Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
|
Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Oct 21, 2024 16:05:52 GMT -5
Once Daemon and his dad caught up, Riley let her kitten down. There were only cats allowed in this section, and since her parents had known they would be shopping here, they had left their dogs (and her mother's bird) with the cart. Only Tom and Angelica trailed along at her parents’ feet.
Riley's kitten darted around, exploring. Riley left her to it and reached for the list her mother held. Adrianna handed it over, then crouched down to help Riley read the first item: cat tree (6 foot) with house and tower.
“Ooh…” Riley breathed. “Cool.” She gave the list back and took off down the aisle, looking for the cat trees. Her kitten shot after her like a gold and black bullet.
Over the next hour, they traversed the cat section of the store in a whirlwind of energy, her parents the calm in her wake. After the cat tree (even in need of assembly, the box took up most of the cart; luckily the rest of the items on the list were rather small), she picked out a harness and leash set. She chose a black one with green geometric designs that had hints of golden sparkles. She skipped the collar and name tag, since she did not yet have a name for her kitten, and moved instead to the food section.
There, she picked out a large, shallow food bowl that was green and had golden cat paws and fish all around the outside, and a cat drinking fountain that had a little fish spouting water. The food samples (each of the eight flavors provided two days worth of meals) went into the cart next, and then it was off to the toy section. Riley let her kitten pick those; she just pulled random ones off the shelves and offered them until she found the six toys her kitten enjoyed the most.
Lastly, they got a grooming set (only on sale in the premium and ultra kits), and a training litter set, which came with a litter box, natural cat litter, a scoop, and a cute little cat-headed waste bin. Most cats did their business outside like the other animals, but as their bladder control was not as good when they were young, they needed a place to go sometimes that was closer. The majority of cats outgrew their litter boxes within their first year, but there were a few who preferred the box to the outdoors and used it their whole lives.
Finally, it was time to pick out a collar. They returned to that aisle of the cat section, and Riley looked around. She quickly spotted the perfect collar: black and green, with silver moons and gold stars. They took it to the stitching and licensing counter, where employees could either stitch the name directly onto the collar, or engrave a lightweight metal plate and affix it to the collar. Next to this was a display case with charms and bracelets. Riley wandered over to look.
Looking at all the charms — hearts, stars, flowers, diamonds, fish, and many more — one in particular caught her eye. “Momma, what's that?”
Adrianna leaned closer to see which charm her daughter referred to. “That's a rune. It's an old language from across the sea. That one means 'water', I believe.”
“Rune.” Riley tested the word. Her kitten looked up at her with a soft murrow. Riley blinked and said it again. “Rune?”
Once more, her kitten stopped what she was doing and looked up at her, curious and expectant.
Riley grinned. “Rune!” she called. Her kitten came running over and jumped into her arms. “I found your name! Rune.”
Rune purred and rubbed their heads together. Riley laughed, kissed Rune's spotted head, and set her back down. Then she handed the collar to the nearest employee and declared, “Her name is Rune!”
While her mother conferred with the employee, giving more details than Riley had, she went looking for Daemon. They'd gotten separated in their individual searches, but not by too much.
“Daemon, Daemon!” she called happily. “I found my kitten's name!”
|
|
*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
|
Post by *Nightwhisper on Oct 30, 2024 17:52:13 GMT -5
Daemon stuck to his simple color scheme with a lot of the supplies. Purple filled their shopping cart. The harness and the leash were the first things that he grabbed. Followed by the collar to match. Then the cat tree. The rest of the stuff was more or less picked out by Myron; things such as the grooming kits, litter boxes and litter, and food and water bowls. These were the "boring" items, Daemon's opinion. They were the supplies built for function and not fashion, so anything that was used for mundane tasks were usually something he didn't have much opinion on. One was just as good as the other. The toys, however, were where he spent the most time making tough decisions.
In the end, he had chosen a ball with a bell inside, a wand with a fish with ribbons attached on the tail, two packs of mice. With the way Jinx ran around with the toys at school, Daemon figured he might need a large supply of the mice in case his kitten ended up losing a bunch of them. All, of course, he found with purple somewhere on them.
With all the supplies gathered, they took the collar over to the stitching counter. Riley was already there, so Daemon broke off from his father and ran over to see what all she had picked out. She had the same idea, apparently, as she was soon rushing over in his direction. "Awesome! What is it?" he asked excitedly. "How did you figure it out?"
|
|
Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
|
Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Oct 30, 2024 18:19:44 GMT -5
"Rune!" Riley declared proudly. "It's what one of the charms are called. Which package are you getting? I'm getting the ultra, so it comes with matching charms! Come see!" She dashed off back the way she'd come.
