[closed.]

[peacocked]

Characters: Sugata Shindou (peacocked) & Yako Katsuragi (itaidakimasu)
Location: different pet stores and maybe a convenience store later on?
Rating: PG
Time: August 25th, afternoon
Description: a world of pet toys, junk food, and not!dates.

After a few minutes debating quietly to himself, Sugata decided to bring Jasper, a name he and the cat finally decided on, with him to meet up with Yako outside. Instead of letting it follow him like it had done all day and yesterday, he picked it up and carried him outside. He didn't have tags yet, so he didn't want to freak out any of the neighbors, passerby's, or natives. As usual though, he shows up a couple of minutes early, since it'd be rude to leave a lady waiting by herself.

Comments

[itaidakimasu]

Yako had elected to bring Feliks along as well, stowing the small rabbit in a large tote, cushioned with an old scrunched up sheet in lieu of a real pet carrier. He's fairly docile, curled up and napping, lulled by the faint swing of the bag. It's pretty easy to meet up with Sugata when she lives in the building across from Takuto, and she feels a small twinge at the thought that it won't be as easy to see Sugata anymore. Which is ridiculous, really, because the Residential District is far from widespread.

She gives him a little wave once she hits the street, her eyes straying to the kitten in his arms.

[peacocked]

He looks up and turns around when he hears his name being called out. He flicks his good hand into a lazy wave as he does his best to keep Jasper steady. It's a good thing he has a cast on, because he definitely can't feel whenever the cat decides to dig his claws into him. Though now that there's a new face, Jasper seems keen on wanting to get to know it. So he bounds his way out of Sugata's arms and sprints off towards Yako.

He purrs and mewls excitedly as he rubs against her legs.

"Ah, sorry about that."

[itaidakimasu]

Yako squats down, careful not to jostle poor Feliks too much in the process, and carefully presents her hand to the inquisitive kitten, fingers pressed harmlessly against her palm to start. After he has a moment to familiarize himself with it, she uncurls her fingers and gently runs them over his downy little head. She's a little tentative, remembering just how, ah...eager he had been with poor Sugata's digits.

"It's not an issue," she tells him good-naturedly, chancing a look up. "From what I know of cats, you couldn't keep him still with a leash, let alone your bare hands."

[peacocked]

He sighs quietly as he rubs the back of his neck. "Well, it was worth a shot, at least." he murmurs quietly to himself. He turns his attention to Jasper who sniffs curiously at Yako. Oh the things he wants to know that could be running through the feline's mind right now. He does, however, seem to like Yako's presence. So that's good.

After nuzzling his head against her hand, the cat walks back over to Sugata. "Well, I think that's our cue to get started." he pauses as he bends down to pick the cat back up. "Where shall we go to first?"

[itaidakimasu]

"The pet shop isn't actually that far from the Butler Cafe," she says, straightening with the same type of care as before and covering the distance between them. She hooks open the top of the tote in order to show him a flash of the small, slumbering rabbit, before letting it shut again and starting to walk, gently rubbing Jasper's ears on the way.

"It's a couple blocks over, and not too big, but the things they sell there are all pretty good quality without being ridiculously expensive. Kerberos seems to like the food from there, too, so there's that for an endorsement."

[peacocked]

He had a tight budget to keep, so he probably wasn't going to get Jasper too much. Just the basic necessities. Collar, cat food, a dish to put said food in, a little bed to sleep in maybe, kitty litter, a little area to put said kitty litter in, and a toy or two. It seemed like a lot, but he knew the cat would need them to function. Of course he could always wait to buy a bed and let Jasper sleep with him. But he very much enjoyed what his face looked like. And he didn't really want to be subjected to being the cat's first nail scratching post.

"Oh? That's good. I can stop by after work then when I need to pick up something." he pauses. "Don't worry, I'm already sold."

[itaidakimasu]

"Had to make sure," Yako says, bumping him with her hip. There's still a faint uncertainty in her, revolving around just what is and isn't too casual. She is, above all, a very adaptive girl, and Death City has made her a little more...tactile, to put it bluntly. Sugata is Takuto's friend, certainly, and obviously used to some form of casual skinship on a frequent basis. Yako just isn't sure if being his best friend's girlfriend, is enough to earn that same leniency towards herself. She hopes that she's getting there, if she isn't already.

She doesn't let any of that, or her other uncertainties, show. Instead, she loops her free arm around his bad one, still gentle as she can manage. "You have the look of a pretty tough customer," she pauses, hoping he won't mind the well-intentioned teasing. "Bocchama."

