Chapter 1 - A bunch of pets
"If I don't do it now, I will never do it..."
When I heard about this new animal café that opened recently in my city, I really got attracted to it and wanted to visit badly. Unfortunately, I was all alone and rather shy, so going to a brand new place that had a social function was not an easy thing for me.
Well, shyness was not the real reason... I have to stop deflecting the truth. The reality was that I had a communication disorder.
Talking to people was the hardest thing in the world for me. I couldn't even order a meal at the restaurant. I could mumble a few words to myself if I were alone, but not if there were people around.
It was a bit sad because I was a rather cute, mid-twenties girl with short brown hair, brown eyes, and was on the short side of the measuring tape with my little 5'2" tall frame. That said, I could be as cute as I wanted; I was not exposing myself to the world because of my problem, so nobody noticed me.
If I had gone to the bars, or done team sports and such, I'm sure someone would have flirted with me, but I had not, and now my life was very dull. A regular day for me consisted of waking up and going to work as a non-essential employee packaging orders for a big online company. It didn't require speech and was providing me with enough money to pay for my needs. The TV shows I watched after work were no longer fun but that was still my main source of entertainment to kill all my extra time.
I had no friends, and my family was not really around, so I couldn't even practice talking with people. As per my doctor, this was mandatory if I wanted to improve my condition one day and get better at it.
One of the hardest things that came with my problem was that I needed physical contact, but I couldn't have that either without meeting new people. It was a bit of a nightmare, a vicious circle, and this is why I got this crazy idea to come to this new animal café I noticed while walking in town the other day.
I liked cakes, I loved animals, and I needed to cuddle something; this place was obviously for me. But there was a little extra detail that made my decision so nerve-wracking; the animals were not really... animals.
That is the information that had paralyzed me in front of the shop; I was reconsidering all the reasons that brought me here. That was until the door opened...
"Hey, there! Welcome to Pets & Cakes! I saw you taking root in front of our door for the past fifteen minutes... You seem to want to come in, so come on, don't be shy! You can just take a look if you want."
"..."
Of course, I didn't manage to respond when the young woman walked out of the Animal Café to invite me in. I had no way out anymore as I couldn’t voice a refusal. I obediently followed her to the front desk; the heart pounding in my chest was louder than my footsteps.
"I just need your ID to make sure you are an adult, and then you can go right in. It is a very slow day, so you are my first client. I'm Lucy, by the way, I'm the owner. What's your name?"
"..."
Here we go again! I couldn't form a single sentence and not even speak a single word; I was much better at getting anxious and trembling due to the embarrassment. I pulled out my driver's license and placed it on the desk for her to read from.
"Aaah, not a chatty one. That's okay. Let's see... Clara! Aww, such a cute name. And you are twenty-four, that's perfect. Is it your first time in such a Café?"
I nodded while playing with my shaky fingers.
"Oh, double-welcome, then! You'll see, you'll like it a lot. Mind you, my pets are pretty restless today, so I hope they will behave. It's always the same on quiet days when they don't get enough attention. Follow me. I'll show you our best seat."
"..."
I followed Lucy to a nearby door; she swiped her access card on the reader to unlock it.
"Don't be intimidated, okay? They are all very friendly."
As soon as I entered the dining area, which was more like a very nice comfy lounge designed to chill and relax, my heart stopped. Right away, I noticed five or six "pets." Some were lying down on couches, another was lying on a table, and two more were sitting on the soft carpeted floor. Not so surprisingly, they were all staring at me, the visitor.
"Girls! This is Clara. She is a bit shy, so you have to behave yourself, okay? Be nice to her!"
The ones she called "girls" and "pets" were, in fact, real women wearing animal costumes. If it had been just that, it wouldn't have been so shocking, but no, to add to my discomfort, their outfits were all made of shiny latex.
I may have a communication disorder and an inability to meet people, but it didn't mean I didn’t have kinks. I have always been fascinated by rubber catsuits. I didn't know why or how, but it attracted me so very much since I was a teenager. However, I never had enough money to invest in such a suit; rent and food were my priorities.
When this café had opened and I saw that their "animals" were girls wearing amazing latex costumes, it was my best opportunity to experience something I always dreamed of. I would have a chance to touch a real latex catsuit for the first time and get a healthy dose of physical contact at the same time.
The pets' intense gaze froze me on the spot before I felt something wrapping around my leg. I looked down and saw an adorable rubbery red fox kneeling and holding me with her little arms.
"..."
"Aaah, Vix! What did I say? Be nice. You can at least wait until she sits down. Come on, let her go."
