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 Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 6:22 pm
It was a cold day, just like the day before, just like tomorrow would be. But today Hana had gotten enough herbs to dry correctly to try and sell some. Her last batch sold almost too quickly, and it was the only thing selling as she couldn't grow anything in the frozen ground and had no means of being able to break though it. She was able to head out into the woods and find things naturally growing still, but it was becoming an even less occurrence with the wolves being out an about.
So, Hana flipped her little shop sign to open and laid out all the dried flowers and herbs and put out the jars of petals and leaves, some premixed for teas with the list of what's in them and the ailments to take them for.
She patted the pocked of her skirt, feeling comfort in knowing her totem resided inside. Hana had named her Illia, and had found herself talking to it at night before bed. She was never without it.
Quickly she moved back behind her counter, sat on her little stool, and sunk into her coat some as she waited for someone to enter.
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Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:44 pm
With so much cold lately, Lisha had been going through her tea supply at quite an increased pace. She had also had simple hot water with honey and lemon, but she was finding that supplies needed to be replenished. So she had decided to take a look through Oldcastle's streets on a visit to acquire what little she could with a small allowance from her mum.
Frethen trotted along behind her as she gazed through windows, measuring each shop and trying to decide where to stop in first. She had been to Oldcastle before, but she didn't often find herself stopping in many shops. She found one shop selling tea, but their selection wasn't terribly wide, and she didn't find herself particularly drawn to any of the provided blends, so she started back down the street.
A few doors down, she stopped at a smaller, quiet shop selling herbs and teas, and decided to have a look. Lisha gave Frethen a scratch behind an ear before leaving him to watch the passersby while she poked her head into the small shop. She smiled shyly at a girl sitting in the corner before turning to look along the shelves at the dried herbs laid out. After a moment, she took a small notepad and writing utensil out of her pocket, flipping to a new page to write an inquiry.
Do you have any herbs or teas for sore throat? She might as well ask -- it was always good to see if new people had anything different to say from what others had told her. She turned the notepad around and showed it to the girl tending to the shop with a smile.
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:12 am
When someone came into the shop, she seemed to perk up some, tucking some strands of hair behind her ear. With her green eyes she watched the other girl explore and when she came up to the counter was about to greet her when she saw her take out a pad. Her heart seemed to flutter for a moment, think she had found another mute or mostly mute person, but when she read that the girl had a sore throat she though maybe it was only a temporary loss of voice.
Hana nodded softly as she began to think. Then, she stood up and began to look around for where she had it.
"Y-yes." She managed to say softly, finally as she picked up a small bowl and moved to a container with some marshmallow root. After placing some in there, she began to look around for nice things to mix it with. Though it was a great thing to soothe a throat, as she used it after a bad stressful bit of throat closing, it wasn't always so taste to everyone.
Then after a moment of thought she grabbed a second bowl and put some more marshmallow root in with out any additions. When she brought it back she began to clip the items in the bowls to a smaller size for tea making.
When she was done she placed them in front of her, then, with some train in her face, she attempted to explain.
"Marshmallow root....plain." She tapped to the one bowl. "Cold seep... o-o-over night.... Make sure to... squeeze out the... bag.... the slime... is good. Numbs...."
Her eyes closed a moment, recomposing herself before trying again, the whole time her voice was only just loud enough to be heard.
"Marshmallow root and mint..... hides taste... for hot tea.... add... honey... or cream...." Hana moved to start placing them in satchels before looking to the girl.
"Need... some now? I-i-i can .... make hot tea.... for us..." She offered, stumbling over her words, almost having to force them out.
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:36 am
Lisha smiled and nodded at the girl's first response, waiting to see what she had to suggest. She followed the bowls and herbs and tried to track what she was making, but Lisha didn't recognize the first herb put in either bowl. The mint she was fairly sure of, but that didn't help her identify what she was going to receive. She was surprised when the girl wasn't talking as she moved and prepared -- most people, especially shopkeepers, were wont to chat as they worked, which always made Lisha feel a bit awkward when she couldn't respond as they did so with more than nods that they may or may not see. Now that the chatter wasn't there, however, she couldn't decide if she liked the quite or felt uncomfortable in it.
Lisha watched the girl carefully as she finished preparing the mixes and brought them back to the front counter. She noticed that the girl was somewhat stiff before she began talking, and was somewhat surprised at the young lady's careful measure of her voice and slight stutter. She had seemed shy, but Lisha wouldn't have guessed such a trouble behind it.
She nodded as the girl went over the mixtures. Marshmallow root -- interesting. She couldn't remember if she'd ever tried it before, but all that really meant was that she hadn't had it recently and it was probably worth another go. She took quick notes to make sure that she could remember what needed to be done.
Lisha was pleasantly surprised at the offer of tea immediately. She thought about it for a moment, massaging her throat and considering. She didn't want to be a bother, but eventually she shrugged, nodding and writing a quick note to present: If it would not be too much of an imposition, I would appreciate that, thank you.
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 4:36 pm
Hana took a moment to read the note and then in a bit of pleasant surprise she smiled and whirled around to go grab the tea pot from under the counter and ended up knocking into the stool and having that fall to the ground along with herself. She was utterly embarassed. Her cheeks flushed red and she could feel her throat tighten, half from fear. She slowly picked herself up and grabbed the pot and two cups and placed them on the counter
"I... back..." Her voice cut off and she began to rub at it gently and then nodded to a side door. Hana had a small room off to the side, a place for her to get away if the world became too much. She picked up what she could, leaving behind the bowl with the tea mixture for now, and headed over to the door.
She opened it and walked in, setting the pot on a small stove and the cups down on a table near two chairs. She went to the small sink adn filled up the pot before setting it back on the stove and began to heat it up.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 12:24 pm
Lisha couldn't help but stifle a giggle. She was glad to see that it didn't seem an imposition to stay -- the girl seemed downright glad to have company, which was nice. She kept a smile, but tried not to be too amused when the girl came back -- she probably would have tripped over the stool as well, but she didn't want to make the girl feel any worse than she did about her spill.
Lisha followed her gaze to the door, and nodded back at the girl to let her know that Lisha understood, and would follow. As the other moved for the door, she looked back at the tea and wondered if she should take it with her as she followed. She wavered in indecision for a moment, but erred on the side of caution and decided not to touch things that weren't hers, leaving the bowls in the shop and following the other girl to the room adjacent.
She sat down and thought a moment about how long she might be. She again turned to her notebook and turned to a fresh page, worrying about Frethen outside. Unfortunately, I can't stay very long. I have a friend waiting. She wasn't sure what else to say about it. She still didn't really know how to tell people that she had a constant guardian companion. Some people hardly took notice, while others seemed in awe or awkward and unsure how to properly address the situation.
She decided to continue by starting some sort of small talk. How did you come to begin such a shop as this?
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:17 pm
Hana blinked a moment and went to go grab the tea from the counter and then, once back found a infuser ball to place it in. Then with a sigh, she felt like she could relax some. She looked over the girls note and nodded understandingly, taking a seat across from her.
Tilting her head some she read the next part and then tried to think of how to relay this. Her hand slipped into her pocket to finger her totem. Then she placed it on the table, to help her feel a tad bit more confident.
Her lips parted and moved but nothing came out. She stopped, and furrowed her brow and closed her eyes. "I... had... h-h-help." She managed, and her hands went to ball against her skirt and relax and tighten again.
As she began to smile, the tea pot began to whistle and she moved and put the infuser into the pot and turned off the heat and began to let it seep.
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