Pets - The Cure for a Shattered Heart [Closed]

There was a muffled sound from outside of Dorm 405, an annoyed sigh followed by the sound of something being gently placed down. The doorknob turned silently before the door creaked open just a crack. A few seconds later, it was pushed open the rest of the way as Devin slipped inside. His tail twitched as he stepped around the door, pushing it shut with his back as he had no free hands to do so with - holding a glass fish tank and a wooden box with holes on the top of the sides. When the door shut with an audible click, Devin pushed himself off the door and toward the counter with his shove of his wings, his green eyes staring at the door that led to Barry’s room. Had his roommate heard him come in? He hoped not, he still had to get set up.

Devin was quick to carefully set down the fish tank, taking a moment to stare at the turtle within that was hiding in his shell. He settled down the wooden box on the floor before he hurried toward his room - wanting to get ready as fast as he could. It was Valentine's Day, a day of sharing love between loved ones...Or friends. At least, that was his goal. His heart still ached when he thought about how heart-stricken Barry had been when he had returned from that mission he had gone on...As it hadn’t been without a price. Devin hated seeing his friend so heartbroken so he had taken it upon himself to cheer him up - by getting him a pet.

He ducked into his room, dodging around the messy clothes as he headed toward the pile of pet supplies he had made. Litterbox, scratching post, food and water bowls, toys...Most of the things here were for cats - but the large fish tank that the bowls rested upon was for the turtle he had brought for Barry. The turtle idea had been one the had come suddenly after a day or so or brooding over what to do to cheer Barry up. He suddenly recalled Barry's statement about his fondness for turtles, and seeing how Devin was interested in getting a pet himself, it seemed like a good idea. Devin crouched down to remove the bowls before he picked up the larger tank with a huff. The demon-like Autumn shuffled back toward the living room under the weight of the tank.

Inside the tank sloshed water, along with a little island of plastic (which had the look of sand) for the turtle to climb upon. There was a heater light attached to the top so that the turtle could remain warm at all times. Devin might of gone a bit overboard on buying things, but he really wanted to do everything in his power to cheer Barry up. He may not have a lot of money now because of it, but his friend’s happiness was worth the expenses. He settled down the large tank on the coffee table in front of the couch, smiling softly as he turned to grab the turtle from the smaller tank to move it to its new home.

However, when he brushed past the wooden box, the sound of shuffling paws and a meow caused him to stop. Oh, right. A soft smile flashed upon his face as he leaned down, undoing the top of the box and opened it. Yellow eyes met his green ones, a fluffy gray face staring up at him as the kitten moved to the side of the box and reared onto its back legs, placing its front ones on the side of the box. It looked more like it was completely leaning on the side thought, due to the kitten’s small limbs. Devin reached down to grab the kitten, quickly flipping it into its back as he nestled the kitten in the crook of his arm.

The munchkin kitten stared at him for a few moments, before it arching and twisting its back with an angry meow, waving its tiny paws into the air in a clear motion that read that it wanted down. Devin, not wanting to drop the kitten from its wild movements, quickly leaned down and placed the kitten on the floor. The moment he released his grip, the fluffy gray kitten speed off to hide under the couch. A sigh escaped from Devin in response, shaking his head as he pushed the now empty wooden box closer to the counter with his foot and receive the tank holding the turtle.

It didn’t take long to receive the turtle - who had ducked into his shell - from the smaller tank and place him in bigger tank and onto plastic island of sand. He crouched, watching the turtle as it just kinda...Sat there. He stood up with a small frown. Why did Barry like turtles so much again? He didn’t bother to ask his friend - he just recalled that Barry had once mentioned that he had. Meh, it didn’t matter. It was time to show Barry his gift. He strolled over to his roommate's door, leaning on the door as he knocked on the door with his knuckles. “Barry?” he asked, before stepping away from the door to see if Barry was willing to open it and talk.

The Autumn boy had been lying in his bed, clutching the piece of diamond he had managed to grab before he was pulled out of the pyramid on his mission. After the Valentine's Invasion during the math class he was forced to go to, he wasn't gonna go anywhere. But when he heard Devin knock on his door and call his name, he reluctantly got up and headed to the door, the diamond still in his hand. There were dark circles under his eyes because he hadn't slept since he got back from the mission. He opened the door to see Devin standing there. "Hey." he said weakly, moving out of the way to let Devin inside if he wanted to. "What's up?"

Upon seeing his roommate, Devin's heart sunk. He missed his hyperactive friend, as this version of Barry just wasn't...Barry. He saw the speedster take a step back to give him room to step in, but shook his head at the gesture. He didn't want to invade - he just wanted to give him a gift. "I, uh, got you something," he said sheepishly, flashing Barry a small smile. "To cheer you up," he said before he stepped out of the way to give his friend the view of the giant fish tank holding the turtle that sat on their coffee table.

"You didn't have to get me anything." he said, walking over to the tank with his new turtle in it. The turtle was really cute, and he gave a small smile. "Thank you, though." He picked up the turtle and he looked back to Devin. "What should I name him?"