As Lucy shooed her away, another pair of small arms wrapped around my other leg. This time it was a little black and white cat. What was fascinating about them all, outside their colorful latex suits, were their masks. All of them were different animals, but they were definitely the same style; the molded creature faces were on the realistic side of things, and black lenses hid the wearer’s eyes.
"Oreo! What did I just say! Leave her! You are scaring her! Shoo! Go sit over there, Clara, else they are not going to stop!"
"..."
My brain understood just enough of what Lucy said. I carefully walked to the couch she was pointing at, making sure I wasn't stepping on a paw or a tail. The booth she directed me to indeed looked like the comfiest one of the place. But there was a problem... A small grey raccoon girl was lying on it.
"Don't worry about her... That's Meeka! Just move her, she won't mind. Aaah! Vix, Oreo! Stop!"
I looked behind, uncertain I could do what Lucy had asked me to do, but she had her hands full with the fox and the cat who were now clinging to her legs like velcro. I was starting to wonder if I had done the right thing by coming here. What did I get myself into?
I walked up to the couch, and the raccoon girl was very calm and quiet; she even looked half-asleep. Handling human-animals was not something I was familiar with. They all had those cushy rubber paws that made them look so cute and inoffensive. So I grabbed Meeka's wrists and tried to move her aside.
The good news was that Meeka was very cooperative. As soon as she understood what I was trying to do, she crawled aside to give me some room. This leather couch was so soft that I sank quite a bit more than I had expected when I sat on it.
Lucy, who managed to escape the grasp of the small petgirls, brought me a one-page menu.
"Sorry about that. As you may know, we only have drinks and desserts here. I recommend you to try the cheesecake. We don't cook anything on site, so this one is coming from a local shop. It's sooo good."
"..."
Unable to reply to her, I just nodded again, forfeiting my freedom of choice in favor of simplicity... plus I liked cheesecakes.
"Good, and what would you like to drink? Would you like a coffee?"
I nodded again and raised my two index fingers in front of my face.
"Ah, one cream, one sugar? Alright! I will be right back. Feel free to play with the pets, that's what they are waiting for as you can see. So, don't be shy."
Lucy was good. She didn't seem offended by my inability to communicate, but she somehow understood my body language very well. I guess working with lots of petgirls who couldn't talk made her develop some particular non-verbal communication skills.
Immediately after Lucy turned heels and walked away, all the rubbery critters rushed to me. There were six of them trying to climb on me all at the same time. I had no idea what to do, my anxiety kicked in big time, and I was on the verge hyper-ventilating. I placed my two hands on my face, hoping that it would render me invisible to the petgirls.
All I could feel was a bunch of soft rubber paws trying to tug on me! This was way too much way too soon! I loved them all, but I just couldn't handle this much touching right off the bat.
"...Stop!..."
That is the only word I managed to let out, and it was not a very nice one. I put myself in that situation; it was not their fault if I couldn't deal with that much physical attention. But somehow, the message seemed to have hit its mark.
The raccoon got off the couch and started grabbing and pulling the other pets away, and none of them were whining about it. I almost forgot that they were real people inside the costumes that could probably understand what was going on... I saw them as real pets as soon as I laid my eyes on them. That said, they probably realized they were intimidating me and decided to give me back some breathing room.
Their next move was to line up in front of me, sitting like animals, and staring at me. I returned their look, wondering what they were expecting from me. There were a fox, two cats, a raccoon, a puppy, and a white bunny. They were all so adorable.
Then Meeka started to gesticulate with her paw, pointing randomly at her friends... She was trying to communicate something to me.
"You... You... want me... to... choose?"
All the latex critters nodded energetically. That was unexpected. They definitely understood that they were too much for me to handle, and now they tried to ease me into this weird experience by only selecting the pet I prefered. I liked them all and had no clue which one I should choose but I had to decide which one I would like to cuddle first.
The raccoon was nice, but she seemed more mature than the others, I would probably feel overpowered. The two cats were very cute as well, but they seemed a bit hyperactive... I didn't like dogs that much, sorry doggy... so all I had left were the red fox or the white rabbit. I got a very good vibe when the fox girl clang to my leg earlier, she was so gentle...
"Vix?"
As soon as I spoke the name I had selected, all the other petgirls rotated their head in a way that meant something like "Not vix again!" Guilt invaded my stomach when they all scattered, except for Vix, who crawled to me on her fours, looking incredibly cute.
She climbed on my couch, laid on her back and rested her fox head on my lap. My heart melted so much she was adorable.
"Aww."
But I was not sure what to do now. I used a finger to inspect Vix's fantastic mask. I couldn't see her eyes through the black lenses. Her upper face and muzzle were bright red, and the bottom half was white. There was no separation between her mask and her suit; it seemed to be a one piece costume with everything attached. I didn't even notice where her zipper was.
