[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Gabriel sighed, as he peered over the edge of his sunglasses at the bright, shining walls of the building. He loathed shopping, more than he could say, and the fact that he had been forced to come to Aldrect of all places was infuriating. All it would take would be for one person to spot his little problem, and he would be chased out of the gates - it had happened before.

It wasn't even his fault; nobody blamed people who woke up one morning with an illness. He hadn't chosen this life; one moment he was lying in a coffin, the next he was climbing out of the morgue, with people screaming as they ran.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He sighed again, and carefully kicked his shoes on tighter. That was the problem, really; everything just tended to slide off him. Clothing, fur, necrotic tissue... there was nothing he could do about it, save wearing lots of layers and hoping nobody noticed the smell too much.

But yes, shopping... he entered the building and picked up a woven basket, eyes scanning all around to check the shortest possible route which avoided the most people. He drew a list out of his pocket, squinted at it, and sighed; today was going to be awful.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Gabriel glanced down the aisle; there were only a handful of people in it, but the big bumper pack of bandages on the shelf appeared to be the last one. Quick as a flash, he hopped down the aisle and grabbed it, just as a very large and scaly male hydrolisk took hold of the other side.

"Oi! I saw it first!" the hydrolisk declared, pulling the pack towards him. Gabriel tried to let go, but he wasn't fast enough!

"Aaaaaaagh" the hydrolisk cried, as Gabriel's paw continued to clutch the pack even as it separated from his arm.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Y-you have it mate!" cried the terrified hydrolisk as he tossed the pack at Gabriel, before he ran down the aisle, shoving people aside in his haste to get away. Gabriel could hear the cacophony he made as he left the shop, even knocking down a display stack of preserves in jars.

He sighed, picked the pack up off the floor, and put it in the basket on his arm. As he walked down the aisle, he tried to discreetly re-attach his paw, but upon looking up, it was clear that he had not succeeded. An old lady was staring at him from across the aisle, frozen in fear.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He waved his detached paw at her merrily, before tucking it into his pocket and walking rapidly away from the gibbering old woman who had now dropped her shopping, and was praying to Zu'hai. Gabriel sighed; he could never understand why people insisted he was demonic.

Demons existed, of course; moonlings were a prime example, and there were always reports of giant monsters in the swamp. The point was that he had been gifted with a second... life, of sorts, and it wasn't like he was going to waste that, especially on eating people who didn't taste all that good to begin with.

He paused his thoughts as he struggled to pick up a jar of walnuts, before realising that his paw was still in his pocket, and switching to the other one.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

And it wasn't as though he really bothered anyone, he thought, as he scanned the shelves for the bundle of dried alsaman herb that was next on his list. He rarely went out, except when send on errands, and he didn't use his issue for his advantage.

He didn't even see how he could use it for his benefit he thought, trying once again to re-attach his paw (which had now realised it didn't want to be re-attached, thank you very much, and skipped away from him before darting round a young Tali with her mother. He apologised as he ran past the now screaming child, scooped up his paw, and hurried to the next aisle. He groaned, realising he had forgotten to pick up the alsaman and the lemongrass; he would have to do it at the end.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Gabriel looked at his list wistfully; it still looked much too long. At least it was all in the same building, which was a relief compared to last time.

He carefully skirted around the Leplora who was reaching for the packet of lentils on the top shelf, and grabbed the one beside it. He winced when he saw her sniff the air and glare at him. It was always so embarrassing when that happened; the long trenchcoat he wore apparently wasn't doing it's job.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Gabriel forced his paw onto the end of his arm, and darted around the shop as quickly as he could, filling his basket steadily.

At least he hadn't scared any more shoppers, he thought, as carefully placed the bottle of milk into the basket. Evidently he thought too soon, as the basket crashed to the floor (taking his forearm with it). Clearly he had overestimated the strength of his elbow joint.

He sighed and bent down to grab his arm, before beginning to pick up the pieces of his shopping; at least nothing important had broken this time.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Can I help you there hun?" a voice said from beside him, and a pretty female Diosol appeared in his vision. Gabriel winced; surely this female had seen what had happened to him?

"I'm fine, thank you" he said as politely as he could manage, whilst trying not to let his smell escape too much. He really didn't want her to run away screaming; he was almost done with his shopping, and it would be annoying to be asked to leave now. He sighed as his paw dropped off again, landing in the pool of milk on the floor and beginning to skate on it.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"It's always hard shopping around the normals, isn't it?" she said, as she picked up his paw, wiped it on her dress, and handed it over to him. Gabriel gaped at her; looking closer, he could see the stitches and the little bouts of steam rising from the back of her neck.

"How do you cope with it?" he asked, as he accepted his paw and jammed it onto his wrist again.

"Honestly, I like to advertise it - it makes it a lot easier to get to the things I want!" she said, and smiled at him. "Good luck with your shopping, and look me up if you would like a hand!"

She giggled as she left, and Gabriel was so dumbstruck he went straight to the checkout, not realising what he had forgotten until he had left the store.

"Alsaman and Lemongrass!" he cursed, as he turned to go back into the shop.