Operation Hedgehog

[Drayson]

Drayson carefully returned the hedgehog back to it's aquarium and stepped back, folding his arms over his chest as he stared at the many others. It was quite the rainbow; surprisingly fitting to the energetic young woman fawning over the...he assumed the colour was violet, perhaps? hedgehog.

His gaze switched to Sierra as Rune set her new-found friend into the play area, and studied her a moment before glancing at the scene the woman was photographing. He could understand her motivation in wanting to capture the scene; it was simple, but the young woman was pleasantly innocent in her mannerisms with the little animal.

The colourfully-haired girl had an interesting point; rather then get his neighbour's granddaughter a full grown hedgehog, a younger one would grow with the girl, allowing for the two to more easily adjust to each other. And so his attention shifted to the aquariums holding the hedgehogs just old enough to be adopted.

He glanced at Rune, and noticed the change in her attitude. She had lost some of the seemingly boundless exuberance that had carried her through the store so energetically; it was still there, just diminished. Some deep insight or remembrance on her part had brought an unfortunate glimmer of reality back into her present day. Whatever it was, it didn't seem enough to bring her down, and he smiled in tired understanding.

"Hoglet, is it? Well. A hoglet it is."
His Wallet let out a single, authoritative beep, and he let his coat fall open, pulling it out, and in the process a glimpse of his pistol and holster was displayed. The message that awaited him was not flagged as urgent, but it was the excuse that would keep him from spending his evening away from his home office.

[Sierra]

A kaleidoscope of images passed through Sierra's mind. Hunting, eating, pacing, waiting, hurry the hell up, starving. Sierra had to pause the shooting of pictures before everything became a blur.

"I've got mine." The colorful girl chimed.

Sierra caught a few last shots as they played in the pen. She smiled and pulled a business card from her pocket. "If you want copies of what I shot, give me a yell. It'll take me a bit to process anything. My lab's not exactly set up right now."
Sierra handed the girl the card, her name, and her contact information was clearly displayed on the front, the background was a picture of Snow in all his white glory romping through a field in the spring. He was having a grand time.

She pulled another card from her pocket. "If your neighbor wants any shots, I can take some for her too."
She rarely did any of her photo shoots for money. She got her pay from the ones she sells to big publications. So the money wasn't really an issue, and she never mentioned anything about it.

"Sadly I have to go. The one I'm buying for is rather impatient."


Sierra didn't even really look at the hedgehog she picked up. She knew by it's scent it was healthy, and it was not too lethargic in it's cage. "Was nice meeting you."


Sierra paid the shop keep and made her way back to Snow. He'd better appreciate this gift. Sierra wasn't sure it was worth the effort, for him or her.

[Rune]

Rune turned at the snap of the camera. She'd seen the girl clicking pictures, but it never occurred to her that Rune would be her model. She felt suddenly sheepish!

She turned the girl's card over in her hands, "Ok. I'll give you a call sometime,"
she said.

Strangely, Sierra snatched a hedgehog seemingly at random and stalked off with it. "It was nice to meet you, too,"
she called after.

Rune shrugged and swept her gaze the direction the big guy with the gun went. Cool holster. He didn't stink of violence, so she didn't think too much more on it. Lots of people had guns. She did, too: a nice little .40 S&W sat in a pocket.

She should probably get going herself. She still didn't have a proper place to live, but like hell if she were going back to Hood's with a hedgehog. He'd probably feed it to those bum dogs of his.

She scooped up the little guy and went to pay, snatching toys, bedding and other little useful things on the way.

[Drayson]

Drayson bid a fond farewell to the two women; it was rare he was in a situation to ask for help but he wasn't the type to stubbornly press on in ignorance. The two took their leave, and Drayson delayed a short time longer, singling out the blue hedgehog, and then the kit that would be needed to keep the animal safe and healthy.

Loaded with cage and food dishes and now a live little animal, Drayson had to decide against taking the metro back to his condo. It was simply too impractical to be carrying all that on a packed train. So he waved down a cab, and settled in for the long drive through busy streets.

His neighbours were overjoyed with his choice, and he spent a moment there helping getting the cage set up in the room their granddaughter would be using. And then he retired to his own place, falling into his paperwork with a sense of contentment. His life was without much rest, and it was exceedingly rare that he took a vacation, but he could imagine no other life for himself. Every day spent focused on his duty, the better a life others could live.