[GIAT] we must get more acquainted [Greg]

Tatum Atherton was not expecting her business to be doing this well since after the war. It was possibly that many of the carrier owls were killed then, but she was just glad that people were getting owls from her and more homes for the babies. It was more businesses that needed her owls. A few would be dropped off at local pet stores. It was just really nice that people were needing these little babies. Tatum had a request from a tattoo shop for an owl. She could not figure out what kind of owl to give them, but finally did. It was a gorgeous light tan barn owl. They could deliver heavier packages if needed, but they were gentle and very quiet. They were amazing. She had one herself. They were beautiful and very simple. This one did not need any additional training. She was very determined to do her job and loved a good treat now and then. Tate did spoil her babies by providing them treats whenever they did something correctly.

As she stepped into the store from the cold outside she was still bundled up from the weather. She always wore her blue jeans and plain tee shirt but now she had a green coat over it showing her house pride... even though majority of her house is who were hunting to her during the muggleborn time. It was snowing outside. White flecks was stuck in her blonde and teal hair, along with some feathers from the birds she has acquired over the years. Tate was going to need to hire someone else for the delivers. She has been so busy that she missed spending time with her owls. Someone else needed to take over giving owls to the owners. She loved seeing the faces of the owners and whosoever took over their care... but she needed to work on the safety of the other owls.

As she looked around at the artwork and tattoo work, she smiled big. She loved tattoos. Maybe it was time for another one. As she waited she called out slightly, "Hello? Anybody here?" She waited for a second and then put the bird down on a counter. She looked inside the cage sticking a finger in to pet the lovely owl in front of her. She whoed slightly as she petted her. "You gorgeous little bird at least will have a great home." She smiled, continued to pet the girl as she waited for whosoever was picking up the bird. She was going to need to give him care instructions, plus Tate was interested in getting a tattoo.

Since it was the holidays Gregoire was selling a lot more art supplies than he would normally. This was his busy season for two obvious reasons. Firstly that Christmas was coming and everyone loved getting art stuff as gifts. Secondly was because winter break had begun so students who were normally only allowed to go to Hogsmeade could come and shop here. Gregoire loved being able provide the young artists with their supplies. He wanted to inspire them, to teach them, but just being able to sell to them was good enough for now. Today the shop was bustling. It was no where near as crowded as the joke shop or the candy shop, but it was busy compared to a normal day. The French man had to restock multiple shelves and ring up a handful of customers already and the day wasn't even half way over. His cheeks were tinted a little red from all of the running around but he ignored it and kept moving. Chewing slightly on his lip ring as he reached for a box on the top shelf of the store room he was happy. He had been in a slump lately. No painting, no tattoos, no customers... he was glad to be getting out of it finally.

Since the last bunch of students that had came through his shop as a blur had bought all of the sea foam green paint Gregoire had to go into the back to find some more. When he bought the paints they were usually assorted, each pack of six with a few different shades of the same base color. Gregoire had to open five small boxes before he had a handful of little vials of sea foam green in his tattooed mitts. After he had gotten them out he grabbed a bottle of water from the small cooler he kept in the back and tucked it, somewhat difficulty, into the pocket of his black painters pants. When he heard the door open again he rushed to get back out into the front of the shop, excited for yet another customer. He heard someone calling out and from behind the small store room door he answered, his voice thick with his French accent. "I'll be right there!" He said as he shut the cooler behind him and then opened the door to the front of the store. When he saw the girl the first thing he noticed was of course the blue hair, he was impressed. The smile splitting his face showed that he approved.

"Love the blue." He said honestly as he set the bottles of paint down on the counter near the register. Then he noticed all of her tattoos and his smile grew even wider. He loved people who were fans of body ink like he was. Of course, calling Gregoire a fan was a bit of an understatement. The man was obsessed with them, his body was covered, even the top of his head. It wasn't until he took in all of her clearly artistic features that he noticed the owl she had with her. It was a good looking creature, but Gregoire was a little nervous. She wasn't planning to dye it blue as well was she? Gregoire had heard about people dying the hair of their dogs, but their owls? He didn't sell that kind of product anyway. After only a moment he spoke again. "Can I help you with something?" Being as absentminded as Gregoire was it wasn't surprising that he had completely forgot that he had ordered an owl to deliver packages. He had had a lot of customers ask if he shipped items this year so he decided it was finally time. The owl could bring supplies to students in Hogwarts even when they were in the middle of a term. It sounded like a good idea. Getting the water bottle from his pocket he unscrewed the top and took a sip as he waited for her to reply, the small smile still playing on his features.

