Pretty Things & Evil Deeds

@ katahdin

"Thank you," Azana said as she took the glass of water from him. She was quick to take a long drink from it before bringing it down to her side and letting out a small satisfying sigh. "It is definitely for the best. We need a slow day every once in a while." Azana responded before giving Elliot a little nudge. "After all, I do not want to be working you too hard. Though luckily, tomorrow is our day off as the shop is always closed on Wednesdays." Azana let out a small hum at the thought, she really did like her days off.

"The greenhouse is looking a bit better. To be honest, I haven't been keeping up with it like I should have when the shop started getting so busy so there is a lot of work left to do but it should be in excellent condition in no time." As he mentioned her flowers, Azana reached up and felt the wilted ones under her fingers before giving Elliot a bit of a sheepish smile. "I probably should go take my lunch if you don't plan on taking yours now?"

@ Sweet.Persephone

"You're welcome." Elliot smiled, glad to see her relaxing a bit even after just a sip of water. "It is quite nice to have an easy day. But I really don't mind working hard if it means everything is a bit easier for you. You've been working so hard ever since the store opened, you deserve at least a bit of a break from day to day.'

He nodded as she spoke about the greenhouse, giving her a little smile. "At least with me being here it might be easier for you to keep up with everything. I'm glad to be able to help, like I said." He nodded when she mentioned taking her lunch break. "Of course. I didn't bring much today, so my lunch break can be quick."

@ katahdin

“Thank you...that is really sweet of you but truly you do not need to worry about me. I will be okay and relax when I need to. But trust me, having you here definitely makes my life easier.” Azana set down the glass of water before lightly placing a hand on his shoulder. “I am very thankful for you. Though you need to make sure to rest as well. Asfor you’re lunch break, you do know that it is technically illegal for me to not insist on you taking you’re full half hour?”

Azana lightly nudged him before she dropped her hand from his shoulder. A bit of a teasing smile on her face. “I am not going to force you to sit down and do nothing for 30 minutes but I’m just saying that you should be taking your full break. Maybe play some game on your phone or something,” She joked. “Just something for you to think about,”

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot smiled as she rested her hand on his shoulder, giving a little nod as she said that he didn't have to worry about her. "I know.. I can't promise that I'll stop, but I know that you can take care of yourself, even if I do worry sometimes."

He laughed a bit as she nudged him and said that she had to insist he take his full lunch break, shaking his head a bit. "I know that I should, but I'm used to not taking breaks." He said with a little smile, giving her a little nudge.

@ katahdin

“You treat me as though I am a lost kitten that you have rescued, Elliot,” Azana smirked a little at the thought. “You are just lucky I don’t scratch and bite back.”

Azana reached unit her hair and pulled one of the wilted flowers out. Though it was quick to change between her fingers from a wilted flower to a bud. “Perhaps you can analyze this during lunch. I think you’ll have it more interesting than the wilted flowers yesterday. Might be a good use of you’re break. Though speaking of breaks, I will go take mine.” Once Elliot took the bud from her, she headed upstairs to her home to eat.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot's cheeks flushed at her comment, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Sorry.. I'll stop and back off, if you want.. I.. Sorry." He said awkwardly, clearing his throat a bit as he stepped away to busy himself with washing the glass he'd used.

He turned a bit to take the flower bud from her when she offered it to him, nodding slightly as he took it. "Alright.. I'll be up front, when you're done with your break." He explained, turning to head back to the front.

@ katahdin

As Elliot to walk off, Azana's eyes opened a bit widen and a little frown came along her face. Did she frighten him? She had not meant to, and truly her words had only meant to be a joke. Though he seemed a bit uncomfortable after her words. Part of her wanted to immediately go explain but she figured she should take a moment and figure out what to say before making it worse. So, Azana continued her way upstairs and took her break.

A bit later, Azana made her way to the front of the shop. She took a moment to look around, seeing that no one was there before she moved across the counter from Elliot and setting down a plate with two cookies on it and pushing it towards him. The flowers in her hair were now closed up but, overall, Azana seemed better now that she had cleaned up. "I really appreciate that you watch out for me and care enough to worry about me. I had just been making a joke earlier and didn't mean to cause you to think otherwise."