The small fox gently grabbed my hands with her two cushy paws and placed it on top of her warm belly.
"..."
I guess she wanted me to pet her a little bit; it was the purpose of my visit after all; to practice and enjoy physical contacts, and maybe try to improve my speech if I had an opportunity.
As I gently rubbed Vix's belly and traced the contour of her muzzle with my finger, I noticed something interesting; the lack of eye-to-eye contact helped. I was not nearly as embarrassed when looking at Vix's black eyes than I was with Lucy. It was so great to finally be able to look at someone without feeling dread.
My heart skipped another beat when the dining-room door opened again; Lucy let two more clients in the place, a young couple this time. Lucy seemed overjoyed to get a few more clients and made them feel welcome as much as she could.
"Please! Please! Sit wherever you want! We have six pets today and they are all very cuddly... Well... five... It seems that our little fox is already in good hands."
I turned beet red when everybody turned to look at me while I was belly rubbing the rubber fox girl. Only then, I realized how strange this must have looked from an outsider's perspective.
I looked away, trying to control my breathing again until I realized that my anxiety had caused me to squeeze Vix in my arms like a comforting pillow. Then I heard a long happy sigh coming from her.
"..."
That's right... How could the petgirls breathe with those rubber masks on? There were no holes around the muzzle or nose, but they must get their air from somewhere. I resumed my inspection of the fox mask, and inside the ears, behind some cute white frills imitating fluffy ear fur, I found two small holes on which I placed the tip of my fingers.
After a few seconds, Vix shook her head and blew some air out. That was definitely where she was breathing from. It could have seemed a bit extreme, but to me, I found this very cute. Those animal masks were absolute masterpieces.
"Clara! Here are your cheesecake and your coffee. How do you like cuddling with Vix? She is nice, uh? I'm surprised the others didn't make a fuss. When there are not many clients, they are usually causing tons of trouble because of their cuddling addiction."
"...Thank... you!"
"You are welcome! Oh, and if you don't mind, here is a bit of water for Vix... Make sure she drinks if she needs to. Okay? There is a small hole under her chin in case you didn't know. You just squeeze the liquid in, she will take care of the rest. Just warn her when you start."
"..."
Lucy turned around and to chat with her other clients who were now battling all the needy petgirls.
I was alone with my foxgirl once more, alternating between belly rubbing and eating the phenomenal cheesecake. It took me about an hour, but I finally managed to relax a little bit and accept that I liked being here a lot. I learned how to make Vix drink and eat, using squeeze bottles to shoot water and blended food through her under chin hole. I must have done a decent job because Lucy trusted me to feed Oreo and Meeka as well. Lucy took care of the other ones, and she was less shy than I was on the squeezing.
A bit later, the dining room got pretty crowded. The café was not very big, so the handful of new clients filled the place rather quickly. All the pets were now quite busy receiving and giving affection to whoever was in need. Being surrounded by so many people was not something I was comfortable with, so I thought about asking for my bill and calling it a day. Turning this good experience into something unpleasant wasn't something I wished.
Speaking of the devil, Lucy, clearly swamped, came to check on me. As I was gathering my courage to ask for my bill, she proposed something quite unexpected that nullified my intentions.
"Hey, Clara, it's very embarrassing for me to ask you this, but a group of five people just showed up. I need their money badly because it's a new business. If you don't mind, I will let them sit at your booth."
"..."
My heart started racing like crazy, and my face turned white. I had no desire to share my table with strangers... I much preferred to leave right away. But Lucy saw the distress in my eyes right away and understood that she had not explained the situation properly, so she rushed to correct herself.
"Oh, no no! Sorry, Clara! I'm not asking you to share your booth with them... I have something special for you if you want. It's a service we are not offering yet, but I'll let you try it for free in exchange for your table."
Vix got off me and started to pull on my arm, nodding energetically. The fox girl knew what Lucy was talking about, and she wanted it, whatever it was.
"Well, Vix seems okay with my idea, come, I'm sure you'll like it too. And you won't have to pay for your bill either because you helped me feed my pets."
Whether or not I wanted to take that offer was irrelevant because I wasn't able to communicate at all. This situation was way too tense for my taste, so it was just easier to tremble and go with Lucy and Vix.
They led me out of the dining room, then upstairs to the floor above the café. The main room was clearly still under construction, but there was a series of large white sci-fi looking PVC containers along the wall.
"So, Clara, those are sleeping pods, like the ones in capsule hotels. They are very comfortable micro-rooms that I will rent to people who want to cuddle privately with my pets and to normal travelers who need a cool place to crash for cheap. Here, you two can use this one until you are ready to leave. Can you let me know how you like it? Nobody used them yet. There is music, TV, internet, and a gazillion settings for the lights. The soundproofing is pretty good too."
