It was Monday morning, and Regan was starting her first day as the front desk clerk of Jacob's auto shop. She was very nervous and she hadn't a clue what she was going to wear. She figured that her black jeans and combat boots would be acceptable, but she wasn’t sure if her tank tops would be alright, it was winter after all. After much deliberation she finally decided to wear one of her dark forest green tank tops and her form fitting black hooded sweater to the shop. This way she looked presentable, but comfortable, and if she got too warm she could take off her sweater.

Looking at the clock, Regan jumped as it was already 8 am and she still had to run across town to get to the shop for 9:30. She quickly looked in the mirror and patted down her hair one last time and sighed. “Well here goes nothing I guess.” She said to her reflection and grabbed her keys off her dresser before heading out the door.

Once outside she looked over the Google map that she had printed off and figured out where she had to go. Tucking the papers into her pocket, she got down on all fours are started running through the woods. It was a nice morning for a run and she enjoyed the sounds of the birds and squirrels chattering in the trees. Coming upon the one road she had to cross to get to the second patch of woods, Regan waited until the road was clear of all vehicles before quickly dashing across it and into the other patch of woods. She finally knew how a deer felt!

She continued running for a while before finally coming close to where Jacob’s shop was. She stayed in the cover of the trees until she finally got to a clear path to the back of his shop. She quickly sprinted from the trees across the large lot and ducked behind some of the cars that were parked in the back. She caught her breath before standing up and dusting the snow off of her hands and boots. She didn’t want to be soaked on her first day of work.

Taking a deep breath she cautiously walked around to the front of the shop and peeked around the corner. She didn’t see Jacob’s car anywhere so she walked up to the front door and peered inside at the clock hanging on the wall. It was 9:15 am, she wasn’t only on time, she was early! She gave a soft knock on the front door and waited to see if Jacob was inside.

Jacob was curious it see how today went. He was in the shop, underneath his favored car, but he wasn’t really working… in fact, he was using his ability to his utmost at the moment, and it was dead silent in the shop. The only sound that could be heard was the breathing of his lungs and the beating of his heart… and he hand one hand on the frame of his vehicle, his hand seeming to meld with the metal slightly as he ran through the vehicle in his mind’s eye, through and through. Happy that it was in prime condition, he released it, just in time to hear a tap on the glass. There were three possibilities… it could be a customer trying to get a little bit of work started early, a mechanic who lost his shop key to the back door, or Regan. Sliding out from under the car, he stood up and moved quickly into the nice waiting area.

And it was indeed the Tigress.

Not worried about her knowing of his ability, the lock clicked open on the front door. The glass was lined with metal lines weaving over it, and the entire frame of the shop was all metal, which worked well for deterring thieves and vandals… not to mention the voltage that ran through that metal when the shop’s alarm was engaged. The waiting room itself was nice… a 42 inch flatscreen/DVD player combo was mounted on the wall, free WiFi for customers waiting for their car, and comfortable couches to lounge around in. Jacob waved for her to come in, just in case she didn’t hear the lock disengaging, but he doubted that she couldn’t hear it… it was a three way deadbolt… it was almost impossible not to hear the ‘kachunk’ of metal moving in the door. If the zombie apocalypse occurred, this was probably one of the safest places on earth to be… not to mention the stored food, water and weapons he kept in the safe room.

Not quite a dooms day prepper… but he certainly was ready for almost anything.

“Good morning,” he said enthusiastically as she entered, washing his hands. “I was beginning to wonder if you were going to make it. Welcome to your first day of work at my Shop.” It was a simple enough greeting, and now he had to go into the things she needed to know once she came in and had a look around. He motioned towards the receptionists desk, which would be where she would work from, and grabbed the key he had made from the keyboard on the desk. He had a cashier’s drawer that was locked, as they didn’t usually deal in cash often, and required one of the two keys he had in his hand, and the other was for the back door that was around the corner that she would be admitted access to. “I’m afraid you have your work cut out for you today…” he started, pointing to the sticky notes that were almost covering the desks… his ‘appointments’, “…I need you to get these organized and put into the computer… and if we can, get them sorted out so we don’t have too many on any one day. We have been busy in the shop getting work done, so I haven’t had time to sit down and do it myself. Think you can handle that, on top of taking on any customers that walk in?” He had done this on purpose, of course, to test her ability to manage and organize the front desk effectively.

