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Post by Shinigami on Feb 20, 2007 0:18:31 GMT -5
There was a bounce to Ebele's step as she wandered from display to display of all of the beautiful plants and flowers. She had been charged with the task of picking out some new plant life for the Physical Therapy center by her boss, a task she was glad for. She had grown sick and tired of the old dying plants, as well as the fake plastic ones that littered the lobby.
Ebele heard a grumble from behind her to accompany the sound of shuffling feet. She turned with a slight smirk to face her brother, who was reluctantly trailing behind her.
Kato glared at his sister. "Don't make that face. This is in no way fun. How can you be having any fun? Some of these damn things are making my nose go crazy."
Ebele just smiled. "You know, you don't have to follow me. I'm a big girl." A snort was her brother's immediate answer before he started muttering. "Yeah, sure. You're too nice for your own damn good." He stopped by a plant Ebele had been admiring. "What the hell is this thing anyway?"
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Post by Demeter on Feb 20, 2007 2:11:24 GMT -5
Quinn scowled at the disorganized display of planters. He'd been asked by the owner of the shop to remain at the shop because that silly high school girl had been fired the day before. And this was the result of hiring that silly girl. Disorganized displays.
When Quinn heard someone ask what the hell something was, he popped his head over the top of the display shelves. The couple had entered the store a few minutes ago, woman bubbling about the merchandise and man grumbling over being in a flower store. Quinn hopped off the stepstool and rounded the corner. "That is a Sansevieria, also know as a Snake Plant or Mother-in-Law's Tounge. Can I help you with anything? Something for your house or yard?"
Quinn knew he was entering dangerous terrirtory. He normally dealt with the customers to the store after they had paid for services rendered. He rarely ever did the selling, just the designing and planting for the landscape costomers. And it rarely helped when he liked the look of a taken man, which this one seemed to be.
Stella leaned against the planting counter and watched as her brother tried to sell stuff. She had the day off the library and her brother's boss rarely minded that she rambled around the store. The boss knew that she would eventually start reoganizing the selection of books he carried.
Stella chomped down a carrot and tried to swallow a giggle. Quinn was really rough around people but he knew his plants. He'd planned on creating new displays with the new shipment of flowers until he noticed the chaos of the planters. And now he was trying to sell houseplants. She let her head tip back when the bell above the door dinged and smiled at the couple that just walked in.
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Post by Maira on Feb 20, 2007 2:52:23 GMT -5
Sanura's day just kept getting weirder and weirder. And finding two strange scents leading into a flowershop was just a minor blip on the radar. Still, she needed to check out the newcomers and make sure they posed no threat to her town.
The all too cheerful 'ding' of a bell ringing right over her head as she followed a couple into the shop nearly made Sanura flinch. Catching herself at the last instant from hissing at the stupid bell, she even managed an almost genuine smile for the woman standing just inside the door. As she walked past the woman, Nemesis surfaced and nearly took over in her excitement, the woman was a cheetah! Turning to look again at the woman Sanura nodded in acknowledgement of one of her own kind, and grinned warmly. She hadn't had a chance to meet the woman before but she now had a face to put with a scent.
Moving farther into the store, stopping periodically to look at some of the plants, mostly cacti as she had a harder time killing those, Sanura finally spotted the pair she came in after. Amazingly enough, they happened to be talking to the other cheetah she had scented before. Like with the woman near the door she'd never actually met the man but she had seen him working here in the store before, so he at least was somewhat familiar.
The couple however were not familiar to her at all, except by the scents she'd caught this morning going into her favorite bakery. Finding those unknown scents had tipped off her whole day and the nice trip to the Pard's sanctuary just outside of town had to be called off. Nemesis had not been pleased, it had been way too long since Sanura had let her out to run.
Not knowing anyway to politely walk up and demand why the strangers were in her town, Sanura grabbed a plant that looked somewhat sick and walked over to the trio. With a look of concern on her face, Sanura asked Quinn, "Excuse me, but do you know what's wrong with this plant? I'd like to buy it but only if its not sick." She knew that talking to Quinn was likely a see-through ploy at getting closer to the strangers but she at least had to show some sort of restraint. Nemesis was making that difficult though, sensing three -more- cheetahs within pouncing distance she wanted to make herself known and get to know them.
