Pets Rule Their Masters (Kieron)

[Damien Tremblay]

It was almost laughable how often Damien found himself at the pet store, catering to one, or both, of his creatures. The both liked food, treats, and toys, and went through them at a steady pace. Gypsy was rather gentle with her toys, but Charlie had a habit of shredding his catnip mice and leaving the carnage right in the middle of the living room. Not to mention his feather wand he'd pulled apart the other week, and Gypsy's plush frog that he'd decided to make a hole in and de-fluff...

He was seeing a pattern there.

So, he was taking advantage of the nice day to walk down to the pet store. Gypsy was still sleeping from her walk around the lake that morning, and the less time Charlie spent travelling, the better. Josef was working, so Damien was on his own for the time being.

He stepped into the familiar pet store, glad it was quiet, like usual. Both pets needed treats, and he supposed he needed something new to entertain the cat with. And a new frog for Gypsy, because the old one was beyond saving. ... Yeah, better get a basket.

After picking up a few things for the critters, he circled around and got distracted by the fish display. He'd never had any, being that he'd seen a lot of them when he'd lived near the ocean and had never felt the need to own one. But they were still neat to watch, especially in the lit up blue tanks. He stopped to watch a particularly bright set of them swim in lazy circles, smiling at their simple elegance.

Charlie would have a field day with a fish tank, so it was a terrible idea, but that didn't stop him from enjoying them.

[Kieron Sharpe]

When he had gone on the trip with most of the rest of the school to the camping grounds in the woods, Kieron had entrusted his rather expansive aquatics collection to his next door neighbour. Thankfully they had some knowledge and experience with fish, but admittedly not quite so many or quite so varied as the ones that dwelt in the tanks dotted around the nurse's house. All that had been lost was a pair of tetras, but they were older fish and K hadn't really expected to have them for very much longer anyway.

As he had suspected Wee Mad Arthur, one of the batfish, had gone off his food for a few days but had taken back to eating once a familiar face was once more dispensing the shrimp. Kieron often heard people say the didn't like fish because they were dull and had no personalities. He would challenge anyone to meet his collection and still be able to say that.

The pet store in the mall was a place Kieron had become very familiar with in his time as a student at Hammel, and he had been delighted to discover it was still there upon his return to Pilot Ridge after his tenure away at university. He had only been back in Pilot Ridge a little over a month and already it seemed like all the staff in the pet store knew him by name, no doubt because more of his wage went there than went to the grocery store.

A basket held in slender hands contained a few small pieces of mock-driftwood and a large polyresin cow skull tank ornament. Piranhas were not a fish Kieron had ever owned before, but in two weeks four would be arriving with him and he wanted to make sure the tank was suitably decorated. He had always taken great pride in making sure his tanks looked their best to show off his prized pets to their full potential.

While Kieron was looking at a rather striking red tiger oscar (and trying to convince himself he didn't need to take it home with him), he noticed another man watching the denison barbs a few tanks down. Noting that the two staff members were both occupied, one helping a lady pick out a rabbit and the other stocking shelves, K wandered over to the other man and offered him a gentle smile. “Hello. I don't work here, but if you're looking for some fish advice I could probably help, if you'd like.”

[Damien Tremblay]

The longer Damien studied the fish, the more he liked the idea of them being around. Of course, those thoughts would circle back to ‘how much fun would Charlie have with his own personal fish pond?’ and the idea was dropped. But they were still nice to watch. He had a few minutes to spare. His only real plans involved running a few errands and then making dinner, hopefully with Josef over. Though they weren’t officially moved in together yet, dinners were far more frequent.

Hopefully Charlie could entertain himself for an hour or so with his new pack of catnip mice while dinner was dealt with. If Damien saw one more paw touch anything on the counter, Charlie was in deep, deep trouble. He really didn’t deserve presents, but it wasn’t fair to bring Gypsy something and not Charlie...

Yeah. His pets ruled over him.

His basket was certainly an indication of that. Aside from the collection of catnip mice, there were treats for both pets, a new stuffed frog as well as a long stuffingless fox for Gypsy, and a new feathery wand for Charlie to play with. What could he say? He loved the brats.

