Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight; it is the property of Stephenie Meyer. The original characters and plot are mine. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Italics for thoughts (Edward can hear it if he's present)

Stages of forms

Tiger: first form (actual tiger)

Tigris: second form (were-tiger, like werewolves, larger than actual animal)

Taiga: third form (cat ears, tail, more tiger musculature, fur, full canines, paws)

Tigam: fourth form (half and half, humanoid form, light fur, tail, nearly full canines, paws)

Tegamen: fifth form (mostly humanoid, no fur, stripes marking the skin and claws and longer canines)

Higar: sixth form (human but with cat senses and scent, regeneration and able streak mind)

Human: seventh form (completely human)

Chapter 2

Play acting

"Are you serious?" I asked my voice showing my frustration, he couldn't be serious!

"Yes! If you want to look normal you need to work here and play human teenager!" he said smug because he was right it made me look more normal. I hung my head and pouted, I hated interacting with people who bought my art. It was uncomfortable and hard not to correct them when they thought something stupid about my work.

Once we had arrived to the dim building we had to begin making the place look habitable. The next day the agent arrived to collect the piece and give us the money. How it was worth $17 thousand dollars beats me, but with the money we would have enough to buy food eventually, get clothing, furniture, pay the bills, school supplies, and a vehicle.

"Then we are at least getting a bike!" I announced and his face fell. I loved the wind and didn't mind getting wet to have that. Daniel on the other side didn't know how to drive a bike and would have to be a passenger which is apparently typically the girl's position. It was funny that he didn't like the idea of letting me drive and yet was a part of a matriarchal society. I know it was nothing more than him knowing the culture better than me but I shrugged it off and it was his turn to pout.

I am not looking forward to this task. Not only were we far away from any clan we couldn't be anything other than human. I was already itching to change even just to a Tegamen just to show my stripes. I have only been human for 7 years so this form still felt wrong and unusual. I preferred to be more Tiger than human, most of us did. The final form though it has its benefits was not comfortable to a Tiger.

The store front was beginning to look more like a gallery after the three days of labour we had put in. Now all it needed was some art, I put the final bit of trash in the can outside and grabbed my camera. It was beautiful here so it was easy to get interesting shots that I could make something out of.

As the sky darkened I returned to the shop and saw Daniel had put up the sign. "Teigr Gallery" it was a simple black and white sign in a fancier script. Daniel had chosen it because Teigr was what he chose his last name to be and it was also the welsh word for tiger. I went for Trinil I figure an extinct subspecies of tiger was less weird. Why we had to have two names I didn't get. I know one is your family name the other your personal name some had another name as well.

Technically I would then be called Isabella Meira Bast, for we are the Tigers of Bast and Meira is my first name before I became human and earned my human one. But no possible direct connection to the clan could be made, though I don't see how the name means anything to humans. So I am Isabella Trinil and he is Daniel Teigr while we live in Forks. I was hoping that the clan registered me as Bella and not Isabella I hated the name, probably why Renee chose it.

"Nice sign." I said flatly as I entered the store front. Daniel smiled and pointed to the door next to the bathroom. I arched an eyebrow and looked from him to the door.

"I set up your lab in there." He said before nearly running to the front door, "I have to go and get frames and stuff." He said before vanishing out the door. That boy was way too focused on the details, even though I needed his expertise in human things. I had studied them but there was just way too much to learn.

Walking to the door I pulled it open and began to work on developing the photos before the chemical stench saturated me. But soon I had forgotten the smell and worked through most of the night. We would open the store tomorrow and we needed to have at least 6 pictures up on the walls as the doors opened. I managed to finish 11 and was impressed at how they turned out. Daniel framed them once they were dry and hung them on.

When I handed him the last one I took in the gallery, it looked really nice. I hugged him and looked at the finishing touches he had added while I worked. No longer was it bare, it had a till sitting on a dark wood desk at the other entrance to our space. There was a sign declaring whether the store was open or not, and all of the lights had been arranged to spotlight on a work. It was clean and simple but didn't look empty; as I turned I noticed a sign on the door.

"Artist at work?" I asked not amused at his chuckling, I shoved him and he began to laugh full out. I joined him after glaring for a few moments.

"What I thought it was funny." He shrugged as we turned the lights of and trudged up stairs for a few hours sleep until it was time to open up. I practically fell into bed I was so tired, Daniel laughed and sat on the bed. "Just wait until we get our first customer!" I rolled my closed eyes and snuggled into Daniel's side. Tigers enjoy physical contact and I wanted his comfort after his comment, I didn't know if I could handle someone being hyper-critical of my work. My thoughts drifted to whether or not Daniel and I would be mates, he is a really big part of my world. But I didn't love him in a let's make kittens way, though losing him was out of the question.