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Post by Shinigami on Feb 20, 2007 21:31:24 GMT -5
Ryder growled a warning to Kato just before he heard the male's voice. He turned, unconsciously putting his body between this male's and Ebele, before smiling casually. He was still dressed in his worn jeans, old beat up sneakers, and his logo emblazoned t-shirt from the gym, so he was trying to act as casual as he was dressed. Ryder was growling and grumbling about there being a male within a few feet of Ebele, but Kato shushed him. Ebele smiled as she walked a little closer, Bastet purring with excitement at the prospect of there being another cheetah. "Don't mind my brother. They're beautiful. I was put in charge of getting some new plants for my office. Are they fairly easy to take care of?"
While Ebele was asking her questions, Kato was scenting out the room. He noticed another scent towards the front of the store, but couldn't see around the salesman's tall form to attach a face to the scent. He caught another scent enter the store and raised a brow, wondering how many cheetahs roamed this town. It was looking more and more like they would have to introduce themselves to a local cheetah pack.
Ebele was just ecstatic that there were more cheetahs. And if her senses were correct, there were now three in the store alone. She was enjoying talking to the salesman, even though it was practically -through- Kato, who had wedged himself between them. When another cheetah approached she smiled, tugging on the back of Kato's t-shirt as she saw him tense.
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Post by Demeter on Feb 22, 2007 22:47:14 GMT -5
Stella tilted her head at the woman who followed the couple into the shop. Fisher jumped up from the nap she's been enjoying and screamed Kitty! Stella reined Fisher in and nodded back to the other woman, watching as she zeroed in on the others in the building.
Quinn smiled at the young woman and looked the male up and down. His sister may have been in the building but Stella wouldn't be able to tell that he'd just scanned the very nice body of another man. And said man was the woman's brother. Very Nice. And a cat, Stretch interjected and Quinn stopped himself from sniffing.
"Oh, they are fairly easy to care for. Decent light, plenty of water and they should thrive. They are poisonous so they probably shouldn't be consumed. Excuse me for a moment," Quinn said another costumer popped into the conversation. He glanced at the plant and, mumbling about silly high school girls, looked up at Sanura. "It's just thirsty. The clerk previously in charge of watering the plants slacked off. Some water and a little bit of babying and it should be back to normal."
Quinn glanced around the semi-circle they formed and inhaled deepingly. Cheetahs, all of them. He glanced over his shoulder and grinned at Stella. It was the first time since his return from school that he'd caught the scent of other cheetahs. "Can I help anybody with anything else?"
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Post by Maira on Feb 27, 2007 23:22:07 GMT -5
The small hairs on the back of Sanura's neck rose as she was casually brushed off by Quinn and by essentially being ignored by the strangers. What was she supposed to do now? Meet and greet was normally left up to others in the Pard and now she knew why... She sucked at it.
Nodding her head in thanks to Quinn regarding the plant, Sanura wandered away from the trio, placed the plant back on a shelf and picked up a perky looking cactus. Then, grumbling the whole way about being ignored and brushed off, Sanura made her way back up to the front of the store near the books and, inadvertently, the other female cheetah. She was still muttering when she started rummaging through the new selection of cactus related books looking for one she would like and didn't have yet.
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Post by Shinigami on Feb 28, 2007 18:20:47 GMT -5
Ebele gave a small exasperated look at the back of her brother's head, knowing he could feel her eyes on him. He was being impossible, once again, but she wanted to be able to meet these cheetahs. Kato was too distracted by the -male- within three feet of her. She gave a smile huff before smiling at the nice cheetah salesman. "Thank you. I think I'll wander around a bit to see if I find any others I like."
The hair on the back of Kato's neck rose as he felt his sister's stare, but he ignored it, used to his sister being upset with him for being too protective. He was also preoccupied by the fact that it had appeared as though the salesman had given him a once over. His eyes briefly followed the other woman as she walked away, before flicking back to the male, taking that time to try and get a good whiff without seeming obvious about it. Ryder was rumbling with approval. "So, you know all of these plants pretty well then?"
Even while trying to strike up a conversation, his eyes were flicking around the room, keeping his sister in sight. He was also keeping track of the other cheetahs via scent. Ebele was rolling her eyes as she wandered around the store, amazed at how quickly her brother could go from defensive to interested.
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Post by Demeter on Mar 1, 2007 1:50:48 GMT -5
Stella turned around to face the other cheetah. She watched as the girl flipped through the books, probably looking for one that went with the cactus she held in one hand. Stella flipped her gaze to the group over by the houseplants and rolled her eyes. She sidled up the other woman and smiled at her. "Please excuse my brother. He's rude when he's stuck indoors due to annoying high school girls. I haven't seen you are before. Have you been in town long."
Stella tilted her head and eyed the books. "Trying going one row over and down two. There should be a good book there. My name's Stella, by the way. I don't work here but the owner doesn't mind me organizing the books for him."
