The mug started to float toward a small shop near an open plaza square. The place was weakly lit, however the yellow light that drifted out onto the streets brought some color to the bleak and monotonous grey hues of the city and stone paved roads.
various grey and greenish clouds floated overhead, a dark hazy blue sky up above with no sun in sight. However Gerrik and the mug paid no attention to the sky, at most a passing oddity as if they had forgotten what a sun was and everything felt in place.
When Gerrik and the mug stepped inside, the creak of the door brought a few glances from the other strangers inside. A bat, a wandering human with a bamboo straw hat, a dog, and a rabbit chef wearing a chef hat and a buttoned chef uniform. a carrot apron was hanging from the side of the kitchen, as was a red broom, a fryer and few other kitchen appliances.
"Table for 2", the mug seemed to gesture toward the rabbit proprietor.
The rabbit waved it's hands and the mug lead Gerrik to an empty table.
"Where's this?", Gerrik asked.
"It's a cafe", the mug responded curtly.
Gerrik noticed the mug moving a pot of coffee and filling itself to the brim. a white steam cloud rising from the coffee.
"ahhh, much better", the mug said now in a better mood.
Gerrik asked, "What are we doing here."
the mug seemed to feel vaguely smug, "to eat."
Gerrik felt that the mug was teasing him.
"Eat what? Why do we need to eat? how do I even order.", Gerrik asked again
"Do I look like your father and I have to answer all your questions?", the mug replied
"but since you asked, I don't know all the answers or necessarily know why. However if you don't eat you start to lose a sense of time and place.
It's not a pleasant feeling, similar to a sort of losing a sense of direction, slight dizziness, and general discomfort", the mug said sloshing the coffee around.
"As for what to order, ask the rabbit. Perhaps you'll have better luck having him to understand you. I'm a mug, I've been trying for days to talk to someone and so far you're the only one who can hear me.", the mug sounded sad while saying it.
At the moment the mug started to pull out a few rocks and pieces of twine, however a light blue fuzzy feeling seemed to cover the miscellaneous items.
( [idea] Teddy bear - brown string and thread. Skipping stones, children's game and breath of the living emotional attachments, breath of the living is poison. avoid read people, reality is painful and vice versa, yin and yang. barrier)
Gerrik approached the rabbit.
"um, hello?" Gerrik greeted the smaller creature as it was cooking in the kitchen.
Gerrik could hear the rabbit busy at work chopping ingredients as a warm bowl of noodles sat on the side.
the rabbit started to make a crunching sound and suddenly tried to bite him.
it seemed to feel threatened by his presence.
So Gerrik backed away slowly and waited. After about a minute Gerrik started to walk up to it again, and again the rabbit seemed to keep its distance. However this time Gerrik decided to be more forceful.
"One bowl of noodles please!", Gerrik asked.
The rabbit seemed to scoff at him, but at least it didn't seem as wary.
The rabbit started to chop some more ingredients and glanced at gerrik as if to say, "anything else?"
Gerrik went back to his seat.
"Not easy to talk to him, huh?", the mug sat comfortably on a plate.
"How'd you get him to understand you?", Gerrik was puzzled at how different strangers and souls communicated.
"I didn't we kind of just fumbled and danced around for a little while, except he was much kinder than you", the mug said unhappily.
"I sort of stumbled on this place by accident and the rabbit was nice enough to pour me a cup of coffee. Doesn't like the human patrons though, must be some sort of story behind it", the best father's mug sounded slightly bitter.
"So what's your story?", Gerrik asked.
The mug seemed to get a bit defensive, but then sighed.
"I'm not familiar with the etiquitte of asking someone's backstory. Quite rude even where I came from, however if you must I don't mind sharing a story with a fellow soul.
Who makes you seem so familiar to me, maybe we've met before", the mug started to explain.
"All I remember is sitting on the shelf of a warm family, I was bought from the store as a gift and from that moment I vaguely started to be able to percieve things.
The warm touch of a child buying a gift for his father, the strange liquids of orange juice and coffee for the first time, and moving around resting next to tables and papers."
The mug sighed, "suddenly it all disappeared and that's as much as I remember"
Gerrik was surprised at the abrupt ending...
Gerrik didn't recall much of his past and he doesn't feel any sort of affinity toward this Best Father mug.
"um, interesting story", Gerrik said.
"you don't remember anything?", the mug asked incredulously.
"nope, not a thing", Gerrik responded.
the mug looked disappointed, "maybe we were just passing strangers, I was hoping that you might know more. At the very least I seem to know you."
"We have plenty of time to get to know each other, who knows maybe it'll all come back to me. We'll also know why we're here."
Then a bowl of noodles floated in front of Gerrik and Gerrik proceeded to eat. after a few moments the clear broth noodles with a sprig of rosemary, bamboo shoots, a ramen egg, and noodles was devoured by gerrik.
Gerrik felt full and noticed that his hunger seemed to be satiated, it was a weird feeling. Never feeling hungry, but he felt comfortable.
"Done? ready to go?", the mug asked.
"Sure" Gerrik said to the mug wiping his mouth with the tablecloth.
"Let's head out."