#47 Internet Famous
"Okay Mochi, ready to try again?" Cass giddily said to the aforementioned calico, who merely sat on the olive-green couch and tilted his head.
"Mreow?"
"Awww. That's adorable Mochi, buuut, not exactly what I was hoping for," the café owner told the feline before she snapped a picture of him and gave him a little scratch under the chin, making him purr in response.
To say Cass loved her cat would be the understatement of the century. He was the family pet and had been part of said family for almost a decade now, but she had bonded with him from the moment she laid eyes on him at the animal shelter. From there, she spoiled him practically rotten with treats, toys and attention; Mochi was always grateful to be in the Hamada home and would return the love (except when it came time to go to the V-E-T). Of course, Cass also took the liberty of dressing him up in cute costumes like that one little blue alien or in a tuxedo to make him look fancy; the other aspect she enjoyed too about having Mochi beyond all the affectionate purring and head bonks was teaching him tricks, which is what she currently was doing.
When Cass pulled her hand away, she got the cat's attention again and calmly but firmly told him, "Now Mochi, listen to me. I want you to go like this." She proceeded to slowly clap her hands together four times while the other watched her actions. "Now you try it, and remember: Treat for a trick," Cass added once she was done, followed by shaking the small yellow bag of bento treats; this got her pet far more excited than her demonstration as his eyes got wide and he hopped off the couch to get on his owner's lap and beg.
"Mreow."
"No sweetie. These are your award for doing a good job. Every time I have to go through this with you. Oh, you're lucky you're so cute," the brunette lightheartedly scolded before she caved and petted Mochi again. She then picked him up and set him on the furniture before going back to her sitting position, but this time a little closer to him. The feline watched as Cass reached for his front paws, causing him to rest on his back ones and leaving him a tad confused as she moved them together to show how it should look.
"Come on Mochi. I know you can do it my adorable, smart kitty. We've been working on it all week, so you've got to have retained some of it," Cass said with a sigh to the aforementioned cat as she let the other have his limbs back.
"Okay…clap Mochi, clap," she repeated, expectantly watching the other as he blinked and tilted his head again. He then leveled it out again as to the café owner's amazement, he lifted his fluffy arms up a little, almost looking like a begging dog. Cass was barely able to contain her squeal as she waited to see if he'd do anything else.
"Mreow."
The food warrior let out a held breath as the calico put his paws back onto the couch, now looking at Cass in anticipation of a treat.
"Alright, you made some progress. Here you go," she said with a supportive, if slightly tired smile as she opened the bag and gave him his fishy reward.
Mochi noisily chewed on it, not caring that his owner whipped her phone out again to film him as he focused on eating. He made a couple low growls in satisfaction at tasting it, finishing it about twenty seconds later and licking his paws before wiping them over his face to clean himself.
"So precious," she commented to no one in particular once she turned her camera off. Cass then checked the time displayed on the screen and gave a small sigh. "Sorry Mochi. I've got to cut our session short. I need to get started on dinner. You up for trying again tomorrow?" the chef asked, not really expecting an answer but still felt her heart practically melt from her cat looking at her and meowing as if to say, "Okay."
"Good boy," she sweetly chirped before she gave him a kiss on the forehead and stood up, making the short trek into the kitchen to get out a pot and a pan to make pasta primavera, leaving Mochi to his own devices until he wanted attention again.
The Next Day
"Mreow," Mochi went as he found himself being picked up and placed gently on the couch by his owner, who finally finished taking care of her customers for the day.
"I know, I know, but you won't learn if we don't keep at it," Cass placatingly told him as she rubbed his head and sat down in front of him. "Okay Mochi. We've got a little time before grocery shipping, so how about you show me those paws sweetie," she brightly said as she held up her own hands again.
The calico blinked and proceeded to clean his face with his paws instead of doing what he was asked, making the other give a small exhale before she clapped her hands just like yesterday to get his attention. Once he looked back at her, he tilted his head for a moment and let out a little "Mrep" that Cass had to restrain herself from audibly going "Aww" to. Mochi did seem to eventually take the hint as he sat more on his hind legs and straightened his posture.
"Good," she uttered, watching in anticipation as he began to lift his front limbs up, so she promptly added, "That's it! You can do it," to keep him going. Cass waited as she saw Mochi bring his mitts up just a little bit higher and…use them to rub his face some more.