[peacocked]

She is getting there, slowly but surely! She does have a step above everyone else here, though. But that's mostly based off on the fact that she's Takuto's girlfriend. If she's good enough to be Takuto's girlfriend, then she's good enough for him to trust to an extent. He at least doesn't seem to mind as she loops her arm around his, so that's some kind of progress!! But then again he would have done that out of habit since he used to do that all the time with Wako. But progress is progress! He probably wouldn't let anyone else here (who isn't from his world, because Mizuno would have found a way to work around that) do that to him.

"Ah, haha, I see."

[itaidakimasu]

"So, is anything else new in your life?" Yako asks, craning her neck a little to look up at him. "He kind of dominated our last conversation, but pets tend to do that. When we first met, a lot of the time Takuto and I just talked about Kerberos and Firecracker." She smiles a little, thinking of the 'doggy date' they had arranged, back when they were still stumbling through the uncertain waters of mutual, unconfirmed attraction before Takuto confessed. She realizes a moment too late that she's once again retreating to talking about Takuto, one of their few grounds of mutual knowledge.

"I mean, like..." She casts around for some new subject, and ends up tapping his cast gently. "Is this coming off any time soon? Have you picked up any hobbies? Gotten lost and found a new, interesting place?"

[peacocked]

He looks down in mild surprise at the questions she asked.

"When I asked at my last check-up they said I should be able to get it off somewhere around or after the fourth." he pauses as he tilts his head to the side in momentary thought. "I haven't really had the time to try new hobbies. What with packing, and work." And trying to reassure Takuto that he really isn't moving too far. He can't help but shake his head at that. "Do you have any suggestions for when things start to slow down, though?"

And wow, he really doesn't want to answer the last question, because it's all kinds of embarrassing! But he'll do it anyway, since he feels comfortable around Yako right now. "As for the getting lost part, I haven't gotten lost recently. I did stumble upon an interesting string of shops when I first got here, though. I have been unable to find them since then."

[itaidakimasu]

"Hm..." She drums her fingers against his arm as she thinks, brows scrunched together in thought. "Well, you're already in the drama club...and once your cast comes off, there's the indoor pool you can try swimming in—since you lived on an island, did you swim a lot? I'm city-born-and-bred, so I'm not sure if there are some things you can only do there..." She puffs her cheeks out a little. "There are lessons and things you could take, if you wanted to try something new. Sasha's learning how to play an instrument from Kaworu, after all."

"There are some nice cafes and places I could direct you to...oh! And Sasha works nights at the Cabaret, you could go visit him! His practice has really paid off!" She peers up again, her eyes alight with an idea. "Hey, hey, after we're done at the pet shop, do you want to try getting lost together? We might find one of them again! Or maybe something entirely new. It could be fun!"

[peacocked]

"Sasha actually took me to one of the pools when my arm was just in the sling." And that was fun.... he couldn't really swim around much, but hey they got to soak up a little! Which was nice.... because the heat wasn't really nice at all. He gazes off into the distance when she mentions his island. "I used to surf a lot. But I know I'll be happy to swim regardless, so..." another pause as he shifts his weight a little.

"Do you know if they have baking lessons?" He should at least figure out how to bake a cake. Then he can shove that in Wako's face if he even remembers that whenever this place finally decides to send him home. He blinks and glances over at Yako's newest proclamation. "If you don't mind, I would be glad to get lost with you."

Oh...wait... that.... sounds kind of awkward doesn't it?? Welp!

[itaidakimasu]

"Oh!" Her free arm pops up, in a 'pick me!' sort of gesture. "I could teach you, if you wanted! I've given lessons on how to cook and bake to some of my co-workers, so I've got a pretty decent teaching method. Two of them even won a pie contest! I was really proud of them." She pauses, then adds kindly: "I could put Kerberos up in my room when you came over, if you wanted." He isn't as good at hiding his discomfort with energetic, affectionate dogs as he might think.

Luckily, the awkwardness doesn't fully register with Yako, if the way her face lights up at his agreement. "Great! I've been here for a while and I know some out-of-the-way places, but if I don't focus too much I should be able to miss the landmarks...Ah, but if we get too turned around, a map isn't to hard to pull up either!"

[peacocked]

His brows raise slightly. Well he's not looking to entering any competitions right now, at least aha! but he takes that information in for consideration. After a few moments of debate, he nods his head in agreement. "If you don't mind then I would love for you to be my teacher." And now he's two for two. But he really is happy he's going to get proper baking lessons!

