Furnado Animal Shelter, Sept. 27

[not_every_mage]

Anders was giving the new cage of ... he was just going to call them rodents ... a wide berth at the shelter today.

He supposed the large teeth weren't really their fault. Nor could they be blamed for being as long and broad as his upper arm. But the way they kept climbing up and falling off every structure in their cage just seemed rude.

[OOC: Open shop, open post.]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

The door swung open. "Hey An-- the fuck?"

Important things first.

[not_every_mage]

"I don't know, but I'm staying away from them," Anders said with a shudder. "Mutant giant tree rats, maybe?"

He just assumed the rats were what had Dante the fuck-ing. Nothing else seemed worth the reaction.

[rebelseekspizza]

Maybe Dante'd woken up that morning and suddenly realized he was straight, and that was-- yeah, no.

"Like rats that got dumped in radioactive waste or something?" Dante asked, managing to keep a hold of his bag of pizzas as he kept eye contact with the rats on his way into the store.

[not_every_mage]

"Maybe," Anders said. "I wouldn't put it past this place. But if they start doing karate, I'll quit."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante snickered softly. "Knew we'd get you hooked on cartoons," he said. "So... you wanna do pizza somewhere not here in sight of the creepy rats?"

[not_every_mage]

"It's culture," Anders said, with a laugh of his own. "And that's a good idea. I don't trust them not to climb out of their cage and steal the food for themselves."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Especially not since there's pepperoni in here," Dante said sagely.

He leaned over to give Anders a quick kiss before he turned on his heel towards the door.

[not_every_mage]

Anders lingered in the kiss for a moment before following Dante to the back room, far from the rats.

"Do rats like pepperoni?" he asked, philosophical. "I thought they more or less ate everything."

[rebelseekspizza]

"I like pepperoni," Dante offered, putting the pizzas down on a table. "And I don't want rats anywhere near it."

[not_every_mage]

"So you'd be okay if they climbed all over the veggie?" Anders asked, arching an eyebrow.

[rebelseekspizza]

"You think I'd bring a veggie to lunch with you?" Dante asked, pulling two boxes out of the bag.

[not_every_mage]

"Strange things happen," Anders offered with a shrug. "Maybe you're worried about scurvy. Maybe you have a head injury."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante tapped the top of his head. "Nope, I'm good," he said. He held out a box. "Pepperoni for pet shop mage, coming up."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy had...issues with pet stores. There had been an...incident...in ex-LA that made her uncomfortable with pets in general and pet stores in particular. But she was living with Blondie and Lachlan now and even when Lachlan had startled her awake, she hadn't done more than accidentally clack at him. Which was something she just did now, so it didn't really count.

So she was standing outside Furnado with a pair of iced coffees in her hand and a very determined look on her face. She just needed to go in. She could do it! Just...go in.

...This might take a while.

[not_every_mage]

It took Anders a while to notice Kathy standing there, but when he did he went quickly to open the door.

"Hi there. Is everything all right?" he asked, eyes flickering to the coffee. He knew pets weren't Kathy's favorite thing; maybe she wanted to go for a walk?

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy started and looked at him, then reflexively held out the coffees. "No, I'm--I'm okay," she said. "I brought you coffee? I thought it would be nice to come by and say hello."

[not_every_mage]

"I like coffee," Anders said, warmth coming to his eyes as he stepped aside to let her in. "Thanks. I wasn't sure you could come here, given --"

He waved a hand vaguely, indicating the animals.

"But I'm glad you did."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I wasn't sure I cou--" Kathy froze again, but this time for a different reason. "Okay, if I'd realized you were carrying those things, I might have kept staying away," she said, pointing at the rats.

Ugh, those things were ugly.

[not_every_mage]

"We just got them," Anders said with a faint shudder. "I don't know what they are, besides 'rats' and 'far too big.' I'm hoping they aren't here for too long."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I have no idea who's going to take them off your hands," Kathy said, shaking her head. She edged a little further into the store. "I'd say toss them out the back, but I don't want to think of those things running free on the island."

[not_every_mage]

"Especially since they seem to fall down a lot," Anders noted, as one of the rats took a header off its climbing structure. "Can you imagine going on a peaceful walk in the preserve, and one of those lands on your head? It'd be worse than an invasion."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Well, there's an image that's going to linger," Kathy declared. She took another step in, keeping her eyes either on Anders or the rats. That made it easier. "Coffee?" she offered, holding up again. "Got it just the way you like it."

She'd thought it would be easier to go in if she had a task.

[not_every_mage]

"And that's why you're my favorite girlfriend," Anders said, accepting the cup. "Thank you. Now I feel bad about sticking you with the rat image."

[spin_kick_snap]

"That was very mean," Kathy said, pouting at him. She took another small step inside. Bit by bit, she could do this. "I'm going to need a kiss hello before I even think about forgiving you."

[not_every_mage]

"I guess I could make it up to you that way," Anders said, and bent t give Kathy a long, slow kiss.