[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/HcglKdi.png[/img]
& Friends[/center]

Mika considered herself pretty average in a lot of ways, but hadn’t really found a lot of people like herself. A love for animals and your fellow magical girl was easy enough to find, but she had yet to meet anyone that was quite like herself. There were those genies that dressed like her, and that weird fox lady that tried to kill her, but they all differed in one way or another. Mika had thought she was the only cat girl in Penrose until a short introduction ago. She was seated across from Kimble, having a drink at the bar. They met a few minutes ago by chance and only really got to exchange their names and a few miscellaneous details about themselves. Like that Kimble worked for Beacon, and Mika worked as a maid.

[color=tomato]“Mmmmmmmmm!”[/color] Mika downed her drink in one gulp. Maybe two. She might have also gotten an ‘ice cream’ headache from doing this. She placed a hand on the side of her head. [color=tomato]“Wow! That’s cold!”[/color] She giggled. Mika was keeping her tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth when she wasn’t speaking. She had heard that ice cream headaches came on when the roof of your mouth got too cold. The problem was that her tongue was just as cold as the rest of her mouth was. [color=tomato]“We should do something. Everyone’s going to that talent show, I know we could dream up something.”[/color] She propped up her head with her elbows. [color=tomato]“Or maybe we should go on a date first, since we only just met.”[/color]

“Sure thing, nya! I still can’t believe there was another cat girl on the island, let alone one so fun like you, Mika!” She lapped up the remains of her juice, and afterwards left it on the table as she hopped down, crouching on all fours. “Let’s go prowl, Mika! I’ve always wanted to practice my stalking skills, nya!”

Mika remained seated, and just raised an eyebrow at Kimble’s reply. Something that was bothering Mika about the girl was the way she spoke. It seemed like any time she got done saying something, she would say “nya,” which sounded a bit to Mika like she was slurring “nah” and “yah” together. She had no idea what Kimble was trying to get at.

Did she not want to go on a date? Did she not want to practice her stalking skills? Or did she think her stalking skills would help with the date somehow? Mika was confused, but trusted in her ability to read the situation. They were both cat girls, so all Mika had to do was recall her deep knowledge of felines to understand what Kimble wanted. After a few seconds of intense thought, Mika nodded.

[color=tomato]“Alright!”[/color] she hopped off the chair. [color=tomato]“Close your eyes and count to thirty!”[/color] 

Kimble was flabbergasted by Mika’s suggestion, and leaned her head to the side in curious fashion. “But why, Mika? I can’t see if I close my ny-eyes.” She yelped a bit as Mika moved her hands, and then kept them there with a pout. “Well, okay! One, two...” She counted loudly. When she was done, she opened her eyes. “Huh? Where did Mika-OOOH!” Her mouth opened wide in realization, and she took a beast-like position, her tails straight. “She wants me to hunt her! This is going to be easy; she smells like fruit!” She sniffed her nose, crawling around the outside of the cafe with her face close to the stone-covered road, before she began running like a lion. Her tracks ended up at a seaside cave. “Can’t smell her anymore...She must have washed herself in the sea. But I’ll find her! No prey escapes me, nyah!” She then entered the cave, her eyes shining in the dark.

Mika had to be close. Kimble’s keen eyes could see wet puddles glistening in the ambient light. If she had washed herself down, she might still be wet. There were a few pairs of footprints, but only one of them was saturated with water. Kimble pressed forth, sure that she would find Mika soon.

But, things would become less certain as she pressed forth.

The cave opened up into a large underground lake, one with hundreds of [url=https://youtu.be/JC41M7RPSec?t=8]glow worms[/url] dancing overhead. The lake was shallow enough to walk through, and there were no observable entrances. There were a plethora of stalagmites and stalactites to hide behind. She would find Mika as long as Kimble didn’t let her slip by.

Kimble slowly stalked through the cavern, her eyes wide as she looked up at the countless glow worms. “Wooow! So pretty! These wormy worms look like stars on a night sky~” However, her moment of bliss came to an abrupt end, as one patch of the glittering sky came falling down on her, eliciting [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZMv9eUk5Uw&feature=youtu.be&t=4]the kind of sounds one would expect from a distressed feline[/url].

Mika had made her body look like a group of glow worms. It was a difficult look to pull off, and even Mika couldn’t do it perfectly. She had to make her entire body black like an insect before creating several glowworm looking appendages. It was an illusion Mika could only keep up for a few seconds, but it seemed to have worked.

Kimble and Mika ended up rolling into a big ball as they fought for control in a hissing fit , until they rolled down a slope and Mika ended up on top of Kimble. Mika had reverted back to her normal magical form. “Nooo! Nyou cheated, Mika!” Kimble accused her, a fang protruding from her upper lip. “Well, fine. You won the hide-and-seek, nyeh...”