His fish-watching was interrupted, which he didn’t mind. Glancing at the person who had spoken, Damien smiled and shook his head. “Thank you, but unless my cat is looking for a personal fishing experience, I don’t think they’d last long in my house. They’re great to watch, though. How many do you have?” He could only assume the other man had them, being that he was offering his advice. Not to mention the items in his basket.

[Kieron Sharpe]

Kieron couldn’t remember exactly what it was that had been the trigger to form his fascination with aquatic life. As far back as he could recall he’d always been the kid that begged his parents for a goldfish instead of a puppy, much to their confusion and amusement, and whilst most kids wanted to go to Disney land he’d much rather have gone to the nearest aquatics centre. If he had been allowed to make his own choice he would still be in university, studying for a doctorate in ichthyology.

Of course, it had never been his choice.

The nurse felt an odd sense of serenity as he watched the oscar slowly drifting through the tank, as he always felt a calmness while watching any fish. Their lives were so alien and complex, and yet at the same time so elegantly simple and serene. He didn’t mind other animals and was rather fond of some of the more colourful and elaborate bird species, but in his mind they just couldn’t compare to aquatic life.

It was very easy to say that Kieron’s fish were the most important aspect of his life to him, outside the essential things like eating and such. They came before his job and easily eclipsed his laughable attempt at a social life, and he was perfectly okay with this. The other man’s gentle turn down of his help caused the smile on K’s lips to falter for a moment, but it was easily replaced. He enjoyed being able to use his knowledge to help people, but he was equally content just being able to chatter about a subject he loved.

“At the last count? Umm…” The hand not holding the basket handle idly scratched the back of his neck. “I think there was 53, if I remember correctly.” Kieron’s voice betrayed the slight awkwardness he was feeling about divulging the full extent of his collection. “It has gone up since then… And that doesn’t include the lobsters, crabs, frogs or snails… or the seahorses or eel. Or the piranha’s that are coming soon.” He gave a small shrug in an ‘oopsie’ manner. “I’m sure your cat would have a field day in my house. What‘s her name? Or his, sorry.”

[Damien Tremblay]

Damien, while desperately wanting a puppy or a kitten as a child, had been denied due to his mother’s dander allergies. There had always been the promise of ‘when you’re grown up, you can have whatever you want.’ So, he’d done just that, as well as lived through his friends who were lucky enough to have pets. Once he’d deemed himself stable enough in his new job and home, he’d done his homework and looked into various breeds of both cats and dogs before deciding what he wanted, and seeking out breeders.

Now he had Gypsy and Charlie, and while they could be pests at times, he wouldn’t trade them for anything. What was better, his boyfriend got along with them.

Still, the fish were nice to watch for a few minutes. He’d always had access to things like minnows and hermit crabs growing up, watching them on the beach for hours. (And trying to break up fights between the hermit crabs because he was the biggest pacifist in the world.)

Fifty three... that was a heck of a lot of fish. Damien wouldn’t know where to start looking after that many creatures. Still, the variety perked his interest. “I didn’t know you could have seahorses as pets.” He’d been exposed to a variety of sea life, and while he could honestly say he was more interested in things like porpoises and seals growing up, he still had a respect for the other creatures that inhabited the sea. “But it sounds like an amazing collection.” As for his own, he shrugged and jiggled the basket in his hands slightly. “Charlie. He’s a Burmese, and he loves fish.” The one and only time he’d tried putting on the cat sitter DVD his sister had sent him as a joke had resulted in the television nearly being knocked over due to Charlie jumping to bat at the fish on the screen. “Gypsy couldn’t care less, but Charlie’s obsessed. ... Uh. Gypsy’s my dog.” Cue an awkward smile. Damien loved his pets dearly, and sometimes it was hard to get him off the subject. “So... why piranhas?”

[Kieron Sharpe]

Kieron smiled and gave a small nod of his head, switching the basket to the other hand for comfort. “They're not common pets, but seahorses can be kept quite happily in captivity. They're not particularly easy to keep though, and they're fairly prone to disease so a lot of hobbyists avoid them.” Of all the fish in his collection the seahorses were amongst K's favourites despite the fact that caring for them was often rather stressful. If the water quality, pH, salinity or temperate was even slightly out he could lose all three of them, and whilst he had every confidence in his ability he was still always frightened that one day he would wake up and they'd all be lifeless.

