Grimmjow showed up to help open the store. On a Monday.
"Grimmjow, what are you doing here?" Ulquiorra asked, huddling is coat closer to himself as he unlocked the door. Yet again, Grimmjow seemed to barely feel the chilling cold, even as the snow fell on him.
"Working," Grimmjow said simply.
"On a Monday?" Ulquiorra asked dubiously, walking into the store. For the animal's sake he always kept the heating on during the winter, including when he was at home, and once the door closed behind them he was much warmer. "Do I have to remind you that you must keep your grades up to work here?"
"It's Christmas break," Grimmjow said. Ulquiorra blinked.
"I see," he said, hanging his coat up. The snowflakes were melting into dewdrops.
"Don't worry, boss-man," Grimmjow started, but Ulquiorra couldn't hear what he was saying over the clatter of the nets on the windows being raised. Lately Grimmjow had taken it upon himself to do all such things involving physical labor, and Ulquiorra had no plans to stop him. The older man flipped on the lights, and there was stirring in the cages as the animals were jolted out of slumber; the parrots squawked before settling again, flapping their wings without taking off.
When the clatter stopped, Ulquiorra turned to Grimmjow. "Grimmjow, calling me 'boss-man' is hardly professional," he said. "I can understand addressing me as such when there are customers present, but when there are not I would prefer to be called by my name." Grimmjow scrunched up his face.
"Isn't that...weird, though?" the teenager asked, and Ulquiorra mentally rolled his eyes.
"Calling someone you've known for a month by their name is hardly strange, Grimmjow," he said wryly. "Or is your attention span so short that you've forgotten mine already?" Grimmjow's hackles rose as he rankled.
"Is yours so short that you've forgotten what a damn good job I've been doing, Ulquiorra?" he retorted.
"Hardly," Ulquiorra said easily, sitting behind the counter. "You have been working quite hard. Did you not notice the amount on your paycheck last week?" Grimmjow blinked.
"What?" he asked dumbly.
"I supposed not," Ulquiorra said "I gave you a raise. You are now being paid $8.00 an hour." Ulquiorra thought this was only fair; their day was fourteen hours long, starting early and ending late, and for a teenager giving such a huge amount of time showed great dedication. Although Grimmjow's job was physically tiring on top of this, the boy never complained.
"Seriously?" Grimmjow asked, eyes going wide.
"It's only fifty cents, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra said, "no need to get so excited." Grimmjow beamed.
"Thanks, boss-man! Ulquiorra," he corrected quickly as he was pegged with Ulquiorra's 'really?' look. "I mean it. Thanks a ton."
"Yes, yes," Ulquiorra said, pulling an ordering catalog out form his briefcase along with his money book. He wasn't a particularly paranoid person, but he was cautious enough to wish to be the only one managing his books. "We'll be ordering some fish, and I need you to get stated building shelves into the wall for them like I've done with the snakes. I would prefer they be on this wall behind me, in the corner next to the snakes, and I need to be able to fit standard-sized aquariums on them. The wood is in the back room."
"Gotcha!" Grimmjow said, verily bouncing to get started. Ulquiorra shook his head, opening his catalog to the aquatic life selection. His employee seemed to always be as energetic as a year-old puppy.
Honestly, Ulquiorra didn't mind.
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"Would you like to hold one?" Ulquiorra asked, and the little girl beamed at him. She was a cute little girl, but if she kept plastering her face against the glass she was going to scare the guinea pigs.
"Hold on, sweetpea," her father said, "the guinea pigs may be in our budget, but we would need a lot of things for him." The little girl's face fell.
"Actually, we have a policy of selling you everything but the animal at half price if you get everything you'll need," Ulquiorra said. "And I can help you determine what is required and what isn't.
"Can we, Daddy? Can we, can we, please?" the girl asked, holding her father's hand in her own little fingers and getting in very close to him. Ulquiorra could see the father wavering between pleasing his wallet and pleasing his daughter, but didn't interject. If they weren't ready for the financial responsibility of a pet, then it was better if they didn't pretend to be. The father sighed.
"Let me talk to the nice man to see what we would need, honey," he said, "but! That's not necessarily a yes, okay?"
"Okay, Daddy!" the girl chirped, as if knowing that a victory was won. "I'll just stay here and look at them."
"Good girl," her father said. "I'll be right back." Ulquiorra followed him a safe distance away, into the aisles, then took the lead to the rodent section. As his shop was rather small there were only a few aisles, but he kept them well stocked. The section in question was only half of one side of one aisle, but it had all the essentials. "So, what are we looking at?" the father asked.
"Well, of course you'll be needing a cage," Ulquiorra said. "I would tell you this one is generally best for guinea pigs due to its size, and it's also decently durable so it's unlikely you'll have to replace it any time soon. Food is another essential, naturally, and over here we have a blend that I've found works for the majority of rodents. There's a good-size water bottle here, and you'll need a ball for him or her to run around in. I do consider that a requirement, because it's very important that a guinea pig be given fifteen to twenty minutes of exercise a day. The ball is the most hassle-free way to obtain that.
"Bedding can be found right here, and I would suggest using this brand. You can get this kind, but generally animals prefer wood shavings. There are other things you can get, of course, but the only other thing that I would say you have to have are these wooden chew sticks. Chewing on things is a guinea pig's natural way to keep their teeth from growing too dull." The father nodded, arms crossed.
"So about how much would that cost?" he asked. Ulquiorra quickly noted his pricing.
