BBS a day prior.
What: Cat adoption day - come bring some (or a lot of) new friends home, take advantage of the no entry fee to spend a day hanging out with cats, or volunteer to help out the somewhat overloaded staff.

An adoption event needs no small venue, and Cat Cafe Calico provides that much, visible as soon as anyone walks in the front door, pane glass with a little bell to ensure no cats walk out undetected. The area is spacious and welcoming, warmly lit with smooth and modern decor, and of course, plenty of posts for the cats. The cafe area itself is on the lower floor, along with various stools, cushions and lounges for people to sit on and spend some time with the plentiful felines. Most of the adoption services have set up along one wall down here, but it's plenty easy to avoid them and just play around with the cats unless you intend to adopt. They've got plenty of waitstaff available, and the cafe is testing out some new and unusual styles and flavours of tea, coffee and milkshakes, as well as seasonal fruit based cakes and tarts. For those without as much of a sweet tooth, there's savoury snacks as well - or maybe you'd prefer to just buy some snacks for the cats, which is an option too.

Upstairs, there's also a video game area with plenty more seating and plenty more cats...though good luck getting them out of the way of the screens, or occasionally off the consoles themselves. Quite a few of the cats are lounging around by the large window, either between cushions or on an impressively-sized play frame, and some are even up near the roof on mounted walkways. There are no guarantees they won't drop onto the occasional passerby. The upstairs also houses a few enclosed areas for people to socialise with specific cats or groups of them to see which ones they get on with best.

Volunteers will be thanked profusely, and some of the staff may even approach visitors to ask if they might help, offering compensation of food and drink prices or similar. There's a lot of adoption paperwork to be done, and with the waitstaff run off their feet, there's few people left to supervise interactions between visitors and cats to make sure all's friendly. Of course, this is an excellent excuse to just surround oneself with any available cats and let others approach as they please.

There's a steady stream of kittens being let out into the mingling cats throughout the day, most of them kept to enclosed areas under staff supervision. Whenever more come out, it might be possible to catch some whispers from the waitstaff, as if surprised at something - listen closely enough, and it sounds like they're talking about an employee, one who they barely see and rarely talks, yet finishes work promptly and slips away before anyone notices except the cats, who all seem very comfortable around him...

Whatever the reason for being here, there's plenty of cats to go around, plenty of activity, and ample opportunity to take home a new friend! Or two. Or ten, if you can convince the staff you can handle it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Two boxes with two in each might be easier to manage though I think I could carry them in one. It's just that if any of them climb out, I won't be able to chase them very far. I'm afraid I got hurt recently. If I have to run after them, I might faint.

[There's a lot more to her injury than what she's saying but Kairi's a very sweet girl. The story behind it might be a bit too much for such young ears. And she's not very proud or pleased with her own role in the mess that led up to it. She and Gojyo did terrible things that can' be undone. If Kairi judged her for her actions, and in all honesty, Ayumu would deserve it, she'd feel guilty and that guilt would hurt Sanzang.

Being a good shinki can be so complicated and difficult but she's trying her best. In her own way.

She busies herself with filling out the form; hopefully she doesn't look too pensive and Kairi won't get the wrong idea and think she doesn't enjoy her company.]

And we don't want that!

[ Kairi's a bit more understanding of Ayumu avoiding certain explanations based on what she remembers of Ayumu's time as a goddess, and then her coming back with that scar on her face, it's just a very different life than Kairi. More than someone like Hakkai purposefully concealing darker life aspects from her even after she witnessed his ablution, Kairi doesn't judge Ayumu for doing the same, if only because of the physical manifestations of her living it. Maybe one day an adult will trust her enough to talk about adult matters, but not today. Today is a day for caring about cute kittens. ]

So... your choice! We can either carry the two boxes together, or I can chase down any little rascals that escape you!

[ She offers up an extra box in case that's the option Ayumu would like to go with. When the form is complete, she'll happily carry it off to the right person too. ]

[Perhaps Ayumu might find herself comfortable enough to open up to Kairi about the many adult concerns she tends to have. She's very selective about who she exposes vulnerability to; it's hard to shake off a lifetime of dishonesty and hiding. And difficult to move past her own belief that young people, even those who are dead, should be allowed to enjoy their innocence and childhood as long as they can.

Ayumu thinks a moment before answering.]

Two boxes might be best. That way there's not as much of a scramble.

