ROLEPLAY HQ - tn-rp-pet-shop

The Perfect Paws Petshop is run by Naka. It had always been her dream to open the shop and a few months ago that dream came true. The shop focuses on unique and quality products. It has a corner with handmade collars, healthy dog and cat treats and a whole assortment of toys, beds and other things. There is also a corner where live animals are sold, though she tries to not have to much of them in stock at once. And when you visit, make sure to give Barkley a pet on the head! Barkley is Naka's golden retriever and wherever she is, Barkley is as well. Including the store.

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There was an exotic bird in the pet shop Nox found himself pausing to look at whenever he passed by. He stood outside the store gazing at the small parrot fluffing its wings within a well-maintained cage. The way the tiny creature moved back and forth on a short stick only caused him to grin further. Nox debated bringing the creature to his potion’s shop at least once a day - and each time, he had to convince himself not to take on another responsibility, and that is why he walked past the store every morning. Not to mention…there was a redhead inside that made his stomach uneasy. Butterflies. That’s what they were called. See, the girl inside was pretty. Nox liked her haircut and the red floof pushed to one side. Was she nice? He didn’t know. The idea of her golden retriever not liking him kept him outside the store and walking past. Maybe one day he’d have a solid reason to go in, until then, he was just another random stopping by the store window to look at the cute animals up for adoption.

Naka looked up as once again she saw a familiar face pas by the shop. He had been there before, always eyeing her little bird friend that was sitting by the window. He would stop for a few minutes, watch the little parrot do it's thing and then go on his way again. He had never gone inside. The parrot was a golden conure. A small parrot species with beautiful bright yellow feathers and green tips to its wings and tail. It was a rare bird and Naka only had him because she rescued him from a bad hoarding situation. After being in her care for a few months now the little guy was happy and chipper.. mischievious even. Golden conures were smart birds and needed an owner who was even smarter. Within the shop he lived in a large birdcage with plenty of toys to entertain him. During the day she would open the top and give him the freedom of the shop, which he gladly took.. especially to snack on some premium birdfoods that she sold. So when she saw the guy once again eyeing the bird, she decided she was not going to just let him walk by again. She hobbled over to the little bird. "Come here boy. Up." She said to him in a chipper voice and with a little squak he would grab into her hand. She then walked towards the door and opened it slightly, Barkley already between her legs to see what was going on. "You want to come and let him? He is very friendly!" She said to him as she brushed her red curls out of her face.

Stranger things had happened before, but today was unusual, to say the least. Normally, he’d catch a glimpse of his favorite parrot then be on his merry way. All that changed when the girl with red hair opened her pet shop door to invite him in. Him. Out of all people. Nox eyed the dog between the woman’s legs and when its fluffy tail began to wag, he relaxed both shoulders. Animals could sense when someone was a piece of shit, right? That’s what he was told growing up. So when he bent at the knees and offered his hand to the dog, Nox was relieved to get a single, wet nose-bump. After Nox rose to full stature and towered ever so slightly over the woman with red curls, he was briefly stunned. He wasn’t sure how tall she was since normally she was at the counter or in the back of the store. Didn’t help he usually took off the moment she made eye contact with him, either. But this time...today, he didn’t run. He looked down into her eyes and paused there. The silence was awkward, yet, that could not be helped. It was as if he were looking at someone he thought he’d lost…and found. The natural thing to do was to look away, so he did, and brought his attention to the bird who seemed oddly enthused to see him standing there. “Hey there, small birdy,” he said and flashed a smile. His index finger extended and Nox attempted to pet the bird. Though, to his surprise, the bird bounced on the woman’s shoulder and found its way into her soft, red hair. Now, this gave Nox more than one reason to reach out and touch the bird. He wanted to know how delicate his crush’s hair was for at least a couple of weeks. But the urge to do this faded. He would keep his hands to himself and instead offer her a genuine look of amusement - it wasn’t every day he saw a parrot sitting on someone's head. “Do they have a name?” he asked her, then decided to be funny and bold, adding, “...and do you have one?”

