When Lazar looks up, after hearing the bell over the front door to his shop ring, the old man smiles when he sees a 16 year-old boy enter and start to look around the shop, an amazed expression on the boy’s face. Lazar mumbles a little spell, which causes him to receive information about the boy, he learns that the boy is named Jeff Davis, a 16 year-old boy who enjoys doing sports like Basketball, Soccer, Running and climbing, so it is no surprise that Jeff has a well trained athletic body. Lazar also learns that the boy is straight and in a relationship with a girl named Janet Thomas, who is 15. Other than that, Lazar does not receive any further information, the boy seems to have no desires, so Lazar knows that Jeff would be the wrong person to “gift” one of his special suits from the back room. All Lazar is able to gather from the boy is his family situation, that he has a younger brother named Dean and other basic information. Lazar lets out a silent disappointing sounding sigh, he then gets up from his seat and walks over to Jeff, “hello, young man,” he says, smiling, “welcome to my shop, can I help you with something,” he then asks.
Jeff does not notice the man walking up to him as he checks out some of the costumes, when Lazar speaks up, Jeff lets out a surprised yelp and jumps a little, quickly turning around to find the old man standing behind him, “Je-Jesus, dude,” the boy manages to say, “I… I’m to young to suffer a heart attack!”
Lazar chuckles, “he… sorry, hold habits die hard,” he says, “anyway, back to my question,” he then says.
“Oh… nah,” Jeff says, “I’m just looking around. You know, a friend of mine is turning 17 and he is planning to through a costume party. So, I’ve been in every costume shop in town, I haven’t found anything that amazes me, every costume I saw looked so… lame and boring. Then I stumbled upon your shop, when I saw the amazing looking fursuits in the window, I just had to check it out!”
Lazar smiles, “I see,” he says, “so, you are looking for an animal costume to wear for the party? Anything particular?”
Jeff nods, “I really like dogs, especially German Shepherds, Malinois Shepherd, Labrador Retrievers,” the boy says, “but, so far, I couldn’t find any costume that resembles one of those breeds. And after I saw some price tags… I doubt I’ll be able to afford one anyway,” he continue, sounding sad and disappointed.
Lazar thinks for a while, he then gets an idea, a smile appearing on his face, “I think I can help you out with that,” he says, “follow me, I’ll show you to the dog section”.
Curiously Jeff follows the old man towards the dog costumes, the boy’s eyes widen when he sees the costumes. They don’t look as realistic as the ones in the back, which Jeff hasn’t noticed, but the normal costumes still look pretty realistic. “Wow, they all look amazing,” the teen says, “must take a long time to make them. So, I’m not surprised that they are so expensive! Good quality has its price!”
Lazar chuckles, “yeah,” he says, “so, what breed would you prefer?”
Jeff looks at all the different costumes, every single known dog breed is here, from a Chihuahua to a huge Bernese. “Could I have a minute to look through them,” he asks.
Lazar nods, “sure, I’ll be at my counter,” he says, “just call when you have found the right costume”.
Jeff nods, “thanks, mister,” he says.
Lazar smiles, “no problem, please call me Lazar,” he says, he then turns around and heads back to his counter.
After Lazar left, Jeff turns back to the costumes, “man, they all look amazing,” he says, he then starts to look through the suits, “let’s see if I can find one that resembles one of my favorite breeds,” he mumbles. Jeff looks through all the hangers, not finding a suit that resembles one of his favorite breeds, the boy slowly feels disappointment raise in him as he turns to the last hanger, “last chance… I hope this hanger holds one of my favorite breeds”. The teen looks through the costumes, then his eyes widen and a huge smile appears on his face, the last suit on the hanger resembles one of his favorite breeds. Jeff takes the suit carefully from the hanger and holds it out in front of himself, “yes! This is the one,” he says.
As Jeff holds the suit, he feels a strange tingling sensation in his fingers, but he pays it no attention, unaware to Jeff, the suit resembling his favorite breed, is one of the suits which has been infected by Lazar’s magic. The second Jeff had touched the suit, the suit started to feed off of the boy’s energy, which in return gave it “life”, ‘feel empty… need body…,’ the suit starts to think to itself, it then senses the boy holding it, ‘wear me…’.
Jeff is unaware of the danger he is in, the teen looks at the price tag, and the excitement on his face quickly turns to dread and sadness, “I… I can’t afford it,” he says, hanging the suit back.
When the suit senses the boy hanging him back, and feeling the energy subside, it shouts, ‘NO… WEAR ME… DON’T WANT… TO FALL… INTO DARKNESS! FEEL COLD… DON’T WANT… TO FEEL… COLD! NEED WARM…,’ Jeff, of course, does not hear the suit as he walks to the counter where Lazar is waiting.
Lazar looks up and smiles at Jeff, “found anything,” he asks.
Jeff nods, “yeah… but… I won’t be able to afford it”.
“Show me the costume,” the old man says.
Jeff looks confused, but follows the old man back to the dog costumes, he then points at the suit he had found, “that one”.
Lazar looks at the suit Jeff is pointing at, “what a beautiful …,” he says, with a smile.