Welcome to Gaia! ::

Raina loved carnivals.

Every time Destiny City had a carnival, she made sure to go to it. The opening of a Winter Extravaganza was, naturally, no exception. It had taken some extensive nagging, but eventually, her mother relented, driving the two of them over and wandering off when she got the first opportunity. It wasn't that her mother didn't want to hang out with her daughter or anything, but she trusted Raina to take care of herself and carnivals weren't exactly her mother's jam.

Rains had strolled near one of the entrances, observing the decorations around her and taking in the wintry and Christmas sights. She was so excited. Were there any rides here? Any games? Any prizes? Any new people to meet? Maybe she would see Nicodemus there. Or Cybele. Wait, did she know who Cybele was as a civilian? Hm.

Was Mimosa there?--

Wait, was that a cat?

Raina's eyes widened. That cat was so cute! He was wearing a candy cane bowtie and he had little pink paws and he looked so festive and sweet and she just wanted to scoop him up and snuggle him. She was fairly sure she saw a star on his head too. Maybe. If she squinted a bit. It didn't matter. He looked so cute!

Raina darted closer, staring down at his face and cooing like many of the other passersby had.

And then she looked up and noticed.

Was this a...

Kissable cat?

She leaned in and kissed the cat's forehead.

What a delightful cat! His fur was so soft. He was probably super fluffy, too. Who did he belong to? Who had the brilliant idea to dress him in such a cute tie and plant him underneath mistletoe? Had anyone else had the same idea? She hoped so. Raina knew an adorable cat like this one deserved all the kisses in the world! All cats deserved kisses.

All dogs deserved kisses.

All animals deserved kisses.

It was this distraction of victory of being able to kiss a kissable cat at an adorable winter extravaganza that kept her from noticing the disapproval from the cat, at least initially. It wasn't exactly easy for her to miss the low, agitated whine from the cat, considering it was whining and it was definitely not a happy noise. Raina made a sad noise, which only became sadder when the cat opted to make the decision to bat at her face and put his ears back like he wasn't really into what she was doing.

But he was under the mistletoe!

What was the point of standing under the mistletoe if she wasn't allowed to kiss him?

Still, Raina respected boundaries like a proper person and backed away just slightly with a pout, rubbing at her cheek. "I'm sorry Mr. Kitty," mumbled Raina, sounding decidedly more like a five-year-old than the fourteen-year-old she actually was. His eyes looked so big and sad! What had she done? Had she messed up? Had she done the worst... had she <******** up? Awkwardly, she rubbed at her neck, looking up at the mistletoe above him.

Well...

"You do know you're standing under mistletoe, right?"

The cat understood her! Interesting. Maybe her theory was correct. She wanted to get a better look at that cute little mark on his forehead. Raina squinted at it a little bit but was soon distracted once more by the fact that the cat's tail was swishing. Oh no! Swishing tail was bad.

On dogs it was good, but on cats, she had learned it was either a sign of annoyance or a sign of being excited by something. Or curious. Or ... stimulated. That word sounded weird, but she knew what it meant--

Did he bump her side?

Raina cooed happily. Maybe she hadn't done the worst! He still seemed to like her! She reached down to scratch behind his ears, humming happily as she did so. "Aren't you a little cutie?" asked Raina, affectionately, leaning down to look at his face a little closer. He was so damn adorable! And he was wearing a tie! A bowtie! She just wanted to hug him and squeeze him and kiss him--

Okay, maybe not kiss him again--

She moved to give a long, careful pet along his back before scratching behind his ears once more.