A Small Problem

Ch. 4 - A Little Meet And Greet

Once again, Count had the unpleasant experience of being carried around by this bastard 'Kyle.'

It wasn't ideal, putting himself in such a vulnerable spot for someone he knew was untrustworthy, but Count managed. His lazy persona had been honed after years of threat of harm and death to him and others. He wouldn't let it fail him now.

In fresh clothes, he examined his surroundings very carefully, with eye sockets half lidded, as they traveled.

They appeared to be in a hallway that had a view of the front door and were behind the counter. There were four rooms. The office they had started in, the one with the tub, one with a plaque claiming it was a janitor closet and one unmarked, but sturdy looking, padlocked door. It was a pretty good guess which one the two were transferred too.

As they rounded the corner, Count had his first look at the shop properly from behind the counter.

Count's shock at the sight slipped through his mask for a second. Luckily the guy wasn't focused on him.

The place was colorful and cheerful. It was similar to a daycare for children in appearance, with an open concept. They even had a padded area in the middle made of those colorful foam puzzle mats with several toys. Plenty of light - natural light - streaming in from a large front window giving view to a road and sidewalk with the occasional pedestrian - both human and monster - and cars. There were several different looking pamphlets scattered near the glass tank like enclosures.

But that wasn't what had caught his attention the most.

There were so many skeletons ... and all of them looked like a version of him or his brother. Only tiny.

Well, now he knew why they were called by types - they weren't the only one with their appearances or personality.

There was another pair of Edge and Boss bitties near the window. All the bitties were wearing similar clothes to what was found in the cabinet, the sharper ones sticking to the darker greys. There was also another version of himself napping in the sun ... 7 to be accurate. Several Papyrus' also appeared to be calling them lazy or tidying up, but there seemed to be a different number to the Sansys ... were they not paired ... for purchase?

There were other types he didn't recognize, including an energetic 'Sansy' with blue stars in his eyes.

Before he could break the lazy persona even further by staring longingly out the window, they moved to a display that was on the side wall, away from the window, but not too far. On inspection, the displays had place cards. The window was the "factory fresh" and the one he was now being set in was "returned."

In each of the tanks the floor was covered in wood shavings and structures covered in soft looking fabrics.

There was another section even further from the widow dubbed "special care." It looked like it had multiple sections and more privacy for the bitties. Beyond that was the bathroom, to the right of the counter. Each display had pamphlets he'd definitely be looking at later.

The wire mesh lid of the returnee display was opened and he was placed in, catching the attention of the bitties already there - 9 of them ... 10 with him now. He didn't see any Edge or Bosses here, but there were a few sharp ones that were mostly keeping to themselves.

"Here's the new guy." Bastard said. "Play nice."

There was a bell as the front door opened and a purple bunny monster coming through.

He left to deal with the customer as Count was left to his own devices in a room of strangers. He surveyed the room.

A lounging Papyrus was half watching from his comfortable looking perch that resembled a cat tower. The feet, of what he was going to assume was a Sansy and another lazy Papyrus, were sticking out of a tunnel - so he could figure that Cloak wasn't intending to be weird when he snuggled up and it was, indeed, normal here. Weird.