Pretty Things & Evil Deeds

@ katahdin

Azana's eyes softened as he mentioned his mother. "I am sorry to hear that." She said gently, taking a moment to look him over before she turned and continued to the tropical plants.
The plants here were a lot larger and taller. Some of them almost reached the ceiling. Additionally, there was a small pond area next to it that had large lily pads. Though if one were to look deeper, it was clear there were different types of underwater nature.

Azana said as peered into the water for a moment, but kept her hands folded in front of herself. "You need to be a lot more careful in this section than the other. There is a lot here and some of these items are increasingly rare. Also, this area contains more of the dangerous plants that I was mentioning earlier." Azana turned to one of the trees and pointed out the bluish-green moss that was growing on it. "This one right here, if you eat it, can give you convulsions as well as horribly sick. Kinda makes people look like they are possessed."

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot gave a little shrug as she apologized, shaking his head. "It's alright. She wasn't the best mum in the world, and it's been a long time, so it doesn't bother me much." He assured her, nodding at her warnings as she showed him the tropical plants section. "I'll make sure not to eat that, then." He chuckled, but nodded again in promise not to touch anything. "Don't worry, Azana, I'll be careful. I won't touch any plants unless they touch me."

@ katahdin

"Well they might do that. There is not too much of a breeze in here but I sometimes swear they have a mind of their own." Azana told him as she glanced down at her watch. Noticing the time, she turned to him. "The shop is going to open soon so you should head to the front and get the till ready. There are a few things I need to do in here but I'll meet you in five minutes."
---

After knocking on the door, Kendric peered in and noticed that no one was in the front of the shop. At seeing that, he took the liberty of letting himself in with the key underneath one of the plant pots inside. "Azana?" He called out but when he did not get an answer, Kendric headed over to the front counter and set the two cups of coffee down on it. His eyes swept across the room once more before popping open the lid to one of the cups and pouring some brown powder into it from a small vile.

@ Sweet.Persephone

"I saw them sort of radiating toward you earlier, so I'm sure that if they wanted to grab me they would." Elliot chuckled, but nodded when she asked him to head back to the shop. They'd left the back door leading out to the garden open so he didn't have to open it, briefly grabbing the water bottle he'd brought with him that morning before he headed to the front of the shop, just in time to see Kendric pouring something from a vial into a coffee cup.

He froze in the spot, blinking a little before clearing his throat. The last thing he wanted to do was accuse him of anything when he had no proof of what he was up to. "Good morning, Kendric. Azana is out back in her greenhouse, but she'll be back here in a few minutes if you wanted to wait for her." He explained as he moved behind the counter to begin setting up the till, casting another glance down at the coffee cups. "It's nice of you to bring her coffee every morning."

@ katahdin

At hearing the throat clearing, Kendric was quick to hide the vial in the sleeve of his jacket as he looked up. His eyes landed on Elliot and after a moment, he stood up a bit straighter. It seemed to him that Elliot had not seen what he was up to, or in the least did not care about what he had been doing. "Good morning, Elliot." He said as he put the top back on the coffee. "I will wait. I just wanted to come say hi before the store opened."

Taking the coffee cups, Kendric took a few steps away from the counter and leaned back into an empty wall. He offered Elliot a shrug as he mentioned the coffee. "It makes her happy and that's all I really want." Kendric said before he glanced over at the door that Azana was meant to come out of. "How are you liking the new job?"

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot nodded a little as Kendric moved back away from the counter to lean against the wall, doing his best to pay attention to what he was doing at the till, and not worry about whatever it was Kendric had been doing. He shrugged a bit as he asked about the job, giving a little nod after a moment. "I like it. I'm always coming in for herbs anyway, so it's nice to be able to work here and become more familiar with Azana's process for preparing everything." He explained.

Once he was finished with the till he leaned back against the stool, unable to help but glance over at Kendric and the coffee cups. "Was that cinnamon that you were putting in the coffee cup? I've heard some people like it, but I've never really tried it." He asked, hoping to feign innocence. He knew in his gut that it wasn't cinnamon, which only made him more curious and worried about what it could possibly be.

@ katahdin

Kendric's eyes lifted up as Elliot mentioned the stuff that he had been putting into the coffee. His eyes seemed to narrow for a moment before immediately lighting up after. "A little cinnamon and nutmeg, yes. I always put it into my coffee and thought that Azana would enjoy it too. She seemed to like it when she tried my own drink a few days ago and I always have my own mixture so." He gave Elliot a shrug before bringing his own cup to his lips and taking a long sip from it. He brought his drink back down and looked back at the door. "You should try it some time. I would offer you the mixture I use but I just ran out."