“Are Burmese cats the big fluffy ones, that look like they'd blend in perfectly with a sheepskin rug?” Whilst Kieron did like other animals he didn't have a whole world of experience with them, and he'd never really paid enough attention to felines to be able to tell one breed from another. Except Bengal's, but that's only because his mother owned one. Even if he did like them enough to want one, he never could thanks to the dozens of fish that shared his home with him. “Sorry if that's a stupid question, I don't really know cats that well.” K could completely understand the other man's want to talk about his pets, for he himself shared that same trait. “I know a little more about dogs, however. Gypsy's a good name.”

The question caused a quiet little awkward laugh to leave the Irishman's lips, and he once more switched which hand the basket was held in. “Umm... They've always interested me but I've never really had the time or space for them. Now I have both, I figured why not.”

[Damien Tremblay]

Well. Damien learned something new every day. He’d had no idea that one could keep seahorses as pets beyond aquariums. “I think I’d be afraid to keep them, if that’s the case. I get dirty looks when dinner’s two minutes late from the cat, so I don’t want to think about what could go wrong with something so... delicate.” Still, to come home and see little seahorses? It would be just a little bit amazing. Sorry Gypsy and Charlie.

He managed not to laugh at the description, then shook his head while grinning. “No, no. You’re thinking... Persians, maybe? Burmese are short coated. Here.” He fished out his phone and pulled up a picture of both Charlie and Gypsy snuggled on the couch and held it out for the other man to see. “They’re not for everyone, but I like him. He feels like a rabbit. And, uh, that’s Gypsy. Border collie.” Just in case he wasn’t as up on dog breeds as Damien was. Not that Border Collies were hard to identify. “The cat won’t admit it, but they spend a lot of time like that.” Certainly not the traditional norm of dog chasing cat, or vice versa. Charlie had his moments, usually when he wanted to be the centre of attention and Gypsy was in his way, but most of the time he was quite content to leech the warm from the dog.

“No one really knows cats that well, it seems. Not that it matters, I guess.” For his comment on Gypsy’s name, he smiled. “Thanks. She seems to like it.” It had suited her from puppyhood perfectly. And the new fish? “Still, it’s an interesting choice. I have to admire that.” And then he realized that he was being rude. Moving his basket, he held out his hand. “Sorry, I’m Damien, by the way.”

[Kieron Sharpe]

The corner of Kieron’s lips curled into a smile and gave gave a soft chuckle at the comment. “Your cat sounds a lot like my eel. When left alone he’s normally quite docile and laid back, but when he’s hungry you know about it.” Vetinari, the zebra moray eel, was the pride of Kieron’s collection and the closest thing he had to a ‘favourite’. Despite the fact the eel could be temperamental and sometimes even outwardly aggressive, Kieron loved him the way many people claimed to love their pet dog. “I understand what you mean, though. I was terrified of accidentally killing them when I first got them.”

Kieron did sometimes wish that he had a pet that he could fuss and cuddle and give real attention to; it wasn’t that he resented not being able to hug his fish, more that he liked the thought of the closer companionship. The closest he could ever get was with the sturgeon who still didn’t have a name, who would come up to the surface to get its back stroked. “Oh, sorry. Persian rings a bell now you mention it; they’re usually a blue-grey colour, aren’t they?” The Irishman leaned in to see the picture on the phone, the smile on his lips brightening. “Aww, they’re cute. And Gypsy looks very bonny.” Kieron had a rummage in his pocket, bringing out his own phone and quickly flipping through the pictures to find one of the three seahorses lazing in their tank, elegant tails curled around the fronds of a soft fake plant, and he showed it to the other man.

“Honestly, I don’t know most furred animals very well” Kieron admitted with a sheepish shrug. “I can just about pick out the most common dog breeds, and Arabian horses, but that’s only because my ex owned one.” Speaking of Maria caused an uncomfortable knot to form in the nurse’s stomach, but he pushed it back as the other man introduced himself. Taking the proffered hand in a firm but friendly shake, Kieron eased a gentle smile onto his lips. “Pleasure to meet you, Damien. I’m Kieron. I’m a nurse at one of the schools in town.” He chuckled softly, more to break his own sudden tension than because it was actually funny when he said “typical pet owners. We introduce our animals before ourselves.”

