This is a private roleplay between bookwormiam2010 (me) and Mira-Charma13. If you are not one of the people just mentioned then please do no post.

Nick couldn't believe it! He was finally getting a pet! After years of begging and pleading his parents had finally said yes! They'd deemed him responsible to care enough for his own pet. They hadn't bothered to limit him as to what kind of pet he could get but..hey it didn't matter they'd said yes! He couldn't wipe the bright silly grin off of his face as he came to a stop out of the local pet shop. Stooping slightly he peered in at the over excited puppies tumbling over one another to get his attention. He laughed softly and playfully tapped the window while making silly faces at the eager puppies. Maybe he could get a dog....but what kind? Which one was the best breed? Which one would have the softest fur and the floppiest ears? Which one would be best for him?! Aww..just how was he supposed to decide?!

While he'd been wrapped up in his own over excited thoughts the soft gray crowds above suddenly cut loose. Staring intently at one sleepy puppy he didn't notice it was snowing until a small snowflake landed softly on the tip of his nose. His brown eyes widened in surprise before he lifted his head upward his mouth dropping open in wonder. Snow...he was going to have a White Christmas after all..and get his puppy! He let out a soft cheer and stood up straight twirling sillily in the snow before he finally entered the store. As he entered the store the tiny bell attached to the door rang cheerfully. Ding ding!

The store was slightly quiet. The silence was only interrupted by the various sounds of animals in the shop--everything from puppies, to full-grown dogs, to kittens, to cats, to snakes, to frogs...it seemed like they had one of everything there.

There were only two employees in the whole shop at the moment. One was tending to the kittens' pen. The other was behind the front counter, cheerfully dealing with a young couple purchasing a scorpion.

He was a small-bodied, pale, and freckled on his arms and face. He couldn't have been much older than sixteen. He wore a red bandanna on his head that covered one of his pinkish eyes. His eyes seemed to reflect a lot of what was around him, and were dotted with many different colors. He had shoulder-length white-blonde hair that didn't appear to be dyed--the bleached blonde look was actually natural for once.

He had a large iguana sitting on his shoulders, looking quite content on his perch. The iguana was a regal-looking lizard, an older one, with gentle bluish eyes.

"Thank you very, very much!" the boy chirped, waving to the couple as they left. He had a musical sort of voice. "Please come again!"

Cute anime boy image by BAMFuchan on Photobucket

If possible Nick's eyes oonly got wider as the mild symphony of sounds that hit him as he entered. Cats, dogs,fishes,bunnies.It was all so over whelming. Just where was he supposed to start? How was he supposed to choose just one? He frowned softly as he slowly turned in a circle so he could a full view of his options. His curious gaze was focused on the birds now but upon hearing a lovely musical voice his head jerked up bringing him out of his reverie. Once he found the source of the voice he couldn't help but freeze? Well..he was overwhelmed. Not only by the animals but now by the sale clerk. He-or was it a she?- was so different from the usual type of people he saw around his home town. It looked like his/her hair was dyed and those eyes. Was she wearing contacts? They were too unusual to be the persons natural colored eyes. He stared at her for a few more moments before he flushed faintly and pulled himself out of his wandering thoughts.

Hesitantly he stepped towards the counter but upon reaching it he froze staring at the iguana before he jerked backwards with a soft squeal. Yes he squealed but that was seriously one huge lizard! He barely tolerated the little ones but this one? It scared the living daylights out of him. If possible his pale skin got paler-considering he was red head he was pretty pale but now he looked almost corpse like. "Y-you've got a r-really huge l-l-izard on y-your shoulder.." he stammered his fear so great his teeth were obviously chattering. Yes he'd stated the obvious and any other time he would have blushed but right now he couldn't even work up a faint blush. All of his blood had completely drained away as he stared in obvious horror at the creature on the clerks shoulder.

