[Current Location, Fixer Upper Solutions in Enig, Sweden at nineteen o'clock.]

Electronic card tapped onto the slot, the chimera stretched. Finally out of this joint! Can he never have to work at a zoo again for, he doesn't know, the rest of his life? That'd be nice right about now! Returning to his apartment, he crossed his fingers, let the nightly dinnertime at Pira's hole be over already by now, pretty please? But, a pesky rat soon waited for him in his living room.

"Dearie, you're finally home from work?" Natalie asked. "Come, Pira's been waiting for you, let's go."

"Wan, wan!" Opalene barked.

[Hi, hi, your lovely SoulCritter Translator here, what did Opalene say just now? Well, she said, "Leak fixed, leak fixed." Translator out, peace!]

"Yes, that's right, the leak was indeed fixed, darling!" Natalie said to Opalene. "By the way, I brought in a little kitty closet for you while you were at work, hope that's alright with you."

"Mrow, mrow, mrow, mrow!" Mr. Tux cried.

[Hi, hi, hello, hello, your lovely SoulCritter Translator here, hot off the presses near you! What did Mr. Tux cry just now, "Peasant's sister, you'd better have given me a robe to wear, or else!" Aight, peace!]

[Did you put a robe in there? His royal highness demands it, as you can see!] A page from his communication log shouted.

"I can bring you a few on my day off," Natalie responded. "Now, come, it's time for dinner. Coiote has some questions for you."

Practically dragged to the property manager building, the cat tailed individual groaned. Can't these four see he has more important things to do here? Like, he doesn't know, rotting on his couch until he falls asleep? But, no, every single day, he has to be in that accursed building and have his ears talked off! Count him out for the rest of forever! As soon as he has the money, he's blowing this joint and moving to? Russia sounds good right about now! Mother, father, wait for him to earn enough to run, okay?

Piping hot chicken locking eyes with him, the chimera turned his head off towards the opposite direction. Can everyone stop giving him the stink eye, please? He knows, he came home an hour late, his bad! They could have just eaten without him, he'll manage! Gah, as if they ever would! Blah, blah, blah, family dinnertime is sacred, bleep, bloop, bloop. Sorry, he's already on a ship halfway to mars, he can't hear them!

"Work kept you late again, huh?" Coiote asked, sighing. "Tough job in demon junction?"

"Swork tied tu a pole in demun jungejon!" Soiree cried.

"Were you watching silly videos on my phone again, Soiree?" Coiote sighed. "I could have sworn I blocked the words generated by now." She then sighed a second time. "The demons didn't give you too much trouble, did they?"

Biting down into the chicken leg, the hyena groaned. Does she seriously have to ask about that? He doesn't ask her if her mall imploded while she was there! Mr. Tux looking about ready to snatch a wing off his plate, he sliced the poultry in half. Can he please be buried one thousand feet beneath the ground and never be found again? That'd be great right about now!

[It went the same as always! Can you stop asking? And, let me guess, you went through my apartment too when I was at work, didn't you?] An electronic voice ticking through his smartwatch asked.

"No, but I shook out your welcome rug for you. You really need to clean that thing every once in awhile," Coiote said, sighing. "By the way, your next support group meeting is this weekend. You're heading for the SoulCritter Café with them, right?"

[I didn't sign up for this, I'll have you know! After this last appointment, I'm done, got it?] An electronic voice said through his smartwatch.

"Kiddo, I really think you should keep going there at least until you've gotten to know your soulcritter some more," Pira said in a serious tone. "Don't you think you could use a friend or two?"

"Loser, loser!" Walker shouted.

"Walker, what have I said about saying those kinds of things?" Pira asked, eyes sharp. "Please, at least continue going to the support group for half a year, okay?"

