10690/Shopping in the Old City

Shopping in the Old City
Date of Scene:	10 January 2020
Location:	Elizabethtown (The Old City), Queensland Park
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Flash, Psylocke

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Flash has posed:
Christmas was over, and yet the stores were still open. People needed to eat. They needed clothes. They needed to buy action figures, comic books, accessories, and a whole host of things that were more wants than need, but somebody was selling them, and they needed to earn a living.

Barry and Betsy had arranged to spend some time in Metropolis' Old City, as they had some of the best shopping. He was dressed casually for January in Connecticut, which meant blue jeans, boots, a t-shirt, and when out and about, a zipped brown leather jacket, though in an attempt to appear more manly, he often forgot to re-zip it when leaving the safety and security of in store heating.

Walking along, they approached a pet store, and Barry gestured for it, "how's Archemedes? Have you figured out what to change his name to yet? We could get something nice for him in there, don't you think?"

Psylocke has posed:
"I've not yet. He is still Archemedes for now although Narcisuss is high on the list. He spends a lot of time grooming so I'm beginning to wonder about his ego," Betsy explains. She's dressed in an ecru cableknit sweater, with a pair of skinny jeans and black boots with no heel since they are walking around in potentially snow and ice. She had a lightweight black leather jacket over the top of it, enough to keep out the cold but not so weighty that she was dying in the heavy sweater and jacket combo.

"We can see. He could probably use some new chews." She gets him a wide rang of things to gnaw on to help keep his teeth under control.

Flash has posed:
"I think Archimedes is a nice name, Narcissus too. I bet he looks so cute." It had been a while since Barry got to see him. "How's the leg healing up?" He had given some basic first aid, though most of the help would have come from a veterinarian. Barry opens the door for Betsy and keeps it open until she's walked in. He's from the heartland and was raised to do such things. He'd also made a point of walking with himself on the street side of the sidewalk, something his dad had taught him.

"What are his favourites?" There were a wide variety of smells inside, as they happened to sell animals as well as supplies. Mostly fish, gerbils, hamsters, parrots, and the like, but not cats or dogs. They did sell supplies for the bigger pets though. As Barry walked in, he saw an intricate maze cage, plastic, with tubes and all kinds of things. "Woah, it's like a Lego set for pets."

Psylocke has posed:
"They have these little wood blocks and things you can get for rodents. Rat's teeth continue to grow their entire lives. They have to have stuff to wear them down or they can have problems." Betsy glance around, getting the lay of the land then heading off in a direction that looks likely for small pets. Thus the maze cage. "They also like to chew through plastic so something like that is good for play but only supervised. Otherwise, he's loose in the house. Not that it matters. I have him out most of the time when I'm home anyway," she admits as she finds the food and treats for mice, rats, gerbils and the like.

"His leg is doing fine. Vet said you did a good job." She picks up some wood chews that look like alphabet blocks a kid would have. "So cute. Must have these."

Flash has posed:
Barry continued to follow Betsy throughout the store. She seemed to be more familiar with it. He had pets growing up on the farm, but never really went to pet stores per say. They were more like farm animals. "Yeah, a rat can chew through steel, given proper motivation. What are rat cages made of anyway, what can't they chew through? Or is it just sort of an honour system. Keep them fed, played with, water, attention, and they don't have the desire to try and escape?"

He smiled when she passed on the compliment from the vet." Seeing a hot dog chew, and one that looked suspiciously like McDonalds French Fries in a Sleeve, he picked those up, intending to get them for Betsy's pet. And then he went and made an awe sound, "they have a little Santa's hat for him. A bit late, but we have to get that, one for now, and one for next year, since he'll probably chew that too, right..." And then, realising he had gotten ahead of himself, "I mean, I'd like to get that for him."

Psylocke has posed:
"You can buy him presents. You found him after all. I just claimed him and took him home," Betsy says with a laugh, motioning for him to grab whatever he wanted. "I used an aquarium actually. With a metal lid with security latches. I just made sure it was deep enough and all his gym equipment wasn't tall enough to allow him to reach the lid. Not that it helps. I've found him hanging upside down from it a few times. He gives me this look like I caught him up to something and drops back down into the cage."

