Welcome to Gaia! ::

The Grand Opening sign on the small corner shop was displayed with utmost care by the young man, his apron and the banner both the new white of fresh linen. He adjusted it, bit by bit, until it was centered over the little awning that hung over the old wooden door. A sign, freshly painted, with the image of a cat and cup read, ‘Nekosuke’.

Yuri had anticipated this moment for the past few months. Ever since he had made arrangements to move back to Destiny City from Japan, he had been preparing for this moment. Degree in hand, he had hoped those years in college — extra since he had added business classes in with his culinary ones — were worth it for this.

A tiny shop right on the corner next to his adopted parents’ game store, he had been restoring the place since he had returned. At first, it was empty, an old store front meant as an expansion to the adjacent shop that never came to be. It was unbelievably dusty and smelled of must and old wood, but the young man had seen something in that space as he worked a broom through years of neglect.

The place was hardly recognizable from then — aside from the old wooden floors that he couldn’t bring himself to part with. The whole place had been retrofitted to be a cafe. There was a bar to the left just as you walked in with the service counter and a glass display of treats. There was seating to the right along a wall of old brick and out to the large glass window that curved with the building’s frame. Finally, there was a small back room separate from the kitchen with its curtain for a door… but this door had a small flapped opening on the bottom.

That room wasn’t for guests but for the residents.

Nekosuke was a cat cafe, after all.

Yuri put the finishing touches on his display of cat-themed desserts — scones shaped like cat heads, meringues shaped like cat tails, short-bread cookies shaped like cat paws, onigiri shaped like cat ears, even the marshmallow tops for some of the hot drinks were shaped like a smiling cat’s face. Everything had to be perfect for the opening.

He propped the door opening precisely at 9am. A sign read:



✪

Tama sat on the counter with a fresh collar with a bow on his neck.

Yuri had insisted on it and, after much protesting, the guardian cat had agreed, if only to see the way the boy’s golden eyes sparkled when looking to the golden bow.

Tama may have resented it a bit then, but now, as the shop began to open, he felt a sense of pride to be all dressed up for the occasion. He preened and posed on the bar. Every now and again, he looked at the glass display case and admired his reflection amongst the cat-themed treats.

He acted very much like he owned the place. He looked down at the two ordinary cats that the shop held — a white one named Sunshine and a black one named Moonbeam — as they rested along the cat shelves that had just been installed for them and any other cats the shelter sent ready for adoption on the wall above the waiting cafe tables. He sighed. He hoped that he’d find a guardian cat come to the cafe, but with his aura being so slight in this form he knew a cat would have to be right in front of the cafe to even notice there was one magical cat among the regular ones in the cafe.

He primped once more and sat like an oversized decoration next to the checkout counter, waiting for guests to come.

☆

Carmen

Carmen stared up at the charming logo on the lovely building with the enchanting smells wafting out the door. Truly, a bona fide cat cafe in Destiny City! How delightful. Sensing an opportunity for a meal and possibly a bath along with a break, she strode in through the propped open door, continuing to sniff the area until she noticed the cat near the checkout counter. It seemed that she was in good company here if a fellow guardian cat could be placed so prominently. There were bound to be ordinary civilians at this opening, so perhaps talking wasn't the best option, but a meow and a wave would do. So she waved at Tama with one paw, seeing if she could get an acknowledgment out of him.



Elissa

Elissa was always one to check out the competition in the cafes in the area, partly to see what their shtick was and partly to show a little support. Nothing wrong with a little competition among culinarians, after all. This particular establishment warmed the cockles of her heart on sight by its very nature. A cat cafe! Nekosuke would have the market cornered for a while, she was sure of that. (Perhaps even kitty-cornered.) Not too long after opening, she entered, all smiles and cheer as she surveyed the decor and cat-shaped goods. "Are you the owner?" she asked, her eyes going to Yuri. "If so, congratulations on the opening and best of luck!"

Maxine and Justine

Not too long after opening, two young women would enter the cafe, the black-haired one an impenetrable mask of composure as she dragged a brunette behind her.

"This is too early," Maxine muttered, practically flopping into a random chair. "I mean, it's a cafe. They oughtta have coffee here, right? Maybe I'll splurge on something fancy, like some kind of sweetened mocha whipped cream disaster."

Justine shrugged, taking the chair across from Maxine. "Up to you. I want to see the cats and how they interact with the cafe." As she pulled a sketchpad and pencils out of her bag, her gaze went to the well-decorated cat by the checkout counter and the somewhat plainer ones along the cat shelves. "Hm. They'll do."

"You really do draw constantly, don't you? It's a good thing, I guess." Maxine sighed, dramatically flopping back in her chair. "I swear, I turned 20 and my body just broke the... broke down. I'm gonna go check the menu, because I need some fuel before I turn into a giant slug."

Laike

Laike hadn't complained about Jet replacing his Switch, and his sister cautioned him about asking where Jet had gotten the money to just… Pay for someone's Switch out of hand like that. Instead, he'd thanked the General profusely and went back to playing his Switch everywhere as he'd done before (though he was smart enough to stop bringing it with him when he was powered up).

He'd been playing Pokemon during work that day, and on the way home, and had gotten sufficiently absorbed in grinding levels that he stopped paying attention to where he was going, and wandered into an unfamiliar part of town. It wasn't surprising that he'd done it again, and he knew he could've Google Maps'd his way back home, or called his little sister to come pick him up. But he wasn't ready to have that conversation or deal with his crappy navigation skills so he looked around for a place to chill for a few hours.

The first place he spotted was Nekosuke, of which he'd learned when his sister mentioned a new cat cafe in town. They were supposed to go there together, mainly for Laike to have a handler while he played with the cats.

