[Old Shoppe ----- Closed]

[Tigeress]

Sekhmet pouted a little, sweetly trying to make it worth his while to keep his attention upon her for a moment to get the location of where one might be found. She loved the bold colours on banders, not just because they complimented her, but because they just seemed to go with the personality. Personality was big, she wanted this companion to be interesting and unique, not some nuddly cuddly little bander-wannabe. They were wild things, and she respected such prissy and unpredictable temperaments. "Hmmm I think this Paisley would have what I'm looking for. I don't suppose you could slip me an address quickly, mm?" She put her finger to her lip and waited patiently, there were a Lot of people in here today.

The doe found herself almost craving the quiet seclusion she imagined she'd get when visiting the Highland Champion breeder of choice. Gender became a question all of the sudden, but it passed by quickly, she'd always gotten along better with the male species, she supposed this would probably continue to apply.

[The Jenn]

This was busier than his shoppe had been in a while! Ashwin looked around the room and his eyes returned to the gorgeous doe almost without meaning to, admiring her curves and the pretty pout to her muzzle. What a gorgeous mane, and she even had feathers to boot. A real shame that she wasn't interested in any of his wares, but he could understand that a King of Hearts would want a proper Highland bander if they could afford it. Such creatures meant a lot not only to bander enthusiasts, but to a lot of people in that particular Court.

He reached for a scrap of paper and scribbled down a few words before reaching out and handing it to her. "Everything you need to make contact should be on that paper, Your Highness." Whether she had a title or not, it didn't matter to him outside of the Court walls. He would treat her with the respect regardless. "The Highland breeders, the real ones, all live in the village of Chayth. Make sure to mind your manners with that cat. I think he's finally managed to work himself up to Queen."

Then his attention was caught by the vividly colored, pretty little things with shells falling from her hair and rattling around her head. That was a mane like few he'd seen. He listened to her and his eyebrows raised in slow, pained disbelief as she detailed her plans. "You... want to dress it up. In seashells. I hope you're ready for a fight, then, and don't mind healing up from bites and scratches. Either way, I'll take five tokens and give you Millie. I suppose that one's the least likely to take off your hand at first glance. 's a brown blanket. Satisfactory?"

[Tigeress]

His politeness and respect did not go unnoticed by the doe in the least. She was by no means rich yet, especially not after a few purchases she'd made recently... but she still felt compelled to leave him something for his time and effort. Receiving the note, she slipped a few pieces of gold back in it's place. He probably didn't Really need it, his shop was the most known and respected and, Obviously, frequented in the land, but it was the thought that counted. Glancing down at the page, she nodded.

"Thank you for the, ah, heads-up." The woman grinned at this and slipped the paper away, hoping this Queen wasn't of the high-and-mighty variety. Grandstanding always became so very boring to her after a while, though she'd entertain him if it meant a good high quality Bander. She'd waited and done her research for quite a while to be able to afford one of these babies, in money and knowledge.

"I'll leave you to your business now, good sir." With a wink she departed, her spirits particularily high. She didn't know exactly where Chayth was, but hopefully it was close by enough that she could make it before evening fell. She preferred to return to the courts that night with quite a few extra pounds in the form of a Bandersnatch.

[Dark]

Eleven years old and she still hadn't outgrown her habit of running into door jams and toppling over flower pots; Senka rubbed the bruise forming on her hip morosely as she slunk further into the shop, the tokens Uncle Ezra had given her clanking together noisily in the bag she habitually slung around her neck. She'd made it herself, using scraps from some of her more ragged scarfs and patching them together. The effect was rather pleasing on the finished product.

She wandered among the cages, marveling at the multitude of eyes glowing back at her, peering in at the small faces curiously and keeping the names of the individual banders in mind. Uncle Ezra had promised to bring her to Ashwin's Shoppe himself, but he'd been so busy lately she'd decided to come herself.

With determination in her eyes, she went to find the shoppe owner, dispelling her nature fear of talking to strangers. She stopped in front of him, craning her head back to meet his eyes.

"Hi. I'm Senka. I was wondering if I could take a closer look at Cotton."

[The Jenn]

Ashwin's eyebrows raised when the doe slipped him a few coin for very little trouble, not complaining in the slightest. It was a busy day, but if she had enough money to blow to count as a tip, he certainly wouldn't naysay her generosity.

Yet another customer walked into his shoppe and he nearly rolled his eyes, except the business was excellent and he would gladly take more as it appeared. He watched the child scope out banders from the corner of his eye, trying to see that she wasn't bitten through a cage or something equally stupid. It had happened before and it would happen again. Most of the time he just pulled out his store policy manual as approved by the city counsel, dusted it off, and pointed to the line in small print that they had unwittingly allowed. Any child stupid enough to be bitten will either be asked to leave or sent home with espresso and a bander kit. The parents usually preferred the former.

