The life of Batsis

Shelter-34

"Here we are" I said gesturing to the shelter, it wasn't that impressive really since all the animals were in the back while the front of the shelter mostly just consisted of animal stuff, you know like toys, pet food, and pet beds but I always thought it looked pretty nice for a pet store. Damian, however, didn't seem impressed at all, not that I blame him like I said this wasn't exactly interesting, he just glared at the place before turning his glare towards me. "Your kidding" he said in a cold dead tone clearly not amused, I chuckled before walking towards the doors that led to the back "Well this is only the front, the back is where all the animals are, come on I'll show you", he reluctantly followed me through the door, still glaring at me.

But that expression quickly changed when we walked into the dog aisle, a lot of the dogs immediately turned their attention on us and began barking but that didn't bother me, I was used to it and it didn't seem to bother Damian in the slightest. I stood by the doors as Damian started to make his way down the aisle. He let every dog sniff his hand giving them a gentle pat on the head afterward, I simply smiled at the interaction. After a few minutes of Damian greeting the dogs I decided to move on "Hey Damian, wanna see the others before we open?" he quickly looked at me and after registering what I had said he raised a brow "There are more?" he questioned, I giggled a little earning a glare but I answer anyway "Well this isn't just a dog shelter, we have cats as well as a few other animals, but we have to keep them separate for safety reasons" he nodded turning his attention back on the dog he was petting, giving it one final pet before standing up.

We walked into the cat aisle and he began once again saying hello to all the cats, however he stopped at one particular cat who didn't want to come near him at any cost, she was hissing rather loudly, this was one of the first times I've ever seen Damian actually looking a bit sad, it was hard to see but when one looked hard enough it was clear that this was actually making him sad. I smiled knowing that I could help out here, so I made my way over and crouched beside him.

"That's Toffy, she doesn't really like humans as you've probably guessed" I explained before standing up and opening the cage walking in, Toffy hissed but when she saw it was me she calmed down, albeit still a bit tense "Her previous owner locked her and her cat carrier for days at a time without food and use to throw her at the wall or kick her whenever he was angry. She finally got the chance and ran away, she was found running around a restaurant looking for food. We luckily got to her before she was turned in to the pound. Unfortunately a few days of kindness can't change years of abuse, but she's better than she used to be" I said as I finally got Toffy to come over and carried her over to Damian who looked shocked at how well Toffy reacted to me holding her, she was simply purring and swishing her tail happily back and forth "but with some patience and reassurance she now trusts people again, it still takes her some time to get used to strangers but if your just patient and caring she'll trust you" I took Damian's hand and lifted it so Toffy could sniff it, she did and after a minute or two she licked it and started to rub her head against his hand. I looked at Damian again and this time he let a small smile pass on his lips. We stayed there for a bit before moving on to the mixed animals, like birds hamsters and a few fish.

As I was showing Damian how to feed the dogs we were interrupted by a young guy making his existence known by opening the doors with so much force I actually thought for a second that they were gonna fall off. "Sorry, I'm Trey I'm the new guy, you're Alex right?" he questioned walking over and putting out his hand for me to shake "Yep, nice to meet you. This is my little brother Damian, he's gonna be here for today" I introduced gesturing to Damian beside me who as always looked pissed, "Nice to meet you kid" He said attempting to get a handshake from Damian, who simply now glared at Trey with a glare that could raise the dinosaurs and get them all extinct again, Trey immediately put his hand down and even took a few steps back "Right, sorry. Anyway, where should I start?" he said desperate to change the subject and I think to get away from Damian. I smiled before sending him away to start to restock the front of the store.