[Job Thread] Dog Days

by **Nythis Drawne** on August 28th, 2015, 10:20 am

Impawsibe Pets, 31'st of Summer 515 AV

AppearanceOne of Nythis’s favourite illusions. The changes to his appearance include the smoothening of the scars on his face and neck, the restoration of his right eye, his skin colour changing to a light tan and a change of his eye colour to a dark brown. His clothing covers the remainder of his scars and he wears his hair to hide his pointed ear and the lack of one on the opposite side of his head.

“... And then it bit her. You should have seen her face. Can you believe anyone could be so stupid? I certainly do after I met her. Some people just don’t have any- What’s that sound?” Vinric asked, from where he was taking stock of the different feeds Impawsible pets sold.

Nythis realized he had been gnashing his teeth. He stopped and looked up from where he was removing water bowls from the numerous bird cages, dumping them into a bucket.

After a moment Vinric replied, “Never mind, it’s gone now. Must have been one of the parrots.” He started counting the various bags of birdseed on the shelves.

Nythis was thankful for the short reprieve. Under better circumstances the young man’s unending stream of chatter might have been bearable. Nythis hated meaningless conversation, but Vinric didn’t require require him to reply and didn’t seem offended by his silence. Vinric’s voice could become background noise, another voice added to the choir of animal sounds that filled the shop. Occasionally he had something interesting or useful to say. Nythis might even have enjoyed the apparent lack of censoring between what Vinric thought and what he said. Unfortunately he had been locked in a struggle for control with Sithyn ever since he had returned to Alvadas. The Akalak’s dark brother was determined to once again win possession of their shared body. After twenty years in the dark with Sithyn holding the reins while Nythis watched on, powerless. he clung to his hard won freedom with everything that he had. His nights were long and sleepless as he waited for the next attack. During the day there were moments when he would lose track of time as he struggled to suppress the enraged Sythis. Exhausted and frustrated, he had very little patience for Vinric’s small talk.

“The new shipment better arrive before autumn, we’ve come up short on the parrot feed. But where was I? Oh yes, the old woman who tried petting one of those bears. Now I suspect…”

The bell attached to one of the entries rang and Vinric’s smile grew. “Our first customers for the day,” he said, making sure his brightly coloured tie was in place and running a hand through his hair.

Nythis headed toward the washbasin to wash out the water bowls he had collected, shutting out Vinric’s voice as best he could. The steady repetition calmed him, much like cleaning his lakan did.

by **Nythis Drawne** on August 29th, 2015, 11:40 am

Some time afterwards he found himself holding a squirming puppy, attempting to clean its eyes with the solution that Vinric had handed him along with a clean cloth. The description on the enclosure read, “Kiparon: Great family dogs. Excellent with children.” There were six of the things. Little balls of thick black fur and wagging tails. After he finished he placed the puppy in the empty enclosure, he started on the next one, checking it’s ears and running a hand through the fur, checking for any signs of scabs. One of the pups had caught his attention earlier that day when he had caught it nipping at one of the others with more savagery than was necessary, judging by the the growls and whimpers he had heard. Life at Impawsible pets, with the noise and flow of adults and children did not seem to agree with it. He repeated the process with the remaining puppies, the nervous one growling as he cleansed its eyes.

He cleaned out the straw at the bottom of the enclosure while it was empty, before returning them to their enclosure. Vinric passed him on his way back to the counter.

“Family dogs. Right. One of those little guys bit a girl. Didn’t even break the skin, but we lost a sale. It was the runty one, I think.”

Nythis nodded.

“They should be moved to a quieter corner of the shop,” Nythis rasped.

Vinric made a turned suddenly when Nythis spoke.

“So you haven’t forgotten how to speak. I thought about that too, but they’re getting big and people might miss them if they are tucked away like that. Maybe we should move just the one?”

“No.”

Nythis thought isolation would only aggravate the situation if the pup was removed from the familiar safety of its brothers and sisters. Certainly Vinric knew this. He had noticed that he seemed to avoid handling the animals whenever he could, even as he excelled at handling customers, no matter how difficult they were.

Vinric looked somewhat taken aback at Nythis’s curt answer. The Akalak drew himself to his full height, crossed his arms in front of his chest and frowned down at him.

He raised his hands and sighed. “I’ll talk to Thuk about it. Oh, and on the topic of Thuk, he asked if you could medicate a few of the boarders upstairs. You remember that direwolf that came in earlier today? Let’s just say it’s taking longer than expected.”

by **Nythis Drawne** on August 31st, 2015, 5:07 pm

“Petch you too,” Nythis swore as the old tom’s growl reached its crescendo and turned into poisonous hiss. He held the cat’s head as he had been shown, nose pointing in the air to loosen the bottom jaw. The only thing that was left was to get the medication down its throat, but the animal was acting like it had been lowered into a tub of ice-cold water. Nythis eyed the scratches on his hand, irritated. Sithyn beat at the back of his mind like a bad headache. If this continued he would only end up harming the cat as he tried to prevent its struggles.

He returned the cat to its section and locked the door to the section reserved for the long term patients before exhaled slowly and let his illusions drop. He sniffed at the liquid medication. It had no smell that Nythis could detect. It was likely the taste then. He had tried to mask the medication in food previously, but the cat had refused it after a few bites.

