fandomtownies | Everything But the Monkey, Wednesday afternoon

Dinah stared back at it too, finding herself blinking harder. "It looks like someone unraveled a cashmere sweater and put buttons on it for eyes. And it's definitely staring at you." Dinah looked at him sideways. "Maybe it likes your piercings?"

Edited 2009-01-14 20:48 (UTC)

The cat raised one paw and pressed it against the glass near Priestly.

"It likes something, anyway. Possibly the idea of eating my soul."

Dinah cracked up. "Maybe it's an undercover lesbian too?"

"You trying to say lesbians eat souls?" Priestly accused teasingly. He pulled one hand out of his armpit and pressed his knuckles to the glass here the cat's paw was. "Hey there, little dude."

"Ha! Somewhere, Gabby is shooting a rubberband in my direction. Or more likely yours." Dinah bumped his shoulder, snorting, then got herself under control. "We should go inside, you can see if you'll bond with him. Her." She looked at the cat again, then very definitely: "It."

"Okay, but you have to tell me who Gabby is and why she shoots rubber bands." Priestly tucked his hand back under his arm and headed for the door.

Maybe he should buy some gloves at some point, too.

"My best friend back home. She and her girlfriend were the ones who stuck up for me the most after the fight I got into," Dinah said, following him inside. "So not a soul-eater. Vegetarian, even!"

Inside, birds squawked, fish swam, kittens frolicked, puppies lolled, iguanas glared, frogs ribbited, hamsters ran like crazy little aerobic fiends on their little shiny wheels, and various other animals stared at them with get me outta here! expressions.

Priestly stepped back a step at the cacophony. "Woah." He looked around, trying to spot the curly cat, but the place was almost as much a sensory overload as the mosh pit at a punk show. "How the heck do you find anything in here?"

"Asked a salesperson," Dinah admitted. "He kinda led us through the chaos." She stood up on tiptoe, and waved to the guy behind the counter, then rested back on her heels when the guy nodded and started to head over to them. "So, was it just me, or was there some awkward going on back at Turtle & Canary?"

"That might not be a bad idea." Priestly glanced around again and found himself making faces at a frilled lizard whose crest actually kind of resembled Priestly's mohawk. "And, uh. Yeah. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. You guys weren't actually slapping each other or anything," Dinah said, as they followed the sales guy over to the glass wall with all the cages. "I just wondered what was up. I mean, Amber seemed nice."

Edited 2009-01-14 21:32 (UTC)

"Oh, yeah, she's a sweet heart. Who leads guys on like they're on leashes." He shrugged. "And I think the worst part is? She's completely unaware that she's doing it. She really thinks she's just being friendly."

"So, this is about the not-a-date thing I heard about on the Radio?" Dinah guessed, peering at the cats, puppies, and other animals through the viewing glass. "Amber's got boundary issues?"

Which, with the buying-underwear comment about Edward that Amber had made, Dinah had already figured out, a little.

"First time I met her, she asked what I had on under my kilt. And then said that, yes, she'd take me to dinner to find out. Seriously, there was no question that we were flirting and then suddenly, two days later, she's asking if I'm engaged and talking about her boyfriend and how dinner is 'just friends'." Priestly shrugged, hands back in his pockets as he moved to look at the cats.

A small furry thing, apparently deciding that Priestly needed some sort of cheering up, make a flying leap from the top of one of the nearby cages and landed in his hair.

"I'm thinking she's mostly a ditz now." Dinah shook her head, feeling bad for Priestly. "So did the actual dinner thing go okay?"

"Whoa!"

Priestly flailed a little, trying to dislodge the fuzzy thing on his head.

The creature wrapped its paws around a hunk of mohawk and hung on, chittering and "bruxing" happily.

"It likes you," the sales guy said helpfully.

"Stay still! The poor thing is going to get motion-sick! In your hair!" Dinah leaned up to look at it. "Awww, it's cuuuuute!"

"Ew!" Priestly flailed a moment longer, then stood carefully very still. "That's gross!"

The furry thing chittered again, then swarmed down the side of his head, took a moment to gnaw on an earring, tickled Priestly's chin with its tail, then curled into a little ball on his shoulder to take a nap.

"That'll be twenty-four ninety-nine," the sales guy said.

"What?"

Dinah was being no help at all, giggling like a crazy person. "He wuuuuvs youuuu."

"I came in to look at the cat!" Priestly pointed to the curly haired cat -- who was busy attempting to beat its reflection in the window to death with its bare paws.

Priestly sighed. The thing on his shoulder whacked him in the side of the face with its oh-so-fluffy tail. Its whiskers tickled. Priestly gave up.

