Chiaki raised her head slightly off the desk and tried to wipe the sleep out of her eyes, staring at Gundam. "I don't think they liked the demonic routine."
"Fuhaha, their weak human mind don't allow them to see the truth in front of them!" he announced with a wave of his right arm.
"Pretty sure our boss won't like that excuse," Chiaki said softly, lying her head on the desk again.
Gundam bit back a grumbled response and after glancing around at the empty shop, he moved towards the back room. Several large cages kept various birds, hamsters, and rabbits and were usually fawned over by children whenever they came in. Today there was only a petite looking girl, possibly around his own age, with long, pale hair. He walked over to the cage and she looked up at his approach.
"Have one of these demonic creatures caught your eye?" Gundam asked.
"Demonic creatures?" She turned towards him, her eyes wide and practically sparkling, before returning her gaze back to the cage. "This brown one seems very charming."
"Kehehe, a mere human presuming they possess the demonic strength to wield such a beast. If you are not careful it's energy will overwhelm your own," he said with a low chuckle.
"Are you able to measure my strength?" the girl asked excitedly, jumping up with the grace of a princess.
"... I suppose you are strong enough to wield a single one," Gundam admitted.
She clapped her hands together. "Oh, that is truly wonderful. You must possess incredible strength to see my own. Surely you have your own demonic creatures."
"Of course, my Four Dark Devas of Destruction came from the depths of hell itself," he said, pulling his scarf up slightly to hide his softly reddening cheeks, embarrassed by the compliment.
"Ah!" she gasped. "How wonderful!"
And as if on cue, four heads popped out from his scarf to the extreme delight of the girl. Suddenly she was right in front of him, inspecting the hamsters with a serious expression.
"They are the most adorable Devas of Destruction I've ever seen. You keep them in your scarf?" she asked, raising her head to stare at him with the same intensity.
"Of course," he mumbled.
"They truly are wonderful," she said, smiling widely, before slowly returning to the original topic. "... I suppose I will need something to take my hamster home with now... and somewhere to keep it."
Gundam ached to tell her off for even suggesting to keep such creatures confined but he'd already been warned multiple times that he wasn't allowed to do that anymore. He stared at the one the girl had picked out, trying to communicate his pity for becoming a mere domesticated animal, before nodding firmly. "Of course, we have a number of cages to hold such demonic energy... Although I would suggest the larger ones to give them more room to explore."
"Oh, yes!" she exclaimed. "I wouldn't want to make them feel trapped."
Gundam felt slightly more respect for the girl but didn't voice that, instead parading her around the shop to the finest materials for the hamster's pleasure.
The girl's gaze jumped between the stuff she was buying, Gundam, and Chiaki before letting out a soft laugh.
"I'll admit, I did not intend to buy so much on this trip, but I'm sure my hamster doesn't mind," she said cheerily, pulling out some money and handing it to Chiaki.
"What's your name?" Chiaki asked curiously.
"Sonia Nevermind," she replied.
"Have you had many pets before?" Chiaki asked.
Sonia shook her head with an excited grin. "This is my first one!"
"Hmm? Why don't you have Tanaka help you? I think his shift is ending anyway," Chiaki lied, shocking Gundam into paying attention.
"Tanaka? What a lovely name!" Sonia turned to him as he struggled to keep his face neutral. "Would you assist me?"
"Of course! A task of this nature is no problem for someone of my status!" he declared. Because he's a fool. How did he allow Chiaki to trap him like this?
Sonia nodded firmly. "I think I will need some help with the cage but I'll be able to carry my hamster to my car with no problem.
Gundam waited until Sonia was a few steps outside from the door before spinning to face Chiaki with an accusatory stare. "What is the meaning of this?"
Chiaki tilted her head to the side, looking legitimately confused. "Huh? Is there a problem?"
"Guh-! Of course there is a problem," he announced, although much quieter. "You would lie to a customer? And force me, the Dark Lord, to leave my duty before my time?"
"It's not that long before your shift ends," she said, frowning thoughtfully. "Should I tell Sonia you won't be able to help?"
"There is... no need for that," Gundam muttered after a moment.
"Okay, I'll hold down the fort while you're gone." Chiaki smiled and that was it.
"Gundam?" Sonia hovered uncertainly by the door. "Are you alright to help?"
"Of course! A task of this nature is no problem for someone of my status!" he declared.
Sonia smiled brightly. "Then let us go forth!"
