#i want to keep them in a guinea pig cage and study how they interact

[vegetavegetason]

!!!! omg 🥹🥰

cr.

[distractedhistotech]

Before MSA + 1: Hamster

Arthur had been eating his breakfast when Uncle Lance looked over his newspaper at Arthur and said, “I think it’s time for you to get a pet.”

Arthur stopped eating and blinked at Lance in surprise.  “What?”  He’d never asked for a pet.  Arthur didn’t even think he’d expressed any interest in a pet.  Did he even give off the impression of that he’d be able to take care of a pet?  “Why?”

“You like your friend’s dog,” answered Uncle Lance.  “And having a pet will help you become more responsible.”

Personally, Arthur thought he was already more responsible than normal for his age.  He wasn’t sure how he compared to an adult. “I’m not sure I’m ready for a dog.”

“Yeah, not a good idea,” agreed Lance.

Arthur blinked. “So…”  If Uncle Lance agreed Arthur wasn’t ready for a dog, then he probably wouldn’t consider a cat either.  “So what then?”

“Maybe a bird or a hamster.”

Arthur blinked. “I don’t really get why people keep rodents as pets.  Chickens are pretty useful, but I don’t think that’s what you’re talking about.”

Oh, did Uncle Lance’s face just twitched?  It was hard to tell because of all the hair, but it sure looked like Arthur had said something that affected Lance.  “We’re going to the animal shelter after school.”

Arthur felt weirdly conflicted.

 “And then he said we’d be going to the animal shelter after school,” finished Arthur. “I’m…kind of confused.  I kind of thought pets were something kids ask for, but Uncle Lance is kind of forcing this on me.”

“Why wouldn’t you want a cute, fluffy pet?” asked Sydney.  “I ask Mom and Dad for a pet every year, but they always say that they don’t want to destroy the house.”  She paused.  “I don’t think it would be that bad…”

“I’d kind of like a pet too,” agreed Lewis.  “But, well, it sounds like most animals would be pretty stressed out by living in a haunted house, and I don’t want to do that to ‘em.”

“Plus you don’t have enough room for an alpaca,” added Sydney.

Arthur blinked. “A what?”

Lewis perked up. “Oh, do you know what a llama is?” Arthur nodded.  “An alpaca is a friendly, fluffier llama.  My parents took Sydney and me to a farm when we were little kids, and it was so much fun!”

Sydney snickered. “We had to drag him away.  He wanted to stay with the alpacas.”

“Well, I doubt Uncle Lance will be getting me an alpaca,” said Arthur.

Lewis nodded. “Yeah, you have to get them in pairs because they can die from loneliness.”

…Arthur made a note to ask if that was something that he would need to worry about with whatever he ended up with.

“So can we come with you and look at the puppies?” asked Sydney.

Arthur thought for a minute.  “Maybe. You’d have to ask your parents and Uncle Lance.”

Several hours later:

“I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t as long as Mr. Kingsmen says it’s all right,” said Frigg.

Sydney Sr. nodded. “Ditto.”

Arthur stared. “Why are you wearing a skirt?” asked Arthur.

“Hey, if girls can wear pants whenever they want, then I can wear a dress whenever I want,” answered Sydney Sr.

Arthur didn’t know how to reply to that so he just accepted the sympathetic shoulder pats from Lewis and Sydney Jr.

Sydney Sr’s choice in clothing got a surprised double take from Uncle Lance but no comments. He turned to Arthur.  “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, could Lewis and Sydney come with us?”

Lance raised an eyebrow but shrugged.  “I guess. Not much is gonna be going on though.”

“That’s okay,” said Lewis.

“I wanna see the kitties!” added Sydney.

“Not cats this time,” said Lance.  “The biggest thing he’s getting is a guinea pig.”

“…Those are cute too,” Sydney decided.

And they all piled into Lance’s truck and started off.  It was a bit of a tight fit, but the kids (and Lance but no one was going to say that out loud) were small enough to make that work.

