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The bells on the door ((Which were, just like the logo, painted a slightly dinged red paint with smiling faces, like the cherries, and the man at the counter glanced up, did a notable double take, and then fought to compose himself, tweaking at the rolled up sleeves of his shirt and clearing his throat before adding.

"Welcome to the Jubilee. Can I get you anything?"

The counter he stood behind was directly connected to an pastry case filled with an impressive variety of pastries, from the savory to the decadently sweet. There were also painted chalkboard menus with the items that could be ordered depending on the time of day.

Tully was wishing that he had a better poker face, but honestly he wasn't sure what to make of seeing another blatantly obvious gene-modder in the shop, though at least this one, so far, hadn't dropped to his knees or lept to try and fondle him, or anyone else, though he was enormously tempted to yell for Connor.

"...Some coffee... hot chocolate... tea?" He suggested, resisting (fortunately) the urge to ask if Vale would like a dish of cream.

He was in luck! Both of the owners were in. Pleased, he stepped more fully into the shop, letting the door close behind him (and careful to sweep the tip of his tail out of the way).

"Good afternoon," he greeted politely, a bit more confident - they hadn't chased him out yet, which he decided was a very good sign. "If it is not too much trouble, a cup of coffee v'ould be v'onderful. The v'eather has definitely become much colder this v'eek." He chuffed out a laugh, withdrawing his hands from the warm comfort of his pockets and shaking his head. "No milk, but thank you."

He tried not to let the selection of cakes tempt him. Too much. Really, he tried. He was a man on a mission, after all--

"I'm afraid I am not much of a sweet tooth. But if you have anything v'ith dark cocoa-" His mortal, delicious enemy. "-that v'ould be perfect."

His ears perked at the mention of Tully's name.

"Ah! That v'ould make you Connor, v'ouldn't it?" Valeriu couldn't see how this smiling, cheerful man had run Quinn out of the store. "It is a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Valeriu - the co-owner of the cafe across the v'ay. I meant to come in earlier to properly introduce myself, but opening v'eek has had me running around in circles. I know you both have already met my, ah, partner."

His face was perfectly serious.

"I apologize for anything he has done or said. The feathers have gone to his brain, you see."

"Dark chocolate double chunk cookies," said Connor, responding to the challenge. He pulled out a plate, deposited two rather large cookies on it, and set it on the counter. "So you're holding the leash on that eyesore next door?" he asked. It rhymed. This made him strangely satisfied.

"We have half a mind to take out a restraining order on him," continued Connor, leaning back against the pie case. He inclined his head towards Tully. "My partner here had a bit of an... unfortunate run-in. Your friend apparently doesn't know how to keep his hands to himself."

"You seem fine, though," he added pleasantly, and smiled charmingly. "And I am the one and only Connor Cho-Macmillian. - apparently my reputation precedes me."

"Espresso... Chocolate Syrup...Whipped cream and some chocolate curls if you want them..." Tully tossed out the chocolaty lures as he pressed espresso into it's holder and put it in the brewer. Tully did speak coffee, even if he normally drank his 'normal', and not the espresso variety, and took some pride in brewing a good espresso, letting it brew as he poured rich dark chocolate syrup (not the generic kind drunk by small children with no tastebuds) ((Tully was not exactly fatherly)), into a cup, and then measuring out milk for the steamer.

"Whipped cream or not?" He asked. Some people really weren't into the whole whipped cream thing, but for others it was integral to the 'Mocha Experience' as one of their customers had called it.

"You wanna ring him up, Con?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as if to imply that Connor should be doing other things than just taking cookies out of the case.

"He's really like that -all- the time?" He grimaced, as he turned attention back to Vale, wondering how anyone could stand the Feather Duster him for any length of time.

"I've tried," he admitted, by all intents and appearances quite serious. "But then I stop, and v'onder if he is really so bad, and by then he is av'ake and reminding me yes, yes he is, but it is too late and I have missed my chance." An amused crook of the lips broke his poker face, although he was still half serious.

"No v'hipped cream, thank you," he declined, and some little bit of pride left in him was grateful that that loving all forms of cream was one cat stereotype that he, miraculously, was not prone to. Socks still did him in, though.

"So, six then." He pulled out the cash, scoffing under his breath. Resourceful as Valeriu was, even he couldn't keep a leash on Quinn for long. It was only a matter of time. "Yes, he is really like that, all the time. It is exhausting, I know." He shook his head in exasperation.

"Da, it's my first." And only. Valeriu was quite content with a single, small business. It was time-consuming enough as it was, and more than a little bit of a wreck on his nerves, but somehow he was enjoying it. Except for the outfits part. But could deal with that. "No, I have not gone to Central U. V'e v'ere actually friends back from high school - Eastern Central. One day he prances up to me and he says let's start a business-" Of course, in Quinn's own, special, unique, humiliating way. "-and I say to him, hell no, of course."

He gestured at the shop visible outside the windows, handing over the six dollars.

"And, as is the v'ay of things - a few months later, this."

"I held his hair while he puked," said Con pleasantly, giving the cash drawer a shove. They were going to win this, no doubt. They had customer loyalty and ten years experience on the new guys. They had college degrees, and a college degree guaranteed you would be good at something like running a restaurant.

"Well, thank you for coming by to introduce yourself," he smiled to Vale, and then turned to his business partner.

"I give them two months," he whispered to Tully, leaning in way too close for the other man's comfort. It almost looked like he was kissing his neck. From here, he could smell Tully's cologne, and he was going to stay here as long as he could.

"Business Management," he echoed, amused, taking the hot drink carefully. "University sounds like such a - productive, experience."

It looks like those jokes he had heard weren't entirely untrue. University, it was said, was more about finding yourself - usually at the bottom of a bottle.

He was about to say something much to that effect, when Connor promptly and swiftly invaded Tully's personal space. The sight, and the implication, was surprisingly bizarre for the godling, his own experiences with Quinn aside, and he felt a matching flush of embarrassment, as if he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He was too distracted to catch what Connor's actual words were, fine as his hearing was, but he figured that Tully's reaction said it all.

"A-Ah - It v'as very nice to meet you both, and thank you for the food and drink." He kept his eyes on his paper plate of cookies, for the most part, too shy to look directly upon what appeared to be a lovers' sweet nothings in the making. "You both have a good day, da?"