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For what is possibly the dozenth time in the last ten minutes, Allison is starting to wonder if staying home today wouldn't have been a good idea.
She's leaning against a cold, concrete wall, ears being assaulted by a cacophony of growls, hisses and screeches that sound like something from a horror film. Even tuning it out the best she can, she knows that it's only a matter of time before her head starts to throb.
But Lydia and Cora don't show any sign of being ready to leave any time soon. They're standing opposite her, in front of the long line of spacious cages that fills most of the room. They've barely glanced into any of them; the main door is still within arm's length of Cora, but they've already started to bicker.
"What about a basilisk?" Lydia asks, peering into a glass fronted cage. "They're supposed to be excellent for protection."
"You have me for protection," Cora retorts, glancing at the cage with a sneer. "Besides, snakes are gross."
Allison tends to agree with her, but she stays silent, biting back a grin. While she would like a pet as well, she doesn't particularly care what kind it is (although the less scales, the better). It's Lydia and Cora who have strong preferences.
"A dragon!" Cora says, kneeling down in front of a large cage sitting on the floor. "Lydia, look at that and try to tell me that it isn't beautiful."
"Our apartment is not big enough for that, and not all of us are capable of healing instantaneously from burns," Lydia immediately retorts.
"Whatever," Cora mutters before moving a few feet to the left so that she can look in the next column of cages.
They continue this way for what feels like another hour, but what Allison's phone says is merely ten minutes. Between the two of them, they pass over another dragon, two rats the size of puppies, a three headed fox, a jackalope and a number of cats and dogs. By the time they reach the middle of the room, Allison's headache has come to fruition and her two partners seem no closer to making a decision. They keep shutting each other down, throwing out reasons that fluctuate between being logical and absurd.
When Lydia refuses to even consider one cat because "it looks like the kind that would claw at the curtains," Allison decides that enough is enough.
"Okay, this is ridiculous," she says, stepping away from the wall. "Both of you, out."
To their credit, neither of them argue. Cora doesn't even roll her eyes. They simply file out of the room, both of them still bickering in whispers, although Allison is pretty sure by now, they're doing it more out of habit than out of any actual irritation. Once the door has closed behind them, she steps into the middle of the room and looks around, taking in the whole variety of animals surrounding her.
One in particular stands out and she crosses to the back corner of the room, kneeling to peer into the bottom crate. A pair of dark eyes greet her and a wet nose pokes out, nuzzling into her palm when she holds it out.
"Hi there," she says quietly, reading the identification tag hanging from the side of the cage. "Is your name Leo?"
From inside the cage, she hears a tail thumping and the dog (who is apparently nine years old, according to the tag) licks her hand vigorously.
"How would you like to come home with us?"
&.
Later that night, the three of them are squeezed together on their bed, watching a horror movie that Cora picked out. The already tight fit is even tighter than usual, because their newly adopted dog is flopped across their feet, wagging his tail whenever one of them drags their toes through his thick fur.
"So, did I make a good choice?" Allison asks, resisting the urge to laugh when Leo licks at her feet.
"I still think we should get a dragon one day," Cora says, pressing in closer to Allison on her right side.
"We are not getting a dragon," Lydia sighs, but there's no heat behind her words as she snuggles in closer on Allison's left side. "A normal dog is perfectly fine."
"Whatever," Cora mumbles but based on the way she smiles when Leo gently paws at her calf, she's happy with Allison's choice as well.
(Still, Allison has to admit, having a dragon would be pretty cool.)