You sit at the dining room table, table and chairs both wooden. Koko sits across from you, the cute cat girl’s elbows on the table, her chin on her hands. Her green eyes watch you, a pleasant smile on her lips, her red hair up in a ponytail. You turn your pink eyes to her.

“Do I have something on my face?” you say.

“No. You look fine,” she chirps back in response, cocking her head to the side cutely. “Well, you do look a little tired. You sleep well?”

“Actually, I had an odd dream last night.”

“An odd dream?” Her cheeks ever so slightly flush, and her feline ears do a bit of a twitch. “Was I in it?”

“It wasn’t that kind of dream,” you sigh, leaning back in your chair as your mind returns to said dream. “It was a nightmare.”

“Well, its over now,” Koko reassures, her tail swishing. “Want to talk about it?”

“There was a woman crawling on the ceiling in my bedroom.”

“On the ceiling in your bedroom?”

“And a giant rat.”

“A giant rat?”

“Then the woman came out of the rat.”

“Came out of the rat?”

“You really don’t need to do that,” you deadpan, getting a little annoyed by her reactions. You shift your attention to the glass of cola in front of you. Just before you reach for said cola glass, you freeze, something catching your eye in the reflection on the glass, something furry and black. Frantically, you spin around, the color having drained from your face. However, you find nothing out of the ordinary, certainly not a giant rat right behind you. “Y-You didn’t see anything back there did you?”

“Uh. No.” The red-haired, feline woman glances around in confusion. “What did you think you saw?”

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“I thought I saw a giant rat. Guess I’m just jumpy from that nightmare.”

“No worries. No giant rat as you can see.” Koko smiles at you before picking up her own glass and taking a sip of the warm milk filling it. Content, she sets her glass back down, the bottom of the glass lightly tapping the tabletop.

“You two OK with pancakes for breakfast?” Irie pokes her head into the dining room from the hall. You and Koko both turn to face the tall, elven woman.

“Fine with me,” Koko replies cheerfully.

“Sounds good,” you chime in yourself.

“OK. Well, I’m off to make those pancakes.” Irie smiles at the two of you before heading back to the kitchen. Once again, you and Koko are left alone.

You look to the petite cat girl sitting across from you. Said cat girl looks back at you, a cute smirk on her face. Her tail sways ever so softly as she continues to gaze at you.

“You have any dreams last night?” you ask, finally breaking the silence.

Koko stiffens in her seat, her cheeks going a bright red, her ears twitching nervously. “D-Dreams? I-I really don’t remember. W-What are dreams anyway?”

You stare at her, suppressing a giggle at her little freak-out. Somehow, the woman’s blush gets even deeper as she frantically tries to look anywhere other than your face. Maybe she had been the one to have that kind of dream last night, and maybe you were in said dream.

Your pink eyes still on Koko, you watch as she nervously picks up her warm milk and takes a gulp. You then turn your attention to your own drink (your cola) and proceed to take a refreshing swig. Actually, you had been kind of thirsty.

“Breakfast’s ready!” Irie proclaims, walking back into the dining room. “It’s pancakes with butter and maple syrup.” The elf swiftly serves the meal, setting a plate down for herself in the process. Still standing, she then turns to you. “I’m sorry, but we are out of salt.” She turns to Koko, narrowing her eyes. “Seems someone added the rest of the salt to her bath water last night.”

“But I wanted to take a salt bath,” the guilty cat girl pouted, her ears drooping. Well, it looks like she’s over the embarrassment she had earlier.

As the elven woman took a seat, you turn your attention to the food she had set before you. Salt or no salt, it certainly looked scrumptious. It even smelled scrumptious. Gingerly, you cut off a bite-sized chunk of pancake, the bite-sized morsel including a bit of butter and maple syrup. Happily, you pop it into your mouth and begin to chew. The flavor really isn’t that bad. Arguably, it is even good. However, it would have been much better with a bit of salt.