"Yeah, he'll eat the Santa hat if I leave it with him. But should be able to get a few pictures at least. You ever thought about getting a rat?"

Flash has posed:
"No, never thought about a rat, well, not since seeing Archimedes, but you kind of beat me to it. Poor guy looked so helpless." He did laugh and smile at her stories, "it's starting to sound like he's smarter than the average rat. Are we sure he's not like a metarat or something?" In this world, you never could tell. Barry picked up a basket from a stack in the store, and put his items, and offered to carry the ones Betsy had picked out so far. "Actually, I have been thinking of getting a dog. Haven't had one since I was back in Iowa."

Psylocke has posed:
Betsy adds the alphabet chews to the mix. "Probably should stop by a market too. Almost out of carrots. He loves those. I think he might be part rabbit." She does give a shake of the head at his other question though. "No, rats just are smart. People are so scared of them usually they don't bother to learn. I like them much more than most other pet rodents available. They have my more personality."

She walks along the aisle, picking up a thing here or there to add to the mix. "If you have the time for the care needed, a dog is great to have." Then she realized who she was talking to. "Okay, obviously you would have time. Could visit a local shelter or two? See if anything catches your eye? I personally like to go to the kill shelters. At least you are saving a life that way, on top of getting a wonderful companion."

Flash has posed:
"What about some watermelon? Does he like watermelon?" Barry asked helpfully, and effortlessly carried the alphabet chews and anything else she might have felt he needed. "Like a lot of things, people fear what they don't understand." Like mutants as well. They even had a name badge maker. "Hmm, so long as he's Archimedes, don't you think he deserves a badge? Just in case he gets out. You know, someone might not know he belonged to you.

"Oh, got to start at the other kind of shelter." He didn't want to say kill. "I hate that they have those. But, there really isn't an easy solution. One guy mentioned at the precinct that his kid had been trying to get all the parents at son's party to go to one, so they could adopt them. Great idea kid. Just terrific." It even had Barry thinking about it.

Psylocke has posed:
"That's a great idea. Hope they did it. That'd be a lot of pets adopted. Dogs, cats. Whatever they might have. I know that some of the shelters even have the rodents and such, though not most. There are some larger places with things like horses. Not really practical in the city but works for people with a lot of space."

She paused at the exercise wheels, pulling out one of the larger metal ones and adding it to the pile. "His current one is fine but good to have a spare. Just in case."

Flash has posed:
"I thought so too." There was actually a social media thing going on amongst school children, getting their parents, friends, neighbours, etc. to adopt. Barry, without kids, had no idea about it. Most adults didn't. "We don't actually have those kinds of shelters in the Gem Cities. Probably because so many folks have big homes, and the countryside is so close," though likely was down to people in the Gem Cities being more like the Flash. Even their villains were 'nice' by comparison.

And then Barry's jaw dropped, "oh my god," he said. They had a rodent home that was shaped like the Ewok Tree homes. "That's so cute. But, wouldn't it be destroyed in a week?"

Psylocke has posed:
"Yeah, it would. I'm sure that some people would do it anyway or it wouldn't exist but I don't want to spend three times the normal amount just to give him a treehouse," Betsy says. It isn't that she doesn't have the money. It just strikes her as impractical.

"He has plenty to climb on and in. And eventually destroy."

Flash has posed:
"Still, he'd look super cute climbing around it." It even had Stormtrooper chew toys. But ah well, it was impractical, overly so, and way overpriced for what it was. If it would last, maybe, but a rat would make short work of it. And then he started to wander off, not fast, letting her follow if she wished, but he was going to have a look in the dog toy and accessory section. "Hmm, where to start." He hadn't even gotten a dog yet, but was already looking for things for a hypothetical one.

Psylocke has posed:
"As they end up in dog accessories, Betsy has to grin. "Well, you start with the basics if you are going to do this. Food dish, water dish, leash, collar. Or harness if you plan to go for a smaller dog but hard to gauge a harness without having the dog here." She wandered down the aisle.

