Pet Shop ((O'Halloran/Tomlinson/Curtis))

[Caroline Curtis 0]

Watching as most of the crew which had gathered in the food court drifted away to pursue other interests, Anna looked from Caroline to Will, the only other two still remaining at the table with her.

 

"We still have a little time before we have to get back up to the ship. I'd like to take a look in the pet shop across the way, if neither of you minds, and Will...you said you would show us the shop where you bought the beautiful globe for your mother." Smiling at the other two, Anna stood up, declaring, "I think it's only right that we do our bit to boost the local economy."

 

Caroline nodded, pushing her own chair back from the table as well. She had been quietly sitting through most of the meal, listening to the conversation between the Reaent crew who had assembled (many of whom she did not know), but as the group had begun to dissipate, she was quite amenable to continuing the wandering she had been doing with Anna around this somewhat run-down version of a Starfleet installation. "That sounds fine to me...after all, it's not like we're showered with opportunities to spend our pay," she said, smiling. "We should certainly take advantage of it." She glanced at Will to see if he was coming along.

 

Will nodded and stood as he spoke, "Absolutely. One thing my father always said: 'Son, if beautiful women ask you out, always take them up on it'." He chuckled as he left with Caroline and Anna; walking toward the pet store.

 

"Your father is a very wise man, Will," Anna replied, trading a laughing glance with Caroline. "I hope all of his advice is so sage." They walked into the shop, and she allowed herself a few moments to adjust to the cacophony. It had been in the back of her mind for a little while now that she'd like to have a pet. It had to be the right pet though.

 

She glanced around, noting the shop cleverly had small mammals right up front. There was very little as adorable as fur covered young. She wasn't swayed. She already knew what she wanted. She strolled past the aquatics display and then gave short shrift to the reptiles. Fish...well, beautiful as they were, they had a shocking death rate and sometimes ate each other. Reptiles, well, on the whole she liked them. They were mild creatures for the most part but not overly

companionable. Give them a hot rock and a few crickets or a rodent and they demanded nothing more of you.

 

Anna came to a stop in the noisiest section of the shop. The crazy clicks, chitterings and outright screams caused her to smile fondly as she came to the birds. Every size and hue; many she recognized and a few she didn't. Her arrival caused very little interest among the winged set but a salmon colored cockatoo raised his crest at her and gave her the fish eye--a sure sign of agitation. Apparently only one of them was feeling those love at first sight pangs. "Hello there, gorgeous," she crooned. "I bet if I was holding a palm nut you wouldn't be so standoffish."

 

Caroline laughed at Will's comment as she followed Anna into the store, but was prevented from a retort by the surge of animal noises which met them as the door opened. "Quite a selection," she murmured under her breath, grinning as she looked around and came to a halt in the outer section of the store near a large pen of orange Terran kittens and another of a large six-legged and flop-eared mammalian species she didn't recognize. Seeing Anna making eyes at a bird in the rear of the shop, she laughed. "Looks like someone's made a new friend."

 

Will nodded in response to Caroline's comment, "Apparently so." Will went to the shopkeeper and spoke with him. A few moments later Will slowly approached Anna and the bird that had her attention. He put a gentle hand on Anna's shoulder and offered her a bag. Inside the bag were nuts to feed the bird. "Here, try these." He whispered to Anna.

 

With all the noise, Anna hadn't heard Will's approach and she turned in surprise when she felt his hand on her shoulder. She took the bag from him with a questioning look that quickly changed into a smile as she saw what was in it. "Thanks!" She whispered to him before reaching into the bag and drawing out a large, thick hulled nut. She carefully held it at the end with her thumb and forefinger as she offered it to the cockatoo who was now giving both herself and Will a leery look.

 

"Come on, sweetheart, look what he brought you," Anna cajoled, using the same voice that always got her nieces and nephews to eat their morning oatmeal. She held her breath as the bird's crest started to relax and he moved closer to the side of his cage. Sliding the nut just through the cage bars, she watched with delight as he took it in his beak and then settled back on the perch using one of his feet to hold the nut while he ate it. "Just look at that beak," she said

proudly, as the shattered remains of the nut fell to the bottom of the cage. "They can rip a finger off at the knuckle." She took another nut

out of the bag and offered it to Will. "Here, you can give him the next one," she offered generously.