She smiled when he decided to come towards her instead of turning around and going away. She watched as he went down and offered Barkley his hand. Barkley happily accepted it and booped his nose against him, even going as far as to give a little lick to his hand before her turned around and went back into the sop. Nox had been accepted. Not that Barkley even turned people down. She couldn’t help but chuckle as she looked back towards him, well up to at him now that he was standing. He probably was a good head taller then she was. When he just kept looking back at her she tilted her head just a bit, wondering if he wanted to ask her something. But then he looked away again. Hmm, odd guy. When he focused on the bird she gladly extended the hand he was sitting on so he could pet him, yet the bird had other plans. He spread his wings and quickly hopped into her shoulder, burrying itself underneath the long side of her hair. “Hey now! Don’t be shy.” She said to the little bird as it just put his head into her curls. He liked sitting there for some reason. She liked to believe it made him feel like he was sitting in a tree. “Do they have a name? …and do you have one?” She heard him ask and she just smiled at his question. “Well, this guys name is Lil Pete. At least that is what I have been calling him.” She said as she moved a finger over his head, the bird just deciding he wanted to nibble on her ear instead. “Hey..!” She just said to it. He wasn’t hurting her, but it always felt strange when the bird nibbled her ear. “And my name would be Naka!” She said in a friendly voice. “And that big pupper over there is Barkley.” She said as she pointed towards the golden retriever that was now in his basket in the corner of the store. “But come on in! Don’t let all that cold air into the store.” She said as she motioned for him to follow her in. If he did follow her she would walk towards the counter and slowly try to untwist the bird from her hair. When she eventua

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lly succeeded she placed him down on the counter and put a few peanuts down for him to eat. “Were you interested in him?” She asked, looking back up to Nox. “I have seen you watching him a couple of times now. I can tell you more about him if you want. Little guy needs a good home.” She smiled at him.

“You caught me, I guess,” Nox said, referring to Naka having seen him stop by to stare at the parrot once or twice. And by once or twice it was really every day for the past four weeks. He realized then, it was probably unusual to constantly stop by her shop without ever going inside - that was not something he could help, though. Nox had anxiety issues along with other wonderful shortcomings, such as ocd habits, that kept him from taking opportunities. “My name is Nox. I run the shop down the street for holistic medicine. The thing is, I don’t know anything about owning a bird or another animal for that matter.” Nox grinned and lowered his head, which caused a few black strands of hair to fall to the sides of his recently shaven face. “I have to admit, at first, I thought you said Lil Peep - the artist, and thought that was a clever name.” Already off to a great start. Nox wasn’t sure if Naka would find his humor funny or even if she’d be interested in holding a conversation with him beyond being a customer. He followed her inside the shop and shut the door behind him. The way her shop door closed sounded different than his own. Her place looked newer, whereas his shop had character. Just another fancy word for needing a remodel in all honesty. And Naka was right. It was cold. Nox had on a leather jacket to keep him warm, one that looked like it was meant for riding a motorcycle. It was half way zipped up and the collar unfolded to one side. “I’ve been meaning to come in here for a while now, never had any real reason,” other than to talk to you. He left that last part out. “Do you have any cat treats?” Nox walked over to where Lil Pete’s cage was and studied the metal bars, avoiding Naka’s eye contact for as long as he could. “Or something cats enjoy? I’ve got this stray hanging around my shop. I’d like them to stick around…”

“Well, it is very nice to meet you Nox.” She said to him with a smile. She didn’t even know there as a shop of holistic medicine in the town. She made a mental note to go and check it out sometime later. She chuckled at his mention of Lil Peep. “That would have been a good name too, but no. Lil Pete. Though you are free to rename him that if you buy him.” She teased, knowing how to do a sales pitch. Though of course she was only doing it because he seemed interested in the little bird. “They really aren’t that hard to take care of. They need space, clean water, quality food and lots of attention.” She said to him as she looked over to Pete who was happily enjoying the peanuts she had given him. He was holding them in his little claw and munching on them bit by bit. “As for this guy, he needs someone who is smart. Because he is smart a well. He likes to get into mischief and do things he isn’t supposed to do. So he will keep you plenty busy.” She explained to him. Yet when he changed the subject she let him go ahead with that. If he wanted Lil Pete surely he would come back to him later. “Cat treats? Of course I do!” She just said. She watched Pete take the last peanut and picked him back up on her hand so she could put him on top of his cage to enjoy the rest of them before she motioned Nox to follow her to the cat isle. “A little stray you say?” She asked then and looked over the stuff she had. “If it really is a stray you would probably be off better just feeding it some good food.” She said as she got out a can of wet food. “They will go crazy for something like this and you will really make a difference for their health, compared to them eating out of the trash.” She explained. “If you really want just treats I would probably go for this one.” She said as she picked up a box of crunchy treats. “If you want to try and build some trust you could try this.” She had to stand on her very tippy toes to get that last one, really stretching to pick up the box

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that it was in. “They are kind of like yoghurt sticks for cats, there is gooey meat inside. You can hold it at the very end and squeeze a little bit out and they can try and eat it from there. You will still have a lot of space between you two but they can get used to your presence there.” She smiled at him. “The last thing I would advice you if you want them to really stick around is to build them some sort of little shelter. Right now it is pretty cold out and these strays will really be looking for a comfortable place to keep warm. Something that is out of the wind, perhaps with a little blanket or something soft for them to lay on. That will probably keep the around.” She finished as she presented him the options she had for him.

