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Post by Kadin on Apr 25, 2021 9:49:36 GMT -6
For once, Kadin wasn't locked in the back, slaving away to create food for whoever might happen across the Café today. For once, he wasn't cleaning behind the counters while Rochelle "supervised" him, as if she knew anything about keeping a workplace sanitary up to human standards. For once, he was actually sitting on some of the furniture he had bought himself, tucked into a corner of the room while he eyed the property deeds laid out before him on a small side table. He sipped at the (horrible) coffee he'd made for himself while he read over where these properties were supposed to be located. And he thought. He'd been living between the kennels and the café for months now. Months. No one had made any mention to him that there might have been any other possibility. Rochelle had apparently known about the deeds. She hadn't told him, for whatever fucking reason. He didn't care. She was a cat, she didn't need a reason to keep a secret. If she really hadn't wanted him to find them, she would have just shredded them. But Mori must have known about them. She'd said nothing. There were others, too, seemingly countless eyes that tracked him through the kennels, intelligent beings that just. Steered clear of him. Why? Kadin leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee. There was that group of birds, the ones that always stuck with each other and didn't trust him. They seemed like they'd probably come from some place like the aviary. He'd start there and slowly, over time, end up emptying his kennel of all the pets who didn't belong or didn't want to. He'd tackle the problem of some of the others... later. After he'd had a chance to think some more. And maybe do some more digging to see what other secrets were being kept from him. Yeah. This whole not remembering shit fucking sucked. |
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Post by Nadia on Apr 27, 2021 3:21:21 GMT -6
Gelert's tail had started wagging the second he caught sight of the cafe. It had made Nadia smile, to think that he remembered - one cookie in a nice establishment and it was in the houluh's good books for life. She had become fond of it during her previous trip for the novelty of its Enileaf barista alone, but the result of the visit had become rather more complex than she could have imagined, and coming back almost seemed... intrusive.
But it couldn't be helped. Perhaps she was a busybody, sticking her nose into business that didn't concern her, but she'd been dwelling on Kadin ever since they'd met. Her presence during his accidental discovery of property had linked them. It was only right that she should make sure that he was managing okay.
The houluh's nose shoved its way around the doorframe first, and Nadia stepped in afterwards. Ah, the coffee smell! Tea was her preference, but the scent of roasted beans was invigorating. It was impossible for her to conceal her delight when she looked towards the counter and saw Rochelle present; she made her way over, Gelert ever vigilant at her side.
"Ah, Rochelle, dear friend! Might I trouble you for a cocoa today?" Her speech had none of the stilted awkwardness that it would had Rochelle been a person. Fascinating, the mental gymnastics she could perform. "I hope you've been keeping well, and--"
A quick glance around, and a happy accident - Kadin was already there, scouring over papers. It was not her desire to disturb him if he was busy, but she would offer him greeting nonetheless.
"Good day, Kadin!" |
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Post by Kadin on Apr 27, 2021 19:49:47 GMT -6
Kadin almost didn't notice the sound of the door opening, but he definitely noticed when Rochelle greeted their newest guest. "Nadia! Hello, sweetheart, it's so lovely to see you again. I'd be happy to get you a cocoa, just wait right there." The Enileaf trilled, obviously pleased to have a repeat customer- one that remembered her, no less! She cheerfully padded over to fiddle with the machines and levers that would make the cocoa and have it delivered to the counter. "Everything's been going just fine for us! You know how it is, always important to keep busy." She glanced at Nadia over her shoulder, blinking warmly at her before turning back to finish up a few more incomprehensible things. With a pleased chirp, she gracefully hopped back over to the counter to continue their conversation, daintily wrapping her tail around her legs as she got settled. "How have you been, sweetie?" Meanwhile, the man in the corner seemed to have decided to spare a glance over to the new customer and his enileaf. He nodded at Nadia's greeting before visibly taking a moment to considering whether he was going to say anything or not. Apparently, he decided to, but probably only because Rochelle was right there. "Hi Nadia." Eloquent. And with that, he went back to frowning down at his papers. Rochelle let out a soft hiss of annoyance and rolled her entire head to give the impression of rolling her eyes. She leaned towards Nadia, a mischievous flick to her tail as she acted as if she were letting her in on a secret. "He's been pouring over those documents for hours. I think some of them are the ones you found together, if you wanted to bother him about them. Really, he's been so boring since he's found them." She flicked her ears and shot him a glance, knowing perfectly well that he could probably hear her easily in the quiet café. "You'd think it'd be perfectly clear what he should do with leases and housing documents that are clearly meant to be transferred into his name, but instead he's over there. Moping."
