A Wulf in a Flower Shop(Open)

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Victor had walked past this new flower shop more then once every time he had told himself that he would go in there one day. But he had never gotten around to it. Today how ever Cana had managed to talk him into it. "You really should go in there." She said crossing her arms and blocking Victor's path.

"Look you're not really standing there so I can keep going." Victor replied lowly to her. He didn't want everyone to hear him talking to Cana seeing as he is the only one who can really truly see her or hear her. Despite the fact that she wasn't really standing there he moved around her. He wasn't really comfortable with walking through someone.

He had made it half a block away when Cana convinced him. "You can get some flowers for her." She said mischievously.

Victor stopped and closed his eyes tightly. He knew who she was talking about. He turned around and glared at her for a second and walked pass her and entered the "Petal Perfect"

He heard the bell ring as he entered and hid the fact that he had an companion with him that only he was aware of. It was times like this he truly missed Lupin. At least he didn't wander around poking at things and circling people.

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The Welsh corgi pup lifted his head from his comfortable basket and yawned widely. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and perked up his ears when hearing the chimes welcoming a new arrival. If he had more than a stump for a tail he would have wagged it, only that this time there was something odd about the guest. Uncertain, he slowly stood from the feather cushion and took a few steps forward. His nose was to the ground as he took a few sniffs then raised his head when sensing two beings instead of just the one. His fur stood on end as he sensed a larger creature before him, something dog-like according to Cu.

His name tag was gold and was of a round shape, glinting in any light that touched it. His eyes were brown and his black nose twitched when he tried to figure out what it was that stood before him. He gave out an uncertain bark to see if his voice alone could scare off the intruder. When that failed, he began to back up and growled even louder. Eventually he found his way under the desk, watching the man and continued to growl.

Alison hurried into the room and set a plant down on the counter. She ignored the fern for now and smiled at her customer. "Hello! Welcome to Petal Perfect! My name is Alison and I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. There is a sale on roses for fifteen percent off and we have Autumn wreathes with red, orange and yellow leaves that are thirty percent off. But you look more like a pumpkin man to me. Those are sold in the outdoor lot but will be weighed in here." She grinned, hoping she was right about her guess.

She blinked when she heard the growl and looked at the dog basket to see if Cu was still there. When he was not, her smile faded and she glanced around the floor for her puppy. " Excuse me one moment." She said to the man and glanced under her desk. "There you are, what are you doing under there?" She narrowed her brow in wondering why Cu was behaving in a frightened manner. She had never seen him act that way except for loud noises such as the vacuum or fireworks. Even then she trained him out of fearing them.

Whatever the case was, she stood back up and studied the new comer, looking for a reason why her dog should be afraid. He didn't look threatening to her, although appearances could be misleading. He didn't have a sinister look in his eyes but then again his hair was rather unusual. It was very animal-like although she mistook the coloring as jackal gray without the tan, instead of that of a wolf's coat.

She used a false smile in case there was a problem and began to draw on the many martial arts moves she had learned in case she needed to defend herself. But self defense was only used as a last resort for her and for now she simply had to trust that there was nothing wrong with the man unless he would prove otherwise.

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Victor looked around when he heard the growling sound. It sounded more cute then threatening and he couldn't tell why until he saw the little dog sniffing Cana's feet. He smiled slightly at the sight. 'See I'm not the only one that gets annoyed with you at times.' He mentally said to Cana. What he didn't expect was for the dog to hide. He looked at Cana who was busy making faces at the dog and sticking her tongue out at it. 'And she thinks I can be immature' He thought to himself. He straightened up his glasses and stuck his hands into the pockets on his German WWII trench coat. he always liked the gray color it had. He figured that it could have possibly been an omen to what he would become.

When he saw the women appear and greet him he smiled and nodded politely in greeting. Victor looked at her and let her talk. He wasn't the type to interrupt anyone... Especially a woman. When she mentioned him looking like a pumpkin man he raised an eyebrow. He had to know what made him look like a pumpkin man. After she finished talking and had picked up her dog he smiled kindly. "Actually I've been meaning to come in here for a while. He confessed. "I live in the apartment building down the road so you're kinda a neighbor in a way." He looked at the dog and held his hand out for it to sniff. "I wanted to say hi and..... Maybe buy something... I'm not sure though." He said referring to buying some flowers for the woman he had fallen for. It was clear from the way he talked he hadn't had any luck in winning her heart and that he was coming dangerously close to either giving up on doing so or doing something foolish to try and woo her. With the latter option being the most likely.

