Animal-friendly Housing (Laurent/Open?)

[Iris Walker]

[atrb=style,border-top: 1px solid #141414; border-bottom: 1px solid #141414; border-left: 1px solid #141414; border-right: 1px solid #141414; -moz-border-radius: 50px; border-radius: 50px;][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=height,550,true][atrb=width,20%][atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=background, i53.tinypic.com/rrrw9t.jpg] [style=float:left; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius: 10px; border-radius: 10px; height: 100px; width: 100px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/clqUE.png);] [/style] [style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/T1kQX.png); opacity: 0.9; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/ssoMZ.png); opacity: 0.8; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/JpPVD.png); opacity: 0.7; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/MIAS8.png); opacity: 0.6; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/h7k0p.png); opacity: 0.4; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style] [style=font-size: 26px; font-family: impact; color: #8bb0cc; text-transform: uppercase; margin-left: 130px; margin-top: -10px; height: 90px;] As Long as I Exist[/style][style=padding: 5px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 7px; color: #8c77a1; height: 10px; width: 270px; margin-left: 130px; margin-top: -18px; border-radius: 10px;]The responsiblity will always be placed with me.[/style] [style=background-color: #000000; padding: 8px; opacity: 0.9; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; color: #8bb0cc; width: 385px; margin-left: 20px; border: 3px dotted #5d07b3; border-radius: 20px;] Moving to Death City was something Iris Walker had not expected. The young would-be Samurai couldn't help but feel excited and worried about this assignment. Colonel Preston is infamous for being difficult to work with. Only his protégé, Klaus was known to get along with him well. Preston may have recruited her, but their relationship since she joined has been distant until now. He was expecting a lot from her. Klaus was not officially part of this assignment, which meant that Iris was now Preston's right-hand. This isn't going to be a cushy office job all the time, and she knew that being the go-between for Preston and the students of Shibusen was not going to be all fun and games. On the bright side, though, the Exorcists will be paying for her housing while she's stationed here. Iris was wandering through the residential district with one goal in mind: A simple house or apartment, not too big, not too small. She would prefer a house so she can have some privacy when leaving and coming back, having less chances of encountering random people wanting to make chit-chat. A house would also mean she could have a pet without worries. While the young girl has found companionship with the Ninja Meister, Sai, she wanted someone that she could be herself around at all times. With Sai she still had to at least maintain the appearance of a fierce fighter, but if she had a pet she would never have to hide anything. First thing was first, though: She had to find a place that struck her fancy. Still, it was constantly creeping up in the back of her mind... "Maybe a little kitten..." she said quietly, not even looking at the houses anymore but blankly into space, lost in several trains of thought. [/style] [style= background: #000000; border: 3px dotted #5d07b3; font-family: georgia; italic; font-size: 8pt; color: #8c77a1; text-align: center; text-indent: 15px; letter-spacing: 3px; width: 385px; padding: 3px 9px 3px 3px; margin-bottom: -2px; margin-top: -5px; margin-left: 20px; border-radius: 8px 8px 8px 8px; -moz-border-radius: 8px 8px 8px 8px;] Table by Ghost from TWP and Yori from OTE[/style]

[Puss in Boots]

Three fifteen on a Wednesday afternoon. There were still fifteen more minutes until the appointed time he arrived daily for tea and pastries, but he had not yet been late in the three weeks since he first decided on making the cafe visit a regular ritual. He could easily have his housekeeper prepare afternoon tea for him, and make him earn his keep by demonstrating his supposed kitchen skills with baking the fussy croissants and macarons himself. However, a tea service for one in his cavernous (relative to his own physical size, anyhow) apartment with the help gawking on in the corner didn't have quite the same air as an easy going hour or two spent indulging himself in an understated little cafe. It was an outing, a portion of the day carved out and given significance, for he was there to be seen and in turn casually observe those others who shared enough taste to seek out the same establishment. The feline specifically avoided the ever trendy Deathbucks Cafe and any derivative coffee house for ordinary students to cram into once classes let out for the day. The atmosphere he sought was idle conversation over steaming coffee, not shouting to be heard in the unruly din while impatient customers waiting outside shot ugly glares at the seated patrons.