"..."
"Come on. I have to go back. I'll come back later to check on you in case you fall asleep, hehe."
Lucy slid the door of the bottom capsule open, revealing a glowing blue light illuminating the luxurious interior of a little room big enough to accommodate two people. Vix didn't hesitate one bit and crawled inside. Unable to express my confused mental state, I had no choice but to follow her in.
"Good. I'll come back when I'm less busy. If you want to leave before I return, just press this button here to open the door. But don't forget to say goodbye before leaving, okay? You were a super client, Clara! You took such great care of my pets and I appreciate that a lot. I have to go back to my clients now... Enjoy your private time with Vix!"
Lucy slid the door closed, and a little click indicated that it was now locked and that I would have some special time with Vix alone.
This capsule hotel surprise was an unexpected but a somewhat good turn of events. I didn't really want to leave the Café yet, but I was about to just because there were too many clients around me, which was making me uncomfortable. This pod offer allowed me to stay a bit longer for free and to keep exploring my feelings while cuddling Vix.
The capsule room that Lucy let us use was about the size of a queen mattress in width, but a bit longer and maybe three feet high. There was a TV on one end and a control panel with way too many buttons on the side wall.
Vix, though, didn't care about those fancy things and crawled to me to get some more hugs.
"Vix!"
Something magical happened at that moment. When the cute rubbery fox girl laid down on top of me, I realized that it was the first time I was intimate in bed with someone. All those years I spent unable to communicate with people led me to a life of undesired solitude. Dating was impossible because I couldn't utter a word most of the time, and trembling was not the most attractive social skill ever.
But Vix didn't mind that. She was a petgirl who just loved giving and receiving affection... and I wanted the same. I hugged her tightly, so much that I heard her giggle inside her mask. To me, she was just a small red fox and nothing else. I didn't even want to imagine what the girl inside could have looked like, fearing it would break the magic.
We cuddled quietly non-stop for hours, it was the most pleasant thing I had ever done in my life, and it was such a confidence booster. For sure, I would come back to this Pets & Cakes café, and maybe try to cuddle with the other petgirls too. That white rabbit was so cute; I would not mind spending some time with her as well.
Vix and I were half-napping when we heard Lucy talking loudly from downstairs; her words barely pierced our capsule's soundproofing.
"Alright, girls! I'm exhausted. I'm going home. Oreo, don't forget, tomorrow is your last day this week, so don't make a scene when I take off your suit like last time, I just don’t have the energy to fight you. Good night, everyone!"
Vix, who had heard this daily farewell more than once, rushed to the door and started hammering on it with her inefficient soft paws. She understood that Lucy forgot about us. I rushed to press the unlock button... but the door wouldn't want to unlock. I pressed again... and again without success.
"..."
Something wasn't right; our pod door wouldn't open. Confused as to what to do next, I looked at Vix, and she stared at me back.
"She forgot... about us?"
Vix nodded.
"Do you... know... how to open the door?"
Vix shook her head... She had no idea. Lucy had mentioned earlier that it was the first time she let someone try those. It was probably Vix's first time as well.
"I... I can sleep... here. It's okay."
I laid back down on the mattress, and the cute fox curled on me, showing that she was fine with it as well. Based on Vix's reaction, it seemed like an honest mistake; Lucy was busy, exhausted, and forgot we were still here. Obviously, none of her pets could talk to let her know something was off, or maybe they didn't even try, so they could get that sweet revenge on Vix, who was often the clients first pick.
All those theories were unimportant at the moment, as being stuck inside a capsule room with a very cute petgirl was feeling so right. Since we were going to sleep here, I stripped down to my underwear and resumed the cuddling. It was even better this way; Vix's shiny latex felt so amazing on my skin.
During this second part of our long session, I considered letting her out of her suit, but a small metal block encased the zipper tabs, and I didn't know how to remove it. Anyway, Vix disapproved of my attempt and shook her head after pushing my hand away. Ah, well; if she was happy, I was happy.
Several hours later, Vix and I were both asleep when our capsule door opened.
"Pssst... Clara? Clara? Are you asleep?"
"Mmm?"
"Oh, my God! I'm sooo sorry. I totally forgot about you guys... I swear I didn't try to trick you. I came back as soon as I realized. But why didn't you get out?"
"..."
"Look... it's 1 am already. Do... do you want to sleep here or go back home?"
"...Here... is good."
"Okay. I will sleep here too then. I will be in the capsule above yours if you need anything. I'm so sorry again. I’ll let you sleep now."
Before I could construct a question to inquire about how to open our door, Lucy shut it close, giving me back my intimacy with sleeping Vix.
Ah, well. We could always figure it out tomorrow morning.