Pretty Things & Evil Deeds

@ katahdin

Her head tilted slightly as he rejected her offer and some worry moved over her face. Skipping meals wasn't something she condoned, especially as Azana knew how she got when she was hungry. But, at the same time, she certainly wasn't going to shove food down Elliot's throat if he didn't want any. Even so, she could give it one last effort. "It really is not a bother." She reassured him.

Once it became clear that Elliot had no intention on taking her up on her offer, Azana let out a small sigh. She would not force him to eat. Though she would keep an eye on him to see if he did not bring food tomorrow as well. "Very well, if that is what you want to do. I will stay here until you are done with your break. You can take the full 30 minutes if you want to though,"

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot felt a little bad after seeing how upset Azana seemed to be about him not eating, almost backtracking and agreeing to split a pizza or whatever else she had offered, although he let his shoulders relax a bit when she relented, offering her a faint smile. "I won't be so forgetful next time. And really, I'm used to skipping lunches, so it's not a big deal. But I do appreciate the offer, though. You're very kind and sweet." He said, nodding a little when she said that he should still go take his break now, and even the full 30 minutes at that. "I don't think it will take me 30 minutes to drink some water, but I'll try to humor you." He teased a bit before he headed out back.

He only lasted about 15 minutes before he came back, waiting until the customer she was speaking with left before moving back over to the counter. "I tried my best, but sitting there for 30 minutes all alone isn't very fun."

@ katahdin

"I understand. It would be rather boring to just sit somewhere for 30 minutes having nothing to do." Azana told him as she slid off of the stool. "Well, if you decide you want an extra break today, then you can use it then." With that, Azana stepped out from behind the counter so that Elliot could get in. "I am going to head to the backyard and eat. Let me know if you need anything."

She offered a little smile before disappearing in the back to have her own meal.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot nodded as she slid off the stool, moving around her as she moved past him to take his seat. "Alright, thank you. I doubt I'll need it, but if I do I'll make sure to let you know. Have a good lunch." He smiled, waving a little as she headed out back, before leaning against the counter with a little sigh. He'd much rather have taken his break with her so that they could eat together, but then no one would have been at the counter to deal with customers, and he knew that that wouldn't work unless they closed the store for the half an hour they took for lunch, and that seemed impractical.

It wasn't too busy while Azana was eating, a few people coming in just to browse or ask questions, which he answered to the best of his ability, and a couple others coming in to get the specific herbs that they needed before leaving. Overall it was a very good first day.

@ katahdin

When Azana had finished up with lunch, she went back into into the shop and worked on the inventory. She didn't have it in her to do anymore magic for the day. Luckily, inventory did not include doing such things but it did tend to be rather tedious. Even so, it needed to get down and she wasn't confident that Elliot knew the plants well enough to do it when she hadn't labelled anything.

As it got close to the time the shop was meant to be closing, Azana appeared at the front of the store. She glanced at the time to see that they had less than five minutes and no one was in the store. So she headed up to the counter where Elliot was. "You did a great job today. How did you like it?"

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot had a rather uneventful rest of the day, simply helping customers as they came in and ringing up their purchases. He smiled Azana when she appeared out of the back, checking the time before looking back at her. "Closing time already? Time flies when you're having fun." He teased, chuckling a bit as he tidied up the counter. "It was good. Today definitely wasn't as busy as I've seen it in the past, so a good day to start, although I'm sure the real test will come when it gets really busy." He pointed out, turning to her with a little smile.

"How's inventory going? Do you need help with anything else?" He didn't want to be one of those people who rushed out the door as soon as their shift ended. If Azana needed help with anything, he'd stay for however long she needed him.

@ katahdin

"I am sure that you had plenty of fun," Azana mused. "And yes, I think we were rather lucky with the flow of customers. It's probably just slower since the last few days were just so crazy. Though if it gets busy like that again, at least there are two of us." Seeing that Elliot was tidying up the counter, Azana leaned back into the wall, allowing some of her muscles to relax a bit. Even the flowers in her hair seemed to unwind and take a breath. Her eyes slowly moved around the store.

"Inventory went well. There is still plenty to do but I think I'll leave the rest of it for tomorrow. To be honest, I'm beat." Azana turned her head slightly to look at Elliot. "I am sure you are as well. Anyways, thank you for your help today. You can head out and get your well deserved rest."

