The dirtying of paws [FINITO!]

[Greenie]

A feline, reminiscent of a Persian housecat but many, many times bigger and brightly hued, stalked her way down the paths of the bazaar, trying to find something that wasn't either a) filthy, b) disgusting, c) dirt poor, d) smelly, e) some of the above or f) all of the above.

She wasn't finding jack shit, if she could pardon her own language. Everything around her was, for the most part, covered in layers of grime and dust, and the people behind the counters looked as if they slept in their chairs and never left to do decent, humane things like bathing. It was despicable, that their coats be left to hang there and shine not with health but with the oils and grime of their toil--if they didn't want to clean it themselves, why did they just not hire someone to do it for them? It made no sense, it was inclean, and at that point Elodie was tempted to high-tail it back to her less-than-pristine-itself home, if only because it was the lesser of two evils.

Then she saw a rather quaint looking shop. It was no high-fashion boutique, but it looked at least a little cleaner than everything she'd been passing.. and there was a very pretty glass vase in the window that she just had to have.

So she stepped inside, her rings clicking quietly against the floor, and was, pardon the pun, floored by what she found inside. A.. bird.. for lack of a better term.. (Was it really a bird? She couldn't quite tell) looking like something out of a travelling circus, not an almost-respectable shop owner.

What was with this place?

The glass in the window temporarily forgotten, Elodie remained in the doorway, her nose twitching faintly. Did it smell in here?

[[A few notes for the reader: Elodie is incredibly spoiled. She's in a rich part of town but grew up in an OCDly-clean environment; anything that's not that is dirty to her. Also, I'm horrible at playing mean characters, but I'm trying, because she's mean in my head! .__.]]

[Satra]

Business was a bit slow today. Miss Amy knew that Heilyn was in the store... somewhere... she hadn't seen her leave once all day, but... where was she? She had this amazing yet creepy skill of being able to just slink in and out of shadows and hide in plain sight.

Well, visually and auditory, anyway. The smell was another thing. She'd been spending this slow period meticulously cleaning, getting rid of the smell.

The door was opening. Huh, I guess Heilyn did leave-- A CUSTOMER! She smile spread on her face as she greeted the feline.

"Good afternoon! welcome to my store! Feel free to have a look and ask any questions you like!" the bird was elated, but kept her distance. The Diamond was an excellent business woman and she knew the fastest way to lose a sale was to be pushy.

"My business associate is around here somewhere. She really quite kind, don't be too put off by her appearance," the bird cheerily warned, having learned from past experiences of customers and that thoroughly odd woman.

[Greenie]

Elodie slowly forced herself to walk in, paw by paw, through the doorway but didn't go any further; she simply edged herself towards the wall and sat down in what looked like the most sanitary spot in the store. The place smelled absolutely horrible--she wasn't sure if it was just her being disgusted in general or if someone had simply dumped themselves in a pile of mud and pranced around the place, but it was bad. Really bad. So bad that she couldn't be the only one that noticed, because the silly frilly bird-thing had cleaning supplies on the counter and it looked as if she'd been wiping it down.

Then the bird-thing spoke to her. (Really, she couldn't help but call it a thing, if only in her head; her clothing and makeup were really quite outrageous.) The feline froze her expression to prevent herself from staring at her like a lunatic, and then slowly smiled as pleasantly as she was able. "Greetings," Elodie replied genially.

The warning was appreciated, but what exactly was she not to be put off from? Was it even possible for her to be more appalled by her surroundings? Surely, nothing could be worse than what she was sitting in. It wasn't possible.

She hoped.

After a few moments the piece in the window caught her eye once more, and she slowly made her way over to it.

[Nathalia]

((Homg, yay! XD I can't wait ot see what happens when and if Heilyn comes in *Waves a flag for Elodie*<3))

~Nathalia

[Satra]

[ ....I hope not to disappoint...? I don't think I've ever seen you just leave a one sentence OOC comment in an RP thread before.... ]

Heilyn was bored. She hated this store. She was embarrassed to be in anyway associated with it.