This one didn't look especially dim, though. In fact, her bright eyes and Corvie curiosity were rather endearing, for what they were. He couldn't place her breed and idly wondered what spawned to produce something lean and whippy like that. With whiskers. And horns. What a bizarrely cute child.

"You want to look at Cotton? I don't know the personality so well, seeing as that pretty thing is new to the store. You show me that you have money and I'll let you see the bander. How's that sound?" Leopards were always so popular, especially with the younger crowd. They were such showy things.

[Kasatsu]

Out of the Court for the day, spending it in the Capital to take care of some personal business along with just being out and about with the subjects, the Queen of Clubs decided that it would be a good time to pick up a few presents for his kids. Finding the shop that he needed he entered it. Looking about he noted that there were quite a few people inside so it would appear that business was doing quite well for the owner.

While this was not a pressing issue he did have quite a few other things that needed to get done. Wondering over to one of the books that displayed the current stock of Banders he spotted one that would do quite nicely. Waiting till any discussions were finished – he was not that pressed to interrupt – the mouse greeted the male.

“Greetings Mr. Ashwin. I am interested in purchasing two Banders today, the one named Tony and perhaps you could surprise me with a mysterious one? I will need colors and leashes for both of course.”

[Dark]

Senka frowned, not quite sure she liked the man's attitude. She didn't exactly see how flashing her money meant the bander would be any better of a match for her. Did he doubt she had the money? She was young, yes, but that didn't mean anything. If a person is distrustful, it doesn't matter how old they are.

She sighed, and curtailed her immediate response. Considering he was running a monopoly on the bander trade in the city, it probably wouldn't be wise to get on his bad side. She really did desperately want a companion.

She slung her bag off from around her neck and undid the careful knot she's formed, pulling open the drawstring and dutifully showing him her money. It was degrading, and she was definitely going to be telling her Uncle Ezra.

"May I see the bander now, please, sir?"

[The Jenn]

If Senka had any idea how many times children came into his store asking to 'see the banders' and then pulled one's tail before running out of the store, leaving him with an irate predator in an enclosed space, he might have thought a little differently. As it was, Ashwin didn't know or care what the child's views on this were. He glanced down at the tokens and nodded. "Alright, so you're a legitimate customer. Yes, you can see Cotton now."

He walked over to the side and pulled the pretty leopard bander from its cage, wrapping a short rope leash around its neck and hooking that to the side of his counter. "If you get your paw bit or your leg scratched, it's on you. Remember that these are testy creatures."

((Play the reaction however you'd like, provided that it behaves enough like a bander. ^_^))

After dealing with that, he caught sight of the biped mouse - how could he possibly be missed with those colors? - and the 'Q' on the man's chest. And the one horn, the other partially melted. And that cane. He kept up with gossip to be able to recognize the new Queen of Clubs when he saw him. The description matched a little too well to be a coincidence, especially with that purple hat. He made a short bow before responding.

"Of course, Your Majesty. What colors were you thinking for the collars and leashes?"

((With the 'mysterious' one, d'you want a random or number ten?))

[Nako]

Realizing she had gotten way ahead of herself, Zuberi's face fell a bit. That might have been construed in many ways, though. "Oh.. oh yes, I be getting a bit too excited.." To emphasize that, she put away the things she had pulled out. "Yes.. that will take a bit of time to do that I believe.. but a bander that is a bit more open to being coddled would certainly be a good idea.."

She looked at the one he mentioned. Honestly she didn't care much for the color, and it was a sweet enough looking voracious beast, and personality meant more to her than anything. She waited till the other customers got a chance to speak before she began again."Oh, color means little to me. I'm more interested in whether we get along. Could I possibly spend a bit of time with her to see if we get along well?" She realized that she may be taking up the man's time, and upped the sweetness and contriteness factor in both voice and demeanor. After all, she's probably have to make up for the fact she'd busted into the store with less presence of mind than even the child had.

[Kasatsu]

Colors for the leashes and collars huh? Well . . . lets see he thought to himself, eyeing the picture of Tony. He considered colors for a moment before replying, “Red collar and leash for the Tony, and . . . a black collar and teal leash for the mysterious Bander, Zingy.” Not knowing what the mysterious Bander would look like he figured it would do well to go with the colors of his daughter. He gave a nod to confirm his words. Yes, that should work out nicely.

“Also, I have an interest in purchasing a Highland Champion. I suppose you could inform me how to go about that?” Him and Whip had had a discussion about it a few days before and were already setting plans forth for the adventure but he figured it would not hurt to see what Ashwin had to say on the matter.

((Number 10 please X3))