Nonetheless, he walked into the place once he'd tucked his Switch back into its case. It was big on the inside, and his eyes were immediately drawn both to the cats and to the curtain in the back. Part of him wanted to ask about petting the cats, but he couldn't think of a way to ask without sounding like a loser, or stumbling over his words, or screwing something up, so he stood by and waited until he could watch a few customers go through the motions.

He had time for that much, he was sure. Jet hadn't gone breathing down his neck for a status report yet.



Eion Risk

Eion never looked for grand openings, never cared about the comings and goings of businesses in a city that shunned him but for three hours a day. It was during those three hours that he noticed it, though — a large white banner declaring a grand opening to a cat cafe. Which was… a cat-themed cafe, he guessed.

Grand openings usually meant 'cheaper' by so many shades, and Eion felt a little parched for all the weariness that came with gift shopping. He'd already come away with a curiously soft pillow shaped like a cutely stylized unicorn head, and he'd bought glow-in-the-dark star stickers to help his sister stick across her bedroom ceiling. It was enough, he supposed.

Cutting through a crowd of people gathered together on the sidewalk, Eion slipped through the double doors and found —

that there were real, live, actual, not-a-drill cats on ******** shelves. There was one on the bar, too, and Eion started to think about the implications of a cat's butt on the bar, but he set his jaw and walked through the door. They were like youma, he reminded himself.

Twisting his bag up in case one wanted to jump inside, Eion approached the counter. He stared at the cat on the bar as he came forward — it was an unmitigated, obvious stare — but he said nothing about the thing once he'd gotten a look at the barista.

Who he knew. World of ******** surprises, in this cafe whose name he hadn't bothered to read. Shock writ plainly on his face, he blinked at the cute little blonde. Others had already spoken with him, but that wouldn't much matter.

"This is yours?" Eion asked, and his hands flourished to indicate the shop's entire space. "And those, too?" He pointed at the two cats on the shelves, then the one sitting on the bar, with maybe an inch of space between his finger and its nose.

When the man said the translated name of the cafe, Tama let out a small ’mrrrp’ and beamed, quite satisfied with himself.



A Mauvian!

Tama was quite surprised to see one. He’d hoped he would, but he had calculated his chances as unlikely. He waved a paw at Carmen. Best not to talk around the humans.

But perhaps they could sneak off to the back cat room for a chat after his mascot duties were done.

He sat up straight when he saw someone with a drawing pad.

Yes, dear. He thought. I’m ready for my closeup.



Had that man given him a look? Tama would have eyed Simon back had be not been posing.



Okay. You don’t have to point, kid.

Tama looked straight at Eion. For some reason, he really wanted to bite the man’s finger.

But he remembered what Yuri had told him. He had to behave like the regular cats.

And no biting customers.



☆

Amity

Amity had just finished her daily violin practice in the park. Then all of the sudden she noticed something unfamiliar to her route and she stopped. The sign read 'Nekosuke' which sounded so adorable and yet intriguing to her. Plus she had to admit the image of a cat had her hooked. Since who could ever resist those cute animals! Now she knew she should be headed straight home, but it couldn't hurt her to take one little bitty break, right? Plus she shouldn't miss any kind of grand opening, I mean that would be an injustice in itself.So with that thought in her head, she reached for the door and walked inside. "Hello! I love your shop's sign outside it really is just wonderful!" she said with a smile as she entered the cafe.


Amigar

Amigar was fresh out of ideas on what to do today! Her parents were out of town and everyone in her friend circle seemed to be busy. "What am I going to do today?" she whispered under her breath with a heavy sigh as she walked down the road. Then as if her questions were answered she smelled something utterly delicious! Such a sweet aroma that her body just started walking in its direction. After all her sweet spot was literally sweets. As soon as she reached the location of the smell she read the sign. "Neko..suke..?" what a cute name," she said with a smile. The name matched the smells perfectly in her opinion and on top of that, it said grand opening. She jumped for joy as she opened the door since she was so happy she could be one of the first to try those delicious sweets she smelled!
"Hello there! I Hope I'm not too late to try some of those amazing sweets I smelled outside!" She said with the biggest smile on her face.

Yukio bowed his head at the young man and continued to speak in Japanese. "[[I'm very sorry for your loss. I haven't seen my mother in a few years – she and my father live in San Francisco.]]" He gave the tiniest of shrugs with one shoulder (since the other was attached to the arm and hand currently petting the cat), as if to say It is what it is, but I don't mind.

He was quite enjoying the opportunity to exercise his Japanese skills, though his stone-faced expression didn't show it. "[[I apologize, my manners seem to have left me. My name's Yukio,]]" he nodded by way of greeting. "[[I get the feeling you'll be seeing a lot of me here.]]"

All the while he continued to pet and scritch the bobtail cat on the counter, immensely gratified that the grey fluffball was purring and doing the kitty happy eye-squeeze at him. Making friends with the shop cat at a cat cafe was vitally important.

“Nice you meet you, Yukio. My name is Yuri.” His full name was a bit longer, but the young man preferred to go by his nickname. “I hope to see more of you here. Do you live close by?”



“I recommend the cat paw shortbreads. They go well with all our coffees and teas. And they are great for dipping.” Yuri said to Amigar.

What made you open a store like this?

Now that was a tricky question to answer.

“Well, I was abroad in Japan for two years trying to figure out what I wanted to do and finish college and find a career path. I’d walk most places or take the train and everywhere I went there was always great food. Street vendors and restaurants and little cafes… everything was so nice. It was one day that I was in a cat cafe and hadn’t realized I’d been there for many hours just relaxing with a good cup of tea that I thought it would be nice if there were a place like that in Destiny City.” He blushed. “And by that point I really did need to pick a major after so many general studies courses and I thought that running a cafe would be something I would like doing and so I signed up for the culinary and business courses I needed an that was that.”