lostcarnival | ⇨ The Tourist Trap: PROLOGUE

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⇨ The Tourist Trap: PROLOGUE

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: Any time before the start of the event.
Where: Portland area, in the new reality.
What: Once you've submitted your AU summary, you can use this post to do some CLOSED THREADING to play out some character interactions that happened before the event start. This means that memory regains will not be in play yet. Open top levels are not allowed - these threads are intended to sort out closed interactions between planned backstory connections, during the week leading up to the actual event start.
Warnings: Could be anything.

PORTLAND, AS YOU KNEW IT↴

The shift went unseen and unfelt. One moment you were one person, and the next, another. This before all that, though, in the new life that you remember living here in Portland. No memories of your true self have arisen yet, and at the time this was the only life you knew. Did these events truly happen at all? Or do they only exist in memory?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's been a year since Rita came to the human world. There's still a lot that she doesn't know, but one thing she does know: she likes cats. The way they look, the sounds they make, the softness of their fur... At least, she has a positive impression from what little contact she's had with them. But with no stable home or income, there's no way she'd be able to keep one for herself. So when she learns of a supposed 'cat cafe' in the area, Rita decides to check it out.

When she steps inside the cafe, she's relieved to see it doesn't look too busy. She heard it was popular, so she made sure to come on a weekday, and well before the expected peak time for business. Dealing with a crowd would certainly sour the experience for her.

Rita has her glamour active, of course, making her appear as an ordinary teenage girl. She wears a simple skirt and blouse; an ensemble she acquired from the Sanctuary at some point. She stands inside, just a few steps from the door, looking around as she waits for someone to come and direct her to a seat.

Lambert's only been working at the cafe for almost a month, but he might as well have been working here for a year -- that's what it feels like, anyway. Three weeks in, he's got barely anything more to show for it than when he started. If anything, he has more frustrations. Unfortunately, it means his patience for pretending he loves cats is fraying, and the quality of his work is suffering as a direct result.

That, if nothing else, has drawn gentle reproof from the owner. The cafe is a place for healing the soul, she'd reminded him, and their job was as much to steward the cats as provide an environment where that healing could happen. It sounded suspiciously woo to him, but more bluntly she'd told him his face was scaring off the customers, and he can't risk being fired until he gets some answers.

In any case, that explains the rictus of bared teeth that passes for a friendly smile when he catches sight of the girl hovering in the doorway. "Welcome to Toe Beans," he calls out, wiping his hands on a towel and stepping out from behind the bar. "Is this your first time visiting us?"

The guy who greets her doesn't exactly look like the kind of person Rita expected to find working here. Rita's not so easily intimidated that his gruff exterior or shoddy excuse for a smile bothers her, really, but he does seem to clash with the cutesy decor. Fortunately, there's no rule that says the customer has to smile back.

The way Rita tilts her head around to look at her surroundings is probably answer enough for his question, but she does, at least, do the man the courtesy of facing him and nodding once to confirm.

Lambert definitely sticks out like a sore thumb among the decor, including cross-stitch samplers with such uplifting messages as Have a 🐾-sitively wonderful day! and the chalkboard menu shaped like a large, curled up cat. Lambert himself seems to be self-aware of being thoroughly out of place, but has decided to combat this by being as aggressively present in the room as possible.

"Food or drinks gets you an hour," he starts, the spiel businesslike and well-practiced. "Or you can pay a standard fee per hour if you just want to play with them. We're pretty free right now, but other times you'll have to make a reservation. House rules are posted on the wall, but they're common sense: no loud voices, don't harass the cats, and don't go past the area for visitors. You can see the cats we've currently got on the bulletin board."

Rita's gaze wanders to the wall, then the bulletin board as he gives the explanation. When he seems to be finished, she nods to indicate her understanding. "Since I came all this way... I guess I'll take a look at the menu." Supposedly, they have some unique drinks and dishes here. She silently hopes the prices aren't too high.

'All this way,' huh? Well, they do get a lot of tourists... Lambert nods, sliding a laminated card across the counter and waving a hand at the board behind him.

