Nyam is currently busy serving a group of customers at the maid cafe. "Three omelets, one big coffee and two ice coffee's, coming right up nya~.", said the now RGB-colored catgirl as she struck a cute pose and formed a heart with her hands. Just how her fellow maids taught her, with the added nya. They said that, since she has cat ears, it would be fitting to say that too.
She turned around with a twirl and walked towards the kitchen to pass on the order, "Here is the order for table 9, thank you very much!". "Thank you. Hmmm… it'll be done in about 10 minutes.", said the burly chef of the cafe to her. Giving him a nod she looked around for more customers to service. The cafe was rather full today, almost all tables were occupied, but it didn't seem like there is a customer that needs something right now. So she turned around again and went into the break room to catch a breather.
"Ah!", she found the inside occupied by a young girl. Well, she said young but she looks about 16 or 17 years old. Nyam had seen her here before, one of the maids. This is probably her summer job, to earn some extra pocket money. Nyam forgot her name. She only heard it once, so it can't be helped!
"Hello.", she greeted her politely.
"Yeah! I mean- Hello to you too! No that sounds weird… uhm, nice to see you again Nyam-senpai!", the girl stumbled over her own words, before finally coming up with a fitting greeting.
Nyam blinked at the way the girl addressed her, "Senpai?" she asked while tilting her head.
"Uh- yeah! You know, because you work here longer than me… d-do you not know what it means? Did I say something weird?", she looked rather scared now.
"Nyo", Nyam shook her head "it's not weird. I was just surprised that's all. Nobody called me senpai here before, that's all."
"Ooooooh, so that's how it is! Thank goodness…", the new girl said, mumbling the last part to herself. "But how come nobody here called you senpai before!? You are so beautiful and clearly super experienced at being a maid.", she added.
"Hehehe, actually I was the newest member here before you joined. I've also never been a maid before.", the catgirl replied.
"WHAAAAAT???? But how is that possible!? You are so beautiful and graceful and you handle the customers so well, like a true pro… You even went the extra mile and wear cat-ears! They are so cute and can even move! I heard the customers love them too. You also add "nya" to the end of your sentences which is sooooooooooooooooo cute! Almost like a real cat!", she said. The admiration and respect, she felt for Nyam, almost palpable.
Nyam huffed and pouted, "Of course I'm good at maidery nya~."
"WAAAAAAAAHHHH, SO CUTE!!! I wish I could be as cute and awesome as you!", the rookie maid said while making this expression: ">.<". With some added blushes.
They talked for a bit longer before the door to the break room opened again and two distressed maids walked in.
"What should we do… should we ask them to leave? Maybe call the police?", said maid one in a whisper.
"I don't know… I don't want him to get angry. Who knows what he'd do…", the other one replied in an anxious voice.
"Sahra, Ashley? What's wrong, did something happen?", Nyam asked the two newcomers.
"Ah, Nyam and uhm… Emily, right?", Sahra, the first maid, said. In response, the new girl Emily, whose name Nyam definitely didn't forget, nodded.
"Well… there is this suspicious person in the cafe. None of the staff saw him enter. He just appeared out of nowhere and is now sitting alone at a table, just looking at the menu.", Ashley answered the previous question.
"They look very scary and we don't know what to do. None of the maids want to go near them.", Sahra supplied.
"Let me take a look", Nyam opened the door a tiny bit and peeked into the main room. She could immediately tell which person Ashley and Sahra were talking about. They wore a big trenchcoat, a fedora, black leather gloves, and what looked like oversized rain boots for children. All the pieces looked a few sizes too big for the person wearing them. She couldn't see the face because the coat and hat obscured her vision, probably intentionally. The person wasn't particularly big, tall, or intimidating but looked very creepy and out of place.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
"Waaaaaahh, he looks like that mysterious character from an action movie. It's kinda cool…"
When Nyam looked down she saw Emily crawling under her to also inspect the stranger. "Get off the ground Emily, you'll get your dress dirty."
"Ah, s-sorry", after being scolded the now timid girl stood up. Since they got to take a look at them, Nyam closed the door again. As she was doing that, it almost looked like the stranger looked in their direction for a moment. The catgirl wasn't sure if that actually happened however, it was hard to tell.
"You saw him, right? What do you think we should do?", when she turned back around, she was greeted with the anxious faces of the two experienced maids. They seemed to have no idea what to do now. Emily just stared into empty space. Judging by the excited look on her face, she was likely daydreaming.
"I'll talk to them.", the brave Nyam declared as the others looked at her with awe. She was used to handling weird people.
"A-are you sure? You don't have to do that, you know. We can just call the police and pretend we are too busy to talk to him until they arrive.", Ashely said, now concerned for Nyams well being.
"It's alright. They don't look very intimidating and they may just be a normal customer with an odd clothing sense. Even if they turn out to be violent, I'm sure I can defend myself and our other guests.", she gave them a confident smile while saying that and their respect for the catgirl grew even more. Even Emily woke up from her childish fantasies and was making noises of admiration.
After receiving their good luck wishes, the confident catgirl walked out of the break room and straight towards the weird stranger. Once she arrived at the table, she issued her usual greeting as if talking to a normal customer, "Welcome to the Flower Bed maid cafe, nya~. My name is Nyam. Can I get you a drink, sir?"
