Amortentia Dolorosa

Andrya had woken up to a grumpy pet. The chameleon had accepted food, but as soon as it had eaten, it turned its back on its master. Alright, so chameleons aren’t the most social of pets, but this one usually liked getting attention, and no amount of sweet words or treats could get it to respond that morning.

“Mia, preciosa, ¿que es esa actitud? Vamos a ir de compras. ¿Te gustaría?”

The chameleon slowly turned its head towards Andrya, somewhat as a sign of approval. Relieved to have finally gotten a reaction out Mia, Andrya picked up the chameleon and headed out.

So Andrya ended up at the petshop, with Mia on her shoulder. It wasn’t very busy so it gave her time to browse without being bothered by people in a hurry. She was looking around to see what she could use to make Mia a new habitat as the muggle thing she had been using before was starting to fall apart. But the chameleon was finicky and wouldn’t accept just anything, so shopping for it was a time-consuming task. And how perfect that Andrya had nothing else to do that day!

He snickered, amused as the two ravens were arguing for the space within the cage he had managed to shove them into. He entered the petshop, looking for some new treats that both would enjoy. Seeing as they were scavengers and that they were now in a populated area, it was harder for Denathaniel to find them some fresh goodies.

"Settle down you two or I'll let brother roast you for dinner," he said with a chuckle, the two birds looking up at him instantly.

He rolled his eyes and looked around, trying to find something he would possibly like to eat, which would mean would be a great snack once dead for his ravens...less they decided not to agree and he would have to buy two different treats.

Andrya heard the cawing of the birds the moment the door opened and so she expected Mia to try and go hide, but to her surprise the chameleon stayed put. She petted it on the head to see if it was sleeping, and nearly got her finger bitten off. Deciding to ignore the grouch, she looked up to see who had walked in.

Andrya wasn’t quite sure, but she thought she recognized the blond. They had never met in person, but she had heard of him on some occasions. She hoped he had not heard of her, cause she wanted to lead him on for a little while and see what she could get out of him.

“¿Quieres ayudarme o estás todavia enojado conmigo?”

The chameleon slowly stretched and climbed down Andrya’s arm. But it went to hide among the merchandise.

“But walking up to him is simply no fun!” she whispered to herself.

She tried finding a more fun way to approach him, but the incessant noise of the ravens prevented her from thinking, and it eventually annoyed her.

“Would you please quiet them down?” she snapped at him before she could stop herself.

Being talked to so suddenly and harshly, Denathaniel actually let go of the cage in his hand, making the ravens caw angrily at him, which double the noise they had been doing. Letting out a huge sigh, he picked back up the cage and glared at the birds.

"Shut it!" he half-shouted at them.

The birds stopped and then looked over at the Spanish girl who had talked to their master in such a way...and then they looked away towards where the lizard had gone to.

"Sorry 'bout that, they tend to hate being locked up and take it out on anyone who's not willing to hear it," he apologized, feeling foolish at his own outburst.

Christo was right, he’s adorable. She thought, holding back a smile.

“I have to apologize, I should not have snapped at you the way I did,” she said, sounding as convincing as she could despite not really being sorry at all. It was his own fault anyway, if he had kept those birds quiet, she wouldn’t have snapped.

“I’m Andrya, nice to meet you.” She extended one hand to him while trying to make the chameleon come out with the other.

He narrowed his eyes at her as he took her hand, noticing that she didn't look as convincing as she sounded. "Oh, no need to apologize, I'm sure you would have as much trouble as I do to keeping them entertained. After all, they are birds and unlike dogs, they don't follow command as explicitly as they should," he replied, keeping as much bite as he could out of his comment.

"I'm Denathaniel, a pleasure to meet you."

He's sharp. It might be hard to pretend that I know nothing about him. Still, it's worth a shot. See how long it takes before he guesses that I know his brother

"I've never been inclined to having a bird as a pet. I've always prefered having a pet that doesn't make much noise."

She glanced at where Mia was hidden. "Although, as far as taking commands goes, my chameleon seems to be on the same level as your birds; mostly uncooperative."

Denathaniel shrugged a shoulder. "It's not that I'm inclined to keeping birds, but more like the use of said birds. My brother tends to use them as a disposable for foods he doesn't like. And they are easier to maintain than dogs seeing as we can just set them out and they can find scraps on their own," he admitted. "Though they do tend to want coddling at times..."

He placed the cage down by his feet, noticing how the ravens actually learned forth on their perches as they had better view of their present prey, which he found to be entertaining at the moment.

"Do tell, how fond are you of your pet?" he asked with his best innocent smile, which he was quite good at.

"Fond enough that, if your birds get a hold of her, I will break your neck."

By her tone alone, that statement could have been taken as a joke, but the look she gave him clearly indicated that she was dead serious.

"From your accent, I assume you're not from around here, so how long have you been in London?."

"Well, I'm out of luck for today it seems," he said before looking down at the ravens, who looked up at him. "You're out of luck too, chickies. Choose something else."

He gave Andrya a lop side smile, shrugging a shoulder.

"I've been here a couple of months, I come from Salem in America. And from your own accent, I'm guessing you aren't from England either, right? Spanish maybe?" he asked.

"Sí, you've guessed right.I suppose my accent is a bit more obvious than yours," she said with a smile.

Then she looked around the store, trying to find something that might interest the birds. Not that she cared about them, she just wanted them to stop thinking about eating her chameleon.

"Perhaps you could get the birds some mice. Or is it maybe a treat they get too often?"

He thought about it, rubbing at his chin.

"It's not that they get some often, but more like they guzzle them down so fast that they want more soon after, not to mention they can catch them on their own. Believe me, for them to be in this cage took a lot of effort," he said with a slightly sadistic grin.

Andrya took another look around to help her think of what else the birds might like.

"Lizards maybe? Seeing as they like my chameleon I'm sure they'd appreciate it."

He looked around at the other lizards in the tanks, making a face.

"Not enough on them and it would be too much of a bother to keep them only to fatten them up just for these insatiable creatures to eat in a matter of minutes...not to mention it would take a few months," he sighed, starting to move away from the cage to look at the possible feeds, not even turning around as the two Ravens started to squawk in indignation.

"Well then... ferrets are bigger, could keep them occupied for a bit."

He shook his head.

"Tried that once, it cost me more in medical bills for my brother's ripped hands than it did to buy the ferrets. And the smell they let off is just unbearable!"

Andrya's eyes lit up as she thought of another possibility.

"I think I have it this time. Rabbits. Big enough so that the birds don't get bored, and rabbits shouldn't fight back too much."

Denathaniel jerked back from her, face going pale.

"Ra...rab...rabbits?" he barely managed to voice out, throat going extremely dry.

His eyes shifted all around the pet shop, as if suddenly realising he wasn't safe in the present environment.

"If you'll...please excuse me!" he gasped out, running out of the door, cold sweat soaking his face and back.

Andrya realized her mistake too late. Christo had warned her about this.

Then she heard some squawking and realized that he had run off without the cage. Sensing that something was off, Mia agreed to let her master pick her up. With a sigh, Andrya picked up the cage -the birds making more noise both because of the stranger and the delicious chameleon on her shoulder- and left the store.

[Continued in Fresh Air]