Alfred blinked when he heard the chirp, cocking his head. When the black tomcat ambled out and planted itself on Ivan's feet he laughed softly. "I do believe you've already made a new friend, Kotenok," he stated, kneeling down and offering out his hand. "And considering the fact that he chirped at you I think he might be the same breed as Penny. She used to make the same noise at me until I started ending up agitating her," he said with a chuckle. "Pretty sure he's decided that you're his person. Not sure how he'll react to Penny, or how Penny will react to him, but we can't just leave him out here either," he murmured thoughtfully, unaware that they -well, okay, Ivan was the one being watched from afar. "I should have enough cat food still to feed them both but we may need another litterbox, depending on how these two interact."

((This one isn't as crazed as she was before reincarnation, because of all the history she doesn't have anymore - so he won't be clawing through any doors at least...))

"A new friend?" Ivan asked softly, his features wistful as he peered down at the smug-looking feline. "Hahh, it does look that way, doesn't it? He is quite sweet~" He added, watching as the fluffy tomcat sniffed inquisitively at Alfred's hand, giving it a lick to see if there was any food in the offing. "She did? Well, Penny is a very nice kitty, so I already know that I like this kind of cat." He mused aloud, intrigued. "Ahh, you are right, it would be unkind - so we take him with us?" He asked, feeling rather pleased that he'd been chosen for something, even if it had been by a cat. "Should we get another litterbox just in case? This is a big kitty, so Penny might not want to share hers with him - at least, I think it is a him. He might crowd it out when she needs to use it, da?" He put forward, considering the issue. "Ohh, and you are right about him needing a bath - he is a mucky kitty." He was really pleased that Alfred was so evidently willing to bring this cat home with them, as his heart had already been stolen by the purring fuzz-monster on his feet, and he hadn't wanted to pull the big imploring eyes on his friend twice in one day. "I would love to - he is so cute and snuggly and fluffy~!" Ivan responded, his tone a chirp not unlike the one the cat had produced. "I have heard that Maine Coons like water, so if we are careful, bath time might not mean claws - what do you think?" The big Russian's face was a picture, and he was evidently enraptured by the idea of taking the cat home with them - his ex
pression could actually be described as aglow, which wasn't something he managed often, though Alfred had seen it earlier that day.

Alfred grinned as well, pulling out his phone really fast to both snap photos of the cat on Ivan's feet as well as the Russian's current ex
pression, giggling quietly. "Of course we can," he said rather happily, reaching out then to gently stroke the tomcat. "Do you want to carry him back to the car while I go find another litterbox to be on the safe side?" he asked, gently rubbing behind one of the puffy cat's ears. "Oh! And now Penny won't have to be grumpy with me for being gone a while since she'll have a friend now!" he said. "Oh and while I get the litterbox maybe I should find more shampoo. I'm not sure how much I have left." Then he blinked. Should he get flea medicine as well to be on the safe side? "Or better yet we can bring him with us so we can see if maybe the owner of the shop can recommend anything to us since he's a great deal dirtier than Penny's ever been," he said quietly, standing back up with a smile. Either way they were going to add another member to their quickly growing little family.

Ivan giggled as well, amused by the position he found himself in, and by the idea of looking back through their photos at some point in the future and seeing the pictures that Alfred was taking. The cat purred and rubbed his head against the American's hand, pleased to be finally receiving the attention he felt he deserved, and Ivan thought that it looked very cute indeed. He listened carefully to the options that his friend put forward, considering them, before voicing his own opinion. "I think that we had better take him with us - if Penny has not been this dirty, then we both need the advice. I do not know how to deal with this without pulling his fur, and I do not want to hurt him." He stated simply, leaning down to pick the cat up from his feet. The cat, mildly surprised, squirmed for a moment before he worked out that it was one of the humans and relaxed. Being picked up meant attention, and attention was good. "It will be good to have a friend for Penny~ I wonder how surprised she will be?" He added, gently hugging the cat in his arms. He suspected that Penny would appreciate having someone of her own species to socialise with.

