Fresh off of a shower after her morning run, Claire - Character Profile hummed a tune as her keys jangled in the lock. Today was her first day taking over Penny's Pet Parlour from the previous owner, Penny - Character Profile. She was so excited to get open *her* new shop and greet her first ever customer as it's owner!
Flipping on the lights, she gazed upon the rows of animal food, toys, and other knickknacks that she'd sold for the past decade. She'd helped Penny give the place a new lick of paint years ago, and it was still holding up well if she did say so herself.
She wandered over to the cages along the far wall. Mundane critters like tarantulas, lizards, and exotic birds were mixed in with more magical creatures like Glimmerwings, Lunarpuffs, and teacup Bramblethorn hogs.
Claire took a deep breath, soaking in the smell of her second home. She loved animals ever since she was a little girl, and her next door neighbour Penny happened to own a pet shop! She'd been working or volunteering here since she was 10 years old! Technically, she was too young to work then, so Penny had paid her in snacks and by allowing her to spend more time playing with the animals than working. She was so used to caring for these creatures that she tended to them almost on autopilot while her thoughts wandered.
A chitter and a flash of light brought her back to reality. A small ball of light, barely larger than an inch across wobbled inside a tall crystal enclosure.
"Well good morning, Flicker. You're sure playful this morning!"
The little Glimmerwing sprite bounced around at her words. Whether it could understand her or not she wasn't sure. Unlike a fairy, sprites were more similar to elementals. A high enough collection of energy would tend to form them naturally. Thankfully most of them were benign. Mostly spending their time playing, chasing the light filtering between leaves, and drinking in the sunlight and ambient mana.
Claire made a note to play with Flicker more once she got her chores done. Speaking of chores...
She glanced at the door in the side of her shop, partitioning the normal pet shop from the more... exotic pets on offer. Everything she kept and sold here was strictly above board, but Claire still had butterflies in her stomach whenever she though about what she would have to do this morning.
Penny was the one to normally do it, as the owner of the store, but Claire felt it was time for her to take the reins so to speak.
She placed her hand on the doorknob and paused.
"I can do this... I've help Penny while she did it, and I know I can handle it." Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked in. Claire found herself in a large waiting room, new-ish furniture and tile flooring. A little coffee table with some magazines on it. It looked quite similar to a dentist's office waiting room replete with fluorescent lighting, except for the large glass windows looking in to the animal's rooms. They didn't have cages like the others in the more normal side of the pet shop--they were too large for that. But they were considered pets just the same. Four of the rooms were empty having been sold recently.
Claire wandered up to the first room. The wooden placard nailed to the wall read "Broodwyrm|Nyx". She could see through the glass window the muscular coils of the creature, resting on top of it's favourite oversized beanbag chair.
"Why am I so nervous... I don't have to be nervous I've known Nyx for years!" Claire opened the door to Nyx's room and took a tentative step inside. Ok, she was still extremely nervous. But the only solution to that was to just go for it.
Nyx perked it's head up at the sound of the door opening. It's mouth--if you could call it that--was composed of three long segments a couple feet in length. Once the door closed, Nyx let out a huff and slowly unspooled itself, heading over to greet Claire.
"Heya Nyx!" Claire said with obviously fake enthusiasm. She'd been looking forward to this for months, so she didn't know why all of a sudden her knees were shaking.
Nyx crept over, It's long, muscular snake-like body almost 2 feet across, except for where it's belly was distended. It spiralled up Claire's legs, the smooth and cool scales sending a shiver down her spine as rippling muscle massaged her.