A New Cat in Town {{OPEN}}

[Rhia Marinello]

Rhia sighed softly, a small smile on her face as she reclined in her chair. The coffee shop she had found here had rather comfortable chairs outside and she was glad to stake her claim on one of them. Her evening ritual of watching the sunset has both comforted her and left her feeling lonely, so after her call to her father, she decided she needed to get out of the apartment. Ignoring her car, she took the short walk to the french quarter and began to explore. The few bags at her feet included books, a few new outfits, and a few more books, one of which was nestled in her lap. She'd get back to the book in a moment. For now, she was enjoying her 'people watching'.

Her eyes scanned the crowds as she took another sip of her cafe au lait. New Orleans was definitely the right choice for a fresh start. The sights, the sounds, the scents, they all amazed her. She felt an itch under her skin as her beast almost cried to get out. She wanted nothing more than to run on four legs and let her even stronger senses take hold, but she knew she couldn't do so until she formally met her new pard. The last thing she wanted was to get off on the wrong paw. Just a few more days, she thought to herself. She had spoken with the Nimir-Ra, Dominic, about a week ago, making a date for her first informal meeting with her new family, and she wished the time would just pass more quickly.

Everything else had already fallen into place. Her apartment was downtown, not to far of a walk from the French District and about the same distance from her new job. Her boss was a respectable woman, one Rhia admired and was more than pleased to work for.

She smiled once more as she settled a bit more comfortably into her chair. She let her eyes drift back down to her book, thinking about the past few weeks. As the rest of the pieces fell into place, Rhia had the feeling once more that this step forward into her future was the right one to make. She felt as if her being here was meant to be.

Here's hoping she was right.

[Emilia Valentina Anghelescu]

Everybody expects me to break

but i'll never break down again

[/style][style=background-color: #423868; width: 390px; padding: 5px; width:390px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; text-transform: lowercase; color: #000000;text-align: justify; padding: 5px;]The warming sunset, was the perfect time to be out and about. Letting the cooling temperatures slowly sink with the sun, it was a wonderful time to wander around. For someone who was dressed in an odd attaire, it was the best time to be out scaring little children. No, not scaring little children. Emilia would never do such a thing. She was just weird, but she did enjoy the look on their faces when they saw what she was wearing.

Maybe it was the skeleton hand bracelet on her wrist that went all the way up to her fingers to make it look like someone had lost a hand for jewerly. It was possible, Emilia was a powerful witch to make things happen. Powers were everything for witches, but she didn't use them. Being outcasted by the community for being a witch, wasn't something she was eager to let others know about. Her magic was kept on the downlow and she was very careful with how she used her magic.

Today she was wearing a plaid button front top, a dark jean skirt, fancy little polka dot tights; which she thought were amazing, and her very worn purple gittler TOMS shoes. They were the sole comfort of her feet and most of the time that's what she wore when traveling around the city. Well in different styles, she couldn't remember how many pairs of shoes she had, but plenty of them were different styles that she couldn't have helped in buying more than one pair. With her red ginger hair set in curls, Emilia walked down the street with her iPad in tote decked in its Peguin Case she bought off the internet. So many things could be made and bought off the internet, that she hardly had to go a store to get what she needed, well expect for food, but that was a different story all together.

She felt a tingling in the air, not from magic, but of supernatural creatures. It always happened when she came into contact with them. They were just there and she could feel their power as she passed. It was strikingly disturbing, but somehow she enjoyed feeling that rush of power sweep over her skin. Emilia was near a coffee shop by the time she decided to look around to see where the power was radiating off of. Emilia was familiar with some of the shifters in the community, but she didn't know them very well. She knew of them, just didn't know them. This shifter's power was different. It didn't have the same kind of feeling like the someone who resided in New Orleans for a while. Was this a new one looking for a home within New Orleans? Emilia was always curious about these things, after all she could easily help the Supernatural with her powers. Not that she offered sometimes since she was always weary of what would be required of her to use the powers.

Now was the question of which of these lovely people sitting outside of the coffee shop was the new shifter. She wanted to make them feel welcomed and let them know she was there if they needed any help, whichever. Emilia's over helpful behavior usually got her brownie points that she didn't need. At least it was better to be liked, than disliked in the world where shifters were hated upon.

STARRING: Rhia Marinello | LOCATION: Bourbon Street | OUTFIT: Here | NOTES: |

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[style=font-family: arial narrow; font-size: 10px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 1px;]TABLE BY AMETHYST @ DECIMATED DREAMS
PURPLESTRIPE93 @ CAUTION 2.0

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[Rhia Marinello]

Rhia's eyes scanned the page of her book, her free hand idly tracing the rim of her coffee cup. The sounds of the people around her, the white noise of life, faded into the background of her mind as she allowed herself to completely relax. Her hand moved, about to turn the page of her book, when she felt it. A pulse of energy, as if it were scanning the people around her, moved across the small clump of people nearby. Rhia stayed just as she was, her beast lifting its head inside of her and scenting the air. There was energy near, different than shifter, but energy nonetheless.

