ArchivedLogs:The Owl and the Pussycat

The Owl and the Pussycat
Dramatis Personae Anette and Marinov
In Absentia	2016-11-01 '
Location <NYC> Evolve Cafe - Lower East Side
Spacious and open, this coffeeshop has a somewhat industrial feel to it, grey resin floors below and exposed-beam ceilings that have been painted up in a dancing swirl of abstract whorls and starbursts, a riot of colour splashed against a white background. The walls alternate between brick and cheerfully lime-green painted wood that extends to the paneling beneath the brushed-steel countertops. There's an abundance of light, though rather than windows (which are scarce) it comes from plentiful hanging steel lamps. The walls here are home to artwork available for sale; though the roster of prints and paintings and drawings and photographs changes on a regular basis it has one thing in common -- all the artists displayed are mutants. The seating spaced around the room is spread out enough to keep the room from feeling cluttered. Black chairs, square black tables that mostly seat two or four though they're frequently pushed around and rearranged to make space for larger parties. In the back corner of the room is more comfortable seating, a few large black-corduroy sofas and armchairs with wide tables between them. There's a shelf of card and board games back here available for customers to sit and play. The chalkboard menus hanging behind the counter change frequently, always home to a wide variety of drinks (with an impressive roster of fair-trade coffees and teas largely featured) though their sandwiches and wraps and soups and snacks of the day change often. An often-changing variety of baked goods sit behind the display case at the counter halfway back in the room, and the opposite side of the counter holds a small selection of homemade ice creams. A pair of single-user bathrooms flanks the stairway in back of the cafe; at night, the thump of music can be heard from above, coming from the adjoining nightclub of the same name that sits up the stairs above the coffeehouse. With the evening air being a bit crisp, there are fewer people who wish to head outside on walks, which is precisely why Marinov has decided on this evening to go out. The Evolve Cafe was recommended to the youth before, but it's been closed for most of their stay in New York City thus far, so it's time to see it open. The feel of Halloween still lingers from the night before, but there are not many people in costumes milling about anymore, though Marinov's outfit may make it look like they are undecided on whether Halloween is truly over: They wear a pink dress in the style of some kind of princess, though aside from a fake gold clip in their hair, there is no other accessorising done to make it a proper costume. The felinoid teen approaches the artwork on the wall before heading to the counter, raising a brow slightly. "Hey, this looks cool, but I don't recognize this artist name?" the teen says out loud, mostly to themselves. Anette was never a really common face around here but, when the cafe's been closed as long as it has, perhaps even she felt the need to celebrate its return. She steps inside, one of her many coats covering her wings from view. Though unlike most places she enters, once inside she takes the coat off. Her wings fluff out comfortably behind her as she makes her way in. She attempts to make a beeline for the counter but, when she catches sight of a frilly pink princess dress, she has to do a double-take. At second glance, she catches the more obvious feline features. She grins, yellow eyes glancing up towards the artwork they're admiring. "I think they get a lot of 'up-and-coming' artists. The ones no one recognizes yet." Marinov glances towards Anette at the comment and then back at the artwork, "Well, it's actually pretty cool, so hopefully they gain-" The felinoid teen glances over towards Anette again and says, "Oh! It's you! I saw you one time somewhere." Their ears flick lightly as they try to remember exactly when. "I think it'd be cool to have your artwork up in a place like this, I'd probably sit around and wait for people to criticize it so that I could argue about it or something." "It's not bad," Anette agrees, looking over the artwork and trying to appreciate it. Apparently she's not an art person. She does raise a brow however as Marinov seems to recognize her. "Really? Can't imagine how. Though I feel like I've seen you before, too. Unless there are other...cougars hanging around the city," she says, making the best guess to what kind of cat Marinov resembles. "Cougars, huh?" repeats Marinov, touching their own ear lightly. "Yeah, I think I was trying to parkour, that's when I ran across you. I, uh, fell down." The teen shrugs a shoulder lightly and glances towards the counter, gesturing in that direction to telegraph where they are going next. "Cougars don't have spots, though, except when they're little kittens." The teen adds, "I brushed up on my cat facts after I manifested, you know, in case anyone expects me to field that shit. 'cause cats are my people now or somethin'." Anette nods along, following beside Marinov as they make their way to the counter. "Fair enough. And believe me, I know. Never paid any attention in biology but I could write a damn book on owls. With a few chapters on other birds. And if I had a dollar every time someone asked me to interpret birds..." She grins as she glances up at the menu, brushing up on what Evolve has to offer. "Though the few times I've stumbled on them in the wild have been interesting." "Interpret them? Like, figure out what they're tweeting about? Yeah, I mean, nobody's asked me yet to tell 'em what cats are meowing. Which is good, because the shit they say would fuck them up," says Marinov, gesturing towards their own temples. The teen then adds, "In all honesty, though, most cats are scared of me now. Is that your experience when you've stumbled upon owls or birds in the wild?" They squint up towards the menu for a few moments before ordering some herbal tea. "I think I confuse them. I mean, they can tell I'm human. But they tend to stare at the wings and sometimes come a little closer before they fly away," Anette says. Once at the counter, she orders a small hot mocha. "Oh boy, I'd love to know what a cat's meowing. Especially Vader. I've had him a few weeks and I still don't know what his problem is." "Yeah, I think confuse them is something I do too, to animals. They smell me and it seems sort of wrong, I guess," says Marinov after a moment's consideration. They adjust the collar of the dress lightly and say, "Vader? Sounds like the name of a cat with a serious personality." "Serious. That's a word for it. He's got anger issues. And he's missing a leg. On top of being entirely black, he practically named himself." Anette takes her mocha and takes a slow sip of it. "I think I'm growing on him. He doesn't growl as much at me anymore." "Not growling is a good sign," says Marinov, nodding a few times. "Learned that from all my cat fact research. Sounds like he's had a sorta rough life, though, so I wouldn't blame him for being untrusting." The teen lets their tea steep for a little while before taking a sip. "Probably will be a sweetheart. I'm not allowed pets where I live, but that's fine, I've never been real good with pets anyhow." "Maybe. I kinda have the feeling that's just his personality. Though he probably hasn't had the comfiest life either." Anette takes another sip of her mocha. "Seems like you probably have enough shedding fur to deal with. I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to add more to it." "Yeah, there's probably all kinds of hair all over my dress. Christ, I don't even want to look," says Marinov, sighing deeply at that. The teen then looks down despite themselves and then headshakes, "Not that bad actually. But... I gotta get going, I just saw the place and it looked cool, and someone recommended it to me... I'll have to check it out again another time. I'll seeya round, probably. You'll probably see me coming with like... owl vision? Yeah? That's a thing?" Anette can't help but chuckle. "Yeah, that's a thing," she says. "It's a nice place. The nightclub upstairs is pretty amazing, too. Take care," she says, offering Marinov a parting smile before heading over to an empty table and making herself comfy.