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"Exactly how illegal is this venture?"
Dimitar glanced over at Harry as they walked together down the busy street, arm in arm, just two more individuals in a sea of people.
"Based on what scale?” he asked in a heavily accented voice.
"Semi-illegal to supremely illegal," Harry replied, then began going through the different levels. “Semi-illegal being we just get a verbal warning from local security officials, illegal being we get a fine, highly illegal being we get thrown in jail, extremely illegal being there's a risk of being kicked out of the country and ACE gets involved, supremely illegal being all of the above and…” He grimaced at the idea of their Alpha needing to get involved. Usually he didn't, because Viktor or their ACE were perfectly capable of handling things outside the reserve on their own, but when he did, such incidents were classified as International Incidents or Inter-realm Incidents and no one in their Circle liked the fallout or consequences.
At least, that was what he'd heard. There hadn't been such an Incident since Harry joined the Circle and he was determined not to be a part of the next one to happen.
But given his identity and the fact that they were still on Earth, anything he got involved in had the potential to turn into an International Incident, especially if his glamour failed. Harry's grip on Dimitar's arm tightened and he checked his reflection in the window of the shop they were passing. The glamour couldn't do anything about his height, but he didn't recognize himself with dirty blond hair, grey-blue eyes, and altered facial features.
Dimitar's free hand patted the top of Harry's arm, reassuringly. Even more reassuring was the gentle spell-work that settled around the pair of them, reinforcing the glamour once again, as if the Pareya knew where his thoughts were wandering.
“Somewhere between illegal and highly illegal," Dimitar said. "You're just the distraction. I'll be the one actually doing something, and it's my country so they can't kick me out. Just remember, if anyone asks when we get home..."
"It wasn't my idea, there was no pre-planning, it was just a whim," Harry recited. His lips twitched upwards into a small smile ash did so. "We were just out on a walk, so I could practice the language and came across the shop at random." He was sure that beyond that, very few questions would be asked. A few in the Circle wouldn't be pleased about Harry being an accomplice to theft, but given some of them had technically engaged in smuggling across international borders in the past, it wouldn't be a huge issue.
Harry and Dimitar separated a street away from the shop, but not before exchanging a quick kiss when the shadows of an alley obscured them for a heartbeat. A few minutes later, Harry was first through the pet shop's door, looking around and trying not to be disturbed by the tiny cages and barebones conditions the animals were being forced to endure.
He'd been with the Circle long enough that he could understand a fair amount of Bulgarian, especially after several knowledge transfers. He'd also picked up a smattering of Turkish and Russian, but those were primarily swears and phrases not suitable to use in public.
But for the sake of this particular adventure, he pretended not to know any language other than English and dragged the manager and employee of the shop into loud conversations, punctuated by overly dramatic gesturing. A few translation charms were attempted at the beginning, with Harry putting no effort and no magic into his and the manager's not working because of an incorrect wand movement. At one point, they were all-but shouting, which disturbed the owls Harry claimed he wanted to look at.
In all the chaos, he was only just aware of Dimitar entering the shop and he was sure that part of that was only because he could pick up on the amusement through the Pareya’s bond. If either the employee or manager caught sight of him, he was sure that the man wouldn’t remain unnoticed due to his bright red hair—an unusual color for these parts—so Harry took care to stand in an area that ensured the backs of the two workers were to the bulk of the pet shop.
He tried not to laugh when one of the employee's gestures knocked over a cage of fire salamanders. The poorly-latched door sprung open and the creatures scattered, causing the manager to panic. He then contributed to the chaos by unlocking and opening the door of a cage that held a litter of kneazles. If they made it out one of the doors to the building, he knew that there was a fascinating spell attached to the doorway that would spirit them to the reserve, where another one of his Bonded was hopefully prepared and waiting.
The harried manager started giving him suspicious looks when he picked up a chicken and started loudly asking about magical toads, so when he felt a tug on one of his bonds, Harry quickly selected a masked owl who had given everyone dirty looks during all the chaos but hadn’t left her nest, unlike the others around her. Given the weight of the cage, he was fairly positive there were eggs in the nest and he only hoped that they were still viable and that the manager hadn’t discovered them yet. His luck felt good, considering that the manager demanded nothing but the price for one owl and said nothing about potential chicks.
He paid for the owl and was gifted the chicken by the two running the pet shop in apology for all the commotion, but even still, Harry was sure the manager cursed him as soon as he left the shop.
It was a bit awkward carrying both the chicken and the caged owl on the street, but thankfully he only had to go half a block before he could turn into an alley where Dimitar was waiting. He grinned when the Pareya placed a hand on either side of his face, drawing him in for an enthusiastic kiss before taking the caged owl from him.
"You were amazing!" Dimitar exclaimed.
"Did you get them all?" Harry asked.
Dimitar nodded. "Two litters of orthrus and one of cerberus, already on their way to Vanyo."
"He'll have his claws full," Harry said with a laugh, shaking his head slightly, knowing that the Mage would secretly enjoy having all the puppies around until they could get them to a sanctuary in their rightful habitat. He himself wanted a chance to see them, so his next suggestion was expected. "Let's go home, shall we?"
"We'll have to stop by a farm first," Dimitar said, but nodded his agreement.
"What? Why?"
The Pareya gestured to the chicken in Harry's arms. "We have dragons and I don't think you want that to be dinner. Plus I don't think the others would agree to an attempt to breed basilisks."
Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Believe me, I'm the last one in our circle who would try to create a basilisk.” However, he made a mental note to share that particular story on their way home, looking forward to the round of smothering it would prompt not only from his Pareya but all of his Bonded. "And it's not a chicken, it's just glamoured to look like one." Given how frequently he needed strong glamours himself, he'd become fairly adept at spotting similar spells on others.
Dimitar side-eyed the chicken, face turning wary. "On the scale from before, how illegal do we think that creature is?"
“Knowing my luck? Extremely illegal."
The Pareya sighed but nodded. "ACE or Viktor?" he asked, clapping a hand on Harry's shoulder and preparing to cast a portal.
Harry considered the question for a few heartbeats. "Viktor,” he decided, adjusting the chicken in his arms, causing it to let out a loud squawk. "Unless it doesn't like the portal. Then we'd probably need ACE."
Unfortunately for him, he would have to admit later that, in hindsight, it wasn't just an ACE-level situation, they should have called in the entire Gheyo Suite from the beginning. But the incident stayed on the reserve and didn't require their Alpha to get involved, so it didn't cross the line into supremely illegal—thankfully.