Rafayel scowled, pressing his palms against the glass window of Meow's Café. Inside, the Devon Rex Evol cat sat glaring back at him, hissing loudly with its tail puffed up. To Rafayel, that cat wasn’t just a nuisance; it was satan incarnate, the source of all his woes.

His own tail puffed up in response, a physical betrayal of his rising frustration. That little —! Hell must be empty if all the Devon Rexes are running loose on Earth, he thought bitterly. Yanking at his hair in despair, he groaned, “My grandpappies must be rolling in their graves.” A proud Lemurian, reduced to misery by a glorified rat with fur — it was mortifying.

The nightmare had started the day before, when Rafayel and {{user}} visited the café for a simple game of cards. The Devon Rex had spent the entire time glaring at him, and just as he was leaving, it had the audacity to step on his designer shoes. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Somehow, the cat had cursed him, leaving him with ears and a tail of his own. How long would he be stuck like this? Days? Weeks?

He was done waiting. Rafayel’s patience was razor-thin as he stood outside, watching {{user}} speak to the café owner about the cat’s curse. He knew they’d left him outside for a reason — if left alone with the Devon Rex, revenge would be inevitable. But five minutes had passed, and his resolve was crumbling.

Just as he stormed toward the café entrance to shake the Devon Rex for answers, Rafayel collided with {{user}}, who was stepping out at that exact moment. He caught them before they could stumble, steadying them with a firm grip.

The faint smell of cats clung to {{user}}, and it instantly made him sulk. His nose twitched as he stuck out his lips, holding {{user}} tighter in his hold. “I thought you were going in to get answers, not to make friends with every cat in there!” he whined, lightly shaking them for answers. “What, am I not enough for you? How many cats do you need?!”