As the Seasons Change [Henrex, Saiko]

He smiled, seeing he had her attention. He held her hand just a little bit tighter as he gently pulled her along without another word. It took a decent amount of time for them to reach the train station, but thankfully, their stop wasn't too far away. Arriving deeper in Tokyo, Henrex guided her out and through the city. Even as the sun had began to dip over the horizon, there were still countless lights that brightened the darkening sky.

Taking her down the brightly-lit streets, he soon stopped in front of a building, looking it up and down, a look of disappointment coming to his face for a moment. It was a relatively new building, so, he shouldn't have been surprised that there were still some bits and pieces that were somewhat unfinished. But, he had been following this for a while. He turned to Saiko, opening the door and stepping to the side.

"How are you with animals, Saiko? Do you like cats?"

Time passed, and as they made their way to wherever the two were going, Saiko took in the breeze, the endless lights in the skies around them, and the lush life that the city reflected was a sight to take in. Seeing many people out, the calm of eve approaching and having time to clear their heads out was enough as she continued to hold on to the warm harm of Henrex.

Eventually, when they made their way to a new but unfinished building. It made the woman tilt her head to the side once more, curious about what was waiting inside. So, when Henrex popped the question of asking her if she was good with animals, the woman nodded and spoke.

"I'd say so~ I adore cats and dogs since they can be comfortable to be around."

While smiling, a glance of her eye looked back at the building, and she continued.

"I take it there is a bunch of them waiting for me inside, no?"

Maybe he shouldn't have asked that, but, what was done was done. Her question only caused him to give a coy smile, quietly guiding her inside and closed the door behind her. He went up to a self-check-in machine, checked the two of them in, and two pairs of disinfected slippers came out for the two of them. Slipping them on, Henrex took Saiko to another room with lockers, opened one, and placed their shoes inside before turning to face her.

"This is a newer building, but, yes, there are a lot of cats here. Welcome to Cat Cafe Mocha, one of the most popular cat cafes, with buildings all around Japan. This building in particular is still in the last bits of setup, so the signs outside aren't working yet. But, its still able to be visited and operated."

Taking the key from the locker and slipping it into his pocket, he guided Saiko through the building until they came out to a comfortable lounge area. Many, many chairs, tables, and various mediums of entertainment and, most obvious, cats sitting, walking, and lounging throughout the room. Henrex turned to look at Saiko with a warm smile, yet a mildly nervous look in his eyes.

"What do you think?"

Ooo's and aaa's could be heard from the mouth of Saiko as they entered the building and started to get checked in. After getting her slippers on, the woman turned back to Henrex and blinked as he explained what this location actually was. A literal cat cafe, huh? Nice!

"This place is cute! Thanks for taking me here."

As they guided themselves through the building, she took in the lounging area, the cats all around, and couldn't control herself. With a happy giggle, the woman pounced on, giving a few of the cats that were lingering around a pet on the head as they meowed, and she coo'd back at them. There was just something so comforting about giving an adorable kitty-cat their headpats.

But they still needed to take their seat, so Saiko hurried to sit down and nodded at Henrex.

"I love it. But, tell me, what's on the menu? I'm hungry."

And with her stomach on time with her words, after she finished speaking, a loud grumble could be heard coming from Saiko as she grinned.

Seeing her reaction to the cats made his heart soar, and he chuckled softly, crouching down and gently stroking a cat that had come up to him, nuzzling against his leg. He visited these places rather often in his free time, to spend time with the animals and to relax, to try and take his mind off from the stresses of life. It felt nice to share it with someone, to see them appreciate and love it alongside him was nice to see.

As he sat down next to her, petting another cat that had come up, curious about the two newcomers, he turned to face Saiko, chuckling softly as he heard her stomach growling. Thankfully, he had planned ahead for this. He wasn't exactly expecting a situation like this to pop up, but, he wanted to make sure he wasn't going overboard immediately.

"Well, there isn't exactly a full course meal here. There's drinks, but overall, it's more focused on the cats. I paid for a ten-minute time frame, so, once that's up, we can head to a restaurant to eat, then come back if you'd like. There's one next door, but if it's closed, there should be one still open nearby. Is that alright?"