Quinn winced when the other woman walked away. He figured she was cheetah, the entire store now smelled like the other cats, but he was more focused on the male standing in front of him. Quinn nodded to the sister, pointing her in the direction of the houseplants, before turning back to her brother. He grinned when Stretch told him to pounce but he held himself back. Even if his sister wasn't in the store poucing and cuddling up to a strange man probably wouldn't be a good idea.
He smiled at the man's question. "Yeah, I know the plants. I'm normally planting them rather then selling them though. I'm the landscape designer for the store. The name's Quinn, by the way."
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Post by Maira on Mar 28, 2007 2:34:33 GMT -5
Sanura had finally found a book she liked the look of and was flipping through it when a voice startled her and she dropped the book with a clatter to the floor. Glaring at the book as it landed, she bent to pick it up and looked up at the woman who had talked to her at the same time. It was the other female cheetah. Oh.
Mirroring her thought of just an instant before, Sanura muttered, "Oh, umm," in responce to the other woman's question then she answered more confidently, "I've been in town for almost a year now and I've been in to the shop on a few occaisions. Normally on those times Quinn hasn't been quite so distracted. I suppose its the others in the store distracting him huh?" Smooth Sanura, smooth! Broaching the topic of the other cheetahs without seeming to beg for information. It was a hell of a lot better than her first, and failed, attempt.
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Post by Shinigami on Mar 28, 2007 23:42:06 GMT -5
Kato smiled as the salesmen, now known as Quinn, introduced himself. He was definitely happy to find that Quinn was willing to make conversation instead of pointing him off after his sister and going about his work. He stuck out his hand for a friendly handshake. "Kato," the response carried the undertone of a purr, influenced by his feline counterpart. He gave is own little once over as he continued. "So, you're more into the heavy lifting and hard work than dealing with all the customers?
Ebele was busy poking around all of the house plants, stopping ever so often to bend down and get a closer look at the plant or read the information printed on the little plastic label. At one point she stopped to think, mapping out what plants would look best where in the physical therapy center.
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Post by Demeter on Apr 19, 2007 0:54:24 GMT -5
Quinn grinned at Kato. "Dealing with the customers is not my strong point. I'm generally much happier being outside, playing in the dirt." He shook the offered hand, angling his body closer to that of Kato's. He knew that from this angle, to Stella it had to look like he was just discussing something plant related with the man. "So, did you just get dragged along by your sister to be cheap labor or would you like to look at something? Anything?" Quinn leaned in a little closer. "I'm the only employee here right now so I can give you my undivided attention in all matters." Quinn hoped that his message was getting across to the other man as he had seen the once over.
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Stella shook her head as she watched Quinn. "He thinks he is so smart," she said to no in particular. She had her ideas about her brother and those ideas included the fact that he seemed more interested in men then women. Not to mention that fact that he rarely had any dates.
Stella turned her attention back to Sanura. "Yeah, there are other, more distracting things in this store then you and me right now, thats for sure " Stella stared up at the ceiling. "So, if you have been in town for a year, why haven't we seen you? We visit the pard but we've never seen you before."
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Post by Shinigami on Apr 20, 2007 22:25:59 GMT -5
Kato smirked, taking in a few deeper breaths as Quinn angled closer, quite taken by the man's scent already. He heard the offer behind Quinn's words, but he just had to figure out how to take advantage of it. After all, he -was- just dragged along. His eyes flicked over towards his sister, watching her fret over plant choices for a second before returning his attention to the male Cheetah. "Well, Ebele seems to think of me as her personal heavy lifter, so I brought for that purpose. I have to be honest... I don't know much about plants, but you could enlighten me"
Ebele looked up from her plant hunting to see if her brother had managed to get himself into trouble, but rolled her eyes as she saw him still flirting with the salesman. She couldn't possibly imagine what the two had in common other than both being Cheetah's. Kato had expressed his hate for plants quite vocally on the way there, especially the ones with strong scents.
She contemplated getting something sickly sweet smelling to punish Kato the next time he came into the physical therapy center. Ebele knew she couldn't do it though, mainly because Kato's hate of smelly plants comes from the way they throw off his sense of smell. He'd never forgive her for that... well, he would, but he'd be a pain in the ass until then.
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Post by Maira on Apr 21, 2007 12:40:04 GMT -5
((ooc: just a little tidbit of info... after re-reading Sanura's bio i've discovered that she found the Pard shortly after her first change. Her first change would have happened when she was 19 or so. So if she's been with the Pard for nearly a year then she is at the oldest 21... Her bio is editted to reflect this and she is now officially the 'baby' cheetah of our group lol!))