They did not end up at a pet store.  This was simply because Lance didn’t want any of the larger animals deciding they wanted to go home with Arthur…or Arthur deciding he wanted a larger animal.  The latter didn’t seem likely, but Lance didn’t think he’d be able to say no.

Instead, they wound up at a normal looking house.  The kids were visibly confused.  “It’s a private rescue,” explained Lance.  One that specialized in rodents in particular.  If Arthur didn’t see anything he liked, Lance had the address of a bird rescue to try next.

“Do we just go in?” asked Sydney.

“They’re expecting us, but knock first.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, Sydney was the one who ran up to the door and knocked at it.  It was opened by a plump, late-middle aged woman. “Yes?”

“Hi!  I’m Sydney!  My friend Arthur’s here to get a new fluffy friend!”

By that time the guys had caught up to her.  The woman smiled.  “Oh, then you must be Mr. Kingsman.”

Lance nodded. “Yup.  This is Arthur.”  Arthur waved. “And his other friend, Lewis.”

Lewis smiled.  “Hello, Miss.”

She smiled back. “Hello to you too.”  She moved aside so they could enter the house.

The first thing they noticed was a pen full of sawdust and guinea pigs.  There were also tubes for hamsters to run through.  Sydney let out a squeal and ran over to the guinea pigs, startling a few of them.  “Piggies!” Lewis and Arthur followed more calmly.

“They are adorable,” agreed the woman.  “But they’re extremely social so you’d have to adopt at least two.”

Lewis grinned. “Like alpacas.”

“Right.”

“I probably should start with only one pet,” commented Arthur.  So no guinea pigs then.  “So, I guess we look around a bit…”

There were some rabbits, some gerbils, a couple of chinchillas, several hamsters, a squirrel, and a sugar glider.

“Where’d the squirrel came from?” asked Sydney.

“Oh, an older man rescued her as a baby and raised her.  He died not too long ago, and she doesn’t know how to take care of herself in the wild,” she explained.

“…Can I feed her acorns?”

“She prefers pinecones.”

Arthur just stared at all the animals that had were in enclosures or wandering around.  So…how was he supposed to do this?  Did he just choose one?  He experimentally poked a gerbil that was chewing on a pellet.

The gerbil didn’t react.  Arthur had to admit it was kind of boring.  He should probably stick to a pet that he had some interest in.

…Arthur had no idea how to do this.  He thought about the interactions between Vivi and Ben.  He should look for something like that?  But these were hamsters.  Could they even form the same type of bond with a human as a dog?

Arthur felt something hit his foot.  He looked down and saw a hamster ball containing a tiny hamster.  He picked up the ball.  “Is this a baby?”

She shook her head. “It’s a dwarf hamster.  They’re smaller than the other breeds.”

Lewis snickered and playfully elbowed Sydney.  “That sounds familiar.”  Sydney’s response was to jump on him.  The woman ignored the rough housing in favor of showing Arthur how to open the hamster ball.

Arthur studied the hamster as it scurried around his cupped hands.  He quickly put it on the table, where it scurried about.  When he put his hand on the table, the little hamster started scurrying back and forth over it.

“Aw…she likes you,” said the woman.

Arthur blinked. “Really?”  He pet the top of the hamster’s head.  She nuzzled into his hand.  “I think…you’re right.”

And that was how Arthur found himself with a hamster in a cage with several pet supplies.

“Cute…” cooed Lewis.

“What ‘cha gonna call her?” asked Sydney.

“Um…”  Arthur watched the tiny hamster running on her wheel. It was a pretty small cage.  He should use his saved up allowance to get her a hamster ball and some tubing.  “My family seems to have a habit of using Arthurian names…”  He wasn’t sure he wanted to name his pet after one of the people he’d left behind.  “I’m not sure I want to use that sort of name.”

“What about Shakespeare?” asked Sydney.

“I don’t know any girl names from that except for Juliet,” said Arthur.  Not the best option.

