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Post by KATIE PEMBERTON on Dec 17, 2013 19:57:40 GMT -6
katie had never quite had the opportunity to have a pet.
they reek, her parents had reassured. they shed hair. they have, god forbid, bodily functions. reasons not to get a pet were plenty when katie was nine and fascinated with her best friend's gerbils; copious insistences that pets were none of the trouble they were worth had had a tantruming child katherine pemberton settled down to accept that pets, no matter what, were not in her future. from then on, her contact with them was entirely limited growing up. a horse-riding party that'd gone awry, her older brother's doberman that had left hair on a blanket one weekend and was promptly considered dead to them once it left.
so the sound of velvet's veritable menagerie of animals was somewhat overwhelming. however, velvet's happiness had been somewhat infectious and katie had been curious. her request to see the pets had been leapt on and katie was a bit reluctant to say that, yes, she had been excited at first. but now, heading down the hall having already been buzzed up, she could only think of the probable smell, hair and, god forbid once again, bodily functions.
what a terrible idea this had been. for once, katie hadn't verbalised her immediate thoughts over the intercom - she had yet to even say it. admittedly, her walk was a bit hampered by the bag over her arm. filled to the brim as ever, that time it looked like photocopies and plenty of them. and rather than admit her budding disgust then, the so what first came out of her mouth when she spotted velvet down the doorway, was a sound of irritation along with, “is there anywhere to put this? i've been carrying it all day.”
“somewhere clean,” katie added quickly, her mind quickly drawing back to whatever kind of place velvet could live with all that fur. even being a… rabbit thing but, lord, did that mean her host shed as well?
@velvet
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 13:26:09 GMT -6
Velvet was beyond excited that Katie wanted to come meet her pets. Well, she was excited when anyone even mentioned animals in the first place. Actually...Velvet was excited most of the time, so saying she was any more excited right now might not be the complete truth. But just the fact that Katie was actually interested in something Velvet had such strong feelings for was just really, really...reassuring to her. Velvet and Katie had become friends somehow, and Velvet didn't even know how it happened. They were the same age and had started out at Vireximus at the same time, and somehow, through a series of odd events, had forged some kind of unusual friendship. They were polar opposites, of course, but opposites attract, right? Something along those lines. When she heard the buzzer go off from the panel by the door, she squealed in delight (which succeeded in startling quite a few of her little rodents) and she eagerly ran to go let Katie in. It wouldn't take her long to get up so once she buzzed her friend in (and made sure she looked presentable enough — Katie always looked impeccable) she opened the door and waited for the other girl to arrive. "Hi!" she said exuberantly when she saw her fair-haired friend appear from the elevator. "Oh, yeah, you can set it in the entryway!" Velvet liked to believe her place was clean, but she couldn't help some of the pet hair. Thankfully she had an array of grooming products for her chinchilla and rabbit (the only pets where the hair got around the apartment) and owned a rather heavy-duty vacuum. But otherwise it was clean! Her dishes were always done and her bed was always made, but she wasn't aware that's not what Katie was talking about. Letting her friend into her apartment she showed her a spot she could place her backpack, a thin bench that was in the entry where she placed all of her own school stuff. It was clean, after all! And that's all Katie had asked for. "Alright, are you ready? I want you to meet Diego first. He's really really sweet, and he doesn't squirm at all." She was excited to introduce Katie to her pets, since they were such a big part of her own life. This was a big step in their friendship! Or...so Velvet thought, anyways. KATIE PEMBERTON
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Post by KATIE PEMBERTON on Dec 18, 2013 16:29:42 GMT -6
ooc/ oops this is why you dont try to quote posts to repost on the thread kids you'll accidentally modify something and lose an old post
eleven. eleven. e l e v e n. katie took the time to inhale a deep, forbidding breath at velvet's upbeat announcement. lord help her. never mind that the lagomorph had already begun to get the first one - diego, she'd said - out in her continued excitement. katie was trying to keep her eyes averted from it, eyes politely concentrating on velvet's face instead of acknowledging whatever rodent was in the other's hands or even what was surrounding her, “do you have to count every time? and how did you acquire so many…?” was that even legal? katie was sure there were television shows about this manner of behaviour.