Rhia closed her book, still sitting calmly, and reached for her cafe au lait. As she took a sip, she let her eyes scan the crowd once more. This time, she was looking for something. Taking another breath, she scented the air again and smelled... magic. This wasn't shifter magic, this was just magic. That was when she saw her.

A woman with bright red hair, and a damn cute outfit, was walking nearby, her own eyes scanning the crowd. The air around her almost vibrated, shimmering with the magic she obviously used. There was no darkness about her, not any that Rhia could see, but her beast watched the woman with a leery eye all the same. Anyone could be a threat, especially to a new leopard in town. Rhia continued to watch the woman. She obviously had sensed something as well, with how intent she was looking through the crowd, and Rhia wondered how long it would take to notice her.

With a small smile on her face, Rhia simply waited for the woman to turn her eyes in her direction.

[Emilia Valentina Anghelescu]

Everybody expects me to break

but i'll never break down again

[/style][style=background-color: #423868; width: 390px; padding: 5px; width:390px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; text-transform: lowercase; color: #000000;text-align: justify; padding: 5px;]Emilia could feel the power bulid up as she drew closer, but it took her eyes a bit to adjust to who she was seeing and where everyone was located at. She knew some of the shifters of the town, at least their energy source of power. It was something that kept her calmed, unless she was in a stressful situation then things got a bit hectic, but right now things were actually quite peaceful. And she was hoping to keep it that way as she walked into the coffee shop to buy a drink.

As she had passed the outside tables, Emilia turned her head to look at one woman who seemed to watching her. Must be the new power source. Emilia thought as she walked into the shop. Caffeine was never her friend, kept her up at all hours of the night and made her loose focus so many times it was a wonder why she was even there. But after receiving her order of a hot chocolate with whipped cream, she headed back out to the patio to where the woman sat.

"You're new around here, aren't you? Unfamiliar face, sitting alone. People kind of notice when they come as often as I do. I'm Emilia. Do you mind if I sit down here?" Emilia was overly friendly, but when one was trying to hide the fact that she was a witch it only worked for so long before the magic started spilling out, which in some cases it did, because the lamps outside of the coffee shop lit to life and the sun hadn't even set yet. She had a surprised look on her face when she saw the lights and quickly hid the look as she took a seat.

"Wow, not even dark enough for the lights, and they're on. Usually they come on by a timer, guess not tonight." Emilia was trying to play off that she had no reason to be put to blame by the recently act of magic. She had control of it, certainly, but in instances such as this one, it got loose and the power went to the nearest power source and brought it to life. Her magic was strictly white magic, but she knew members of her family who practiced black magic on occaison and offered to teach her how to use it. She declined, but right now she was more interested in the woman sitting across from her than anything else.

"So, where are you from? If you don't mind me asking."

STARRING: Rhia | LOCATION: Bourbon Street | OUTFIT: First Post | NOTES: |

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[style=font-family: arial narrow; font-size: 10px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 1px;]TABLE BY AMETHYST @ DECIMATED DREAMS
PURPLESTRIPE93 @ CAUTION 2.0

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[Rhia Marinello]

Rhia smiled at the red-haired woman as she walked past, entering the cafe. The woman looked right back at her before heading inside. A few moments later, the woman appeared again, standing near her table. Rhia nodded at her, still leery, but at least making an effort. "Yeah, only been in town a few days now. I really like this cafe though. Seems like my kind of place.I'm Rhia. Nice to meet you." Setting her book down on the table, Rhia gestured to the seat across from her. "Of course, have a seat.," she said with a smile as she picked up her cafe au lait and took a deep sip.

As Emilia took her seat, the haziness that surrounded her seemed to spike and the lights around them turned on brightly in response. Emilia tried to play it off, but Rhia had felt that spike as well as saw the changes around the woman just before it happened. Rhia took a small scent of the air. No, definitely not a shifter. This one had to be a witch. She shrugged lightly at Emilia. "Sometimes things like that happen. It doesn't always take a time to turn on a light."

She smile at Emilia once more, draining her cafe au lait. "I'm from Florida. Moved here a few days ago to get a fresh start. What about you?"

[Emilia Valentina Anghelescu]

Everybody expects me to break

but i'll never break down again

[/style][style=background-color: #423868; width: 390px; padding: 5px; width:390px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; text-transform: lowercase; color: #000000;text-align: justify; padding: 5px;]Emilia smiled, at least the woman was kind enough to allow her to sit down. Not many would allow such a thing, because they valued their space or whatever it was that bothered them about otheres. Rhia. That was an interesting name, not one she had heard of before. Always nice to hear new things and meet new people. Emilia had always been an outcast at times, at least with the supernatural out and about she didn't have to feel so 'different' amongst them.