Key Key passed by the petstore every day on his way to work, and he never failed to peer in at the pets Naka had available in the shop that day. Key Key moved his head back and forth to try and get a glimpse of the live pet corner as he walked past, without breaking his stride - he knew that if he stopped for even a moment, he'd probably leave with a new pet. Today, there was a cute little bird jumping around in its cage. His gaze drifted to Barkley, whose tail started wagging softly as they made eye contact. Key Key smiled at the dog and continued on his way in to work. Perhaps he'd stop by tomorrow to try and find something for Cie Cie. His smile turned flat, his face turning to one of concern as he felt for Cie Cie's potion in his pocket, remembering the task he had ahead of him that night, as his pace picked up towards the the forest.

N: It was becoming obvious that Nox knew very little about taking care of a cat, especially a wild one such as the kitty lingering around his store. He watched Naka pull down several boxes of treats and took each one of them into his own hands. Turning them over and reading the labels as if he knew which ingredients were good and which ones were not. The best he could do was decide between chicken and tuna flavored. “Uh…” he managed to say, but Naka had him thinking about other things. Like a shelter. He started imagining himself building some type of small house for the cat made of cardboard and newspaper - that’s when he knew he was in trouble. He didn’t know what kind of shelter the stray needed. Surely, the cat required soft blankets and a heating pad, right? Nox started to consider the notion of bringing the cat home with him, and just as he suspected, it seemed like a nerve-wracking idea. What if the cat belonged to someone already? Or what if the cat enjoyed being outdoors? Still holding onto the different kinds of treats he said, “I’ll take all of these so I can see what flavors she likes…” Working up the momentum to ask this next question was unusually odd. Internally, he made it seem like this was a big deal when really, if it didn’t work out, he could just get rid of the accessories he bought for the stray. “What about a litter box?” Yeah. That was it. That was the big question. It was important, in a way - it meant he’d decided to try bringing the cat back home with him, or at least let them stay in the shop. Nox rubbed his chin absently, hanging onto the boxes of treats he’d tucked under his elbow. “And litter? I bet that stuff smells weird, right? - hey, do you happen to have a basket?”

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Nox had now gathered not only the four boxes of different treats, but a couple of fun toys, such as a wand with a string and feather attached to the end, and a ball with a jingle bell in the center. If he was planning on getting a box with cat litter, he was going to need something to carry all this stuff with.

She could see him feeling unsure about the choices she was pulling for him, so she simply gave him all the time he needed to look over all the treats she had handed him. She thought it was sweet that he was taking the time to take care of a stray. Not many people cared enough about those small animals that had nobody to take care of them and during the cold months she was glad this one had found someone. “A litter box?” She asked back and she could feel the smile instantly growing on her face. “You really are smitten with this kitten aren’t you?” She joked a little bit before she walked off. She pulled the most basic model out from a shelf. It was made of simple plastic and was white with dark grey so it fit almost any interior. She didn’t want to sell him anything expensive if he wasn’t sure yet if the cat would actually be interested in coming in with him. It had the basic base and then a hood with a door that the cat could go into. She also got two bags of different litters. She placed those on the counter with a small oof. “Uhmm.. litter doesn’t have to smell weird. It only starts to smell after the cat was there usually.” She chuckled. “So just take a cheap one for now to try it out. As for litter I have this super cheap one, but honestly it sucks to clean. It fall apart when it gets wet so you really need to clean the basket every few days. The other one is more like a griddy texture. It will clump together when it gets wet, so just scooping it out once or twice a day will do the trick and then you only need to fully clean it once a week or when you think it starts to smell to much. But it is a bit more expensive, so that is up to you.” She started to ring up the toys and treats that he had already chosen and left him to decide about if he wanted the litter box and if so. “Uhmm.. I have a few boxes and plastic bags.” She said looking over all the things that he ended up with. It would be impossible to carry on his own. “Do you live far?” She aske

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d then. “If it is only a few minute I can walk with you!” She offered. “It is about time for Barkley’s walk anyway, might as well help you out.” She said. She always took Barkley on a short walk a few times a day during the opening hours of the store. There was even a paper on the door that said if the store was lit up but closed, she would be back in ten minutes. Barkley already started to get up from his bed, wagging his tail at the word ‘walk’.

“We can take everything to my shop around the corner,” Nox said to Naka. He glanced to Barkley and rose a brow. Did dogs and cats get along? He’d heard stories about them being mortal enemies but the idea of them being best friends seemed possible. Nox found an empty box in the back of the pet store, one that Naka said he could use, gathered up all his stuff for his stray cat, and came to the cash register to pay. He helped Naka and Barkley out the door with his box wedged under one arm, filled with cat litter, toys, treats, even a fluffy bed he thought the cat would like. Just before they closed the door, he made sure to flip the sign for Naka so her customers would know she was out for a few minutes…