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Post by niku on Jun 11, 2013 7:44:45 GMT -8
[[Thursday, April 30th]]
[[16:07]] Zack had taken yet another day off from school today, claiming illness, and headed back into LA. He'd been thinking on the journey before getting into LA proper (which took longer than he thought each time) and was trying to come up with a scheme to get access to the files legally. He didn't want to break the law, Anderson at the very least made him want to keep it legal but at the back of his mind he still hadn't learned his lesson from last time and was scheming to break into the Wright Law Offices when he heard a strange sound coming from an alleyway. He cocked an eyebrow, unsure what to make of the noise. He was dressed casually as usual, jeans and a t-shirt with an obscure rock band on it, but as he advanced he remembered that he hadn't brought his swiss army knife and immediately regretted not bringing it. There could be anything in those hidden garbage cans. Edging closer, Zack kept on the balls of his feet, a thin bead of sweat on his fore-head as he tried to keep his breathing steady and even. He was worried about whatever was over there but he couldn't rightly ignore it. That cry sounded like one for help. Or one for warning. Gently, with great trepidation, he kicked away a garbage bag and sprang backwards as if he expected to be attacked. In the cramped space of the alleyway, Zack has his hands up, using some willpower not to instantly ball them into fists as he edged closer to the pile of bags in question. Sneaking forward, he darted to get a good look and saw... a particularly grumpy looking cat. It was mangy, clearly in a bad mood and from what he could see appeared to be both orange and male. If Zack knew anything about cats he'd know it was a ginger tom. Getting closer, Zack defaulted on his usual facial expression to examine it. A scowl. The cat returned one in kind and Zack found himself wandering what to do next. It didn't look sick, at least not go-to-the-vet sick. What should he do with a grumpy street cat? He decided he couldn't just leave it here, it looked like it was starving. Flipping out his phone, Zack began googling as best he could while keeping an eye on the starving creature. Almost 40 minutes later, Zack found himself standing outside of the nearest animal shelter with a snarling bundle cradled in a newly bought t-shirt (which Zack was not thrilled about even if it only cost a few bucks and he wasn't going to wear it). Elbowing open the door, Zack shouted inside " Did anyone order a scratch happy alleycat?" glowering at the beast that had dug it's claws into his arms a few times. |
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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Jun 15, 2013 15:34:13 GMT -8
It was a pretty slow day.
The owner of the shelter was out running errands, and the other volunteer working this shift was in the back room, which left Kristen to man the front desk. Not that she was bothered by that, or anything- she'd just rather be in the back room. Organizing feed bags and taking stock were tasks she found far more preferable to sitting out front. But she couldn't complain, especially since she was the one who had said she didn't mind. After all, someone had to do it, right? And they were understaffed today as is, so... it had to be her. Maybe someday she'd get to speak up and pick the job she actually wanted, but today wasn't that day, and tomorrow wasn't looking good either.
She supposed she should count her blessings though; only one person had passed through the door since she had sat down, and that had been the delivery man dropping off a package. Otherwise, it had been blissfully quiet. People had trickled by on the street outside, but in the shelter everything was peaceful. So peaceful, in fact, that Kris had had to stop herself from falling asleep a few times. Yawning, she reached over the desk and grabbed one of the magazines stacked on the counter.
It took her about a minute to process what she was actually trying to read on the cover. "Rachel Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family and her dog." She blinked at the cover a few more times, before slowly putting it back down and resting her head back on the desk. Right. She obviously wasn't getting enough sleep, if she was reading magazine covers about celebrity cooks frying up their children and pets. Who misses something like that in publication, anyway? It was kind of a hard thing not to notice. Yeah, she definitely wasn't getting enough sleep. Maybe when she got home she'd just go to bed early---
Kris jolted upright in her seat when the door slammed open- and for about half a second, she could only stare. It was a bit of a bizzare sight, you have to understand: a teenage boy bursting through the door, shouting as he dragged a cat bundled up in a shirt into the room. It certainly wasn't one of the more, uh, orthodox methods of dropping off an animal, she'd give him that? So much for a quiet afternoon before she got to go home. Recovering, Kris replied, speaking quickly, "Just a second, okay?" She got out of her seat and darted out of the room, only to return with a pet carrier in her arms. Walking around the desk to the reception area, she placed the carrier with the door up, before walking towards the boy and saying, hands out, "I can take it from here."
While the boy looked like he had been through hell and back to get the cat this far, she didn't quite trust him to place it gently in the carrier. Besides, he might get more hurt than he already was, judging from the scratches on his arms. The poor cat sounded traumatized, she could only imagine what in the world had happened.
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Post by niku on Jun 16, 2013 6:06:45 GMT -8
Zack's rough struggling with the cat was somewhat exascerbated by the fact it was now dead set on not entering that cage on the ground and was alert enough to realise WHO would be the one to put it in it. Scrambling wildly, and with much shouting from Zack, the cat scrambled up his body and managed to perch awkwardly on his shoulders which was... not ideal. Zack couldn't think of a way to get it down without hurting it which meant he was beginning to start stewing. He glanced up at the girl who'd come to help and took a brief note of her appearance. Nice enough looking girl, pretty eyes and a chopped up hairstyle which looked like she did it at home (Zack's mother did his and she was... actually, pretty good at it, surprisingly enough), for some reason he felt like she might not be up to receiving his usual brand of caustic talk and made a note to tone it down. Not so much out of concern for her, although there was the briefest hint of that as well, but because if he upset her too badly she might throw him out with the cat still stuck to him.
