The Great Near-Escape [Open]

[Gunnar Frey]

“Nope nope nope nope!”

Gunnar ran along the length of the counter, scooping up the runaway degu as it tried to make a dash for freedom. The large male degu usually loved to be out and being handled but he had a giddy mood on him today and was refusing to settle down, much to the dismay (but also admittedly mild amusement) of the store owner. The degu squirrelled and wriggled to try to get away, but his focus was soon distracted when he was presented with a mint leaf. Gunnar chuckled softly as the large rodent snatched the leaf and began hastily chewing on it, and he shifted the degu so it could sit perched on his shoulder. “Daft bugger.”

Once the degu had finished his mint leaf Gunnar put him back in the large converted bird cage with his companions, watching them bolt around madly for a few moments before he went to check around the rest of the store. It had been a fairly quiet day, which was at once both good and bad. A lack of customers was never a pleasant concept, but at the same time it gave him a chance to analyse the store more than he could when his attention was being dragged every which way at once.

The radio was playing softly in the background, gentle classical music filling the air with rolling waves of pale blue and lilac, and Gunnar retrieved a guinea pig from one of the pens and rested it on his shoulder as he inspected around the store. The small black roan sow settled down quickly as Gunnar stroked her.

Gunnar had been considering expanding the dog and cat food ranges for a while, and he was walking through the area where they were kept as he saw a potential customer wandering around. The Brit approached them with a polite smile and a guinea pig chittering quietly on his shoulder. “Hey there, is there anything I can help you with?”

[Beau LaRoux]

Potential was definitely the best way to describe Beau. He'd seen the pet store while wandering the street and couldn't rightly recall ever seeing it before. He'd mostly wandered in out of curiosity, well, that and who doesn't love pets? Beau found himself drawn almost as if by some strange power toward the dog section, and he spent a few seconds looking over whatever Gunnar had in stock. It was as he stared that Beau realized that he might actually be able to make a decent purchase, something to show his support for an interesting store, if nothing else. In just a few short weeks, Beau had run into two local cats that spent a considerable amount of time taunting him. He figured that maybe with some treats in his pocket or a leash or something, he'd have better luck.

So Beau's intention from there was to find the section of the store dedicated to cats. He might have made it too, had he not seen what looked like the biggest swamp rat in creation skitter across a counter, followed by what appeared to be a middle-aged Brit. Beau blinked, then decided it was best to just get the cat supplies. He was wandering in what he sincerely hoped was the right direction when he heard the voice.

Beau turned, meeting polite smile for polite smile, "Right, I was hopin' to find some, uh, cat treats or somethin'," he said, waving a hand. He couldn't help but notice that the pet store owner was fairly close now, stepping closer, and Beau waited for that familiar little tingling sensation. When it didn't come, the boy frowned. Beau extended a hand, waving it in Gunnar's direction. Was Beau's power on the fritz? Wait, not everyone in Pilot Ridge had powers, right? But didn't most of the people who, like, stared here have powers? Just wave your hand some more Beau, that'll work.

[Gunnar Frey]

In the few years that The Ark had been open, Gunnar had been honoured to watch it go from strength to strength. Sure sometimes it was very tough and the customers could be right arseholes at times, but for the vast majority of the time it was peaceful and serene and everything he had hoped to find when he had left England. No chaos, no self-destruction, no screaming and mania and never knowing what would be around the corner. He had feared that he would be bored of a quiet life by now, but he was in fact relishing every single second away from the clusterfuck that had once been his existence.

The guinea pig perched on Gunnar's shoulder chattered quietly at the strange scent of the newcomer, sending slight peaks of orange and yellow dancing across Gunnar's vision mixing with the rolling waves of the boy's voice, and Gunnar gently fussed the crown of hair atop her head as the boy spoke. “We've got loads of different types and brands of cat treats, did you have anythin' in particular in mind, or-”

Gunnar's sentence trailed out at the boy seemed adamant on keeping on waving at him, and with a slightly curious eyebrow quirk Gunnar waved back at him. “Hello...” The guinea pig settled down, getting comfortable on his shoulder, and as the boy waved a hand again the Brit wondered what the hell the kid was doing. After a moment he offered his own hand out, wondering if the kid was trying for some kind of crazy attempt at a hand shake. “As I was saying... We've got quite a lot of types in stock, but if you're not sure what your cat'll like we have little sample bags of most of the treats. They're only 25 cents each.”

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau actually didn't catch Gunnar's initial statement, what with the hand waving and all. He just kept doing it for several beats, frowning as he tried to figure this out. There should be a tingle or some weird new sensation or maybe Beau should suddenly be speaking French. Nothing, a whole lot of nothing. It was weird, it was like... like Beau was normal again, for a bit, and could actually talk to a normal person. He supposed it was like that around his family too, well, most of his family...

Gunnar stuck his hand out, and Beau's waving hand just sort of ended up there, reflex and manners kicking in. He'd been so caught up in feeling, or rather not feeling, that he'd forgotten what he'd been doing. He smiled bashfully, a little color rising to his cheeks. "Sorry 'bout that. Name's Beau, an' uh, did you say somethin' 'bout sample bags?" Beau looked around the shop for a moment. He was already mentally kicking himself, and he couldn't quite figure out if he should just... oh shucks, he'd figure it out anyway.

"Sorry, was tryin' to, uh, feel somethin' that wasn't there. It's a meta thing," said Beau, waving a hand dismissively. "But yeah, you were sayin' somethin' about small sample bags? That might work. I, uh, keep runnin' into cats 'round here..."

[Gunnar Frey]

As the kid kept on waving his arm around Gunnar found himself beginning to wonder just what the hell was wrong with him. Was this some kind of truly bizarre prank? Or maybe the kid just wasn't quite right in the head. Whatever it was, shaking hands with the kind that introduced himself as Beau seemed to snap him out of it, but Gunnar made a mental note to keep a wary eye on him. There were enough members of staff in the store to keep an eye on things, but if this was some kind of strange was to distract his attention then Gunnar fully intended to be ready to put an end to any attempted shenanigans.

“Hi, I'm Gunnar. I own this store.” The guinea pig continued to chutter softly, the noise quiet and somewhat reassuring. “Yeah. A lot of people don't know what their cat might like and don't wanna spend a lot on getting treats that might not get eaten, so we decided to start selling little samplers. We've got dog ones too; just started doing them a few weeks ago.”

When Beau vaguely tried to describe what it was he was doing, a small frown furrowed Gunnar's brow. He knew several meta-humans and whilst he would be the first to admit he didn't have much of a clue about how they worked or what they did, he generally didn't have much of a problem with them. However, the kid was acting weird and this new admission of what he was settled uneasily in Gunnar's stomach. “Look Beau, I've got no problems with meta's and I don't mind you bein' here, but if you start causing any trouble I'll have to ask you to leave, understand?”