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The rat froze mid-step, the shaking having spread to his shoulders. Was he...? His thoughts broke off as Mikey continued to talk, and he forced himself to turn around and stare at the carpet as he was being addressed. He badly wanted to turn and run out of the library and back to the safety of his room and his closet. But that wasn't exactly safe any more, with someone else having his key, now was it?

Yet as Mikey spoke, it seemed like maybe he had been wrong about things. Iniko's shoulders turned in a bit, and he almost slunk back to the table to take his key back. He slipped back in his pocket, more conscious of the scarring on his wrist this time than he had been before. He wasn't sure what to say, or really even do at this point. Key in pocket, present on the desk, bag, drink, and book under his arm, he just kind of seemed stuck in place.

Iniko looked up a bit at the sound of the shaking voice coming from the fox, confusion written in his features. The tear that he witnessed sliding down the other's face took him by surprise, and did no good to help stop his questions. He opened his mouth to say something, but the fox had already turned and begun to walk away. More than a little dumbfounded, Iniko stared after him with his mouth partially open. A part of him wanted to call out and say something, and yet... he knew he couldn't.

He looked down again, ashamed and embarassed once more at himself. Gingerly, he took the package off the table and stared at its contents for a moment before slipping it into the plastic bag, followed by the drink and his leather book. Ears partially drawn back and shoulders still slumped forward, Iniko turned once more to leave the library.

((*edits*))

The shop itself was small and off to the side of things, though very home-like once inside. Natural wood floors, armchairs and tables, couches, and even some counter stools facing one of the large front windows. If one tried hard enough, there were nicks and crannies to hide away from others and curl up on a couch to sleep. It looked like a very nice place, overall. There were three doors in the shop besides the one leading in from the outside. One was down a small hallway marked 'restroom' with an arrow, one was behind the counter leading into the kitchen, and the other was also behind the counter, though it led upstairs to the apartments. Beyond the kitchen, through a back door, was the house that consumed the bottom floor that the coffee shop didn't take up. But unless you were a worker, you wouldn't realize the apartments above or the house behind most likely.

Kieran was behind the counter of the small shop, green tail with the little pink wings arched over his back as he leaned on the counter next to the cash register. Kara was in the kitchen baking, and she wasn't ever especially happy with the anthro if he wasn't where he was supposed to be during shop hours. But, he was bored out of his mind. The shop had been empty almost the whole day, and he was honestly getting annoyed at refilling Jienyi's cup of coffee. Black, the man said. Kieran wanted to shove 'black' up somebody's rear end.

The only person sitting out in the customer section of the shop was an odd man wearing a trenchcoat, a black dress shirt, khaki pants, and a yellow tie. There was a bunny wearing a yellow and white dress that matched his tie seated on the glass table behind his laptop, complete with its own cup of coffee. The man himself had messy black hair, with a pair of black cat ears pricking out over it. His tail was wrapped around the chair leg absently, and his single draconic wing was folded along his back. There was a bone, snapped about a foot from its start at his shoulderblade, where the other wing should have been. He was bent over an open laptop, typing incessantly. The coffee mug beside him had left a multitude of rings on the table. It looked like he'd been there, drinking coffee, the whole day.

((Phew! Sorry that took so long! Nii Jienyi and Kieran are both anthros of mine. Kara is a kitsune-esque anthro-ish, but she's not 'anthro' from the shop.))

Jienyi glanced up over his silver-rimmed glasses as someone else came in, and kept staring as the fox threw a fit over at the counter. A smirk slid into place on his face. Oh, this promised entertainment. Enough so that he decided to stop allowing his fingers to fly across the keyboard in favor of putting more of his attention on the scene in front of him.

Kieran's ears flagged backwards and his eyes widened as the other approached angirly and began to nearly yell at him. The fur on his tail began to stand up on end, and the tiny fake wings fluttered a bit anxiously. "I-I didn't do anything!" He bit his lip at his automatic response, swallowing before responding again. "Wait, you mean Iniko?" Kieran seemed to find his voice better then, placing his hands on his hips. "I could ask you the same thing. He doesn't talk to anybody, and how'd you manage to get his room key and put him in that position, hrmm?"

For a few moments, Kieran looked completely taken aback. And then, he looked mortified. He was almost sputtering when he finally replied, shaking a clenched fist to him. "I've never touched him like that! Iniko and I work together for crying out loud!" His tail was twice its normal size, puffed up from his anger. "You don't even know his name and you're the one that's sent him running upstairs looking like he'd seen a ghost!" His bottle-brushed tail twitched from side to side irritably, and had he had any less manners, he would have hissed outright.

Jienyi folded his hands together and crossed a leg, looking rather smug as he watched the scene. Entertaining indeed.

Kieran's right ear twitched at those words, and he almost spluttered something incredibly rude to a customer as Mikey turned and walked from the counter. Growling and grumbling under his breath, the cat turned from the counter to get the order prepared.

Jienyi quirked an eyebrow as the fox left the counter, openly and rather plainly staring as he headed to take a seat. The very tip of his black tail flicked from its place wrapped about the chair leg as he considered something. The hybrid could very easily have fun with this situation, but he decided to sit back and watch for at least a little bit longer. The cat seemed to be stirring trouble enough without him needing to interfere.

He usually was well-mannered and quiet when it came to people he didn't know, especially customers. Perhaps it was the combination of having to stand on his feet longer than he would've liked, or perhaps it had something to do with being yelled at prior to having to take an order. Either way, Kieran set the cheesecake and the coffee on the counter. And stared as he ran the total through the cash register. Nope, he wasn't moving. If Kara came out, she'd flay him.

The cat growled and rolled his eyes, tail lashing from side-to-side irritably. "He won't be coming back down tonight. If you're so worried about him, then go upstairs." He snorted faintly as he walked off, the tip of his tail switching as he went back to his place behind the counter. He poured himself a cup of one of the specialty blends - a gingerbread flavoring for the holidays - topped it off with some whipped cream, and leaned against the back counter as he sipped it. Kieran was watching Mikey to see what he was going to do.