"With the guinea pig, it would come to... $107.81," he said. The father looked impressed.
"With the half off?" he asked.
"Yes," Ulquiorra said. The father looked back to where the little girl stood with her hands against the glass.
"Okay, we'll do it," he said. Ulquiorra nodded.
"Very well, I'll gather the things that take them to the register," he said. "You should ask your daughter which one she's thinking of, so I can tell you his or her personality. It's very important that you get along with your pet." Through this he was grabbing the smaller items off the shelf, planning to come back and get the large bag of bedding and the cage. Where was Grimmjow? He could have the teen do it, but Grimmjow was nowhere to be seen. He had gone in to feed the cats a while ago, but he should have been out by now.
As his customers mulled over which guinea pig they wanted, Ulquiorra hauled their items over and rang them up. It had been a few months since someone had bought an animal from him. When everything had been wrung up, he opened the cage and set it up of them to carry their new pet home in.
"We've decided," the father said as Ulquiorra opened the bag of bedding. "We would like the little brown one with the white on his forehead."
"Theodore," Ulquiorra said. "He's generally pretty mellow, and he's never shown aggression towards me or the other animals. He can be a bit noisy at night, though, so I wouldn't suggest keeping him in your room."
"That's okay!" the little girl said. "Can I take him out?"
"I'll get him out," Ulquiorra said, closing the now fully prepared cage and coming around. "Have you ever had a guinea pig before?"
"No, we haven't," the father said. Ulquiorra lifted the lid of the enclosure.
"You always pig up a guinea pig like this- with two hands around their middle," Ulquiorra informed them. "You can carry him with just one hand, as long as you keep him secure against your chest." He demonstrated that hold for them as he walked back to the cage he'd readied. "He'll need fifteen to thirty minutes in his ball for exercise a day, like I said before, and you feed him once a day. Try to keep the feeding schedule consistent. You should put his cage on your kitchen table or another spot with a lot of activity for the first few days so he can become accustomed to all of you and to your house. If you have any pets, make sure that any time they're around he's either in his cage or his ball, for safety.
"If you find him acting strangely or seeming like he's injured, you can bring him here for a low-cost check up. If there's anything seriously wrong you'll have to take him to a vet, but I can tell you if that's required. Also, if he needs grooming I can do that as well. If you run out of anything you can get it here, and if you no longer wish or are able to take care of him bring him back here. I won't give you a refund, but I will take him off your hands. The Humane Society is no place for an animal who has another option. Do you have any questions?"
"No, I think we're good," the father said, and Ulquiorra nodded.
"Swipe your card when you're ready," he said, setting Theodore in his new cage gently. Theodore looked around with his round, black eyes curiously, and Ulquiorra looked at him for a moment before turning back to his customers, the father signing his name on the electric signature machine.
Ulquiorra helped them carry everything to their car, the little girl smiling up at her father and carrying Theodore's cage. He thanked them for their business and saw them off before heading back inside, looking around for his apparently missing employee. Who was still not to be found. Ulquiorra frowned, hoping that Grimmjow had not gone around slacking or idling int he cat room, for then Ulquiorra would regret that raise. He was going to open the door swiftly and catch Grimmjow at whatever it was he was doing, but as he neared the door he heard Grimmjow speaking. His curiosity piqued, he only cracked the door open to look inside.
"You know, I can't be doing this," Grimmjow said reasonably to the tabby cat that sat close to the bars of her kennel looking at him. Grimmjow was crouching down to look at her, seeming not to care that she was all the way at the bottom of the stack. "If I pet you and Ulquiorra catches me, he'll have my job." The cat looked up expectantly with her big eyes, and Ulquiorra could see Grimmjow wavering. He opened the door and leaned against the door jamb, crossing his arms to watch.
Grimmjow heaved a huge sigh, sitting down. "Alright, fine," he said, "but just this once, okay?" The cat mewed, as if in agreement, and Ulquiorra saw Grimmjow's tough exterior melt. He put his hand between the bars and scratched the cat's head behind her ears, and the cat stood and rubbed her side against his palm. Grimmjow smiled a little gleefully as the cat started to purr. Ulquiorra found himself intrigued by Grimmjow's gentle ministrations, and by his happy face. His usual slightly angry look had dissolved,and he looked like a little boy excited just to pet the kitty cat. Ulquiorra hadn't thought the rough and wild teenager would be so calm and loving to an animal he didn't know.
"Grimmjow," Ulquiorra said, and Grimmjow leapt up. He looked like a cross between a deer in the headlights and a guilty child with their hand caught in the cookie jar.
"Boss-man!" Grimmjow said, fear leaking into his eyes. "I'm sorry, I won't do it again, please don't fire me, please, I really like it here-"
"Grimmjow," Ulquiorra stopped him warningly. Grimmjow fell tensely silent. "Her name is Turtle. My neighbor abandoned her and she was walking around my front yard. She seems to have an affinity for having her spine petted." Grimmjow's eyes went wide, uncertain but incredibly hopeful. "Speaking of turtles, I'll have to order one," Ulquiorra said, dismissing the topic. "Now come finish those shelves. Oh, and it you like it so much here- stop calling me boss-man." Ulquiorra shot the blue-haired boy a look over his shoulder as he closed the door. He wasn't three feet away when he heard Grimmjow start chuckling, then laughing in relief in the cat room. Ulquiorra shook his head. Perhaps Grimmjow hadn't been such a bad decision after all.
He'd never thought that people other than himself looked at animals like that.