"Ohhh," the café owner couldn't help but groan as she looked on at the cute display. "You were so close," Cass softly chastised before she repeated the desired motion three more times. She then took Mochi's own paws and briefly did the action for herself as she said, "Clap Mochi, clap." Afterwards, the brunette woman pulled her hands away, fortunately seeing her fluffy kitty still remain in his sitting position with his arms held out front of him when she did so.
"You can do it. Come on," she encouragingly told him with a smile to help the positive reinforcement.
Mochi looked at his caretake, then his extended limbs as if the gears in his head were turning at what he was supposed to do. He slowly inched his mitts closer to one another, staring intensely at the appendages as after what seemed like forever to Cass, he finally brought his wrist together. He let out an audible "Mreow" when he was done, almost as if to inquire, "Like this?" when he lifted his head back up to look at the human in front of him.
"Oh, almost baby but no. It needs to look like this," she gently told him as she took his paws again and turned them so that the pads were touching. "You did so good though sweetie. Here," Cass lovingly said as she reached for the bag of treats and gave one to Mochi, instantly perking him up as he sat forward to take it. Crunching and pleased purrs were the main sounds as the fluffy cat enjoyed his treat until he was done a minute later, already looking to Cass to give him another. "Mreow."
"Nuh-uh Mochi. You've got to show me you can do it for me first. Now, please clap, okay?" she softly commanded, doing her best to keep her resolve on not giving him another bento bite just yet.
Mochi seemed to get the point though as the repeated training this week let him deduce he needed to sit back on his hind legs, which is what he did after 10seconds of no food.
"Good," Cass chirped as she inched forward ever so slightly and waited. Her cat then gazed down and with ample focus, lifted his front paws up just a few inches just like before.
"Yes, that's it. Almost there sweetie," she added, anticipation building at their hard work paying off. "You can-"
~When you try to say my name~
"Eep!" Cass instantly exclaimed at the same time that Mochi meowed in bewilderment, forgetting his task and dashing off the couch in his startled state.
~You choke up on the phone~
"Nooo," the café owner groaned at the calico's departure. She then reached for her phone in her back pocket, the source of the disruption as someone was calling her. Cass's irritation dropped though when she saw the caller ID read "Hiro," so she promptly picked the call up.
"Hey Hiro. Everything alright?" she inquired in her cheery demeanor.
"Oh, uh yeah, it's all good. I was just wanting to let you know that I may be an hour late for dinner tonight. I've been trying to fix a bug in one of my projects that's due soon," her nephew answered, sounding a touch guilty for springing it on her last minute.
"I understand Hiro. You just be safe getting home, okay? Oh! How's your leg holding up? Still doing fine today?"
"Yep. It's still doing good. Baymax's constant monitoring helps. Anyway, I'll be sure to get home by six and I'll let you know if something comes up. Love you Aunt Cass," Hiro replied with a bit more energy.
"Love you too Hiro and thanks for keeping me posted. See you soon." She then ended the call and let out a small sigh at the change in plans before looking around to see where Mochi went. Cass noticed the door to her bedroom was cracked, prompting her to stand up and check inside. Poking her head in, she saw the desired feline already curled up on her bed and clearly trying to work in another nap. With a tender expression, Cass made her way to the kitty and sat down next to him, giving him some comforting pets and receiving a loud purr in return.
"You're okay Mochi, but I'll take this to mean you want to call it quits from today, don't ya," the brunette knowingly asked.
"Mreow."
She chuckled and shortly added, "I thought so. Don't worry though. I just know you'll nail it." Cass then bent down and kissed Mochi on his head, appearing like he was smiling from all the affection.
"I'll be back soon you little cutie. Enjoy your nap," Cass simply said as she got back up and left the room, turning around to steal one last look at the other's contented state before leaving the door ajar and heading out to complete her errand, leaving her goal to hopefully be achieved later in the week.
Two Days Later
Due to her workload with the café, both with her usual amount as well as having Beat Poetry Night yesterday evening, Cass didn't have the time or energy to devote to training until now.
"Ready Mochi? Today's the day! I can feel it," the chef told the fluffy feline that she held out in front of her with determination.
"Mreow," was all the calico said as he tilted his head, wishing mainly to just be set down right now instead of being in his current position.
"That's the spirit," Cass chirped with a big smile, granting the cat's wish as she placed Mochi on the living room floor and sat cross-legged in front of him. Once she scooched in a hair closer and got comfortable, she looked at him with a steeled expression and said, "Okay Mochi, now please clap for me! Come on, you can do it. Clap!" The cafe owner slowly demonstrated the action as she did in her previous attempts, watching her cat as he looked at her attentively, giving her a spark of hope at the reinforcement taking.