Blah, blah, blah, nonsense coming his way, the chimera wolfed down the rest of his chicken. Yawn, look at the time, it's almost time for him to crash on the couch! Can he please be excused, forever? He has, oh, right, a fourteen hour shift tomorrow, he almost forgot! Excusing himself, he plopped down onto the couch, cartoons from yesteryear playing. Feeling about ready to doze off at any given moment as the hours raced by, he closed his eyes.

 [Current Location: Freshly Hatched SoulCritter Bondees Support Group in Enig, Sweden at ten in the morning.]

Days dragging on for what felt like forever, the chimera groaned. Great, here he is, his second job. Can there be next to no one here today? Better yet, cancel this entire thing! And, oh, he knows, uh, sorry, he can't go to the cat café tomorrow, cough, cough, he's coming down with the death plague! It's super contagious, by the way! And, did he mention, it's fatal? No, his bad, lethal. Super lethal, better go back home!

Back in that stupid room once again, the chimera let out a sigh. Oh, great, look at that, a bunch of children in here today! And, oh, would you look at that, maybe one other chimera his age! Tch, sorry, he's got the wrong room, can he leave now?! He'll walk back the whole way! Seating himself in the furthest seat possible, a bunch of nervous eyes soon wandered.

"Um, hi there, name's Marble a frog chimera, I'm twelve, and, um," the young girl said, voice shaking. "And, this is my soulcritter Seymour." She bowed her head.

"Ribbit!" Seymour cried.

"Hewwo, uhhhm, I'm err, Gloine, fouwteen, and dis is Forrest," the young boy said, bowing his head. "He's a wittle." Ahem. "A little shy, so, that's why I'm here!"

"Hmph," Forrest grunted.

"Greetings, my name is Miotal, and according to my calculations, this place is highly supportive of every walk of life who might get their soulcritter," the young boy said, finger stuck up in the air. "I may be young, and I might have only met Harold recently, but it is a pleasure to be acquainted with you all today on this beautiful Saturday morning."

"Cleck, cleck," Harold said.

"Bro, you forgot to say how owd you are!" Gloine whispered.

"And, why is the number of how many years I have been upon this earth matter?" A headshake.

"Boys, your brother told you all not to fight, didn't he?" another voice asked, sighing. "Hello, my name is Waiola, and this is Mila. Not like anyone's asking, but I'm twenty six, panther chimera. And these little rascals are kids I babysit." She then sighed. "Who would have thought they'd all meet their soulcritters on the same day?"

"Miau, miau!" Mila cried.

[Hi, hi, what did the lot say just now? I'll tell you! The froggie over there? He said, "Hiya!" Did you really need your translator pal for that, hmm, hmm? Definitely not! And, Harold? He said, "I'm a genius!" You could have guessed that, though without me! And, this kitty here? Mila said, "These kids are a hoot!" Okay, bye, bye, I'm out!]

Sitting in the middle chair had been a short dark skinned preteen frog chimera with long strawberry red hair that pulled into a low ponytail that brushed past her waist. Bright green shirt with buttons, she had frog hands and feet. Huge green frog next to her all bugged eyed, he sighed. Is that thing supposed to look like a stuffed animal or something? Maybe he'll get smaller when she grows up. Who knows? Huge round frog eyes on her face, he moved onto to next two.

Next to the young girl had been a slightly taller dark skinned teenage boy with bright red scaled hands. Spiky red hair the same color as the other girl, a tiny blue dragon sat next to him. Football jersey with a star in the center, he shrugged. Guess this Gloine kid was a team player or something, who knows? Slightly shorter boy almost looking near identical to him but with his spikes on the reverse side, his plain green shirt with a front pocket looked like it had been stacked to the brim with pens. Porcupine next to him, he squirmed in his seat. Please, don't attack him for looking funnily at him, thanks!

Looking about ready to yawn for the rest of eternity had been a tall dark sinned panther girl with short light green hair pulled into a spiky high ponytail. Black belly shirt that looked like a cheerleader uniform, he turned towards her SoulCritter. Little green panther cub playing with yarn on the floor, he gulped. Should he have offered some toys on his way here? Too late now, he supposed.