Upon hearing someone squal the other clerk in the store looked up only to let out a guffaw. "Are you kidding me? He'd tiny compared to the ones in back! Old Pascal here's completely harmless..here let me show you." she chattered as she finished her bussiness back near the kitties before she strode back behind the counter and scooped the iguana off of her friends shoulder giving the creature a soft hug. "I think he's absolutely darling. Maybe if you just held him for a moment you'd see he isn't so bad." Aria offered making a move to hold the somewhat peeved iguana out to Nick.

How ever upon seeing the iguana Nick let out another girlish scream and fled to to the other side of the store to cower beside the puppies. He was staying far-far far away from that slimy thing! There was no way he going to even consider touching it!

Aria couldn't help it. She broke out into gleeful laughter. No she [o]cackled[/i]. Her grip on the iguana tightened as she guffawed merrily at their customers fright. "Oh my goodness! He squealed..l-like a g-girl!" she managed to get out in between her pants for breath as she continued to laugh.

(Poor Nick XD)

"I know," the boy responded, brightly, to the customer's stuttering sort of comment. "Oh, he's harmless. Usually I have Cibus out. Cibus is the biggest iguana we have here...he's my pet! I bring him here so he can socialize with the other lizards we have..."

The clerk helped his coworker slip the iguana off his shoulder. Pascal did not like being jostled around so much. Cibus, the clerk's pet, was very used to it and sometimes welcomed it. He carried Cibus around with him wherever he went, usually...sometimes even in public. He would get chased out of stores and restaurants because he'd forgotten about the iguana on his shoulders. Cibus would sit on his shoulders like a fancy scarf. The two of them even slept together.

The clerk blinked when Aria began to laugh at the boy. He put his hands on his hips, looking a little pouty. "Hey, that's not nice. Let's not laugh at our customers...you might scare them away. And then a puppy or a kitty or a bunny might not get a proper home."

He looked like he might tear up over the thought.

Aria took one look at her friend and fell into laughter again. How was she supposed to be serious when he looked so...cute! He looked like one of the puppies that so direly in need a home right now with his big pleading eyes and the other one....She snickered softly before getting a hold of herself as she stood up straight gently cradling Pascal now. "Ok fine..I'll t-try..." she said biting back another huff of laughter before she hurried into to back of the store laughing under her breath to put Pascal away. Yup! She was definitely getting her laugh for the day!

Nick watched warily as the obviously amused girl reluctantly agreed to quit laughing before hurrying into the back of the store. He visibly relaxed when the terrible thing was gone. Oh thank goodness. He was safe...He offered a sheepish smile up to the owner that had come to his rescue...or rather the animals help. "S-sorry about that. I have a terrible fear of the boogers..I can handle the little ones but thats only 'cuz they're kinda cute.." he admitted before blushing softly. He straightened up and hesitantly made his way back towards the counter. "Uhm....I want to buy a pet..." he admitted before blushing brighter still.

"I m-m-mean obviously thats the c-c-case or I wouldn't be here. But its not that simple because I don't know what kind of pet I want.." he babbled. Great! Now he sounded stupid! And he wasn't..sure he had his slow moments but who didn't? And he looked like a coward..all because of that evil lizard! He blushed brighter still as he fumbled in front of the clerk.

The boy gave Nick a sweet little smile. He didn't seem at all fazed by his stammering or his nervousness. "Aw, that's okay. If you met Cibus, I'm sure you might change your mind about them. Cibus is big...but you should see how tolerant he is...you could probably drag him around by his tail on the floor and he would close his eyes and sleep, thinking he's getting a free ride. Not that I would ever do that..."

Once again, the boy looked horrified. The thought of harming animals or making them upset made him feel sick to his stomach.

"Anyway! You want a pet?" he asked curiously, tilting his head slightly to the left. "Is this your first time owning a pet? Maybe you should just browse around and see if any animals catch your attention."

Nope. Nothing was going to change his mind about lizards. Not even a cute sales clerk! He blinked seeing the other distraught over dragging his beloved Cibus around by his tail. "Wow...well you wouldn't have to worry about me doing that." he said offering the other a sweet smile. Why would anyone want to be mean to an animal? Especially if it was something non-lizard like. Say...a puppy! No one could be mean to a puppy they were just too gosh darned cute.