"We've got pastries in the glass case, special's on the board." The current special advertised is a caramel meowcchiato. It isn't any more or less expensive than your average upscale cafe.

The pastries look pretty appealing. Rita's already considering coming back in the future so she can try all of them, if she can keep her money from running out, maybe... For now, she'll stick to drinks. "Then I'll have... uh, that," she says, pointing at the sign promoting the caramel meowcchiato. It's too embarrassing to attempt to say it out loud.

Meanwhile, some of the cats in the shop have taken notice of Rita. One of them approaches her, only to flop down on its back and roll around at your feet. Rita just looks down with her hand cupping her chin, trying to figure out what it's doing and why. Aside from a few chance encounters over the past year, Rita hasn't had a chance to interact much with cats before... or any living things, really.

The cats and Lambert don't get along, really, but the kind of people that normally come to the cafe usually have some kind of reaction to a cat playfully rolling at their feet. He raises a brow, ringing up the order, but doesn't otherwise comment on Rita's behavior.

"Go ahead and have a seat -- what name should I put this under? If you're staying a while, you can pay on your way out." Undeterred by the lack of responsiveness, the car straight up goes to rolling on her shoes, fuzzy body draping lazily.

The cat's antics grow even more puzzling. "R, right," she replies, evidently distracted. "It's Rita." After some hesitation, she starts to walk toward a chair, disturbing the cat, which shuffles out of the way, then playfully chases her shoelaces as she walks.

She sits at a small table next to a cat post, where a gray cat sits and watches her curiously. She slowly extends a hand, as if unsure of how to pet it. It gives it a little sniff, then playfully headbutts it. Surprised, Rita jerks her hand back, startling the cat, which jumps off the post and runs off. "W-wait!" she cries after it. "Come back! Ugh..." Defeated, she leans back in the chair, staring down at the other cat, which seems to be having the time of its life, rolling around and batting her shoelaces. Maybe that one won't get scared off so easily...

Since he's occupied behind the counter to start, Lambert doesn't immediately notice Rita's difficulty with the cats. This isn't actually the easiest job for him, since it requires working with food and people, and his boss won't stop making fun of his terrible coffee cats, but he's as determined to figure out how to work with this as he is with everything else.

By the time he comes out to give her the drink, though, it's just in time to see her defeated expression, and he snorts a little as he puts the mug on her table. "The less attention you give them, the more they'll come to you," he advises. It doesn't actually work for him, but he's heard it said enough that it's standard advice...

He looks at the cat still playing at her feet, smirks, then glances back at her. It's a damn good thing he put the coffee down, because for a moment, he swears she doesn't look human, but a blink later it's gone.

"Is that so? Hmm..." Rita seems to be giving Lambert's words more serious consideration than the situation requires. Still, he might be right. In the past year, she's found herself approached by animals from time to time, usually while she was minding her own business. So feigning disinterest is the trick? It seems counterintuitive.

She takes a moment to admire the drink, then gives it an experimental sip.

It's good. Great, even. In trying to be frugal, it seems she's been missing out on some incredible experiences here in the human world... Of course, Rita doesn't say a word of that out loud, but the way she seems to forget about her surroundings while drinking it might convey her approval well enough.

The cat at her feet, sensing that it's being ignored, decides to jump up on Rita's lap. She gives a small cry of surprise. It's probably an overreaction, but she can't help it when she's so unused to the behavior of animals. They just do things without warning sometimes. "So it does work..."

Lucky for Rita, this cat doesn't seem to mind sudden noises that much, because though it initially stiffens at her cry of surprise, it relaxes and settles itself on her lap, rumbling like a small engine.

"Guess it likes you." It's a largely meaningless platitude, the sort of thing he supposes you're expected to say at time like this. If he seems a little distracted (and it's too bad, because he'd be pretty proud she's enjoying her coffee -- he has more of a knack for making drinks than cooking, apparently) it's probably because whenever his vision isn't entirely focused on her, he keeps swearing there's something off about this girl.

