This Is Not The Pet Store

[Cyril Kingsley]

Cyril needed to pick up a few things from the pet store. Some things for his cat and then a few things to get special ordered for the horses. It was like a day or two after the events of the fire and Cyril found that he needed a couple of things to help the horses recover from the ordeal. Thankfully there had been no fire down at the stables but the explosion and the smell of smoke had more than just spooked all of the horses. While they were used to dealing with mutants and their powers, they were not completely immune from getting startled.

A few had gotten injured and some were just being very stubborn about well doing anything. Still, he had gone out again to go to the pet store but found himself standing in a flower shop. A flower shop was nowhere close to being a pet shop. "Hmm..." Cyril said, already starting to think that he was lost. Well, it was obvious that he was loss but it was now just clicking in his mind that he was in fact lost. He reached into his jacket to pull out the map that he had on hand t prevent this from happening, but clearly it did not help. "Excuse me, is there anyone here?" Cyril called out in the store.

[Charlotte Thorne]

On this fine afternoon, Charlotte found herself sitting on the floor re-adding all of the little seed packets she had clumsily knocked over earlier this morning. Not paying attention, she had swung a huge box into the back corner display sending all of it's contents flying and her cat leaping for cover. So this is where she found herself two and a half hours later with half of the patience she had started with.It was tedious work threading the packets onto the display and making sure everything was in the correct order, work she had not planned on doing today. 

When the bells tinkled and someone walked in hollering Excuse me, is there anyone here? Charlotte couldn't help but wonder why everyone walked in and yelled that. Why would there be an open establishment and no workers? Choosing not to verbalize her thoughts, Charlotte pushed her butt off the ground to stand.

"Back here!" She called back. She started walking towards the front and saw a man with a rather large map unfolded in front of him. That wasn't what she had exactly expecting to see but smiled nonetheless. "What's up?" She asked wondering quickly afterwards if that had been too unprofessional to say.

[Cyril Kingsley]

There was a woman's voice that came from the back, also informing him where she was. Yes, he was in luck. Sure he figured someone was here but he was still being polite and all since he did not see anyone out and about. Granted he didn't think a flower shop got a lot of business during the winter...unless that was when flowers sold the most. Since it was hard to actually get living things this time of year with it being winter and all. Cyril didn't know, he worked with animals and not plants, so didn't really understand all the little details on the matter.

None of those detail mattered at the moment anyways since he was lost and his main focus was getting unlost. Well, it had been his main focus until the lovely woman walked out into his view, smiling at him in a friendly manner. He smiled back of course before remembering that he was in fact here to ask for some direction. Granted, since he was here he figured he ask about flowers too. "Two things. Can you tell me where I am and might I know you name?" Cyril asked as he was already extending a hand out to her. The other hand still holding onto the map that he tried to sort of fold up with one hand and it was not going all that well.

"I'm Cyril Elias Kingsley." Cyril informed her, his British accent not as thick as it normally was when saying his name. It was only fair to give his name in return for asking for hers. Her name was not one of the two reason why he was here, but it didn't hurt to learn a beautiful ladies name, now did it? No.

[Charlotte Thorne]

The man returned her smile and promptly asked her where he was. Truthfully? She had no idea. She could only just now remember the name of the town she lives in when asked and often times still forgets what street she's on when asked how to get to her mother's shop. "You sir have found your way into the world's greatest floral shop." She said sweeping her arm back and hitting a potted tree in the process. Whoops.

She turned her back to the man to inspect the tree will simultaneously shaking her hand in pain. When she turned back to him, her cheeks were a little bit pinker and with no ideas to make anymore grand gestures. "This is my mother's shop. Blooms and Heirlooms." she finished lamely. Charlotte noticed after the fact that she had introduced the shop as her mother's. Her dead mother whom was currently resting in an urn in the bottom corner of the office closet. What did one do with their parent's ashes anyway? Pushing the dark thoughts aside, she smiled again when he extended his hand. 

"I'm Charlotte." She said taking his hand and giving it a shake. When he said his name she noticed for the first time his accent. Of course he had a British accent. Why not? Why not have that one quirky British guy just roaming town? This town continued to surprise her with it's interesting cast of characters.

At her feet, Charlotte saw a small furry gray cat approach her, crying for attention and most likely food. "And this is catfish." She added reaching down to give the feline a quick pet. "Resident cat." She laughed.

