Lea

Lea was, well she was a sight for sure. She had long hair, when not kept up or cut short. Her hairstyle changed rather often. But she almost always had bright blue hair with highlights of red running throughout it. Though what usually caught one’s eye was her eyes. She had the rare mutation that had her born with two different colored eyes. One red and one blue, always a look of happiness showing through them when paired with her smile.

She was hard to get down, seeming to always be upbeat no matter what was happening around her. She used that to pull others into that bubble, to try and help those who were down. After all she had grown up with near nothing, having to fight paw and claw for everything she had, but she had grown to love every little thing she had. Even if she spilt something on a customer her demeanor helped calm the most angry customer most of the time. She practically made it a point to make others smile, at least once a day.

From the small things like upsizing someone's order if they seemed to be having a rough day, to bringing a full meal out to someone who was on the rougher side of living at the time. This habit of hers became much easier as she finally worked her way up from simple waitress to head chef. Demanding that anything left over be donated to the nearby soup kitchen. Which meant that now, at least once a week they were able to supply enough leftovers to serve everyone there that night. Her outgoing attitude, the way she helped not only customers, but also helped even the wait staff on busier days had earned her another rung on the ladder. Shifting from head chef, to head chef and owner when the previous owner decided to step down.

Lea grew up with her parents, they didn’t have much but they did all they could. She always had what she needed and they tried to get her little extra things as they could. New toys that she wanted, or fancy clothes if they could afford it when she wanted them. But they were all happy, they all loved each other all the same. Possessions at the time didn’t matter much to any of them. As she grew older she took little odd jobs to help out. Giving most of the money to her parents but keeping enough for herself so she could go to the movies with her friends, or go out to grab some junk food. She spent a lot of time at the local diner. It wasn’t one of those cheap places, it was near high end. But she still spent some of the little money she had there. Eventually it paid off as she was offered a waitress job, having known everyone there anyways. It also helped that there were a few times she came in asking if she could do dishes or something to get her favorite meal on the menu. The owner of the place was more then happy to let the girl earn her food. Slowly she worked her way up from waitress to working in the back. Helping the chefs under the head chef get food ready. Most of it was just her plating the last side and slipping the finished plate out to the waitstaff. But eventually she finally had what she wanted, she was the head chef. It wasn’t long after that the owner pulled her aside. She had not only been there the longest now, but she had also been there even before working. She was offered the diner, he was retiring and didn’t want to sell it to some big corporation.

Lea made a lot of changes after that, all the leftover food was donated to the local soup kitchen once a week. They shifted from frozen to mostly fresh ingredients, as well as making the hours more flexible. Hiring some of the highschool kids as part timers to fill in the gaps created by the new shifts. She also helped out on the floor on slower days, sending some of the employee’s home early if they wanted to leave as she took orders. That’s how she met Liv. Having taken her order before wandering back to the kitchen. But after a short bit she heard something in the dining room. As she wandered out she could see Liv in a panic. But she had dealt with this before. The place was frequented by a group of veterans once a month, coming for the free lunch she had started to do for veterans every third saturday. She quickly headed over, quietly ushering people away before gently taking Liv by the shoulders. “Shh you’re safe, it’s fine. I’m going to lead you back through the kitchen to the break room. You can sit there until you calm down.” She said, her voice soft and low. She had no idea what triggered what she assumed was some form of ptsd. She was wrong, but she wasn’t too far off. Quietly she took Liv back, slowly meandering through the dining room and kitchen. She set her down at the table in the break room, even brought her what she ordered, so she could still have her meal but not worry about people staring. That was a good five years ago now. Liv and herself had been together ever since.

She still runs the diner now, even after all that time. Employee’s had come and gone, friends moved away. But Liv….Liv had stayed constant. The pair having grown closer and closer over the years. She had bought a small house, nothing big or fancy but it was hers. About six months after that she made an offer to Liv, asking her if she wanted to move in. There was an extra room she wasn’t using after all. And since they were together they’d use the same room. She offered to let Liv have it, and turn it into a sort of studio. And that’s exactly what they did, they moved in and converted that spare room into an art studio. It had everything from modeling clay to paint and pastels. Some of which was Lea’s, all of which Liv could use to find and do what she liked, what helped to calm her and deal with herself. Eventually Liv had coaxed a couple strays in. Though considering how easily they grew comfortable Lea assumed they had been abandoned rather then solid strays. But they kept them since they had no luck finding who had once owned them. One was a Tortoiseshell, named Knick, since she had a long gash on her ear. The other was named Knack, since he had a penchant for knocking things over in the art room. Though…they had also chosen thoughts names just so they could call them their little knick knacks.