Regan heard the heavy lock open on the door and looked around inside the shop until she spotted her large friend Jacob standing just inside the waiting area. He waved her to come in and she opened the door just wide enough for her tiny form to get through. She took in the nicely furnished waiting area and was rather impressed by it. In all the books she had read, the waiting areas of auto shops were dingy and dirty, this was well kept and very clean. At least she wouldn’t get her fur covered in grease out here.

Once Jacob had greeted her, she smiled and gave him a polite nod of her head. “Good Morning, sorry if I’m a tad late, I had no idea what to wear and then I had to literally run across town. I will leave earlier next time.” She followed in behind him towards the desk and went wide eyed as her emerald eyes took in all of the yellow sticky notes that were littered across the desk. “Boy you aren’t kidding!” She wondered how she was going to get all of these appointments organized in a most efficient fashion. She was a clever cat, so she would obviously figure something out.

She bent over to get a better look at the sticky notes, her long tail curled up over her back as she did. All she could see were names and phone numbers. “Do you know what work needs to be done on each vehicle already Jacob, or do diagnostics need to be done on each one to find the problem?” She was sure that she was going to end up bothering him throughout the day with different questions, but if she was going to organize these properly she was going to need to know these things.

Jacob listened to her well placed question. “Yes… for the most part. One thing you could do to help is call and confirm the appointment with each customer, and ask their vehicle information and complaint and put it in the notes on the calendar. We also have a customer database that you can look up the different information as well for return customers.” Jacob wiggled the mouse, having booted up the computer a short while again, and once he got the desktop to display, he pointed to two icons on the desktop. “Microsoft Outlook for the Calendar, and the database is right there under that, which you should try to ensure we have all the information for each customer, but you can also get that information when they come in, if you don’t want to ask for all that over the phone. I’ll be around to help out with any questions.” The database icon was crossed wrenches behind a wheel, and said ‘Customer Database’. Simple.

Still, he knew there was going to be some other issues… there always were, but he would solve them, just like he always did. Standing back, he looked over towards the typical office phone, knowing it had call waiting and multiple lines of input, so she could put people on hold if she needed to. The ringtone was funny though, because it sounded like a power tool whirring instead of the traditional ring, and the cash drawer would make the ‘Sonic’ rings sound when you opened it. He would let her discover those on her own, of course, but it would be interesting to get a review of her first day. He then pointed to a small microphone that was also on her desk with a single big button. “You can use that to call either for myself, or any available mechanic, as the customers like to talk to us directly about their car sometimes. So… you ready?” He could see one of his mechanics pulling into the area, and he still needed to get his car down and back outside.

Regan looked up at Jacob and smirked, so he wasn’t going to make this simple at all. Alright, she could play this game too if he wanted to. She sat down and curled her tail over her lap so she could sit comfortable and not chance getting her long tail caught in the wheels of the chair as she moved around. She made note of the icons on the computer and of the microphone on the desk if she needed one of the mechanics or Jacob to come to the front. With a hesitant nod she gave a little sigh. “I think so, let’s hope I don’t scare the wits out of your employees and customers!”

Right away she started to take the sticky notes off of the desk and arrange the customers in alphabetical order. This would make it easier for her to find out if they were in the database already, as she hoped the program that Jacob used did that automatically, if not she would fix it. She rummaged around the desk drawers until she found a pencil and flipped it over so she could use the eraser end to dial the buttons on the phone easier. They were small and her long claws made it a tad bit awkward to try and push with her finger. She figured that she was settled pretty well and ready to start getting these phone calls and organizing out of the way, though she knew it was going to take several hours for her to get this done in the most efficient way possible.