He does duck his head a little at the mention of her keeping Kerberos in her room though. He sure did try his hardest to not let it show. But he just can't fool some people. "And thank you..."

"Do you have a map on you?"

[itaidakimasu]

"I'd be glad to," she assures him, and she really does mean it. She bakes everyday, more or less, in order to bring in a snack for herself and her coworkers over the course of the work day. Any attempt, no matter how good or poor it may turn out, will have an easy disposal on her end. Operation: Befriend the Boyfriend's Best Friend seems to be going swimmingly, so far.

"We all do," she explains, digging into her tote. She gently nudges Feliks aside and he obligingly rolls over, determined to continue napping despite her meddling. She comes up with her communicator, the pal-sized mirror glinting in the sunlight. "These come with GPS. It's pretty awesome, especially on missions in far-off places!"

[peacocked]

He nods. "Well then, when would you like to start Yako?" He's still not entirely sure about his schedule since he started out a couple of weeks ago, but they did mention something to him about getting a set one sometime soon. For now they were testing the waters and seeing where they wanted him most as far as hours went.

His eyes widen a little as he glances down at the mirror in her hand. "We...do?" Gosh he had been relying on mental memory and a faded map for the whole time. He feels kind of silly now.

[itaidakimasu]

"Hmm..." Yako does some quick mental calculations in her head, crossing her work schedule, date schedule, and food schedule, and nudging certain parts aside. "Well, I get off around four or five every day, and Sasha works nights, so...whenever you get off shift, you could come to my place? We could eat dinner together too, since I'll be eating around then anyways!" If they timed it right, they might be able to eat with Sasha too, depending on how early Sugata gets off.

"Yeah, we do." She nods, smiling sympathetically. "Not many people read the whole manual that comes with the communicator, I guess, since they get it at the beginning when...well, when they have a lot more important things on their minds."

[peacocked]

He looks up for a moment and then nods. "Sure, that sounds good to me. I'd love that." He chuckles quietly. "Maybe we could also sample some of the cakes we make, too." While he wants to get better he isn't really baking them for anyone in particular. And he's sure Nanami and the Pharaoh would get tired of his cakes eventually... so what a better way to pass the time by eating cake!

"Ah, yeah... that'd make sense. I can't even remember where I put my manual either."

[itaidakimasu]

"I can finish off anything you don't think you can handle," she assures him earnestly. It's how they managed to not have to throw out any of his or Takuto's birthday cake, after all. The thing is, with Yako, there's never going to be a point where she can have 'too much' of anything, even sweets. She's just too much of a glutton to be happy with only one type of food.

"Oh, there it is," she notes, tugging him across the street to a small shop with a cute, semi-cartoonish sign denoting it as their original destination.

[peacocked]

Having food gluttons for friends sure is awesome! It's actually nice that he doesn't have to worry about wasting food. He used to do this a lot with Wako back home! So that's something he can comfortably get behind here. Though of course it'll be different since Wako and Yako are two completely different people, but he can't bring himself to be worried by it. He has no reason to, at least.

When they arrive at the shop he looks up with interest. "Ah, how quaint."

[itaidakimasu]

"That's one word for it," Yako agrees, holding back a giggle. It's one of the few times she has heard somebody use the word 'quaint' and not mean it in a derogatory or sarcastic way. "They only carry small animals like hamsters or birds, and only a few breeds, but they've got all sorts of supplies." She gestures at the display once they're close enough, showing about half a dozen or so palm-sized balls of fluff rooting around in their pen with the ease of somebody who had passed by frequently.

Though she had definitely cooed over them for a good twenty minutes the first time she had visited the shop.

[peacocked]

He can't quite stop his curiosity, so with that he leans in a little and peers into the display cage. He knew hamsters existed, but they were hard to bring in and out of the island so they never really sold them for pets. Birds, fish, and some crabs were more common than anything else.

"Ah, I see." He pauses as he gently taps the case with his index finger.

"Well it's a good thing they have everything else here, even if they only sell small animals."

[itaidakimasu]

"I'm pretty sure that's what brings in the most profit," Yako admits, before reaching for the door. She holds it open for him, this time, waiting patiently for him to finish examining the cute little rodents scurrying about. It's a little adorable, she thinks privately, to see him studying them with that much interest, so she makes no move to hurry him along.

[peacocked]

After examining them all for a couple of more minutes, he pulls away and nudges his foot next to the door and holds it open for her. "Ladies first."

Once inside, he gives the store a quick look around and then looks back to Yako. "Where should we start first?"