fandomtownies | Red's: The sign says Open

Red's: The sign says Open

Red was busy in his shop. New inventory, rearranging, stocking, inking, piercing...it was all going on, which was good. He liked a booming business because it meant he could keep his doors open.

Fandom Town wasn't such a bad place and he hoped to stay settled here for some time.

The door open to let in the fresh air, the cubs left upstairs in his flat for the moment, Red enjoyed the cool breeze that blew through as he sat at the counter and read his Flash magazine.

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Jake wandered past, on his way to the school after dropping off the candy bag for Duce at the Efferton Manor. She paused outside the shop and eyed it thoughtfully.

Watching the young girl walk by his shop, Red paused in reading his magazine and flicked his tail casually in a wave.

She narrowed her eyes, pondering a little more, then walked over to big red cat-dog-person. "Hey, this your place?"

Putting down his mouthstick used to turn pages, Red nodded. "This is my place. I'm Red," he said with a toothy smile.

"No kidding? I'm Jake. I was wondering... Do you have anything in piercings or something that healers can use? I tried piercing my ear once, but it didn't take." Jake didn't need it for herself, but it could come in handy in a change. There were things Jake believed in preparing for, and possible changes was one of them.

"Healers...as in, someone who can heal and ends up healing their piercing holes?" Red asked with a cock of his head.

Duce wanders in, looking oddly at a little cellophane bag, "Hey Red.. oh. Hi Jake. Thanks for the sugar buzz." Smiling, she shakes the cellobag at him before ducking behind the counter to grab her gear and set up.

Jake waved back, grinning. "Had the dude at the choco-shop help me pick, so hopefully it's something in there you like." She turned back to Red. "Yeah, that's the problem."

"It's sugar.. we like! Thanks!" Duce beetles off to start her ~~own thread~~ setup.

Red nodded to Duce. "I might have something," he said to Jake. "Something I picked up in my travels.

Jumping down from his stool, Red rummaged around under his counter looking for something. He hit his head on a shelf with an 'ah ha!' leapt back up to set a ratty brown box on the counter.

He used his teeth to untie the hemp rope and nosed the lid open. Head disappearing as he looked around, he emerged again with a card in his teeth holding a series of hoops, lined up neatly.

"Really? You do?" Jake blinked in surprise. She watched Red search around, and blinked again when she was presented with the card holding the hoops. "Um. Mystical magical hoops?" she asked, blankly.

"Of a sort. I ran across a witchdoctor once who had similar problems with some members of his tribe keeping the multiple face piercings they practiced." Red nosed the card over for Jake to look at. "He said they are embued with the ability to not be...mmmm...expelled by the body? I haven't had a chance to test that theory."

He pawed at the box to shove it out of the way. "Do you see one that might work for you?"

"Mrr," Jake said thoughtfully, picking up the card. "I need it for covering. Um, fitting in. Need to research a little. But, could we try it out--" She glanced at her cellphone. "...Er, Monday? I'm running late for class."

"Monday..." Red pulled his calendar over and glanced at it, "is good. Just come in when you're free. It won't take long." He pulled the card over and placed it under the counter for safe keeping.

"Greatness!" Jake beamed and ran off to get to bio in time.

Inara glanced in on her way to the park to do her Tai Chi practice.

"Good morning, Red!"

"Why good morning!" Red looked up from his magazine and grinned. "Where are you headed this fine day?"

"The park," Inara explained. "Tai chi routines - I like having the space to do them and the Apple doesn't have enough room."

He closed his magazine to focus on Inara. "I've seen Tai chi a few times. It's very pretty and soothing to watch. And yes, I would think having elbow room," and Red wiggled his legs, "would be preferred."

Inara's mention of the Apple caught his attention briefly. Not that he was judging but that Red liked to keep up with these details with people he becomes friends with. "Do you teach Tai chi, or just practice?"

"Just practise. Tai Chi Chu'an - for meditation and balance, both physical and mental. It was one of the basic classes during my schooling and I've continued the practise through the years."

She regards Red with some curiosity. "What about you? Do your people put any particular value on exercises or meditations?"

"We run to stay in shape, and as I and my cubs are the last of my kind, I'm afraid I don't know other than my own preferences," Red said with a tilt of his head. "I do meditate when I can, usually in the morning, sometimes at night before bed to unwind."

"Unwinding at night isn't always a possibility for me," Inara admitted. "But I can see why you'd need it at the end of a long day." She glanced around the shop. "Anyway, I'll probably return for another look around sometime in the next day or two."

