Being a bartender was actually fun. Bennett initially only worked during the morning but after Margaret found out he was barely making ends meet as an adventurer, he began to work full time on weekdays out of gratitude for his pay raise.

His boss had a condition though.

The deal was that while Diona served those disgusting things called drinks to customers, Bennett would swap them out with pre-made cocktail while she wasn't looking. So far it had been working well… if they overlooked the fact they needed to replace the glasses every week due to his clumsiness.

Diona occasionally gave them a side-way glance, but never suspected further. She was obviously frustrated however.

"Argh! What are we doing wrong? They're not supposed to like it!" Diona moaned as she watched the customers cheering for toast. She glared at her hands and hissed. "It's all because of this stupid curse!"

Bennett gave a weak grin, feeling guilty.

"Now, now. I'm sure we can figure this out," he assured her like he had no hand in her suffering. "What do you think is the problem?"

Diona sighed and collected herself. She tapped her chin in thought.

"I suspect it has something to do with me touching the drinks. You make them, but I'm the one who's serving, so that's probably the reason."

Bennett hummed. That was surprisingly reasonable, despite how far from the truth it was.

"Let me serve them then. That solves the problem," aside from making his job easier. But Diona didn't seem to like the idea much from her frown. "What's wrong?"

"Actually, I was thinking of something else."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Have you ever considered bathing in cocktail?"

"…Diona, no."


Working at Cat's Tail meant he needed to be acquainted with all his co-workers. Other than Prince, the rest of the cats didn't fancy him much, and that simply wouldn't do.

And thus began his journey to prove to his feline seniors that he was worthy to mingle among them. With Diona's help, he managed to form a sound plan to make the cats like him.

Roger was supposedly the most affectionate of the bunch, so Bennett started with him first.

"Roger, c'mere! Wanna play a gam–Whoaaaa! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to–Ah!"

"Mrow!"

Diona grimaced as she dabbed oinment on the claw marks his face now sported. "At least we know stepping on the tavern's namesake isn't a good way to start off a relationship."

Bennett rolled his eyes. "You don't say–Ouch," he half-heartedly reacted to the cryo flourish she applied on the wounds.

Next on the list was Nelson. He was a glutton and if Bennett did this right, he'd have the cat clinging to him forever. One factor he neglected to consider was the reason he was working here in the first place.

"Well, he's alive," Diona said as she poked at the moaning Nelson on the floor, his food bowl toppled beside him. The vomit following afterwards was the cherry on top. She stared at her now puke coated hand in disgust. "Yuck. What did you feed him?"

"Cat food of course. What else?" Bennett answered, scratching his head.

Diona considered his answer and nodded. "Then it's probably expired. Look at the date." She gestured to the opened can in his hand.

"What? That can't be–Oh…" Realization dawned on his face as he flipped the can to read the fine print at the bottom. "No wonder it's cheap."

Needless to say, Nelson gave him a wide berth after that.

Bennett didn't even need to start with the last cat on the list. Paisley leered at him any time he even came close. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he had more chances of befriending a hilichurl than making that cat like him.

"I give up."

Bennett sat on the counter as he sulked, swinging his leg back and forth. Diona handed him a mug of that heavenly sunsettia juice from before as they had run out of glasses to spare.

"I don't know why you want the cats to like you so much, but I'm sure they'll warm up to you soon. Just give it time," she said, shrugging.

Bennett sighed and chugged up the mug, his predicament temporarily forgotten as the cool liquid passed down his throat. He savored the taste, not letting even one drop of the heavenly slip by his tongue.

A gentle nudge on his arm pulled his attention to the only cat in the tavern that willingly interacted with him.

"Oh Hey, Prince." Bennett stroked the cat as he decided to rest on Bennett's shoulder. "At least I got you huh?"

"Mrow."

Diona looked at them curiously. "I'm honestly surprised. Prince was never this affectionate."

That got Bennett's attention.

"He wasn't?"

"Nope. Whatever you did really hooked him onto you. Kinda amazing if you ask me."

Bennett turned to Prince in wonder, the cat staring back at him.

"I guess it's because we're so alike," he said as he ran his fingers over the cat's fur, said cat indulging in the feeling. "I saw people avoiding him the other day. They say black cats bring bad luck. I couldn't just leave him alone. It hurts when other people avoid you over something you can't control…"

As if the cat understood what he way saying, he licked Bennett's nose. Bennett chuckled and stroked him more.

Diona rolled her eyes.

"Get a room."


Margaret handed them a pouch of mora each. Upon inspection, it was double the amount from usual.

"What's this?" Diona asked as she jingled her pouch, the cats all running and trying to reach it like a toy.

"Oh, it's your payment while I'm gone. I'm closing the tavern," she said, shrugging as if it was no big deal.

"You're closing the tavern?" Diona repeated, the fur on her tail spiking in all directions. Bennett had much the same reaction, only it was guilt twisting in his stomach instead of a tail.

"Is it because of me?" he asked, feeling horrible. Yet another life ruined by his bad luck.

Margaret frantically waved her hands.

"No, no! You got it all wrong. I'm not closing it for good. I'll just be gone for two weeks."

Bennett clasped his chest in relief. "That's good to hear."

With panic out of his system, he plopped onto the seat at one of the table, Diona joining him.

"Where are you going?" He looked up at his boss.

"I'm visiting Liyue for some business. If we're lucky we might be able to open a branch there," she said the last part giddily not unlike a kid when opening their birthday present.

Bennett looked at Prince who was trying to jump onto the table but failing every time. He decided to give a little hand and grabbed the black cat up into his arm, smiling.

"What about the cats?" He asked.

Diona huffed at every one of the supposed cats. "They're big cats. They can take care of themselves."

Margaret ignored her.

"Don't worry about them. I've asked some of our regulars if they wanted to babysit the little guys." She turned to Bennett. "But of course, you can have Prince for yourself if you want. He seems to like you a lot."

Bennett cheered, raising the cat to eye level. "Do you hear that, Prince? Just you and me for two weeks!"

"Mrow?"

Diona puffed up her cheeks, turning her face away. "Spoiled brat," she mumbled.

"Oh, I'm sure Bennett won't mind looking after you too, Diona." Margaret giggled, swiftly catching the mug thrown her way.

Bennett patted his fuming friend, chuckling.


"You really don't want to reconsider?"

"No. We've talked about this."

"But, Bennett. This just might work!"

"For the last time, Diona. I am not going to bath in cocktail. We serve them to customers! That's just dirty."

"We already used lizard tails and frog legs. What difference does it make?"

"Barbatos give me strength."


I personally like this chapter a lot compared to what I've written so far for this story. It's just fun writing about the cats you know. Mrow :3