Vanator nodded and sat on the end of one of the benches where there was some free space. "Thank you. And please, call me Van if you would be so kind." He sniffed the air for a moment. "Lunchtime, huh? Good thing I brought a snack."

Van unhooked his collar and reached into the compartment at the front, bringing out some meat jerky and setting it on the table while he rehooked the band of cloth around his neck. "Would you like some? It's turkey-flavored."

"No thanks, Van. I have pasta to eat," Maria said as she sat on the table and opened her food. "Nice to meet you. I'm Maria Meyer," she said, offering her paw for Van to shake.

Van took her paw and shook it, making sure not to apply pressure. "It's very nice to meet you, Ms. Meyer." Van looked around at the forest nearby and over at the boundaries separating the quadrants. "So what is the best part of Exotic Acres? I never really did much back in my old forest except hunt or read outside."

Casper turned toward the source of the voice before freezing in place at the sight of the creature, he'd seen big cats a couple of time on TV, but this was certainly a first for him, and loath as he was to admit it, even to himself, Casper found the figure to be extremely imposing. It took a good fifteen seconds before the fox managed to shake off the shock and slight fear that had gripped him at seeing the snow leopard, but after managing to do so he did his best to respond effectively, after what was certainly a due explanation of course.

"Sorry about that, but encountering someone like you wasn't exactly something I expected." Casper noted somewhat flatly as he did his best to force his body into a more relaxed state. "I'm new here myself, and though I knew there'd be other exotics, it seems I hadn't really prepared myself for what that meant." The fox added before giving a bit of a shrug. "My own fault there though...anyway, in answer to your question; I'm new here myself, as I said a moment ago, so I really don't have a clue about the area or where is or isn't good to eat."

For those fifteen-frozen seconds, the snow leopard watched the fox. He knew of disorders which made one freeze up, some which caused them to faint and yet remain standing and there were assuredly other things that could happen. He considered calling for a vet or something until the animal moved.

"Its okay, I'm somewhat used to it," Soren said, "A lot of scientists my dad works with react like that at first too... Yet they don't seem to have any sense of self-preservation when they're in a lab." He sniffed at the air, "Hrm, I guess I'll have to follow my nose... Are you hungry? I could help you get used to large cats, if there are any others around here."

Casper looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging toward the snow leopard. "I could do with a meal I suppose. Literally just got out of the car five minutes ago and was asleep for who knows how long before that." The fox answered before canting his head to the side thoughtfully. "As to your other offer, I appreciate the gesture but now that I've adjusted my expectations of this place and what I'll encounter here, there shouldn't be any real issues."

"Alright" Soren said, he sniffed around and looked down the road. He pulled out his phone and checked its GPS. "There's... a sandwich shop down the road apparently... And I just got out of the car too. We spent HOURS on planes. I'm sick of sitting." He began to head down the road, "And, if this place is what I've read of it, I'm far from a good baseline."

Dom looked out the window. He'd been inside for a time, and hadn't bothered to look outside. It looked fairly calm. A nice day he was missing out on....He opened the window and peeked out further. The street seemed empty, but he knew to trust his nose where his eyes could not see. He took a deep whiff. And he got a strange compilation of smells. All sorts of animals. They must be out and about right now. Another whiff told him that most were in a group. Well thought Dom I can't conquer this shyness by sitting around. And no fun comes from being cooped up. So, feeling apprehensive, he closed the window. He headed out the door, and began following his nose. Although a tad more adventurous then usual, he certainly didn't feel like running into the big group. He tried to follow the scent that was by itself. Or perhaps even a small group. He might actually be able to introduce himself then.

Casper shivered at the notion of having been in a plane. "Ugh...much as I like heights, I think I'll skip on the plane idea." The fox responded sourly, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "I feel trapped enough in a car, I think I might just go insane if I were stuck in that sort of vehicle."

Pushing thoughts of planes aside the fox turned his attention to fallowing the large cat toward the sandwich shop. "And perhaps not a baseline, but coming across you made it clear I needed to adjust my expectations of this place." Casper noted simply as he glanced toward the snow leopard. "When I first heard that exotics were allowed the same freedom here as normal pets are other places, I had expected simpler types of exotics, wolves, monkeys, the odd raccoon or otter, I had not prepared myself for the notion of animals such as big cats however, so meeting you was a surprise. Now though, I've prepared myself for any possible eventuality, that's all I meant when I said there shouldn't be any real issues from here on." The white furred vulpine finished just before his stomach let out a heavy growl.

