[amapup]

Suddenly the Maze faded away from Santa...

And he was left standing behind a building, a trash can nearby. The Baskerville looked around, confused. What am I doing here? Looking up, he saw the sky above him. This certainly isn't a simulation. He shrugged. Perhaps there had been a programming glitch or something. Oh well, he'd come to stock up on food, and he was going to do that one way or another. Walking out into the street, he looked around. Nobody seemed to be out yet. He turned and padded down the street, the usual look on his face in anticipation of meeting someone. Which he ultimately would.

[HunnyBun]

Valor yawned and stretched like a lying cat stretched. His claws fully exposed as he reached out to nothing. He stood up and stretched his back side. He loved being such a large and menacing beast, nothing bothered him as he took naps in the middle of the street. He sighed, it was time he buggered off and found a new napping spot. He shook his fur, ruffling it up as the light hit it. It felt good, nothing could ruin a day like today.

[amapup]

Santa heard something next to one of the buildings. Maybe they had something he could use? Or help him out? It seemed worth a try. He walked over, turning to see what was down there... only to quickly turn his head in the other direction. It was a Khimera. But that wasn't the problem. Red. A lot of it, too. There had been the flash of hatred just before he turned as well, though it wasn't aimed at the beast himself. Red. Great. "Hi," he said, an undertone in his voice, as he did the best he could not to look at the cat. It was awkward.

[HunnyBun]

Valor turned his head quickly to see the Baskerville, strange thing didn't even look at him as he spoke.
"You alight?" He asked.
He wondered if the thing had something wrong with it. Valor shrugged, maybe it was shy and wanted to ask him something.
"What do you want?" He asked, walking closer to him.

[amapup]

Was he alright? Santa didn't know the answer to that question, or whether he should even try to answer that question. He turned his head slightly, trying to be more polite, but quickly turned it back as the Khimera approached him. He couldn't do that. Squinching his eyes closed as tight as he could, he turned his head down towards the ground, facing in front of himself. There. "Sorry," he said slightly gruffly, his tail swinging slightly. "Do you know of a place where I could get KS or food?"

[HunnyBun]

Valor stopped and raised his head when the Baskerville once again acted funny. He then leaned his head down to listen in to what he had to say.
"Hm, well, I have some KS if you need food. We can stop at a dinner, just down the road?" He suggested.
He wondered why the Baskerville wouldn't look at him. Was there something on his face? He patted his face with one of his paws. No, he didn't feel anything. Maybe it was him, maybe he didn't like Khimera's? Valor backed off a bit, giving him some space.

[amapup]

The Mauler's ears perked at the suggestion. "A diner?" He considered it. He'd be dealing with people, but he probably would be anyways... "That sounds good. Thanks." If Santa could look at the Khimera, he wold have given it a smile. But as circumstances were, he couldn't. He heard the Khimera shuffling around, and he felt bad. He was trying to be nice to him, and Santa couldn't even look at him. Not that he'd be looking at him much even if he COULD look at him, but it would be better than this... the feline deserved to know. "It's not you. It's just-"the Baskerville paused, clearing his throat- "Instinctual hatred of red. Can't help it."

[HunnyBun]

Valor raised his head, one of his eyebrows slowly raising.
"Hatred towards red?" He asked.
He nodded, he wished he could change his colors to help make the Baskerville feel more comfortable. But as it was, he could do that.
"I'm sorry, but I can not change my colors, but I can leave if you wish?" He asked.
He wasn't one to be known for being nice, but he wasn't alway so bad.

[amapup]

Santa shook his head. "No, no, that wouldn't be right.You're fine." He felt bad; he didn't want people to feel like they had to leave him alone. But what could he do? He could try just opening his eyes and getting over it, but all his mind would be able to concentrate on would be the red. And the cat was completely red. He was too scared he'd go berserk again...

"Besides you, is there any other red around?"

[HunnyBun]

Valor looked around, but didn't see any red. Red wasn't a common color, so he was sure there wouldn't be much of it.
"No, there's no other red." He said, shaking his head.
He wondered if there was any way he could cover his read, thought it would be a bit hard seeing as his entire body was red. He sighed, there was no way he could do it. So he figured the Baskerville would have to just not look at him.
"Here, why don't you lead to the diner, I will tell you where to do?" Valor suggested, trying to find ways he didn't have to see him.

[amapup]

Santa shifted into his human form, turning his head and opening his eyes. This should work better for the diner. His white hair stood out, although it was its natural color, not premature graying. Even though he was looking away, Valor would probably still have a glimpse of the Baskerville's hollowed face. "That should work, I guess," he said. There wasn't really much other option. A thought suddenly struck him. Names! " My name's Santa; sorry I didn't say so earlier." Looking up at the sky, he noticed that there were some gray clouds in the distance. Hopefully they weren't heading their way.

[HunnyBun]

Valor watched as the dog changed into a man. He sighed, pets these days never stay pets for long. He sat down, if they weren't going to leave just yet, then he was going to give his paws a rest.
"Names Valor." He replied.
He looked up to see what the Baskerville was looking at. It wasn't interesting, not in the slightest.

(( Valor doesn't have a human form...or at least, I never gave him one ))

[amapup]

(that's fine, most of my pets don't have human forms either. he's just one of the few I had to give one. his is more for convenience than preference, though.)

He sat down, seeing as Valor had as well. "Nice to meet you, Valor." he said. He was slightly surprised that there was no comment about his name; most people usually teased him for it, or asked why he would be named that. It had nothing to do with Santa Claus, though. He tried to keep his head at least perpendicular to the Khimera, so as not to appear completely rude. It was hard, though, trying to do that and not look at him at the same time. It was awkward... as it always was in this situation.

[HunnyBun]

Valor looked at him through the corner of his eye. It seemed he tried to not seem so rude. Valor didn't care, people were never nice to him. He wondered if he should try to have a human form? What it would be like? And maybe he wouldn't have any red, so that Santa could actually look at him. He wasn't sure, but for now he just wanted to take a minute and think to his self.

[amapup]

A tin can dropped on top of Santa's head. "Ow," he said, picking up the can. The was a red label on it. The Baskerville rolled it away from himself, not bothering to watch it as the small flash of hatred faded from his eyes. He looked above him to a balcony a few stories up. Some people were so rude. He remembered stories of bull fights, and how they used red cloth to anger them because they hated red. That was actually a misconception, but Santa felt a little bit like those bulls. Except noone was trying to kill him. At least as far as he knew.