"You could buy toys but honestly, better to bring the dog with you to do that. Some dogs like squeaky toys. Some like fluffy ones. Some will play with a ball while others won't. It all depends on the dog so no reason to buy them without him or her along to choose what they like."

Flash has posed:
"Might be best to wait then. Assuming we do pick one up, want to come back with me afterwards?" He asks, since she seemed to be an old hand at pet ownership, whereas he had them as a child, but never actually gotten one as an adult. It changed the dynamics a little bit.

Psylocke has posed:
"You could at least get the food and water dish but yeah, if you are serious, we can just come back here after and you can see what might fit it's personality?" Betsy suggests. She heads for the front of the store, obviously expecting him to follow, so she can check out. A sorting of the basket into her pile and his then the clerk started ringing up the items. "We can drop these at my apartment." Her brother's, not that it mattered. "Then head for the closest shelter. You can look at them online too, see if a particular one catches your eye before you go. Or just go wander up and down the kennel and you'll know the right one when you see it."

Flash has posed:
"I figured I might want to get them engraved if I got them." Barry may not have been as bad about coming up with names, or changing them, as Betsy had proven to be with Archimedes. There was also the personality of the dog to consider, and colour. She paid for hers, and he paid for his after, with him offering to carry the bags. As they began to leave the store, he whispered to her, "I could rush them over there in a Flash if you'd like." It was nice not having to hide his abilities around her.

Psylocke has posed:
She could also shadow port but she opted to let him do the heavy lifting. Passing over her bags, Betsy didn't need to give him the address. He'd been there before to pick her up. She did pass over her keys so he wouldn't have to vibrate through the door or something.

"I'll see where the closest shelter is while you do that," she offers, pulling out her phone and typing in a search. Knowing him, he'd be back before she finished the word 'shelter'.

Flash has posed:
Barry accepted the keys, "sounds like a plan," and he began to walk, at normal speed, towards an alleyway, someplace where he could disappear. Once out of sight, and away from any potential security cameras, he'd press his ring, changing his clothes while shrinking the others into his ring, and speed off towards the apartment, where he'd use the key, open the door, unpack everything, check on Archimedes food, water, give him one of the chew toys he had bought, spending all of about two minutes there.

He only took that long because he wanted to play a little with Archimedes. He even took a photo of them together, texting it to Betsy, before heading back, and reversing the change of clothes, where he could join her. "You weren't kidding. I think that rat actually borrowed my phone to take a photo. And I'm pretty sure he bought a year's worth of chew from Amazon with my account."

Psylocke has posed:
That earns a laugh as Betsy finishes the search and motions the direction they need to go. "About four blocks this way. And yes, he is very smart. I would double check that Amazon account when I got home. Cancel everything he ordered. He's already spoiled enough without getting to go online shopping," she adds with a tsking sound.

"He is cute though, isn't he?" She had just opened up the picture of him with the little brown and white rat in hand next to his smiling face. "The rat's adorable too." She's teasing a bit as she checked the directions one last time then locks the screen and tucks her phone in the pocket of her jacket.

Flash has posed:
"He really is cute, and smart. Went with one day shipping. My account already says the items have shipped. Those drones, bots, whatever it is they have working in the warehouse work fast." Barry blushed a little at her compliment. He would follow her, heading towards the 'kill' animal shelter.

When they arrived, Barry introduced himself, said he was here to look for a dog. As luck would have it, they didn't have many left. Seems the operation by the children had worked really well, with most being adopted. The guy even mentioned that because some shelters were low on stock, any that weren't picked up would be sent towards the other shelters. "Okay, whoever started this deserves a medal. But let's see who's here."

Psylocke has posed:
The shelter could normally house around fifty dogs. They would have to cycle out those who had been there the longest normally. Thanks to the rush of adoptions going on, there were only about 10 dogs left in the shelter. They ranged in sizes and breeds. From some massive Rottweiler types, though mixed breed but still looked very much the breed, down to a few that could sit on a lap comfortably. Some were friendly and trying to get attention. Others sat in their pens looking pretty depressed. "These guys will get to stay around as long as we have space at least. So that's an extra bonus from this movement happening online."

