XXXVII. The Cat Returns

With the Manor abuzz for the good news that Thistle was re-instated as a staff member and given a space to make into a cafe by Weston, things seemed cozy this deep into winter. The cafe, located on the third floor above the bar, overlooking the garden with its own personal balcony, was now a staple position for people to travel to for pastries and coffee. Date nights have never been so domestic and wholesome, and it seems that whatever, or whoever, was poisoning Thistle's drinks seems to have been thwarted...for now. Some of the tenants have even noticed that despite arguing with Thistle and "ruining" their jukebox with her "music like clanging pots and pans together while scratching on a chalkboard", Queen is a regular at the cafe. Thistle and Queen still talk amicably sometimes, and she always orders various bitter drinks and adds alcohol into them from her personal flask despite Thistle's insistence that alcohol is not allowed in their cafe, especially if it is from the bar.

Despite the new cheer in the midst of the wintery cold the Manor endures each year, things were still bad in terms of the elements. Going outside you could barely see a few inches ahead of you with a raging snowstorm that had been lasting weeks. It was cold as sin even for tenants with fur or the ice typing, who needed to bundle up due to the magical chill affecting even them. Oasis makes her rounds every week to deliver supplies, however lacking, to help keep the manor going.

Willow has been bundling up in a hooded poncho and having Don man the front desk of the shop during these deliveries so herself, Oxera, Glitch, and Maxwell can oversee the deliveries and get them to where they need to go. Occasionally Maxwell will also call upon Erik and Timothee for help with heavier or bigger orders while Kitty and Gattaca man the front desk and fill out paperwork for all of the new tenants arriving in these horrid conditions.

A few weeks in however, Oasis was a bit more talkative than usual, asking about the Manor's goings-on and how everyone was doing. She seemed to focus on Maxwell quite a bit as well, and while him and Willow were confused, they answered everything she asked. She wasn't usually the nosy type, so it was a bit suspicious, but Willow figured she was just worried about something bad happening, even worse than the blizzard. Maxwell was a bit more skeptical, but trusted Willow more than he was wary of Oasis.

During one of her friendly interrogations, she stared down Maxwell under the brim of her hat and asked, "Do you miss Roth at all?" Blunt as ever. Maxwell paused, but decided to tell the truth and pour his heart out that he has been working on himself ever since they left and that every day they hoped they would return. With a small turn of the head, she said, "I have an important delivery this time then. Be sure to be careful with this one." Her tail flicked towards her wagon of goods carried by her faithful Mudsdale, and a shadowy figure appeared in the frost, slowly getting out of the cart.

They were covered head to toe in warm clothes, with not an inch of them visible, but the second they lowered their cloth mask and lifted their snow visor, Maxwell started to tear up. "R-Roth? Is th-that really you? I am so sorry, so sorry-" The Stufful was shaking despite his warm woolen jacket and started to slowly leak tears that trailed down his face, freezing actively in the cold. The grey Meowth smiled up at him. "If anything I think I owe you the apology for leaving the way I did and never updating you on if I was safe or not. Good to see you again Maxwell. I missed it here."

Unable to hold back, Maxwell cried out loudly and scooped Roth into a big hug, holding tightly as if they were afraid to let them go. In between broken sobs, he hugged as tightly as he could without making it uncomfortable, and his body glowed with white energy. "Maxwell-!" Roth exclaimed, watching their friend slowly morph into a bigger and stronger bear, evolving from a Stufful into a Bewear right in front of their eyes. "You silly bear! You miss me that much?"

They laughed and teased Maxwell as Willow looked between Oasis and Roth, a bit confused. "Have you been...taking care of them this entire time?" Oasis shook her head. "Roth had been missin' fer a week 'r two 'fore endin' up on my doorstep lookin' like a kicked Rockruff. Promised to work for their keep after insistin' they needed a place to go, so I let 'em stay at my place an' they hid from anyone else, my own workers included. No one knew they were still alive but us."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Roth explained from Maxwell's unrelenting arms, "I needed time away to think about things. I was usually such a brat who didn't want to do much, and I always looked up to Klaus, but after she was gone? And Maxwell was the last person to talk to them before that, having hurt her? I just...lost it I guess." They hugged Maxwell back, smiling softly. "Ranch life was so hard, taught me a thing or two I think you'd be proud of big guy. I was hoping I could maybe...be a bellhop again. Like old times."

Suddenly, Weston strolled out with his candle ominously lighting his face. "My my, who could have seen this coming?~ Welcome back Roth, kekekekekek~" Roth gulped, but before they could say anything, Weston held up a hand. "I heard what you were saying, sorry, I couldn't help but eavesdrop a bit. If you fill out the proper forms, I think we can reinstate you...as the head bellhop." Roth's eyes sparkled. "But- But what about Maxwell?"

Weston smiled ominously towards the bear. "You have been working hard for many long years here, haven't you Maxwell?~ I think that deserves a raise and promotion no?~ Welcome to the managerial staff! We will get things settled once the excitement dies down. You get to work with me even closer, now isn't that a treat?~ Kekekekekekek~" Maxwell stared down the rat and nodded, unable to speak.

It seemed there was good news for once this winter season.

Welcome to The Cat Returns event! Is that really...Roth?

This event will be active between January 1st to January 31st!

All art submissions must include at least one lined(or lineless) half-body, with either color or shading to be counted for the prompt bonuses.

All literature submissions must include at least 750 words to be counted for the prompt bonuses.

Each piece can only complete one prompt per character per member, even if multiple characters from one member are present in the piece!

Make sure to tell us what prompt you are completing and for what character in the description of your art or literature so we can reward you correctly!

Prompts

And with that all said... have fun in PKMN-WOE and beware The Watcher...