The stock he put in privacy and quiet, both hard to come by in a city overrun with adolescents, was also the main motivator for settling down in the the pricier residential districts. There was no worrying about enduring disruptive behavior where most students could not even afford an apartment to throw raucous parties in. Laurent was so accustomed to the relative lack of people to be seen walking in the streets that when he came briskly down the stairs from his apartment building, he nearly collided with a girl who seemed so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize she had stopped right in front of the steps. "Miss, if you may," the serval said curtly. "If you are looking for directions the front office of this building may be able to assist you."

[Iris Walker]

[atrb=style,border-top: 1px solid #141414; border-bottom: 1px solid #141414; border-left: 1px solid #141414; border-right: 1px solid #141414; -moz-border-radius: 50px; border-radius: 50px;][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=height,550,true][atrb=width,20%][atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=background, i53.tinypic.com/rrrw9t.jpg] [style=float:left; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius: 10px; border-radius: 10px; height: 100px; width: 100px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/clqUE.png);] [/style] [style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/T1kQX.png); opacity: 0.9; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/ssoMZ.png); opacity: 0.8; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/JpPVD.png); opacity: 0.7; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/MIAS8.png); opacity: 0.6; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/h7k0p.png); opacity: 0.4; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style] [style=font-size: 26px; font-family: impact; color: #8bb0cc; text-transform: uppercase; margin-left: 130px; margin-top: -10px; height: 90px;] As Long as I Exist[/style][style=padding: 5px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 7px; color: #8c77a1; height: 10px; width: 270px; margin-left: 130px; margin-top: -18px; border-radius: 10px;]The responsiblity will always be placed with me.[/style] [style=background-color: #000000; padding: 8px; opacity: 0.9; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; color: #8bb0cc; width: 385px; margin-left: 20px; border: 3px dotted #5d07b3; border-radius: 20px;] "Miss, if you may. If you are looking for directions the front office of this building may be able to assist you." Iris was lost in her own little world. A world populated by kittens. Fluffy, adorable kittens. She wasn't even paying attention to where she had wandered, or that someone was speaking to her for that matter. She didn't even look at who was speaking when the words finally processed in her head. It might look rude, but it might just help maintain that distant, unapproachable persona she tried to portray. "Oh, don't mind me... I'm just wandering around." ... No, it was too impolite. There was a certain place she drew the line in how "distant" she would appear to be, and that line was appearing rude. She can still seem like a cool person without having to be disrespectful. If anything, it might enhance that appearance. She turned her torso in the direction the voice came from, beginning to speak as she did. "Sorry, I was just lost in thought. I'm actually looking for a place to move in--" she stopped as soon as her eyes met the creature that spoke to her. What was it?! It looked like a wild cat, but... but... it was wearing this neat little outfit! It was walking on its hind legs! And it was TALKING! Well, actually, given the voice it's most definitely a male. He wasn't the kind of cat she would find cute... but it was awfully close. Enough to make her shift out of her "act." "Wow, how do you do? I'm Iris Walker." she said, kneeling down just a little to get on eye level as she smiled. "This city's full of surprises, I can't say I've ever seen anything like you before." [/style] [style= background: #000000; border: 3px dotted #5d07b3; font-family: georgia; italic; font-size: 8pt; color: #8c77a1; text-align: center; text-indent: 15px; letter-spacing: 3px; width: 385px; padding: 3px 9px 3px 3px; margin-bottom: -2px; margin-top: -5px; margin-left: 20px; border-radius: 8px 8px 8px 8px; -moz-border-radius: 8px 8px 8px 8px;] Table by Ghost from TWP and Yori from OTE[/style]

[Puss in Boots]

"Well, yes, miss, I am due somewhere and-"

If he were the type to give in to such expressions as rolling his eye, he would have as soon as Iris's dazed state of mind quickly gave way to that all too familiar expression of naive delight. At least Mocha Koori's mental break instilled a perverse sense of power in him, unlike this babying act he could not seem to escape from. The large amber eye took on a hardened and chilly look as the young woman bent her knees to bring herself down closer to his own line of sight. Why was it something they insisted on doing? It demonstrated no additional consideration for the difference in height; he didn't need anyone to feel like they had to bring themselves down as his equal, and it certainly wasn't something he appreciated when it was accompanied by infantile speech and mannerisms, as it most usually was.

