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It'd been a good haul, and an even better sale.
Some outworlder was leaving with some nice "vintage" Belobog Underworld posters, the Everwinter City Museum had room for a new exhibition, and Sampo's wallet was all the more heavier for it. Truly, he was a godsend for Belobog's economy. And now he was going to be even more of a godsend and go get some hot food.
Sampo strut down the cobblestone streets, happily counting his money as he made his way from the old weapon testing ground to Boulder Town. Oh yes, there was more than enough here for some grilled Belobog sausages. He was so pleased with himself he could almost sing, but he settled for whistling instead. Less people complained when he whistled.
Or at least, that's what he thought. He wasn't even through the first verse of his impromptu song when he was interrupted by a high, scratchy sound from further down the street. The sound took him by enough surprise that Sampo actually paused to put his money safely back in his pocket.
"Hey, there's nicer ways of asking somebody to stop, you know!" He huffed, moving closer to where that sound had come from—a barely wide-enough gap between two buildings. "Can't a man celebrate a good business day anymore?"
He rounded the corner to try and get a look at his heckler, only to find darkness. At least, until he heard that sound again, a little quieter now, but clearer. Following the noise, Sampo let his eyes drop to the ground. Sitting there, at the edge of the alley just in front of his shoes, was a little black cat with the biggest green eyes he'd ever seen.
"Oh."
"Mrra!" It was almost impressive that a sound so loud had come from a diaphragm smaller than Sampo's fist.
"Alright! I heard you the first time!" He exclaimed quietly, carefully moving to squat in front of the cat. “Not a fan of Sampo's whistling, are you?"
Sampo held his hand out for the cat to sniff, which it gladly did, pressing its tiny black nose right to his pointer finger's first knuckle. He could feel its warm breath through his glove, then it meowed again, the sound just as shrill as before.
He winced and moved his hand to scratch the cat's chest, hoping that would keep it from meowing again. Near immediately the cat shut its eyes and started to purr, the sound revving in its chest like a tiny motor.
"Noisy little thing, aren't you?" The cat just kept purring, leaning into Sampo's fingers as he worked through its black fur.
It wasn't often that an animal took to him so quickly, usually they were even more suspicious than humans were, so this was... a surprise, to say the least. But Sampo couldn't stay and enjoy it, not when he had dinner plans.
"Alright, little guy—" he started to withdraw his hand "—Sampo's got places to be, so-"
The cat bit him. Hard. Hard enough that Sampo could feel all four canine teeth digging into his glove.
"Ow!" He tore his hand back, and thankfully the cat was startled enough by the sound to let go and scamper back into the shadows of the alleyway.
Sampo swung back up onto his feet, pressing his thumb to the bite mark. "Damn..." The stray's teeth had gone clear through his glove to break skin, which meant Sampo had to go get it checked out by Natasha now.
And he'd been having such a good night.