Natalya watched for a few moments more from within the shop, before deciding that she could not spend all day staring at a stranger, however attractive. If he lived around here, she was likely to bump into him again, and he was striking enough in appearance that she could probably ask around about him with few problems. In the mean time, she could get on with her search for rock music, and not draw too much attention to herself. She didn't think he'd spotted her yet, but there was always the chance that he could turn around and see her peering out at him - that would definitely make a bad first impression. With this in mind, she set out again from the shop as though nothing had happened, for all that her thoughts trailed back in the stranger's direction.

Alfred nodded slightly and moved to start towards the shop where they could get what they'd need to adopt a second cat. "Well, hopefully she'll enjoy the added company. She'd the only cat I've had and she's always been an inside cat," he explained, reaching out to stroke the fluffy male Maine Coon. "I can show you how to wash him and groom him since fluffy cats need to be brushed a lot, I'm just not sure about the best way to get rid of all the dirt and stuff and I'm not totally sure if he has clumped fur or anything," he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. He'd been taking regular care of Penny for years so he knew how to care for a Maine Coon fairly well, but there were things he hadn't really experienced seeing as Penny was never left out on the streets or anything. "Oh! We should get him a collar and maybe a nametag. Penny has one but I never really bother putting it on her since she never bothers to leave the house," he said, cocking his head. "And we can't be sure if he prefers being an inside cat or an outside cat yet. At the very least he seems to like us already though."

((No, I don't think she's going to like him at all... By the way, in the Mutation Market RP, you're supposed to write something about your Easter in the Other category, sort of like a password. I nearly forgot that one myself, so I thought I'd better let you know. Awesome bug to pick, by the way - really pretty wings~))

Ivan followed his friend happily, enjoying the warm weight in his arms that was the contented-looking cat. The feline in question seemed to be finding Alfred's attentions quite pleasant, and responded with another chirp. “That would be very helpful, da.” Ivan responded, finding the kitty's behaviour cute. “I suppose that very fluffy animals would be more likely to get clumps in their pelts, but it might not be easy to tell with all the rest of the fur in the way.” He mused, giving the cat a gentle rub behind the ear. “Ahh, that sounds like a good idea!” He exclaimed, though he kept his volume at its normal level in order to avoid startling the tom in his arms. “What to call him, though... Maybe Nikolai? Nyet, too long. A cat name should be short and easy to call out – like Penny is. Ahh, what about something fun and memorable? It is a little bit silly, but I am tempted to give him the name Vodka~” He added, talking half to himself, and giggling about his idea. “Whatever we call him, I am sure that this poor fuzzy wanderer is quite eager to get home to someplace with food, da? If he is this friendly with us, maybe it is also attention that he wants – goodness knows how long he has been out here all alone, poor lonely fluff-tuft kitty...” The Russian asserted, trailing off at the end, feeling a vague sense of kinship with this feline vagrant. He was glad that he would be able to help the adorable stray, and not only because of the cuteness.

((Thank you xD I read that rule twice too but I forgot about it since my easter weekend wasn't much

((No problem~ I didn't really do much either, but there was chocolate, so that was fun. Such a lovely shade of blue, too, those wings~ I basically just chose the fluffiest thing I could think of, for the sake of the cute.))

Now that Alfred mentioned it, that did sound pretty funny... Ivan giggled a little more, amused. "Then it is decided, da?" He responded, rather pleased that he'd come up with a name that they were both happy with. He entered the pet-related store alongside his friend, looking over at the blond when he was nudged. "Hmm? Oh, okay, I will do that." He answered, hoping that he would not begin to feel anxious again. Still, they both knew where the other was, and this place had a relatively friendly atmosphere - not to mention that they would be in the same building. No, he reasoned as he approached the staff member Alfred had indicated, there was no reason for the inexplicable paranoia from before to return now. "Ahh, excuse me, but do you know what I should do about cleaning this cat?" He asked, getting right to the point, and holding Vodka up to be viewed. The staff member blinked, mildly surprised, before taking a good look at the Coon in question. "Hm, it looks like this one hasn't been groomed in a while. Yours?" She asked, examining Vodka's pelt. The cat put up with this in mildly bewildered silence, not sure what to make of this new human, and Ivan nodded. "Was a stray. Could not exactly leave him all alone, but I do not know what to do." He explained, hoping that this would suffice.