"And on a completely different note...what kind of sandwich shop are we talking here?" Casper questioned curiously, his mind obviously having jumped trains now that his body was announcing it's hunger clearly.

Chem continued to hum to himself as he turned a corner. The wolf was closer to the town now, maybe a few blocks down the road. Not that he was paying attention. After passing a few residents he looked up from his sketch and was met with a sight that...perplexed him. There on the side of the road, was a bear. Or, at least he thought it was a bear. He grumbled something about prescription glasses and decided to confront the other animal, crossing the street and making his way the bear's general direction. "Hey, hello?"

Well, i don't think there is a best part. Everything is awesome. Here in EA you can do almost anything you want, except no hunting other pets. Speedy told Van. We're just going to finish eating then head downtown to shop, so if you want you can stay here and wait. Or you can go downtown now and look for my brother and his friends. You choose.
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After everyone had paid for their food, the group exited the restaurant. Hhmm, where to start? Oh, I know! Snowy said to himself. Alright group follow me, we'll start in the North-East or the Plains area. He walked to the corner where that section started then continued in.

Dom naturally smelled the wolf before he saw him, a few seconds later. A wolf was just what he needed. Much like a dog, except from the wild. And he'd dealt with dogs before. However, this was no dog, and had a slightly better build then the average dog. He noticed that he had a pencil in his ear, and that he owned a sketch pad. Might be a good topic for later he thought, and just as he was trying to discern more from his appearance, he spoke.

"Hey, hello?"

At this Dom almost turned and ran. He was sure if he did he could outrun the wolf. But he stay rooted, determined to be social for once. He'd need to stop this shy business or else he'd never make friends. So summoning all his persistence, he stayed and said

"Uh, Hello. Are you new here too? I just kinda moved in down the street..."

It was after this, that his nervous feeling went away. Good, I can do this. I can do this... he thought, and awaited the wolf's reply.

Well so far it seems pretty great. I can't wait to see more of it.


Joe finished hte last of his pizza and got ready to follow the rest of the group

Chem nodded, making the pencil fall off his head. "Whoops." He quickly grabbed it before it fell to the ground. "Yes! New. I'm assuming you are too."

He gave a polite wolfish grin and put the pencil back in its correct spot. "Your a bear." The wolf said plainly. He knew he was stating the obvious but he couldn't help it. He'd never spoken to one before or even been up close to one. "Ack! Forgot." He hit himself in the forehead with his palm. "Rude of me. Introductions in order. Sorry. Socializing. Not my strong suit" He held out an open hand to shake. "Alchemy Solus, Alc to some, Chem to most, nice to meet you."

"You like heights?" Soren asked, "like climbing? If so, it really isn't that bd with airplanes, they're roomier than cars. Especially if your in first class seating, its just, I went crazy cause I ran out of things to do." He paused to check what his phone said about the sandwich place, "about the sandwiches, we have two choices, a small town restaraunt or an Arby's, they're sharing a building by the looks of it."

At hearing the second option for sandwich shops Casper made a somewhat disgusted face before shaking his head. "The small town place for sure. I can't stand Arby's, they almost always ruin their meet with something unnecessary." The fox noted with a rather annoyed tone. "At least with a small town place there's a chance we'll be able to get something that isn't focused toward the human pallet."

Ryan got up with the others as they followed Snowy, keeping pace with Snowy as they entered the Plains area, which was a bit new for hm but he'd adjust, just like before but after his curiosity got the best of him, he came up besides Snowy

"So are there different biomes in this town?"

Yeah there is. There are 4 different environments. We're in the Plains, South of here is the desert. West of here is Mountainous, then South-West from here is the forest area. Snowy said to Ryan. We'll go through all the sections.

Ryan just nodded, turning his head slightly SW towards the forest area, curious if he could trigger another one of his "episodes", but he put that aside for now, putting his attention forward
"Cool"

"This is the section where Maria and I live," Met said.

It is? Where exactly is your house? Snowy asked Met, while looking around.

"Yeah, I'm not the best at socializing either...Just in my nature I guess." said Dom, rubbing the back of his head."I'm Domovoi by the way. But just Dom is fine." Domo said, quickly adding the last part. "And you're a wolf of some kind? You look a little different from the ones in Canada." said Domovoi, bluntly, realizing he wasn't exactly the right color for a Canadian wolf. However, this wolf didn't seem very bad. He might actually be a good friend.

