Interestingly, not by freaking out. Well, not much.

Jess gaped as her fingers caressed the soft fur on her new ears. This was decidedly not normal, even less than her changed hair color! And, to be honest, so was the fact that she even considered her hair while having her hands on the undeniably inhuman ears. Somehow, Jess felt entirely too calm about this; shouldn't she be freaking out about her ears turning into these canine-feeling ones? But for some reason, it felt... right. Or at least, not wrong enough to make a fuss. After all, the lunch rush was still going on, and Cathy needed her help. After her shift, Jess would deal with this weirdness. But now, she had coffee refills to run and tables to clean.

But when she went to the counter to get another pot, the serving of customers came to a screeching halt as Cathy boggled at her.

"Holy shit, are those real?"

"The... the ears? Ah think so," Jess replied. The way her face felt, it was about as red as her hair. Or the fur on her ears.

"I, uh, how... I mean--"

"Excuse me, could I get some service here?" The gravelly voice of a chainsmoker in her fifties interrupted them. The woman the voice belonged to looked as if she'd arrived straight from a 50s fitness video - and she also looked furious. "You girls can discuss these dumb fashion accessories in your own time!"

"I... sorry ma'am, I'll be right with you!" Turning to the register, Cathy shot another glance to Jess that briefly flickered to her colleague's ears. "We need to talk about this. Later. At least they look cute."

As it turned out, Jess' new ears were also beneficial for her, flicking this way and that whenever a patron called out for a refill to instantly pinpoint their location. She also seemed to be able to discern if the beans in the coffee maker were close to empty without actually having to open the 'vintage' monstrosity. Not having to throw out an unfinished cup of coffee when a refill was in order after not enough beans were inside the machine saved both time and resources. Her hearing had definitely improved, and the more Jess saw her reflection, the more her ears grew on her. Well, they literally grew on her, or more specifically on her head, but Jess began to really like how they looked.

Cathy was right, they are kinda cute, Jess thought as she walked past the mirror-polished fridge behind the counter and checked herself out for the umpteenth time, marvelling at the reddish brown animal ears with their darkened tips. Ah mean, weird, but cute.

Running a round of refills with another fresh pot of coffee after helping Cathy at the counter, Jess could hear the guests in the café talk about her ears. Not all of them and not all of the time, of course, but almost every table commented on them. Much got lost in the general hubbub, but the majority seemed to at least appreciate them, and only a select few were making fun of her. But 'different strokes for different folks', as Jess' grandpappy had used to say. They don't had to like them as long as Jess did. Besides, the words Jess caught were still leagues nicer than the **** some of the more entitled patrons sometimes hurled at the staff of the café.

"Excuse me, miss?" A portly, slightly sunburned man raised a hand as Jess was about to pass his table and pointed first at his wife and then himself. "My vife and I zought ve might get some slices of your cakes. Vhich ones can you recomment?"

"Well, Ah'd say the homemade chocolate cake is simply to die for, but we also have strawberry cheesecake, normal cheesecake, and even some Black Forest cake!" The man's accent sounded almost stereotypically German, so Jess thought that maybe he and his wife might enjoy some of the taste of home. "Also, we have assorted tarts and pastries, if y'all'd like something lighter."

"Hm, I hope you von't be offended, but I do not trust you Americans to make a proper Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, my deah." Giving his wife a short look, the patron asked. "I vill haff ze cheese cake. Ant vhat about you, Gertrude?"

"Oh, I think I'll actually try their version of the Schwarzwälder," Gertrude replied before she turned to Jess, her eyes briefly wandering to the Texan's ears. To Jess' surprise, she looked rather curious instead of judgmental. "But tell me, dear, are zose--those ears electronic? They're moving so lifelike!"

"Uhm, y-yeah!" It was as good an excuse as any. Gertrude and her husband likely wouldn't have believed the truth. "Now, if y'all are ready to order, Ah can run to the counter and prepare y'all's slices."

"You vould do that?"

"As a special service for our more senior patrons, so y'all won't have to stand in line again," Jess smiled, ears perking up to underscore the expression.

"Vell, zank you very much, zen!" Smiling back, Gertrude's husband began talking to his wive as Jess walked back to the counter.

The line had dwindled a lot, barely ten patrons still waiting to order their lunch - the rush was winding down, which was part of the reason Jess had offered to bring the nice couple their order. Once the cakes had been taken out of the display, cut and put on plates, Jess returned to the lovely German couple and set down the cake slices.

"There y'all go, that'll be $6,40!"

"Of course, deah!" Pulling out a 10 dollar bill, the portly man eyed his wife's slice of Black Forest cake apprehensively before handing Jess the money. "Keep ze change, ja?"

"Thank y'all very m--eep!" Something had tickled the small of Jess' back, right where the cleft of her butt began. "What?!"

Whirling around, the ten bucks still in hand, Jess found herself faced with a young couple and their toddler eating lunch peacefully, although the toddler turned in his highchair and giggled happily when he saw Jess' ears, extending his left hand and making a grabbing motion with a burbled 'fluffyyy~'. It didn't look like any of them had touched Jess inappropriately, so what exactly...

"Are you alright, dear?" Gertrude's worried voice made Jess turn back around, ears twitching nervously.

"Ah... Ah think, uhm--!" Another tickle, this time reaching a little further along the swell of Jess behind. "If y'all would excuse me, enjoy the cake!"

Doing her best not to break into a run, Jess made her way into the back, shooting Cathy an apologetic glance for leaving her alone without warning. There weren't many people left to serve, but on her own, Cathy would definitely have it harder. Sure, there was Gabriel in the kitchen, but as the cook on duty, he definitely wasn't able to run out and help. But Jess was determined to not take long.

Ah'll take care of whatever's tiiiickling! Jess almost jumped as the tickling intensified and inched downwards along her buttcrack. The southern belle was now almost speedwalking towards the restrooms. What is goin' on?!