The door to the back of the shop opened and Azana walked in. Her eyes immediately dropped to Kendric and a large smile came over her face. "Hey you." Azana chimed as she headed over to him. Kendric pushed himself off of the wall and wrapped an arm around her before leaning down and pressing a kiss against her lips. "Good Morning, baby," He mumbled against her before pulling back and handing her the coffee he had put the mixture in. "I got you a coffee."

"Aw thank you," Azana said as she took it, leaning up to press a kiss against his cheek. She took a sip of it and let out a pleasant hum before looking at Elliot. "Are you ready for the shop to open? Till set up? Shop looks good?"

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot nodded a little at Kendric's explanation, although he didn't buy it for a minute. He almost started to ask something else when Azana came in, the man falling silent as he watched them hug and kiss before Kendric gave the coffee he'd put the powder in. He nodded as she turned to him, glancing back over at the till and everything he'd prepared while waiting for her.

"Yep, till is set up, counter's clean, and everything in the shop should be ready to go." He offered Azana a smile, glancing over at Kendric for a moment before looking back to her. "How's the coffee? Kendric was telling me about how he added some cinnamon and nutmeg to yours so you could try it. I've always been a bit skeptical about it myself, but if it's good I might have to give it a try."

@ katahdin

"Perfect," Azana said warmly. "Hopefully the shop will be a bit slower today or tomorrow so we have time to handle putting more inventory up here. It is getting a little sparse up here and I now have enough in the back that we can start moving some of it up front." Her eyes started to glance around the shop but looked back at Elliot as he started to talk again.

"It is delicious." Her eyes shifted up to Kendric. "And that is what you had them do yesterday, right?" Kendric gave Azana a small nod at her question before taking another long sip from his. Though Azana pulled away from Kendric slightly and walked to the front of the counter, handing out her coffee. "Do you want to try it? I rather like the addition of it." As she offered it, Kendric's eyes shifted from Azana to the coffee before he looked at Elliot, raising a bit of an eyebrow before getting his face to relax again. "You should try it. I bet you'll like it." Kendric muttered.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot smiled as she mention having a slower day, nodding a little. "Yeah. I'm happy to help restock whenever you need me to, even if I have to stay late or come in early." He offered, not wanting her to think he wouldn't be willing to help whenever she needed it.

His smile faltered a bit at the mention of Kendric having put something in her coffee the day before, blinking in surprise as Azana offered him her cup to let him taste it. After glancing over at Kendric he gave a hesitant nod, offering Azana a reassuring smile as he took a small sip, just enough to get a taste. "Thank you for offering."

@ katahdin

"Thank you, I appreciate that. Though hopefully we will not have to do that but we'll just have to wait and see," Azana said hopefully. As much as she loved her shop, she enjoyed her downtime. She took the coffee back when he had taken his sip, and the coffee did truly taste of coffee with cinnamon and nutmeg stirred in.

She set it down on the front counter before taking Kendric's hand. "There is something I wanted to show you before you leave," Azana said as she lead the man to the back of the store. The door closed behind them both.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot smiled a bit at Azana as she accepted his offer to help, giving a little nod. "It's no problem. As your only employee, I don't really want to make you do everything yourself when you can delegate it to me." He chuckled a bit, nodding as Azana brought Kendric out back, busying himself with some stuff at the till before reaching to his pocket to check his phone, having forgotten that he needed to send a text to his landlord about his rent, but realizing he'd left it in his jacket pocket in the back he stood, hesitating a moment before giving a light knock on the door before opening it, knowing that the coat rack that he'd hung his coat up on was just inside the door, and would be easy to grab without disturbing them.

@ katahdin

Azana and Elliot were besides the door that led upstairs to her home as Elliot opened the door to the back room. Her back was pressed against the wall as Kendric was almost towering over her. His forearm was pressed against the wall above her head but his other arm was lazily against his side, holding onto a small spell jar. His head was bent down however as he whispered into Azana’s ear. After a few moments, he pulled away and her eyes opened up to look up at him dreamily.

“Does that sound good?” Elliot asked softly, which caused Azana to nod in response. “Good,” He said before pressing a kiss against her cheek. With that, Elliot pushed himself off of the wall and turned to head out. Though his eyes shifted to Elliot, a smirk over his face as he looked at him before he headed out of the shop.

