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Willow was desperately trying not to sneeze.
A cat was on her lap, its sleepy purr sending vibrations throughout her body. It was a calico male, which was apparently incredibly rare. The second Gus, Hunter, and Willow had stepped into the cafe, the cat had taken a liking to her. Unfortunately, the feeling was not reciprocal. Willow had recently found out she was deathly allergic to cats, at least ones who weren’t made of palistrom wood.
“Can’t you guys get him off of me?” Willow wheezed out. Oh, titan, her voice sounded so coarse.
Gus looked at her in sympathy but shook his head. “Sorry, Willow, duty calls.”
Hunter nodded in agreement with Gus. “It’s not every day that you get put in a small enclosure playing with twelve-week kitties.”
Willow sighed. Realizing she was being a bit too loud, she looked down at the cat, hoping it hadn’t woken up. Thankfully, it hadn’t. “You’re right.” She said, She gestured at Hunter and Gus. They were surrounded on all four sounds by see-through plastic walls. There was no ceiling above them, and Hunter’s head poked out of the “room.” “You guys have fun,” she said. “I’ll figure out how to get the cat off me without waking him up somehow.”
Hunter raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Cause I can come out and help you if you’d like.”
Willow shook her head. “No, don’t worry. I’ll get this cat off of me if it’s the last thing I do.”
Hunter looked at her with an eyebrow raised. Willow stared back, her eyebrow just as equally high up. Eventually, Hunter sighed. “Alright then.”
When Willow, Gus, and Hunter had stumbled across the cat cafe while strolling around the town square, they had been plastered against the window.
“They’re so adorable.” Gus had said in awe. His face was squished against the glass, his eyes wide. The kitties meowed in their little cage. They were adorable.
“Words can not describe how much I love them,” Hunter sounded like someone had taken his breath away.
Willow had looked at the two boys, tilting her head towards the cafe. “Well, what’s stopping us from going in?”
Gus crossed his arms. “Didn’t you have a really bad cat allergy Willow?”
Willow shrugged. “It’ll be worth the risk.” She grinned, gesturing at the door. “Now, come on!"
Willow was now wondering if maybe they shouldn’t have gone in. Or maybe she shouldn’t have come in, since Hunter and Gus were having the time of their lives.
The first thing Gus and Hunter had done when they entered the was to approach one of the staff members.
“Is there any chance we can pet the kitties?” Hunter had said with an eager grin.
The staff member seemed a bit startled by their question. In general, he looked like a very fearful fellow. In fact, he looked exactly like those silly cat photos Luz had shown Willow. “Of course!” He responded. “Step right in. I ask for you guys not to disturb the cats while they sleep though.” He looked pointedly at Willow and the cat in her lap. Willow gulped. She really couldn’t disturb the cat now.
Hunter and Gus practically ran to see the kitties, their hands in the air as they whooped.
Willow watched from her corner seat, smiling despite her puffy cheeks and snotty nose. She was glad her friends were enjoying themselves. If only she could join in with them instead of being a fleshy cushion for a cat.
The cat was lovely, for sure. However, Willow wished it would just hop off her so she could play with it using a string or something. Keep her distance while keeping the cat entertained, Willow style.
Something flickered at the edge of her vision. She turned towards it. On the wall was a red light, bright and blazing. She had never seen anything quite like it. It felt alluring, the slightly quivering small peck of light standing out in the middle of a blank wall.
Apparently, Willow was not the only person, or animal per se, to think so. The cat in her lap let out a little meow , waking up. Slowly but surely, it rose. One paw after another, it walked out of her lap and towards the strange light. Willow also got up with it, walking slowly towards the light.
All of a sudden, it moved. Willow’s head snapped up towards the ceiling where the light now stood. She was on her tippy-toes, squinting to see what the light was. She reached her hand out to touch it and was almost there when she felt something clinging to her sleeve. It was dragging her arm down, clawing at her skin. Willow saw a stain leak through her white sleeve. Blood red. She let out a little scream.
“Get it off me!” She yelped, shaking her arm as if her life depended on it. Maybe it did. She hadn’t quite caught what had been on her arm, but it needed to get away. She didn’t want a clawing, bloody-thirsty demon on her case.
Finally, she felt something dislodge. Willow let out a big breath of relief, buckling down. But when she looked up, all that relief disappeared.
All the customers and staff around Willow looked horrified. Someone was holding their cup of coffee so tight Willow swore she could already see a burn forming on their skin. Someone else was staring at her behind dark glasses, gawking. And to top it all off, Hunter and Gus seemed in shock too. When Willow caught Gus’s eye, he gave her a nervous glance and a small smile. He mouthed something to her. I’m sorry.
Willow tilted her head at him, confused. I didn’t do anything wrong, she mouthed back. Gus didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he just pointed behind Willow.
Willow turned, exasperated. “What is i- oh my titan.”
A tiny baby cat was splayed against the wall. It wasn’t moving, and its eyes were glazed over. Willow grimaced. It didn’t have any visible injuries, but Willow felt incredibly bad. She hadn’t meant to kick a little cat away from her. She inched towards the cat. When she came close enough, Willow gently prodded the cat with her finger. The whole cafe was silent, apprehensive. The cat jolted a bit, letting out a weak, desperate meow. The entire room erupted into cheers.
Gus and Hunter ran over, hugging Willow.
“Thank the titan, it’s not dead,” Hunter said, separating himself from the hug. “That would’ve been a nightmare.”
Willow, shaking slightly, her glasses foggy, nodded. “Yeah. That would’ve been awful. Do you think Camila will patch up the cat for free?”
Gus looked up at Willow, hugging her even tighter. “Of course. I mean, we all know how nice she is.”
Willow took off her glasses, wiping them with her sleeve. Her eyes were wet. “How did all of this even happen?”
“All I know is that one of the staff shined a light on the wall, cats went crazy, kitties found their way out of their room, and then chaos,” Hunter said. “You’re okay now Willow, right? I would’ve panicked too if I felt something crawling up my arm.”
Willow laughed shakily. “I’m fine, don’t worry. Now’s probably a good time to get out of here though. What do you guys think of ice cream?”
Gus grinned. “Now we’re talking. I can’t believe they don’t have mint chocolate chip in the Demon Realm!”
Hunter stuck out his tongue. “Mint chocolate chip sucks. Chocolate all the way.”
Willow crossed her arms. “Hunter, are you really gonna choose chocolate over mint chocolate chip ?”
Hunter looked offended. “It’s not my fault mint chocolate chip tastes like Luz’s toothpaste!”
Willow smiled, smug. “Mhm.”
The conversation drifted off after this. Before they left, Willow recommended Camila’s vet to one of the waitresses. She nodded and said they’d consider it before promptly telling the kids they were banned from the cafe forever. To this day, a worn down paper sits on the cafe’s door, a picture of Willow, Gus, and Hunter on it. The paper states, “NO DEVIOUS BEHAVIORS ALLOWED.” The cat recovered, at least according to Camila.
It has become a bit of an inside joke between the three kids, and sometimes they still mention it for a good chortle.
They’re a rowdy bunch. And I sure do hope they stay that way, forever and ever and on.