It was nearly feeding time and the fish and selection of ground offal they fed the carnivores of the petshop had already arrived. He retrieved some a small portion and stood glaring at the medication for a long moment, imagining the taste of fish on his tongue before casting the illusion on the clear liquid. He added it to the fish and returned to the cat’s enclosure.

The animal was at the back corner, ears flat against its head, ready for a second round despite of its laboured breathing.

He set down the bowl of food and waited, watching the cat’s nose quiver at the scent of fish. It rose from its spot, watching Nythis suspiciously.

In the end it ate it all.

Casting an illusion just to feed a cat was highly impractical however. Nythis took the time to restore the illusion that made him presentable, before unlocking the door. It was then that he saw the worn blanket.

He should have wrapped the cat in the blanket. It would have prevented the tom’s struggle easily. It was probably exactly what the blanket was for. He was a petching Venhrehk. He ran a hand down the unscarred side of his face and sighed.

The old tom sat watching him, licking its chops contentedly.

by **Nythis Drawne** on August 31st, 2015, 7:03 pm

The mutt Nythis saw to next was a pleasant animal with soft brown eyes and an overly enthusiastic tail. It had been hit by a carriage and sported a long, ugly gash along its side. The fur around the injury had been shaved for hygiene as well as to make more accessible, Nythis knew. He admired the neat stitches as he cleaned the wound, working as gently as he could, noticing that the red, irritated lips of the gash was only growing worse. There were signs of an clear excretion too.He knew that some swelling was expected, but this… This didn’t seem right. He shook his head when the steady thump of its tail didn’t even falter despite of the discomfort his cleaning must have caused.

He would tell Thuk if it didn’t improve in a day or two… Or at least tell Vinric. He had hardly seen his employer since he had been hired. Nythis occasionally found himself staring up at the rafters, feeling like someone was watching him and wondering whether the giant ape had an affinity for climbing. All communication was left to the talkative shopkeeper. If Nythis hadn’t know differently he would have assumed Vinric was the owner.

He would have certainly preferred working with Thuk, however. He was quiet for one, and in the short few moments Nythis had seen him work with the animals he had been surprised by the gentleness with which Thuk had handled them. But things were what they were and Nythis had put up with much worse than than the Alvad’s chattering.

He had been honestly surprised when Vinric told him he had been hired. Thuk hadn’t seemed impressed with him and had looked at him in a way that made Nythis wonder if he knew just how much of a petching mess he was.

Nythis scratched behind the dog’s ear as he thought, before the sound of a door opening caught both their attention.

“You done here? It’s almost time to lock up.”

Vinric poked his head around the corner.

“How’s it going with the cat?”

It was an interesting question, Nythis thought and not one Vinric would be likely to ask. He assumed he was talking about the old tom. The dog went over to the young Alvad and proceeded to greet him with all the enthusiasm that the injured animal could muster. Vinric scrunched his nose at the dog’s breath, made a quick retreat and closed the bottom half of the door.

“He’ll live.” Nythis said.

Vinric smiled wider than what Nythis thought was appropriate for the situation.

“I see he’s left you with some battle wounds,” He said cheerily.

Nythis narrowed his eyes a fraction before deciding it was the news about the cat and not the fact that he had been savaged that had the shopkeeper so happy.

by **Nythis Drawne** on August 31st, 2015, 7:47 pm

Nythis added the last ingredient to the mix he would be feeding the parrot chicks they would be raising by hand.

The tiny things were at the stage when they looked half plucked, their eyes still bulbous and the lids half transparent. They started begging even before be opened their nest.

It went quickly as he raised each chick and fed them from the spoon until their crops were filled.

And then only the last few things were left. Nythis and Vinric worked together to close everything up in what was quickly becoming a ritual.

It was then that Sithyn struck, with a sudden violence that caused Nythis’s vision to go black as he was thrown from the seat of control he had fought so hard to regain.

It was a strange duel, fought with the strength of their desires and convictions. And their anger. Always the anger, burning, burning, burning.

Nythis surfaced and realized that he had dropped his illusions. He restored them as best he could, just as Vinric appeared around a corner.

“Time to go. You all right? You look… off.”

“I’m fine,” he rasped.

Vinric frowned. “If you say so… Maybe it’s just the light.”

Nythis looked up towards the false sky on the ceiling and noticed Thuk’s unmistakable silhouette.

Shyte, he thought. With a resigned certainty he considered whether he should bother showing up for work the next day, while above them a glorious sunset lit Impawsible pets in warm shades of orange and red.

by **Fable** on September 3rd, 2015, 3:29 am

As Vinric closed the door behind Nythis' retreating figure, a shadow drifted from the rafters, slipping down a supporting pillar to land on the ground with little more than a soft thud.

"That man..."

Vinric raised a brow, swinging the key on his finger a few times before slipping it into his pocket. "Hello to you too, Thuk."

The jamoura turned a wizened eye towards the man, a soft snort sending a ripple down his silvered back. "Watch him closely, Vinric." The man nodded, lips turned in a thoughtful smile as Thuk ambled towards the back of the store to check on the animals one last time before the end of the night.

Nythis

Skills

Lores

Rewards/Consequences

-Minor scratches on his hand and forearm. Will heal within a few days without scars.

Notes :

Completed [Job Thread] Dog Days