Leon balanced the tree against the door so he could reach for the doorknob, only for the door to swing open. Cursing under his breath, he barely caught the tree before It fell on the person…err raccoon on the other side. How a raccoon could even reach the doorknob was beyond him, but he had learned to stop questioning anything having to do with D's pet shop, most of the time.

"Thank you Pon-chan." The raccoon chittered happily at him and moved to the side as Leon dragged the tree inside the store.

"Hey, D, here's your tree!" A multitude of noises responded to his voice, not all of them friendly. Animals peaked into the stairwell; some of the more daring approached him.

"Ow!" Leon swiped a hand at the ugly brown bird clinging for dear life to the pear tree as it pecked his hand yet again. The nursery owner had said it was a partridge or something, though he had no idea where it came from.

"My dear detective, I wasn't expecting you back so soon." D finally made his appearance, practically gliding into the stairwell.

"Yeah whatever. Just do something with the bird before I wring its neck!"

D tilted his head when he saw the bird, which had landed on Leon's head. "I did not request a bird, detective."

"It came with the tree. The nursery gave me a good deal because this pest was harassing their customers. I figured you'd be able to talk some sense into it and send it on its way."

D held out a hand and of course the bird hopped on over to him. Leon swore he felt something left behind on his head. He'd have to shower before going into work.

"Strange. His kind is not native to America. I wonder how he ended up in the nursery."

Leon was dubiously feeling his hair for bird droppings. "Well, put him in a box and ship him back to wherever he came from." The bird made a rude noise and flapped its wings in protest.

"Mm. Yes, I agree. You should apologize detective."

Leon rolled his eyes. "Ok. Fine, we'll poke breathing holes in the box."

"That was not an apology." D scratched under the bird's chin, calming it. It still glared at Leon as he lifted the tree up to carry it into the front room of the pet store.

"That thing should apologize to me for poking a hole in my hand."

"He was only protecting his tree."

"You're the one who wanted the tree. I just picked it up for you. And why in the world did you need a pear tree in December? Most people are buying Christmas trees this time of year." Leon set it down purposely on the fancy Oriental rug. He glanced over at D who was doing his animal communicating thing with the bird and paying him no attention. Leon frowned at this. He did the man a favor and gets ignored! D should be cooing over him….wait, no. Leon shook his head. Not again. He had promised himself he would stop having such thoughts. D was a guy, no matter how he looked at it. Leon liked women, only women.

"Detective, could you put the tree in the back room. I'm going to find some seeds for my guest."

Leon grumbled under his breath.

"What was that, my dear detective?"

"Nothing. I have to get going or I'll be late to work."

"Very good, detective." D pet the Partridge sitting on his forearm and with a nod turned away from him. The brown bird continued to glare at him. Leon sighed. Figures another animal added to the collection that hates him.