 

"Gee, thanks." Will replied dryly as he took a nut out of the bag and held it just as Anna did. Will and the cockatoo locked eyes for a moment before he slowly moved the nut into range. The cockatoo snapped it up with a quick dart startling everybody. To his credit, Will didn't hardly flinch even though the cockatoo's beak did hit Will's finger and a small droplet of blood was forming on the tip. Will looked at the cockatoo who seemed to have a rather smug look on his face. Will looked

at Anna, "I think he likes you more than me." He smiles with good humor.

 

Anna winced a little at the speed with which the large parrot grabbed the snack from Will's fingers and was relieved to see he hadn't been too badly bitten. She took the bag of nuts from him, and then took his arm, turning him away from the cage that housed the orangey-pink menace and the new love of her life. "Clearly, he's very discerning," she teased him. "I think we should go see if Caroline has fallen as hard as I have." She started walking back up the aisle, still holding his arm. "You did a great job staying calm, Will. You could have really scared him if you'd over reacted. Nice reflexes, Lieutenant."

 

Caroline looked up, hearing her name; while Will had gone to investigate Anna's avian find, she had become distracted by the pen of cats -- kittens, really, as by their fuzziness and somewhat galumphy look, she judged them to be only about six weeks old. One of them in particular had reacted with interest as her fingers entered the pen to stroke the little wriggling furballs, sniffing and pawing a little at her hand as he poked his head out from his brothers and sisters. She

had just reached down and picked him up to have a closer look when Anna approached, hauling Will by the arm. "So what is the verdict?" she asked, looking somewhat amused, glancing from Will to Anna and back again as she ran her fingers lightly over the kitten's back. "Does the bird get the seal of approval?"

 

Will smirked slightly, "I think Anna is in love..." He gave her a 'loving' glance for a quick second, "...with that bird." He grinned at her reaction to his look of love. He looked to Caroline, "And how about you? You seem to have a little friend of your own as well."

 

Caroline bit down on a laugh, noting that Anna was looking at Will more or less as if he was crazy, and glanced down at the fuzzy kitten now climbing around in her palm with an expression of contentment and beginning to gnaw mouthily at her thumb. "He seems to be making himself at home," she said, smiling. "Then again, if I were stuck in a crate with seven brothers and sisters, I suppose I'd be excited at a change of scenery too."

 

"Yes, I am in love," Anna replied cheerfully, reaching over to give the little orange-striped fluff ball in Caroline's hand a gentle scratch behind the ears. "When I fall, I fall fast. How about you, Caroline? Is the little guy a keeper?"

 

"I think he might just be," Caroline said with a chuckle, lifting the little tabbey-cat fully out of the crate and giving him an eye-to-eye look. He seemed entirely unfazed by the human face staring back at him and batted at her nose playfully. "The last time I had a cat was when I was a kid," she said thoughtfully, and couldn't help reflecting that a pet would be a nice addition to those permanent quarters back on Reaent, to make it feel a little more like home. She glanced back

towards Anna and grinned. "Between the two of us we'll make a regular menagerie of Reaent...all we need is to get Will a python or something, now."

 

Will grinned and shook his head, "Nah, if I were to get a pet it would be a German Shepherd. They are great with kids and protective as can be." He looks at the two ladies, "Well, are we done here then? We still have that other shop to visit."

 

Anna nodded, still watching Caroline with the kitten, before looking back to Will with a smile. "I think we're ready. We can stop back to finalize things before returning to the ship." She went to have a word with the proprietor and came back shortly, reporting, "He's open for a few more hours, so no worries."

 

Will nodded and patted Anna's hand that was attached to his arm gently as they got ready to leave. He look at Caroline and offered his other arm to her, "Counselor? Shall we go?"

 

Caroline chuckled and gave the kitten a last scratch on the head before setting him back with his siblings. "I'll be back," she muttered down at it cheerfully, then turned and accepted Will's gallantly offered arm with a laugh. "Lead on, Mr. Tomlinson. Shore leave doesn't last forever, after all."