[open mingle] close your eyes, feel the present

[revolutionfalcon]

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.

Comments

OTA

[revolutionfalcon]

[A]

[So, about that really quiet employee the waitstaff keep talking about. Shun is doing his best not to be seen - with occasional abuse of teleportation, because desperate times call for desperate measures - but he's still occasionally visible coming in and out of the door to the back area where all the cats that aren't out on the floor are, dressed in plain black. If anyone tries to head out the back (it's not too difficult with the advantage of going largely unnoticed by humans, even if the cats will eye some people off suspiciously), it's largely very similar to the front. There's the same carpeted floor and cat posts, but there's also various cages, beds and food bowls out here.

On the topic of food, Shun is feeding a couple of the kittens who need more regular meals, which has had the unfortunate side effect of him having to deal with something akin to this, a line of kittens trying to climb his leg. For his part, he seems used to it, mostly just looking faintly exasperated.

There's a slightly older, somewhat grizzly-looking white cat watching the proceedings, apparently content to observe Shun's suffering until a certain point where it gets up, stretches, and strides over, meowing rather loudly. The kittens all drop off Shun's leg in dribs and drabs, and he goes over to fill their bowls and let them eat while he puts the food away, squinting at the white cat the entire time.]

Typical. [The white cat meows again and headbutts his leg. And then does it again. And again until he picks it up, though that's probably around the time he notices someone else here and tenses visibly.]

--

[B]

[Shun is, in fact, the person making regular kitten deliveries outside after he's checked them over to make completely sure they're ready to go out. He's been pretty careful about how he's doing it, but that doesn't mean he's not occasionally catchable heading upstairs with an armful of wriggling kittens.

Especially when one of them wriggles free enough to start trying to crawl into the arm of his shirt. He can't exactly get it out with his hands full, so he settles for walking faster, though the flailing back legs of a kitten coming out of his sleeve are a little bit noticeable...]

--

[C]

[After a while, when things get busier and cats are needing to go out faster, Shun has to reluctantly relegate himself to checking over kittens in an isolated enclosure on the top floor...which means he's actually fully visible and in one place to be caught out. He's pretty determinedly not paying attention to anyone unless they approach him, though, at which point he'll raise his head just long enough to give them the withering glare of the century, bar the maybe three people who already knew about his job here who'll just get a normal glare.]

These ones aren't ready yet. [He bluntly points back towards the other enclosures before turning his attention to the kitten lying on its back in his lap.]

wildcard maybe?

[abgrund]

[ Shun can probably feel Ain coming from a long way away, a small chill in the air intensifying to something moderate as he finally reaches the entrance of the cafe. Add and Roxas have convinced him to put on clothes and reorganize his body into something that wouldn't scare away Near Shore residents on sight, so he merely looks a bit like a hobo with hair long enough to almost touch the ground.

His aura scatters people around him, the living humans moving out of his way without actually looking at him. Some of the younger kittens also reposition themselves in other corners, though the adult cats don't seem to be fazed by him.

He'll just hang around in a corner, watching the cats intently. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun can certainly feel that chill long before anything that should be causing it; he's out the back of the cafe initially, but he comes through to the front as the feeling gets more intense. His suspicion of what it might be is confirmed when Ain reaches the doorway, and despite himself, he lets out a faint breath. Offputting but not malicious is something he can deal with, while the similarity to an ayakashi's presence had him worried for a moment about how they'd deal with it without collateral damage.

Glancing over the reaction of the kittens and cats - at least the older ones don't seem bothered by the aura - Shun approaches Ain with subtle wariness, though it's more born of not being entirely sure whether he's here for the same reason everyone else is.

He's certainly watching those cats closely, though, so Shun makes an educated guess.] You look more interested in them than I would've expected.

["Interested" is a strong word, but Shun is no stranger to watching things intently out of interest, because he does it himself.]

[abgrund]

[ He looks up when spoken to, the movement of his head echoed by his hair, the person behind him quickly moving away to avoid it. The mess that is the left half of his face is neatly covered by his bangs and a carefully fashioned eyepatch. ]

You are... adopting out cats....?