It took Mika a few seconds to fully recover from the tumble. They were both soaking wet, having rolled around in a six inch deep puddle that spanned this section of the cave. [color=tomato]“Did I win?”[/color] Mika shook the water out of her ears. [color=tomato]“I’m sorry if that upset you, I thought you’d find that sort of thing amusing.”[/color] Mika’s tail began wagging side to side. [color=tomato]“B-but you found me, so that’s all that matters.”[/color] She really didn’t like that she made Kimble upset. This might be the only other cat girl in Penrose. She had to do something to cheer her up, and fast. [color=tomato]“Um, well, here! You found me, so how about…”[/color] She leaned in and kissed Kimble on the head.

Kimble blinked, and shook her head in confusion. “Nhyah!” She pawed at her skin, blushing. “Wh-Why did you do that, Mika? You should only kiss people you really like, nyeh. I’m glad Mistress didn’t see that; she might think I’m cheating on her!” She managed to lift Mika off her, and shook her body like an animal to dry herself off. “Nhh, I’d like to kiss Mistress myself, but I think she won’t like that. But her doll...I would do anything to have doll-Mistress...” She happened to mumble her thoughts aloud.

Mika didn’t move from her spot in the water. There had to be something wrong here because she was pretty sure this was supposed to be a date. That didn’t mean Mika wasn’t a little upset that she had offended Kimble, as that wasn’t her intent. But at least she had confirmed that “nyah” was, indeed, “nah.” She sat upright. [color=tomato]“I do like you though! ”[/color] She didn’t want to keep apologizing, even if the situation called for it. She decided it would be best to just do something else that Kimble would like. Fortunately, she was mumbling about something she wanted. [color=tomato]“B-but anyway, you want one of the dolls at the boutique? ”[/color] Mika cleared her throat. [color=tomato]“I think I can get one. They aren’t that expensive, right?”[/color]

Kimble nodded, and went over to the pond to wash her head. “You really mean it? Nyah! I’m so happy. Thank you so much Mika!” It didn’t take long before the two emerged from the cave, having concluded their hide-and-seek on amicable terms. “I’m so glad there’s kind people like you on this island.” She shaded her eyes with her hand as she looked up at a few tropical birds flying by. “I guess you must have worked hard to get more than five Gold Coins, huh?”

Mika was nodding along to Kimble before the price came up. [color=tomato]“...Five?!”[/color] Mika didn’t have her money on her person, but she knew she didn’t have that much. [color=tomato]“Five gold? um.”[/color] she twiddled her thumbs. [color=tomato]“But that sounds like a scam. Yea! I bet the boutique lady is a scam artist!”[/color] Mika didn’t get fired up like this often, but people who tried to swindle others were going against nature's balance. Somehow. She was sure of it. [color=tomato]“Well, I was going to buy that doll of myself because of how cute it was, but if this is how they want to play it, this is how we’ll play it.”[/color] Mika rolled up her sleeves with a smile. Only she didn’t have sleeves so she had to pretend she did. [color=tomato]“I think I know how we can get a doll for free.”[/color]

Kimble looked sad at Mika’s revelation, her ears drooping. “Oh...And I got my hopes up too, nhhh....” She softly whined. She didn’t seem to believe her at first about the shop being a scam, but it seemed she was interested. “For free? How can we do that?”

[color=tomato]“It’s simple!”[/color] Mika pointed at her empty palm. [color=tomato]“We take one without paying for it!”[/color] There was a brief pause. [color=tomato]“Well, first I’m going to ask why it’s worth so much. And if I don’t like her answer, [i]then[/i] I’m taking it!”[/color]

Kimble leaned her head to the side. “But isn’t that stealing, nyah?”

[color=tomato]“I mean...”[/color] It was stealing, there was no question about that. But the person selling plushies was asking for a large sum of money for something that probably didn’t cost them much at all. It was clear to Mika that this person was a scam artist, and Kimble was just too sweet and/or ignorant to see it. However… [color=tomato]“I guess you’re right.”[/color] 

Kimble looked on with a pained smile, and wrapped her hands around Mika in a comforting hug. “It’s okay, nyah. I know you had good intentions, but stealing is still wrong, no matter what.” She then heard an announcement with a spring of her furry ears. Dan announcing the Keijo tournaments. 

[color=tomato]“Oh, right, I was going to join that.”[/color] Mika waved to Kimble.  [color=tomato]“I’ll catch up with you later!”[/color] She sped off towards the arena.

 “O-Oh, okay then. See you there, Mika!” She waved to her, and bit her upper lip. “Mmm...Maybe if I ask the shopkeep nicely, she’ll give me a discount...” She skulked back to the shop, unaware of the fateful meeting that would wait for her there.