Shadows, Killers, and Vegas {Gunnar}

[Antosha Vikenti]

Black tipped fingers danced gracefully against an oil colored wheel as Antosha drove his rather unusual car through the once familiar town. His car was unusual in the fact that it was a hearse, a choice of car he had made back in high school and had been neglectful in ever changing it. Once upon a time he drove it to scare people, to create a wave of whispers before the 6-something Russian climbed out, but now he just drove it as a reminder of times long gone. He'd taken out the silky mattress that once decorated the back and now he had piles of books, a few bags from shopping he'd never bothered to take inside, and scattered papers of drafts for his homework (he found working in his car was good when having to write a paper). Right now it was also sporting a rather disgruntled looking silky black cat, which was staring up at its owner with what could only be described as a glare. Ant growled back at it as he drove into the parking lot of the vet’s office and before his cat had time to react he had the poor thing by the scruff of the neck, carrying it inside.

After a few minutes had gone by, and Antosha had gained a number of scratches, the Russian was leaving the vets office once again while his cat was getting its shots and a flea bath (mostly because the Russian was both cruel and paranoid). Antosha paused at his reflection in car's mirror to prod a rather deep scratch on his neck with a hiss, eyes glancing to the vet’s office as he wondered if he'd be allowed to hose down his cat, before he shrugged it off and climbed back in. Errands to be done after all. He huffed to himself while fishing a crumpled list from his pocket along with a few hundred dollars courtesy of his sister. Apparently she was having her damned dog shipped out to him do he could watch it, but couldn't be bothered to send more than what she deemed the necessary supplies. Meaning he had to get the food and a kennel so the dog wasn't wandering all over the house. Probably some toys as well, but that might just wait until he could bring the dog with him. No telling what that mutt might want.

Antosha climbed out of the hearse, locking the car as a reflex before he headed into the pet shop before him. The Russian wasn't ashamed to admit that he had been here before to buy food for Boo so he was relatively familiar with the territory. However he paused as he ducked into the shop, glancing at the crumpled list before going back to the surrounding shop. The thought had just occurred that beside Ant needing to find ‘dog food’ he had no real idea what sort of specific brand he would need for the Shiba and he sighed heavily, shaking his head. “Hullo. Assist in… Dog stuff?” he called out in his husky voice that could carry through the store without being so loud it would disturb the birds. Amber eyes flicked back at the rodents as he checked his list one final time.

Need to buy:
-Dog food
-Kennel… Medium? Large? Vegas sized.
-Boo’s food
-New Killer? Different Killer?
-harness
-new cat collar
-box of dog treats/bones/chips/braids? Difference?

[Gunnar Frey]

It had, thankfully, been a rather quiet morning. Granted the quietness could be worrying in the fact that no customers equals no income, but he was hardly poor and there was no risk of the store shutting down after one quiet day, so he was enjoying the relative peace. It made a nice change. The radio was turned on to a classical station, the brooding pianos and violins sending soft undulating waves of colour dancing across Gunnar's vision, and he smiled as he plucked a couple of crickets out of the bucket and dropped them into each of the tarantula tanks.

The grumpy Chilean Rose that he had come to call Bernard snatched at one of the crickets, quickly killing it and dragging it down into the little lair under the tile slate. Bernard had been in the store for a while and not yet been sold, mainly because Gunnar wouldn't let him go to anyone that wanted anything more than a display spider. Bernard hated being handled and it wasn't fair to keep exposing him to that, so until the right owner came along Gunnar was quite content with the large, very impressive spider staying in the store. Besides, there were plenty of other not-miserable-bastard Chilean's to chose from.

Gunnar had finished feeding the spiders and was on his way to check on the snakes when he heard the voice call out. His first thought was; how very fucking rude. If someone stood there and yelled for help like that back home, they'd be told to use their lazy bastard legs and go to someone for help, not just stand there yelling for the whole world to come and run up to them for the joy of getting to assist them. Brushing off his mild annoyance, Gunnar made his way over to the kid and managed to put a polite smile on his lips. “Hi there, I'm the store owner. How can I help ya?”

[Antosha Vikenti]

Well in all fairness Antosha hadn't really thought he should go searching for a worker. If he had, undoubtably he would have found them either impossible to find or they'd be in the back. Which wasn't a place Antosha was willing to go, since that was just going to make everything worse. So when the owner walked up Antosha, the tall Russian gave a rather sheepish smile in return of the probably forced smile the other had. After that he cocked his head to the side to indicate the isle assigned to dog stuff.

"My sister asked me to watch her dog for a few weeks before she comes into town... So I need to get some stuff... But I've never actually went shopping for a dog, I have no idea what all to get for Vegas." He held up his list of 'needed' things in way of further explanation. "And... Ah... I need a large dog harness. Big enough for a malamute." Another sheepish grin as he started for the dog isle, figuring he could get the more complicated stuff done first before he stole the owners time a bit more to talk about possibly getting that replacement hamster or something similar. Briefly he glanced at the watch on his wrist, lips pulling to the edge some as he calculated how much time he had before Boo would be done.

((short short))

[Gunnar Frey]

The Ark was a relatively large store (and Gunnar had plans in motion to expand it even more) and it always had a decent amount of staff. It was generally enough people that Gunnar could easily spend the whole day in the back where all the breeding animals lived, or hell, even at home, and the store would carry on functioning as normal. The business course he had been taking had been paying off well, and in truth Gunnar was very proud of how well he managed to keep the place running. Not bad at all for a university drop-out. “Well, first of all, do you know how to look after a dog? They take a lot of time and know-how; it wouldn’t exactly be fair to bring one into your home if you can’t give it a decent amount of care.”

