Some Type of Companionship

[Charity Croft]

Buying a pet was not giving up. It definitely wasn't. And who said that Charity was actually going to buy a pet anyway? Maybe she just wanted to walk through and windowshop for various animals and try to see if any were particularly adorable. Why would she want a pet anyway? So she might be getting a little older and nearly every other female she worked with was younger and prettier. So what? That didn't matter at all. Nope, not at all. It certainly didn't lead to Charity looking at various cute animals in a window and longing for something that she could hug.

"I probably shouldn't," she said, leaning toward the poor soul who just happened to be nearest to her. "I can't, really: I'd have to check with my roommates first. Yep, I still have roommates," Charity let out a low breath, looking at the window, "because that's an adult thing to have."

Maybe a puppy? No, that wouldn't work. A fish?

"You can't cuddle a fish,' Charity said, arguably too loud. She sighed and looked longingly at the window again. Yeah, this was sad... and kind of pathetic... but mostly sad...

[Tobias Croft]

Kai Kai needed more expensive, top shelf, indulgent cat food. Toby was certain the furry ball of pure scratching delight did it to spite him; After an early breakfast confrontation of the cat sitting by the empty french titled food bag, staring intently at the average cat food placed before him then shifting his stare to Toby, which the man returned in what became a five minute battle of endurance. The fact Toby was now stood outside of the pet shop in town showcased who the winner had been.
He narrowed his eyes at the animals behind the shop window, bending down to press a fingertip against a kitten's paw who had placed it on the glass. He couldn't help a delighted smile eclipsing his lips, before he quickly frowned, pulling his hand away as the kitten continued to gaze up at him with intent curiosity. "Oh yeah, you all start OFF cute. Next minute you're ripping my furniture to shreds," He pouted as the ginger furball tilted it's head slightly, opening it's mouth in an silent squeak that threatened to melt Toby's heart. "... Oh HO, We are NOT playing that game." He put two fingers to his eyes, before pointing them at the kitten, indicating that he was keeping an eye on the fluffy baby.
He stood up, immediately tensing as he almost knocked into a woman who had taken up resistance gazing into the window, slowly sifting his gaze to look at her from the corner of his eye, and raising an eyebrow at the female who was speaking her thoughts aloud. He was certain he recognised her. AH. She worked at the Academy... Toby hadn't exactly wandered the halls for long, but enough to take notice of the pretty female staff. Now if only he could remember her name... He didn't have the best memory for names. Best try and not let her know that.

"Join the kinship of the crazy cat ladies," Toby commented, before turning to look at the female who had been clearly speaking more to herself then to him. "You've got the "talking to yourself" bit down. The other benefits are cat scratches, trashed furniture and eternal regret." He spoke jokingly, and seemed quite unaware that his comment COULD be seen as potentially offensive, especially due to the connotations associated with the term. He however didn't consider that factor, and instead shrugged. "Purely speaking as a man firmly in the fold. My cat's a little shit. But hey, he's more entertaining then a goldfish." He grinned brightly. 

[Charity Croft]

There was actually this slight buzzing that happened just before Charity heard a voice that nearly made her jump. She turned to look at the guy, the mutant, who was talking to her, listening as he pretty well prattled something about being a cat lady or something. Charity was tempted to point out that she wasn't talking to herself or anything like that, which would have been a total lie, but felt like what she should definitely be doing in this particular (uncomfortable) situation. Instead, she found her ability pulling at her, and she stared.

"Electro--" she began, only to stop as she realized that she was still technically standing outside, in public, where people could hear. She waved it off, adding a smile. "Sorry, just, ah a tic," she turned back to look at the shop. "I don't think I could really get a cat, at least, probably not right now. I have roommates, and just getting a cat without asking would be pretty weird. Plus," Charity pursed her lips and nodded, "there's this, uh, office cat, where I work? And I'm pretty sure that any cats have to, like, get on with him first, and I don't really want to check."

Charity paused for another moment, then turned and extended a hand. "Charity, by the way. That's my name, not, like, my saying I'm a Charity case. Charity Legrange."

[Tobias Croft]

Toby's face fell as the female clearly hadn't recognised him. He'd not exactly been on the staff list for long, at this stage only a matter of weeks, so it was perfectly understandable if she didn't exactly twig him as being a Bellefonte trainer right away; At least, this is what he told himself in an effort to not let the fact bother him. He after all couldn't exactly judge, he didn't know the female's name... But at least he had paid enough attention to notice her and the other staff members. He raised a brow at her half beginning a sentence, his mind filling in the blank space.
Electrokinesis.
This brightened Toby's attitude almost instantly; maybe she DID know who he was. She continued on, dismissing her mention of his ability as a "tic", CLEARLY only covering in case non mutants with not too favourable views on their kind overheard them. Must be why she mentioned the cat that lurked the halls as if he didn't already know; Heck, it was a pretty odd thing, even by mutant standards, he was certain. Toby was, and always had been, good at convincing himself of the more positive interpretation of things, even when it was highly likely that he was incorrect.
"... That cat," He mumbled under his breath, his eyes narrowing slightly, indicating a previous encounter with the feline; but he chose not to elaborate. His grin, which had been banished by the lack of regognition on the female's part, had returned, and was now adorning his lips as he took the female's hand and shook it. Ah, finally! So Charity was her name.
"Tobias Croft," He replied brightly. "But call me Toby. I'm prettyyy recent on the ol' Bellefonte staff team."

