Warm and Fuzzy

The alarm clocks siren blasted through the room. Kev 'GC' Bookson's clawed hand flopped out of bed and after a bit of floundering, found the right switch to shut off the powerful noise. With one hand massaging his eyes, Kevin dragged his slim crocodilian form out of bed. He staggered out of his room, across the hall and into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, Kevin was fully awake. With a pop tart held in his large mouth, he jogged down the stairs. Kevin and his friends; Mike Wolfe and Fox Holiday, lived above The Cellar Cafe. A small coffee shop the three had purchased three years earlier. Kevin, as the one 'Early Bird' of the three, usually did the morning shift and open up each day. By the time he'd gotten downstairs, the milk delivery was waiting for him, shortly after the bread delivery arrived. While Kevin checked off the invoice, he nodded and Umm'd and Ahh'd, in all the right places as the baker ran through his usual complaints about his IBS.

After seeing him off, Kevin loaded the sandwich bar, filled the peculator, checked the float in the till, the banking accounts and the safe contents (They'd need to do a deposit at the post office today, and someone will probably have to run over to 'The Slug and Lettuce' across the road for some fivers later). Then, two hours after his alarm had shaken him from bed, at 7.30am, Kevin opened the cafe.

The cafe slowly hummed into life, the first run of customers being early-starting business folks, wanting their morning coffee and a sandwich for brunch, the college and university students started filing in soon after. These were the cafe's main clients, as the cafe provided a nice place to meet up, chat and do homework. All in all the cafe is a great place to hang out, a loving supporting community, exactly as Mike, Kev and Fox had planned all those years ago, after that fateful drunken night, when all their lives came to a lowest point at exactly the same time.

Mike Wolfe appeared at 10am. A little early than usual. His long curly blonde head fur tied back in a loose ponytail. Fox turned up soon after, flipping his cell phone into his jacket pocket, and adjusting his tan cowboy-style hat so that his red ears poked comfortably through the holes cut for them. It was February, the days were cold, but bright. Kevin, being reptilian, wasn't a fan of the cold, and his usual  Layered long sleeve and short sleeve T-shirt combo was replaced with a thick shirt and sweater. He couldn't help but notice that his reaction to the cold seemed to be a little more extreme than the others, and this seemed to start a small domino-chain going in his mind.

Raven, the be-horned fox-dragon girl who had been going steady with Mike for a few years now turned up soon into the afternoon. She helped the boys out most evenings, tidying and organising their theme nights. The day was quiet, and she and Mike spent most of the day murring to each other and making goo-goo eyes.
Fox was reclining in the corner as always on the phone. This time, by the smile on his face, and the look in his eyes, it was obvious he was chatting to the lady he'd been seeing for almost 6 months now. Kevin watched the two, and the groups of furry bodies in the cafe, and more dominos fell.

Kevin decided to clear his head. "I'm just going out for a walk," He told Mike and Fox, "I'll only be a while." Grabbing his coat, Kev wandered outside. He soon realised that is was a bad job, everywhere he looked preparations for Valentines Day were being set up. Big romantic posters and card stalls all seemed to depict the same thing: A furry couple enjoying each others company. Had he been bitten by the romance bug? If so, it had been a long time coming. Kevin, despite being in his late 20's, wasn't one for long term relationships. He was a bachelor by nature, and was quite happy living the single life. He stopped opposite a specialist gift cards store, and glared at the displays in the window. Furry couples, Hearts, Flowers, more furry couples. Dominos the size of obelisks were thumping down in this mind.

Mike looked up at a crashing noise in the back room. Shortly after, a confused looking fox wandered into view, looking over his shoulder as the sounds of thumping footsteps ascended the stairs.
"What was that all about?" Mike asked
Fox reset his hat on his head "Beats me. He came in, looked at a bunch of stacking chairs and said something like 'You lot can cut it out too!' before kicking them and stomping upstairs."
"He's been a little off all day" Mike observed, following Fox into the back areas to help re-stack the chairs "I wonder what's eating him?"
"Valentines day?" Fox suggested "Kev hasn't had a date in... ever."
"You know as well as I do that Kev's not interested in all that. Naww.. It's something else."
He and Fox pushed the stack of chairs into the corner. Seven red padded chars, all packed together, al the same. Mike hummed in thought.

"That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard."
"I know!" Mike replied with a smile.
"Seriously" Fox continued "How is that supposed to do anything?"
"I don't know. But I figure we just have to do something."
"Well I'm up for it!" Raven put in. "and I'm sure we can all drag together some other people who'll be willing to help."
"None of that changes the fact that it's a stupid bloody idea." Fox stuck to his guns.
"Well, whether it's dumb or not, are you in?" Mike asked.
"Of course I am!"

Mike and Fox told Kev to have the day off. They gave him some petty cash from the piggy bank they all kept for emergencies, and sent him off to treat himself. Kevin figured that this was due to his outburst the previous day and tried to assure them that he was fine now. But his two friends were adamant. He was to go out, buy himself a new book or some new roller-blading gear, have a wax & scale shine at a salon and generally have a Kev-Day. Reluctantly he went. As soon as he was gone, line of cellar cafe regulars pored in, having received E-mails and TXT messages that morning about Mike's plan, and all willing to help out. The Cafe was closed temporarily, and a curious buzzing noise could be heard coming from deep inside.

Nothing could have prepared Kev for the sight that greeted him when he got back to the Cafe. At first, he had to do a double take. He instantly recognised everyone in there, but there was a difference to all of them. With eyes wide, Kev wandered into the cafe, more than a little freaked out. He replied nervously to calls of "Hi G.C.!" from everyone, who all seemed to be oblivious to Kevs shock.
He got to the  counter, and there, a pink mizzle topped with a long blonde curly ponytail greeted him. "Hello Kev."
"Mike, what the hell is going on?"
An equally pink Raven sauntered up, followed by a mysterious figure, hiding his face with a low pulled hat and upturned coat collars. "We were a little upset by what happened yesterday." Raven explained. "We all thought that you were a little depressed, not having a valentine, and all."
"You know I'm not bothered by that." Kevin said quickly
"No." Mike agreed "But you are the only scaly fellow around here. We kinda figured that you were a little lonely being around all us fuzzy people."
The be shadowed figure spoke in Fox's voice "So, Mike figured that if we removed the fur, you wouldn’t feel so different."
Kevin blinked rapidly, looking at the pink skin of his friends, and the fur-less bodies of the Cafe's regulars, most of whom had crowded round to see Kev's reaction. Eventually, Kevin turned back to Mike. "Mike, that’s the dumbest idea I've ever heard." Mikes smile didn’t budge and eventually, Kev's trademark grin re-appeared on his face. "Thanks." He said.

And so began the coldest month in Cellar Cafe history. Heating bills soared, and sweaters and heavy coats became necessities, but in the middle of it all, Kev 'GC' Bookson, surrounded by his friends, had never had such a warm fuzzy feeling in all his life.