He nodded softly in response to the question. "Yes its my first time. I can't do that...they all catch my attention! I'm kind of like a kid in a candy shop..only I like it here much better!" he said with a sweet grin.

At that moment Aria chose to come back out her expression overly serious. She hovered near by not bothering to hide the fact that she was eavesdropping before she snapped to atention. "You're kidding right? You've neve rowned a pet?" Her green eyes widened prettily seeing the boys nod. "Wow...well lets see if we can change that. So which one catches your interest the most? Cats? Dogs? Bunnies? Oh! What about the birds? Don't you just love how bright they are?" she chattered happily before catching herself. This was supposed to be her friends sale.. "Hey why don't we let him hold the animals? Most people can tell by looking but maybe you can tell by just holding them..." she offered before bouncing out from behind the counter. "I call dibs pn the puppies!" she called happily before dragging their customer towards the puppies. "So what's your name? I'm Aria by the way."

"Okay, good." The boy shifted a bit where he stood, resting his elbows on the counter. "Candy is nice...I love nature, and animals."

He jumped a little when Aria returned, and simply watched her assault the customer with words. He was a friendly person, but he had never been one for being overly-talkative. He was usually quiet unless he was trying to have a conversation with someone. In fact, he sang more than he spoke most of the time. Customers were usually entranced when they heard his voice in the store, while he was restocking shelves or something.

"Oh. My name is Charmase, in case you're wondering!" he called, pleasantly. "I'm going to go and fetch Cibus...I feel lonely without him..." Quickly, Charmase headed towards the back of the store to retrieve his loyal lizard.

Nick let out a soft yelp as he was suddenly towed towards the puppies while being bombarded by questions. He'd thought the animals were overwhelming but they weren't talking to him-at least not in any language he understood. "Uhm...I'm Nick. Its nice to meet you both." he added smiling warmly at the two. How ever upon hearing that Charmase was going to get Cibus his friendly expression disappeared. Oh no...he was going to get the bigger lizard but he didn't have time to voice his fears because at that moment a warm lethargic body was placed in his hands.

Aria grinned as she came to a stop in front of the puppies she cooed softly as she easily opened the puppies pen and reached in pulling out a random one-the one that just so happened to eb sleeping. "Ahh..this one is my favorite. He's always sleeping. His name is Sleepy...I know we're not supposed to name the animals. It means we get attached to them..but how could you not get attached to something so sweet?" she asked affectionately scratching the slowly waking pup behind the ears.

Nick couldn't say anything. he was too busy staring at the animal that might be his pet. He nodded dazedly as he gently ran his hands over the baby soft fur on the puppy. He couldn't help but laugh when the puppy yawned it's small pink tongue curling out of his mouth before disappearing. "He's adorable! What breed is he?" he asked curiously.

"He's a papillon."

Charmase had returned from the back room...and he had some extra weight on his shoulders. The dark emerald iguana now sitting on his shoulders was almost twice the size the first iguana had been. He had a bored, regal look to him. Like the first iguana, he sat on the boy's shoulders like he was a scarf or sash, his claws clinging harmlessly to the thin material of his shirt.

Charmase started to walk over, smiling at them from a distance. "My parents used to own a papillon, but it died when I was little. Then I got Cibus here." He patted the iguana on the side and received a bored huff from it in return. "Papillons can be noisy and they're excellent guard dogs. They expect to be treated like royalty!"

Aria grinned hearing her best friend before she chimed in with more information. "In French Papilllion means butterfly. I know it sounds so silly but its actually kind of interesting. You see Sleepy's ears? If you look closely enough don't you think they resemble a butterfly?" she asked smiling warmly as she reached out to gently fluff up the soft fur on the lethargic pup's ears.

Nick let out a soft yelp his grip tightening on Sleepy as he stared at iguana. Oh dear goodness. He'd thought the other one was big? Pascal looked like lizard chow compared to this one! He glanced uncertainly at Aria as she told him more about papilions. "Really? That's interesting.." he murmured distractedly.