Victor could tell by her scent that she was feeling somewhat uncomfortable at the moment. He didn't know how he knew all he knew was due to his dog like abilities he could tell these things. Like for instance he could tell when someone had malicious intent. He couldn't always tell before it was too late however. Victor drew his hand away from the dog and took a step back taking his other hand out of his pocket to show that he was unarmed. Not in an overt way. It would simply look like he was taking his hand out of his pocket. "Sorry about frightening you dog there." He said kindly. He had always loved dogs and now that he was in a way a kind of dog he had an even stronger liking of them.

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When she heard that they were neighbors, her smile returned. “Oh, my cousin Dinah and I own the shop but we live in the Southern part of Gotham near the Towers and Apartments. We moved in just a month or two ago but so far everything seems nice.”
She watched his movements in knowing Cu might nip at him if the man scared him; however the corgi looked back at her for comfort and flinched when Victor’s hand would touch him. He ducked under the hand in trying to avoid it at first, and then he would sniff the skin in a small attempt to figure out what he was. His eyes would drift off to the side at Cana every now and then, growled uncertainly, and then focused on Victor’s face. He was obviously confused but never failed to look back at his mum to see what she thought of the situation.

“It’s alright Cu.” She said in a soothing voice to steady the pup’s nerves. She watched as Victor moved away from her “baby” and instantly felt more relaxed. She never trusted anyone to handle her pup, especially people she had just met for what real mother would? She smirked and found it interesting that Victor seemed almost as nervous as she was. Perhaps she came off too strongly through her personality?

She stepped out from behind the counter and walked over to him, looking to where his gaze was in order to find out what he had in mind. “Whom are you shopping for?” She asked, hoping that this would give them a clue as to what he may or may not wish to purchase. She heard Cu snort at something and glanced down to see him disagreeing with something in the air. She didn’t see anything and wondered if the pup saw something she didn’t. The shop looked normal to her and he wasn’t exactly angry at Victor. How strange.

Cu hurried over to Alison and hid behind her feet. He knew that she was protective and safe, for she had taught him she was one to be trusted when he was in doubt. He barked twice out of rebellion of the thing that was tormenting him and nipped at Alison’s heel partially out of nervousness and also out of instinct to herd.

“Ow!” Alison moved off to the side and picked up the pup. She looked him right in the eyes and lowered her brows. “Uh-uh.” She imitated a mother's growl to correct his behavior, for she was well aware of the corgi habits and stubborn behavior after researching the breed. She was wrong to assume that he had nipped her in wanting to herd her, as often a bored corgi would do, but she could feel him tremble and knew that maybe he was just reacting to something he could see or hear that she could not and left it at that. “No bite.” She warned him, but his eyes were anywhere but on hers. He had looked past her at the invisible threat and began to growl again. “I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s never been this nervous before; it must be something he can hear that I can’t.” She cradled her dog but did not pet him when the growling continued, for that would only egg him on to growling even more.

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Victor nodded when she named the apartment she lived in. "I live in that area too." He said keeping an eye on the dog. He didn't want to seem like a threat but he didn't want to be nipped at either. When he withdrew his hand he was sure that the little rascal wasn't trying to get him. When she talked to the dog in a soothing voice Victor swallowed. He didn't know what had just happened but he had a feeling of calm come over him. He figured it must have had something to do with the wolf like side of him. He managed keep it hidden though after all he didn't want to give this woman the wrong impression.

Then she asked who he was shopping for and it became far to easy to hide the feeling of calm that had over taken him before. He looked at his feet some and took a deep breath. "Well she's..... She's a model. Her name is Kory Anders." He said raising his eyebrows silently asking her if she knew who he was talking about. "And she is completely in love with someone else and its starting to seem like I have no chance." He confessed with a slightly defeated air.

He quickly pushed the feeling aside when she brought up the dags behavior. He looked down at the small dog and smiled. That's probably it." He commented with an amused smile. She didn't know the half of it. He took a glance over at Cana who was still making faces at the dog. 'Oh I'm glad you're taking my side little fella.' He thought to himself trying his best not to laugh. Because he didn't want anyone here thinking he was crazy.

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“Yes I see.” She looked around the shop carefully, touching each flower as she passed by. “It is the thought that counts and by giving flowers you are letting her know that you care for her, that you are thinking about her and that she is important to you. Certain flowers mean certain things although carnations can be given on any occasion although yellow carnations would not be good in this case. What you would like to say to her if you could? That would certainly narrow it down. Would you like for her to have an everlasting friendship with you or would you prefer to give her a symbol of love, daintiness, trust? Would you like her to know that you are thinking of her? Would you like to show her that you are willing to be faithful to her? Secretly tell her that you ache for her? The Bird of Paradise is not only exotically beautiful, but it would represent faithfulness. It is also known as the crane flower. Do you see how long the leaf branches out under the flower itself in a one-sided asymmetrical balance of color and elegance? The lovely yellow is most vibrant with the dash of blue and both look great in comparison to the fine green. I could wrap this up in plastic bouquet for you and give you a free card that expresses your fondness for her, it will be free with this purchase.”