Jacob watched her for a moment, and shook his head in dismay. “On the contrary… one of our guys is a big cat person… You’ll more likely get hit on than scare anyone away.” He stepped back after that and watched her for a moment, and then left her to her own devices. If she was a super-woman, she would have this done before lunch… but more than likely, this was going to be an all day event. Still, it allowed him to walk away from the front desk and tend to other matters, like moving his car. On that thought, he moved into the garage, and got the Impala moved down off the rack, and moved it to his reserved parking spot.

He then began to work on the cars for the day.

Regan’s first customer was a woman and a child, and the kid, a young girl, seemed to take a particular interest in Regan because of her appearance. The woman was a little hesitant, but polite enough. “Is there anything available today? My car needs an oil change.” It was a simple request, and the first of the day… but how would she handle it considering that she hadn’t organized all the other appointments yet? Let the trials begin!

Regan’s eyes went wide as she snapped her head to look at Jacob. Did he REALLY just say that? She would have turned about ten shades of red to match her hair, but thankfully her fur kept that covered up from any eyes, but she felt the heat in her face. “I highly doubt that Jacob.” she retorted and went back to organizing the sticky notes. She went back over them and noticed there were dates on them, so she grouped them up with all of the matching dates listed, and then in alphabetical order for each day. She muttered a little as she was getting things together. Jacob had neglected to write down times or what needed to be done on all the notes. If this was going to happen more often, she would have to have some words with him.

Looking up at the woman and little girl that came in, she coughed slightly and put on a soft smile. “Hello there, let me see what I can do for you.” Regan looked down at the sticky notes on the desk, there weren’t too many for today given it was a Monday and everyone was busy at their jobs. She quickly went over to the computer and Googled the estimated time of an oil change, 45 minutes to an hour. She looked back up at the woman and smiled. “I think we can try and get you in first thing this morning, though I can’t promise it’ll be right away, but I will try. It’s my first day here and my boss decided to give me the sticky note challenge.” She said pointing at all the sticky notes scattered across the desk. “Are you a return customer Miss?” she asked so that if she was, Regan could quickly get her information off of the database and into the hands of the first mechanic she could get her claws on.

A couple of the mechanics walked in the back door, passing behind the desk and notably pausing for a moment and looking at Regan, then proceeding to the garage to start working for the day, giving her a nice “Good Morning,” and moving on. Jacob would fill them in if they had questions, but they usually didn’t question decisions he made when dealing with staff, because they knew he wouldn’t hesitate to fire them on the spot if they weren’t pulling their weight or were disrespectful… but on the same token, he wouldn’t hesitate to understand a person’s situation, so long as you didn’t sling lies at him.

The young woman in front of her waited patiently, and as she asked for her name, the young girl couldn’t contain her curiosity any longer, and tugged her mother’s coat, blurting out, “does Ms. Kitty have a tail?” Immediately the woman grew slightly fearful that it would provoke further measures in regards to Regan, and looked to her child immediately. “Meranda! That was very rude! Apoligize!” The young girl looked down at the ground for a moment, not liking the fact that she just got in trouble, and then finally looked up towards Regan. “I’m sorry Ms. Kitty.” She then proceeded to go sit on one of the couches, sulking a little. The woman eyed Regan wearily, unsure what the mutant’s response was going to be. “I’m sorry about her… she’s not old enough to understand not to ask something like that. My name is Samantha Reynolds, I’ve been here once before. It’s the same old Saturn that I brought in to get the muffler replaced.”

Regan nodded to the mechanics as they came in, she gave them a meek “Good Morning.” as they came in and stopped to stare at her for a moment. It made her slightly uncomfortable and she shifted in her seat. She knew they weren’t trying to be rude, but she wasn’t exactly not noticeable. Even if she had looked like a normal tiger, they would have stopped to look, but being as vibrantly and oddly colored as she was, they tended to stop and look a little longer. Trying not to let it affect her work, she turned her attention back to the woman at her desk.

