cosmolite-doodles

Credit goes to scribblin.deviantart.com/

Gala was alone in the kitchen. The other members of the crew were fast asleep or working away in another room, and the light of the warm lamp shone dimly in the night. She surveyed the ingredients before her with tired interest. These were new fruits and flowers, and Gala certainly hoped that her customers would enjoy the new batch of teacats.

She swept the armful of lantern rose petals into the kettle, watching silently as the water began to boil. The teacat maker slid onto a fluffy armchair mere feet away from the refrigerator, emerald irises flickering over to land on a bubble teacat sitting inches away. Emitting a tiny sigh, Gala buried her head in her hands. Her copper buns drooped with her movement, mimicking her current mood. 

It just so happened to be the busiest time of the month, and the teacat crew was famished and exhausted. Customers and clients flocked to the café every single day, and there seemed to be not a moment where they could sit and relax. Teacats here, teacats there, teacats everywhere. The customers became such a hassle that several people wanted to take a day off. But, to their disappointment, Gala had refused. She couldn't let her clients suffer and the profit to drop. After all, she couldn't let the customers be disappointed in the business, and she knew that they would desperately want a teacat of their own.

The atmosphere was becoming somber real fast, and Gala could tell that soon her crew would get so tired that the business would collapse on them. Burying her russet curls deeper into her hands, Gala heard the distinct noise of the kettle whistling. Leaping up, she dashed to the kettle and took the top off of the pot. A singing teacat sat inside, tooting happily at her with wood flute whistles.

Gala took the teacat gently out, pouring it into a white teacup, and stepped back to admire the tiny little thing. It glowed gently with a cyan light, the air around it swirling with a blue hue. The teacat chirped at her merrily, and Gala couldn't help but smile. She set it next to the bubble teacat, and listened to them communicating.

A sudden idea struck her. If teacats made her and everyone in the café so happy, why couldn't she make some for the crew? They certainly deserved a gift after all this time. 

Gala continued to work deep into the night, slowly becoming more disheveled as time went on. Even so, she didn't care. By dawn, she had a new teacat for each of her crew members. They were labeled neatly with a little name tag and were decorated nicely.

Exhaling a breath of relief, Gala collapsed back into her armchair, watching the crew file in one by one while the sun rose behind her. She weakly waved her hands at the teacats sitting in front of them, and watched their faces light up with excitement as they picked their gifts up. Faun smiled at her and set another teacat at Gala's side - Sir Jiggleton.

Sir Jiggleton jiggled merrily at the sight of Gala, and the teacat maker couldn't help but smile. One by one, each of her fellow co-workers had thanked her multiple times before leaving, the teacat and his maker alone in the kitchen.

"It's all worth it in the end, isn't it?" Gala asked the teacat, and Sir Jiggleton burbled in response. A small grin curving the ends of her lips, Gala fell asleep.  Sir Jiggleton moved out of his cup and slid into her lap, waiting for her to wake and the café to rise.