The New Addition
Author's Note- As we all know, or should know, Lance bought a ferret in the summer of 2000 and named it Dirk. That should be enough information. Enjoy! Note- this is NOT Lance's ferret!
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"Hey guys, I'll meet you back here okay? I wanna check out the pet shop," Lance said, starting to go off in a separate direction from the other members of Nsync.
"Why?" Justin asked simply, his blue eyes searching Lance.
"I just do," Lance smiled, trying not to act guilty. "I wanna pick out Busta's birthday present."
"You never have before," Chris huffed. "I had to buy something for you."
"Well this time I remembered," Lance said. "I'll see you guys later."
"Come on," J.C. said, pulling Justin along down the hallway. "Leave him alone."
'Thanks,' Lance mouthed as J.C. glanced back at him. Joey and Chris rolled their eyes at him then took off to another part of the mall. Lance started towards the pet store alone. He just wanted to look around for a bit without the other's criticism. He loved Busta and was envious of the relationship between the Pug and Chris. Lance missed not having a pet. He didn't even have any intention of buying a pet today, but he just wanted to look around for a little while by himself.
Lance was aware that pet stores often got their dog and cats from puppy mills, and he was not about to buy and dog and support the evil chain of torture. He was proud of Chris for rescuing Busta and Korea from the shelter like he did, and that's a feeling Lance wanted to share. He loved rescuing animals. Even if they were just pet shop animals.
Lance wandered past the puppies with out looking at them. He hated seeing the dogs locked up behind glass with no human contact. It broke his heart every time, and he had learned to avoid them. He continued to the back of the store and stopped in front of the gerbils, mice and hamsters.
Mentally he crossed out mice because of their tails, and hamsters because of their rumored tempers. He bent in front of the glass cage and looked at the active gerbils. "Hey there," he smiled, putting his finger against the glass in front of a gray and white gerbil. "One or two of you would be fun to have around," he said to the large female gerbil.
Lance then realized he was talking out loud and straightened up. He continued down the wall, stopping next in front of the open-topped rabbit display. Inside, a large chocolate colored rabbit hopped along side a black and white spotted one, while a third gray rabbit slept in the corner. Lance reached in and pet the sleeping rabbit, which opened one eye and regarded Lance as harmless then went back to sleep. 'Rabbits would be cool too,' he thought, imagining having a little rabbit hop along after him, following him everywhere, sleeping on a pile of towels on the floor…then the image of Busta killing it made Lance continue on his way quickly.
Next he came to the birdcages. Lance studied all the fidgety Zebra Finches and lovebirds. Parakeets and Cockateils of all colors flew in the cage before him, and Lance tried to determine whether or not the never ending cooing and chirping of the talkative birds would be enough to drive the others insane or not.
Sighing, Lance side stepped again, and found himself standing in front of what looked to be an empty cage. The only items inside were a blue hammock, and food and water bowel, and a big ball of fluff. Lance looked on the outside of the cage and read the price tag. "Common Ferret, $500. Cage included." Lance looked in the cage again. 'Never thought about a ferret,' he thought. Suddenly the hammock began to move, and the ferret poked his head out and looked directly at Lance.
The ferret truly was common; it bore the classic markings of black around the eyes and nose, with a light brown colored body. It's long whiskers twitched as it blinked its big brown eyes at Lance.
Lance laughed. "Hi there," he said, sticking his finger through the cage bars.
The ferret pulled its long body out of the hammock and came over to sniff Lance's fingers.
"Would you like help with anything?" a woman asked from behind Lance.
Lance jumped and turned around. "Uh, yeah, the ferret."
"Sure," she replied, moving around Lance to open the cage. "This guy has been here for awhile. I imagine he feels pretty lonely right now."
The employee handed Lance the ferret. Lance took it carefully, handling it a little awkwardly at first. The ferret was light and very cat like. Lance fell in love with it's soft, silky fur. Instead of fighting to get down, the ferret remained perfectly happy in Lance's arms. The curious animal sniffed Lance's chest and explored the pockets in Lance's shirt.
"Have you ever owned a ferret?" the women asked, looking at how Lance was cradling the animal like a baby.
"Nope," Lance replied, briefly looking at her with his light green eyes.
"Well they're very curious," the women said. "They'll get into everything. They're little clowns, and they're very trainable. They're also very sociable. Most people buy two."
Lance recognized a sale pitch when he heard one. "I think I'll only have room for one," he said as the little warm body curled up against him. He looked down at the lovable animal. He was having a hard time saying no to the little guy. It was so adorable, and he could see himself training it and having a great time with it. It was small enough to travel with him, and big enough to have control over, unlike a rodent.
"Tell you what," said the saleswomen. "He's been here a while. How about I knock off a hundred dollars?"
Now Lance knew deep down he would be walking out of the store with the ferret. "I don't know," he sighed. "What do they eat?"
"We carry a brand of bagged food, but they'll also eat fruit and vegetables. They're very adaptable."
