Quote:
One of the stands at the Emporium's carnival seems to be constantly swarmed by people. Taking a closer look, you see that they're selling... hot buttered rum? There seems to be a butterscotch flavoring for those not old enough to drink, as well. What could be the big deal about it? You take a break from your busy life (or shopping or whatever it is that you’re doing) and decide to give the drink a try - and find that the secret recipe has the most curious of side effects! For whatever reason, the buttered rum has brought out a childlike side of you that you haven’t seen since… well, since you were a child! For the next twenty-four hours, your mood has lightened up tremendously and you’ve suddenly got the inquisitive, playful and energetic nature of someone half (or more!) of your age. What in the heck was in that drink?
The unfortunate problem of being a Guardian Cat meant that until one could become a human, they couldn’t participate in many human activities. And even when they did turn into a human, they still had to keep themselves away from non-powered humans lest they be caught and experimented on or something.
Which is why when Bernard had wandered over to the Carnival he couldn’t participate in most things. Writing down memories, ice-skating, going into the forest… well he could do some of those things, but they were dangerous. And while he could partake in mistletoe “activities” he had decided long ago to be a bachelor kitty and had no one to even share one with. It didn’t matter to him much though, he liked being a “Grandpa” kitty more than just a regular one!
So, when he had been wandering some of the stalls, he found himself near the Emporium, though he wasn’t sure what was going on to cause such a large crowd around it. Someone was talking about “hot buttered rum” but Bernard had never partaken in such a… well he assumed it was some sort of drink. He couldn’t be sure. After all, it said “buttered” and not “butter in rum”, so he wondered if hot buttered rum was perhaps some sort of edible solid object. After all, they managed to put alcohol in a lot of candies nowadays, something he had learned when his owners had accidentally left some of their alcoholic chocolates out in the open.
But, because he was a cat, he was unable to buy one himself, and would either have to beg, something he did not want to drag himself down to or try and find some and steal it. Both options were no good, so he figured that he would have to leave the carnival without trying it.
What he didn’t expect to happen though was for someone to spill an entire pint on him, which meant he got to try it anyway, but also meant that he had to go and take a bath, which made him go as quickly as he could back home so that he could be cleaned up, but not before trying some at least. And it was… good? He wasn’t sure how alcohol was really supposed to taste, and he was sure that it needed to be eaten with food, but it was fine, even if it did spill on him.
However, what it did mean was for the next 24 hours his owners were bombarded with his newly-found kitten-like energy, and even if he had to stop and rest every so often, he still somehow managed to zoom around the house, evade capture, and play with a single mouse toy for over an hour.
When it was all done though, he napped for another entire 24 hours, his new “kitten” energy having finally been drained from his body and the rest of it catching up to him. His owners wished that he had that sort of energy all the time. Maybe he could lose some weight then.