Around then, the automated system cheerfully tinged! and started transporting Nadia's cocoa from the machine over to the counter, stopping right in front of her with a pleasant tune.
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Post by Nadia on Apr 28, 2021 4:01:19 GMT -6
Ah, Rochelle was a delight. Gelert's nose wiggled at the lip of the counter, and Nadia beamed, already warmed by the presence of the Enileaf. There was money on hand for her to pay for that cocoa, though. She would not take advantage! "Thank you so much. I'm relieved to hear that you are well," She said as she counted out the coins, enough to cover the cup from last time as well as that day's treat. "I am doing okay. Pleased to see more hours of daylight as the seasons turn... winter can make one feel ghastly." Kadin was about as verbose as she'd expected. It must have been an awful shock for him, to discover an entire life hidden away in his kennel that he knew nothing about. The story still struck her as strange, but she hadn't come up with any valid reason for her to not believe it. Truth was stranger than fiction. Why would he bother with that kind of lie to a woman he barely knew? "I see..." Rochelle's insight was helpful, indeed. Nadia didn't think Kadin was the type to enjoy being pitied, so she took a moment to debate her approach as she picked up the cup, exhaling a happy breath at the heat on her fingers. "Thank you for your assistance, Rochelle. Here is your payment. I hope I can help lift his spirits..." Be still, nerves. Gelert was a few steps ahead of her, having recognised Kadin as the nice person who gave him a cookie; his tail lashed back and forth with excitement despite his calm face. "Mind those papers, Gelert," The woman made sure to put her hip between the table and the houluh's inquisitive snout. "Pardon me, Kadin. I thought it might be prudent to check in with you. Did you find anything else at the kennel?"
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Post by Kadin on Apr 28, 2021 18:23:55 GMT -6
"Agreed," Rochelle said warmly, "I'm hoping that the warm weather will draw in more customers! And, of course, we'll be opening up a new menu with iced drinks. Perhaps iced teas, too?" She looked over at Kadin, but he didn't acknowledge her. She shook her head fondly before looking back at Nadia, examining the coins offered to her. "Oh! You really don't need to, but it's much appreciated. Kadin, on the other hand, be gentle with him, but not too gentle. He's in a mood." Kadin stifled a sigh when he heard the woman and houluh walking closer. Once they were practically in front of him, he finally looked up again, but only so far to offer a blink-and-you-miss-it smile to the houluh. He'd offer him another cookie, if he had one nearby, but those were back behind the counter with Rochelle. She sure wasn't the type to offer a houluh a treat without being asked first, that's for sure. Finally, he looked up at Nadia. He gave her a nod and pushed the paper he'd been looking at forward, allowed her to look at it if she chose to do so. "This is the permit for the aviary. I was going over it and some of the others. They were transferred to me a couple years ago, I don't recognize the previous owners. I think the permits are out of date with the current system." He sighed. "They'll need to be updated, but the properties are still there and waiting empty."  Finally, the amount of words he'd been speaking seemed to catch up with him and he quieted down again, looking at another permit, now, this one talking about a house that had apparently been large enough to fit 4 people. He had no memory of purchasing any house, much less one that could fit four people. And all these names... who were they? What was the story there?  Would he ever find out? |
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Post by Nadia on Apr 29, 2021 10:20:45 GMT -6
Gelert didn't push his luck with Kadin, but was not above sitting and staring dolefully, just on the off chance that a cookie would materialise from somewhere. With the houluh already making himself comfortable, Nadia figured she should settle into a chair too. She folded one leg over the other as she leaned forwards to look at the permits - indeed, they seemed old, in comparison with the ones she'd seen in dealings more recently.
"I see. I'm afraid I don't recognise this name, otherwise I might be able to offer some insight..." Her gaze drifted to the second permit, and she blinked in surprise. There was a private property! "... and I am no wiser regarding these others."
It was a shame. What kind of stories would the permits tell, if they could speak? Nadia could only assume those places had been much-loved once upon a time. She hoped that whatever those people were doing now, they were happy, or at least still living...
"Have you thought any more on it? I understand the aviary is quite a considerable responsibility...but are you inclined to retain ownership?" After a sip of her cocoa - delicious, as before - she offered a sympathetic smile. "My apologies, I have no intention of rushing you. What I mean is that... I would be happy to assist you, whichever direction you choose to go in."