"actually, That's it right over there," he said pointing to the large house closest to the corner where they were. "Dad bought the place here for me, but got it as close to the forest section as possible so I can run Maria over there when she wants to swing."

Cool, so on with the tour now. Snowy said to the group, then kept walking. Any Questions, just shout them out.

Chem adjusted his glasses with his right hand while keeping his left hand outstretched. His eyes seemed brighten at the subject. "Yes. I'm a canis lupus baileyi. Mexican gray wolf in Laymon's term. But Canada..." He bit his lip and thought for a second. "Gray wolf." He concluded. He gave a smirk. "My 'cousins', so to speak. Canis lupus lycaon. Their pelts. Grayer than this dusty one of mine." He shook his head. "Sorry, ranting. Nice to meet ya, Dom. Was just goin into town. Thinkin about gettin something to eat. Wanna tag along?" Chem looked at his outstretched hand. "And...err...Your suppose to shake that."

"Huh, I never minded it," Soren said, "maybe its just an acquired taste? Though, I did break down some of their food once to see what they used, nothing too terribly harmful."

Dom rolled his eyes. He knew how to shake hands. But even so, he took the Fox's outstretched hand, and shook it. "Yeah, some food sounds good right about now. That long car drive stirred up quite a hunger." he said, holding his stomach. He wondered what kind of restaurants were in this town. They couldn't be that bad, if most the pets here were exotic. He loved a good old fashioned salmon. Raw, if he could get it. "What kind of places you think they have here?" asked Dom, hoping his new friend could shed some light on the situation.

Kallie stayed seated as she greeted the newcomer
Hey Van, I'm Kallie, nice to meet you.



Joe followed behind the group listening closely.

Casper canted his head curiously for a moment at what the snow leopard said, not quite getting what he meant by 'breaking down' some of Arby's food. "I'm not even going to ask." The fox muttered mostly to himself with a shake of his head before realizing something else entirely. "Huh, just realized I haven't introduced myself. Name's Casper, and you?"

"I'm Soren" the Snow Leopard answered, "though, the scientists tend to call me Arcs or variations of the word Arc..." He looked up at where they were headed, he could see the sandwich shop ahead.

Chem nodded and started walking down the road again. "A few restaurants." He scratched his head. "Can't remember all of them. Read the brochure though. Italian...Sandwiches....Pizza...Sushi..." He mulled over in his mind what else was there but couldn't think of any.

"Better than my owner's nickname for me." The fox noted passively as they approached the door to the shop, only a quick tick of his tail acting to show his annoyance at the thought. "Still, I'll admit to some curiosity over your particular nickname. To judge by implication of the word, I would expect it to be something to do with electricity, but I'm not the sort to simply assume." Casper continued as he reached out and opened the door, leaving the actual question unasked but still obviously there.

"I do a LOT of high energy physics," Soren said, "and, a few times, I've gotten zapped by my own electrical arcs. Luckily all were low power, so, no harm down... The first occurance involved power hitting me and arc'ing off my fingers. Since then, a typical incident usually occurs at every lab of some form or another... Once it was just an electrical outlet shorting out but they still brought the name up." He looked around inside the restaraunt. It was a nice, little place.

"I'll makes sure to stand a bit back if I'm ever caught in a lightning storm with you then." Casper replied a bit too flatly, given what he was saying was actually meant as an attempt at humor. "Still, sounds like you enjoy playing the role of scientist." The fox added as he too looked around the building, more specifically toward the menu to see what the options were. "Must make for an interesting life."

"It can be," Soren said, "though, the lightning was only because I wasn't careful enough about what I was doing." He saw that people ordered at a central counter and walked up to it. After looking over the menu, he got a cheeseburger hoagie. "I'm sure I'd be fine in a storm."

Ryan just kept pace with the others, looking around trying to memorize the area and enjoying the sights.

Snowy had kept walking down the side walk, talking about different details about the plains while walking. After a little while they were in the desert section next, and he kept talking about the environment. A short walk later they were in the forest section. Alright so I know that most of you live here, so just call out when we pass your house. Snowy said to the group.

Van shrugged. "I think I'll stick with you guys for now. My introduction may go better if I'm with familiar people." he said. Van gnawed on the turkey jerky, making sure to avoid dropping any as he waited for the other pets to finish with their meals.

Alright, sounds good. Speedy said to Van. Ahhh, Tesla what are you doing?

Ryan was a little excited to be back in the area, keeping it under control and as soon as they entered it wasn't very long before he had spotted his house and his owner taking out the garbage

"There's my house!"