There was such a thing called "style", and this place was a complete thorn in the side of Heilyn's.

She found a small mouse exploring the store. Not a Card, just a tiny little gray mouse. Gertrude (yes, that was the woman's real name, as much as "Miss Amethyst" hated it) would probably die of a heart attack if anything so much as implied some sort of infestation. On the other hand, it gave Heilyn something to do that wasn't listening to Gertrude yammer on about some high-class gentleman courting her (most of them, Heilyn was sure, were more interesting in sharing Gertrude's clothing than her bed). Heilyn terrorized the mouse until it died of a heart attack.

Great, now what am I going to do? she bapped the carcass off to the side and slumped to the floor. She does often complain of my smell. Maybe she'll let me take the day off for me to go get wasted... then again, she'll probably complain about my "drinking problem"...

Heilyn did not have a drinking problem. She had a life problem and a drinking solution.

Then Heilyn's next form of entertainment came in. While this girl was obviously of the higher class, it was a relief to see somebody with taste come into a place like this. She watched the girl. Her interaction with Gertrude, her every twitch, facial expression, what caught her attention in the store, the tone of her voice.

Yes.

The woman began walking over to a piece on display, back turned to Heilyn. Silently, swiftly, slinking behind other displays until she was close... she had to move before her scent caught up...

This would prove for ample entertainment. Probably even worth the lecture she was going to get later from Gertie for losing her a sale.

"Like she said: If you have any questions, be sure to ask," she said in a low a very silky-smooth voice as she walked out into the open about five feet away from the cat.

[Greenie]

Elodie was so close to attaining her goal. It was in five feet, and then four! Three! Two! It was in rea--"BAH!" Elodie let out a rather unladylike yelp when a very strange canine approached and spoke to her, the former without her knowledge.

The feline froze, her haunches risen, but as a few moments passed she slowly relaxed her muscles.. at least enough to turn her head to regard the canine coolly. (Elodie despised being startled, and as such, was not immediately inclined to be intensely polite.) The Yarrow began examining what she could see of her, as most of her face was covered by a strange mask-thing, though her fur itself was oddly beautiful... what portions of it weren't a mud brown, that is.

The webbing on her toes just grossed Elodie out, so she just tried not to look anywhere past her neck.. but there was that mask..

The feline had lost her train of thought once again as suddenly the foul stench of the room hit her olfactory senses rather profoundly. Her expression froze in place, a mixture of revoltion and morbid curiosity. She could only assume that it was the canine that smelled so terribly foul, because while it had been bad before she approached, it had only gotten worse once the air swerved their way.

She had to force her expression to remain patiently neutral as she reassembled her wits and regrouped her thoughts. After a few moments the smell seemed to recede to the back of her thoughts, though it certainly remained just as powerful, and she did her best to remember what it was she'd been doing before her nose had been so violently assaulted. It wouldn't do to point out the stench to this poor girl--if she didn't know she smelled something terrible, then she had more problems than Elodie could point out to her.

"Actually.." She started delicately, and then glanced over at the vase longingly. "That lovely vase caught my eye.. could you tell me a bit about it?"

[Satra]

[Sorry this took so long. The muse wasn't cooperating ; ; I really am sorry.]

Heilyn grinned sadistically as the cat yelped and her already copious amounts of fur stood on end. She would've laughed, but controlled herself, remaining absolutely still. She knew that the emotionless mask combined with absolutely no body language unnerved people.

Gertie's attention was immediately drawn to the noise. She frowned at Heilyn. She knew that body language well enough to know that the 9 of Hearts had intended for that reaction instead of being the victim. She cleared her throat audibly as she cleaned, letting Heilyn know she was being watched. Heilyn took note of the noise, but didn't even so much as twitch an ear in it's direction.