@ Sweet.Persephone

The shop had been pretty much empty while Azana took her break, so Elliot spent his time with the flower bud she'd given him, placing it in a small jar he'd found in one of the drawers behind the desk. By the time Azana came down he'd managed to use his magic to get the flower's life cycle to repeat, watching it bloom from a bud into a little flower, before wilting and starting the whole process over again.

He sat up a bit in surprise when Azana set down the plate of cookies in front of him, offering her a sheepish smile as she apologized, shaking his head a little. "You don't have to apologize.. I know you'd mentioned how people try to be really protective of you when they find out you're a flower mage, and I didn't want you to think that I was trying to coddle you or thought less of you because of it.." He explained softly, offering her the jar with the flower in it after a minute.

@ katahdin

Azana's eyes immediately softened at Elliot's words before she shook her head at him. "It's not - You're not like them, not at all. You are not-" Before she finished her sentence, Azana caught herself and gave another shake of her head, the frown on her face deepening a bit. "I didn't think that at all. I honestly was just trying to tease you. It is actually really nice having someone around who tells me not to work myself ragged so thank you,"

When Elliot offered Azana the jar, her eyes shifted down to watch it. As she watched it go through the cycle once or twice, the corners of her lips turned up for a moment. "That is really impressive," After watching it cycle through one last time, she handed the jar back and pushed the plate of cookies a bit closer to him. "You should go take your break and eat,"

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot let his shoulders relax a bit at her reassurances, giving a little nod. "Alright.. I'm glad you don't mind me. Most people would have kicked me out as soon as they found out I was a necromancer.. The least I owe you is making sure you don't have to work yourself to the bone." He explained softly, watching her take the little jar to watch the flower go through a few of it's cycles.

"It's just a simple decay spell looped with a reanimation spell.. You can keep it, if you'd like." He ordered her a little smile as she passed the jar to him, refusing to take it. "I know that you wanted to see an example of my magic.. it's nothing special or impressive, but then again what most necromancers consider impressive spells aren't for audiences." He smiled a bit wider as she pushed the cookies across to him, nodding a little as he sat up and stretched. "Alright, if you insist, boss. Let me know if you need any help." He said as he took the plate of cookies and headed out back.

@ katahdin

"You don't owe me anything." Azana responded gently. "You should be able to expect better from people." As Elliot explained the spell that she was seeing, she watched it for a long while before looking back to him with a nod. "I rather like it, I'm glad that you showed me a little of what you can do." When Elliot wouldn't take the jar back, she brought it to her chest. "Thank you,"

Once Elliot headed off to have his break, Azana moved to the other side of the counter, now waiting for any customers to enter the shop. She set the jar down in front of her, mostly turning her attention to it. She did think it was a rather neat trick and Azana hoped that the spell would last for a while.

@ Sweet.Persephone

"I've learned that judging people based on first impressions usually isn't the best thing, although sometimes gut feelings do pay off.." Elliot murmured softly, smiling as she brought the jar to her chest, as if she treasured the thing. "I promised you I'd show you my magic, didn't I? It's no walking skeleton, but it's safe enough to perform here in the shop where someone wouldn't recognize it as necromancy and then complain and have me fired." He chuckled, waving a little as he went off to take his break.

Elliot took most of his thirty minute break, but that was mostly because his friend had gotten back to him about what the spell was that was in Azana's coffee this morning, and he was shocked. It was some sort of spell that lowered her defenses and weakened her without her noticing, so that she'd be susceptible to whatever awful thing that Kendric had planned for her.

@ katahdin

In truth, Azana was surprised that was coming close to taking up his whole 30 minute break. Her eyes glanced over to the clock with a little hum before a gentle smile came over her face. This was a good thing, maybe he was finally going to take the time he needed to rest as well... or maybe Elliot was just trying because she mentioned something today. It was hard to say with him.

Her eyes dropped from the clock with a small sigh as she laid her head down in her arm. Azana still felt rather tired even after her break. It seemed that caring for the greenhouse took more out of her than she had been expecting.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot stood from the break room table with a sigh, washing the plate that had had the cookies on it while he thought over what he could possibly do to help Azana. He wanted to tell her, but he knew that it would be catastrophic if the other necromancers found out, since he'd likely be shunned from the community for breaking their code.

