Rive walked into the café at 1:23 AM. His fur and clothes soaked, as if the rain outside where a river he had just swam through. He shivered as he climbed on to one of the stools at the bar, and ordered a cup of coffee. Sliding off his now heavy coat with a grunt, he stuck a cigarette between his lips as he fumbled trough his pockets for a match. He was about to give up hope of finding one when his drink arrived, but at last his claws grasped the book and produced it from his deep warn pockets. His relief was short lived however as the book was as wet as he was. He groaned a little, placing it back in his pocket. Just one more thing that’s gone wrong… He thought, staring down at his coffee.
The café was small and more than a little rundown. Water marks covered the ceiling were water had in the past leaked through. Most of the stools were old and cracking, matching the bar and floor perfectly. The picture window next to the door was covered in dirt and dust, making it nearly impossible to see the buzzing neon sign hanging in it. Old ceiling fans squeaked as they turn slowly above the room, no longer serving any real purpose other than irritation. The paint on the walls had long faded from their deep red hue, now only showing a rather sick looking pink that had already started to flake off of the plaster beneath. This place had seen better days, that much was certain, as it seemed to be on its last legs and gasping for one more breath.
Deep in his thoughts, Rive didn’t notice the woman sit next to him. He just continued to stare down at his cooling drink, the unlit cigarette still clenched between his teeth. He was surprised when a flame appeared in front of his face, making him snap back to the present. The girl smiled and extended the lighter to the end of his smoke before pulling away and stowing it in her pocket.
“Sorry, but it kind of looked like you’d forgotten to do that,” she laughed, “You look like you’ve been dragged through ten kinds of shit friend.” She paused, waiting for him to respond. When he didn’t she asked, as she furrowed her brow a bit, “bad day at the office, huh?”
Rive smiled a little, taking a puff. “Yes. You could say that.” He knew that he must look terrible right now, and in all honesty he felt much the same way. His blue and pink fur seemed to have been glued down to his skin from the rain, which left his long tail drooping pitifully on the floor. If there was ever a cat that looked more down-right mangy than him right now, he’d have to tip his hat to them for accomplishing such a difficult task.
The woman looked at him closely raising her eyebrows. “Well, you—you wanna talk about it?”
Rive’s smile faded as he picked up his cup, taking a small cautious sip. “No. But thank you.”
“Aww come on.” She pouted, her ruby red lips puffed out with a slight quiver. “Didn’t you ever hear? They say…they say sometimes it’s good to spill your guts to total strangers.”
Raising an eyebrow he turned to look at her. “Do they now?” he chuckled, taking another drag.
“Oh yeah, but then again they say all kinds of shit.” She laughed. “So what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a cop.”
“Really?!” her face lit up, her smile now turning into a full grin. “That’s fantastic!”
Rive just frowned, turning back to his coffee. “What’s so ‘fantastic’ about it?”
The girl was taken aback by this, her smile drooping. “Well…it’s a job of value, y’know? A cop contributes something to society…”
“I guess it does.”
“So…so I guess you’ve seen all kinds of crazy shit huh?”
“That I have…”
“Like what? Like, what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen?”
Rive looked up from his coffee, but not at her. His eyes drifted to the window, its sign was now flickering on and off, making the buzzing more obvious as it stopped and started. He sighed again before turning to face her. “Well today is pretty far up there.”
“What happened today?”
Rive looked at the woman. She had dark red fur and large trusting eyes, the color of jade. He took another puff before snuffing what was left out in a nearby ash tray.
“Well, today actually started last week with me and my partner Nyck…”