A look back confirmed Sapphire's approach. As much as Abel had wanted to forge ahead, waiting for at least a shred of unity had been the better option. If a fit of poor judgment possessed him into doing something stupid in front of someone he was, sadly, stuck with, he would never be able to rise above the categorization of big, dumb muscle. If a person didn't respect, acknowledge, or at least inwardly recognize intelligence, that person could never consider him as anything but inferior. The guardian resolved to show Sapphire exactly what he thought of her later; now, the mission required his attention.
Before he replied, he cast a look back at the entrance. No sign of Gren lingered about the Shelter's front door, so Abel assumed that he had chosen to pursue Shiro. It was perhaps poetically fitting that he'd be paired yet again with the girl with whom he'd partnered during the initiation ceremony. Of course, Abel detested it, but the alternatives were awkwardly hovering about a faunus he knew not how to comfort, or teaming with Gren and leaving Shiro at Sapphire's mercy yet again. Neither appealed to him, so a grudging show of cooperation was in order.
“Animals behind this door. Just a few, pretty light-footed, guessing dogs. Going in.”
Abel pushed open the double-doors and entered. Immediately he discovered that more creatures occupied the room than he had expect, for aside from the couple of dogs moving around, a great deal more -and cats as well- lay sedately in their pens. This large room housed numerous enclosures, ranging in square footage from a small bedroom to a closet based on the size of the pet within, equipped with bowls and several hairy blankets. A quick examination turned up no creatures aside from everyday animal companions. “Thought as much. Place's still operational. These oughta be the normal fare.” He approached a dog pen, knelt, and placed a fist next to the pencil-thin fence for its occupant to sniff. The canine within, a lean specimen with short white hair, icy blue eyes, a black patch on its back, and stiffly-pointed ears, raised its head in dull interest but did not get up. Instead, a pink tongue stretched from its mouth and through the bars to lick at Abel's hand before retracting. Abel flinched, more from weirdness than fright. “They've got aura. Stretchy-tongue semblance? Huh.” He eyed the doors on the other side of the room, metal ones flanked by a sign on the wall that warned about slippery stairs. “People not up here must be down there. Maybe with animals with stronger auras.” Abel rose to his full height, not noticing an attention-desirous marmalade cat brushing against the fence of its pen halfway between him and Sapphire.
-=-=-
Despite the intruder, the young faunus seemed very comfortable. After sparing an curious glance at Shiro's four-legged mode of movement, the boy patted the iguana's side and yawned. He reclined against the stolid lizard's side, gleefully sharing in the warmth absorbed by its emerald-green scales. “Duh,” he replied, more matter-of-fact than purposefully mean, as is a manner common to children not yet fully aware of the laws of propriety. “It's okay. Question games are cool. This is Porridge. 'Is brudders are way bigger, but I think 'e's just right. You haven' met 'em?” Another yawn opened the boy's mouth wide, earning a concerned look from the iguana. His golden eyes were sleepy.
“Uh. The rest-a you guys are inside. I don' see ya very much after you go on, an' the coats...uh, these doctor-kinda guys, they're always really mean about not lettin' me get in and talk to ya, or lettin' ya out and play. You guys are always so sad! Mom told me that they're jus' 'patients'. That means guys who go in hospitals,” he informed Shiro, nodding his head judiciously. “So they need their rest. Dad lets play with some of the an'mals, though, like Porridge.” Those golden eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. He sat up and turned to his iguana. “Watch this! Porridge, GROW!”
At the command, the lizard stiffened, and his eyes, too, shone with viridian light. Right in front of his left claw, the soil began to shift, and a tiny sprout poked its way from the grass, growing at an impossible rate. Within ten seconds the seedling resolved itself into a tiny strawberry plant, complete with three berries ripe for the picking. The boy wasted no time in pulling one off and popping it in his mouth, while Porridge snapped up one himself. Grinning from ear to ear and licking his lips, the boy lay back down. “Isn't it cool! Porridge is the best dinosaur ever! Of all time!”