As a man covered in tattoos came out, commenting on her hair, she smiled gently at him. "Thanks, most people are taken back. Glad someone appreciates it." She smiled gently at him. It was pretty much true. She was a crazy bird lady with blue hair and was not even fifty yet. Hopefully she does not become the lady feeding the pigeons in the park, actually she already does that in her free time and when she has left over bread. Oh no- Tate's life is to become the lazy pigeon lady in the parks of cities....

The man seemed nice enough. He was cute. Tattoos. Goofy smile. Tate approved. Hopefully he was not rude like some of the people who were getting birds from her. Most of the pureblood families that supported muggleborns were getting her name out for her business though. She needed the money as much as possible. Tate was doing this for the love of the birds.

As he mentioned if she could help him with something, she nodded. "Did you order a bird?" She raised an eyebrow before cooing back at her lovely owl. She removed her finger from the cage and stood up straight. Noticing a feather mangled in her blonde hair section she removed it quickly and put a hand forward for the man in front of her. "Tatum Atherton. I am the owner of an owlery close to Hogsmeade. I got a letter saying this business wanted an owl... so here I am." Hopefully she was at the right place. There was not many places with this name. Actually this might be the only place with this name. Tate thought for a moment, then sighed. Maybe someone was pulling a prank on her. She hated kids. They were annoying. Brats. She really hoped she never had them. She had enough animals right now to make up her lack of children.... even though her mother would want her to have some. Her mother just wanted a girl that would appreciate girly items.

"If you didn't send the owl, then sorry- I apologize.... I'll totally take this bird home." She nervously itched her neck and tugged her hair. She then bit her lip and moved her hand toward the cage.

Gregoire thought about her question for a moment, did he order a bird, and then it came back to him. Yes, yes he did. He smiled and reached for her hand before shaking it gently. He set down the water bottle on the counter and then turned back to her. The French man opened his mouth to both answer her question and introduce himself but she was already offering to take the bird back and that made him frown a little. "No wait, I did order one. It's just been a crazy week with all the students out for Christmas break. I completely forgot." He moved a little closer to both her and the bird in its cage and then spoke again. "Names Gregoire Cartier, its nice to meet you Miss Atherton." His French accent bled through most when he spoke his own name, being so used to how it sounded in his native language. He offered her another quick smile and then turned his attention to the owl. "I've been getting a lot of mail orders lately and it's becoming too much to take to the owl post." Being as tall as Gregoire was he had to lean down toward the cage to get a good look at the Owl that was residing inside of it.

"Whats his name, he's beautiful." Gregoire didn't attempt to pet the bird, he didn't fancy getting his fingers bit. Although he wasn't the biggest animal lover in the world the artist had a gentle soul. He knew better than to stick his fingers into the cage of a bird that knew him only as a stranger. He would have to gain the birds trust first, he could do that. And he was confident that he would be able to take care of the bird even though his appearance and forgetfulness might not show it. "Thank you for delivering him, what do I owe you?" He didn't want her to leave just yet but he didn't want her to think he had forgotten about payment either. Gregoire knew what it was like to be a business owner and it wasn't always free of stress. Chewing on the ring that was in the center of his bottom lip he flipped from watching the bird to watching her. His pale eyes wandered toward the tattoos on her skin that were visible and he silently wondered what they meant to her. Gregoire was all about the art and he loved the stories behind tattoos. Everyone of his tattoos had a meaning and he always assumed it was the same for others.

"Have you been taking care of owls long?" He asked, making polite conversation, as his eyes moved back up to meet hers.

"Pleasure, Mr. Cartier." Tate smiled gently at the man before her. It must be hard getting that over-whelmed. Usually around her business it was just feeding the birds and sitting and waiting. Not much goes around her business, but it was pretty new. She started it just after the war, which was hard enough. Tate was one of the muggle-born unfortunates. After running for so long, she thought it was going to be harder to start a business. Hiding and running was proving a little harder. "Well, now you have this little fellow to help around here." She chuckled gently. She wanted to take him out of the cage and give a proper goodbye with nuzzling involved, but she pretty much looked like the crazy bird lady if she done that. Most of the people already thought that about her.

