Brewster's Cafe and a History Lesson

The tasty smell of coffee greeted my nose as I descended the wooden steps into Brewster's Cafe. It was a small room, a bar immediately to my right, a couple of tables straight in front of me and a large stage dominating most of the right area. Behind the counter was a green bird, a pigeon it seems, with glasses and a moustache wiping a mug. He glanced at me curiously as I entered, almost suspiciously, before resuming his duties.

I then glanced to one of the tables, where a rhino and a penguin were sat, talking and laughing loudly. I approached them, trying to work out which would be Roald, and which would be Tank. The rhino, who was facing the doorway, looked up as I approached, also causing the penguin to turn his head. "Yo, what's up, kerPOW?" The rhino asked, barely pronouncing the 't' of 'what'.

My immediate thought was the word 'chav', but I wasn't going to judge someone I just met, so I forced a smile and responded, "Hey. I'm Louis, I'm new here, and Nook told me to go and meet everyone in town." I considered for a moment, before outstretching my hand for the rhino to take, which he did. Tightly. It hurt my hand.

"Ahhh, so you're the new guy I've been hearing about, b-b-buddy." The penguin commented, before accepting my hand as I directed it to him. His grip was also tight, and I could see his muscles clearly. It was quite creepy on a penguin. "Nice to meetcha, I'm Roald and this is Tank, b-b-buddy." He nodded briefly to the rhino, before eying my upper arms in search for muscle. I wasn't very muscular, at all.

"Hey, you tried Brewster's coffee yet, kerPOW?" Tank asked, leaning back on his chair, his arms behind his head as he examined me closely. I shook my head, and Tank looked surprised, "Woah, really? You gotta try it. Only two hundred bells, and the best drink in town, much better than the awful coffee Pierview Diner sells, kerPOW."

"Here, I'll buy ya one, b-b-buddy. " Roald offered, and without waiting for my obvious declination, he jogged over to the bar, where he exchanged a few words with the pigeon, starting with: "Oi, Brewster!"

"So, whatcha think of Honevray so far, kerPOW?" I returned my attention to Tank, who had spoken, showing no sign of the chair creaking beneath him, under strain from the awkward position. I heard the sound of liquid pouring from behind me.

"It's... different." I admitted, unsure of how to answer, before pulling over a chair from the other table and sitting down, "I don't really know how to describe it, it hasn't sunk in... I got onto a bus expecting to go home, and I'm suddenly brought to a place where talking animals exist, I have my own house, I've got a job... Ugh, it's so confusing..."

"Uh-huh." Tank nodded, pretending he'd heard what I had said, before resuming to a normal sitting position, "Hey, Liam, do you like sports, kerPOW?" I sighed irritably, both at the mistake of my name and the fact he didn't care about my own problems. Instead he brought up sport, definitely a chav... Fantastic.

I decided to answer anyway, "No... Not really. Why?"

"Ah, you're a lazy." Tank sighed, rolling his eyes, before sipping his own coffee, "Hate for sport, but a love for food." He glanced pointedly at my stomach. Great, another person pointing it out, stupid animals... "Well, I recommend ya turn some of that fat into muscle by exercising with Roald and I some time, kerPOW." I blushed furiously, turning away to see Roald returning with my coffee.

"One coffee, on the house." He said dramatically, shoving the cup into my hands, before literally falling onto his chair, sighing deeply, "So, what did I miss, b-b-buddy?"

"I was just telling Louis that-"

"I was just leaving." I interrupted, cutting the rhino off. I ignored his look of surprise, before smiling fakely, "Nice meeting you two, but I need to go and meet Portia and Nibbles. Later." Draining my coffee in one gulp, ignoring my now burning throat, I hastily headed up the stairs and towards the fossil exhibit.

As I crossed the hall, I noticed Blathers was nowhere to be seen, nor Goldie, Bones or Dora. I quickly headed over the dinosaur mat and entered the door. Huge bone structures filled the room, forming the shape of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. I noticed some were missing parts, but the room was still very impressive.

I lowered my eyes from the T-Rex exhibit to see a black and white, Dalmatian, dog standing nearby, gazing at one of the dinosaurs with admiration. I approached her, and before I could speak, she calmly commented, "Aren't these exhibits just beautiful, ruffian?" I closed my mouth again, considering the question. I looked up to the dust-free models, they were quite... magnificent. Portia seemed to sense how I felt, and continued, "You feel it too. It is nice to meet another who has interest in the world as it used to be, ruffian."

Silence fell, but the dog didn't seem to be bothered by my lack of speech, but I decided it would be polite to introduce myself, "Yes... I've always liked history... I'm Louis, I'm new to Honevray."

"Ah." Portia replied simply, continuing to stare at the exhibits. I was rather taken back by her single word, but... It didn't sound rude, as it should; she just said all she needed to say with that one word. "I am Portia, ruffian." She added, confirming what I had assumed, as Celeste had already told me she would be here.

"Erm... Nice to meet you." I commented in confusion, unsure of what to even say to this girl.

"I understand." Portia suddenly said, causing me to frown in confusion, "I'm difficult to talk to. Don't try to share my interests if you don't want to, ruffian."

"No... I'm not pretending, I like history."

Portia turned and smiled warmly at me, a complete surprise to me from my first impression. "Thank you." She said, before the smile faded and she returned to staring at the fossils, "Then will you be interested in helping me complete the fossil collection, ruffian?"

I frowned at this, "How can I help? I don't have a clue where any of the pieces will be." Portia smiled at this, before taking something out of her pocket. A small rock with strange markings, and I could see the familiar button that meant it would change into something completely different when placed on the floor.

"Honevray is a historic village." Portia began to explain, slowly walking down the aisle of exhibits, me following warily, "Built on the foundations of many rare, exciting discoveries. Every bone you see in this hall was found in Honevray's earth, dug up by many of my ancestors in the years before my existence. And I promised my own parents when they left that I would pursue the goal to discover everything, and this fossil in my hands is the first step to that." She then, surprisingly, handed the fossil over to me. I accepted it, looking back to her at a loss for words as she said, "So accept this as a promise of friendship and trust, and also as a promise to help me. Give it to Blathers, donate it, and I will know that you kept to it, ruffian."

With that, she stepped past me, leaving me alone in the large hall to think about her words.