nevertheless, katie supposed velvet's chirpy behaviour seemed to indicate genuine interest in her animals rather than a bizarre hoarding obsession. when she introduced diego katie politely looked down but her expression was fairly reserved. she hadn't decided her opinion on the chinchilla yet; neither his apparent personality nor general chinchilla-ness received much of a response, aside from a wrinkling her nose at the mention of lazy.
yet the mention of holding diego put katie on edge. in her arms? would katie have to cradle this diego as if it were a human child? still standing stiffly she listened to the instructions with due attention but when handed the rodent she froze up. reluctant to bring diego that close to the rest of her body as velvet moved away katie was caught between keeping an eye on whatever was in her hands or silently pleaing for the other to not walk too far with worried eye contact.
“it's… he's bigger than i anticipated,” katie stumbled over her words to correct herself for once but after looking up at velvet she returned her eyes to the chinchilla. soft. she decided to echo that thought, “he's soft.” however, she was far more concerned by his size. katie's posture was still firm and fairly inflexible, unwilling to bring the chinchilla that close to her body, “he won't start moving, will he? can you guarantee that?”
@velvet
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2013 13:03:49 GMT -6
Katie made her way deeper into the apartment and Velvet followed before skipping ahead of her a little, her heels clicking on the floor gently. Even around the house she mostly wore heels unless her feet were really sore, mostly because walking on them without some kind of heel support was more painful than not wearing the heels at all. As she careful removed Diego from his cage, she pondered for a second. She had so many pets it was hard to keep track sometimes, even if their cages and tanks were all around the small apartment. Absentmindedly she stroked the chinchilla's head as she thought. "Ummm...one, two...five...eleven, I believe!" she said with a chipper smile, looking back at the red-headed girl who seemed slightly uncomfortable. It was to be expected though, right? She was in a new environment and Velvet knew her magnitude of small pets was probably a little overwhelming. "Anyways, I wanted you to meet Diego first because he's super chill. He'll just sit in your arms and he doesn't move much. He's kind of lazy, but he's also getting old, so..." she explained. Diego had been one of her first pets and she loved him just as much as she loved some people. Approaching Katie she gently instructed the girl how to hold her arms and hands, and gently set the super soft little black and grey chinchilla in her friend's care. Smiling, she gave Diego a soft stroke on the head before stepping away, letting Katie do as she pleased. "You can pet him, he's super soft and the sweetest thing in the world," she said with an almost giddy little smile. KATIE PEMBERTON
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Post by KATIE PEMBERTON on Dec 29, 2013 13:15:34 GMT -6
eleven. eleven. e l e v e n. katie took the time to inhale a deep, forbidding breath at velvet's upbeat announcement. lord help her. never mind that the lagomorph had already begun to get the first one - diego, she'd said - out in her continued excitement. katie was trying to keep her eyes averted from it, eyes politely concentrating on velvet's face instead of acknowledging whatever rodent was in the other's hands or even what was surrounding her, “do you have to count every time? and how did you acquire so many…?” was that even legal? katie was sure there were television shows about this manner of behaviour.
nevertheless, katie supposed velvet's chirpy behaviour seemed to indicate genuine interest in her animals rather than a bizarre hoarding obsession. when she introduced diego katie politely looked down but her expression was fairly reserved. she hadn't decided her opinion on the chinchilla yet; neither his apparent personality nor general chinchilla-ness received much of a response, aside from a wrinkling her nose at the mention of lazy.
yet the mention of holding diego put katie on edge. in her arms? would katie have to cradle this diego as if it were a human child? still standing stiffly she listened to the instructions with due attention but when handed the rodent she froze up. reluctant to bring diego that close to the rest of her body as velvet moved away katie was caught between keeping an eye on whatever was in her hands or silently pleaing for the other to not walk too far with worried eye contact.
