Bad Teacher

“I plan to,” they chuckled. “Right! It’s just so vast and there are SO many galaxies out there, billions of stars and planets with those and just. Ugh. Space is my jam,” they grinned, looking at the other. “Thanks,” Sam said, blushing a little at their little outburst.

Maurice was happy with the answer now all he needed to do was pick something from the menu. He hummed to himself.” No you didn’t you were to busy talking on and on… Maurice but everyone calls me Moe.” 

“Sorry,” Azreal blushed, biting his lip. “I do it for a living, I’m used to just droning on and on. I’ll try to keep it to a minimum. It’s nice to meet you, Moe.”

“oh i bet.” she smiled, nodding along. “we should defiantly have a kitty play date, that is if your handsome boy would be up for it.”

“My handsome boy would love that, he’s a very sociable cat.” Azreal agreed to it very quickly, thinking the idea would be fun, letting his cat make more friends. He needed a few more.

Elisa felt like a proud parent showing her her child, which basically was what she was doing. Elisa didn’t have her own children so she easily saw Wendla as her child. “thank you.” she gushed, her smile wide from cheek to cheek. “oh boy! That sounds like such a beautiful cat. I love Orange cats. They’re so beautiful!” Elisa nodded, not able to believe she was sitting here with a stranger talking about cats.

It made Azreal very happy to be exchanging information about pets. It was one thing, besides work, that he lived for His animals were everything to him right now. “He is a pretty beautiful cat. I love the way his ears fold down, it just makes him so much cuter.”

“she is, here let me show you a picture.” she smiled once more, pulling her phone from her back pocket. “her name is Wendla. She’s three years old.” her eyes fixated on her phone as she opened her photo app, pulling up a photo. “here she is.” she cooed, turning her phone around to show him a picture.

“Oh my god,” He smiled, watching as she got her phone out. As soon as he saw the picture of the cat, his eyes light up. “She really is gorgeous. Now I kind of want one of her. I have an Orange Scottish Fold, but damn, that’s one pretty breed.”

“She’s a Russian blue/Persian mix and she’s so beautiful. She’s basically a long hair Russian blue and I could gush over her all day.” Elisa laughed. She was defiantly not one of those crazy cat ladies, in fact Elisa preferred dogs over cats but there was something about this clay blue cat that tugged at her heart strings.

“Oh wow, I bet she’s gorgeous.” He cooed happily. He loved cats. Not as much as birds, but he still adored them. “What’s her name?” Azreal prodded, glad to be talking about another animal he could actually tolerate. 

“I think it wanted my hot dog more than anything but it was pretty traumatizing.” she laughed, thinking back to that memory. “My aunt had a Macaw growing up and it was so beautiful. She had one of the red ones and I was always fascinated by it and how it talked.” she nodded, still smiling. “I do think I would just stick to my cat. She’s pretty sweet.”

“That’s probably a good guess,” He laughed softly. “Oh those are beautiful, I love the vibrant colors.” He sighed softly, thinking about how beautiful the birds were. He would most definitely be getting one now. “Oh, what kind of cat do you have?”

“that would be nice, maybe you should. If you do let me know, maybe I can make a small donation. I may not like them but I support sanctuaries for animals.” she smiled, her head tilting to the side slightly. “Pigeons freak me out. I had one chase me as a little girl and I’ve never been the same.” she nodded, not able to believe she said that aloud. “If I were to ever own a bird it would probably be a cockatiel or a macaw.”

“That’d be lovely. Maybe I will.” Maybe. There were a little more odds if he already had someone who was willing to donate to it. “Aw, really? Mine are pretty well behaved. One of them likes to peck, but not very hard, and that’s it.” He made a mental note not to bring his pigeons along if he was ever going to see her in the future. “Oh my lord, Macaws are gorgeous. I would love one. I would love any bird, though, they all have their amazing qualities.”

“the more for you then, no?” she nodded, her smile becoming more genuine. “ah, pigeons. You weren’t wrong about the flying rats then.” Elisa laughed. “I would say a cockatiel would be nice.”