"I'll leave you to it." Sorry, Rita, you'll have to navigate this alone! "Let me know if you need another drink or not." He waves at her and heads back to the bar, muttering under his breath.

Thing is, though, eventually he'll look up from what he's doing, and -- this time? The vision doesn't go away. Those are definitely horns on that girl. A feathers. And is that -- a tail? Yeah, it is.

While Rita's busy with the cat on her lap, which is just content to be pet ... unfortunately, another cat seems to be attracted by the sound of the tail swishing in the air. Normally, a cat staring at thin air is a funny sight, when the humans can't see what's caught its attention at all. It's significantly less funny when you suspect something unpleasant is about to happen. Though Lambert doesn't know if the cat can actually see strange things, it sure is far too interested in it.

Sure enough, before he can call out a warning -- the cat pounces!

Edited ( ) 2017-06-03 16:49 (UTC)

Oblivious to her tiny stalker, Rita runs her hand over the cat in her lap, which purrs happily in response. It's a calming experience, and it even feels sort of like she's making a connection with another living being. Something that's openly affectionate to her, and that she doesn't have to be afraid to show affection back to...

But then the pounce happens.

Rita gasps at the sudden tug on her tail, shooting to her feet and sending her new friend running. She whirls around to face the offending feline. "Hey, watch it, you... cat!" The cat, unfazed by her yelling, simply crouches and stares at the tail as it whips around her.

Cats can see through glamours!? Damn it. That explains a lot, but...

Rita just strongly reacted to something that shouldn't have been there. Red-faced, she looks around the room. The few other patrons seem to have already returned to their drinks and companions... but there's one person still looking her way. Her eyes meet Lambert's for a moment, but she quickly turns away. She reaches down and holds her tail still, trying not to encourage the cat as she moves her chair back to where it ought to be. She can still pretend nothing happened, right? After all, it's not like he saw anything... besides her acting like a crazy person.

None of the other cats seem too bothered by the proceedings, once the initial outburst has died down -- they have, mostly, seen stranger. If Rita's attention is sharp enough, she'll realize the cat that had tried going for her tail has a collar half-hidden under its fur, the barest trace of magic on it.

Some of the rumors about this place being owned by a witch might be true, after all, if she's at all paid attention to those. It's not the touch of fae magic on those collars, though, but by simple, solid magecraft.

In the meantime, Lambert has a decision to make. Acknowledge the weirdness, or don't ... well, at least she didn't knock over her drink. Finally, he sighs mentally and steps back into the cafe proper to make his way over to her, wondering if he can remotely play this off as normal.

"Everything all right?" He hates this kind of question, since there's no real way to answer it, but there you go.

Edited ( ) 2017-06-05 20:34 (UTC)

"Y, yeah. Everything's fine." Rita looks down warily at the cat. Wait... something's off. Is that...? -- No, she needs to act normal right now. "It just startled me, that's all." If all he saw was her jumping at nothing, that should be a plausible enough lie.

Still holding the tail, Rita sits back down in her chair, tucking it underneath herself. It's awkward, but it's better than letting anything weird happen again. That pesky cat, however, casually strolls under the chair and starts batting at the feathers dangling by her legs. In the interest of making it stop, Rita picks it up and holds it over her lap. It gives a half-hearted meow in protest, but now she's able to get a better look at that collar... which she does, leaning over its neck and staring intently. So much for acting normal.

What she'll find is the collar is really more of a woven friendship bracelet, patterned with simple runes that indicate, if she has the expertise to understand it, a simple location pointer and safety indicator spell. It's human magic rather than fae, simple and rigidly defined rather than organic, but it does the job.

On the other hand, while a cat jumping on Rita is well and good, actually picking one up is going to make Lambert grimace. "Uh, we try to ask guests not to pick up cats unless they come to you first. Especially not the ones with the collars-- those belong to the shop's owner."

"Oh... er, right." Rita winces and gently sets the cat down on her lap. While she normally doesn't take kindly to being told what to do, she's already flustered and doesn't really want any trouble. And most of all, she doesn't want to upset the cats.

