Chapter Text
SUNNY SUZUKI lay in his bed, out of his mind with boredom. His sister, MARI SUZUKI, was practicing, so he couldn't go bother her, and he had no... art juice... to draw anything. So he sat. And stared at his ceiling.
"Mrrrow?" His childhood cat, MEWO, said. His cat was super old. Like, 7 years old. He's had her as long as he could remember. Technically, she's MARI's, but MARI's always busy, so she's SUNNY's.
"Mrrrrrrrrrrrrr" Said MEWO.
"Okay, okay. I'm getting up," SUNNY groaned. He didn't like doing things, anymore. He was too tired, or something like that. He got up and scooped MEWO into his arms, hugging her and scratching her under the chin. Cats struggle to reach there when cleaning themselves, so their skin gets dry. MEWO purred with relaxation. SUNNY tossed her onto the floor, reaching to his dresser for her harness and leash.
"Meow?"
"Up up." SUNNY hooked her up with the harness and leash. His cat was so smart.
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"I'm heading to the COFFEE SHOP!!" SUNNY shouted to MARI as he left the house.
"Keys? Phone? Wallet? Pen?" MARI returned.
"It's all in my bag. And MEWO."
"Have fun! And—oh, SUNNY, it looks like rain. Don't be too long if you're taking MEWO." MARI told him.
"I know, I know."
"Maybe I should come with you some time..." MARI said, quieter. "Well, don't let me obstruct your fun. Go play."
SUNNY rolled his eyes at his sister. 'Play' wasn't what he did. He observed, sketched, and painted his surroundings (like a mature, big boy.) He jotted down notes on what the people said, and so much more. He also played with his cat. Scratching behind her ears gently, cause she was a good girl and deserved it.
SUNNY zipped up his coat. It was colder than expected. Early fall. His classes had started a few weeks ago. They were fun. He was majoring in art, so the people in them were very interesting. Even there, he'd draw his surroundings, draw the people, throw on splashes of colour. There was a blonde boy, his hair streaked with cyan highlights. He was fun to draw.
At the COFFEE SHOP, THE MANAGER's (son? little brother? they look very similar), KELSEY, would usually be chatting up the customers. They usually tried to avoid the friendly advances put on from the boy, but he was very... Enthusiastic. He looked about SUNNY's age. Maybe he'd talk to him, some time. Maybe. THE MANAGER approached SUNNY.
"Hey." SUNNY stopped drawing and tried to cover the sketches of THE MANAGER. But he'd already seen them.
"Nice art. SUNNY, right?" THE MANAGER smiled.
"Yes..."
"You're new in town, correct?"
"No, not really. Been here for about a year."
"Oh. This may seem like a weird question, but are you from FARAWAY TOWN? I think you're one of my old neighbours." SUNNY's eyes widened. Was that why THE MANAGER looked so familiar?
"Yes... What's your name?"
"I'm HENRY." SUNNY made a mental note. "23 years old." He was the same age as MARI. "Friends call me HERO, though. Nickname." He was SUNNY's old neighbour. Literally, next-door.
"CASTELLO, right?"
"Yeah. Hey, you have an older sister, right? Tell her to come down some time. We can catch up after all this time." SUNNY nodded.
"I will."
"Your cat... How long have you had her?"
"I think about 7 years. Why?"
"I knew she looked familiar. HECTOR didn't like her much. How old are you?"
"Nineteen." Odd change of subject, but not too unexpected. Probably to gauge the age gap between SUNNY and KELSEY.
"Neat. My little brother, KEL, he's your age. Do you remember him?" Kind of.
"Kinda..." SUNNY had a few fuzzy memories of a loud, rambunctious boy running around with a loud, rambunctious dog. MEWO didn't exactly care for either of them. HERO laughed.
"I remember you didn't like him much. You were a kid of few words, then, and he... kind of the opposite. You and your cat, you're kinda the same, eh?" SUNNY shrugged. He wanted HERO to go away. Good conversation, but he had LIVE STUDIES due Wednesday at 3. Maybe after his drink was done, he'd be more happy to talk.
"Iced double-shot espresso with 1 pump of vanilla, 2 pumps of soy milk, for SUNNY?!" Called a BARISTA.
"That would be mine." SUNNY said to HERO. SUNNY went and grabbed his coffee, put a 2-dollar-bill tip, and went back to the seat he was at. HERO was petting MEWO, scratching her chin.
"HERO. Did you know that, when cleaning themselves, cats can't scratch or really do anything with the area under their chin? Their skin gets really dry and kinda musty, like dandruff. They love it when you scratch there, it feels really good. But you can get cat dandruff in your nails."
"That's pretty interesting. I figured it just felt good, like scratching a human's back." HERO answered. He seemed a little off-put by SUNNY's random trivia statement. But cat facts are very important.
"Yes. I figured, too, until I got educated." SUNNY said. He worried that his new friend thought he was weird. SUNNY shut up and went back to doing LIVE STUDIES of the patrons. HERO went back to his workers, helping a new one with an order. HERO was a good manager. SUNNY would enjoy working for him, if his time weren't taken up by his classes.
SUNNY gave up on his portrait of THE MANAGER. His vibe was very hard to get down. He was good looking, and super-hot people were VERY hard to draw right. You can't get their... aura... down. Even the best, most realistic, most beautiful art can't possibly capture the way someone carries themself, the way they laugh, the sparkle in their eyes when they talk about something they're passionate about. It's the realism aspect of it, you can't capture their essence if you just do the facts. It's the difference between playing music written on the page, and *feeling* the music. Sometimes, stylization is needed to capture one's true... feel.
SUNNY started drawing the scene around him on the next page. SUNNY was at a window seat, his view was scattered with maple trees and cars. Across the street was DAWN'S BOOKSTORE, diagonally across the intersection was BASIL AND FLOWERS AND FRUIT, OH MY!, commonly shortened to BASIL'S FLOWERS. The owner was BASIL TAYLOR, a young boy (about SUNNY's age) who was studying botany in college. Or that's what the locals said. On the other side, across the street, was a TATTOO SHOP. MARI had been talking about getting a tattoo there, and had said that one of the workers looked about SUNNY's age. The worker had pink hair and usually wore a teal bow. SUNNY could see her out the window. She was talking to a consumer, seemingly arguing. SUNNY wondered what the conflict was about. SUNNY took a sip of his coffee. It was nice and cold. The early fall weather was nice, not too hot, not too cold, just right. Looked like a storm, though.
SUNNY gave MEWO a sip of his coffee. She liked coffee. SUNNY should leave soon. His conversation with HERO was nice, but it took up a lot of time. Most of the customers were leaving, anyway. SUNNY loved the rain. MEWO didn't. Most cats don't. SUNNY would research why when he got home.
"Leaving already?" HERO said to SUNNY, who was pushing his sketchbook and things into his bag.
"Yeah, it looks like rain. Cat..."
"Alrighty. Hope to see you again soon." HERO smiled at SUNNY. HERO was nice. SUNNY would get home and recommend the COFFEE SHOP to MARI. And then he'd submit his LIVE STUDIES. Early work gets... the grade. Doesn't work as well as it does with birds and worms, unfortunately.
SUNNY looked nervously at the sky—it was greying quickly. He picked up MEWO and started walking faster. She made some unhappy noises, but he reassured her "Don't worry, MEWO, I'm just getting home ahead of the rain. You'll be fine." She's such a soft kitty, SUNNY thought. She's the best cat. Bad luck, my ass! Look at that face. The way she blinks. Good luck kitty! And she's smart, like crows and ravens. Not like an orange cat. Black cat W. SUNNY smiled to himself. Cats are great things.