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Place: Cafe Jubilee, in Isle de Gambino
Time: Evening
People: Mouse and Natsuki


The bitter ocean breeze constantly misting over the city was combining with the gentle sweetness of a sunset hidden by dark clouds, giving the air a pleasant scent that could awaken nostalgia and hopeless romanticism from just about anyone living in or visiting Gambino. Large orbs of light hung in the darkening air - slowly turning on one by one; street lamps that were made into gorgeous architecture by all of the money people in this area tended to have to throw around. They attracted moths, and people as well, with signs in windows both garish and modest competing to be brighter than those lights on the sidewalks powered by tax dollars.

One of these signs, refreshingly quaint, referred to one of Gambino's buildings as Cafe Jubilee, adding to the flavor of the evening with the scent of cake and iced coffee. A young woman dressed in green was drawn to it and tentatively pushed the door inside. She was wondering if she could just waltz inside like this without calling in for a reservation or something... but dammit, she wanted something fattening and she wanted it now. If she had to wrestle through a platoon of waitresses and beat a dish out of someone, it would all be worth it to fulfill the desires of her poor neglected sweet tooth.

The only real worry that was making her hesitate at this point was her ponderings about this establishment's policy on pets, if what had accompanied her to Gambino could be thought of as one. Fredmitri the chimera had noticed that his owner had been in a poor mood and had attached himself to a quickly-becoming-usual perch on her left shoulder. His tentacles were wound in a tangle around Mouse's neck and forearm, and he was making a noise that was a mesh of a meow and the song of a humpback whale, doing the job of alerting a waitress so she wouldn't have to.

Mouse didn't know what to expect when the entire cafe suddenly ground to a halt and anchored their gaze on her, as if she had suddenly burst out laughing during a military funeral. Was this cafe really that high-end? Did the wind do something to her hair?

...Oh, wait. That's right. The cat-blob-head with tentacles. Even she could admit that Fredmitri was a bit on the odd side at first, second and third glance. The manager's presence crossing the building was the 'on' switch on a production line, thankfully, making everything quickly resume its fast and seamless operation until it outwardly felt like nothing had happened at all. In Mouse's mind, however, she was still wondering if it would be worth it to assure the staff that her feline tentacle monster was fully-grown at his small size and perfectly harmless.

"Hi, sorry about that- I didn't think Mitya here would have that much of an effect," she said as soon as she could, with an apologetic, wry grin. A hand casually floated up to scratch the chimera behind one of his large ears in a silent gesture that he was tame and well-trained. As she tried to lower her hand back down, his head lazily stretched towards it with a purr, not wanting the special treatment to stop just yet.

"The roof garden?" To this customer that seems a little backwards - it sounded like a place reserved for special events and important people instead of somewhere you'd take people who had entered without a reservation. However, it was an appealing opportunity and she suddenly felt like abusing her bank account more than she'd initially planned to if the case may be. With an amused shrug and an outward gesture with her free hand, she decided, "Why not? Lead the way." Her always-be-prepared attitude about the assignment Dr. Kyou had given her meant that her soul bottle was hooked into her belt loop just in case something caught her eye. Fredmitri's strangeness and apparent love for attention, however, made it a bit less noticeable than usual.

The garden was a refreshing site, with the flora in it looking very well-maintained. It helped to lift Mouse's mood a bit as she was led over to her table.

"You're with the Lab, too? Wow, I'm running into other researchers all over the place," the green-head replied, peering over her glasses with an incredulous look. "The Raevan project is my second dealing with Dr. Kyou - Fredmitri is the first; he was part of another experiment involving soul fusion a couple of years ago. Anyway, you can call me Mouse. It's nice to meet you." She awkwardly unwrapped Fredmitri from her shoulder and placed him on the child seat Natsuki wheeled in after the introductions were out of the way, and the chimera was quick to curl up and make himself comfortable there.

"Professionalism and organization..." Mouse mused as she opened the menu and flipped through the pages, "With how you run things here, I see why you'd be trusted with a Raevan, not to mention how well you got things moving again down there." Analyzing people out loud wasn't something she normally did, but it felt like appropriate small talk to be had with someone she'd probably want to contact again. She hummed lowly, looking through the pages she had been given.

"Anything you'd like to suggest? Right now I'm looking for the most calories and sugar you can fit on a plate, to be honest," the girl matching the garden inquired, with that familiar air of a person wanting to digest some stress along with an excess of food. "I'd like to gain about five pounds before I have to leave."