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot chuckled as she talked about the past few crazy days, nodding a little at her point that at least there were two of them now if things got crazy. "Very true. But with two of us we're probably unstoppable." He grinned a bit as he glanced over at her, eyes softening a bit as he saw her relax a bit, glad that she was able to do so.

He shook his head a little when she said that he could go home, turning back to face her. "I'm happy to stay and clean up so you can head back to your apartment earlier, if you'd prefer. I don't want to be one of those people who run as soon as their shift ends, you know? Especially since you already do so much yourself."

@ katahdin

"I am sure that we would be." Azana murmured back to him. Her eyes closed for a moment, the weight of the day now fully resting on her shoulders. The work was almost done and soon she would be able to go rest. Though she felt more tired today than she had in a long time. She would attribute that to having been quite busy with the shop. Now that Elliot was here, her load would be lightened.

Her eyes opened and she looked to Elliot. Though she did not respond immediately, instead thinking over Elliot's offer. She didn't want to just abandon him to clean by himself. However, the shop didn't require much today and the inventory was not ready to be re-stocked yet. "Yes, I would greatly appreciate that. There is not much to do so it won't take you long. If you could just wipe the counters down and sweep, we will be ready for tomorrow."

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot smiled as she agreed to his offer, glad that he'd be able to help so they she could go rest. She looked like she needed a break, and he knew that she deserved it. "I'd be happy to do that for you. I'll lock the door before I leave too, so you won't have to worry about it." He said, giving her back a pat with a reassuring smile before he moved past her to grab the broom from the back room to begin sweeping up the front.

"Oh, before I forget, I should be here same time tomorrow, right? I'd hate to be late." He asked after a bit, looking over at her to make sure she was still there and hadn't gone up yet.

@ katahdin

Azana was heading towards the door that lead upstairs to her home when she heard Elliot ask her a question. She laid her hand on the doorknob for a moment and turned to him. "You don't need to - wait actually, I should show you the greenhouse tomorrow. Come in at 10 again but after tomorrow, you won't need to show until 10:30 unless said otherwise. We'll do a tour before the day starts. It's doubtful that you'll be in there much but it will be good for you to know what is in there just in case."

Once Elliot gave a sign that he heard and understood, Azana opened up the door. "Goodnight Elliot." With that, she headed up the stairs.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot nodded at her instructions, offering her a smile. "Yeah, of course. I look forward to the tour, even if I won't be going in there very often." He said, waving a little as she wished him a goodnight. "You too, Azana. Have a good night. See you tomorrow." He called. Once he finished sweeping and wiping down the counters up he headed home for the night.

He showed up at the same time the next morning, still a bit early out of habit, knocking lightly on the door before waiting patiently for Azana to come let him in, offering her a smile. "Good morning.. Did you have a good night?"

@ katahdin

"I did, thank you for asking. I hope you did as well?" Azana asked as she closed the door behind Elliot. She smiled warmly at him, and unlike yesterday afternoon, the woman looked refreshed and ready for the day. The flowers that adorned her hair were blooming and looked to have been recently misted as a few dew drops sat on their petals.

She gave Elliot a small wave as she made her way through the store-front and headed into the back. "Let's start the tour of the greenhouse then." Azana said as she walked out into the yard and to the door. Though she stopped and turned to him, her demeanor growing serious. "Promise me you won't touch anything. Some of these are quite poisonous and I wouldn't want you passing out."

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot smiled at her as she let him in, unable to help but stare a bit as he took in how beautiful she looked this morning with the flowers in her hair. "I did, thank you. I like your flowers, too. They look lovely." He said, hanging up his jacket in the back as he followed her toward the back.

He nodded as he followed her out to the yard, giving her a smile as she asked him to promise not to touch anything. "I wasn't planning on touching anything, so that's an easy promise." He assured her, waiting until she opened the door before following her inside.

@ katahdin

"Thabk you, they just... happen." Azana reaponded with a laugh. "But I love them so it works out."

As he promised not to touch anything, Azana gave him the once over before opening the door. The greenhouse was huge from the outside alone but inside, it was covered floor to ceiling with different plants. And it was certain sectioned from native plants and herbs to things that were tropical and then to very rare plants. Azana closed the door behind them.

"Welcome to my greenhouse." Azana said with a huge smile on her face as she started to walk through the narrow paths. Just like the plants in the shop, they all seemed to gravitate towards her, leaning closer as she moved by them. "I am sure you are familiar with quite a few due to your potions."