[Charity Croft]

Charity leaned forward as she thought she heard the man mumble something that sounded like "cat" but she couldn't really be sure. His eyes had narrowed, and she wondered again if he'd had some kind of encounter with the feline. She'd met him a time or two, but he seemed to not really like her all that much. Maybe it was because she knew he was actually a mutant or something: she didn't ask.

Now she had a name for her fellow cat meeter, and apparently fellow staffer: "Toby it is!" she said, nodding. "Which makes me Charity then. I'm pretty recent myself; I've only been there since the start of this semester. So you," she pointed, "must be even more recent. That means I'm not the new kid any more. You'll have to take that badge." And Charity mimed unpinning a badge and handing it over to Toby.

And no, she didn't seem to initially notice quite how... quirky said motion happened to be either.

[Tobias Croft]

Toby was quite enthralled to finally be formally meeting another member of staff. Apart from staff meetings and an occasional polite nod while passing in hallways, Toby hadn't spent much time with any of the other people on Bellefonte's staff list. With the exception of a certain feline of course, but that bizarre encounter wasn't one Toby considered as "hanging out" with another staff member. It was almost sad that the only person on the rosta he'd spent more then five minutes in personal time with was a cat.

Toby couldn't help but grin enthusiastically as the female revealed that she herself was relatively new; At least they had something in common. He blinked at her however and pointed to himself as she pointed to him, pouting a little before raising an eyebrow as Charity mimed unpinning a badge and handing it over.
He blinked at her vagant, outstretched hand, before grinning and miming taking the "badge" and pinning it to his own jacket, puffing his chest out as though it was something of great honour. "I'm more of an "old kid" then a "new kid" but I'll take that compliment gladly, and the metaphorical badge that comes with it," He laughed, before leaning in closer to her, smiling. "I don't need to make a speech, do I?"

[Charity Croft]

Charity saw the grin and nearly sighed with relief. Sometimes she felt like she was perhaps a little too quirky for most of the adults she met... sometimes the students too. Though he was just raising a brow as she handed over the invisible badge...

...and then he was pinning it himself. Charity nodded, pleased that he'd taken the gesture in the manner she'd intended it. That at least saved her from having to make yet another awkward speech. She was fairly good at them, but that didn't mean that she necessarily wanted to have to try it if she didn't have to.

"Is that a crack at your age or have you been here before?" Charity asked, smiling. "Because I'm pretty sure you're not, like, the oldest staffer. I'm probably older than you," Charity paused. "not that I'm old." Another pause, and she looked at the pet store. "And I'm definitely not, like, a lonely cat woman or something," another pause. "Yeah, maybe you should be doing the talking: it's clearly not working for me."

[Tobias Croft]

She was clearly a touch on the quirky side, but that suited Toby's personality just fine. He himself wasn't exactly what most people could define as "normal" he was certain, even without the whole electrokinesis thing going on. It was quite uplifting, actually, to cross paths with someone who could potentially outdo him in oddity.

He mimed polishing his new "badge" as she continued their conversation, Toby giving her a wide grin and a laugh. "You might be a crazy cat lady, but you're certainly not old," He commented in response, and with perfect honesty; He didn't think she looked particularly old in the slightest, and had already guessed that her age was in her mid twenties, certainly not worthy of the definition of "past it". At least, not in Toby's books. "I'm pretty certain I'm the oldest one on the staff rosta." His grin faltered at his own comment, and by the end of sentence there was a faint hint of sadness to it; it wasn't that he cared about his age personally, but more so he cared about how obvious that age was to others; He'd already endured a few "old man" related comments, despite still being in his twenties. Perhaps he needed to shave more often... He subconsciously moved his hand to his chin where long stubble covered his skin, pouting slightly; It didn't help that most of the other members on Bellefonte's payroll were stunning examples of human attractiveness, while he... Well, he was the first to admit that he didn't think he was exactly on the same level. Perhaps he simply appeared that way by comparison? 

Toby quickly looked back to Charity however, his grin renewed. "I'm... More in the older of the twenty bracket. More so the FAR end." He then gave her a jazz hands gesture. "Can't you tell?"

[Charity Croft]

Charity nearly giggled as Toby waxed the badge. Well, at least he seemed willing enough to go along with her quirkiness and all. He also complimented her, at least to some degree. Though she rolled her eyes and waved a hand. "Please, I'm, like, thirty, so I'm super old," said everyone who ever hit that age ever, but in this case, very much Charity in particular. She could certainly appreciate someone else making old comments though.

"I figure we've still got at least another five years before we need to be put out to pasture," Charity said, nodding. "Though we'll probably have, like, eight cats by then. That's eight cats each, by the way," she gestured between the two of them with a finger and added a semi-solemn nod.

Charity heard one of the animals inside the store make a noise, which distracted her. especially as they appeared to be putting several puppies into the window of the store. Naturally Charity had to coo and lean forward to look at them, her eyes going wide.