"Right, so what's this thing on my shoulder, then, and how do I take care of it?"

"It looks like a squirrel," Dinah said. "Maybe he works for the Radio?"

"It's a flying squirrel," the sales guy answered. "And you start with keeping him close to you."

"No problem there." Dinah grinned again. They really made an incredibly adorable picture.

Priestly attempted to turn his head to look at the thing on his shoulder, all the while keeping an ear open for what the sales guy was telling him.

Something about a "bonding pouch" and "a loyal, loving pet" and "best to let pets choose their owners, you know". And that price kept going up as he listed the things Priestly'd need to properly keep and care for the flying squirrel.

Priestly decided something needed to be done before it got too astronomical.

"Right, so thirty bucks for the whole package, right? Cage, nesty thingy, gold bond packet. . . ."

"Forty-five ninety-five, with those accessories," the salesman said promptly. "I'll be right back with all the extras."

Dinah was grinning behind her hand. "You can't say it isn't a unique pet. And brave!"

"I haven't even seen it yet," Priestly pointed out, still trying to look at his own collar bone or thereabouts. He dug into his pocket. "He just wanted to sell me an expensive pet, I bet. Good thing I've got a job, or I wouldn't be able to. . . ." He trailed off mid-rant, his eyes going wide. "It's vibrating. Why is it vibrating?"

"Sub-sonic communication," offered the sales guy from across the store. "It likes you!"

Dinah promptly dug into her purse for a pocket mirror, and handed it over to Priestly. "It's a super-squirrel? Awesome! Um. Is it a boy or a girl?" she called over to the other side of the store.

"How should I know?" the sales clerk asked. "I just work here!"

Priestly angled the mirror to get a good look at the thing on his shoulder.

Holy crap, it really was cute. And very friendly.

"I'd look up its skirt," he said, "but we've only just met."

"I'll guess you'll find out when it brings home company," Dinah snickered. "Or, maybe not." She reached out a tentative finger, hoping it wouldn't bite. "Hiiii, sweetie."

The squirrel sniffed at Dinah's finger without leaving its curled up position on Priestly's shoulder. It chittered at her, but didn't bite.

"I'll have to think of a good name."

"Totally. You could ask my roommate for help," Dinah suggested with a smile, giving the little squirrel's nose a pat before withdrawing her hand. "You think your roommate will like it?"

"Dude, I think this guy is a little bit too little for one of Chad's names." Priestly put his hand up to emphasize his point, and the squirrel leaped from his shoulder to his fingers, then spiraled down his arm to his elbow and jumped to his shirt, then made a beeline for the breast pocket of his army jacket, where it dove in, then resurfaced to peer up at Priestly.

"Dude," he told it. "You totally look like Joey Ramone."

Dinah was back to giggling. "Okay, if you didn't buy it, we'd have to kidnap it for you. Or it'd escape and try to follow you out of the store." She tilted her head. "Seriously? Joey Ramone?"

"Yeah," Priestly said. "When he's wearing the big round black glasses?" He looked down. "And yeah, I'm thinking we'd better hope Naomi likes him. I guess I could keep the cage in the closet if she doesn't or something?"

"But how could somebody not like him? Her. It. Little Joey Ramone Clone." Dinah shook her head. "Probably, yeah, and take him out for walks. Or! Just keep him-her-it on you all the time, like the guy said."

"Well, he's definitely small enough."

Priestly seemed to have decided the squirrel was a boy.

"What do you think, Ramone? You up for going to classes and stuff?"

His pocket started vibrating.

"Ooookay then."

Which had Dinah nearly falling over giggling at the sight of Priestly's breast pocket shimmying with glee.

The sales guy returned. "I've got the items you'll need at the counter." He looked at Priestly's pocket. "You'll probably find the bonding pouch better, since you can wear it under your shirt."

Priestly nodded along, not really paying that much attention any more. He pulled the cash from his wallet and handed it over, looking over the cage, nesting box, wheel, food and water dishes, packaged food, bonding pouch, and a slim, glossy care-and-feeding guide.

"I guess I'll be wearing him home, or something."

"Good luck, man," the sales guy said, counting the cash. "We're here if you need help."

"I'll carry some of this stuff," Dinah said, picking up the food and water dishes. "Wouldn't want you to lose track of the little guy."

Priestly's eyes went wide. "Maybe I should close the flap on the pocket?" He reached up to do that, then snatched his hand back away. "Okay, Ramone definitely didn't like that idea."

His pocket chittered.

"We'll have to work on that."

Everything But the Monkey, Wednesday afternoon

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