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Victor listened to her as she asked him questions and made comments. His eyes shifted slightly when she brought up yellow being a bad idea. He cleared his throat slightly and rubbed the back of his neck "Why is yellow a bad idea?" He asked. He was somewhat concerned due to the fact that he had already given Kory some yellow flowers.

When she offered a way to secretly telling Kory that he had feelings for her he chuckled. "Well I hate to admit it but its alittle late for that." He looked at the woman with a clear look of shyness in his eyes. "It was..... Ah... It was quite a effort on my part." He said somewhat shyly.

When she offered the Bird of Paradise he moved over to it and looked at it. He had to admit it was a very beautiful flower. He thought about how she might react when she saw the flower. The thought of seeing the look on Kory's face gave him enough incentive to go through with trying to buy it. But he didn't know what he would want to put on the card. And there was another problem. "I guess the Bird of Paradise would impress her... But how much would you want for it? I don't really have a super high paying job." It was try that he didn't have the highest paying job in the world but he still got payed enough and he had plenty of money. The reason he had the amount of money he did was because he didn't go around buying many expensive things. But he was willing to by this flower for Kory.

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"Yellow carnations represent rejection and disdain, but the Bird of Paradise does not." She stroked the leaf on the flower and answered his last question. "How does thirty dollars sound?" After all, it was not the entire plant but the stem and the flower she was selling. If it had been the bulb as well, the price would have skyrocketed. "There are many cards you may choose from, those that have nothing written on them and some that have sentimental value in their words. But most guys that come in here prefer to sign their name on a blank card that has a boarder on around their name and have the card placed in with the flowers using one of these." She picked up what looked like a plastic pitch fork that was of a clear color and showed it to him. "You place the card between the two prongs and then set the bottom in between the flowers, raising it slightly higher than the flower itself."

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"Oh." Victor muttered as he finished rubbing his neck once e heard about why yellow was a bad idea. He looked at the Bird of Paradise and nodded. "Sure I'll pay thirty bucks." He agreed and looked at the card.

"You want me to pay now? And I'll confess that I'd like to try and put something more then just my name. Ya know something abit more creative." In reality he was still trying to think of a way to one up Dick and win Kory over.

Then a thought crossed his mind and he looked at Alison. "How am I a pumpkin man?" He asked with a slight grin. Then a second thought came to his mind. "Oh and I never introduced myself. I'm Victor."

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"I'm not entirely sure what it is about you but you look like a man who may like Halloween as much as I do. There's just something about you that shouts Halloween. She nodded when he asked if he should pay now. "Once again I am Alison. She scanned the price of the plant and added it into her computer. "Thirty dollars and fifteen cents is your total after tax, please."

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Victor reached back and pulled out his wallet and started to try and count out the money. He always felt somewhat uncomfortable when counting his money with someone else around. But he could still manage it without looking like a fish out of water. "Gotta love taxes, eh?" He asked jokingly.

When Alison commented on him looking like a man who would love Halloween he smiled. "I had someone tell me I seem almost wolf like." He said with a grin. He couldn't help but make that comment. Eventually he pulled out the amount of money he needed and handed it over to Alison with a polite smile. "And you have a beautiful friend there." He said nodding to her little dog.

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Alison couldn’t see the wolf features for she had always imagined shoulder length black hair, gold or blue eyes that expressed a wild and dangerous side to the animal without needing a snarling lip or ears pressed forward. However she knew wolves to be suspicious and shy around humans and in Victor’s case she could see that. His hair looked canine enough although his form wasn’t as powerful as she imagined wolves to be. She blamed her ideal wolf man on a British version Robin Hood character, who wore all black clad leather adorned with metal wolf heads that buckled his clothes together. The character himself was vain, brutal, and brooding while on the other hand ambitious, athletic and loyal. Clearly she could see loyalty in Victor’s eyes and had he ever been in a wolf pack he would most likely be the babysitter in the group. One of the wolves who’s gentle nature would watch over the pups and keep them from wandering off. She tried not to grin over the idea of them leaping up and nipping at his ears or jaw, clambering over him as if he were nothing more than a furry rock, and causing him to have reason to get up and trot away from their sharp teeth and energy. She knew all too well what that was like for she had raised just one pup, Cu. Luckily he had litter mates to let him know how hard to bite and when too rough of play was too much. Socialization was a huge factor in dogs personalities and manners and Alison wondered what kind of life Victor had up until meeting her today. It was none of her business of course, though her curiosity and imagination could only guess.

When he commented on Cu, she looked down while taking his money, able to do more than two things at once. She smiled at her furry friend who was pouting behind her heels. He wasn’t happy with the unseen thing in her store and knew better than to venture out when whatever it was that was bothering him, was still there. “He’s my baby boy.” She replied and looked up at Victor after having placed the cash inside of the drawer. “By the way, I like your accent.” She said, having a similar Southern drawl herself. “Texan, right?”