When she reached her mother, Adrianna halted her headlong dash to ask, "Which bracelet do you want, hon?" The employee behind the counter pulled out a display pad with three different bracelets on it: a silver charm bracelet, a gold chain bracelet, and a black leather bracelet.
"Hmm... That one!" Riley pointed to the black leather.
The employee smiled. "And which charm would you like?"
"The rune!" Riley wiggled free of her mother and went to the display case. "That one," she specified, noting for the first time that there were multiple different rune charms. "The water rune." She looked for Daemon, making sire he was there to see too.
|
|
*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
|
Post by *Nightwhisper on Oct 30, 2024 18:43:40 GMT -5
"That's so cool!" Daemon replied. He hadn't heard the word before, and after following her to the counter to check out the charm options, he noticed that the symbol she picked was equally fascinating. "I've never seen those before."
"Yes, you have. Tracy has a matching set with Tiny," Myron said. Tiny was Tracy's Clydesdale, who was, in fact, anything but what her name suggested. "They have Uruz, this one." He reached over and pointed to the one in question. "It's the symbol for bull."
"Why did she choose the one that means bull?" Daemon asked. "Especially to match with her horse?"
"Bull is the picture symbol that the rune represents," Myron explained. "So say someone is selling bulls and wanted to make a sign to let people know. He would use Uruz, and it would represent the bulls he had for sale. But it also has other meanings as well. It also represents strength, tenacity, courage, untamed potential, and freedom."
"Ooooh," Daemon said. There was a pause before he added, "What else does water mean then?"
"Intuition, emotions, flow, renewal, dreams, and hopes and fears," Myron answered.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
|
Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Oct 30, 2024 19:10:55 GMT -5
While they were discussing Daemon's cat's collar, Riley's attention was pulled back to the counter. “All done,” one employee announced.
She was given her bracelet first, the silver charm securely set into the leather without obscuring it. She had her mother attach it to her left wrist. It was adjustable, so it would grow with her, but even at its tightest, it was a tad loose at the moment.
Next came the collar. A silver plate had been affixed to it right by the buckle. Both sides had been engraved with an elegant script. On the side facing out, visible for all to see:
Rune Companion to Riley Andersen
On the back:
From the town of Gaille.
And dangling from the buckle itself was a silver water rune, twin to the one on Riley's bracelet.
Riley smiled. “It's beautiful.” She crouched down to show Rune. “What do you think?”
Her kitten sniffed the collar. Her tail went up and she purred her approval.
Riley buckled the collar around her neck. It, like Riley's bracelet, was adjustable so it would fit Rune through all her growing. Also like the bracelet, it was a little loose around her neck, even at its tightest setting, but not so much as to be uncomfortable or dangle.
"Perfect," Riley declared.
|
|
|
|
Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
|
Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Oct 30, 2024 19:54:58 GMT -5
With that done, the only thing left to do was checkout. "I'll wait for you outside!" Riley called to Daemon as her parents started up the aisle toward the register. Rune's charm tinkled lightly anytime it swung against the name plate as she ran on ahead.
After paying for their purchases, they headed outside. Larry transferred Rune's things from the shopping cart to their horse-drawn one while Adrianna tried to convince Riley that they didn't have to wait for Daemon. "He lives next door," she pointed out. "You'll see him as soon as he gets home."
"But I want him to come home with us!" Riley protested.
"Well, we need to bring Rune to the vet to get her checked over and registered, and I don't know what Myron's plans are with that. They might wait until tomorrow to do that."
"Then why can't we wait until tomorrow too?"
Adrianna rubbed her forehead. "Because I want to get it done now. We can get ice cream after," she bribed.
Riley wavered. Ice cream sounded amazing, as the summer heat had not yet faded into autumn cool. "Well, maybe... But can't we at least wait for a few minutes? Maybe Daemon's dad has the same plan as us."
Adrianna sighed. "All right, fine. We can wait a few minutes."
"Yay!"
|
|
*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
|
Post by *Nightwhisper on Oct 31, 2024 8:14:27 GMT -5
"Okay!" Daemon called after her. He wasn't worried about how he would catch up with her. They lived next door, and spent a lot of their free time together anyway. Right now, he was standing on his tip-toes, doing his best to see how the stitching was going. But he wasn't able to see the process. Partly because he was too short, but mostly because the woman had her back facing him while she worked.