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Post by Kadin on Apr 30, 2021 7:08:49 GMT -6
Kadin shrugged when Nadia apologized for not knowing any of the people on the permits. He hadn't actually expected her to, it just would have been nice if he had a lead on... something. Even just someone to ask about these names. But, of course, no dice there. He breathed out a sigh and grabbed his disgusting coffee to take a sip, gazing off past her head while he thought whatever thoughts he was thinking instead of actually replying to her like a human person.
Eventually, he shrugged. He already had all the pets. Apparently he owned the property. He just needed to get the permits updated, the place cleaned out, and move the pets over. Of course, all of this couldn't be communicated with a shrug, so he took another sip of his disgusting coffee before, finally, replying.
"Once it's set up it won't be a problem. Cleaning the place out will be a lot of work." Maintaining a working property was a lot easier than having to prepare one. He already did all that crap in the kennels, this would just be doing the same stuff in a different space. It would't be too hard to work with that. He looked down at the permits again, frowned, and then finally seemed to decided to add, "I'll have to figure out how to get those updated, too." Nothing about accepting help. Nothing about asking for help. Just what he'd need to do moving forward.
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Post by Nadia on May 2, 2021 11:36:36 GMT -6
With one hand on Gelert's head and one clutching her cup of cocoa, Nadia observed silently. Much was weighing on Kadin's mind, and she couldn't do much to help - that bothered her more than she would have anticipated, considering their acquaintanceship had been so short. It wasn't nice to see a person in distress. It might've been easier for her if he was more forthcoming...
But he wasn't. He wasn't giving her a lot of anything, and that was okay, but it did make it harder to know how to proceed. She scratched her nails over the crown of Gelert's head.
"Please, allow me to assist," was what she settled with saying, even though it was sounding more and more like pleading. "I am not shy of hard work. It would only be right, after I set these events into motion. We can find out how to update the permits together... i-if that is agreeable to you. To ease the burden of coping alone."
The houluh turned his head to look at her, as if he could sense her getting restless.
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Post by Kadin on May 3, 2021 12:04:35 GMT -6
"I don't need any help," He said quickly, almost automatically. Something about the way his shoulders were set shifted, giving the slight impression that he was bristling at the implication that he needed help to begin with. But just as quickly as it happened, he suddenly frowned and looked away, forcing himself to relax and lean back in his chair. He sipped at his awful coffee just for something to do before, finally, he sighed.
"I don't need the help, but if you want to volunteer to clean out some trash and build some perches, I won't stop you." Kadin finally said to his coffee. He pointedly did not look up because if he did he'd probably see Rochelle glaring at him for being an utter failure of a human being and not being able to communicate. In truth, it wouldn't be the end of the world at all to have someone around to help him set up the aviary. He WAS busy. But something about asking for help... he'd just never gotten into the habit of it. It had never sit right with him.
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Post by Nadia on May 4, 2021 4:20:58 GMT -6
Oh. Nadia should have expected that reaction - Kadin was an uptight sort, from what she had seen - but it still stung her. She lasered in her focus on the top of Gelert's head to avoid looking up, and began to pet behind his silky ears, rubbing one between two fingers. "That's quite alright. I will come whenever you open the building," She bolstered herself enough to reply, taking another sip of her cooling cocoa. "Whenever is convenient to you." The houluh didn't seem pleased by the tension. He huffed out a little growl, his tail thumping on the ground; both times they'd come to see this man, Nadia had gotten upset! He didn't like it. His head turned so he could gently close his mouth around her wrist and give it a tug, hoping it might encourage her to leave. "No, no. It's quite alright, dear fellow. I will get you a cookie in a moment." Cookies had nothing to do with it, but the word did make Gelert's ears twitch. [Logged!] |
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Post by Kadin on Nov 1, 2021 20:20:57 GMT -6
Kadin finally seemed to accept that Nadia would help. And that he would let her help. As much as he wanted to insist that he could do it all on his own (which he probably could!), at this point even he could recognize how fucking stupid he was being. So with all that sorted out, once they all finished their drinks and cookings he'd lead the way out to the abandoned aviary he'd found to begin the grueling task of cleaning it up. Rochelle would, for once, stay behind. Someone had to 'man' the shop, after all!