"Baton Rouge. Family lives up there and I needed to get away from them. I figured New Orleans was a better choice to head to since they would probably freak and send wards out to come search for me."

Emilia didn't seem to have noticed that she had said wards in her response. Perhaps she was just a bit too comfortable with herself that she was speaking stuff witches used to protect themselves. It wasn't much of a problem to her, but if she saw any sign of surprise on Rhia's face, she would explain any confusion, but judging from how she acted toward the lights coming on and the sense of energy rising during that indicient, nothing seemed amiss then.

"Florida, has the same climate as New Orleans, right? Warm, tropically? I've never been out of the state."

STARRING: Rhia | LOCATION: Bourbon Street | OUTFIT: | NOTES: It's a bit short, sorry about that. |

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[style=font-family: arial narrow; font-size: 10px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 1px;]TABLE BY AMETHYST @ DECIMATED DREAMS
PURPLESTRIPE93 @ CAUTION 2.0

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[Rhia Marinello]

Rhia watched Emilia as she sat with an easy grace. Emilia had an easy smile, and one that set Rhia at ease as well. Still, she was on the defensive. You could never be too sure. With Rhia's past, it took her a while to completely trust other people, people outside of her immediate family. Her beast seemed to stalk behind the wall of Rhia's skin, as if she could feel the fur bush against her from the inside. Even her beast was still leery, but not as much as Rhia had seen in the past. Thankfully, witches, much like shifters, were a somewhat secretive bunch. Rhia doubted that if the woman were up to something no good, that she would do anything in such a crowded area. Still, Rhia had been wrong before.

Rhia's assumptions were proved correct as Emilia spoke of where she came from. Wards. That was enough to show that Emila was a practitioner all right. Her pard had a history with a local witch, a part of her pard whether she shifted or not. Her magic alone and kindness were enough to make her family. Rhia nodded at her, smiling. "Yeah, that's part of why I only went as far as New Orleans. My family would probably be pissed if I was more than a few hours drive away. Plane is even faster."

The air around Emila still seemed to crackle somewhat, shimmering in the fading light, though much less than it was before. She must be powerful if just the errant magic around her was enough to turn the lights on around them.

"Yeah. Climate is about the same, so I'm pretty used to it. I can kind of relate to you there. This is the only time I have been out of Florida my entire life. Kind of scary and exciting at the same time." The woman before her must obviously know that Rhia had some idea of what she was. Maybe she should do the same. She lifted her arms above her head, clasping them together int eh air and stretching her back out, almost languidly like a cat, and let a bit more of her own power move closer to the surface, a small scent of leopard puffing into the air. She smiled once more at Emilia as her back let out an audible pop and her arms moved back to her lap.

"So, how long have you lived here?"

[Emilia Valentina Anghelescu]

Everybody expects me to break

but i'll never break down again

[/style][style=background-color: #423868; width: 390px; padding: 5px; width:390px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; text-transform: lowercase; color: #000000;text-align: justify; padding: 5px;]"Scary? I guess you could say that. Maybe I wouldn't know that. My family perhaps, but they seem used to this place better than our home country." Emilia had never pictured something to be scary as leaving home. She had longed to be away from her clingy family members. That was one of the reasons why she left, plus it was the death of her grandmother that made her leave. There wasn't anything back at home for her if she didn't have her grandmother there to help with the spell casting and everything else. Her mother was never any help, always too busy doing her own thing and her father just stayed in the shop all day with nothing better to do with his day.

"Maybe about a year or two. It's pretty decent here. Crowded sure, but you get used to it. It has that calming effect that you just don't want to leave. Very welcoming." Emilia was short in her response, but she did enjoy New Orleans. There was a feeling of being welcomed by all and no one would think of her differently. Maybe it was all the voodoo shops set up around the area that made it feel a little more welcoming than most cities. There wasn't much more she could really say about the city. She kept to herself as she helped small businesses out with their souvenirs.

Emilia didn't seem to take notice of Rhia's stretch, but she knew what the woman was. Well not what flavor, but she knew that she was a shifter. There wasn't anything to deny it, Emilia felt the energy that came off when the woman stretched. Leaning forward, Emilia's voice was hushed as she spoke,"Are you a shifter? I don't mean to intrude, but the energy was what attracted me to you."

STARRING: Rhia | LOCATION: Bourbon Street | OUTFIT: | NOTES: |

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[style=font-family: arial narrow; font-size: 10px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 1px;]TABLE BY AMETHYST @ DECIMATED DREAMS
PURPLESTRIPE93 @ CAUTION 2.0

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