"And I am Laurent," he said in reply to her cheery introduction. His voice did not betray his growing irritation, but it was also noticeably lacking in reciprocating the same exuberance she was showing. "If you are looking to settle in quickly into this city, an advisable course of action would be to avoid dropping everything to gawk at every new unusual thing you see. It's a very unproductive tendency to hold on to, especially if you are planning on enrolling in the academy."

It was a far more steely response than he had been giving to the last few admirers, but the slights to his dignity were getting to be unbearable. Condescension, he could proudly shrug off. Fear, he could find empowering in some way. But this maddening coddling was just that: an affront to his own elevated sense of self. It was enough! It didn't matter that the intent was usually not malicious- the result was still the same and he had already become unwilling to differentiate. Furthermore, the young woman was keeping him from his afternoon tea, and he simply would not abide being late.

[Iris Walker]

[atrb=style,border-top: 1px solid #141414; border-bottom: 1px solid #141414; border-left: 1px solid #141414; border-right: 1px solid #141414; -moz-border-radius: 50px; border-radius: 50px;][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=height,550,true][atrb=width,20%][atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=background, i53.tinypic.com/rrrw9t.jpg] [style=float:left; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius: 10px; border-radius: 10px; height: 100px; width: 100px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/clqUE.png);] [/style] [style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/T1kQX.png); opacity: 0.9; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/ssoMZ.png); opacity: 0.8; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/JpPVD.png); opacity: 0.7; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/MIAS8.png); opacity: 0.6; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style][style=float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/h7k0p.png); opacity: 0.4; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; border-radius-topright: 5px;] [/style] [style=font-size: 26px; font-family: impact; color: #8bb0cc; text-transform: uppercase; margin-left: 130px; margin-top: -10px; height: 90px;] As Long as I Exist[/style][style=padding: 5px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 7px; color: #8c77a1; height: 10px; width: 270px; margin-left: 130px; margin-top: -18px; border-radius: 10px;]The responsiblity will always be placed with me.[/style] [style=background-color: #000000; padding: 8px; opacity: 0.9; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; color: #8bb0cc; width: 385px; margin-left: 20px; border: 3px dotted #5d07b3; border-radius: 20px;] Iris was nearly knocked back into her normal routine by the very blunt response this creature gave. Still, the thought had crossed her mind that this was a very common occurrence for Laurent. She resumed standing straight up and held up both her hands, palms outwards in a "backing off" fashion. She had a nervous look on her face, lacking any understanding of this cat that walked like a human was putting her on edge. "I apologize for holding you up." she said, but after her apology she shifted her arms to fold them over her chest. A hint of pride entered her voice as she decided to deliver a rebuttal to Laurent's assumption as to her purpose here. "Make no mistake, though, I'm not one of the kids from the Academy. I'm an Exorcist. I may not look like it but that means I'm a soldier of sorts. That means they get to pay for my housing so I might as well look for somewhere a bit more removed from the crazy, ya know?" She was sincerely hoping that Laurent wouldn't pick up on her bluffing. She certainly was an Exorcist, but she could count on one hand the number of missions she's been a part of, and even then they turned out to be lacking in the combat department. This means despite her training she can't really back up her claim that she's a soldier, so she didn't want to get called out on it. She had two options here: either walk away and let the cat get on with his day, or wait and see how things played out from here. Depending on how her statement was taken, Laurent could either become more irritated with her and decide to leave on his own, or his interest could be hooked and it could lead to Iris gaining another ally. The latter was wishful thinking, but who knows? With that in mind, she decided to wait and see what the reaction would be. It could even go in an entirely different direction, but the young Samurai-in-training was fearful of what could come of that. [/style] [style= background: #000000; border: 3px dotted #5d07b3; font-family: georgia; italic; font-size: 8pt; color: #8c77a1; text-align: center; text-indent: 15px; letter-spacing: 3px; width: 385px; padding: 3px 9px 3px 3px; margin-bottom: -2px; margin-top: -5px; margin-left: 20px; border-radius: 8px 8px 8px 8px; -moz-border-radius: 8px 8px 8px 8px;] Table by Ghost from TWP and Yori from OTE[/style]