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Victor was proud of the fact that he didn't seem like a wolfman. No one really looks at him and instantly think that he had a beast hidden in side him. And no one really ever saw the fangs that he had... Unless he gave a large grin exposing his teeth which he rarely did. He would grin often but he wouldn't expose his teeth due to the fact that he didn't want to have everyone asking about the two fangs. He wasn't ashamed of them... He just didn't like to explain it over and over. He looked at the little dog and smiled at it kindly. He noticed that the dog was still alittle unnerved by Cana's presence. He still had trouble getting used to his unseen companion.

When she asked if he was Texan he looked away from the dog and back up to Alison. "Uh.. Thanks you noticed." He said slightly caught off guard. He rarely got comments like that on his accent. "Yes I am Texan. East Texas to be more precise." His brow furrowed as he started to try and place her accent. He knew it was familiar and that he had heard it somewhere before."Montana?" He asked stretching out the word as he guessed.

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"Yup." She grinned and moved aside from Cu. "We both are."

The pup looked at her foot and then up at the invisible person to all but he and Victor. His upper right lip bounced as he nervously flexed it until finally a large bark was heard, followed by a lunge and snapping of the teeth. Had Cana any flesh, she would have been bitten on the nose. Cu continued to bark so loudly that his body bounced on each cry. His fur rose on end again and he tried to nip at the specter's ankles, dodged, then tried to bite again.

"Gotcha." Alison made a cheerful correction as she took Cu by the collar and pulled him back toward her. She was careful about not surprising the pup and gave the command 'gotcha' in fair warning that she would grab his collar. She picked him up and placed him over her shoulder even as he fought her to turn around. He swiveled his head back and continued to growl.

"I believe you brought a spook in with you the moment you walked into my shop." Alison said and rubbed the pup's fur. "Sh... you're alright." She said softly. "Leave it." She said with an assertive tone, for dogs responded favorably in knowing that their teacher was sure of what was going on and therefore the dog watching could learn what to be aware of and what did not matter.

This seemed to have calmed Cu down but not by much. He wanted to obey her but he couldn't figure out why she wasn't bothered by the being in front of her. He continued to growl uncertainly and flattened his ears against his head. He glanced at Victor and saw that he was not afraid of Cana but she wasn't harassing him either. His little heart was beating quickly and he yawned widely, not because he was tired but because he was nervous. He was giving Cana dog body language to leave him alone.

"Easy now." Alison kissed his cheek and nuzzled her face into his fur. "That's my boy. My good boy." She continued to say softly.

At last Cu seemed to sigh and began panting while keeping his head turned toward Cana. He wasn't happy, not by a long shot. He didn't like what he saw and what ever IT was, was still there.

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Victor smiled slightly at the dogs reaction to Cana. Mostly because the little dog was doing exactly what Victor wanted to do to Cana at times. It was one thing that she decided to take the form of a human female. But now she was following her around and being just as determined, if not more so, then her father when it came to trying to get Victor with someone. "If I did then I'm sorry." He said with a slight chuckle as he turned around to look for the 'spook' when he back was to Alison he glared at Cana with a look that said 'stop!' He knew it wouldn't work but it was worth a shot.

When he finished turning and looked back to Alison he had his normal unassuming expression on his face. Cana leaned in over his right shoulder and started to whisper into his ear. "Ask her out." She insisted. 'No' Was Victor's mental reply. Ok she was worse then Lupin was. At least Lupin let Victor look like a fool first. Then tried to get him with a girl. Cana licked her finger and held it next to Victor's ear. "Do it or I'll make you look crazy." She hissed. Victor knew that Alison couldn't see or hear any of this and he was glad that as this happened she was looking at Cu and wasn't paying much attention to Victor... Or at least as far as he could tell. He knew he had to get Cana to stop quick she may not have been able to knock over plants or do anything from the Poltergeist. But she could interact with Victor as though she were real. So if she stuck her wet finger into Victor's ear then to him it would be real. As he thought of a way to stop her a thought crossed his mind. If she could interact with him then maybe it worked both ways.

Victor moved as though he was shifting his weight on his feet and slowly and casually leaned to his right. As he did so he shifted his foot so that it came down on Cana's toes. It worked. Cana stepped back quickly and growled somewhat. Victor kept his eyes on Cu and suppressed a smile. Or at least a smile that would be too large for the situation as far as Alison was aware.

"Normally I'm pretty good with dogs." He said as he took a hand out of his pocket as he thought about reaching out to pet the dog. He didn't though because he wasn't sure how the dog would react to him now that it seemed to be aware of Cana and her relationship with Victor. "What's his name?"