More interestingly, though... it sounds like that collar must be the owner's work. The magic isn't that complex, and the application is practical, but it's still something she'd never expect to see in a cat cafe, of all places. So before Lambert can walk away, she asks him, "Say... What's the owner here like?"

The cat didn't seem to mind being picked up that much, really, happy to play as it is, but the rules are the rules, after all. Satisfied that Rita's complied, Lambert does indeed start to turn away, only to be stopped by the question.

"I haven't been working here that long," he says, honestly. Also, it's probably just good policy to not shittalk your boss on her own premises. "She's ... pretty hands-off, I'd say. Loves cats, obviously, thinks everyone should have one. Just a matter of meeting the right one."

"I see..." The cat struts around on Rita's lap, pointedly pushing its face and back into her hand until she catches on and starts petting it in the desired areas. It purrs in response.

"I guess you wouldn't know about that, then," Rita adds vaguely, still staring down at the cat. It's not clear if she expects him to know what she's referring to or not. Even if the owner is a mage of some kind, it's probably not something that can be discussed openly, anyway... Human social conventions are weird like that.

The way she obviously doesn't appear human to his eyes -- though if he lets his concentration falter, whatever spell must be at work on her to make her appear human resumes and he can't see tail or feathers anymore -- and the way she's interested in the collars on the cats ... hm. Lambert started working here based on the rumor the cafe was owned by a witch, but he hasn't really seen much signs of that around. She's the strangest thing he's seen in the short time he's been here.

Not that she would appreciate such thoughts, he's sure. However, though he shakes his head, he does look down at where her hand is on the cat, frowning.

"Know about what?" He asks, slowly.

Rita looks up and takes a moment to study his face. She's not supposed to talk about magic with ordinary humans... but if he works here, with magic happening right under his nose, he's probably not completely uninvolved. Assuming he's not just playing dumb, he might have a right to know... if he's willing to listen, anyway. There's always the chance that Rita will just look even more like a crazy person.

"About the magic in this collar," she answers simply, after a delay. She keeps her voice low enough to avoid drawing the attention of anyone else in the room. "Must've been crafted by a magic-user of... well, a decent skill level, at least." The spell might not be all that advanced, but it has a sort of elegant simplicity to it, at least in Rita's eyes.

That statement is going to make Lambert's eyes widen a little behind his glasses, and he glances around briefly before he leans in, on the pretext of looking closer at the cat. No, talking about magic is definitely not the done thing in public, but...

"You can tell that kind of thing?" He's genuinely curious about that much, at least.

He's taking her seriously? Rita raises her eyebrows; that was unexpected. Maybe this isn't his first encounter with magic...?

"Yeah. I've done a lot of studying on the subject." It's true, even if it's not the full truth. Rita's not about to come out and mention that she also happens to be something magic, herself.

It isn't. When you've got a werebeast in the house who's determined to find out everything possible about what's happened to her, and what she can do about it -- including getting into magic -- any notion that such things don't exist is quickly put to rest.

Maybe she's like Peridot, then. His gaze can't help flicking to the side, watching where her tail is. It flickers in and out of his vision again, and he blinks hard, before looking at her again. Hell, she's even younger than Miko, or about the same age... do the details really matter that much?

"I've read about it, mostly," he'll allow. That much is true enough. "Not really familiar with it, uh, otherwise."

So there really are people out there with a casual familiarity with magic. Rita's only ever known people on the extreme ends of that spectrum: those who know nothing of it, and those whose lives are entirely shaped by it.

"Hmm. Most people don't even bother informing themselves that much." And even if he read about magic, most normal people would still have their doubts, unless they saw it in person. This guy doesn't seem too surprised. "Did you know that the owner's a magic-user?" Again, Rita's careful to keep her voice low.

⇨ The Tourist Trap: PROLOGUE

For Lambert: Toe Beans Cafe, about one year ago

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lmk if i need to edit this! o7

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