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As they finally arrived at the building that must be the aviary, Kadin couldn't help but grimace. He wouldn't lie, it looked bad. The building itself had boarded up windows that were half hanging loose, half rotted away. It seemed as if whoever had done them did a crappy job, half of the boards looked like they were missing all the nails they should have had. The paint all over was peeling over, leaving exposed wood and cement peeking through the cracks. The roof was missing tiles that had been blown off. At least the lab robots had cleaned up the debris surrounding the building, but just looking at the outside told you all you needed to know about what must be going on inside.
As Kadin approached, the weeds he'd been walking on suddenly clanged under his feet. He looked down, only to frown at what must have been the sign for the building. It was so overgrown, he didn't think he'd even be able to lift it up without digging it out first.
Kadin sighed. "Maybe I should have brought my TROD, too." He commented idly before finally getting to the door. The padlock on it was rusted, but luckily opened for the key he'd found to the building. "I've seen inside, but I haven't assessed all the damage yet. You sure you want to do this? Last chance to back out." |
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Post by Nadia on Nov 16, 2021 13:26:32 GMT -6
Nadia tried her best to not look too appalled at the state of the aviary.
Yes, she had seen it in passing - that was the whole reason she'd sought out Kadin, after all - but witnessing the extent of the damage up close was shocking. One hand was placed on Gelert's head, stroking along and down the length of his ears periodically, as something to distract her from how overwhelming it was. There was a lot of work to be done.
Was she sure she wanted to get involved?
No, no. It would be hideously unfair for her to lead the man into the situation and then abandon him to cope with it himself. The discovery that he was responsible for the place had been a bombshell to Kadin, and she figured that even if he was uptight about it, he'd need all the help he could get. Even more so now she realised the building looked like it would fall down in a strong gale.
"Quite sure. Many hands make light work," She said. Two pairs was hardly many, but it was better than one. "If you do need to pick anything up from offsite, I am happy to watch over things for you, too. Direct me as you see fit."
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Post by Kadin on Nov 17, 2021 5:59:26 GMT -6
"Right." Kadin said, frowning a bit, before seeming to shake it off and opening up the door so that they could finally see inside. The building had been originally sectioned off into many rooms to separate out creatures and create habitats for different needs. The front doors opened into a reception area, of sorts, and from there hallways branched out into the different suites and habitats. The reception area wasn't destroyed so much that it was run down. Old, rotting cardboard boxes were scattered across the floor, some even with items still inside. Most of them speckled with bird droppings. Toppled perches were here and there, some free standing ones that had fallen over, others looked as though they were supposed to be attached to a wall, but had come loose or fallen completely.
The desk in the middle of it all had scattered papers here and there. What used to be a filing system had become some beaked creature's playground with meticulously shredded scraps scattered everywhere. Kadin walked over the cardboard and paper, stopping once he reached the desk and knocked on it a couple times. He looked up, too, to make sure there hadn't been any leaks in the room that'd need to be addressed. Finally, he turned back to Nadia.
"Well. I want to start by sorting all the junk in here. Drag out anything that looks like it can't be salvaged to dump, put aside anything that looks like it can be fixed up. You could start in another room if you wanted to, they're all pretty much like this. It's like whoever was here before just packed up all the birds and easy-to-move crap and left all the chores to whoever found the mess."
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Post by Nadia on Nov 23, 2021 14:59:58 GMT -6
The good thing was that someone was having fun, at least. Gelert was taken by the messiness of the interior of the building, and was happy to march around with his nose glued to the floor, sniffing for anything interesting. His human kept an eye on him in case anything dangerous was laying around, but was otherwise content for him to amuse himself.
Nadia wished she could've been amused. It wasn't a bombsite, but it was in no fit state to be visited, and it was a situation that needed rectifying. Even if it was her own hands getting dirty. She nodded along to Kadin's words and pushed her sleeves up.
"Right you are. I admit, it took me by surprise, but no challenge is insurmountable..." That was intended to sound encouraging, but came across more like a criticism to her own ears. She cringed inwardly, an embarrassed flush rising in her cheeks, and turned away. Please do not be offended. "I... I will, um, proceed this way..."
En route to one of the hallways, she nudged a dilapidated cardboard box out of the way with the toe of her boot. What appeared to be an innocuous action was actually the destruction of a home; a mouse darted out from inside and scared the life out of her, eliciting a jump and a squeal. Gelert was hot on the rodent's heels as it skittered away.
"Oh, my stars..." Her hand fluttered over her rapidly-beating heart... and then she gave Kadin a sheepish smile. "Forgive me... it startled me."
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