[ The sentence is said with more expression than usual. Roxas saw the advertisment and passed it to the other two; seeing that Add's cat had taken a strong liking to him, Ain formed the perception that he should probably get his own in order to stop his god from becoming jealous.

Disaster (yes, that's its name) is a rather finicky creature. ]

open to celebs (she wishes, it's ota)

[priforprince]

[ I ]

Hm.



[ Hibiki is sitting in the cafe part of the cat cafe. A clowder has formed around her, watching her eat, but - she isn't ordering anything for them. In fact, she's not interacting with the cats at all. She's just. Having tea. ]

Gracing such a puny business for the sake of one's followers isn't bad, on occasion.

[ "Let something amazing happen so people will come to adopt cats!" A simple prayer. Easily answered. Hibiki is here. That is all one requires. And the cats are all surrounding her, sitting up at attention. She is Prince of Cats. ]

[ II. ]



Denied!

[ Hibiki tries to brush the cat a volunteer is offering her away. The cat paws at her hand. ] Adoption doesn't interest me. Make your appeal to someone else.

[ Taking full advantage of its status as a fuzzy liquid, the cat worms out of the volunteer's grip and parks itself on Hibiki's lap. Afraid of Hibiki, the volunteer retreats. Hibiki looks around until she spots someone. ]

You. Remove this animal.

[ III. ]

[ Careful where you step up here in the gaming room. It may not be obvious, given that the swarm of cats covers up quite a bit of this toy, but....



You know how cats are always drawn to the one person in the room who doesn't want them around? Hibiki is trapped now. Trapped by cat butts. Sitting on her. Lying on her. All looking very playful, and inviting, and innocent if anyone approaches. ]

Rather. Insolent creatures....

[ IV ]

[ And yet. Hibiki is sitting here staring at a cat, now. And the cat is staring back. She'd heard...something...about this one... ]



Are you really....from a line of award-winning purebreeds?

[ The cat yawns and bats at Hibiki's ahoge. Hibiki wrinkles her nose, but permits this. For now. ]

II

[purr_ince]

[Adrien maybe be helping out and he's turning to go rescue a distressed patron only....

Oh it's her.

Of course it's Hibiki - he's pretty sure that if he hears stuff like this; it's gotta be Hibiki. Oh that poor unfortunate kitten.

Adrien swoops in and scoops up the kitten cradling it to his chest.]

Come here, mon chaton. Don't bother the grumpy lady. Let's find you some one nice to play with.

Is there nothing you don't dislike? And please don't break a cup this time or I'll have to tell them to give you plastic.

[revolutionfalcon]

[Well, at least the guy's apparently cognizant of the fact that his appearance would probably get a lot more negative attention over here. Either that or his god got to him. But Shun pays more attention to the question, nodding slightly. It's a little odd to hear this guy showing expression after their last conversation, but if it's for something like this, he might as well hear it out.

Shun crouches down so they're not talking seated to standing, since he finds it a little annoying.] Is there a reason you want one?

[He's not going to deny on the grounds of that, but he is curious to hear the answer. As much as he warned Ain about other people asking "why", he feels it needs to be asked here, because if he doesn't have a reason, he might not be so good at taking care of one, and he'll need to ask a bit more to determine that.]

[alchemists]

A.

[ Elfnein is enjoying a cup of tea at one of the cushions set up for the cafe. There's a light cream colored tabby interested in Elfnein and is sitting by her just watching. ]

It's nice to meet you, I hope that maybe we can be friends.

B.

[ After a nice cup of tea Elfnein heads up to the other floor where the other cats are. Though the cream colored tabby from before seems to be following her closely. ]

Is there someone I talk to up here for one on one spaces?

IV

[alchemists]

I can run tests if you want to be sure?

ok you know what i had to, III

[revolutionfalcon]

[Well, Shun had been on the way up to put a few more kittens out with the older cats, staying fairly well out of sight, but then he hears that voice and can pick out who it is stuck under the pile of cats.

After a short moment, he bends down and deposits his armful of kittens carefully onto the ground.

