The Emporium is open -- Thursday

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael opens the store and settles down behind the counter with a cup of coffee to wait for customers.

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[hawktobias.livejournal.com]

A red-tailed hawk flaps to the window ledge and begins pecking gently at it to get Michael's attention.

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael looks over and blinks for a few seconds, attempting at comprehension, before a smile spreads across his face. Michael opens the window (brrr!). "Good morning," he says quietly, "if you are who I think you are."

[hawktobias.livejournal.com]

The hawk flies inside quickly and lands on top of one of the magazine shelves. If hawks could shiver, he would be. Looking to Michael, he nods his head, indicating he is who Michael thinks he is, and flies to the back room, glad that the door is open.
Finding a corner, he morphs into his human form and slips warmer clothes on, consisting of a long sleeved shirt with a larger Beatle's tee over it, and jeans.
Tobias walks out of the room, straightening his shirt and smiles at Michael.
"Glad you recognized me, it's freezing outside, even with the feathers."

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael shuts the window after the hawk has flown in. When Tobias re-emerges, he says, "I'm sure there's only so much feathers can protect against."

Michael gives Tobias the tour of the store which mun doesn't have time to write out here and says, "Today you can just hang out, if you want, get a feel for how things run. If it gets slow, we can do some re-stocking. The candy aisle always seems to need it."

[hawktobias.livejournal.com]

After the tour, Tobias nods. "Sure thing."
He leans against the counter. "There's one more thing I need to let you know... Might've made my entrance a little easier, but it freaks people out if they don't know about it first." He laughs a little, remembering his friends' initial reactions to the ability. "When I'm in an animal morph, I can user thoughtspeech to communicate. Pretty much just sounds like my voice in your head. Unless it bothers you, I wouldn't mind using it to 'talk to you' when I'm in hawk form."

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael shrugs. "That would be all right, I guess." He shakes his head with a wry smile. "Always something new to get used to. Just when I think I've got this town figure out, something new pops up like purple avocados."

[hawktobias.livejournal.com]

Tobias nods, understanding. "From what I've seen so far, things are very intereseting here. But it's peaceful, which I like." He smiles pensively, looking almost like a war veteran.

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

Grissom enters the Emporium and glares at/lusts for Michael's coffee, a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck and an old ballcap on his head. (It's cold out, damn it.)

He walks around a few aisles of the shop quickly, a list (http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/health/Diet/Macrobiotic_Diet.htm) printed from the Internet in his hand. He looks vaguely annoyed.

"Hello, I'm sorry. Could I have a moment of your time?"

[hawktobias.livejournal.com]

Being his first day, Tobias lets Michael handle this customer. He casually leans against the wall and pays close attention.

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael smiles. "Certainly. What can I help you with?"

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"I believe I need an International foods section. I'm afraid I'm a little unfamiliar with some of the items I am looking to purchase, from a culinary standpoint if not a botanical one. Do you have that type of thing here?"

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

"We do, it's up on aisle four. If it's Asian, even if it's a little outside the norm, we probably have it -- just because my husband's big on Asian food."

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

Grissom gives him a small smile. "I believe most of it is Asian in origin, so this is a fortunate turn of events." He quickly reviews his list, noting most of the vegetables have Japanese names. His smile once again disappears. "Soba noodles, any idea?" he says rather forlornly.

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael walks down aisle four and does a quick scan of the shelves. "Here," he says, taking down a package and handing it to the man. "If you like pasta, it's not so far off. Flavor's a little different, for sure, but you get used to it."

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"That's what I'm afraid of," he replies dryly. "Do you know much about macrobiotic diets? I'm not terribly interested in the philosophy behind them more than for the passing trivia, but have you known anyone who has followed one before?"

[serra-inara.livejournal.com]

Inara enters the shop. "Morning, Michael."

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

"Morning, Inara. Is there something I can help you with?"

[serra-inara.livejournal.com]

"Rice," she says. "Jasmine rice. How're you?"

[hawktobias.livejournal.com]

Tobias watches the interaction from his perch on a stool near the counter.

[serra-inara.livejournal.com]

"Hi," Inara says, smiling. "I'm Inara. Are you a new employee of Michael's or a visiting friend?"

[hawktobias.livejournal.com]

Tobias gives a shy wave. "Yeah, Michael just hired me. It's my first day here," he says smiling meekly at the lovely woman. "My name's Tobias."

[serra-inara.livejournal.com]

"Welcome to Fandom, then," Inara says, smiling. "Anything in particular that brought you here or just random chance?"

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

"That should be down aisle four. I'm okay, I suppose. Been sort of quiet this week."

[serra-inara.livejournal.com]

"Things have been slightly quiet around town, haven't they?" Inara muses. "Of course, that's a good thing. Noisy and busy usually means something dramatic is happening."

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael chuckles. "True. Can't take the quiet for granted around here."