Puppy in the Window [OPEN]

[Puss in Boots]

His short pause had been dragging on for several minutes longer than he had intended. Why he had stopped in the first place he refused to acknowledge in full, though his spate of recent abortive attempts at venturing out into Death City without a human middle man might be a good place to start. Reactions have ranged from dismissive contempt of what surely had to be an elaborate hoax, to speechless gawking that he nearly found even more insulting than the former. In light of it all, it wasn’t the greatest idea for the serval to stride in to a pet store, no matter how dashing he looked walking upright and dressed impeccably in trousers and a tailcoat. There was no reason except for his own stubbornness that Laurent found himself stalling at the corner near the pet store instead of leaving the task to his newly hired housekeeper. The Italian boy could certainly do the job without any of complications that Laurent would face, but he found himself insisting on the right to be able to stroll in and purchase several pet fishes without anyone raising a ruckus. The residents of Death City simply had to become accustomed to his presence, after which he could roam about as freely as any of them.

The well-groomed feline made his way to the store front and pushed the door open without any hint of hesitation. Once in, he meandered his way through the establishment, paying no heed to any of the customers or staff. He made sure to avoid the kennels of mewling puppies and kittens, and distanced himself from the endless squawking coming from the bird cages. Though the rabbit display was much less distracting, he had no desire to browse around that corner of the store. The reptiles and amphibians were decidedly lower on the cuddle quotient, but still no dice.

[TAFFY MAE]

Taffy had recently decided that a small article in the school's paper would be that of the pet store in Death City. It wasn't all to thrilling but there were so many adorable pets inside the store eager for a good home that Taffy figured she would not only have something to write about but she would also plead her fellow classmates to come adopt their own pet. The the smell in the four-walled building was extremely malodorous, perhaps to Taffy it was worse than it would have been to others. But non-the-less, Taffy, with camera in hand, had her face scrunched up in an unpleasant way, making her features come across as unappealing.

But the animals were adorable! There was a single area for which the animals could wander about cage-less. It was in this area that Taffy squatted, curving her back in order to pet a small black and white kitten who had kept intertwining itself between her legs. It's name was Zilla. Taffy had jokingly assumed the name was referring to Godzilla, only to be struck down curtly, with a brief explanation on her actual name's meaning. Taffy had seemed to have committed some great crime as the worker explained the name and she could not help but to think the middle-aged man as silly. The cat did not care either way. Even if her actual name meant Shadow.

Taffy had ceased her picture taking for a moment. Enjoying the company of Zilla and two other golden-haired male-cats named Aslan and Kuro. She heard a small bell chime across the store, towards the entrance, signifying that another customer had entered the establishment. Taffy's eyes grew wide as she peered over the glass window that covered most of the wall in the room where she was. It was a cat! Wearing pants and walking up on it's hind-legs as if it were a person! Blinking for an irrefutably long time, Taffy dropped her camera which caught around her neck halfway to the floor.

"Now that would make a far more interesting story. I wonder where it's owner is?" Taffy muttered, looking down at Zilla whom still sat under her, looking at her with enlarged pupils.

Taffy rose up, sending the kitten scampering away into a corner. She walked out of the room she was in and out into the main store. It did not take her long to find the cat that was all to adorable. Her grin widened once she spotted him, looking around shelves as if he knew what his master was there for, "Hello there kitty-kitty, where's your owner? How in the world did they get you to walk around like that?" Taffy questioned the cat, not expecting the cat to reply.

[Puss in Boots]

He had sought out Death City partly for the fact that its residents and long time students would not find it unusual to accommodate him as he wished, though he had forgotten to factor in the newcomers who had not yet been accustomed to seeing more than just ordinary human beings. Even when he thought he had escaped the skepticism and disbelief of the same "outside world" that ostracized demon weapons for breaking the assumption of what a human being could and couldn't do, it still found ways to sneak in temporarily. Visible anger or insult would be unbecoming of someone who was supposed to act better than that, though he still was rather displeased about being cooed at. Even if the girl meant no harm by it and had no way of knowing, he was far too old and too self aware to not find it condescending. It was the way the admiration was being communicated that was the source of his displeasure.

Laurent turned away from the tanks filled with colorful fishes to look the enthusiastic girl with the camera up and down. She had bent slightly over to talk to him, alleviating the need to crane his head up to speak, something he would never be too happy about needing to do. "Miss, I assure you that I am very much in ownership of my own person. Though you may not be accustomed to this sight, please do not take it to be anything out of the ordinary. I'm just here to purchase tropical fishes to liven up my housekeeper's room."

[TAFFY MAE]

The cat responded to Taffy, his words coming out smoother than her own although that was not what made her mouth drop; it was simply caused by the cat being able to speak at all. She stammered about momentarily before inspiration struck her and she realized that this cat really was more interesting than anything else she had thought of that day! At this rate the school would have a bombshell newspaper by the end of the month. Her thoughts flickered over to the interview she scheduled with Rick, The thought of all the interesting stories caused her to wiggle about, shaking her camera,

"Oiee!" she was still crouching, taking the animal in and then removing one hand from her camera to offer the cat a handshake, "The name's Taffy. I am a part of the DWMA's newspaper committee, in fact I am the committee because no one else cares!" she exclaimed, caring little that she had taken a lot of work on. In fact, since taking the job, her grades had slid quite a bit. She put all her effort and time into the paper. It had also begun to eat away her social life but Taffy never cared. She loved the paper.

She found it slightly humorous that he, a cat, would be purchasing fish for any other reason than to eat them but who was she to question his motives? Taffy smiled, "You talk so well! Better than me," she said with a small giggle at the end. She had a habit of becoming overly excited about things but she rarely thought about that.

[Puss in Boots]

He took her outstretched hand and gave it an unexpectedly firm shake, or perhaps merely unexpected on her part. "Miss Taffy. My name is Laurent. It appears as though we are both attending the school. I wasn't aware there was a newspaper committee, but I am still rather newly enrolled so it's quite likely I overlooked it. I will look forward to your publications, in any case."

She was a reporter! Laurent wasn't sure how much information he should be volunteering to her, though he suspected that no matter what he did, the girl would still hound him for answers. He regarded the camera warily. His basic appearance certainly couldn’t ever be called “pedestrian” and his eyepatch and clothing further made it impossible to be ever truly be inconspicuous. A dash of intrigue or stirred curiosity following his presence was acceptable, and even set up so that heads would turn in awe or wonder. Being put on display to be rudely gawked at, however, was something he refused to abide by. The nearly two decades he had spent at the carnival was quite enough for him.

The serval was slightly taken aback by her bouncy demeanor. What was there to be so enthusiastic about? He had made sure to find a housekeeper with a more subdued personality, as he never knew what to do around excitable individuals who found every small occurrence an excuse to smile over.

"I am entirely fluent in English and French, and am open to any Italian that my housekeeper is willing to share. I imagine it would be quite difficult to attend classes otherwise, though I have heard about a Death Scythe who was wielded by a monkey. I'm glad to say that if I find a weapon partner communication would not be an issue."