[Cyril Kingsley]

He could not help but to chuckle a little as she pointed that he was in the world’s greatest floral shop. He had never really looked up information on flora shops so he could not argue with her on if this shop was the world’s greatest or not. He opened his mouth to say something but it looked like she ended up hurting her hand on a potted plant. He pouted a little, worried that she had hurt herself but it seemed like other than a little pain she was fine. “Is your hand okay?” Cyril asked as he saw her hand shake her hand a little.

She then provided him with the name of the shop; it fit for a floral shop. “It’s a very lovely shop, shame that I came across it by accident.” Cyril pointed out. He started to look around the shop a little more now, taking it all in. It had a nice set up going on and he figured he could pay a few more visits to the place on purpose. “It’s nice to meet you Charlotte. It is a lovely name for a lovely lady.” Cyril pointed out, flirting just a little. He was just being nice and how could he not flirt a little with a pretty lady in front of him. He shook her hand and then his eyes caught a glimpse of the furry creature down on the ground.

He loved cats, had a cat of his own back at the stables and likely smell like his cat that he often cuddled and snuggled with; even if Sphinx didn’t always seem up for cuddles when Cyril really wanted them. “Catfish?” Cyril asked, making sure he heard right. She named her cat Catfish? He was not trying to judge or anything but it was most certainly an interesting name to give to a cat. At least it was not Snowball or something. He could not help but to kneel down, holding out his hand to let the cat smell his hand so he could pet the feline without being scratched.

[Charlotte Thorne]

When he asked about her hand, Charlotte nodded. "Oh yeah, it's fine." She assured the man as she leaned against the counter. She raised her hand and moved her fingers to show that it was fine. Perhaps a little red but otherwise no damage had been done. As he looked around, she got her first chance to look at him and take in his appearance. He was cute in his own British way. Charlotte looked away towards the door when he looked back to her. Getting caught staring at someone wasn't exactly a great way to make friends. 

"Thank you. She said simply when he complimented the shop's name. Really she had nothing to do with the naming of the shop. It was a cute name, totally her mother's style. If Charlotte had named it, it would have probably been called something lame like 'Flower Shop'.  "Maybe next time you'll come in on purpose?" She asked arching a brow. "And maybe it won't be such a shame." She added smiling. 

"I definitely can't take credit for name." She said. "That would be my mom." She pointed out. When he reached down to pet Catfish, she abandoned her spot by Charlotte and went running over to the hand that was about to give her free pets. At this, Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Attention hungry..." She watched as the cat rubbed her head up against his hand.

"Catfish?"

His tone made her smile. "Everyone wonders if they heard correctly...yes her name is Catfish." Charlotte let him know. "I thought it was different. Kind of funny." She explained as she watched the cat sniff around his legs. "Different." She finished shrugging.

[Cyril Kingsley]

Cyril relaxed and smiled a little bit more when she informed him that her hand was okay. He had been worried there and would have felt bad if she had hurt her hand bad. Even if it was of her own fault, he would have still felt bad. He would not have mind if he caught her staring, it was a high form of a complement after all. Of course he knew better then to be caught staring at her because that was not very gentlemen like. Sure he did check her out as he checked out the store, but he was good at playing it off having done if for a large chunk of his lifetime.

"Oh, most certainty. I just have to remember how I got here and I will be sure to pay a visit on purpose." Cyril informed her. He didn't really have many needs for flowers or anything like that, but it did not hurt to pay a visit. He would get to see an attractive woman, be in a relaxing environment, and enjoy the various scents coming off of flowers. He was just bad at finding places and he had just happened upon this place. Yet, now that he was here he could just really get a feel for the area when he left and hopefully that would be enough for him to remember where it was. Normally it was.

Charlotte pointed out the name of her cat was due to her mother, it was still a name he would not have expected for a cat. There were always those few people who name their pets a very interesting name, but he didn't mind it much. He only really had a problem with those super long names that were like Mr. Fluffykins or something like that. He was pleased at how the cat reached, letting the small creature sniff his hand first before he started to pet it. Ah, he loved cats. Now he wanted to go back home and snuggle the life out of his cat. "Better to be attention hungry then a mean kitty." Cyril pointed out. He didn't like working with the mean cats, they were just no fun at all.

"Ah, well it most certainly is an interesting name. Is there a story behind it that you mother might have shared with you?" Cyril asked. He figured if you were going to name your pet something like that, then there had to be a story behind it. Perhaps it ate a whole catfish when it was just a kitten or something. Or perhaps Cyril was just hoping for more to the whole cat being named what it was.