Enjoy a good dozen kittens charging in to join the pile-on, Hibiki.]

[abgrund]

[ It's been some time since their last encounter, and the other people in his household have at least taught him a few things. One of which was that having one cat isn't too conducive now that it keeps following him around, and... perhaps, he might appreciate one, too.

Though, articulating that is a bit hard. He frowns a little, just slightly. ]

They need a home?

[ He can give one, maybe? ]

OTA

[unlucky7]

[A]
[Ginia came to Cat Cafe Calico for the purpose of interacting with cats, but ends up volunteering once she finds out they're understaffed (and offering food and drinks for compensation). Stationed at a laptop, Ginia helps out with updating information and printing out forms, and trying out the new flavors of milkshakes. There's also a small notepad with her thoughts on some of the flavors. Mango strawberry? Definitely a winner. Lychee? Not bad, but a bit light on the flavor. Breakfast cereal? Hmm... needs some work.

And if she hasn't moved for awhile, the giant tabby sleeping on her lap might also be to blame.]

***

[B]
[Catch Ginia laying on the floor upstairs being viciously mobbed by tiny, ferocious kittens. Such teeth, such claws, such savagery as they pounce her shoelaces, nibble and lick her fingers, tangle with her hair, and chase the feather on a string she's lazily waving around for them.]

***

[C]
[Wildcard! Have an idea? Throw it at me!]

[purr_ince]

A

[Anyone that knows Adrien shouldn't be too surprised to see him here and it's clear he came with every intention of helping since he'd stayed in his usual clothes and he's Plaggless for the first time since he'd gotten him.

He's stationed at one of the tables helping with forms once the staff clear people to adopt. Clipboards neatly arranged in front of him. The blond even has information on what to do after - getting collars, ID tags, a list of shots and when the cats need them.

He's also serving as go between making sure they take down the information on which cats have been given homes so that there's a proper record in case anyone is wanting a specific kind of cat - age, breed, color - ect, ect. And he's greeting each new adoptive pet parent with one of those clipboards.]

Aw, did you find a new member of your family? That's great! If you could just fill out your information here while I make sure this adorable fluff is ready to go.

B

[He's supposed to be helping with cats so he's moving through some of the rooms - making sure they have food, water, toys. Adrien did eventually end up with some of the older cats, giving them extra attention. He's supposed to just be helping. But somehow that turned into him sitting in the floor with some of the special needs kitties.

Some are blind, some deaf. some need extra care, some are missing a leg, tail, eye, or ear. Some of them have a little extra - extra ears or are polydactyl. Either way Adrien is quietly giving them extra attention - purring quietly at some of them when he's given gentle headbutts here and there or is rubbed against with loud mews.]

Is that so kitty?

[But he feels particularly special when one of them decides to make his way into Adrien's lap and just lay there.]


C

[Adrien has moved from the desk. He can't stay still the whole time so once another volunteer takes over well he's moving along the floor. Watching to make sure that none of the cats are getting distressed or showing signs of becoming overwhelmed. He doesn't want anyone to get hurt or any of the cats to hurt their chances at adoption.

But there are a few children that have came with their parents and they're laughing and talking. Adrien would ignore it if not for the fact of what he hears.]

"An ugly wrinkly little gremlin."
"Totally gross, right?"
"It's not a cat at all. More like a hairless rat."

[He scowls turning to follow where they're looking and there the little kitten is huddled up in one of the little hideaways on a scratching post. It's tiny and shaking from possibly being a bit chilled or maybe being afraid. If these kids could say mean things well they might have intentionally scared the poor thing.

Shooting them an annoyed glare, the blond is moving over kneeling in front of the little hideaway. He's slipping a hand inside, carefully gathering up the tiny hairless little ball of kitten. Adrien is trying to soothe it with a soft little rumble of a purr as he tucks it against his chest; seeking to share his warmth with it.]

Don't listen to them. You're adorable.

[How mad would Marinette be if he took home a couple extra cats? Six was just as much work as four.]

[yoshinocherry]

Outside
[The moment she saw the flyer go up on the BBS, Yuna knew it was something she needed to help out with. Finding homes for animals in need is just so nostalgic of things the hero club would do, it would be a travesty to let this opportunity slip by.