[Damien Tremblay]

Damien was mildly surprised by the mention of an eel, and he knew he couldn’t get it off of his face fast enough, either. “An eel must make for an interesting pet.” He’d seen them before, namely at the aquarium, but never as a pet. “Your house must just be like a miniature aquarium, hey?” It would be neat, sure. But with all the fiddling you had to do to keep the environment stable, and Charlie around... it just wasn’t a good idea. Plus Gypsy’s tail had a mind of its’ own sometimes. She was great at sweeping things off of the coffee table when she was happy. “I can imagine. I had a hard enough time trying to keep Gypsy alive when she was a puppy.” He’d been scared of hurting her with rough play.

He did love his pets. Both of them were snuggle worms, Gypsy in particular. It was a habit he’d gotten her into as a puppy, when she was small enough to still qualify as a lap dog. It wasn’t... comfortable having a sixty pound border collie on your lap, but he didn’t have the heart to kick her off. The only one with that power seemed to be Charlie, when he was demanding a turn. Having furry animals was sometimes troublesome, like when certain felines felt entitled to stroll across counters while dinner prep was going on. Maybe having things in tanks would be nice sometimes. “Yeah, I think they’re mostly grey, and long haired.” Charlie shedded enough. He didn’t need longer cat hairs all over his things. “Thanks,” he said with a little grin, ever the proud fur parent. When the seahorses appeared, he took a real interest in them. They really were cute little things. “Do they have names? They’re really neat.” Did people give fish names? He wasn’t sure.

... Was a seahorse even a legitimate fish?

“It’s okay. I can’t tell one fish from another, unless you’re talking things like salmon.” That only came from fishing with his father as a child. As proof, he nodded to the bright things he’d been watching. “I have no idea what these are, but they’re colorful.” He knew only too well how much talking about exes sucked, so he let Kieron gloss over it, instead moving on to shaking his hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, Kieron.” He wondered briefly if he was a nurse at Hammel. If so, it was no wonder he had quiet, tame pets at home. Damien had barely been able to handle the students when he was one. How Josef handled them at the self defense clinic, he had no idea. “That must be interesting, being a nurse.” He’d never had the drive for something like medical school. Too much dealing with people. He liked his quiet office and his research, thank you. “More interesting than working with attorneys, anyway.” Even if the office was rarely boring. As for the pet owner comment, he had to laugh too. “Right. Gypsy usually introduces herself before I get a chance to do anything. She’s up for love from anyone.” Which wasn’t always a bad thing. It was how he’d met Josef, after all.

[Kieron Sharpe]

Kieron was by now used to that look of surprise when he mentioned his eel to people, it was hardly a conventional pet and most people had never seen one up close except for maybe in a zoo or aquarium. Vetinari was the pride of Kieron’s collection and the zebra moray seemed to know it. “He’s fascinating. He can have a bit of a temper on him and gets very territorial, but I can spend hours sat watching him. I got some puzzle toy-type things for him a little while ago; it’s remarkable how intelligent they are.” Kieron caught that he was waffling and abruptly stopped, giving a soft laugh at Damien’s comment. “Yeah, there’s definitely more tanks than furniture items. The main bedroom and bathroom are the only rooms with nothing at all in them.”

The Irishman was an equally proud pet-parent so he could completely understand Damien’s love of showing off his pets. Sure the fish were hardly soft and cuddly, but they were interesting and intriguing in their own way and Kieron loved the different complexities and challenges that each individual species demanded. Sure sometimes it was infuriating, tiring and not to mention expensive, but the payoff of being able to see a beautifully decorated tank teeming with happy, healthy fish was always more than worth it. He smiled brightly at Damien’s obvious interest in the seahorses, but a faint colour rose into his cheeks when he was asked about the names. He half-considered just saying no, but he’d always been a horrific liar. “Ummm… Yes. They’re Hex, Willikins and… Binky.” He gave a small shrug of his shoulders, the colour deepening slightly. “I don’t name them all. Just the special ones.”