Aria rolled her eyes softly seeing Nick's skittishness over the iguana. "He's not that bad. He looks kind of scary but he's awesome. I mean if you think about it the people who own pet iguanas have the easiest job as a pet owner. Igauna's don't need too much care. You just have to feed them right. And if you stick them somewhere warm and really sunshiney then they'll love you forever. Or in Cibus's case you could just carry them around on your shoulder and utterly spoil them completely." she explained. How ever upon seeing that this didn't help Nick much she stood up walking over to Charmas. "Here let me see him. You can tell Nick more about papillions and the other dogs. You know a lot more about them than I do."

Charmase shifted slightly, not really wanting to give up his iguana. Cibus didn't mind being jostled around, but he didn't like being held for long periods of time by anyone other than himself. He could be downright nasty to other people when he wanted to be.

He reluctantly shuffled the big iguana off of his shoulder and held him out to his coworker, glancing at their customer. His worrying about Cibus would hinder his ability to concentrate.

"So! Just ask me anything you want about the dogs here and I can answer you! I'm pretty much the animal expert here. Aria just babies them..."

Aria gently took Cibus from his owner watching the larger iguana uncertainly. She wasn't terrified of iguana's by any means. if any thing she adored them almost as much as she adored the other animals. B ut she'd seen Cibus in a bad mood. Heck she'd feld his sharp nails dig into her too much for comfort on more than one occassion. It wasn't fun at all. But still...Nick was scared of Cibus...and ok so maybe she was trying to play matchmaker here. Sure there hadn't been any intense looks across the room from the two. But Nick and Charmase just looked so cute next to each other! Now if she could just get things started-"Hey! Someone has to baby the little darlings! Just look at them! They're starved for attention!" she argued.

Sure enough as soon as said that a majority of the puppies started yapping their shrill barks combining into a mixed symphony. Aria smirked softly gently perching Cibus on her shoulder. Unlike Charmas she wasn't used to lugging the huge creature around on her shoulder but for a beginner she was doing pretty well. She chuckled softly before heading off to do some more work while scheming on how to get the two together.

Nick smiled softly laughing as the two teased each other. "Well I don't think its a bad thing that she babies them." he said offering a sweet smile up to Aria. "Uh...well what do papillions eat? You said they like to be treated like royalty so does that mean Sleepy here would eat only the most expensive food I buy for him? Or would he eat the cheaper regular kind of dog chow? Also how often does he need to be groomed?" he asked smiling contentedly as he hugged the drowsy puppy closer.

Charmase kept an eye on Cibus as Aria took him. Cibus was the equivalent of an uptight English butler in the animal world. True to that nature, he would often make 'humph' or 'harumph' noises when he was in a situation he didn't like. He would also let loose a hiss-like sigh when he was tired of something or starting to get annoyed.

Cibus made his 'harumph'-ing noise but didn't fight against the girl, and he went along with her.

Charmase scooped up another of the puppies, a very young Neopolitan Mastiff puppy. It was small, now...but would grow to be giant later in life.

"They like being spoiled rotten. They're yippy little lap-dogs. I've found that papillons like wet food more than dried food, and tend to prefer healthy-labeled food over other kinds of food," Charmase explained, recalling things from memory. "They also like eating a lot of cheese. If you decide to keep his hair kind of long, you'll need to groom him once a week and try to prevent matting..."

Aria shot a glare at Cibus when he made his usual 'harumph'. "Oh shush you. I'm being nice to you. Just because I don't coddle you like Charmase gives you no reason to be so rude. After all just who do you thin feeds you and takes care of you when Charmase is busy?" she demanded glaring at the rude iguana. Shessh he was so picky!


Nick's eyes widened as Charmase went on to describe the extensive care of the lazy pup. No way...all of that for just one little critter? He looked down at the snoring pup with new eyes. "Really? All of that for this little guy?" he asked incrediously. For the moment his attention was focused on the sleeping Papillion but when he heard the soft excited yips of the mastic his eyes jerked upwards a small 'aww...' escaping his parted lips before he scooted closer to Charmase so he could pet the joyous wriggling puppy. "Aww..look at him..err her? Its so cute! What kind is it?" he asked turning wide eager eyes on to Charmase.