“it's… he's bigger than i anticipated,” katie stumbled over her words to correct herself for once but after looking up at velvet she returned her eyes to the chinchilla. soft. she decided to echo that thought, “he's soft.” however, she was far more concerned by his size. katie's posture was still firm and fairly inflexible, unwilling to bring the chinchilla that close to her body, “he won't start moving, will he? can you guarantee that?”
@velvet
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 7:08:09 GMT -6
Seeing Katie holding her Diego filled Velvet with an inexplicable joy. It was really rather...heartwarming. She knew that Katie was her polar opposite and wasn't really that warm or inviting all the time, so the fact that the girl was holding her snuggly little chinchilla — and calling him soft — just made the lagomorph so happy. "Oh, well! Sometimes it's easy to lose count, but I love all of my babies the same," she said with a smile, clasping her hands a little in front of her chest. "And you know...I don't know how I got so many. I got Diego first, he's my oldest, and then I got my rabbit Spice a few years after. And then the rest of them kind of just...happened. I can't help myself!" It sounded a bit frivolous, but Velvet really loved all of her animals. While it probably looked like some kind of strange hoarding situation, it definitely wasn't the case...but if the girl had her way she'd have plenty more than the eleven she had. She didn't say that to Katie though to maybe spare her a little less trauma. And yes, even though Katie seemed to be a bit nervous around Diego, Velvet was still so happy. With a smile she encouraged her friend to hold the chinchilla a bit closer, that he was gentle and wouldn't do anything to frighten her. "I mean, I guess I can't 100% guarantee he won't move," she said with a slight shrug. "But he's getting kind of old so he's really mellow. He'll probably just sit there, and you know, he loves to be petted. Just scratch gently behind his ears and he'll be your best friend." KATIE PEMBERTON
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Post by KATIE PEMBERTON on Jan 4, 2014 8:38:34 GMT -6
visibly shuddering after velvet referred to them as her babies, katie tried to keep her focus on the rodent in her hands. she couldn't help feeling a little disturbed by velvet's phrasing; being polite on her mind for once, she tried to think of it as special awe. after all, one had to have courage to single-handedly adopt eleven children. katie supposed the same went for eleven furry animals. even if it was becoming more clear to be some sort of impulsive, almost involuntary desire to adopt.
“how old is he?” it was a neutral question. katie's handling of the chinchilla seemed to be approving. she actually felt comfortable taking her eyes off it, if still unsure about bringing it close to the rest of her body, arms tiring easily in a position that position that almost certainly made room for jesus, “and spice, what about that one?” asking about the age seemed appropriate to katie. animals died, far quicker than humans, and it seemed rather unthoughtful not to take that into account in why someone would have so many.
glancing back to the chinchilla katie wanted to shudder again on the less than 100% guarantee that it wouldn't move. obviously she couldn't expect much out of animals; they were just as eye-roll worthy of humans in that respect, so she had to give them that. she supposed velvet was right as well. the animal had been very mellow in her grip and on getting confirmation it was okay to pet, katie hesitated before taking a leap of faith.
bringing the animal a bit closer to her katie tried to pet the chinchilla. awkwardly moving her hand along the fur of its back she made a sound of disapproval at the back of throat. despite the sound, she moved a hand to behind its ears. after a pause, she reluctantly scratched them, “like this?”
