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The Magpie Emporium, Monday [25/7]

Steph continued to be a cat, and while Vi wasn't overly concerned about that quite yet, Saffron was in a state of utter despair. Which only got worse when after the horrid theft of all Vi's attention and snuggles, Steph bounded over to try to play with her. The utter gall of it.

While Steph and Saffron chased each other around the store, Vi started unpacking and setting out a box of weird six-legged cat plushies. Though when she stepped back to look over her work, she could have sworn she'd put them in different spots...

[Open!]

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"So this is where you work." It smelled like nerd here, Vi.

Which was rich coming from someone in knee socks and a tie.

Yes, but most of Vi's favourite people were nerds, so...

"Little brother!" She greeted Five gleefully, shit-eating grin in place. "It's been too long."

Was it because he was bored without a Belle to harass? Yes. Definitely.

"What exactly is this place?"

And here she was thinking it was because he wanted to bond over their definitely not girlfriends don't be stupid both being adorable and fuzzy.

"Games store, as well as some other stuff." Nerdy stuff. "Mostly games though, and dice." So many dice.

Well, that too. But if you thought for a moment he was going to acknowledge it, you'd be wrong.

"Huh," he said, eyeing the cat plush. "Looks like my brother."

Oh course not, neither of them were in the business of talking about those particular feelings they definitely didn't have.

"The cat part or the...?" Vi wiggled her fingers like tentacles.

"The tentacles," Five assured her. Because that was normal.

Vi was from a place where it wouldn't be abnormal, so she shrugged.

"Huh. He doesn't look like he has any." Not that she'd gone out of her way to ever talk to him since he worked for the Enforcers here and all, but she'd seen him around the park on Wednesdays. "...are they down his trousers?"

That got the most confused look before it turned to horror. "Different brother! I have... five. Well, four since one is dead."

Was the pause mentally recalculation with Viktor now filling out the number of living brothers? You're damn right it was.

Luckily, Five was saved from further tentacle speculation for the moment. "That sucks," she said softly. "Just brothers?"

"One sister added in," Five replied, looking away from the tentacle cat. "They're on the mainland."

"It's good that you're close to them," Vi said. "Physically at least."

"Which I hope will keep them out of imminent danger or causing the apocalypse again for at least a while," he said. "I'm due for a vacation from all that."

Vi grimaced for a moment then shook her head. "You know you just jinxed yourself there, right?"

...damn it.

"Maybe if I leave them to fix it on their own, they'll learn."

He would never. They were all idiots.

"You don't actually believe that." Not that anyone here was projecting or anything.

"Not at all," Five said with a very annoyed sigh. The things he did for his siblings.

Vi gave a sympathetic sort of sigh, and reached across to aim a gentle punch at his arm. "At least you've got one sibling who won't try to cause the apocalypse right here," she joked to try and bring the mood back up.

"You are giving him far too much credit," Five replied. "He kept trying to kill Lee Harvey Oswald. It was an issue."

Vi made an exaggerated expression of hurt and gestured to herself. "I meant me."

Five rolled his eyes. "Fine. As fake siblings go, you're moderately better than some of the others."

High praise!

Maybe the displacer beast plushies were actually doing their displacement trick. Or maybe, sometimes, they were just getting pushed around the store?

Because Steph might not be able to rattle off a displacer beast's stat block off the top of her head right now but her little kitty brain was at least alert enough to know that plushie tentacle cousins might be trouble, and so every now and then she'd take a break from chasing Saffron to sneak up and pounce-attack one of them.

Couldn't let them try and get any ideas to attack her favorite human (yes, hers, Saffron, she knew how to share unlike some cats here) after all.

... could be both. You never knew around here.

Vi caught a pouncing motion out of the corner of one eye and was suitably impressed with Steph's fierce nature.

By which she meant that her laughter was very impressed, really.

Steph stood with three of her four paws on the knocked-over plushie, her tail lashing wildly and her beanie tilted (rakishly, really!) on her head, and meowed loudly.

She kept trying to get Saffron to help, but Saffron was having none of it, and she couldn't get Little Bot to understand her, but see what she'd just done for you, Vi? Did she get snuggles now?

Saffron was too filled with despair for any kind of pouncing. Her life was just that hard.

"I think you've defeated it," Vi said, still laughing as she scooped Steph up, because yes, she did in fact get snuggles for her valiant efforts.

Steph trilled happily and craned her neck up to rub her cheek against the side of Vi's chin, purring. She'd have to go back to patrolling -- and she'd just decided that all her attempts to play with Saffron were really just a clever coverup for her actual vigilance -- soon, but she had to make sure one of the plushie tentacle cousins hadn't hurt the best human, okay? Besides, Vi snuggles were Important.

Vi was remarkably undamaged by the extremely dangerous plushies, so clearly Steph's constant vigilance was paying off.

"You're such a fierce kitty," she told her, scratching under her chin. "I am going to give you so much shit about this when you're you again."

Such a fierce kitty! Look at how intimidatingly she was purring and kneading.

Steph made a little noise that she thought was a roar but was really just a happy, exceptionally loud meow. She was so going to deserve any and all shit Vi wanted to give her about this later.

Vi giggled, and bopped Steph on her little kitty nose (while Saffron swooned in the background, SWOONED did you notice?).

Seriously, so much shit.

It was okay, Saffron, Steph would get back to playing with you soon! That was what you wanted, right, Saffron?

She meowed again and flailed out with one paw, trying to bop Vi on the nose in return and just sort of ending up tapping her on the cheek.

All the shit. Alllllllllllll of it.

No, that was the opposite of what Saffron wanted!

Vi grinned, and in a way she very definitely wouldn't have done if she was still human, bent her head to rub her nose against Steph's. "You're such a dork."

Takes one to know one, Vi.

Yep, even a cat could tell that Vi was a dork too.

Steph reached up with both front paws now, like she was trying to hold Vi's head in place, and meowed softly. Maybe she couldn't quite convey that she liked having nice moments with her favorite human, but she could try.

Except that now the moment was over, and she had to try and wriggle away so she could tear off across the store after Saffron again.

Saffron would be so thrilled.

I mean you'd think Saffron would be happy that Vi wasn't snuggling Steph any more, right?

Still grinning as she watched them, Vi bent down to pick up the plushie and put it back on the shelf.

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The Magpie Emporium, Monday [25/7]

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