"I want a dragon."
Amy looked at the heavily built Asian man, a number of tattoos visible around the neck of his shirt, cocking her head a little to the side. At the other end of the shop, Lisa was talking quietly to Lucy, who was sitting with Newell in her lap, the iguana nodding every now and then when the girl made a joke. He snickered at one point, which made Amy smile internally. It seemed like the mod she'd called 'muttley' was working well.
Her friend was working part time at the shop over the summer, mainly for fun, although she was paid well. Everyone seemed happy with the arrangement.
Well, other than Miss Militia, but the cape was a somewhat strange woman. Amy had seen her staring into the display window a number of times, but she always looked like it was something she had to do rather than wanted to do.
"Certainly, sir, that's not a problem. Hold on please, I need to find the right order form." Bending a little, she reached under the counter, coming up with a stack of paperwork, her talons quickly flipping through the pages. "Tentacle beast, no, Miniature Sandworm, no, Micro-Shoggoth, no, Ornamental Great Old One… Ah, here we are, Dragon." She pulled the relevant page out and put it on the counter in front of the customer, returning the others to their box.
He looked a little weirdly at her, then down at the page. "What is this?"
"A dragon order form, of course." She smiled at him, trying not to show too many teeth due to the way some people seemed to find it unnerving. "Just fill it out, name and address here, contact details, then the requirements you have for your dragon. I have a catalog here that shows the options if you need more information. You will also need to apply to city hall for the relevant dragon license, they insist on registering them, but it's only a fifty dollar fee and a simple application."
She handed him a pen. Taking it slowly from her, he stared for a moment, then bent over the form. Watching for a moment as he wrote in a neat hand the relevant details, she busied herself poking around for the correct license application, which she put next to him when she found it.
Leafing through the glossy catalog, the man smiled widely a few times, noting down options. Once or twice he snickered darkly, and at one point muttered, "Wolf? I'll show that bastard..."
Waiting patiently, she accepted the form when he finished.
"All right, then, Mr Kenta. Let's just double check this. Now, you wanted a classical Japanese dragon base phenotype, but you've indicated wings from a European variant. That's possible, but due to the overall longer body structure, the creature isn't really suited for winged flight."
Mr Kenta looked disappointed.
"However!" she smiled brightly. He looked hopeful again. "Recently our partnership with Leet Industries and Draco-tech has resulted in some remarkable biocompatible antigravity systems. We can use one of those if you wish, which will flight-enable your dragon, without needing the wings. It is, I'm afraid, somewhat more expensive, but it should provide a superior performance."
He waved his hands impatiently. "Money is no object."
"Excellent," she laughed. "Let's just change that code there… OK, now you specified high heat tolerance?"
"Yes, it's not impossible that it might experience… a very high temperature," he hedged cautiously. "Is that something you can do?"
"Certainly, LPF specializes in near-indestructible exotics." Quickly looking up her own codes in the catalog, she made a few notes. "I must point out that it's inadvisable to let your dragon get too hot then let it jump into water. The creature won't be harmed, but the high temperature steam presents a visibility hazard."
"I understand," Mr Kenta smiled.
"Great. Now… color. You have gold and red here. Would you like to see some samples?"
"Yes, please."
She rummaged around for a moment under the counter. "Here we go. These are the standard color schemes for dragons, including a number of traditional Asian schemes. However, we can match any Pantone color precisely, or for extra cost, add a chameleon skin that will allow a near infinite range to be user selected."
"Ah." He looked impressed. "Now that sounds very interesting indeed."
"Would you like to go for that option?"
He nodded, smiling again.
"OK. That's the main things. Let's check the rest… Length, thirty feet, that's fine, claws, six inches… would you like the EverSharp® option?" At his puzzled look, she showed him the description in the catalog.
"Yes. Definitely."
"All right. Omnivorous, standard package… Waterproof… Firebreathing?"
"Yes, please."
"All right. That requires a variation on the license, please tick there, there, and sign there." Amy pointed at the other form, which he was already writing on. "Good, that should do it. How do you wish to pay?"
"Do you accept Visa?"
"Of course, Mr Kenta, we accept all major credit cards, cash, mystical artifacts of class four level and up, and interdimensional credit notes."
He handed over a card.
"We will take the full price now, but only fifty percent will be charged to your card, the balance on delivery. There is a twenty-five percent restocking fee if you return your custom pet, though."
"That's acceptable," he replied.
"There we go." The card terminal beeped and she handed him his card, which he put back into his rear pocket.
"How long will it take?"
"An order this large? Hmm… Come in next Tuesday and it will be ready. Or we can deliver if you want, free of charge."
"I'll collect it," he said calmly, picking up the license application and folding it twice.
"Fine. Please make sure you have your license with you, city bylaws forbid us from releasing an exotic of this class without it."
"Entirely understandable, Ianthe," he said, bowing respectfully. She returned the gesture. "It was a pleasure doing business with you."
"Likewise, Mr Kenta. Please come again."
"Most likely I will," he nodded, before turning and leaving. As he walked out of the shop, her sharp hearing caught him muttering, "I'm coming for you, Kaiser. Wolf or no wolf."
Grinning to herself, she started entering the order details into the computer. Accurate records were vital in running a successful business, Danny had drummed that into them all early on.