closed starter for: @violetheroism location: the grotto time: two clock turns before closing (midnight)
the day hadn't gone anywhere near how chess thought it would go, as days around here rarely did. after a diversion pulled him out of his original plans to monitor the grotto from a feline view, he instead decided to lap the market from time to time on two legs. easy to blend in with a crowd when you're of similar height. but now it was getting later, crowds were starting to thin, and chess had been thinking about the shop every since he scurried out of it with his tail shot straight up. the girls that had been left in charge didn't know the true lay of the land and chess needed to return in order to make sure that the demon twins hadn't set it on fire while he was away.
a sigh of relief passed their lips as the caravan still stood tall, a hand running through blond hair as chess braced themself to walk in. it was quite peculiar how suddenly the cat seemed to care about things and people around them. he tried not to dwell on it.
instead, chess walked into the grotto with his head held high and hands shoved in his pockets, like he had nothing to do but spend money he didn't have. immediately their gaze zeroed in on violet, who had been working today in curly's absence. he sauntered over to the register and offered a temperature check masked as a smile. "it is almost time to lock the doors," they said, looking to the wall where he knew a clock to be. "how are you feeling?"