"I would enjoy that," Red said with a smile. "I'm open tomorrow but usually closed on weekends. I can open for you, if Saturday is a better time."

Inara shook her head. "There isn't any need for that. I'll drop in when I have the time.

"In the meantime, have a profitable day!"

"Thank you and enjoy yours."

Duce sets up her henna area, taking the metal parts out of the autoclave. She sets about mixing the henna with extremely strong coffee, and a moment later the scent of tea-tree oil perfumes the air in a petro-chemical sort of way. Setting it aside to dyebreak, she grins at Red. "So where are your little monsters today?"

"Shane wore them out or something last night, and I left them in a heap on the pillows," Red grinned and looked up at the ceiling. "I'll let them out after lunch."

Grinning, "She makes a good babysitter, huh?"

"She seems to. At least, they fall asleep faster when they are laying on her." Red chuffled and shrugged. "How are you on supplies?"

Duce laughs, "Well, yeah, they're laying on b...a warm body." Frowning at her supplies, she comments, "We think the tea-tree oil's been cut with grapeseed oil. Or else it's just a crap batch. Went ahead and ordered some more from a different supplier to see how that works. Other'n that, things are going swimmingly. How's the tat practice? Paige was showing me her tat - looked nice."

"It did turn out nice, if I do say so myself," Red said with a smug look on his face. "Things are going well enough. More piercings than tattoos but I can't complain. Selling some jewelry as well, which is nice."

((ooc: I'm playing as though the town is full of people wandering around with the lights above their head that read NPC, instead of just assuming that the community population is the only population in Fandom Town. That way, Red can stay in business with money coming in and still sit around and chat with everyone who stops by! *grin* and let's pretend I can do HTML tags right the FIRST time...))

"Cool! Yay, piercings! Paige did say she wants to get another when she has the cash. Oh.. we have a purchase for you. We need a door prize for the open mic thing tonight. We'd like to buy a $100 gift certificate here." Her smile widens, "We're thinking about having a Buzzword Bingo tourney."

Red blinked rapidly. "A gift certificate? Sure!" He trotted around the back of the counter and leapt up onto his stool, turning to face his computer. Somewhere in the depths of the electronic monstrosity was a template for gift certs...he just needed to find them. With his mouthstick and a paw on the mouse, he started to search.

Smiling at Red, she wandered over, "Want us to try to wrangle yon electronic beastie for you? Yeah.. figured it'd be good for business to announce that there was a gift certificate in the offing. Was going to try to grab some from the other businesses, too, when they open. They'll be smaller amounts, though."

Glad to give up the computer to someone with thumbs, Red leapt up on the counter to lurk over Duce's shoulder while she worked the computer. "I think that's an excellent idea, I'm sure the other places would be glad to contribute."

Duce, grimacing at Red's crackbaby file setup, eventually locates the template and fills one out. After printing it, she pulls out a credit card and runs it through, leaving a receipt in the till.

"We hope so. We think this has the potential for really spectacular turnout, especially considering the debates last night were.. ~~awful~~ sub-par."

Thinking of something else, she grimaces slightly, "Uh.. Red? We need tomorrow night off. We know we said we'd be here, but.. something came up. Oz will also need the night off." Hello vagueness my old friend..

"I will need to close early anyway, Duce. I'm going to Homecoming!" Red said proudly. His expression grew serious. "How is Oz? He's rather hit and miss coming in to work. I hope he's okay."

Duce beams, "Cool! We are too." She ers.. "We.. being Oz and us. He asked last night. Who are you going with?"

Her face grows pensive for a moment, "He's .. doing better now. The zombie thing really messed him up." She hastilly explains, "Not physically - he wasn't hurt. Didn't even leave the grounds, but.. uh.. it caused him problems. He's been kinda tweaked about it ever since."

Again with the vagueness, "We were working on meditating the other night, and that seemed to help. We understand you suggested it to him?" She rubs her nose with a knuckle, "At least it's a problem we can help him with."

"I hope he is successful," Red said. "He just needs guidance and confidence."

Duce smiles fondly, "Yeah. That confidence thing is the real kicker." She contrives to look guileless, "And you know how awful we'll be at boosting his confidence."

She muses, "Wish we knew what he was wearing tomorrow. Want to get him an accessory."

"An accessory?" Red tilted his head. He had no idea what that could mean and would offer suggestions if he knew.

(ooc: the others are on to do poses for endscene treasure hunt as soon as scooter's back from lunch.)

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Red's: The sign says Open

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