The shop assistant seemed to accept this answer, and she paused for a moment to straighten out what she was going to say. "Well, first, it's usually best to have someone to help you. They can distract the cat by petting him, and basically trying to keep him happy while you're working." She began, and Ivan nodded his understanding. "While that's going on, you get a fine-toothed comb, and you use that to separate the matted fur from the skin enough to slip in with some scissors to remove the mat. Ideally, you should do this as quickly as you can manage, to minimise discomfort. If your cat begins to seem unhappy, take a break until he is in a better mood. Otherwise, he will come to hate being groomed. If he ever gets smaller mats, those can be combed out if you start at the ends, and hold down the skin so it isn't being pulled. Don't use a brush for that, though, just a comb. Got all that?" She explained, giving Ivan a searching look. The Russian nodded, grateful, and thanked her. Then, his part of their mission complete, he decided to see how his friend was doing. "Alfya! I know what to do now!" He called, wandering in the direction he'd seen Alfred walking.

Alfred, in that span of time, had gotten more shampoo, normal cleaning stuff and flea shampoo to be safe, as well as an extra litterbox and poked his head around the edge of the shelf when he'd heard Ivan call for him. "Oh! Great!" he chirped happily. "I've been here before so I knew where the stuff was," he said as he trotted out to start towards the counter, setting the stuff down and obviously intending to pay for it as well before he paused and blinked back at Ivan. "Oh! Should I go ahead and pay for this stuff or would you rather since he's gonna be your cat?" he questioned, rubbing the back of his neck. "A lot of people I've known don't seem fond of people buying stuff for their pets for them," he said with a soft laugh. "Oh! The collars are in the center little aisle thing if you want to go ahead and try to find one for him," he said, grinning sheepishly. He'd forgotten all about the collar.

"There you are~" Ivan smiled, catching sight of Alfred as the other male peered around and approached the counter. "Oh, I see. That is quite useful." He noted, glancing over at the things that his friend had gathered. "Ahh, if you do not mind, I would rather pay for these things." He agreed, his smile turning slightly sheepish. "Thank you for thinking of that. Oh, and are there any fine-toothed combs there? Apparently we need one." He added, before realising that he would hardly be able to reach his wallet if his arms were full of cat. "Umm, would you mind holding Vodka for me while I look for a collar? I am thinking of looking for one that is purple or blue, as I think those colours would suit him. What do you think? Oh, and how do we get one of those name thingies to go on it? Is there someone we need to talk to who puts the names on the tags?" He asked, feeling a little out of his depth. He'd never shopped for pet stuff before, and he had little idea of what he was doing. Vodka, for his part, seemed relatively calm at this point, simply looking across at Alfred as though assessing him in some way. It was unclear just what might be crossing the fuzzbutt's mind, but he seemed to find Alfred interesting. Perhaps it was because he smelt of the same female cat as Ivan? It was just possible that the tomcat was able to infer that he was getting two humans instead of one, like a package deal, but it is difficult to tell how much a cat knows just from looking.

((FUZZBUTT OH MY GOD XD))

((... I just had to. I barely resisted getting Ivan to call him that instead of fluff-tuft kitty that one time. *Snickering*))