@velvet
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2014 23:32:24 GMT -6
"Oh, he's eight, and Spice is five," she explained cheerfully, almost chirping. Velvet was so happy that Katie seemed a little interested, even if the questions she were asking were relatively safe. They were completely valid questions, either way. She was mostly just excited that her friend wasn't recoiling too much at the experience. The lagomorph knew it was a lot to take in. After a little while longer of holding Diego in a rather uncomfortable-looking position, Katie slowly retracted her arms towards her body and held the little grey furball closer to her body, and Velvet supervised to make sure nothing would go wrong, though she knew it wouldn't. Diego was getting older, so he wasn't as active. She knew there wouldn't be a problem. "Yes, just like that!" she said excitedly when Katie then lifted her hand to scratch and pet the chinchilla, just as she'd explained. The joy was visible on her face, and her lips were stretched in a wide and exuberant grin. That faded a little bit though after a few moments and Velvet reached out, scratching the chinchilla's ears a bit herself. "Diego probably doesn't have much time left," she said sadly. "I don't know what I'm gonna do once he ends up passing away..." KATIE PEMBERTON
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Post by KATIE PEMBERTON on Jan 17, 2014 20:52:32 GMT -6
eight and five; they were the ages of small children as well. katie wrinkled her nose, lifting the chinchilla in her hands slightly as she contemplated that length of time. by estimation, eight years ago velvet was about twelve. “you've kept him for that long?” it wasn't surprising, she supposed. other animals lived far longer she reasoned. something else was on katie's mind and it wasn't long before she honestly voiced it, “isn't it awkward?” finally deeming it safe to look away from the chinchilla for a longer period of time katie's look was expectant, clarifying after a second or two, “being a lagomorph and owning these?” she still spoke with a little bit of contempt but that contempt was gradually getting harder with what was basically a tiny furry cloud in her hands.
“i imagine you must get that question a lot,” she added, which seemed to be what katie thought was helpful reassurance but there was the unspoken air that the sophomore still expected an answer.
in that time she returned to looking at the animal, a small smile at being told she was doing it successfully. when velvet moved on in katie almost stopped doing it. she seemed mildly unsure at velvet's move, her smile disappearing. she could only assume that the only was some kind of petting master with the hoards of animals she kept stashed away in her apartment. would it make the animal nervous? it - he - didn't seem to mind so katie resumed, if a little stiffly and still wary of the other's close contact.
the sudden confession made katie a little uncomfortable. she looked a little alarmed as velvet said it as not only did katie have the nerve to be surprised by frankness by other people but also because it was a sharp dip in the other student's mood. so she hesitated in reply. ‘buy another’ was not something to suggest, after all. even katie knew the fact that it wasn't as simple to replace a pet as it was with other things. she still kept her mouth shut for maybe a few too seconds, feeling decisively awkward, before nervously asking, “how long do they live for?”
her attempt at comforting was typically quite rough - like sandpaper on an open wound, her older brother had phrased it once - but katie supposed she tried to not make velvet any sadder, if to make the atmosphere less strained, “you'll still have your others, right?”
@velvet
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2014 23:15:17 GMT -6
Honestly, Velvet had never been asked that before. Not many people knew that she had all these pets, besides people back home, and it just was something accepted. Everyone in her family was a lagomorph, after all, so it wasn't something that seemed strange. However, Velvet understood why it might seem a little...weird, considering she had animal features and owned many animals herself. Hoping that Katie wasn't referring to her as an animal, she continued on with her answer. "It's not really awkward," she shrugged. "We have a really close bond, and maybe that's why. I have the closest bond with Spice, but that should be pretty obvious why." It was like Velvet and Spice had some kind of unspoken language. The two just understood each other. While she was definitely very close and fond of her rodents, she had special ties to Spice. Now that she mentioned the rabbit, she stepped over to the hutch and lifted her out, a small agouti colored rabbit, and held her close. "And here she is," Velvet beamed. Meanwhile, Katie was cautiously getting closer to Diego, and the chinchilla couldn't be bothered either way. In his old age he was becoming lazier, so he was a good starter for someone like Katie, who'd never really encountered animals like these...at least in this multitude. Stroking Spice between the ears, she pondered the question a little bit. Talking about her animals dying was difficult, but she knew it happened and Velvet was the one who brought it up anyway. "Spice could live to be over ten years old, so she's got a while left yet," she explained. "Diego though, he's getting close...chinchillas live to be between eight and ten, so I'm careful to keep him as healthy as possible." Looking back at her other cages, the animals running around happily, she smiled. "As for all of those guys, they only live a few years, but they're all pretty young still." KATIE PEMBERTON
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