[She finishes filling out the form and hands it over to Kairi.]

There. I think I filled it out properly.

[ She scans the form briefly, then nods upon seeing it all filled out. ]

Looks great!

[ She leaves with the form. Before long, she returns with a second box. ]

Alright, let's split the babies up. At least it won't be for long.

[ She smiles over at Ayumu, then walks over to the group of kittens, sitting on her heels as she looks in, trying to figure out if there's a bonded pair she can take together. ]

[All of the kittens seem pretty equally attached to each other but there is one pair that seems pretty content to rest snuggled up to each other.]

Those two seem to be getting along pretty well.

[All of them are so cute. Surely, being greeted with such adorable balls of fluff will perk Sanzang right up.]

You take those ones and I'll take these two, 'kay?

[She gestures to the other pair. One of the kittens seems to be settling down for a nap while the other one seems to be rather intent on hugging its tail.]

Awesome! Sounds good.

[ She happily reaches for the pair, but gently lifts them up with both hands, trying to keep them as close together as she can. It's a little too much to hope they'll stay asleep the whole time, but they definitely seem less wriggly while still holding onto one another in her hands. She puts them in her own box and tucks a little towel in there for them to sleep with, if they can manage it while she's carrying them. ]

Ready to go to your new home, babies? Come on...

[ She's even careful to hold the front door open for Ayumu to walk out with both hands on her own box. ]

Thank you.

[Kairi's happiness is infectious and she can't help but smile. And it's certainly easier to manage the kittens. The pair in her own box sit up a bit, clearly curious about what's going on.]

Shh, shh. There'll be plenty to look around and see when we get you to our new home. There's monkeys and all sorts of room for you to play. And I can make you all sorts of toys...

[She speaks with the tone of someone who spends more time talking to animals or plants than other people. Once the kittens settle back down, though, she turns back to Kairi.]

There's a shrine... to the east? I think?

[ Kairi waits for Ayumu when she stops, or slows at least, and peeks in on her own box of kittens while she has the chance. ]

Oh no I think a bug got into this box and I didn't notice - and now they're trying to pin it down while I'm jostling the box. Poor things!

[ She chuckles a little since she's not about to take their 'toy' away, and for all she knows it'll escape out the top. It looks like a fly after all. ]

Alright, east it is.

[ And she holds the box against herself in just such a way she can punch the pedestrian walk signal with a firmly extended elbow. ]

Well, it sounds like they're having fun, at least.

[Maybe not so much for the fly but it did go into a box with kittens. There's hazards involved with that. Her own pair seems to be pretty content with just trying to keep out over the edge of the box. So long as they don't try to jump out at the intersection, it should be fine, right?]

I hope they'll have fun at home, too. There's lots of monkeys for them to play with and Sanzang and me. There should be enough that they'll never get bored.

[It's a very nice environment to be in, Ayumu thinks. Free roaming monkeys and occasional bouts of theft and 'helping' with various chores aside.]

Edited 2018-07-23 20:42 (UTC)

Oh no! I'm imagining them running after those long monkey tails all day and tuckering themselves right out...

[ Kairi laughs. ]

The monkeys should be fine too, right? They've got to be really active, if they're anything like the monkeys I'm thinking of. Lots of room to run around should make for plenty of long games of chase.

[ She's imagining a small pile of napping kittens, not unlike how a few of them ended up here at the cat cafe. ]

There's plenty of room for it. I think it's good for the monkeys to get some extra exercise.

[Ayumu chuckles. She chases the monkeys fairly regularly herself, mostly after they've run off with one of her belongings or something she's using in the kitchen. The kittens should be good for keeping them on their toes, though.]

I think it'll be good for the kittens, too. The monkeys are nothing if not energetic.

[She's sure they've been worried about Sanzang, too, spending too much time alone in her room. But surely the kittens will make her goddess smile again. They're kittens.]

I think the shrine's around the corner of the next block.

That's exactly what some rambunctious kittens should be enjoying with all of their siblings to be able to run around with them. One big happy family...

[ She quietly thinks of her own 'family' so long gone now, but is only glad that the kittens will get to experience that kind of feeling. Maybe she will get to again some day.

She gently shifts the box in her hands, even as it jostles from activity within, and then looks over at Ayumu again. ]

Can't wait to see them in their new home!

[open mingle] close your eyes, feel the present

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Wrap for me, or close to it