Luckily for her, the employees are all too relieved to have extra assistance, and while it's likely that there's no real shortage of people looking to take a cat home, some word of mouth is sure to get people who are otherwise in the dark about the whole event inside.]

Did you hear about the adoption day at the cat cafe?

[She's going out of her way to stop passersby, and doing a fairly good job of getting herself noticed, in order to hand out physical fliers. Maybe she'll even manage to catch a passing Far Shore resident in her efforts, too...!]

Please check it out if you have the time!


Indoors
[And, with enough people filtering in the cafe, there's some need for volunteers supervising the guests and cats. Fliers handed out, Yuna makes her way back inside to help with some matchmaking between guests and cats.

A few cats have flocked to her as a spot for sitting and/or napping, so most of her supervision is accompanied by some warm, fuzzy, purring felines. Ahhh, it's enough to make her want to take them home herself...!]

Hmm, what do you think about this one?

[Of course, she can only take good care of so many temple residents, so any interested parties may find themselves on the end of her attempting to pass off some of the cats.] He's really friendly, I'm sure he'd love to spend a little time with you!

Wildcard
[Got something else in mind? Hit me up with anything, friends!]

[revolutionfalcon]

[It's not a complicated reason, but it's a reason, and it's not a bad one either. Shun seems satisfied enough with it, at least, and he nods slightly before glancing over the area.]

There's more than enough of them, anyway, so you'll find something. [He doesn't doubt that much - as much as he likes to pretend he's not fond of cats after having worked with them for months, he does at least know they're varied a lot in personality.

It probably helps that a few of the cats are wandering a bit closer to Ain, curiosity seemingly outweighing anything else. There's a big silver tabby, a fluffy cinnamon coloured cat, a small and skinny calico, and a medium-hair with some kind of point colouring. The last one has a somewhat awkward gait - one of its legs sticks out stiffly to the back, like it was broken badly and left to heal rather than being fixed in time to save it.

Shun's keeping a particular eye on that one.]

B

[revolutionfalcon]

[And now there's about six more tiny, ferocious kittens joining the fray. It would be seemingly out of nowhere if Shun hadn't chosen to speak up from his spot carefully out of sight (mostly) near the wall.]

You know they're probably going to climb your leg if you get up now. [Shun says it in the tone of one discussing a frequent and frustrating activity they have to deal with.]

[abgrund]

[ Ain is quiet at first, single eye flicking from one cat to the next. After a few moments, he shuffles closer to the last one, tentatively holding out a gloved hand to see if it would shy away from him.

He doesn't know why, but there's a familiar echo in the way it walks. It's still alive, it can still be saved. The cats that are still whole can be left for someone else. ]

C

[revolutionfalcon]

[As the group of kids and parents heads off, still laughing, a few more kittens bound up the stairs, drawing the attention of the children. The parents are left a little way behind, walking beneath a large plastic cat decoration that hangs from the ceiling - it's light and hollow, from the way it moves as people come up and down the stairs.

It's held there by two metal cables, shiny and intact. Or...not so shiny? Within the moment or two the parents are walking beneath it, the lowest sections of the cables tarnish, rust, and then disintegrate, dropping the decoration directly onto the parents' heads.

There's a few loud gasps and a cry of pain, but it's too light to do anyone any real damage, and within moments, the parents are gathering their kids and hurrying away with scandalised looks on their faces. It's at that point someone emerges from their previous static, almost concealed position in the vicnity of a large, tall planter - a young man with little in the way of expression on his face, but a subtle irritation just in the set of his eyes.]

People like you shouldn't be here anyway. [Shun says it fully audibly, though since he's a god and the humans are already retreating, it goes unnoticed by them.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[The seal point cat pads forward a bit, sniffing at the offered hand. Closer up, it's easier to see that a lot of its fur is missing around the injured leg, and that the skin beneath is a little torn and scarred.

Shun eyes the interaction before turning his attention more towards Ain.]

That one must've had something happen with a car long before it got in here. It's one of the most sociable ones they have, but you know what people can be like.