Truth be told, Devin was expecting a bit more excitement but seeing what happened with Barry, he supposed it was a bit to much to expect. He shrugged as he followed his roommate over to the turtle tank, sitting down on the couch as he leaned forward to stare at the turtle. "Its up to you," he said, his tail flickering. "I don't think I would be all that helpful coming up with a na-" He was suddenly cut off as he yelped in pain, suddenly aware of what felt like pinpoints in his tail. With some effort due to added weight, he moved his tail away from the couch where it had been hanging from, glaring down to see a gray mound of fur clinging to it.

Tiny paws wrapped around it, holding on for dear life as the munchkin kitten Devin had gotten for himself had his teeth sunk into it. Grimacing in pain, he leaned down and detached the kitten from his tail, before picking him up and settled him down on his lap. His hands restrained the kitten who wiggled, wanting to explore even more as Devin sighed. "Of course, I didn't just get you a pet...I decided to get a ca-" This time he was cut off because he sneezed, releasing the tiny munchkin to rub his nose and using his other hand to hold back the kitten from escaping his lap the best he could. "I decided to get a cat myself," he repeated, before using his hands to pick up the kitten and show off his tiny limbs to Barry. "He's a Munchkin kitten. I do an idea for a few names for him..."

"He's adorable." he said. "And I think I might name him Donatello. After a turtle from a show my dad used to watch." He was, of course, referring to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and his father had shown him the show when he was younger. "What're you gonna name your cat?"

Devin nodded as Barry came up with a name for the turtle, smiling. "I think Donatello is a good name," he stated before he glanced down at the wiggling kitten in his grasp. "I'm thinking...Merlin. I've been reading about the Arthurian legend lately and I think its a fitting name." Turning the kitten in his hands, he lifted him up until the kitten was level with his eyes. "What do you think of the name, Merlin?" The kitten responded by attempting to bat at Devin's nose but just didn't have the reach to do so. This caused Devin to grin widely at the kitten as he lowered him back to his lap. "I think that means he likes it."

"The name fits." he said simply, flashing Devin a smile. He appreciated his friend's attempt to cheer him up, but there just wasn't much that he could do.

Another sneezed escaped Devin, causing him to rub his nose once more as he glanced down at the source of the sneezing - Merlin. Yeah...Devin was allergic to cats, but loved them none-the-less. He had also bought allergy medicine in hopes that it would help with the sneezing but either way he was set in his decision to buy Merlin. However, he could already tell that the kitten would be a troublemaker. He released the kitten from his lap, watching as it hopped onto the couch itself and started to wander down and forth of it, looking a bit silly with its tiny legs as it sniffed the ground. "I just hope that Merlin won't get into to much trouble..."

Barry watched as the tiny cat wandered back and forth on the couch. "Kittens always get into trouble. But Merlin shouldn't be too hard to handle." he said. Merlin was so small that he would easily be able to be stopped.

"Suppose," Devin replied, leaning back on the couch as he watched Merlin. The kitten had come to a stop at the side of the couch, leaning up onto the arm of it as he stared down at the floor below. His tail flickered back and forth before he seemed to give up and wandered back across the couch, taking no time in using Devin's lap as a bridge. Devin simply smirked at his new pet before his eyes turned to Donatello. "At least your turtle can't get into any trouble."

Barry shrugged. "True enough." he replied simply. This was distracting him slightly from the constant pain so he tried his best to focus on Merlin as he climbed across the couch and Devin's lap. While doing so, he subconciously grabbed Donnatello from his tank and brought him over to a chair, sitting down. The Autumn set him down and allowed him to move freely, but careful not to let him fall off of his lap. "I'm so not used to things going so slow." he told Devin, stroking Donnie's shell.

"Oh?" Devin said, raising an eyebrow. He wasn't all that surprised by Barry's comment the more he thought about it. Barry could move at super speed - walking at normal pace probably seemed like a waste of time when you could get from one place to another in a blink of an eye. With Merlin exploring the couch, Devin let his eyes focus on the turtle that was slowly exploring Barry's lap. "Well, I suppose that means that Donatello will be a nice opposite to you." A few moments after saying that, a laugh escaped Devin as he raised a hand to cover the large smile that flashed onto his face. "Do you think anybody would have a gift opposite of yours - to move super slow?" he asked with a small laugh. "I can't image that it would be very helpful."

"No, probably not." he said, still focusing on Donatello. "There was a villain in the old Flash comics that was called the Turtle. He didn't move really slow, but he could basically steal all the kinetic energy from things around him, which would bring everything to a complete stop, middle of the air or not." He remembered reading a few comics with the Turtle in it, and there was an episode of the Flash with him in it from season 2, way back in 2016.

Flash? Devin blinked in confusement as he listened to his dormmate ramble on about The Turtle, almost wanting to smirk at how laughable of a villain name that was. Villain names were suppose to be scary, weren't they? The type of names that cause people to shake in their boots by just the utter of it. The Turtle was not one of those names. Of course, Devin didn't know a thing about Flash or The Turtle so maybe there was a good reason for him being called the Turtle? He wasn't sure. "That...Isn't a very scary villain name," he finally stated as his gaze shifted over toward Merlin, who had somehow climbed onto the arm of the couch and was relaxing on it as if it was his throne. "But that sounds like an interesting power. It sounds like he would be hard to stop."