“Absolutely. Maybe I’ll start up a little bird and or bat sanctuary.” He knew that would probably never happen, even though he loved the animals. “Nope. Pigeons are little rats with wings. But they’re cute and I love them,” Az laughed, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, it would be. They’re very beautiful. I’d have to make sure they get along with the preexisting birds, though.”

“sounds…nice.” she forced a smile, not really seeing the appeal in having bats as pets. “well what kind of birds do you have?”

“Maybe just to me and a few others. I doubt anyone around here really wants either of them.” He shrugged, knowing full well that that didn’t sound nice to her. “I have three pigeons. I might try and get a cockatiel though. We’ll see.”

“ ‘flying rat babies’? So do you own birds or bats?” She asked with a small laugh

“I’d love to have some bat companions, but for now, just birds. They’re flying rat babies too.”

“I don’t think I could ever have a bird for a pet. Have you see the movie ‘The Birds’? That movie kind of ruined me on birds.”

“Of course I’ve seen ‘The Birds’. But I still love my flying rat babies.”

“I have got an over active imagination sometimes. It’s good for if I ever want to write and direct.” He chuckled before taking a moment to think of all the animals on the reserve. “We take care of wolves, mostly. Then we have chickens for fresh eggs, a couple goats, and a new kitten because our daughter is way too much like her isi.”

“Perhaps you should.” He suggested with a shrug. He wasn’t in any position to give the man suggestions like that though, he hardly knew him. “Oh, wow, that’s amazing. What kind of kitten do you have?” Azreal loved cats. Not as much as birds, but they were definitely his second favorite animal.

“We should build you a pair of mechanical wings for show.” Heikki joked, though to him, the idea seemed cool. “I’m really glad my husband and I have a wolf sanctuary..because if not, I’d probably end up with a small zoo.” He chuckled. “Most people here are a bit more social than back home. I am not used to small talk in line at the grocery store, for instance.”

Azreal couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of him wearing mechanical wings. He would look ridiculous. “I don’t think I’d go that far, but points for creativity.” He smiled. “Do you care for any other animals, or is it just wolves?” He asked curiously, seeing as he mentioned a zoo. “Yeah, I guess we are, huh? Now, I’ve never experienced that, but it sounds horrid.”

“Yeah. I’m just not a fan of pet birds and they aren’t a fan of me. And I’m okay with that,” Sam shrugged. “Distance, yep. I’ll just admire from afar,” they chuckled. “Oh, thanks! I named her that because of my love of space. I had a dog named Sirius, with an old roommate. Just a little theme I’ll probably keep going for the rest of my life,” they grinned.

“Birds are terrifying. Don’t try and convince me otherwise.”

“What do you find so scary about them?”

“Well, that’s true… I mean, I just don’t want my kids to be scared to tell me something, y’know? Even if it means they get in trouble. I never want them to be scared..” He sighed. “That’s very true. I know he wants to be like me, and I think it’s adorable. He’s always right by my side when I’m with the wolves and the wolves think he’s a little cub and they like to preen him and make sure he’s okay.” He laughed at the thought. “Well, I think it’s a unique name. I’ve not met many guys named Azreal before. Hell, I’ve only met one Thanuel.. Only common ones are like Michael, Gabriel, stuff like that.. You’ve got a unique and badass one. And yeah! I can’t remember if he’s a villain or not, but… Also Azrael was the angel of destruction… I was a church kid when I was growing up so..”

“I think it’s kind of inevitable. It’s not like they’d be scared of you. Kids are scared of trouble, that’s all it is.” He smiled softly. “That’s very sweet. Those wolves sound very nice.” Maybe they weren’t so bad after all. But these were domesticated wolves. “It definitely is unique. I haven’t heard that one, though, that’s definitely interesting. That’s pretty awesome. Wait, what? I was a church kid growing up too, I’d never heard of him before...That’s fucking awesome.”