Jem reached both his hands out to pick the Tiny up. He was more careful now then the time before, doing good best to keep the Tiny calm as he lowered him into the cage.
"Well, I'm glad I'll be able to give that to you, then. What do you think of coming to the store with me, so you can help pick out an enclosure you'd like?" Once secure, Jem lifted the cage up, holding one hand underneath and the other at the side to keep it balanced, and brought it close to his chest as he started to the kitchen to make some chicken.
"Okay!" he said excitedly. The idea of picking out a place to live for himself simply tickled him to no end. He loved the idea of having the choice in making his own home, really.
Jem smiled some at the Tiny's enthusiasm, chuckling some.
"Good! Now, for the food- is there any particular way you like your chicken?" Jem set the cage down on the kitchen counter, moving over to the refrigerator and pulling his thawed chicken breasts out.
"Well, not frozen, but otherwise I don't care. Cooked, raw, it won't hurt me so why care too much?" he said, rocking back and forth in his container.
"Well, if I'm going to be taking care of you from now on I think it would be good to learn what all you like. Still, if you don't care much" Jem opened a drawer to pull out a knife, opening the chicken and cutting off a Tiny-sized piece for 0023, reaching into the container to offer it.
He took the food and promptly devoured it, swallowing the last of the meal hastily. "Can I have more?" he asked, looking up eagerly with bright, hungry eyes. He didn't quite realize how starving he was until he'd eaten.
Jem blinked a few times when he saw how quickly the Tiny ate, then nodded.
"Sure thing," he said, turning back to the chicken and cutting off a larger chunk this time. He handed it over, waiting to see if more was needed. He had thought of a name, but need bring it up when the Tiny wasn't wolfing down his food.
The Tiny ate his food gratefully, and finally felt somewhat full. "So, any names yet? I want something, like, dignified. Not super posh, mind you, just dignified." he explained.
"I've come up with a couple," Jem said, nodding some. "I'm willing to listen to your input, of course, since it's going to be your name. So far, I've got Kye or Damien. Either sound good?" Jem moved to pull a stool over, sitting down by the kitchen counter. He rested his arms on the surface, then, head going to rest on it so he would be more at eye level with the son to be named Tiny.
"A bit boring, basic. Maybe Percy, or Estelle? Or Fitz, that name has some spice to it. Dorian? I dunno, it's up to you what you name me." he shrugged, swinging his legs back and forth where he sat.
"Oo, I like Estelle and Dorian," Jem said, smiling some as he thought over the two. "Let's go with Dorian, then." The man smiled down at the newly named Tiny, glad to have that figured out with his help.
"Hmm. I do think it's a fine name, we'll stick with it for now. So, what to do next? I'm bored." he said, looking around. This was a wholly new experience for him, and bored already? For shame, he thought.
"Well, I think that's all we need to do here, so it's time to head to the store." Jem smiled, reaching out to pick the glass cage up in his hands again. He moved out to the living room, grabbing the lid again and putting it on. So, with that, the man started out of the apartment again and down the stairs, pulling out his car keys. There was no way he was going to be able to carry everything he was going to be purchasing, so the truck it was.
Stepping out onto the street, he opened the door to his beat-up blue pickup truck, setting Dorian on the seat beside him as he put the key in the ignition to start the vehicle up.
The Tiny sat there, trembling as he was carried but relaxing immensely when he was set down, muscles unwinding and teeth going back to a normal state of non-chattering.
Jem glanced at Dorian, smiling slightly when he saw the Tiny calming down. So, he started the truck, pulling out to drive down the street. He kept the music low so he could hear the Tiny if he said anything, though he couldn't help how loud the truck was. It wasn't the… newest, thing, and made some very expensive sounds occasionally that Jem chose to ignore.
Driving through the city, the two found themselves in front of one of those mega shopping centers, Jem pulling into a parking spot and turning the car off.
"You ready?" The man asked, turning to the Tiny. "We might be in here for a while to find everything, so I'm going to be carrying you for a while."
"Alright." he nodded, staring out and up as far as he could. The place was huge, and loud, he could hear the pandemonium from the truck. "Can you, like, carry me in your pocket or something? I don't want to draw attention."
"I don't see any reason why I couldn't." Jem reached over, taking the lid off of the cage. He carefully picked the Tiny up in his hands, doing his best to keep him calm as he lifted him close and up into his pocket.
"You okay in there?"
It was comfortable in here, the soft fabric enveloping his body like a weighted blanket, and he gave a small thumbs-up, hand just barely sticking out over the edge of the shirt pocket.
"Good." Jem got out of the truck, then, and started walking through the open mall. He hummed some, hands going in his pant's pockets, glancing down occasionally to make sure the Tiny was okay. He made a beeline for the pet store, to the enclosures.
"So, what looks good to you Dorian?" Jem asked, lightly nudging the Tiny to let him know to get up and look.
Everything looked like a mansion compared to his previous cage. Dorian mused over the wide selection available to him, and pointed to a cage. "That one," he said. It wasn't anything special, but it did have a lot of accessories, including a full library of books for Tinies. The only problem? Dorian didn't know how to read. He'd figure it out, he thought, looking excitedly at the three-story space, with climbing objects!
"This one?" Jem looked over the cage with a hum, kneeling down so he could get a better look at the price. It was… it was something, alright. Still, Dorian had been cheap, and Jem should technically have enough money. He'd just have to use his credit card.
"Alright, then, I'll go find someone to talk to about getting it out to the car." Jem stood again, turning to try to find an employee in this big store. When he finally spotted one, he jogged over so he wouldn't lose them.
"Hello!" He called out to get their attention. "I'd like to purchase one of the Tiny cages you have on display in Isle Two."
"Absolutely, sir! Now, we have a wide selection to choose from as you may have seen, did anything in particular catch your eye?" the employee said, a fake smile plastered on her face. "We can even carry the cage out to your car, these things tend to be quite heavy." she smiled, still fake.
"Yes, one did," Jem confirmed, "the third one from the left in that aisle, with the library." The man turned back to show the way to what he was talking about, glancing back once.
"No need to bother with the smile- I won't tell any one, I know just how horrible retail is."
"Oh thank god, I'm so fucking tired of pretending everything is fine and dandy." she groaned, smile immediately being replaced by a frown. "Anyways, the sets are just over here, everything you need is in the kit. I'll warn you, this one isn't the most expensive, but it is pretty big as you can see here, bigger than you expect, so make sure you have plenty of space for it."
