Dumpster Diving (open)

[Alexis Wheeler]

She could see that he was reluctant, but Alex would make sure that he didn't regret it. Having worked with strays, she knew about establishing trust, and while he certainly wasn't a 'stray' per sae, the principles were the same...be kind and respectful, remember that, despite her desire to help, he still was his own person and could make his own decisions.

She just hoped that he'd let her help him, at least give him something to eat, and in the mean time, it really was good to have his help so she didn't have to manipulate the cat and the bike.

"You can stay as long as you want, I just need help with the bike...and, well," she shrugged, "it would be good to have some extra hands in case he wakes up more. Right now, I think he's just too dehydrated and malnourished to put up much fuss."

With working at a vet's office, she'd seen it before, when animals were brought in near-death, but all they really needed was some food, some rest and a little love.

"Hopefully, this will be easy...I hate when animals are sick."

@yugioh,

[Deleted]

Jeff nodded his head slowly.

At least she seemed really nice and like she wanted to help. Both the cat, and maybe him in a way. Though he wasn’t sure how long he’d let her do so either way, given he didn’t want to impose, on her, or her dad. But he could at least stay for a bit while the cat slowly recovered.

He then gave a small smile - nodding his head. “Alright, then. I mean I guess you should lead the way back to your place,” he explained honestly. “And don’t worry I’m sure he’s going to be fine! I can tell just looking at him he’s a fighter.”

[Alexis Wheeler]

"Yeah, animals can be pretty resilient, especially when they know they are getting help." Alex looked down at the frail body, gently stroking the dirty, matted head. "She's purring!"

Carefully, she lifted the kitty a bit so that Jeff could hear the loud, grateful rumble. "I think that's so cool! I kinda wish people could purr, that would be fun!"

She nodded to a high-rise that they were approaching, an older building, 'turn-of-the-century' that showed its age, but was updated and maintained. "That's the place, we're at the top, floor twelve," she explained with a grin, "I guess they didn't want to worry about thirteen. You can leave the bike in the entry, and really, Dad's on a grave shift and he would have called if he was coming home early." Her grin widened as she shrugged. "Heck, he would have called if he got home and I wasn't there...he'd have conniptions if he knew where I was."

She'd have to make up some sort of kinda-lie about where the kitten had come from, but she'd figure out something...and then relent and tell the truth and get grounded...

@yugioh,

[Deleted]

Jeff nodded his head.

The small purr that the kitten gave made him sigh a little in relief. Maybe it would be OK after all and he wouldn't just have to tell himself that. God knew he had been through his fair share of crap before so he guessed it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. "Yeah, sounds like she's going to be A-OK." He said with a smile.

As they approached the high rise - Jeff got nervous. It definitely looked... Nice. And he was going to stick out like a sore thumb. How quickly would someone think of calling the cops he wondered? But at least he didn't have to worry about the dad - he hated the thought of being well... Talked down to by some strange guy.

"Cool, well at least we don't have to worry about any misunderstandings," he explained wtih a chuckle. "I seem to see that most guys are pretty protective of their daughters... He'd probably flip if he had been there..."

He carefully parked the bike and started to follow Alexis.

Alexis Wheeler

[Alexis Wheeler]

"Oh, my gosh, he goes bananas over any boy that even comes near me!" She laughed and shook her head. "It's so embarrassing!"

Of course, it showed that he loved her, and she sort of realized that, but it was still annoying!

They did get some strange looks as they headed to the elevators, but Alex didn't pay any mind, and people were getting accustomed to her dragging in all manner of strays.

"It's on the eighth floor," she told Jeff as they got on, then she scanned a card. "I hate this...I want a real house, with a yard and a fence..."

She guessed that sounded kind of arrogant and maybe selfish to someone like him, but she saw no sense in being sensitive around him, that would be more disingenuous than just saying what she meant. "Dad promises he's looking, though."

The back door of the elevator opened to a carpeted entry, that, to Alex's thinking, was far too formal, but from there it opened up into a very comfortable assortment of clutter and lived-on furniture. It wasn't dirty, or really messy, but it wasn't sterile and without personality, in fact, it was rather inviting, since you didn't get the impression that you were going to ruin something expensive if you looked at it wrong.

"I have some stuff in here." She let the way through the living room and down a hall to a spare room, where she pulled out a towel. "Hold this," she gave him the towel, "and this," followed by the kitten. "You can sit there. I need to get his temperature and he might not like it."

Grinning, she grabbed a thermometer. "Watch his teeth..." Unhappy kitties tended to bite.

@yugioh,