Another 'harumph' was all she received. Cibus was a very intelligent iguana--he exhibited some dog-like behavior, as Charmase claimed. He could even be taken on walks. For goodness' sake, Charmase bought the creature dog toys to play with. He fixed her with his lazy, bored blue stare.

Charmase giggled. "It's not as extensive as it seems! Papillions are just very picky dogs, and require close attention and nuturing..."

He blinked suddenly when Nick's attentions changed from the papillion he was holding to the little mastiff puppy. "Him. I named this one Caesar. He's a Neopolitan Mastiff." Charmase flopped around the small puppy's already-large skin flaps. "Floppy, floppy skin flaps."

"Well harumph to you too buddy! Really I don't know how Charmase does it. Doesn't he get bored? Do you talk to him as well? Never mind. Don't answer...I can already guess what you'll say.." she muttered. she waited a few moments before making the familiar 'harumph' sound with him. Wow..she was really going off the deep end here. She was talking to an iguana! Now puppies she could understand but really..an iguana? "I think its about time you got your exercise. So what'll it be today? A walk?" she asked waiting a moment before she hefted the large lizard off her shoulder and set him on the floor.

Yes that's right. She put him on the floor. She wasn't purposely baiting Nick. Heck she'd forgotten about his fear of iguanas for the moment. And even then she certainly hadn't expected the large lazy igauna to make a run for it. heck the thing never moved when she was around. But for some silly reason Cibus decided he'd actually get his exercise: by running back to Charmase.

Nick arched one brow in disbelief and shook his head softly before giggling and chidlishly playing with the mastiff's skin flaps as well. Then again that was before he saw the huge lizard flying their way. When he did finally notice Cibus he let out a yelp and latched onto Charmase pressing his face into the other boys shoulder as trying to hide while cowering close the rudely awakened papillion stirring in his lap.

Charmase giggled watching Nick play with the little mastiff. He was startled, however, when he heard the tell-tale signs of little claws click-clacking against the linoleum. He could usually tell the difference between Cibus and another iguana by the sound of their running. He was even more startled when the other male practically launched himself against him.

He blinked and patted Nick's back while Cibus dug his claws into Charmase's pant leg, attempting to climb up his leg. "I think an intervention is in order," he said, simply. "Aria, you want to take these two puppies and put them back? I'm going to get our customer a little more in-touch with the animal kingdom."

Cibus was harmless if Charmase was handling him. As long as Charmase was close by, Cibus had bark but no bite.

Aria let out a soft snickering seeing Nick's reaction but quickly smothered her amusement. Or tried to. Well dang! She'd been trying to think of how to get those two closer but releasing Cibus on them had never occured. Maybe he was of more use than she thought. "Right I'm coming." she said with another chuckle as she made her way of the them and stooped down to gently scoop up the snoozing papillion. She placed a soft kiss on his little furry head before placing him back in his pen. Quickly and efficiently she did the same thign with the excited Mastiff a soft squeal escaping when the puppies wet tongue pressed against her cheek. "Awww...you'e so sweet!" she cooed hugging the wriggling puppy tightly before placing him in his pen as well.

Then she sat down next to Charmase and Nick. This she had to see! He was so overly terrfied of the large iguana that there was no way he was just going to easily go along with what ever Charmase said. "Yea..good luck with that one comrade." she muttered with a soft grin.

Nick shivered and pressed his face closer. No doubt he'd be crazy embarassed later but he wasn't going to look. If he couldn't see the iguanan then he couldn't react...and Aria couldn't laugh him. That was a good thing.

Charmase patted Nick on the back a final time before pulling away. He scooped up the big iguana and settled him on his shoulders. Cibus immediately went slack, laying on him like a sack of potatoes, and closed his eyes. Charmase often said that if Cibus were a dog, he would be an English Bulldog.

"Come on, Nick. Let's take you to the holding room. It's where we usually let customers sit with our animals, so it's empty right now..." Charmase beckoned to him, leading the way to one of the back rooms.