[I'm Siorc, and I didn't ask to be here, by the way! Tomorrow, after I go to the cat café, I'm out of here for good!] A page from his communication log cried.

"Woah, talk about a Debby!" Marble cried. "Are all hyena chimera grownups like this?"

"Marble, I implore you to not say such things," Miotal said. "We don't know this person's whole story!"

"Are you really my chwin?" Gloine asked, arms crossed. "You look wike you could use some friends, grownup! You seem grumpy!"

[I'm fine, thank you very much! I have many friends! It's called the couch at home!] A page from his communication log cried.

"Alright, you three, enough," Waiola said, clapping her hands. "You're heading to the SoulCritter Café tomorrow? Well, if you do, I advise you to try and be cautious. What's your soulcritter like, might I ask?"

[He thinks he owns me! Can you believe that?!] A page from his communication log shouted.

"Well, that is pretty believable, I suppose," Waiola responded. "I recommend letting him take the lead tomorrow." She then clapped her hands. "Now, it's circle time, everyone, you ready?"

"Ugh, that stopped being fun years ago, I'm gonna be thirteen next month, you know!" Marble groaned.

Meeting dragging on for what felt like forever, the chimera groaned. Can he just rot instead of going to the café tomorrow? That would be lovely! Returning home as the late evening rolled around, he plopped down on his bed. Can a meteor just crash into earth or something? No? Sigh, stupid space rocks not doing their job!

[Current Location: The SoulCritter Cafe in the mixed district in Enig, Sweden. Current setup: a cat café.]

Reaching the SoulCritter Café, sorry, his bad, excuse him, cat café after an hour drive, the hyena groaned. Please, let this be a fruitful experience. Mr. Tux looking about ready to kick the door, he groaned. Please, don't let some demon work here. There's no way he can afford to pay the damages for the footprints slapped onto there just now! Black haired human locking eyes with him, he crossed his fingers. Make this quick, please.

"Yes, hello, Mr. Siorc, is that right?" the black haired human asked. "Right this way, we have your chair ready for you."

Throne in the corner locking eyes with him, the hyena gulped. Should he really sit down on this thing? Kitties crawling around the place everywhere, his eyes wandered. Woah, why is Mr. Tux looking at them like that? This isn't good. Maybe he should just pay the bill now and get out of here before it's too late.

"Mrow, mrow, mrow, mrow, mrow!" Mr. Tux cried.

[Hello, hello, me again! What did our friend Mr. Tux say? Well, he cried, "What are these lowly feral four pawed lowlifes doing in my castle?! Kick them out now!" Okay, translator out, peace!]

Mr. Tux looking ready to square it off with a fluffy white kitty, the young adult's eyes wandered. Please, don't get feisty with the others, he's begging! If he has to pay for the damages, he is so not going to be able to pay for the water this month or the next! Don't do it, please, don't do anything he wouldn't do!

"My, you've got a bit of a kicker there, don't you?" the black haired human asked. "Please, if you'd be so kind as to be nice to our little friends here, okay?"

"Mrow, mrow, mrow, mrow!" Mr. Tux shouted.

[Hi, hi, me again, what did our friend Mr. Tux say? "Bow down to me, you four walker lowlifes!" Okay, peace!]

Yoinking the fighter away, the chimera grit his teeth. Excuse him, who does he think he is addressing the other kitties like that? So what if they're on all fours? Agh, forget it, he's going to keep this up, isn't he? Doing a few activities for what felt like a slow grind as the timer was about to expire, he called up the ride service for the last time of the day.

Returning home after what felt like forever, the young adult buried himself underneath his covers. Playing dumb games on his phone as ten o'clock came and went, he let out a yawn. Land of dreams about to take him away for the night, one last set of thoughts had been caught inside the barbed wire from within.

Seriously, going to a soulcritter café to bond?

What a stupid idea!