Happy for the distraction, Kieron looked towards the fish that Damien had been watching. “They’re Denison barbs, from India. They’re pretty new to the aquarium scene, but already they’re being so badly over-captured in the wild that their numbers are dropping.” It was one of the reasons Kieron preferred this pet store to the bigger ones in the nearby cities; all of their animals were captive bred, meaning no natural sources were depleted for them and there was a smaller chance of them bringing outside bacteria or sickness into his tanks. “I like them,” he said in agreement, “I keep considering getting a few to brighten up some of my plainer tanks.” Like with the poor lonely zebra Danio that had been on her own since her breeding partner had died three weeks ago. Both types of fish were from the same region and had similar needs and were non-aggressive. Hmmm, it wasn’t actually a bad idea.

At the nurse comment Kieron gave a soft laugh and a nod. “There’s rarely a dull moment, that’s for sure. The kids keep me busy, especially since some of them have rather… interesting ailments sometimes.” Interesting was of course a massive understatement; how many nurses could say they worked with kids who sometimes accidentally set their own hands alight, fainted after turning into a cat or accidentally got stuck invisible? He gave a nod of understanding at the next comment. “My dad is a lawyer and I used to spend quite a bit of time sat around in his office, so I think I can understand what you mean. It’s not exactly the most welcoming of atmospheres.” Not that a school infirmary was much better most of the time. He gave a quiet breath of a laugh. “Pets. They’re like a secret loophole for letting people chat to each other who wouldn’t otherwise.”

[Damien Tremblay]

For someone who had grown up surrounded by all kinds of marine wildlife, Damien had been itching for a furry pet from the time he was quite little to... well, to adulthood, when he’d finally be in a space to get one. He understood the beauty and almost alien appeal to underwater creatures. He just wouldn’t keep one. ... Unless it was from fishing, but he wasn’t going to tell a fish parent that. “Are eels always temperamental, or is he just special?” He had no idea what they were normally like, so he had no reference point. “Sorry. I’ve just never known anyone with an eel before.” As for the number of tanks, he simply shrugged and smiled. “It’s okay. I’m the same way with dog and cat toys. And the number of scratching posts Charlie has is probably shameful.” It was only three – two on the main level and one in his bedroom for those moments that Charlie was too lazy to move. Still. Most cats were lucky to have one. Oh well. At least he used them.

Most of the time, anyway.

He knew what it was to put the time and research into certain pets. Considering he did research for a living, it had been easy to look up the seemingly simple requirements of dogs and cats for care. Everything from supplies to vet care to safe toys had been carefully looked at before he’d even attempted looking for his pets. And then there had been breeders and looking at them. All in all, it had been a lot of work for something that seemed to straightforward, but he was glad he’d done it. His pets were more or less his babies, and he wanted to make sure they were cared for well. “Hey, those are fine names. Especially Hex.” He... truthfully hadn’t been that creative in naming his fur kids, but they suited their names.

“That’s too bad they’re being overcaptured.” It seemed any time humans found something new and exciting, it got hunted down or captured to dangerous levels. They really needed to learn how to moderate. “They’re pretty.” Which was probably why they were getting captured left right and center.

Kieron’s comment about the interesting ailments made Damien arch an eyebrow and shift his basket. “It isn’t the school in the mountains, is it?” He’d long since learned to be careful about how he spoke to people in regards to Hammel, though if he was going to be candid about it anywhere, Pilot Ridge was probably the safest place. If it was Hammel, well, maybe they had more in common than pets. As for his own job, he shrugged. “I think it depends on the office. I worked in one in Vancouver that was the picture of unwelcoming. The firm I work at here is the opposite.” Unless you counted Janice and her meddling. “Yeah, my dog is the usual conversation starter. It’s hard not to talk to someone that she’d just decided she needs to love on.” Like Josef, which made him smile in an almost stupid way.

[Kieron Sharpe]

Kieron gave a soft laugh and shrugged a shoulder. “Don't apologise, it's fine. I'd happily talk about them all day if you'd let me.” That was not much of an exaggeration; given the chance Kieron was fairly certain that he could talk the ears off a donkey along the subject of his aquatics collection. Or just about aquatics in general, really. “A lot of them can be fairly temperamental and most of them are territorial, but you do get some that are fairly sedate and sociable. Mine just isn't one of them.” It wasn't for the want of trying though, Kieron had attempted to introduce Vetinari into a community tank several times but each time had ended badly. Only once with an real damage done, but that was the last attempt Kieron had made. He could stay grumpy on his own. “That's not too bad. Your furniture probably thanks you for having all the scratch posts.”