Lance stroked the ferret's soft fur, feeling it breath steadily against his stomach. It trusted Lance already, just off of a quick check out with it's sensitive nose. Lance sighed. "Okay, I'll take it."
"Okay," the women said, gently prying the ferret out of Lance's grasp and returning it to the cage. "Then just follow me to the register and we'll get you all set up."
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Lance made his was back to the meeting place and set the four-foot cage down next to him to wait. His total had gone back up to five hundred dollars after buying all the other equipment that his new pet would need. The ferret watched curiously as people passed by in front of it. Lance looked down at it lovingly; hoping the other's would fall in love with it as easily as he did.
Luckily for him, Chris was the first to return. He sat down next to lance and looked in the cage. The ferret scampered over to greet the newcomer, and stuck it's nose in between the cage bars. Lance watched as Chris stuck out his hand for the ferret to smell, smiling as the mild mannered ferret gave his fingertips little wet kisses.
Lance watched Chris with hopeful eyes. If he could persuade Chris that the ferret was a good idea, then the others would be a piece of cake. "So…" he started, looking at Chris with big green eyes.
"You bought a ferret," Chris finished, scratching it's head.
"Yeah, kinda," Lance said.
"How much was he?" Chris asked, still not looking at Lance.
"I paid about five hundred for everything," Lance said.
Chris flinched. "Huh."
"I think he likes you."
Chris smiled. "I guess he would be kinda fun to have around."
"Thanks," Lance smiled. "I'm glad you like him. I just saw him and I couldn't resist."
"I know the feeling," Chris said.
"Listen," Lance said, "Can you help me with the others? I want them to like him."
"I'll see what I can do," Chris said. "Here they come."
Lance and Chris turned to watch the others approaching. "Hey guys," Chris smiled when they began whispering about Lance's cage.
"What's this?" Joey asked, going around to the front of the cage.
"This is the newest addition to the Nsync family," Chris said, raising up the cage.
"What is that?" Justin asked. "Looks kinda like an overgrown rat."
"It's a ferret," Chris replied. "They're highly intelligent. Extremely curious."
"How much did it cost?" J.C. asked skeptically.
"Three hundred," Chris lied.
"Huh."
Joey laughed as the ferret gasped his fingers with it's tiny claws. "I think he likes me," Joey smiled.
Lance looked at Chris with a bright smile. "So you guys like him?"
"Yeah, it's cool." Justin said, watching Joey play with the ferret through the cage.
"Well, let's take him home," Lance said, picking up the cage.
The others followed him, starting to feel excited about having a new pet.
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"So what's his name?" J.C. asked, watching the ferret climb up Joey's chest.
"I think I'll call him Dirk," Lance replied.
"It's a good ferret name," Justin said.
"Okay guys, here comes Busta!" Chris yelled from the other room. They had waited to introduce the two animals until the ferret got a feel for the hotel room. They hoped everything worked out between the two, or they would have to be extra careful not to let them get close to each other.
Chris walked Busta in the room, keeping the excited Pug on a leash. Busta had obviously already smelt the ferret by the way he was acting, and Chris was slightly worried Busta would view the ferret as lunch.
Busta pulled on his leash, straining to get to the ferret. Busta began gagging but his tail never stopped wagging, so Chris kept advancing to where the ferret was perched on Joey's shoulder, watching the dog wearily. Dirk made his way down Joey's chest and walked out to his knee, leaning over and trying to smell the dog. Busta barked, and Dirk flinched but stood his ground.
"I think Dirk likes Busta," J.C. noted.
"But does Busta like Dirk?" Lance asked.
Chris inched his way forward, slowly allowing Busta to approach the ferret. Once Busta was able to touch Dirk, the small dog smelt him all over, not once trying to bite the ferret. Chris sighed and dropped the leash. "Well that's a relief," he said.
The guys watched the dog and the ferret interact, smelling each other and becoming acquainted. Dirk was as long as Busta was but built low to the ground. He reminded Justin of a snake with fur and legs.
Busta barked once and sank his chest to the floor, doing a play bow. His curled tail wagged furiously on his back, inviting the ferret to play with him. Dirk froze, watching Busta with curious eyes. Then the ferret reached out a paw, slapping Busta on the ear. Busta barked again and took off after the ferret, chasing him under the bed.
Lance watched the worriedly. "Chris, if your dog eat my ferret, I swear-"
"They're just playing," Chris smiled. Sure enough, Busta and Dirk emerged from under the bed. Busta had a hold of Dirk's tail, following the ferret as it ran to Lance and quickly scaled his leg. Busta let go of the ferret and looked up at Lance, as if asking to play with Dirk.
Lance pet Dirk and looked over the ferret. "Well I guess they do like each other," he said.
"Damn, so we're keeping it?" Justin teased.
"Yeah," Lance replied.
"Man, I was really looking forward to deep frying that thing!"
Finish!
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