After a moment, Azana stepped away from the wall, a love sick look over her face now. Even the flowers in her hair were shimmering lightly, now abuzz with magic. She turned to head back to the front of the store.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot had grabbed his phone from his jacket and started to head back out front, but had paused when he saw Kendric holding a spell jar and whispering in Azana's ear. For someone who claimed to not be a magic user, he looked a lot like someone who was casting a spell. He grew even more worried as Kendric smirked at him as he left the shop, frowning worriedly as he turned to look at Azana as she stepped away from the wall.

"..Azana?" He asked softly, standing in her way as he looked at her worriedly. "Are you alright? What.. What was he saying to you?" He asked, frowning a little.

@ katahdin

At hearing a voice in front of her, Azana glanced forward to see Elliot. She was quick to stop walking, a hand laying on his shoulder to brace herself at the sudden stop now that she was only a step or two away from walking into him. “Oh, I’m sorry Elliot, I didn’t notice that you were there,”

Her eyes lifted up to see the worry that was now etched on his face. For a moment, her eyes brows were furrowed in slight confusion but as Elliot asked his questions, her demeanor was quick to change. A warm blush moved over her face and her hand dropped from his shoulder, now rubbing the back of her neck. “I’m perfectly good. Kendric was just telling me his plans for our date tonight, that’s all. Why...why are you asking? Is something wrong?”

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot frowned a bit as she nearly ran into him, reaching a hand out to steady her in case she stumbled back, but was relieved when she didn't. He also didn't like her hesitation to his question, how her demeanor changed after seeming so confused. Something was definitely wrong.

"Are you sure you're alright? I.. I saw Kendric holding a spell jar and talking to you, and just wanted to make sure that everything was good.." He explained, a bit nervous that he was overstepping. But it seemed like she'd been charmed, and that worried him, considering that he knew Kendric was a mage.

@ katahdin

"Yes, I am quite sure," Azana told him with a warm smile. Though she shook her head a bit as Elliot mentioned the spell jar that Kendric had been holding. "I gave that to him. One of his co-workers is trying to get over a bad breakup so Kendric asked if I could make a Soothing Hearts jar for her."

As her eyes lifted up to meet Elliot's, there was a gentleness to them. "I appreciate that you're looking out for me but Kendric is a good guy. He is not trying to spell me. And even if he was and got some magic item from someone else, I would notice. I have my wards up like I am sure you do as well." Azana reached up, laying a hand on his arm for a moment before gently squeezing it reassuringly.

She patted his arm gently before letting her own hand fall back to her side again. "Let's go open up the shop." She waitedfor Kendric to walk to the front of the shop since he was now standing between her and the front.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot's shoulders visibly relaxed as she assured him that she'd been the one to give him the spell jar and that she had her wards up. "Oh.. Good. I'm so sorry if I overstepped, or anything.. I suppose I'm just used to being around necromancers that don't have the best motives, and I'd hate to see anything happen to you."

He offered her a little smile, stepping out of her way so they could head to the front to open the shop, moving to sit behind the counter. He felt like an idiot for thinking Kendric was up to something, but he couldn't shake the gut feeling he had about him. At least Azana wasn't pissed at him for overstepping.

@ katahdin

"That is really sweet of you, thank you. And you didn't overstep as I would have done the same if I thought you were being spelled on." Once Elliot had stepped out of the way, Azana continued through the store to the front. She unlocked the door to the shop and welcomed two people who had already been waiting out by the door. The two customers headed around the shop and she started to make her way back.

As she passed the front counter, Azana knocked on it twice. "Let me know if it gets busy and I'll come out front to assist." Her eyes shifted to the door for a moment as another customer was already walking in. Now that tended to be a foreshadowing for how the rest of the day tended to go. Azana didn't want to have to stay late to do inventory but it looked like that might happen. Though she let the thought drift from her mind as she walked into the back.

@ Sweet.Persephone

"It's no problem, really. I was worried you'd be upset with me for sticking my nose where it didn't belong, so I'm glad that you're not." Elliot offered her a smile, following her out to the front and taking his spot behind the counter as she let in the two customers, offering them both a greeting.

He looked over at Azana as she knocked against the counter, nodding and offering her a little smile. "Of course, I'll make sure to let you know. if it gets too busy. Hopefully it won't, though." He offered her another smile as she turned to leave, turning his attention back to the shop as a customer came up to ask him a question.