Chapter Six - Eating Tea People Place

Crossover: Stray Cat Strut by RavensDagger

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Dreamer turned her head to the side and stared. There was something happening to space in the middle of the kitchen. Physics wasn’t screaming, but it was scratching its metaphorical head in confusion.

Then, a couple of seconds later, a box appeared. It was big and square and made of some sort of clear material that Dreamer had never tasted before.

“Taa-daa,” the girl called Stray Cat said.

“Whoa,” Abigail said. “And that’s a stove?”

“It is,” Stray Cat said. “It’s... some super high-tech stove thing. Like, I’m not big on the whole ‘don’t give the locals laser pistols’ thing, but I’m pretty sure this stove is some prime directive violating thing. You put food in, it scans it, then it nukes it until it’s perfectly cooked. Baking takes a little longer since it’s baking and that’s some chemical shit that can’t exactly be sped up.”

“Surprisingly, there is a lot of overlap between baking and some forms of alchemy,” Daphne said. “I think we’ll be able to figure things out.”

Stray Cat shrugged. “Sure. So, that’s the kind of stuff I can hand out. Never thought I’d be buying a stove, but hey.”

Dreamer stopped staring at the box, then looked over to the stove they had. It was a big metal thing, with a chimney on the back and some space for wood to go in it. The new one was a lot smaller. Also, she sensed a lot of power in it. “What makes the new stove hot?” Dreamer asked.

“Uh,” Stray Cat said. Her eyes glazed over, and she blinked. “Well, you guys don’t have electricity, so it’s powered by... seriously?” It sounded almost like she was listening to someone that wasn’t there, which Dreamer figured was the thing inside her head.

“What is it?” Abigail asked.

“Do you know what nuclear radiation is?”

Abigail shook her head.

“Then don’t worry about it.” Stray Cat grinned. “So, what else do you need?”

“We need a few things,” Daphne said. “Lights and chairs, as well as some furniture in the rooms above.”

“A bed,” Dreamer said.

The girl she summoned nodded along. “Yeah, sure, screw it. Apparently I’m buying a bed and some chairs instead of anything cool. How attached are you guys to the old timey rustic look? Because the genuine wood is neat and all, but it’s a bit great-grandpa for my tastes, you know?”

“What’s wrong with wood?” Abigail asked.

“Well, it’s wood,” Stray Cat said. “It’s not exactly cool, you know?” She gestured round the kitchen at all of the wooden stuff. “”Like, it’s nice I guess. But you’re not going to RGB your wooden counters, right?”

Daphne huffed. “If you think your idea of interior decor is better, than please, do as you see fit.”

Stray Cat grinned. “Perfect! I love getting permission to mess things up. Maybe... alright, don’t freak out, but I’m not actually great at interior decor.”

“Reassuring, especially after you just tried to convince us to let you do as you see fit,” Daphne said.

“Yeah, well, as I was going to say Miss Snarks a Lot, I have an AI that’s great at making things look neat, so let’s let her do her thing, yeah?”

Dreamer looked around her. The same feeling that happened when the stove appeared was happening, but all over now.

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Abigail gasped as the walls disintegrated, the big oven in the corner crumbled apart, and the counters and shelves turned to so much dust. Dreamer squinted. There were teeny tiny little things eating all the furniture apart and turning it into dust before they slid away. It was weird.

Then new furniture started to show up. Big metal cabinets with glass fronts appeared on most of the walls, and the stove disappeared and reappeared in a countertop. A big metal machine appeared where the oven had been, and lights swung from the ceiling and cast bright white light across the room.

“Whoa,” Abigail said. She was staring at everything with wide eyes, and even Daphne seemed impressed.

“Neat,” Stray Cat said as she took in the new kitchen. “So, Myalis is chattering at me about the changes, but mostly it’s new furniture. Some wiring in the walls. The building’s supports were made of wood, so those have been reinforced with some sort of metal alloy stuff. There’s a fire-extinguishing system in place, and some duct work to push smoke out, and.. Yeah, that’s most of the technical stuff.”

“Why is everything cat themed?” Daphne asked.

It was true, the cabinet windows had little paws on them, and the new oven had cat ears.

“Because of reasons,” Stray Cat said. “Look, the front was done too. And the upstairs... you know, this place is pretty nice now.”

They moved into the front of the shop where the till was replaced with a machine with a flat glass panel. There was still some wood around, but a lot of it had been warped and reshaped to be pretty. Four tables sat in the front of the room, with four cat-backed chairs sitting around each. The floor looked like it was brand new, all shiny and sleek.

“See, I said I was good at summoning,” Dreamer said.

Abigail patted her head. “Yeah,” she said.

“The washroom was fixed up too,” Cat said. “And the floor above. I bet you two will really enjoy the bed.”

“We will,” Dreamer agreed.

“I... meant these two, but... you do you.” Stray Cat raised her hands in surrender. “So, that’s everything. Though Myalis wanted to know if you wanted anything specific written on the sign out front.”

“You did the front too?” Daphne asked. Dreamer had never seen her so impressed.

“I didn’t do anything,” Stray Cat said. “But yes, I did.”

They moved out the front--there was a new bell that made a happy jingly jangle noise when they opened the door and also when Dreamer poked it with a tentacle once the door shut--and they gathered on the edge of the street.

The tea shop’s windows had been replaced with some that looked a bit blurry now, but that still looked nice, and there were some empty planters on the outside for flowers and stuff. Above the doorway was a big sign, one that was entirely blank.

“Oh, we need a name,” Abigail said.

“That’s easy,” Dreamer said. “This place is for people to come and drink tea and for eating, right?”

“It is,” Abigail said.

“Then we should call it the Eating Tea People Place,” Dreamer said.

“I think we can brainstorm better ideas than that,” Daphne said. “How about ‘Abigail’s?’”

“No,” Dreamer said. “That’s Abigail’s name already. This is a place for tea, right? We’re going to call it... The Ten’Tea’Cle Shop.”

***