The Irishman hadn't really been all that much more imaginative when naming his fish. Had it not been for the Discworld books he highly doubted most of them would have names. Not all of his fish were named, but he had tried to match up personalities to give them names that were at least semi-appropriate. Or just mildly amusing for those who were familiar with the characters in the books, such as Binky. He smiled brightly. “They're not all named, I'd have run out of names ages ago. Just the particularly special ones. And a few of the not-so-special ones that I've had so long they've become special to me.”

Kieron nodded in definite agreement. “They are pretty, and these are some quite nice specimens. It does suck though that they've already become so rare in the wild so quickly. Just yet more people messing up the natural balance.” Kieron sighed softly, placing a finger on the side of the tank and smiling softly as the curious little fish came over to see what the strange new shape was.

The next question caused a slight eyebrow raise, and Kieron looked at the other man curiously for a moment before answering. “It is, yeah. I was a student there, and now I'm a nurse.” He knew that would make two things clear to the other man; Kieron both knew all about meta's and was indeed one himself. Sometimes that was a tough subject to broach, but he felt a lot more relaxed and open than usual. He blamed the presence of the fish nearby, and the fact that he seemed to share a common love of pets with Damien. He gave a soft twitch of a smile. “I'm glad you've been able to find a place you enjoy. There's nothing much worse than working in a place you don't like.” Damien's sudden bright smile after a seemingly muted comment caused a slightly curious eyebrow raise from Kieron, but his own smile was soft and friendly in return. “I can imagine. My brother has a dog and he says that Oreo has gotten him more dates than he's ever gotten himself.”

[Damien Tremblay]

At least Kieron understood the drive to talk about your animals like it was going out of style. Damien supposed it was a bit like parents chatting about their kids at every possible chance. Of course, if he had kids, he’d probably be exactly the same. Hell, trying not to mention that he was soon going to be an uncle was hard enough to keep under wraps. Josef had already been assaulted with the knowledge routinely, especially when any updates were to be had. “It’s the same for me and the dog and cat. Everyone I work with pretty much know them personally.” Gypsy in particular, being that she often came to work with him. “That’s interesting about the eels. My water critter knowledge is limited to things like hermit crabs, because there were tons on the beach close by when I was growing up.” He wouldn’t know how to care for one, but he did know they were jerks to each other.

Damien couldn’t remember how Charlie’s name had come about, just that it had fit the Burmese kitten perfectly. Gypsy had been less random. After cruising pet forums once he’d picked Gypsy out from her litter, he’d come across pages and pages of name suggestions for when people were stuck. He’d just had to read page one to see the one that jumped out at him. “I get that. I guess they really don’t need them, for the most part. It isn’t like you’re calling them to come, or anything like that.” Not that Charlie listened to anything but the can opener most days.

“Looks like they like you,” Damien said with a little smile as the fish came over. He only knew how to make fish come over to you using bait, thanks to his father. At least those kinds of fish weren’t destined for pets.

Ah. Well that answered the unspoken question. It had been less about the school in the hills, and more about meta status. Nearly all of them who had gone to school at Hammel would know it. He smiled and relaxed a little more. His power wasn’t really that conspicuous, but it seemed to unnerve people to a degree who were baseline that the person they were talking to could go invisible at will. “I was a student there too.” Years ago, but he was. “I can only image what you run into on a daily basis.” He’d been fairly good himself, but he’d seen some of the results of shenanigans with powers.

He didn’t quite catch the look he got from his idiot smile, but that was very likely because he was too wrapped up in his own little bubble of happy for a moment. Still, Kieron’s comment hit it perfectly. “Yeaah... Gypsy’s probably 98% of the reason I even have a relationship right now.” Without her, he would have walked right on by Josef without much more than perhaps a little smile or a nod as he passed by the clinic. “They deserve more credit than a lot of people give them, I think.”