"Science is only a small part of the equation here," Mouse chuckled in return, "and I'd be a hypocrite to make judgements based off of a 'crazy getup'." She gestured towards her own attire, which had enough shades of green to look like she could take root in this garden and live there off of water and sunshine. Her legs crossed and she leaned back in her seat a bit, feeling able to relax under the stars and enjoyable small talk. In response to Natsuki's perfectionist ways, she noted, "With precision like that, you'd have no problem running a research team, I'd think. Same idea, different purpose. And probably different risks, but... you get the idea." Her glasses were readjusted with her thumb and forefinger as she finished that statement.

As the cafe manager's hand tentatively reached the chimera's head, he responded by stretching out towards it, rocking back and forth a bit with a small purr to demonstrate what kind of attention he wanted. That probably said enough about how ferocious he was, but his owner's sanity overall could still be up for debate. Her own eyes were licked with a small burst of excitement at the suggestion Natsuki has made, with a burgeoning hungry grin. "Now, that would be a pleasant way to die. Do you worst, then," she agreed. "And I think Mitya would like a bit of milk... wouldn't you?" The chimera's ears flipped a few times in response, and his owner's small nod suggested that translated into 'yes'.

"On the side, I'd like to be able to ask you some questions about your Raevan-to-be."

"Thank you in advance," Mouse smiled with a courteous inclination of her head as Natsuki processed their orders. As the gloves were slipped off... well, those bandages could probably be made out from the next roof over. The green-head took a few seconds to take a metaphysical hammer to her inquiring mind and curious questions, imagining them smashed to pieces until the remaining ones retreated like a swarm of frightened cockroaches. Natsuki certainly didn't seem like a clumsy person and so there was probably a good reason those bandages were on (and NOT because she had a damsel-in-distress theme going). However, those reasons were ones she could explain herself if she wanted to.

Fredmitri was gleeful at the redhead's teasing hand and meow-crooned while undulating out his paws to bat at it. This lady was fun! As his arms and baws brushed and grabbed at her fingers, they would feel an odd mixture of fluffy and smooth, almost like velvet. It had his owner idly petting him behind the ear as he played, and he obviously was enjoying all the attention.

Mouse listened to Natsuki's information with clear interest, thoughfully rubbing her cheek with an index finger. "Rainbow fragments...? I didn't know you served fresh irony here, too-- I was sent a rainy little Cloud of Despair. Maybe they'll get along when they're Raevans." She was already trying to picture how little shards of rainbow might have looked... they must have been very nice to look at, and a lot less volatile then the concentrated essence of depression she currently had sitting on her bedside table back at home.

And then the food cart smoothly found its way to the table... ah, technology. It wasn't nearly as impressive or appealing as the veritable Mount Olympus of chocolate delights that was placed before her, though, and she briefly put a hand to her chest in order to comically check and see if her heart could handle this kind of abuse. "I think I should be glad you kept the milk plain." Fredmitri, in an oddly human gesture, reached out two of his paws and gratefully pulled his saucer of cream closer to himself.

"A djinneyeh? That... means you must have set her free," Mouse continued after beginning to chip away at her own sweet demise with a quickly staining fork. The expression on her face was suddenly philosophical and blissful, from a mixture of a food and piecing that idea together. "I haven't caught mine yet, obviously. I'm a bit--" A troubling flicker, and her fork hung in the air for a split second as an image crossed her mind... teardrops on tree bark. A captive eagle, starving to death in a concrete and steel jungle. Originally the sentence was going to end with "undecided", but instead she finished the thought with "--conflicted as to what to do about that." She laughed wryly and continued digging away at her dessert.

'Another Raevan' ... well. As far as Mouse knew, nobody associated with the Lab was in charge of more than one Raevan. "Ice cocoon, huh..." she began to ponder out loud, tapping her chocolate-stained fork to her lip in thought. Wait a minute... "That must be Roux, right? In the care of Chloe Star? I remember seeing on the news... and those fliers..." The girl's green eyes suddenly became very interested in a shed flower petal on the ground as that line of speech trailed off. No reason to ask more about Chloe, the situation here seemed obvious enough. So instead she inquires, "Does Dr. Kyou know he's thawing out?"

On the lighter topic of Mitya, Mouse probably would have agreed if Natsuki had voiced her observations out loud. The octopus part of him made the texture of his skin vary now and again, but he tended to keep himself soft and pettable, and he would make for a great perfect living scarf (or lapwarmer, if you will) once the days got colder. In any case, now he was pushing his large head up against the redhead's bandaged fingers in a demand for pettings as he enjoyed his bowl of cream.