****

The bell chimed and I looked up into the face of Esme Cullen, I nodded and returned to my book. Quickly I recalled that she liked art and that the psychic Alice had probably told her we would open today. My body didn't betray my reaction to her and I calmed before it would ever have the opportunity. She looked around the store and I eyed her curious now that I had recovered from my shock at seeing her, the mother figure for the vampire family, here. I could tell she wanted some help but it kept my eyes on the pages in front of me anytime she subtly tired to grab my attention. There was no way I was going to explain my art to her!

"Excuse me?" she asked and I looked over at her in front of one of the copies I had made of an older picture. "This picture is upside down." She said pointing to it.

"Yes, yes it is." I said agreeing with her before going back to my book. She was a bit flustered by this and didn't seem to know how to take my response.

"Bella!" Daniel called as he entered the store from the flat entry, "I believe our first customer would like some assistance." He said clearly chastising me, I rolled my eyes but stood to go and help her. "No, no! I will help her." He said walking away from me. I was thankful and knew he just liked to bug me when it came to my art; it was the one area where I wasn't confident. I sat back down and went back to listening to Esme.

"So what can I help you out with today?" Daniel asked cheerfully as he approached her.

"I hope I haven't gotten your employee in trouble. I was merely pointing out that this print is upside down." She stated kindly, "Bella told me it is but didn't seem to want to correct the mistake." I looked up when she said my name knowing it would cause a human to look up. Daniel waved me over.

"No worries, Bella won't get in any trouble sadly. Our parents are close friends and so we have been given run of the store and live in the apartment above. She's just a bit grumpy because she doesn't want to work here and hear people criticize her father's work." I looked at him and then down flushed with pleasure at his saying this was my father's work. It would be a nice way to have him here with me. "And you are quite correct that the picture is upside down it is meant to be hung this way."

"It gives the piece and otherworldly feel." I said and she was shocked at the new information.

"Oh I saw it in an art journal the other way." She said not saying we were lying but that her information had been wrong. I nodded grumpily, I had given them the picture and marked clearly which way was up and they still got it wrong.

"Artlink didn't seem to be able to understand the instructions we gave them. Like the arrow points up so print it this way." I said voicing my irritation. She looked like she believed me more because I knew the title of the magazine she hadn't mentioned. "I wrote in and told them but they shrugged me off."

"How terribly rude of them." She said and I blushed and knew the same could have been said of me moments ago. "So these are originals?" she asked her hand waving to the whole collection and we both nodded. "Oh well, that changes things I thought they were merely prints." I smiled at this.

"Technically that's true also. They are prints but they are also originals. It's a trade term, I guess. But they original prints made by the same artist." I commented, as I had many other times too many other people. I found it funny that it the terms were interchangeable in photography.

She smiled at me and began to look around more seriously than she had originally. I wonder if she's going to buy anything. Daniel headed upstairs again probably organising the furniture into something he liked. I sat back down not bothering to pick up my book as I stared out the front window the wind was blowing pretty hard and I wanted to go play in it. Esme walked up to the counter with a smile.

"Did you find anything you like?" I asked and she nodded smiling.

"Oh yes! I am just not sure which ones will work best together." She said thoughtfully. I got up and came around the desk. "I want to do a set of three, but am not sure which would work best together." She said and I thought about it some of them worked in a set of four or pairs. Quickly I went to the dark room and grabbed the remaining three that had only just been framed.

"This is the only set of three we have really." I said shrugging as I put the individually framed set in her hands. I was glad I had thought to frame them as she might realise they are fresh prints if I hadn't. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, she looked like she wanted to jump up and down. They were relatively simple pictures a close up on the barnacle texture on a pier support and the rest slightly out of focus and then a reverse of that with the background highlighted and the front blurry. The final picture was from another angle but the same pier more focused on the water playing on the beach in front though everything was in focus in the final.

"These are from the Water collection!" she sang as she stared at me and the photos in her hand. I nodded it was true they were from my latest set. "They aren't even public yet!" I nodded again I was going to sign them and give them to my agent who was setting up a big auction for them.

"If you don't phone the media I think its okay to sell them to you. Sides these ones are really just pictures taken from like eight years ago when we lived on a beach." I said and her eyes went huge and she nodded, I smiled at how easy it was to make this woman freaky amounts of happy. I suppose even vampires have their pleasures, Tigers did so I guess it wasn't so weird.