Saiko nodded with what Henrex had spoken of and continued petting the cats around her. Ten minutes to savor this? That was fine by her. The woman's appetite wasn't so unruly that it couldn't wait for that time to pass. Though it did bring along an interesting line of thought that she intended to follow up on soon. But, for the time being, she looked up intently at the other hybrid for a moment before speaking.

"Surprise me at the restaurant and show me what you think is good. Though, don't be started if your wallet gets the shock of its life."

Spoken with conviction, desire, and hunger; the eyes of the woman briefly had stars behind them as she continued indulging in the animals around her; even going as far as to have small hands form from her aura to pet other kittens further away from her. It was a peculiar sight, but then she narrowed in further and spoke on.

"As you know, being a hybrid takes up a lot of energy. So, I can eat a lot without much issue. Not sure if it's the same for you, though."

Surprise her, huh? He could do that. There were a lot of restaurants around Tokyo, and he was certain there would be something that Saiko would like. So, with a quiet nod, he gave her a light pat on the head, before turning to pet one of the cats that had curled up next to him. He wasn't concerned about finances. He wasn't the biggest spender in the first place, so, he had a decent amount of money saved away for times like these. Perhaps not particularly a date, but it was hardly an issue.

"I just try to live a normal life. It can take up a lot of energy, but, I still try to live as normally as I can. My own will and energy can keep me going for a while before I start seeing...too many detriments."

He leaned back against the seat, absentmindedly stroking the cat and scratching behind its ears as he watched Saiko play with the ones that had crowded around her. He smiled -- it was good to see her so happy and enthralled with them. Without a sound, Henrex quickly stood up, slipping over to the drink machines, getting a pair of hot drinks for them, before returning and sitting back down and held one out for her.

"Something to warm you up after being in the cold for so long."

That was interesting. While Saiko was enjoying all the furry friends around her, a raise of the eyebrow was briefly given when Henrex spoke about the detriments in his life. There were pros and cons to being a hybrid mix, so she had to wonder what some of his were and would most likely prod him about it when he returned.

For now, she smiled, took the hot caramel decaf coffee, and enjoyed its sweet, spicy, and warm contents as it slid down her throat and produced feelings of relaxation from the sugariness of the drink. Usually, the woman would have it packed with caffeine, but there was no such need since it was evening already. And besides, with the question she was going to ask, there was no need to be wired up anyway.

"Thank you, Henrex. I appreciate that. But I have a question! What exactly did you mean by detriments earlier when you were speaking? I was interested ot know what you meant by that."

He took a sip from his own drink, the same as hers. Usually he would have loaded it with sugar since he never really felt it affected it. But, right now, it was just something to warm them up from the cold, as well as to lightly prepare them for going out into it again. After all, ten minutes would fly by fast. He chuckled softly as one cat climbed onto his shoulder to nestle in and sit, turning his head to Saiko.

He wasn't surprised to see her interested in learning of his own experiences as a hybrid. Everyone had their own differences when it came to dealing with such drastic changes from the norm, especially with creatures that didn't exactly mesh well.

"Oh, exhaustion, tiredness, hunger, mostly just general things. It's...not too special, I think."

He turned to look at the clock in the room. Ten minutes was so little time, and it was passing quickly. He quietly pet and stroked the cats that were near and on him, turning back to Saiko.

"Time is running out quicker than I thought...ten minutes really isn't a long time, but, I hope you've had fun. We can always come back after, if you want."

As lovely as these kitties were, she didn't want to overstay her welcome. So, after Henrex warned her of the time limit, Saiko made cooing noises at the cats on her lap and head before gently letting them go and letting them wander to customers next to them. Afterward, she dusted off some of the furs away from her clothing and nodded at Henrex.

"Hmmmmmmmmm, I suppose you are right. We can talk about that later. But first, let's go and get something to eat!"

With a cheery tone, the woman soon stood up, grabbed Henrex's hand, and kissed his cheek in a sudden movement of actions. Then, she hummed and guided them back outdoors as she paused and thought of something.

"Oh, where is this place you wanted to show me? Oops. I got carried away there, hehe."