"Irony... a dish best served with cold revenge and a side of justice? Sounds delicious," the greenhead deviously replied with a smirk and a waggle of her fingers. This lady was winning several points for having a compatible sense of humor, for sure. Mouse's own fudge-filled demise was making slow but steady progress, although part of her was daring to wonder if this entire dessert was possible to finish. "Well, can't have a rainbow without a bit of rain first... You'll definitely be one of the first people I call up when mine is 'born'. It should be interesting." Future plans aside, she was equally pensive about the arrival of her Raevan - though for her, it was due to some fear that hers might turn out... a bit dangerous. The ability to toy with emotions was no laughing matter.

"I have to agree on this one... some beings are robbed of the good lives they deserve, or trapped in states they can't escape from. I guess if the only way a bird can escape from its cage is by dying..." Mouse thought, gaze turned up to the sky for a moment. She chuckled a bit, thinking about how literal it would be in her case. "It would be worth it, especially if that bird ends up being reborn in such a way. Thanks, I think I needed to hear that."

"...I see," she nodded, taking in what Natsuki felt comfortable to tell her about the situation. So she was still missing... that's no good. Mouse would have perfectly understood any loss of composure from the greenhead, but also respected her for being able to keep the demeanor she needed to have on the job. Not to mention her ability to keep situations under control: how she'd decided to handle Roux was another example along with the situation with her staff earlier. "Well, good to know that Roux's been recovering." That Raevan might just know a thing or two that might help find Chloe's whereabouts.

She grins brightly at the redhead's praise of her chimera. With a coy aversion of her gaze, she responds "Yeah, I love him, there's no denying that," over Fredmitri's purring, which had started right when Natsuki had started petting him. It was nice to know that people could quickly forget that the octopuss was... well, to be blunt, a little weird-looking. As for the admitted jealousy: "Well... when Kyou sent me the things for the Raevan project, he also happened to tell me that he's made at least one more chimera like him. So, who knows? It might just be possible." The girl knew for a fact that Mitya would love the company. He wasn't outwardly lonely, but being one-of-a-kind had that kind of effect on those who weren't arrogant about it.

"Ah-- thank you. And..." she fished around her pocket, taking out a notepad and a pen, turning to a page that didn't have notes or bored little doodles scribbled on it. Her fork was held in her teeth for a brief moment as she wrote down her number and address and tore it out to present to the cafe manager. "Here's mine. Except... it's not a card." Natsuki's card was then tucked safely away back with the notepad, with the intention that it would be put somewhere easy to find as soon as she got home.

And the metaphor continued. "It's... literally a bird. An eagle," Mouse explained, finding the irony strangely sweet in this round of conversation. "An eagle that doesn't even belong on this continent, but this idiot I met thinks he can import it and stuff it in a teeny tiny little cage. It's not as... well, it might not be as interesting as what other people have gone for, but I feel like this might be just what my Raevan needs." Birds can escape, that's true. But if they don't have the knowledge or strength to survive for long in the outside world, what then?

Good to know that all lines were open in the case of Lab business. "I'll be sure to," Mouse nodded with a grin, impressed once again by Natsuki's work ethic. Running a cafe like this was no small task on its own, but helping keep the Lab pulled together along with that? Talk about a high tolerance for stress.

"Then it's good I have a reason to go in without being illegal about it. I just have to wait a while," she assured. The idiot in question was still fixing her camera after all-- or at least trying to, she imagined. It was more or less completely wrecked when she had brought it to him. "Oh, I know all about that, it's part of why I'm so pissed off." No need to hide anything, there were only adults here and Mitya wasn't one to care about what people said. "He doesn't even know how to feed it, there's no chance it would last ten seconds outside." Interesting thought, really. The soul fit the essence due to the circumstance it was in: it would be combining with a substance that caused despair, and once Mouse captured it, it would be free from despair. "Don't worry, I know this is the right one. Just making conversation."

And the conversation soon ended, after exchanging formalities over how the soul and essence would be taken to the lab via Natsuki. Smiles and nods and farewells were made, and (after paying for her food, of course) the greenhead parted ways with the redhead for the evening. Mouse felt a bit more confident about her choice now, and she looked forward to acting upon it and seeing Natsuki again.

She wasn't able to finish her Death By Chocolate, though.