A/N: I own nothing except for Kitty, she's mine!
Essentially a series of oneshots but they're all connected and any characters of my own invention are likely to reappear and are not to be stolen!
* * *
An average height woman walked down the street in the rain wearing purple drainpipe trousers and a multi-coloured zip-through hoodie with the rainbow hood down revealing a pale face with grey-blue eyes blending in with the background perfectly and dark hair plastered to her head by the rain. She was carrying a bag on her back.
The rain had caught her off guard and she was looking for a shop to step into out of the rain. She knew it would be quicker to just turn around and go home- there weren't very many shops in this part of the city- but she couldn't go back there, not now.
It was then that she spotted the bright red shop called the "Nabootique" on her left. It looked so out of place next to all the greyness. The sign said "Open" so she stepped into the little shop.
It was a second hand shop, with an illuminated green front desk and an old wooden piano like the one her grandmother had owned in the corner. There was a man sitting behind the desk with his feet up on the surface of it wearing what looked like a glittery jump-suit and white heeled boots. He was reading the latest issue of Cheekbone and only looked up briefly when she came in, too busy reading his magazine to talk. And she couldn't blame him, Cheekbone was always a good read, but it was hard for her to get it because her parents were so strict about things like that. Yes, she was twenty-five and she still lived with her parents. But not anymore, the only time she was ever going back to that house was to get her stuff, she knew Gran would keep it for her until she found somewhere to stay.
A man wearing a dodgy shirt and beige trousers who had the smallest eyes she'd ever seen and thin brown hair and a moustache and who looked unbelievably like the Geography teacher she'd had in school. "Vince," said the man, trying and failing to keep her from hearing him, "We've got a customer." The man had a northern accent.
"Yeah, I know, I was going to talk to her once I was finished reading this."
"I'll talk to her."
"She wont want to be freaked out by you and your jazz!"
"Shut it!" The man walked over to her.
"Hello there. Howard Moon, at your service."
"Hi, I'm Kitty, nice to meet you." Kitty smiled light-heartedly at him.
"Anything in particular you're looking for? We have some excellent jazz records."
"Well, I would get one, but I haven't got any money for one thing and I've nowhere to play it anyway."
"So you like jazz then?" Howard said this louder and looked over at Vince behind the desk.
"Not all jazz, I really like Nina Simone and that kind of thing, but I have an open mind towards all these things."
"Well, I'll leave you to it. Do you want a cup of tea or anything?"
"No thanks, I'm not really a tea drinker to be honest."
With that, Howard walked into the back room which looked like a kitchen.
"Sorry about him," said Vince, "He's a bit of a jazz freak. You didn't have to be nice to him about it, now you'll probably have to join him and Lester Cornflake-"
"Corncrake!" yelled Howard.
"Whatever. Anyway, I'm Vince Noir, and you?"
"Katherine Brooks, but everyone just calls me Kitty. And I do like Nina Simone. But I'm more into electro music."
"Seriously? Me too!"
"No way! Do you like Gary Numan?"
"He's genius! Y'know he's not only a pop star, but he also has a-"
"Pilot's licence! I know, how awesome is that?!"
"I know! You just have to love him." All of a sudden, a short man in a robe and turban came down the stairs.
"It's six o'clock, why haven't you closed up yet?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was holding you up. I hope I'll see you again sometime Vince. Tell Howard I said goodbye."
"Will do, bye Kitty!"
Kitty walked out the door and down the street, not in the direction of home.
"Who was that?" asked Naboo once she was gone.
"Just a customer, I'm hoping she comes back soon, she's really cool."
"And she likes a little jazz too!" cut in Howard.
"She likes Nina Simone, that doesn't really count."
Down the street, Kitty Brooks was searching for somewhere she could spend the night. It was then that she came across a nightclub where she might be able to spend a few hours off the streets. It was called The Velvet Onion.
* * *
"Come on Howard, we've got our gig to get to!" Howard and Vince had got a gig at The Velvet Onion. One song, then the DJ would come on. They knew it wasn't great, but it was better than nothing.
Once they got there, the place was crowded and stuffy. It was so crowded that Vince was afraid Howard would make a scene over being touched. He could be a bit ridiculous about such things.
It was then that he saw Kitty, sitting in a booth in the corner. Her bag next to her. She looked so lonely.
"Hey," said Vince, who had walked over to talk to her. Kitty looked up and he realised that she was crying. "What's wrong? I don't mean to be nosey or anything, I mean I barely know you."
"That's okay. And I'm crying because I've got nowhere to go."
"What do you mean?"
"I've left my parents' house and I don't plan on going back."
"Well, if you want I could ask Naboo if you could stay in the spare room?"
"I don't want to be a burden to anyone."
"Don't worry, you wouldn't be. Naboo isn't likely to mind much, so long as you help around. Here, Naboo!"
"What now?" asked the shaman.
"Can Kitty have the spare room?"
"Sure, just so long as she helps run the shop with you and Howard."
"Thank you so much!" said Kitty, grinning from ear to ear.
"That's alright, just don't forget to help out."