Sanura nodded in agreement with Stella's opinion for Quinn being distracted. When the older woman asked why they hadn't seen her before, Sanura answered simply, "I'm not much of a people person. I tend to avoid the bigger gatherings unless they are required and the Pard leaders insist on me being present."
What she didn't mention was that she had asked the Pard leaders a long time ago to alert her if other Cheetahs were coming to the meetings so she could be absent. When she was still new to her change, Sanura wanted to get control of, and get used to, the new side of herself before coming in contact with others of her kind. Being around Pard was easy, Nemesis only got mildly curious but as she found out from today and the other times she'd run into Quinn, being around cheetahs made Nemesis much more active and forceful. She had wanted to avoid any accidental Shifts at all cost.
Since it -had- been just over a year since her first shift and she hadn't lost control to Nemesis upon being surrounded by others of her kind, Sanura decided that maybe it was time to start socializing a bit more. It would be a relief to have other cheetahs to talk to, especially if any of them had been bitten. As that thought came into her mind she quickly dashed part of it. None of the four cheetahs in the shop had been bitten, they were two groups of siblings after all. It wasn't very likely that either pair of siblings had both been bitten which meant it had to be genetic. She gave a mental sigh but added to her previous words a little shakily, "I have been meaning to attend more lately though, being alone is only good for so long..."
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Post by Demeter on May 10, 2007 22:55:42 GMT -5
Stella boosted herself up on one of the checkout counters, being careful not to bump anything, and waved her legs back and forth. "Yeah, lonely is not fun. I hated my college years as nothing fun ever happened and I was the only cheetah in the area. I'm sure you can imagine how much fun that was."
Stella tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling. "So, there is a meeting coming up in a few weeks. Wanna go with us? With Quinn and myself that is. If he isn't otherwise engaged by that time. It would be kinda nice to to know some other people. I've never liked being the odd one out."
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Quinn grinned at Kato. He liked this cat and wanted to know more. He nudged Kato over towards the nearest selection of plants. "I'd be glad to educate you on plants. This, for example, is an african violet," he said while holding up the plant. "It doesn't like having water touch it's leaves. Go ahead and touch the leaves. They are soft and fuzzy."
Quinn held the plant out to Kato, and being that the plant was rather small and in a small planter, he leaned towards Kato in order for him to get a good feel of the fuzzy leaves. "In fact, some of these might be good for your's sister's workplace. I'm sure that there has to be a desk or two and these do make good desk arrangements. And by picking out some plants your sister will probably adore you for a little while. You're involved and interested in her life rather then her heavy lifter."
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Post by Shinigami on Jul 5, 2007 11:59:56 GMT -5
Kato smiled as Quinn leaned closer and held out the plant. He blinked at the familiar smell and sight before his smile grew wider. He reached out and rubbed the fuzzy leaves lightly. "African Violet, you say? We called them Saintpaulia when we were little."
Kato felt a little pang of longing for the open plains of Africa they used to call home. He also remembered visiting other tribes in the jungles, which is where he and Ebele found the Saintpaulia flowers. He was sure Ebele hadn't seen them in the store yet, or she would have squealed. "I'm sure my sister would adore me for a -long- time if I showed her these. We were born and mostly raised in Africa, and these were her favorites."
He took his eyes away from the flowers and glanced back at Quinn with a bit of a hopeful look. "You have anything else from Africa?"
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Post by Demeter on Jul 15, 2007 2:02:10 GMT -5
Quinn grinned, glad that the violets were a hit. "I'm not sure that we have anything else in stock at the moment. I normally harrass the woman in charge of the stock on a daily basis to order the plants that my clients want." Quinn spoke while he went through the selection of African Violets, selecting the healthy looking ones.
"I'm pretty sure that I can order some Kaffir Lilies, some Asparagus Ferns, maybe some Aroid Palm, maybe some African Fern Pines." Quinn moved on from selecting plants to picking out the right sort of pots for the violets. Larger pots would give the plants plenty of room to grow. He slanted a glance towards Kato and smiled. "So, you're originally from Africa? Why did you come over here? "
After selecting the pots, Quinn plunked the violets down in the pots and grinned at Kato. "Why don't you call your sister over, show her what you found and that we are capable of speical ordering other plants native to Africa. We even provide a weekly care service for the plants."
Quinn took two steps backwards and pretended to be interested in the arrangement of empty pots on the shelf. "Go ahead and take the credit for yourself."
