tramitem_log | ♫The withered leaves collect at my feet♫

Who: Clarence Blakely and OPEN

What: Clarence desires a cat... badly. Will he get one? Probably not, but a boy can dream...

When: March 16th thru the 21st (Spring Break baby)

Where: Various pet shops around the Queens area

Rating/Warnings: Teenage angst, possible mentions of Clarence's family situation

He had spent all day Sunday doing research, where within the limits of Queens he could find responsible facilities that sourced their cats from fosters. He didn't really want to go through a breeder. A cat wasn't some creature that should be bred to be sold; they were loving companions and thousands of them were born without homes daily. Those were cats that needed homes and he really, really, really wanted to give one a home.

Clarence lingered for several minutes outside the shop, looking through the windows at the rabbits displayed there as he tried to pep himself up.

The problem was he hadn't mentioned anything about it to Philemon or Kris yet. Sure, they seemed pretty chill and had even still given him the same fifty bucks to spend this week as they normally did, despite not having to go to school and buy lunch. But he couldn't just show up with a kitten. Even if he tried to hide it, cats liked to cry when they got lonely. Whatever kind of cat he picked up would eventually make some noises in his room when he wasn't there, and then it would be all over. Still...

Stepping inside the door of a known pet shop that worked with fosters, he moved along after reassuring the clerk he didn't need help. Finding the area of cats was easy. Six large kennels were set off to one side. Two contained batches of kittens, so tiny still but big enough to be adopted out. Each of the other four had an older cat in them, much more docile than the smaller groups but still in need of homes just the same.

"... they're so cute," Clarence found himself mumbling, charmed by all the sweet faces staring back at him. Heavens, but this was the hard part. Even if he decided to take one home, could he really choose just one over all the others? And as much as he liked the idea of getting a kitten, older cats were less likely to be adopted, so he would be helping out further if he got one of the bigger ones, right?

One of the adults, an orange tabby with green eyes, stared up at him sleepily. It was a male and looked quite different from the one in his dreams, but Clarence was still very tempted to ask the clerk if he could hold him.

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"Yeah, that's me... roving guru with dark shades and a snappy jacket."

Though really he did fancy that idea, inspiring some one to consider a path they hadn't thought of before. He hadn't really done much of that in his life and those few times he had... well, that usually got some one into mischief. The worse time being that moment with Eve in the garden, if that were to be accepted as an actual memory.

"Anthony J. Crowley. I usually give out my advice to plants. I'm the Director of Living Collections at the New York Botanical Gardens and potential new cat parent. And you? What is your name?"

Clarence rolled his eyes, but his posture was a lot less stiff now. Seemed he was warming up, if only just a little.

Hearing that, he perked up a bit further. Gardens were nice. He wondered if he and Phil had ever met. "Oh, um, I'm Clarence. Clarence Blakely. I do art. But I guess I'm just a high school student for now."

"Art? What sort?"

There were so many kinds and they each had their own merits.

"I've always liked art. We had a show of giant glass pieces by Dale Chihuly at the gardens recently and in May we are going to have a showing of works by Yayoi Kusama. Her pieces will be scattered around the park. If you have any free time you should drop by and check them out."

"Sketches. Painting. Sculpting. Whatever, really." Whatever he can get his hands on, but those three are the most common, the ones he's's practically grown up with.

Oh. Names he actually recognized. A little brighter in color than his usual palette, but he could appreciate the bizarre aesthetic of both artists.

"How much is admission?" He was definitely interested, but he might have to ration his allowance to go.

"An all-garden pass is twenty dollars for students with a student ID on weekdays and five dollars more on the weekends. But..."

He glanced back at the window where Grace was apparently shoving a second kitten into her carry case. Two kittens, yeah he'd thought so.

"If you go on Wednesday or early on a Saturday you can get a Grounds-only admission for free. Many of the pieces will be displayed outdoors."

"Twenty most days," he muttered, doing the math. That was doable, assuming he didn't have any other surprise expenses come up. Also meant ramen cups for lunch a few days a week, but he could stomach that.

His own gaze followed Crowley's back to the adoption room and he smiled when he saw Grace pick out a second kitten. Two would be a lot more fun, and a lot less stress, for the kittens themselves. He didn't quite manage to hide his smile by the time Crowley's attention returned on him.

"Free? Really? I'll have to go on a Wednesday then." He could possibly drag Elliott along with him. "A friend of mind is going into environmental sciences or something. He'd probably like to go see the plants."

"Wednesday is really the best day to go anyway, fewer crowds. People always seem to forget it exists, they just skip right over it and think of Thursday."

As it turned out the kid had a nice smile when he used it. And he really had a thing for cats! He and Grace would get along perfectly.

"Might as well bring some friends and make a day of it. There are new things blooming every day now and there will be even more as the air gets warmer."

"I mean, fair. Middle of the week. No one wants to exist by that point." Clarence often thought of himself as someone who lived for the weekend. Kind of a cynical ways to be for someone so young. Especially since he still didn't have anything extra special to look forward to other than a day free from school.

The orange tabby, recognizing a loss of attention, batted gently at Clarence's fingers through the bars of the kennel, begging for more pets which Clarence obliged.

"That sounds nice. I don't think too much about flowers, but they can be pretty." Nature wasn't something you came across much in the rush of New York City, unless you made an effort to go to a park. It would be a nice change of pace.

By the middle of the week that was true for many people. Not him so much because he actually loved his job but he could see that really being a drag on lawyers and indoor types. Anthony bobbed his head in mute agreement.

"Many people do take them for granted until they see just how many colors and varieties we have growing out there. Then again... there are some that can never see the forest for the trees. You'll know the type when you see them, surrounded by nature but chatting away on their cell phone."

Inside the little meet and greet room the chaos had finally come to the end. Grace's two new kittens had been secured in their crate and the other escapees had been gently escorted back into their cages. And with everyone safely locked away that seemed like his cue to reunite with the girlfriend.

"It was nice meeting you. And good luck with the cat situation. I hope that all works out for the best."

Clarence nodded, his mind wandering a bit at Crowley's sad and somewhat poetic words. He hoped he wasn't one of those kinds of people. Maybe he should dig a little further into nature for his own inspiration. He hadn't settled on any particular style, not like the artists Crowley had listed before, but he found beauty in a lot of things. Perhaps this would be a new opportunity for expansion.

It was a brief meeting, but definitely impactful in a strange way. Clarence still wasn't sure what to think of the guy. At least he wasn't leaving with a bad impression. "Yeah. Good luck raising those two. Remember, if you need help, you can always ask Google."

"Doctor google," Anthony smirked as he walked over to grasp the knob of the meet and greet room, "I'll do that."

It had been a pleasant first meeting, just one of a dozen small encounters one could have in a day and filled with none of the mental turmoil that might have been had if either of them realized they were one of the unusual. Anthony liked the kid and thought there was a lot of promise in a budding young artist. But, duty called. He opened the door and rejoined Grace so he could meet the two little fluff balls she had decided to adopt.

♫The withered leaves collect at my feet♫

Lol! That can be a problem!

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