Sure he was only a store owner and not a vet or animal welfare officer, but Gunnar took animal care very seriously. More than a few times he had refused a sale because he had thought the animal wouldn’t get the standard of care it needed with its new owner, which obviously meant a little less money was going into the tills but it let him sleep a little better at night. This kid was only getting supplies for the dog, but if Gunnar could help make both the dogs and the kids lives easier, well, that could be one less dog heading for a shelter or a vet, and that was never a bad thing. “Is your sister not sending a harness with the dog? If not, we have several in that would fit a dog of that size. What kind of budget do you have, and do you need to get absolutely everything for the dog or is it coming with some of its belongings?”

[Antosha Vikenti]

Antosha raised an eyebrow before offering the man a soft smile. Granted the Russian really disliked dogs, no matter the size, but it wasn't as if he was completely ignorant. He just couldn't remember the things his sister always got for the mutt. "Yes, I know how. Did back when we lived together..." There was a pause before he shrugged some. "Our uncle... Father? Ah. Kent, in any case, was supposed to watch Vegas but he was too busy with a honeymoon." He nodded once, as though this would cover all the possible questions the owner wouldn't ask.

"Well, the mutt will be coming with his collar and leash and tags and some bedding and toys. I think she's sending the dishes too but if not I will use mine until I come back.. She never bought him a kennel but I'd need one for him at my home." He shrugged sheepishly, shoving his free hand into his pocket. Right... How much money did he have to spend on the dog anyway? He went over his bank account in his head before smiling gently. "Maybe... 500 hundred to spend all together..." If he didn't plan on eating out for the next week. Maybe he could convince someone else to feed him. "Ah. No. The harness is for a different dog, a friend asked me to pick it up. He has been here before. Matthew Reeves, or maybe Mathis? They come in with the large malamute. My sister's dog is a shiba inu." He rambled some, shrugging gently.

[Gunnar Frey]

The boy’s dislike of the dog was evident in the way he spoke, and in truth Gunnar pitied the poor animal. Sure he could try to help the kid out now, but there was nothing he could actually do to save the dog from what was probably going to be a rather miserable visit. The most Gunnar could do was make sure the kid at least got everything necessary to make the dog’s stay as comfortable as possible. “Ah, so you at least know the basics then. That’s good. Well, if there’s anything you need to know, just ask.”

The fact that the boy referred to the dog as a mutt was not a promising sign, but it really wasn't Gunnar's place to point it out. Then again, the kid had come in being rude and demanding to another human, so what chance would a dog have of being well spoken of, really? Inwardly rolling his eyes, Gunnar kept his voice as polite and friendly as he could muster. “Ah, so it's coming with the basics, at least. That's good to know. It should make things a bit easier, especially at first while it's settling in.” As the kid revealed how much money he had to spend on the dog, it took all of Gunnar's effort not to raise an eyebrow. Jesus, if he had that much money to randomly spend on something not directly tied to him when he was that age, Gunnar would likely have gone off the rails even sooner than he had. His natural wariness came into play too; if this kid was lying and wasting his time or if Gunnar believe he had stolen it, well, the polite face only lasted so long.

“Five hundred will be more than enough, unless you're wanting to get the really fancy top-of-the-line stuff.” The name of the boy's friend didn't ring any bells, but Malamute's weren't exactly common around here and Gunnar did recall seeing one popping in with its humans from time to time. As was perhaps typical for someone in his profession with his interests, he tended to remember the animals before he remembered the people that owned them. “Ahh, yes. I think I know who you mean. Yeah, we've definitely got harnesses in that go up to that size. The Shiba should be very easy to pick out stuff for; they're pretty small, so there's lot of kennels and such that will do well for it.”

[Antosha Vikenti]

Antosha disliked all dogs, just as he disliked all baselines. But as with almost every self imposed rule the Russian had created for himself there were exceptions. Two exceptions to be exact- Adonis and Vegas. Granted the Russian wasn't going to lie and say he would go out and buy a dog. No, he still disliked the noisy and rather filthy animals. But Vegas (and Adonis) had lived with him for quite a few years and it was sort of unavoidable that Antosha came to.. not necessarily like the dogs but not hate them either. If anything it was like having an annoying brother.

He'd feed the dog, play with it, but gladly give it up when it was time.

Besides, mutt was more of an affectionate term for Antosha. Even if he didn't necessarily mean it to come across that way. He liked to think it was similar to how he called Mayu "Mouse", Xavier has become "Porcupine", and so many years ago Rayne had been "Angel". "My sister did not really tell me what all he was coming with, so I thought I might need to bring basics anyway." He nodded some. The fact he had five hundred to spend didn't really faze the Russian, as he had meant he had five hundred to spend for the entire shopping trip- not just the dog. Plus fifty of it wasn't even his and had come from Matthew to help pay for the harness and a bag of dog food. But he didn't need to clarify that for Gunnar.

Antosha nodded some at Gunnar's explanation, willing to trust the older man. He owned the pet store so he had to know what he was doing when it came to animals. Not like Antosha wanted the top of the line stuff anyway, not since he only needed it for a little while. "Malamute going by Sara? That might help narrow it down... Owner is a cop." Not that it really mattered, but Antosha wanted to try and help the other out. "So which size should I look at? Medium? Small? Ah.. for the mutt, I mean."