"I won't tell a soul, except my family." She said seriously, shook my head smiling as I took the pictures from her hands. As she followed me to the doorway under the stairs to the area Daniel set up for framing.

"So would you like them in these frames, their really not the best." I said as I took them apart knowing I hadn't chosen the best frames. "Or I can mount, or reframe them for you?" I asked looking up as she responded.

"You are right the frames don't really work well with them but I think I'll reframe them myself." She said and I looked up with an arched eyebrow that might not be a wise choice. Vampire or not it was hard to get a good frame for a set or even a balanced one.

"Really?" I said as I quickly flipped the pictures out of the frames and on to the table making sure to only touch the edges just in case I had anything on my hands that might stain. "I made up a few base boards that would work." I walked over to the board I wanted to mount them on and laid it on the table. I placed the pictures quickly and Esme looked at it and smiled.

"You must be your father's daughter, you created such a simple balance in the print placement." She said and I blushed at the comment.

"I'd like to think so and it comes with practice." I said looking back to the set up in front of me and loved the sound of her words.

"I love this set up. When can you have it ready?" she asked and I thought about it. I could do it in about 10 minutes but that was in a rush and I didn't want to have to redo it.

"Well just like this I can have done in about half an hour but if you want a double raised mount and a frame that might take a day, just to get the right frame." I said looking carefully at the pictures and grabbing a sharp blue and thought about the colour shot.

"That looks amazing! The blue just adds that little extra! Well then I guess I will be coming back in a day. Do I pay now?" Esme asked as I quickly moved and adjusted the rest to lie on blue over the black and under the white boarder. It was a nice combo.

"Sure." I said walking to the till. It was an expensive purchase, nearly $18 000. I smiled and range her up. I didn't charge for the frame or mounting. "So that's $17 846. 87, got to love the random numbers taxes make things." I said looking up at a very shocked and slightly angry vampire. Did she think I had over charged her? I felt like I had. She collected herself and seemed to calm down slowly.

"Bella that price is ridiculous!" She said nearly through clenched teeth. I looked at her and blushed trying to find words in order to calm her.

"I know! But that is what he sells them at. I really don't price these things." I said stumbling over my words trying to make amends but Daniel had told me I wasn't allowed to lower any of the prices without his consent. If I could I think I would sell most everything for about $20.

"Well dear how about you just triple it and you and your friend can spilt it?" she said smiling at me. My mouth opened and closed as I realised she thought the price too low.

"What?" I squeaked, she smiled and put money down on the counter. I blinked far too rapidly and tried to make my brain work. "If anything the price is too high!" I said trying to push the money back at her but she refused to take it back.

"Nonsense! If I had gone anywhere else I would be paying much more." She stated while I tried to collect myself and pull myself out of the shock. The bell rang and Daniel entered I merely pointed at her.

"I see you have over stimulated Bella. May I ask how?" Daniel said as he walked behind the desk and put a hand on either side of my head and kissed my forehead, I batted him away. It knocked me out of my stupor just like he knew it would.

"She brought out three prints from the Water collection and is going to have them mounted and framed for me. I am merely trying to pay the proper amount." Esme said smiling, I wanted to point at her and tell Daniel she was nuts.

"By paying three times the amount." I said and he turned from me to her a little shock but pleasantly so, I wanted to hit the smirk off his face.

"Why is it that you wish to pay more than our price?" he asked gently as he picked up my hand his warning for me not to get to physical. I had issues with how strong I was, sometimes I hit things a little too hard and broke them.

"Well had I found these anywhere else they would be at least ten times this price, I want to at least pay what is fair for something I love." She replied and Daniel nodded.

"I guess that makes sense though I'm not sure..." Daniel said looking at the total now, he didn't like the idea of overcharging but we needed the money.

"I insist. Think of the extra as a really big tip for being so helpful and giving it to me early." She said and Daniel looked at me.

"I think your both nuts, its far too much money to pay for pictures and idiot could take and develop." I said as I turned to go back and mount the prints that were being paid triple for. Esme put her arm out stopping me. I looked up at her and tired to look less weirded out.

"Thank you for your help and I'll pick them up tomorrow?" she asked as I fidgeted. She looked like she thought I might say no.

"They should be ready around this time tomorrow." I said caving at her uncertainty; she beamed at me and Daniel who was putting part of the money in the safe under the till.

"Oh and my name is Esme. I'm Doctor Cullen's wife." She said before she left the store. Daniel quickly grabbed me and started dancing a swing. I got into it as I looked up into his jovial face.

"I still think its way too much money." I said though a smile was beginning to take away my frown. Esme was the only person who bought anything all day though several people did take a look at the store.