@ Sweet.Persephone

"They look like they're their on purpose.. Do they change with your mood or something? Or is it random?" Elliot asked curiously as he followed her into the greenhouse, shoving his hands into his pockets for good measure as Azana looked at him, offering her a smile as she practically lit up at being inside the greenhouse, taking a moment to take it all in.

"It's amazing.. I can't believe you have so many plants in here." He said as he followed her along the narrow paths, unable to help but smile a little as the flowers and plants gravitated toward her. "I do recognize a few, although I'm no where near as familiar with them all as you are, and I'm sure if I tried to care for any of them they'd die on me."

@ katahdin

"There are a few things that go into them. Because I am a flower witch, they come naturally. It is something that I could theoretically stop but I like them. Plus, even though it would not take that much effort, I don't want to waste my energy in suppressing them. As for the flowers and pattern, it depends on my mood, how physically, mentally, emotionally well I am, and the season. Well, and how much magic I have just wafting off of me. So if I was sick, they would be smaller and maybe even be wilting or dead. If I was bubbling over with fury, they might close up tightly and turn into something that looked more threatening like vines with huge thorns."

"And luckily you do not need to be." Azana responded with a warm laugh. "If you ever go in here, it'll be to grab something very specific or... I guess to water. But you really shouldn't need to come in here all that often. I just thought you would like a look around." She glanced over to a section of plants that were native to their country and certainly more familiar. "I am sure you recognize some in this area."

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot nodded a little at her explanation of how her flowers worked, reaching out curiously to touch one of the little buds, unable to help himself. "They're beautiful today, so you must be well rested and in a good mood. And thanks for the warning about if you're angry, I'll know what to watch out for." He teased with a little chuckle. "Oh, and I'll look out to make sure you don't get sick. But don't tell me about how they react in other moods, I want to be able to guess. Sort of like a game." He grinned, following her through the greenhouse.

He laughed a little when she did, nodding. "I'm happy to do whatever you need me to do, whether it's watering flowers or fighting whatever giant man-eating plant I'm sure you have hidden in here somewhere." He teased with a grin, giving her a playful little nudge for good measure. He followed her over to a patch of flowers he recognized, nodding a little as he touched one of the delicate flowers, although pulled his hand back with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I know I said I wouldn't touch, but I know these aren't poisonous, so I figured I could get away with it." he apologized quickly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "But yeah, I know these. Black-eyed susans were my mum's favorite."

@ katahdin

"You'll be able to tell before I start actually getting sick. I swear my flowers know before my body actually does." Azana told him warmly. "But I will not tell you about the others. You can figure out for yourself and I can simply tell you if you are right or wrong." A bright smile came over her face at the idea. It seemed like fun. Plus she liked the way he had gently touched one of the flowers in her hair out of curiosity. Something about it was rather sweet.

"Oh, the man eating plant is in the back. I try to keep it as far away from the door as I can in the off chance someone finds their way in here." Azana teased him as she lightly nudged him back. Her eyes shifted though as he reached out and touched one of the flowers in the greenhouse. "You really should be careful and not touch anything even if you think you know what it is. Some of these plants look very similar to each other. I don't bring anything that is harmful to touch in the shop to avoid injuries but that is not the case in here."

Azana turned and made her way over to the tropical section of the greenhouse. "When you see your mother, you should bring her a pot of black-eyed susans. I have plenty of them so you can take one." As they walked to the next section, the humidity and heat in the greenhouse rose significantly in that area. The plants there were also quite larger. "Now these are my more special ones. They aren't native here so a bit harder to get shipped in."

@ Sweet.Persephone

"I look forward to our game. Although I hope they stay as bright and happy as they are today all of the time, because that means that you're happy as well." Elliot smiled down at her, glad to see her so happy at the idea he'd suggested. He hoped he'd be able to see her this happy all the time, but he figured that that probably wouldn't happen despite how badly he wanted it to.

He chuckled as she joked about the man eating plant, but gave a sheepish smile when she scolded him a bit for touching the plant, giving her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Azana. I won't do it again, I promise." He assured her, although he shook his head when she suggested that he bring his mother a pot of black-eyed susans. "She passed away when I was young, so there's not much use bringing her any flowers now. Thank you for the offer, though."