[Unfortunately, he can't boot out every person he's seen today passing over a cat for a stupid reason, even if he's gotten petty revenge on some of them. Shun doesn't take insults to those under his care fondly.]

[unlucky7]

[Leg-climbing Ginia is already fully aware of; there's at least a few pinpricks in her pants and tiny cuts and scratches from where more than one adventurous fuzzball. She's tall, she can't blame them for being curious.

Ginia frees her hands from a few kittens and carefully dislodges one trying to climb down her t-shirt, settling the squirming grey kitten on her stomach. She gives it a few fond pets before signing.]

That's why I'm staying down here. Safer that way. If I'm in the way, I'll scoot over.

[Compared to most of their other conversations, Ginia is fairly relaxed. Still alert of everyone coming in and out, but it's hard not to be a bit carefree when you're literally covered in kittens.]

[abgrund]

[ He closes his eye for a moment, trying to put words to what stirs inside him, ripples through a deep, dark ocean. They weren't exactly feelings, no - the void ensured that he would never hold such things again; but if puppets could emulate a facsimile of emotion, then perhaps this would be it. ]

I'll... take this one.

[ Those who are broken will always be cast out. Someone must be there to save them, someone who exists at the end of all things....


.... I will be the one to save you.

He scratches the cat's ears, his touch surprisingly gentle. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[The gentle touch is at least a sign that something about this seems to matter to this guy - though Shun still looks like he's observing and thinking on it, chances are there are going to be plenty of people who come through today who don't care that much about what they're taking. Ones that will be back next week, or let the cat stray without a word so it can end up back here anyway. They can never catch them all out. And if he remembers right, Add is one of the people he's seen obsessing over cats on the network before.

It's a better home than a lot of people here could give it, he thinks, and there's a fallback even if this guy doesn't end up taking to it as much as it seems here.]

Fine. [Shun straightens up to go dig up some of the paperwork. It's largely pretty basic information, though he offers it over with an air that says he's not really fond of all the procedure himself.] Just put the address of your god's shrine if you know it, for the address part. They don't have time to check in detail what's there.

[abgrund]

[ He has most of his attention on the cat, trying to scratch it like how Add had petted Disaster. It doesn't leave him, which is... a lot better than most people have treated him. He can't tell if it's in pain right now, but no doubt people have left it just like they have looked away from him. ]

....?

[ Ain looks up only when spoken to, taking the papers with a slightly vacant expression. Though he doesn't need help to fill it in, writing with a focus and carefulness that might not be expected from his demeanour.

In contrast to his general appearance, his handwriting is very neat. It's not quite cursive, but bears a refined manner that suggests he has had training in penmanship before. Once he's done, he would hold it out so Shun can take it without touching his hands ]

OTA

[trademark_skull]

[Before]

[Emizel was not sure what possessed him to come here. He still did not really know a thing about cats, then again this might be the perfect place to learn more. He also did not really need to know much about them. ...After all, Emizel still remembers quite vividly how his butterflies reacted when a kitten stumbled to his temple.]

[If there was one as a permanent residence... Well...]

[--But they were very interesting creatures. Friendly. Possibly playful? He coaxed one over with a bag of treats, and watched it enjoy a piece. Now it was staring at him intently as though it wanted more.]

Do you wanna play..?


[After]

[Emizel may have gone over his head.]

[What started with one cat eventually became two - then three, four, up to ten of various ages. A very affectionate bunch that wanted to climb all over him, some of them probably in it for more treats. Some of the braver cats would even try to bat at his flame when he moved around too much.]

[Emizel may need some help. He's not used dealing with so many active furry friends at once.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun waves a hand as if to say not to worry about it. It does seem like Ginia's relaxing, as well, so it seems unnecessary to tell her to move.]

I've been keeping to the walls anyway. I don't need more idiots finding excuses to think they know me or can get close to me.

[He's fine with that happening when the person takes some time and care in getting to know him, but people who try to claim he's kind and good or whatever else while effectively shoving their way in with a crowbar are the kinds of people he's trying to avoid here.]