Getting ready to look up the woman’s name once she had got it, Regan’s emerald eyes went wide as the little girl asked if she had a tail. The mother quickly made her apologize and once she did she went and sulked on the couch. Looking back at the mother, she apologized as well. Regan waved her clawed hand at the woman and smiled softly. “It’s quite alright, she’s just curious and I don’t suppose I blame her. Being a cat and all I have the curious bug myself.” She gave a little chuckle and looked up the woman’s name in the database and pulled up the car’s information. She printed it off and rummaged around for a pen. Once she had found one, she wrote “Oil Change” on the order and labeled the top of the page with a large ‘#1’. She then folded up a fresh sticky note and wrote the same ‘#1’ on it and poked a hole into the paper before looping a rubber band in it. She then looked at Samantha and smiled. “If I could just get your keys, I will get this order to the boys in the back and you can have a seat.” Regan took the keys and then looped the other end of the elastic band through the key ring making a little tag.

Grabbing the paper and the keys, Regan got up and turned so her back was facing the window. She raised her long stripped tail up as high as she could and gave it a little flick before looking over her shoulder and giving Miranda a little wink. She smiled and put it back down as she walked into the back of the shop.

The pungent smell of grease and dirt filled her sensitive feline nostrils. Sometimes enhanced senses really sucked. Making a face she wiggled her nose and looked around for one of the mechanics that were just setting up their tool boxes and not looking too busy. She padded over to the first one she could find and handed him the car info and the keys. “When you are finished, could you please write the price she is to be charged on the paper and bring it back to me along with the keys?”

The woman gladly handed over her keys and gave Regan a somewhat forced smile… and then went back to sit next to her daughter. They idly discussed the ‘why’ of her rude comment and continued with that as Regan prepared their work order. It happened to be Joe that was the mechanic she grabbed, who nodded. “There is a list on the paper behind the monitor with all the prices and stuff… just don’t forget to punch in the tax, 7%, aight?” He took the keys from her, but politely gave the paper back to the Tigress with a slightly eerie smile.

Once Regan had gotten back into the office, the young girl who had asked her the embarrassing question was reading a book, and her mother playing around on her phone. Without warning, the young girl sneezed, and a very odd and very distinct popping sound occurred, and the young girl vanished. Suddenly, she was behind Regan near the desk, and she looked very frightened and began to cry. Mommy! It happened again!” she sobbed. The mother was already rushing to her, scooping her up in her arms and taking her back to the couch. She turned to address Regan for a moment… wondering her reaction, but didn’t say anything… just moved back to the couch and began to rock her little girl, trying to get her to stop crying.

She had dropped her book behind the desk though, and had left it when she had been so startled.

Regan gave Joe a pleasant smile as he informed her of the price list behind the computer’s monitor. “Oh thanks, Jacob forgot to mention that to me.” The pleasant smile faded quickly as she took the paper and took in the eerie smile that crossed Joe’s lips. It sent a chill up her spine and she couldn’t help but shiver which in turn made her fur stand on end a little. She curled her tail around herself so she could grab the end of it in her clawed hand like a security blanket. As she turned and headed back to the front desk, she made a mental note not to deal with Joe unless everyone else was busy. He gave her the creeps.

As Regan came back through the door to the desk, she smiled pleasantly at the mother and her child, giving them a little wave with her clawed fingers before settling in her seat to deal with those darn sticky notes again. She heard the little girl sneeze and a popping sound, and as she looked up to say ‘Bless You’, she saw the girl was gone. Regan just about jumped out of her fur as the girl was suddenly behind her, it startled her more then anything. Before she could say a word the mother had rushed behind the desk and swept the girl off to the couch to console her. As Regan pushed back her chair to get a better view of the girl to see if she was alright, she noticed the book laying on the floor and figured she’d better return it. She picked it up and slowly headed over to the couches.

Standing at a distance, she waited until the mother looked up at her. She gave her a soft smile and handed her the book. “She dropped this back there. Is she alright?” Regan asked in a soft but concerned voice. She knew the girl was a mutant, it was obvious after what had happened. She knew the mother was concerned and confused and Regan really wanted to help. Standing with the end of her tail clutched between her paw like hands, she looked at the mother and in a soft whispered tone asked. “Could I try talking to her? I kind of know what she is going through. Maybe I can help calm her down?”