"That vase..." she kept her voice low and silky, with a hint of raspyness, "You have excellent taste, m'dear, but I suppose one look at your appearance could've told me that... yess. That is Bog Glasswork of the marbled technique. See the swirls?" she pointed with her paw, then brought it back down. She lowered her head slightly in an odd way, "Of course you did, that's probably what attracted to it in the first place, hmnn?" God, she enjoyed reactions. A bored Heilyn as a dangerous one.

[Greenie]

Elodie did her best to determine if the canine found the whole situation amusing or if she was standing their stoically, but found it was impossible to tell with that silly mask. Who wore a breathing mask in the capital? There were hardly noxious fumes here.. if you disregarded the girl's own fumes, which certainly smelled like they might be lethal. It was enough to make a feline worried for her health.. or at the very least, for her fur's health. Who knew how much that stuff was damaging?

The feline noticed when a throat was cleared and moved her gaze over to see the displeased woman. Was this canine doing something wrong, other then smelling like a rotting pile of trash from the bottom of a murky swamp? (While that could easily be considered a crime against nature, it was highly unlikely it was her fault.)

Then Heilyn began talking again, and like the polite cat she was, she paid attention. What was wrong with her voice? Was she sick? It sounded like she was dying, or at least had a bad cold. And what the hell was she on? Mildly disturbed at what the canine was saying--what did her appearance have to do with anything? And swirls? what?--Elodie was tempted to flee the shop and be done with it all, but damnit that vase was PRETTY. "Yes, I'm sure it did," She replied sarcastically, all of her intentions at remaining impossibly polite thrown out by the oddity that was this dog. "How much is it?"

What Elodie really wanted to say was 'Drop the crap so I can buy it, lady', but that was going too far even for her currently-dropped standards.

[Satra]

Heilyn's ear were twitching, listening to the sound of Gertrude's movements. Any second now, she would find the mouse's body...

Heilyn grinned as there was a shriek. She'd been expecting her to find it, and there for was able to brace her reaction against the sound. She made absolutely no movement, as if nothing had happened. The parakeet blushed furiously and discreetly wrapped up the mouse carcass and rushed away. It took a lot of willpower for Heilyn not to just bust out laughing.

"4 silver," she responded in the same voice, "A bit steep for a glass vase, I'm aware, but the rarity of such an object from my region in combination with the master craftsmanship it was made with justifies it. Also, it flatters nearly any bouquet you decide to grace it with.

"Would you like anything else, m'dear? Or will that be all?"

[Greenie]

When the silly bird shrieked, Elodie cringed and took a step back instinctively, but then partially ignored Heilyn in exchange for looking around her to see what in the bloody depths of Tulgey the woman was screaming at. She couldn't see it, though it was obvious the parakeet could, but Elodie disliked high noises coming from filthy little birdies with no brains, and it was at that point that she decided to do something about it. "Hold on a moment, would you?"

She stalked around Heilyn and came up next to Gertrude and stared at her with the best 'annoyed' face she could come up with--and she damned well practiced those--then said, "Lady, where I come from, we don't scream over those, we eat them," as soon as she spotted the dead mouse Gertrude was carrying away. Elodie would actually never in a million years dream of eating something so filthy and disgusting (she actually was doing her best not to look at it, lest she bat it where she couldn't see it) but at the same time it was hardly worth making a scene about it. You kept your composure and disposed of it, lest a customer sense a problem and really make a big deal out of it.

Like Elodie was doing right now. She was really quite fond of upsetting store owners, it was such fun to see them get in a rut over her!

After the problem with the stupid bird was settled Elodie padded back to her place next to Heilyn and began examining the vase once more. "Yes.. I do believe some of Yarrow's meadow daisies would look absolutely adorable in one of these.. I wonder if I could have some shipped over... nevertheless! It is hardly overpriced, and I will take it." The feline absently produced the coin to Heilyn, then moved closer to it and turned it to examine another side of it, completely ignoring the rest of her surroundings.