He walked them down the line of kennels, letting them look at the dogs. There was a clipboard hanging on the front of each cage with the name of the dog and any information they had about them. Some had been strays from the street, others had been turned over by people who had chosen not to keep them for whatever reasons.

Flash has posed:
Barry walked alongside Betsy, not paying much attention to the clipboards, instead looking at the dogs. They all looked so cute, whether they were eager for attention, or more depressed. In fact, Barry seemed to settle near one that was depressed, looking to lack energy. Barry didn't know it, but the little black French bulldog looking dog had been here the longest of any that were left, by some margin too.

Barry knelt down, making cooing and come here sounds. He dangled his fingers through the cage, which wasn't supposed to be a good thing, but he did it anyway. "Here boy, here boy," the dog didn't even have a name by his chart. Eventually, it moved to its feet, slowly wandering over to him, sniffing at the fingers that were offered, and gave them a light lick of his tongue.

Psylocke has posed:
The little guy's butt started to wiggle the tiniest bit. Having just a nub of a tail, he tended to compensate for the big sweep of a tail by wiggling his butt when he was happy. Having this person put fingers in and letting him lick was making him a little happy, though not in the extreme.

"Would you like to go in with him?" the man working the shelter asked, reaching for the latch that held the door closed. "Sometimes the get more animated when you aren't on the other side of the steel."

Betsy watched the pair interact though her eyes kept wandering off to the side at a Rottweiler looking dog. He wasn't a purebred. His ears weren't clipped and his tail hadn't been docked. So he just had this hound dog look while having the coloration and build of the large breed.

Flash has posed:
Barry nodded his head, "sure," and the man would open the latch so that Barry could go inside. He picked up one of the play things in the cage and tried to get the dog's attention, which seemed to do the trick. Though Barry would periodically look at Betsy to see what she was up to. "You know, just because you've got a rat, doesn't mean you can't have a dog too. I'd help out with walks and such if need be." Even with their alter egos, both could head back home pretty quickly to get a bit of extra time with the dogs.

Psylocke has posed:
"I know. And I'll think about it. But let's focus on this guy here." Betsy looked at the clipboard then the man. "He's been here a long time but there is no name?"

"We just call him Fred. Didn't have a name when he was dropped off by his former owner."

She looked at the paper again. "House broken. So that's a plus. He's only two so that's good as well. Should have a long life ahead of him. Clean bill of health. Current on all vaccinations."

Flash has posed:
The little guy made a brief little growl when the man said his name was Fred, before calming down to once again play with the toy that Barry had dangled, but not for very long. Instead, it moved it with its feet and nose, positioning it just right, then climbed atop it, so it could get a better look at Barry's face. It wasn't looking at him eye to eye, even with Barry crouching, but it was close to it. "Smart little fella too, isn't he." And at that point, the dog barked. "So, Fred..." Barry began, curious to see the reaction. The dog did that soft little growl thing again. "Don't like Fred, huh?" And yep, third growl, brief each time. "You're smart," the dog barked, "so what about Einstein, after my favourite scientist?" The dog barked again, and did a somersault off the little toy it had been standing on. "Aww, so cute," and Barry began to scratch his tummy. "Yep, Einstein it is." And another bark.

Psylocke has posed:
From depressed to getting more active by the moment. Sometimes that was the way it worked. Betsy could see that Barry was already falling for the pup. She smiled a bit. "It's a good name. And he approves. Think you've found your match?"

The man nearby said, "I can go start the paperwork if you like. It's a twenty dollar adoption fee."

Flash has posed:
"Yeah, please do." Barry scratched Einstein behind the ears, and then tried something, picking him up. The dog didn't seem to fight it, instead wiggling its little tail with all its might. Standing up, he moved towards the still open door, close enough that Betsy could pet Einstein if she wanted. "Einstein, this is Betsy, can you say hi?" The dog barked happily.

Psylocke has posed:
"Hello, Einstein." Betsy offered her hand to be sniffed first, which got it a very liberal licking. She quickly moved to pet the rounded head and behind the ears, laughing slightly. "I suspect you are going to be a handful."

She looked at the smile on Barry's face, seemingly reflected in the expression of Einstein. That was one thing about Frenchies. They often looked like they were smiling.