He glanced to his shoulder and made eye contact with the cat, he bit his cheek at the look in it's eyes. It wasn't trust so much as familiarity. Nothing bad had happened yet while he'd been around this black haired kid, he wanted to keep things that way. Stupid nice guy urges... turning to the short haired woman, Zack did his best not to sound as irate as he felt
"Well, since I seem to be a hostage here you might have to come and get him" he did his best to smile but was somehow contorted into a strange kind of grimace. Zack walked closer to Kris as best he could, sliding his feet across the floor while keeping the cat balanced on his shoulder. He offered the shirt to the girl in the vague hopes it might be used to attract the cat to the pet case. His awkward grin and precarious situation were not the most.. encouraging of things, for a young man to be dealing with.
Keeping his head as best he could for someone so naturally volatile, Zack tried to make small talk while standing with his back angled towards the young worker
"So do I need to give my details or do you just- Son of a BITCH, stop stabbing me you ungrateful- uhh, sorry, I'm sure he's a good cat?" Zack's attempt to keep his annoyance in check was failing pretty miserably, he needed to get the cat off of him as soon as he could, if just so he could plaster them.
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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Jun 20, 2013 9:06:06 GMT -8
Moving slowly, she stepped closer to the boy, biting her lip. He was frustrated, she could see that, but she had to be careful not to frighten the cat anymore than it already was, or both of them would get even more hurt. It was quite the predicament. If she could just...
Suddenly, she shot out one hand and firmly grasped the cat by the scruff of his neck, using the other hand to support his body as she gently peeled him off the boy's shoulder. The cat was immediately pliant under her grip, albeit with a low growl reverberating through it's dirty body. Kris felt a pang of sympathy for the poor thing, and quickly moved to place it in the carrier- until the cat let out a loud yowl, and thrashed in her hands in an attempt to scratch her. Without losing control, she managed to get it in the carrier, and shut the door with a click and a sigh of relief. Well, that had been fun.
Turning to the boy, she offered him a tentative smile, explaining, "Holding a cat by the scruff of it's neck causes a natural reaction that immediately calms it down- or, well, at the very least somewhat calms it down. It doesn't always work, especially with cats that are already agitated like that one was. It's because-" All at once, Kris realized she was about to start rambling, and immediately shut her mouth, a light blush dusting her cheeks. The kid probably didn't give two shits about the science behind picking up a cat, especially since this one just gave him a hard time and scratched him up pretty badly.
Placing the carrier so the bottom was on the floor, she turned her attention back to the boy. "To answer your question, yes, there's some information I need from you, but that can wait for now." She gestured to his arms, her expression concerned as she continued, saying, "We should really get those scratches cleaned up, or they might get infected."
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Post by niku on Jun 25, 2013 6:43:17 GMT -8
Zack's extreme trepidation was rewarded thankfully by Kristen quickly grabbing the cat in a manner Zack could only assume was painful and hoisted the yowling beastie into the carrier. Zack was admittedly relieved by this and wiped his brow at the sight of it, it was pretty good show of dexterity just getting the cat off safely. He smiled in relief, as Kristen explained how the technique had worked. Despite her belief in his boredom, Zack seemed suitably intrigued and was tapping his chin at the explanation, it was some interesting information after all. He would have preferred some form of kung fu neck pinch that rendered them unconscious but he was starting to think that those moves didn't exist. Still, he seemed to have grown a bit of respect for the young lady and her handling so he didn't say anything and waited for her to start up again.
So he did need to give her information. Well, while he was usually strictly opposed to giving his information to 'the man' but the master of cats had won him over. He honestly didn't really react to the scratches until she pointed them out, at which point he glanced down at his arms and blinked in baffled confusion. Well... that was... yeah. He debated being a tough guy and claiming he was fine until he looked down at his arms again and considered what the cat looked like. He seemed to notice the look and gave a disconcerting hiss
"That... may be a good idea." Zack conceded, opting out of pretending to be a tough guy for the safety of not having a horrible infection. Setting himself down on one of the waiting room couches he glanced at a magazine on the counter and found himself disconcertingly putting it down
"I really hope someone got the grammar wrong on that or Rachel Ray's dog is in protective custody.." he idly thought to himself.
He kept making eye-contact with the cat; hopefully it wouldn't hold this against him. He hadn't really had time to make sure the shelter didn't putdown animals, he naturally assumed shelters didn't do that but he was woefully uneducated on the topic. And at the back of his mind he was now worried that they didn't just put them down but made them into Rachel Ray style sandwiches... which was stupid, he should probably just talk about something else
"So... My name's Zack, nice to meet you. Sorry, I'm pretty new to this whole thing but what happens to the cat now?"
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