Sonia was naming the hamster Tun - G. Gundam was pretending that he didn't notice the similarity between his name and the hamster's, and definitely pretending he didn't notice Sonia had come up with only a little while after learning Gundam's first name. When Gundam had left Sonia's house Tun was hiding under a pillow on Sonia's almost pure white couch, leaving Gundam in a conflicted state of worried for the cleanliness of the couch, and being satisfied she was letting Tun run around outside of his cage.
He ran into Sonia a few days later later back in the pet shop, with her holding a large bag of food in her arms, and Gundam stuck at the counter.
"Ah, Gundam, hello," she said, smiling. "How are your Devas going?"
"They are doing well," he said, solidifying his point with the appearance of four heads popping out from his scarf.
"That's lovely to hear. Tun - G has been getting along well too! Although my parents don't approve whenever I let him out of his cage, so he's been confined to my room," she said.
"As long as you are giving him room to release his demonic energy," Gundam said and Sonia giggled.
"Indubitably! Tun will be a mighty demonic creature before you know it!" she declared, looking determined.
"I will await your presence on the battlefield," he said.
"I will admit, this is not the battlefield I was expecting."
It was two weeks later when Sonia invited Gundam to one of her parents' parties. They had kept up usual conversations during the two weeks, becoming friends of sorts, leading to Gundam's current situation.
Sonia sighed but still kept up a polite smile. "I apologize Gundam. My parents were insistent that I bring someone along tonight and I had no one else I could turn to."
"I understand, but was wearing this really necessary?" he asked, staring down at his suit distastefully. "And not allowing me to bring my Devas of Destruction? Who knows what havoc they could be causing while left alone."
"Tun - G will try his best to keep them from causing any damage, but I'm sorry you couldn't bring them along," Sonia said.
"It's fine, I suppose. Although I'm not sure how I'm expected to communicate with these lesser mortals," Gundam said.
"Usually my guests don't have to initiate any talking so you will only have to answer any questions they ask you. Don't worry, I'll stay by your side," Sonia said, smiling more genuinely towards him.
"Miss Nevermind!" Their conversation was interrupted by an all too thin lady in a too form fitting dress. "It's lovely to see you again. I see you've brought another date."
Sonia's smile instantly returned to the polite one. "It is wonderful to see you as well. This is Gundam Tanaka, one of my friends."
The woman glanced at Gundam and smiled, obviously fake. "And what a charming young man he is. Do you know where your parents would be right now?"
Sonia gestured vaguely to the other side of the room and exchanged some more pleasantries with the woman before the woman disappeared into the crowd. Gundam frowned as she walked away.
"She had a dark aura," he commented, getting a chuckle from Sonia.
"I'm afraid parties like these attract those with such auras," Sonia said. "I hope you don't mind being called my date all night?"
"I will manage," he mumbled, getting another genuine smile from Sonia.
"Sonia's been coming in a lot," Chiaki said through a yawn, attracting Gundam's attention immediately.
"Of course. With a demonic beast such as hers you need to buy an appropriate amount to care for it," Gundam said.
"But she only buys stuff like half the time," she pointed out. "Maybe she's here for you."
Gundam frowned. "But we already have alternate methods of communication. Why would she?"
"Then she's here for me? We could play games together. Maybe Sonia would like horror, although she seems like someone who'd be happy to play anything," Chiaki said, drifting from her original point to start rambling about games. Gundam let her but didn't really pay attention.
"Hello, Gundam."
Gundam glanced over to see Sonia next to him, looking hesitant.
"The she-cat has returned. Do you require something?" he asked.
Sonia giggled shortly before returning to looking nervous. Gundam was confused but didn't comment on it. "How long until your shift is over?"
"When the hour hits five," he said.
"Half an hour? Oh, good," Sonia said, humming slightly and she fiddled with her dress. "Well when that- At five would you like to go get something to eat with me? Like as a... date?"
Oh.
"A date?" Gundam could feel his face burning and poorly tried to cover it with his scarf. "I suppose that would be acceptable."
Sonia grinned. "Good! I will see you soon- meet you here- five o'clock- see you!"
And with that last jumbled sentence she fled, her cheeks pink. Gundam raised his gaze to look at Chiaki who was smiling innocently at him.
"Say nothing, mortal," he warned.
Her lips curled up further into a smirk. "I'm telling everyone."
Disclaimer: do not invite random pet shop employees back to your house, even if they're Gundam.
Eeeeeehhhh, I dunno how I feel about this but have some pure Sondam because I love this ship. Also I couldn't resist adding a little mischievous Chiaki at the end, I'm weak for it. Hopefully everyone was in character though ^ ^