"Ahhh, enfin! One has appeared to serve this precious cliente, customer! Hohohohohoho!", the stranger said and looked up from the menu. Now that Nyam could see the stranger's face, she could clearly see the goofy glasses with the giant nose and mustache attached to them. The kind that you see in cartoons and old movies. What actually left her speechless, however, is the skeleton that's wearing them.
"…"
"Alrighto, lette this one see. Can I have a uhhhhh…."
"Grave, what are you doing."
"What is this tomba, grave, that you are talking about? That is not the proper way to treat your goshujin-sama, is it? But I forgive you, you must be new. Anyway, I want uhhhh……."
"No, I know it's you. How did you even find this place? I never talked about where I work."
"Thou musset confuse me with jemand anderes, someone else, young cat. Now, I would like to order please."
Nyam sighed. She looked behind herself, towards the break room, and saw three heads poke out, looking at her from within the room. One of them rather far down, likely dirtying their dress again. Nyam shook her head and decided to just go along with the dumb skeleton.
"Alright, then what do you want?"
"Gwahwahwah, shouldn't you be a bit more polie, polite, and cute while asking that?"
"I already did that. Now tell me or I'll leave."
"Ok ok, no need to rush. Alright, so can you bring me uhhhhhh…"
"…"
"..uhhhhhhhh…"
"…what now?"
"…uhhhhh milk."
"We don't serve milk here."
"But you serve coffee, so you have milk that you put in the coffee too right? Can't you just give me that?"
"Nyo. Only if you buy a coffee."
"Ok then get me, hmmmmm… carbonated milk."
"…we don't have that either. Why would you even want that? That sounds gross."
"Huh, yeah your right it does. I mean- Ahem! Thou ares't saxan, correct. I don't desire a liquid, in that circonstance, case."
"Okaaaaay~. I'll check up with you later then when you are ready to order your food!"
Nyam turned around and walked back. Normally the maids would bow to the customer after receiving an order, but the skeleton didn't need to know that.
Once she got back into the break room, she found the three maids still waiting for her. Ashley was the first to speak up, "So? H-how did it go?"
Nyam sighed, "It was ok. He isn't a threat, don't worry. Though we may still have to call the police later on. Either way, I'll handle him, so you all don't need to go near him."
"Nyam is our heroine!" "Nyam is awesome!" "Nyam is a good kitty!"
For her heroic acts, Nyam was praised. Since she defused the situation, the other maids could safely go back to work now and normality, somewhat, returned to cafe Flower Bed. Except for Nyam, who was, once again, forced to deal with the unruly customer.
"I'm telling you, maid cafes don't have lobsters."
"Capisco, I understand, but why??? What law of nature prevents them from serving lobsters?"
"None, we just don't. Pick something from the menu."
"But I can't read this! This is like, Japanese in English lette- I mean, lettere!"
"Of course it is, this is a maid cafe… Also, there is an English name and description, as well as a picture of the dish, too."
"This is it! I have had enoufu of this Einrichtung, establishment! I shall leave this place and never come back. You can cry over me all you want, I shall not change my mind!"
The angry person in a trenchcoat stood up and walked out of the door dramatically. After a few seconds, he came back and yelled, "No I won't! Cry all you want". Before disappearing once again. Nobody was crying, in case you are a bit on the slow side.
Nyam sighed and went into the break room once again. She was arguing with the dumb skeleton for about 10 minutes and couldn't even bonk him on the head. A maid wouldn't do that. Unless it's a pervert. She also doesn't want her manager or the other customers to see. So she had to resort to a peaceful conversation, despite knowing it won't work. For some reason the skeleton gave up way earlier than she expected him to, which is good she supposed. She is still exhausted, however, but at least she can get some well-deserved rest now.
The door to the break room was suddenly opened and Emily barged in, "Nyam-senpai! We need your help, there is more trouble!"
Nyam went to the door and looked at what the maid in training was talking about. At the same table, she had the argument with Grave, sat now a person with bright colored, glittering clothes. They were also wearing clowns shoes and had an afro, as well as a facemask and sunglasses to hide the face. Under their arm, they were carrying a big disco ball.
Nyam looked at Emily and said, "Call the police."
"Senpai!?"
By the end of her shift, Nyam was exhausted. Very exhausted. Not so exhausted that she couldn't walk anymore, but she still made the person, currently dressed in a full-body Donald Trump suit, carry her home on their shoulders. She changed back into her casual clothes before leaving the cafe, so it's fine.
"Bad Grave…", she said and weakly bumped him on the head.
"Awwww, don't be like that. We had some good fun, didn't we? Your maid friends seem to really like you now too.", the culprit said.
"They always did, baka…", Nyam was feeling sleepy. Graves's boney body wasn't soft enough to sleep on however, just one more way he manages to annoy her.
Grave decided to stay quiet after that and walked down the street in silence, towards their shared apartment.
As they were walking, Grave suddenly stopped and looked in the direction of a certain shop.
"Wanna get some ice cream?", he asked.
The answer to that was, "Yes, it's your treat."
"As per usual…"
"Shut up."