Once the plate was washed and dried he headed back out to the front, smiling a little at the sight of Azana stooped over the counter. He moved over next to her, clearing his throat softly so that he wouldn't startle her before lightly resting his hand on her back. "You know," he began with a little hum, offering her a small smile. "You are the owner of this fine establishment, which means that if you wanted to take the rest of the day off, you could."

@ katahdin

At the sound of a throat clearing, Azana did not even bother to move as she knew that it was Elliot behind her, having already heard the door to the back room open and close. Though when he laid a hand on her back, Azana turned her head slightly to look back at him with a tired smile.

"That seems highly irresponsible," Azana said softly before she pushed herself off of the counter, now sitting up properly. "Besides, only half of the day has gone by, I really should not be this tired yet... maybe I just need some coffee." Azana let out a small hum at the thought.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot's own smile widened when she turned her head to look at him, rubbing her back soothingly as he chuckled. "I think it's ok to be irresponsible sometimes. You've been open for a month or two now running the shop all by yourself, and you haven't had one day off, right?" He pointed out.

His smile faltered though at the mention of coffee, suddenly worrying that perhaps this was a side effect of what Kendric was doing to her. "I could go get a pot going upstairs.. But I'd also suggest that you take it easy for the rest of the day. Maybe you're starting to get sick?"

@ katahdin

"Well.... that is not entirely true." Azana murmured softly in response. "But you are right to think that it has not been enough." She let out a small sigh, closing her eyes for a moment as she just enjoyed the way that Elliot was soothingly rubbing her back. It felt nice...this was nice. Though when he mentioned the possibility that she could be getting sick, Azana shook her head a bit.

"Well lets hope that is not the case. There is too much to do for me to be sick." Azana murmured. Even as she said that, Azana's eyes opened up. Her hand reached back and plucked one of the flowers out of her hair and brought it to her eye sight to analyze. The woman was quiet for a moment as she inspected the tightly closed flower before letting out a sigh. "Perhaps you are right..." She looked up at Elliot, some worry now in her eyes. "Are you sure you can handle the shop by yourself?"

@ Sweet.Persephone

Elliot offered her a small smile, shaking his head a little. "You've been working yourself to the bone, Az.. And you hired me to help take some of that pressure off of you, so use me." He pulled his hand away from her back after a moment, hoping she didn't think that it was a weird gesture coming from him.

He frowned though as he watched her pluck one of the flowers from her hand to inspect, her reaction all but confirming his suspicions. "Of course I'm sure. I'll tell you what, if you're really worried about it I can close an hour or two early to help take care of you. I'm sure some herbal tea would help you feel better, in addition to the nap that I'm going to insist you go take right now."

@ katahdin

A little sigh left Azana. "I think you might be right... I have been trying to catch up on everything else that I didn't think about using some of that extra time to rest." Azana set the flower down on the counter. Even though it was no longer attached to her or her magic, she knew that it would run through it's natural cycle on it's own, blooming and withering within a few days. Though as he mentioned closing the shop early, Azana took a moment to glance around. She knew it had been quiet for most of the day so closing early shouldn't be an issue.

"I don't think there is any harm in closing early today. It is not like we have gotten much customers anyways." Azana slowly slid off of the stool. "Okay, okay, I will go take a nap if you insist." Azana teased gently. "And you know that taking care of me is not in your job description right?" She asked him, her voice now a bit softer. "Not that I wouldn't appreciate it but you don't have to use your free time to make me tea if you don't want to."

@ Sweet.Persephone

"Well, now you have me to remind you about this kind of stuff." Elliot teased, nodding as she confirmed that it would be alright to close early. He'd tidy up the shop and do what he could to restock what little needed restocking, and of course try to take care of her if she'd allow it.

He waved her off when she said that he didn't need to take care of her, shaking his head as he moved over to lock the door to the shop and flip the sign to 'Closed'. "Nonsense. Besides, I'll have to use herbs from down here to make it, so I'm really not doing you that much of a favor." He teased, gesturing for her to head out back and upstairs. "I'll gather what I need and mix it all down here, if you want to head upstairs and boil some water and get a mug ready. And once it's done I'll bring it up and make sure that you're actually resting before I come back down and do some cleaning."