The calico let her finish showing him what to do and ever the smart kitty, he resumed the position of leaning back and lifting his front paws. He could hear Cass give him an encouraging, "Good Mochi," but still remained focus on his furry mitts as he soon remembered how she wanted them to look. Turning his little feet inward on each other, he then slowly inched them closer together as his owner did her best not to squeal with excitement at the change from the other day, and instead settled for telling him in a hushed voice, "That's it. Good."
In incrementally slow movements, Mochi brought his paws closer together while the other's intense gaze of anticipation bore into him until at long last, they touched to make a single clap.
"Yes!" Cass victoriously exclaimed as if she had just won a food fighting match, causing her cat to look up from his accomplishment with surprise, but not enough to make him skitter away. She then gently but rapidly scooped up Mochi and gave him several kisses on the head while hugging him in the process. "Oh! You're such a smart kitty, aren't you? You did it sweetie," Cass emphatically pressed onto the feline, who just let the affectionate action happen.
It took a full 15seconds of lovingly gushing over the other, but the excited woman eventually sat her cat back down so she could fish him out a couple treats. "There you go Mochi. You've earned them!" An excited half-trill/half-meow escaped from Mochi as his ears perked up and he dove to eat the bites before anyone else could possibly take them.
"Good huh?" Cass chirped, still brimming with joy as she gave him a nice rub between his ears. When Mochi finished the treat and licked himself clean, Cass got his attention again with a finger snap and said, "Okay honey, now I need you to do it again. Can you do that for me?"
She received a cute head tilt and a meow in response, but as soon as she began to clap and relayed her previous command, the calico sat back, raised his arms again and slowly mimicked her once more, save for his need to look at his paws as if to be sure he was coordinating his limbs properly.
The café owner honestly didn't know what to say as she watched with wide eyes in disbelief that he had done it twice now. Cass was about to squeal in delight and fetch Mochi another treat when her breath stilled at her cat not even waiting for the fishy food to clap his furry mitts a second time in the same round. She could only remain there like a statue as she waited to see how many times Mochi would continue before demanding compensation in the form of bento bites.
20seconds scrolled by at an impossibly slow pace, but that was the duration of the slow clap session, possibly lasting that long due to Mochi either seeing Cass do it so many times, hoping it would mean more treats or both; whatever the case, it was done and now he looked expectantly at his owner as he swished his tail.
"Oh my gosh! That was incredible Mochi," the master chef proudly told him as she scooped him up again and pelted him with kisses. "You're just so amazing sweetie! I mean, does it mean I'm amazing too for apparently teaching you so well? I don't know and it doesn't matter because this is about you and you did wonderfully! I am just so proud of you," she rambled in between smooches until Mochi eventually started to give a little bit of resistance by pushing into her arm, indicating he had enough.
"Sorry baby. I bet you're looking for these," Cass apologized as she loosened her embrace on him and proceeded to pour several fishy bites onto the floor. He gave an excited meow and hopped out of her hold to noisily chew on his well-earned treats.
The young woman smiled affectionately as she petted along her cat's body, even getting his back to rise up into the air when she touched there. "Well, I think that's enough for today. Don't want you to get an upset tummy or spoil your dinner, but I'm just so happy you did it," Cass continued to dote on Mochi as she showered him with attention. Her smile then widened as she eagerly said out loud, "Ooo! I can't wait to show Hiro and his friends! They are going to be so surprised! Do you want to show them what you learned my fluffy, little cutie?"
"Mreow," he answered, looking at the owner with a cute smile before he started to lick himself clean.
"Atta boy," Cass said before she gave him one last kiss on his head and stood up to head downstairs for work, barely able to contain her excitement at the prospects of sharing something new about her most favorite cat with the world.
NOTES
Hopefully you thought this one was cute even if it's not super exciting or super long. Mochi doing his slow-clap was honestly so cute and the fact that it was popular enough to drive Mr. Sparkles to kidnap Mochi/make him spiral further into villainy says a lot about people's obsession with cats (as well as how egotistical Mr. Sparkles is). ;)
You probably also saw the reference to Mochi wearing a Stitch costume as well as the "Impatient Patient" one too with Hiro breaking his leg. ;)
I'm currently working on a Momakase story, but I only have three stories left in the reserve, so even though this one is short, I think it'll be another 4-5 weeks before I post another. /
The next "Cutscenes" will be an angsty/sad one with Karmi in the hospital. ;_; ;_; ;_;