As he commented on his beauty, she gained a huge smile. "He is one of my most graceful and handsome ones. Believe it or not, the snowy ones can be pretty but they are extremely snobby. They have the biggest attitudes of my birds." She chuckled gently. Each and every bird had their own personalities. After working around them for so long you learn each and every one. It was normally hard for her to lose a bird, but she was not worried at all. When he mentioned payment, she  softy smiled. "How about this? If anybody ever needs an owl you tell them about the business, that's the only payment I need... some new clients." It was true. She really did not need the money currently, she rather take new clients. If people did not know about her business then she did not gain anything from it. It was harder to get money with nobody knowing about it. If he tells people and then they tell people, easy money. "Also, need you to sign a few papers."

As she reached into a leather satchel on her side, she heard him ask how long as she been taking care of birds. She thought for a second. "Well started after I graduated, then took a small break during the war. Now I started my own business." She was not going to add she lost her old job cause she was a muggle and then outed her old bosses wife to protect herself. That would just make her look bad. People do what they have to do when the situation comes. As she pulled the paper work on the table, she pulled out a quill with blue ink. "Just need to sign the bottom and initial here. Says that you will take care of the birds, feed them, tend, and all that jazz. Maybe also that you give me your soul." She chuckled gently. "I'm kidding... so kidding." She calmed down her laughing as she bit her lip.

"I love your work. Obviously, I'm covered."

Gregoire was looking forward to being able to fill more orders with the help of the magnificent creature she had delivered. He seemed like quite the bird but ice blue eyes remained on hers as she answered part of his question. She hadn't given him a name so he assumed that meant he would have to chose one for him. He could do that. Letting out a small laugh at her comment about snowy owls Gregoire slid his hands into his pockets absently. And then he asked about payment and was a little shocked by her answer. Surely she wanted some kind of trade for him, if not sickles, then something. Even though he understood how important word of mouth advertising was he was having a hard time believing that was all she wanted in return. "I can do that," he said with another soft smile and then continued, "But that can't possibly be enough." Gregoire grew up poor, and even as an adult in charge of his own funds, he was far from rich. Money was important but it wasn't the only way he could repay her for what she was providing. Pale eyes looked her up at down quickly and of course his mind moved on to another way he could pay her, but he quickly shook that away. It had been entirely too long since he had shared his bed with someone, it was starting to mess with his normally respectable intentions.

When she moved on to the subject of signing paperwork Gregoire removed his hands from his pockets and reached for the quill with his left. Putting the paperwork down on the counter he read it quickly and made sure he understood the terms. He laughed at her joke about signing away his soul and although he didn't honestly believe she would try anything of the sort he still read the paperwork completely. Gregoire learned early in life never to sign anything without knowing what it was. Just because she seemed friendly didn't mean everyone was. He would never be duped the way his parents were. After he had finished reading through the files he scribbled his initials were she had pointed and then sealed it with his signature at the bottom. Returning the blue quill to her he held up the papers. "If its not too much trouble I would like a copy of this document for my own files." His files were of course a complete mess stuffed into a few cardboard boxes in the back room, but she didn't need to know about his lack of organization. Gregoire hated the paperwork that came with owning a shop but he understood the importance of it.

And then she spoke again and his usual smile grew even wider. "I can see that." Gregoire once more took a look at the ink that was visible on her skin and continued speaking. "Whoever did them did some excellent work." Even if they were a competing artist Gregoire could appreciate the skill that was portrayed on her soft looking skin. "I simply cannot take this bird for free." He said, bringing up the earlier subject as he glanced over at the dark brown owl who was currently biting the bars of its cage. Gregoire would let it out as soon as he could, but for now he turned his gaze back to Tate. "Can I repay you with a free tattoo? Any size, any design, whenever you'd like." Gregoire hoped she would take him up on the offer because he really wanted to draw on her beautiful skin. And Gregoire happened to be one of the only artists who could create magical tattoos. He assumed she had plenty of tattoos of owls already, but Gregoire could make them fly on her skin, he doubted she had any of those.