Vodka took being passed over pretty well, though he wriggled a little in order to get comfy, and he actually seemed to be on the verge of dozing off. "You do? That is good~ The assistant told me that it is used to help avoid hurting. Scissors are also a needful thing, but I thought that you would already have some of those." He explained, feeling less anxious now that Alfred had cast some light on the situation. He was gratified to know that his friend agreed with his taste regarding the matching of collar colour to cat fur, and he thought that the idea of Penny in a pink collar was rather cute. This notion was only reinforced when Alfred mentioned the heart-shaped tag. "Ahh, that sounds sweet~" He responded, giggling a little. "I will look for the things now - thank you for explaining~" He finished, moving off in search of a collar, while Vodka peered up quizzically at Alfred and blinked. It did not take long for Ivan to locate the collars that his friend had spoken of, and he decided on a nice royal blue collar - which would provide a counterpoint to Penny's, if she ever wore it. This obtained, he ambled back towards his friend and his new cat, brandishing the collar. "I found one~ I can pay for this stuff now, and then we can find a nice tag, da?" He added, fishing out his wallet.

((Gotta go, see you tomorrow~))

Alfred nodded. "She's had small clumps before since sometimes I get too busy to groom her regularly, just wanted to be sure that's all we needed for what I'm sure this guy has," he said gently, stepping up beside Ivan as he adjusted his hold on Vodka a little bit. They should probably bathe him first and let him dry before messing with the clumps since some could possibly just be dirt. "That's a pretty nice color," he said with a wide smile. "Vodka and Penny are gonna look so nice in their collars if I ever get Penny into hers," he said with a quiet laugh. "Once we get all this we should be ready to head home and get started bathing this ball of fluff, yeah?" he questioned, tilting his head a little bit. "Get him fed and cleaned up and looking all presentable to meet Penny."

Ivan paid for the pet supplies that Alfred had brought over for him, and the collar he'd found, nodding to indicate to his friend that he was listening. "I see. It would seem that we have, though the lady said that it was best if there was someone who distracted the kitty with petting, so I will need your help as well." He responded, relatively confident that the American would be happy to help him freshen up this sweet feline vagabond. "Thank you~ I had trouble deciding, so I picked the one I thought would be matching best with both Vodka's fur and Penny's collar." He smiled, putting the stuff he'd just bought into the pocket with the least in it - though being careful not to jostle his surprise too much. "Mmhmm, da, sounds like a good plan to me." Ivan nodded, giving Vodka a gentle stroke. "I have heard that it is best to allow cats to stand on a stool while they are being shampooed, is that what you do with Penny?" He asked, wanting to be sure that he knew what he was doing. It did sound more practical that trying to shampoo a cat still in the water, or hoisting up an entire soggy cat to do so. "Perhaps food before bathing, so that he is definitely in a good mood?" He suggested, musing over the idea of bath time, and reflecting that it looked as though Vodka was comfy. "Ahh, do you know where the tag machines are?" He added, realising that he didn't know which direction to go in. "Err, would you like to continue holding Vodka, or do I carry him now?" He queried, not sure what Alfred would prefer.

"I have a small stepping stool kind of thing that I use, yeah," Alfred responded with a smile. "Trying to lean over a tub to clean the cat inside can be absolute HELL on your back, which isn't too great if you're a college student who also happens to work a job where you stand up and sometimes clean when there aren't customers," he said, giving the pet shop cashier a little wave from beneath the cat as a sort of non-vocal thanks since they were heading out and he was in a conversation. "As for carrying your new purr-machine, you should probably be getting more acquainted than I am," he responded with a smile. "It'd be good to make sure he has positive memories of being handled before we bathe him and start snipping fur," he said as he happily stepped closer to allow Ivan to take hold of the cat. "The machine's actually towards the car!" he responded with a grin. "And here, let me carry all that stuff since you're gonna be carrying Vodka," he murmured gently.

