Chapter Text
Ah, Mags' friends are a lively bunch, that's for sure.
Saoirse, Nat and Xiv, Mags' friends.
Saoirse and Xiv have been around for about a year or so, but that isn't to say that they aren't as close to Mags as Nat, who's been around for a long while. Saoirse is more reserved to those who don't know her, but she definitely matches Mags well in all manners of things, from their sense of humour, to their fierce loyalty to those who are close to them. Saoirse is very beautiful, and a great friend to anyone lucky enough to call them one.
Xiv is a lot like a little brother to the group, he and Mags get along well. Xiv is a pretty confident guy, definitely still as anxious, but a bit more hyperactive then the others. It's as if they're constantly on caffeine, its more likely just monster though. It's kinda impressive.
Nat is great. Once you get past the initial nervousness, he's always a calming presence, a helping hand, and many many more things. Mags and Nat have known each other since childhood, they've both changed a whole lot, but not enough to split apart.
They are all platonic soulmates. A second family to Mags. And Mags cares about them as such.
Ms Sage, the owner of Heaven's Cats - a cat café in their local town - was struggling with all the work with the lack of workers she had. So, when the bumbling group came in looking for work, she interviewed them each individually, and decided to just take them all on. Ms Sage is a kind and caring person, and isn't afraid to treat a person how they treat her. There's a few others that work there. A barista named Magnolia, she's very pretty in Mags' humble opinion. A tad bit loud and says some pretty rude things sometimes, but she is sweet nonetheless. There's another, more moody co-worker of theirs, called Aether. He's miserable, despite being surrounded by cats constantly. Saoirse said that those are two things that she actually can't believe can happen in the same lifetime.
So, there they were, getting ready at their shared apartment for their first day on the job. Mags and Saoirse are gonna learn how to be waiters. Xiv and Nat are gonna learn to be baristas. This is a slightly larger cat café, so usually people would do all three jobs of making the drinks, serving them AND taking care of the cats - or 'angels' as they're said to be. But, Ms Sage had decided to separate it into two jobs previously, with both being able to help out with the cats. Saoirse is currently helping out Mags with their makeup as they sort out their curly hair, having already done herself up in that gothic style that they love, Nat is brushing his short hair, and Xiv is sorting out his outfit and accessories. They're all able to dress pretty casually, but it has to at least be a bit smart. They each have a branded accessory from Ms Sage. Mags has branded sunglasses to wear for their shifts, Saoirse has a bracelet, Nat has a hairclip, and Xiv has a necklace. This is to make it so the customers at least know they work there without their normal aprons, they don't look bad, Mags can admit. If the branded accessories (the branding being a sideways cat with little wings on it's back) don't work out for some reason, they can always keep the accessories anyway.
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The first shift goes well. Or as well as it can. Nat and Xiv get accustomed to creating drinks, sometimes dropping a thing or two, or spilling something. Though Magnolia seems to be impatient from first glance, she helps them out and clears up, remembering the first few days as a barista for herself and grimacing.
Saoirse and Mags get taught the basics, learning how to get better balance for the trays, serve the drinks out successfully and put on their best customer service voice. They both get a creative little badge that says "I'm new here, please be patient!", though Aether doesn't seem to care much about that, and decides that treating them like they've been on the job for years at this point is the best course of action (it isn't, and the friends both sneak a snort or two when Aether gets pissy with them and shouts).
Eventually, after their shift is practically done and there's no customers left, the four of them are properly introduced to the angels. Pebbles, Yuki, Pablo, Jack, Smudge and Minnie (Mags especially likes Yuki and Pablo, but keeps it to themselves.) The angels are 6 cats, rescued from previous homes for various reasons, and placed in the care of Ms Sage and her café. Aether is very gentle with them, he's more of an animal guy than a human guy. Makes sense. As the cats play around their feet, Magnolia jokes a bit with Mags about the similarity of their names, and relays how Magnolia is sometimes called Mags as a nickname. Nat is practically in heaven, funny that. The cats have all taken a liking to Nat in particular. Saoirse is petting Jack as he purrs and nuzzles into her hand, and feeding Pebbles a treat at the same time, while Xiv has Smudge and Minnie coming up to him and rubbing their sides on his arm and chuffing happily.
Safe to say they all love their job a lot so far.
At the very end, Ms Sage takes the cats to the place they rest for the night (she lives upstairs, Mags can only imagine the scenery up there with how pretty the actual café is), and then sits down with the four of them, letting Magnolia and Aether leave to go to their respective homes.
"Well, you four are a delight!! I hope Magnolia and Aether are good teachers for you all. I know they're both a bit difficult, but they'll both warm up eventually. But! That's off topic. Your shifts all tend to fall on the same days, you can take extra shifts if you ever wanted, but I'm excited to see you all more."
Ms Sage says, chuckling and with a smile on her kindly-natured face. Mags says a small, embarrassed thank you along with Nat, and gets punched playfully in the arm by Saoirse, who bears a small smirk, because of the look on their face. They can only assume that they're about as red as a pink lady apple (their favourite) right now.
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The four of them walk back to their home, giggling and making inside jokes that wouldn't sound like much more than gibberish to anyone other than the four of them. They all fall asleep in various positions: Mags and Saoirse on the sofa in the most uncomfortable-comfortable position ever, Nat in a hammock that they randomly brought back from a shopping trip for food, and Xiv on a beanbag. They're all close, the slowly setting sun's rays falling onto each of their skins and making them feel warm and calm. There is a palpable sense of trust in the air, you could almost breathe in the serenity. There's a buzzing from the TV- they were watching a movie, a pretty random one at that. They just found it and all ended up falling asleep to it. It was probably pretty boring anyways.
Mags falls asleep with a smile on their face, either way.