(no subject)

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy and Helen step out of the phone box into a street in Holby. It's cloudy, and looks a little like rain. Passers-by push past, in a hurry, without caring if they barge into anyone. There is a gloom about the place.

Guppy smiles at Helen.

"Welcome to Holby."

Comments

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy grins. "Don't ask me. You'll have to check with the kennel hands. It might be a bit much adopting both at once; remember some of these animals are from rough backgrounds and will need time to get used to you."

He flags down a passing kennel hand, who smiles through his mop of greasy hair.

"Can I help you?"

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

Helen grins at him. "Yes, I think I'll take this cat, but I might be interested in looking at dogs as well."

[guppy_sandhu]

The kennel-hand scratches his head.

"Erm... we don't normally let you have both at once, but we'll see. We'll have to check that the dog isn't going to hurt the cat and so on. We can introduce them here to make sure they get along."

He puts a label on the cat's cage saying 'Offer made', then leads Helen and Guppy through another door to where the dogs are kept.

"Check the information at the side to see if they get along with cats generally. I'll be over here when you're ready."

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

Helen begins reading cages of younger looking dogs, stopping every so often to pet a dog's nose with her finger. About half-way down the dog hall, she sees a small, thick coated puppy with the same colouring as the cat. "Look!" she points the puppy out to Guppy.

Name: Nala
Sex: Female
Age: 5 months
Reason for adoption: Death of previous owner
Additional info: Has lived with many cats.

"Maybe she likes cats?"

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy smiles. The match could not be better.

"I bet she does. And they're both young, so they will have plenty of chance to get used to one another."

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

Helen waves to the kennel hand. "Can we try Nala-" she points to the dog, "with the kitten please?" She grins brightly.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Yeah, sure."

He goes over to the pen and puts Nala on a lead, then hands the lead to Helen.

"If you could step through into that room there, I'll go and get the kitten."

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

Helen takes the lead, then smiles brightly at Nala, offering her a hand to smell. After Nala licks her hand, Helen pets her behind the ears, stands up and says, "Come on, Nala," rather cheerfully. Nala bounces in front of Helen as she heads to the room the kennel hand pointed to. Helen turns to look at Guppy. "You come too!" she says, giggling.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy grins and follows, jumping as an extremely large Alsation jumps up and barks at him from one of the cages. The room is full of dog and cat toys, with a couple of comfy chairs. A few moments later the kennel hand comes back with the kitten and places it on the floor.

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

Helen keeps Nala on the lead for the moment, as the kitten is placed on the floor. The kitten meows questioningly at Nala, who sniffs it enthusiastically. The kitten is unfazed by the sniffing and begins playing with a cat toy. Eventually, she begins to sniff Nala and tries to pounce on the puppy's tail. Nala jumps up and does the ever popular "play with me!" motion, which the kitten seems to understand.

Helen laughs at the animals, then grins at Guppy. "I think they'll get along just fine!"

[guppy_sandhu]

"Good. Have you decided then?" Guppy asks, smiling at the animals at play. They seem well suited to one another, and to Helen.

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

Helen grins bright. "I think I have." She turns to the kennel hand. "I think I'll take both of them, if that is alright," she says, beaming.

[guppy_sandhu]

The kennel hand nods and smiles.

"Certainly. I'll just put the kitten in a carrier for you and then we'll go through the paperwork."

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

Helen smiles brightly. "Thank you very much." She grins at Guppy. "Thank you!"

[guppy_sandhu]

"That's okay. I'm glad you found what you were looking for."

He passes Helen Nala's lead and holds her other hand as the kitten reluctantly goes into a cat box. Then the kennel hand comes back with a load of paperwork. Guppy gives him his address, feeling that giving him Helen's would be tricky. The kennel hand then gives Helen the forms to sign.

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

Helen shrugs and signs the forms "Helen Sandhu" in nice script. She passes the forms back to the kennel hand, and pets Nala's head.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy goes bright red and fiddles with his hair when he sees the forms. Then he takes Helen's hand and smiles.

"Shall we get home then? We can pass the pet shop to get some dog and cat food."

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

Helen grins, and squeezes his hand.

"I think that would be a good idea." She laughs as Nala licks her hand.

She stands up, Nala bouncing alongside her, and hangs Guppy the cat carrier. "Shall we?"

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy smiles and holds open the door for Helen. As they go out of the shelter he glances at his watch.

"Scampi needs feeding soon, and the portal back will be at my house anyway, so we should head there. Will Nala be okay to walk that far? We can stop by the pet shop for you to get any essentials you need."

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

Helen grins. "Alright. Nala will be fine. She's bouncy, but she doesn't pull hard. Anyway, I'm used to walking." From inside the cat carrier, the kitten meows. "I think I'll name her Elena." Helen says, thoughtfully, taking Guppy's free hand in hers.

[guppy_sandhu]

"That's a nice name. Goes well with Nala. And Helen."

He leads her through the streets of Holby. It begins to get busier again, and a few spots of rain start to fall. Guppy wishes he brought his umbrella.

"Quick, here's the pet shop. We can shelter from the rain."

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

"And Melina," Helen reminds him. "Don't forget her."

As the rain starts up, Helen pushes open the door of the pet shop, dragging Nala with her.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Sorry, wasn't thinking."

He rubs his forehead, his brain starting to feel fuzzy. He has, after all, just come off a twelve hour shift.

"Just pop what you need in the basket; don't worry about money, I'll deal with that. I'm just going to get some kitten food for Scampi. He's starting solids on Friday."

[prettyhelen.livejournal.com]

Helen grabs some wet kitten food in many different fishy flavors, and dry kitten food, also in fishy flavors. She finds puppy food, which Nala sniffs happily, and puts that in the basket too. Hefting the now rather heavy basket, she gets some kitten and puppy toys and a new, higher quality leash as well as a dog bed for Nala and a cat bed for Elena. Pulled by Nala, she finally manages to find Guppy. "Ready to go?"

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy has been debating what flavour of kitten food Scampi would most like, and has chosen a chicken one. He smiles and takes the basket off Helen.

"Yes, I'll just go and pay for these and then we can go."

He nips over to the checkout and deposits the heavy basket, juggling that and the kitten so that he can get his wallet. Then he passes the lighter of the shopping bags to Helen and, with some difficulty, holds the door open for her.