The woman, still startled and unsure, looked up at the tigress slowly. That was why she didn’t really have a problem dealing with the red head… her own daughter was a mutant, and she slowly took the book and set it down next to her. But when the young woman didn’t leave, she looked back up at Regan again, wondering what it was she needed, and listened to her words. She gave the most subtle nod to her request, and uncurled the young girl from her arms a little bit. “Hey… this young woman wants to talk to you…” The little girl curled into her chest though, seeming to have come down with a sudden case of shyness in her moment of weakness.

“I’m sorry… about three weeks ago she tripped and fell off of the front porch stairs… and instead of hitting the ground, she landed in my lap. Ever since… she just ‘pops’ whenever she is startled… but it scares her.” The young girl was eyeing Regan slightly now, looking at her from the depths of the ball she had curled into, her curiosity starting to overpower the shyness. She had tears in her eyes, and was still sniffling, but she wasn’t outright ignoring the Tigress… a step in the right direction, if she wanted to talk to the young girl.

((Sorry that it was short… still waking up))

Regan smiled and gave the little girl a small wave of her clawed fingers as she peeked out from the ball on her mother’s lap. She would wait until she was ready to talk before doing anything too drastic. She nodded at the mother’s words and smiled softly. “Yeah it tends to happen like that for most of us. Triggered a lot by emotions. I think I’m a rare case, I have been like this for as long as I can remember so I must have been born this way.” Regan sighed a little at that thought and looked back at the little girl who was now peeking out a little more. She crouched down in front of the pair and grabbed her long tail from behind her. She wiggled the end of it in front of her pink feline nose and smiled, “Do you want to hold it? It’s just like a stuffed animal.”

Looking back at the mother Regan smiled again, trying to offer some comfort to her. “Did you know that there is a school across town that is specifically for mutants? They help mutants in so many ways there. I myself live there. If you ever want to contact them I can get you their information, they are wonderful people. No commitments, just happy to answer any questions you might have.” Looking at the little girl and then back at the mother, she gave another small smile, “It might help her a lot.”

Jacob had moved to the window that was mounted in the door that connected the work bays and the waiting area, checking on his newest employee just in time to see her walk towards a young girl who was crying. He would stay here and observe, but he cracked the door silently ever so slightly so he could listen.

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The woman nodded, listening to the words Regan provided with rapt attention, as she was still new to the whole mutant phenomenon and the details that went with it. The little girl looked at the tail, and while she did hesitate, she did eventually reach out and gently pet the tail. She then giggled a little and began to uncurl… opening up a little bit. The mother continued to listen, wondering if this was truly some place that she could send her daughter. “That’s tempting, but I would have to visit there and speak to the school faculty… but… I would appreciate if you were there. She seems to be a bit more comfortable around you.” It was true too, as the girl had come down and was standing again, holding the tail gently and petting it like a pet snake.

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Jacob waited for a few more moments, but seeing that she had the situation well in hand, he moved back to working on the car and finishing up the first service of the day.

Regan’s right feline ear flicked back as she heard the hinge on the door open slightly. She knew someone was there but she wasn’t going to avert her attention from the mother and child. They needed it right now. She smiled softly as the little girl started to pet her tail softly. She started purring and stifled a giggle while looking at the mother. “Pardon me, can’t help that when I’m being pet.”

After listening to the mother speak about seeing the mansion and wanting Regan to be there for the girl’s comfort, she went a little wide eyed but nodded. “I suppose I could do that if you would like me to. I would want her first experience there to be a good one.” She smiled softly at the young girl and wiggled her tail a little in her hands to make her laugh.

Regan heard the door shut again and she knew that eyes were no longer on her but that she’d better get back to her work. Smiling softly, she ruffled the hair on the girl's head and then smiled to the mother. “I’ll get you the contact information for the school before you leave, just call them when you’d like to come by and tell them that you would like Regan to be present. They will let me know so I can be there.” Smiling softly at the girl, she slowly took her tail back from her. “Miss Kitty has to get back to work, but I’ll be right there at the desk if you need me ok?”