It felt like it took hours to him, but was only about three minutes before the employee brought his collar back over to the counter. "Hear you are, young man," she said, offering the completed project back to him.
Grinning, Daemon reached up and grabbed it with eager hands. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, turning the collar around to look at the stitching. They had managed to find a silver thread, and it had just a tiny bit of shimmer to it when tilted in the light. Not enough to be considered "girly," but enough to be cool. His smile widened, and he looked around, searching for Jinx. He found the kitten playing with the strings of his father's boots, jumping around and attacking the strings with intent focus.
"Jinx, come here!" Daemon called.
Jinx paused in his play to look over at his human. After a second, he darted forward and immediately climbed up his pants and shirt. When he reached his chest, he stopped and meowed, as if to announce, "I am here."
Giggling, Daemon disconnected him from his shirt and sat him down on the floor. He showed his kitten his new collar, showing it off and letting him inspect it. Next came the tricky part. Jinx wasn't the kind to sit still, and while he wasn't rebelling the addition of a collar to his person, he wasn't making it easy. Jinx batted at the collar as Daemon moved it closer to put it on. The first time was funny. They second time was amusing, but the third time was getting frustrating. "Jinx, hold still. You have to wear it."
"He's just playful," Myron assured him. He crouched down beside his son and scooped up Jinx. "Now, try it again."
With the extra help to hold him still, Daemon was able to place the collar securely around his kitten's neck. It was loose, like Riley's had been, but it was secure enough it wouldn't just fall off during his play.
With the newly adorned accessories, father and son headed to the check-out counter to pay for all of their new stuff.
(If you want to have a time skip at any time, just let me know. I didn't know what all you wanted to include with them at this age, but if you have something else planned first, we can do that before skipping.)
|
|
Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
|
Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Nov 1, 2024 17:17:19 GMT -5
( I've got a couple more things in mind before the big skip. ;D )
To alieve her boredom, Riley decided to introduce Rune to each of her parents' companions. She already knew Angelica from their time in the bonding room, so she started with her dad's cat, Tom.
The big grey tabby was far less patient with the energetic kitten than Angelica had been. He was fine with her in his space only if she displayed a modicum of calm; if she didn't, he had no problems showing her who was boss. By the end of their interaction, Riley thought that Rune was both intimidated and fascinated by her father's cat.
Next came the dogs. Riley started with Trace because, though bigger, he was a much calmer presence than Coraline. Rune's first reaction when she came face to face with the big blue heeler was to arch her back and puff her tail. When Trace meerly wagged his a little, Rune found the courage to approach. Trace let her sniff, and only when she'd relaxed did he return the favor. Seconds later, they were best friends.
Coraline, on the other hand, Rune wanted nothing to do with unless the little dog was in Adrianna's arms and facing the opposite direction. Otherwise, her boundless energy proved too much for the equally energetic but much smaller kitten. Riley's parents assured her that Rune would learn to like Coraline once she was a bit bigger.
For the horses, Riley took Rune into arms and brought the little kitten up to each face. First, her dad's calm, dependable Quarter horse. True was half-asleep and hardly paid Rune any attention as she sniffed his nose and batted at his forelock.
Evangeline was a little more engaging. When Rune reached out a paw, the bay mare fluttered her lips with a big sigh. This startled Rune, but only for a moment.
The hardest introduction was Gabriel, Adrianna's sun conure. The brightly colored bird wasn't interested in letting Rune anywhere near him, no matter how much Riley assured him that Rune wasn't going to eat him. In the end, it was decided they'd leave that introduction for another day.
|
|
*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
|
Post by *Nightwhisper on Nov 7, 2024 18:46:31 GMT -5
It didn't take long for them to buy all the stuff they had picked out, but there was a major problem after they got checked out. Myron had forgotten that they had not brought the cart with them when they had agreed to join Riley and her family on this little outing. In hindsight, that should have been a big factor to consider before making the decision. Luckily for them, the store agreed to hold the bigger items, mostly the cat tree, until they were able to go home, get the cart, and come pick it up if they needed.
Daemon mentioned that Riley's family had their cart, but Myron reminded him, as they walked outside, that their cart might be filled with their own supplies. They might not have room for another big cat tree. So first things first, they had to go ask and see how much room was left, if there was any at all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