“What about Puck?” suggested Lewis.

“What does hockey have to do with it?” asked Arthur.

“No, it’s a character from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’,” explained Lewis.

“But she’s the size of a hockey puck,” added Sydney.  “So she is sort of like one.”

“Definitely shouldn’t try using her like one though,” said Lewis.

Sydney winced. “Yeah, that would be awful.”

Arthur shuddered at the mental image.  “No, no, no pucks.”

“Maybe Cadence?” suggested Sydney.  “I have no idea if that’s Camelot or Shakespeare or what, but it sounds fancy.”

“Fancy counts I guess,” said Arthur.  “Sure, let’s go with that.”  He stuck a few fingers into the cage.  “What do you think?”  Cadence the hamster sniffed at his fingers for a moment before going back to running on her wheel.  “Cadence it is.”

They watched Cadence for a few more moments.

“So, how are we going to introduce Cadence to Vivi and Ben?” asked Sydney.

“…Do dogs eat rodents or is that just cats?” asked Arthur.

“They have sharp teeth,” admitted Lewis.  “So I guess they might.”

“Ben’s pretty tame though,” said Sydney.  “Have you ever seen him act threatening at all?  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him bare his teeth or growl.”

Ben was pretty well behaved.  Maybe it would be okay to introduce him and Vivi to a small dwarf hamster.

 Vivi and Ben stared at the small hamster currently running around the dojo in a hamster ball. “She’s adorable,” said Vivi.

“Yeah, it kind of makes me want one,” agreed Lewis.  “I think my parents would want to wait until Belle’s a bit older though.”

“I’m not sure I’ll ever be responsible enough to take care of another living being,” said Sydney.

“Does that include children?” asked Arthur.

Sydney paused. “That is a good question.”  Her eyes averted, and she giggled.  “Heh, Ben.”

Ben was batting at Cadence’s hamster ball.  “Is that okay?” asked Arthur.

“Um…probably. Ben sometimes chases squirrels, but this doesn’t look like that,” said Vivi.  Ben decided to lay down with the ball and Cadence between his front paws. “See?  He’s making himself smaller so he looks less intimidating to Cadence.”

“Does Ben have any animal friends?” asked Lewis.

Vivi frowned. “Actually, for some reason he seems to scare most other dogs.  No idea why.”

Ben winced because he knew why other dogs didn’t like him.  Along with most animals.  Including Cadence, who seemed rather nervous about her current position.  He wasn’t exactly sure how to calm her down though. Hamsters were…simple.

“I think he’s scaring her,” said Arthur.  He immediately walked over, picked up the ball, and took a few steps away from Ben. “Hold on a sec.”  He opened the ball and let Cadence tumble into his jacket pocket.  She poked her head and front paws out.

“That’s so cute!” gushed Vivi even as she moved to comfort Ben.  “How’d you teach her to do that?”

“I felt kind of guilty I couldn’t spend as much time with her, and I thought if holding her was good enough…” Arthur trailed off.  “I’m not sure how to keep her from making a mess.”

“Hamster diapers!” proclaimed Sydney.

“I’m not sure that’s a thing,” said Lewis.

Arthur’s head was bowed in thought.  “But maybe I could make something like that…”

“How would that work?” asked Lewis.

“Well, it would need an impermeable outer layer and some sort of absorbent layer.  But Cadence wouldn’t wear it unless it was comfortable so it would need some cloth.  Or maybe I could make it like a pocket liner…” muttered Arthur.

“Wow, you’re serious about that,” said Vivi.

Arthur blinked. “Er…Should I not be?”

“I like the idea,” said Lewis.  “You can bring your cute pets with you everywhere without getting your shirts dirty.”

Sydney nodded. “There’s diapers for birds!” Everyone gave her an odd look. “What?  I saw it on TV once.”

“Sydney…”

“It wasn’t a cartoon.”

“Ah.  Nevermind then.”

Arthur, Vivi, and Mystery felt like they were missing something.