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Post by Shinigami on Jul 19, 2007 11:23:09 GMT -5
Ryder was purring at the thought of being surrounded by plants from back home. Kato was equally excited and watched as Quinn picked out Saintpaulias and pots. He actually caught himself plotting out what it would look like to put a few exotic African plants around the gym, but quickly pushed the idea away... he'd let Ebele talk him into it later instead of bringing it up himself.
When he heard Quinn question him about why he left Africa he had a bit of a sad smile on his face. After all, he had been the one who had fought the most when they were told they were being movied to the states. "Our parents decided we'd get a better education here, so they sent us to live with a relative. They were right, of course, we did get a better education, but I still miss running on the plains."
Kato smiled when Quinn suggested he call his sister over and take the credit. Of course, she would know he didn't do it all on his own. He may have been able to find the Saintpaulias, but getting the right pots for them and picking out the best ones? No... he was incapable of that. But he'd try. He caught Ebele checking on him and waved her over.
Ebele rolled her eyes and walked over, taking notice of the fact that Quinn had backed away some. She figured he either got defensive and talked him off or he was up to something. "What did you do?" Kato rolled his eyes, almost a mirror image of his sister's. "Why do you think I've done something jsut because I called you over? As a matter of fact, I found something for your office. Something you'll love. Look."
He turned her towards the Saintpaulias and pointed to them. She locked eyes with her favorite plant and hesitated just long enough for Kato to put his hands over his ears before she let out a squeal of joy. It was still loud, and he was sure the whole store had heard her. "Saintpaulias! Kato, did you really find these?! They look so nice... the salesman must have helped you..."
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Post by Demeter on Aug 7, 2007 14:12:53 GMT -5
Quinn whinced as Ebele squealed. He could only grin when she claimed that he must have helped. "I may have helped, ma'am but he's the one who said that you not only like these plants but that you were from Africa and that you would probably enjoy being surrounded by plants from your homeland."
Okay, so he might have been exagerating just a bit but it never hurt. Besides, if he had a contract with the company that Ebele worked for, and if she came here on a regular basis knowing that the store had access to more exoitc plants, he'd get to see Kato more often. "As I was telling your brother, I can order several different varieties of plants from Africa and I can provide care for them. Tell me what I can do for you."
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Post by Maira on Aug 20, 2007 13:25:58 GMT -5
Sanura nodded her head and answered quietly, "I think I'd like that." She wasn't sure why she was suddenly so nervous around this other cheetah but her nerves were now stretched to the breaking point. She needed to get out of the store soon and go for a run.
She had gotten enough of a feeling from the two new cheetahs that they weren't here to cause problems and that was really the only reason she had come in in the first place. Picking up her cactus and the book she'd picked out, Sanura asked the woman sitting on the check-out counter, "So do you work here or do you just perch on random counters? I need to get going so I kinda gotta pay for these." Okay, maybe it wasn't the most tactful way of extricating herself from the store and the woman's company but Sanura and Nemesis were both getting seriously antsy.
((ooc: could we possibly play with the timeline? maybe skip to the next pard meeting and have all five of them there?))
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Post by Shinigami on Aug 24, 2007 20:32:18 GMT -5
((ooc - okay, knocking the timeline up a bit to the next pard meeting. Don't know how good this'll be...))
Kato and Ebele weren't sure what to think when they first approached the Pard when they were all collected for one of their meetings. He had wanted to greet them earlier, when there wouldn't be so many of them around, but Ebele had insisted on waiting until then. Once they were through the door Ebele was off, introducing herself and socializing. Kato stuck to her for a short while, also introducing himself when given the chance, but he was much calmer about it. At least on the outside.
Ebele and Bastet were in heaven, reveling in the scent of all the cats in the room. While Ebele loved her brother, she missed having the tribe around, so to be able to mingle with the Leopards was a dream. Kato wanted to stick my his sister and make sure she didn't get into trouble. Ryder, however, was intent on convincing him to go on the hunt for Quinn. He liked that male, and wanted get acquainted with his feline side. Ryder won out in the end.
Kato had been back to the flower shop two more times after the first time Ebele had dragged him in. The girl had brought up putting plants in the gym, as he knew she would, but then she surprised him with the idea of getting them for his own apartment as well. He had agreed, obviously. It gave him the pleasure of being surrounded by familiar plants that didn't irritate his nose, plus it gave him the opportunity to meet with Quinn in the future.
Unfortunately both man and beast were at an utter loss when trying to root through the crowd for any of the Cheetahs they had met, let alone Quinn. It didn't help to be surrounded by a much larger group of Leopards, either. All of the different scents were driving Kato and Ryder wild and drove poor Kato out back to take in some fresh air.
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