It was a rather bleak day, the sky blanketed with clouds, yet Ricki was filled with absolute joy as walked passed a boulevard. He had finally saved up enough money to buy a parrot. Everything else had already been bought; the cages, the feed, the toys. He just needed to go to the pet store in order to get his feathery friend. However, Ricki had forgotten that the roads, sidewalks, and pretty much anything was still covered in a thin layer of slippery ice from winter. While walking on his city's bridge, he slipped and bumped his head into someone, causing them to also slip and fall over.
"Oh, I'm deeply sorry, it was an accident-" Ricki began, frantically trying his best to get up again. When he saw who it was, however, he instantly stopped talking.
Rover.
Oh joy.
It wasn't like Rover was a bad or mean dog, it was just that he was rather... talkative. And Ricki didn't always like that very much.
"Oh, don't worry, it's fine!" Rover replied happily. "Where were you going, by any chance?" He was wagging his tail like always and had a huge smile on his face. "Pet store." Ricki said shortly.
"Well, what a coincidence! I just left the pet store."
"Wait, since when do you own a pet?" Rover never told him about it before. Ricki also had just noticed the large bag of pet food by his side.
"I got a pet rock!" The Dalmatian said with glee. "I named him Ricky, after you!" He took out a smooth, light grey stone with googly eyes glued on it. "Don't you think he's cool?"
"Yes, very." Ricki said, any excitement taken out of him. "I have to go now. See you later." He trudged away without waiting for a reply. Why couldn't Rover have gotten something cool, like a whale or a tiger? Then again, those were quite far stretches, but even a goldfish was something cooler than a dang rock.
Finally, Ricki got to the pet shop. He was utterly exhausted from walking so long that even sitting on the floor felt better than standing. He had actually never been inside this one in particular, and quickly discovered that it was quite... strange. Candles lit up the room instead of light bulbs, exotic pets lined the vast walls, from reptiles like chameleons and agamids to rodents like chinchillas and sugar gliders, and last but not least, the cashier, a, um, lizard thing, seemed to never blink.
"Um, could you direct me to the birds, please?" The Vaiki asked nervously, his voice cracking while trying his best not to make eye contact. The cashier said nothing, but got up and started walking. Ricki just figured he might as follow them. He quickly noticed that they walked with a terrible limp, and it probably would have been faster to just wander around. Behind quite a few cages with gerbils and hedgehogs, they came upon more rows of cages, except with, well, birds.
"Here we are." The lizard thing croaked hoarsely. "I've been watching over almost all of these birds since they were mere eggs, so ya' better take good care of 'em." They glared at him, and Ricki nodded quickly.
He decided to wait until the cashier limped back to his post before picking out a parrot. He looked at his options. One was a rich blue, stout, and fat. Another, a vibrant rainbow on a wiry frame. He was starting to give up, until he found a a lovely little green parrot with a red beak. How perfect! Ricki bought them, and it cost him every cent he brought. But it was worth it.
Despite the fact that every single nerve in his body told him to name the little parrot Pear, Ricki decided to name them Rover anyways.