“Ah, that is good.” Ivan replied, nodding. “I can see what you mean about the back trouble – I hope that it would not be too much of a problem to ask you to help me groom Vodka when it is time to remove his mats, then. I would not wish to cause you discomfort. Perhaps it would be possible to groom him on top of a surface of some sort?” He added, also waving to the cashier. Unfortunately, this action jostled the litter tray he'd balanced at the top of his pocket behind the protruding upper portions of the other things he'd stuffed into the pocket – as he couldn't get the thing into his pocket proper. It clattered to the floor, rattling inside its box, and Ivan squeaked at the noise, startled. “Aheheheh, oopsie.” He mumbled, embarrassed. “I guess that there is only so much I can do with pockets, however big.” He added, picking up his fallen item. “Purr-machine? Heh, that is funny~ You are quite right, I should probably be holding him.” He responded, grateful for the offer to swap. “Thank you.” He smiled, somehow managing to pass over the litter tray and associated paraphernalia as he accepted the cat from his friend. Once again, his arms were full of warm, fluffy kitty, and his smile grew brighter. He could feel Vodka's breathing, and hear him purring softly as he was held close – but not tightly. “What shapes of tag do you think will be available?” He asked, following Alfred in the direction of the car. He wondered vaguely whether there would be tags in shapes like stars and suns as well as hearts and circles, and maybe bones and fish. It would be interesting to see what the variety of choices was like.

((Sorry my cousin showed up ^u^))

((It's okay~ I'm going to choir later, so when I disappear - that's where I've gone. We're having a rehearsal specifically for the people going on the Canada trip from the end of July to the beginning of August~ :3 I'm going to visit Mattie~))

When the litter tray had fallen, though safe in its box, Ivan had not realised that Alfred would try to help him pick it up - though he guessed that he should have seen that coming, with how nice his friend was. "That sounds fairly practical." He agreed, musing over the possibility. "Since he is my cat, I should probably be the one who cleans the sink afterwards, in case there is build up of kitty hair and whatever is in it that does not go down the plug." He offered, not wishing to leave a mess behind for Alfred to clean up. What he didn't know, as he spoke, was that he had shifted the position of his gift for Alfred when he had retrieved the pet supplies from the pocket he'd stuffed them into. The box he'd taken the precaution of putting it in was just visible poking out, as it had come to rest on the gloves he'd never bothered to remove from that pocket. Not for the first time, his habit of pocket-stuffing was coming back to bite him. "I suppose that I will have to see, then." Ivan mused, as they drew nearer to the tag machine. Perhaps there would be a diamond shape? That was pretty simple, and he'd seen pets with those before. He looked up abruptly when his friend asked about the box, startled, before glancing back at his pocket and spotting the protruding item. Oops... He thought, trying to work out what to say. "Ahh, nyet." He admitted, ex
pression sheepish. "It is... it is for you. I... wanted to get you a thank you gift." He confessed, realising that the game was up.

((Aw man have fun with our neighbors to the north :D))

((Thank you, I'm sure I will~ We're going to be singing on Vancouver Island - and we get to take over a hotel to use as our base of operations. The choir's done this trip before, but I haven't been on any of those trips, so this'll be my first time going to Canada - or anywhere on that continent, to be honest.))

Ivan noted that Alfred had agreed with his suggestion regarding the cleaning up, and was satisfied that he would not be leaving dirtiness for his friend to deal with. He would have felt guilty about it if he wasn't the one to clean it up, to be honest. When the American responded that there might be diamond shapes, Ivan brightened a little, feeling that it would set off the collar he'd bought nicely. He giggled when Alfred mentioned bottle-shaped tags, finding the idea rather funny - but also kind of appealing. "Ohh, that would be a good one~" He replied, stopping just in front of the machine whose contents were in question. Before perusing its wares, however, he turned to answer his friend. "For that, and for everything else." He clarified, noticing the colour rise in Alfred's cheeks even as it did so in his own. He felt a little on the spot, but he continued. "... Even the way that you regard my happiness as thanks enough, I am... thankful for - I could hardly not get something for you after all the good you have done me in so short a time." He murmured, reassured by the smile on Alfred's face that he had not made a mistake. "If you like, I will show you when we are in the car - we will be able to put things down then." He suggested shyly, a little anxious about what his friend might think of what he had chosen to give.

((They are, aren't they? By the way, I finally managed to get past the pencil stage in my drawing - though I had face and hand related trouble. I haven't found all my colours yet, though - I'm still looking for the right purple.))