[R] Welcome to Farah's Garden! (Orah & Uuni)

[Whimsical Blue]

Sunlight streamed around the bright blue awning that hung over the sidewalk, a riot of color exploding below it. The scent of hundreds of flowers filled the air and brought a smile to those who walked by, and especially to the girl who whisked around inside the glass-fronted shop.

In one hand she held a mister, in the other a soft cloth, and as she moved she sprayed and wiped, cleaned and moistened. The plants she cared for seemed to glow from the attention, but it could have just been the overhead lights.

Dressed in a purple dress covered by a logo-decorated apron, she obviously worked here, and each person that passed through the door or lingered outside got another smile and cheery "Hello!". Saturdays were Orah's time to work the store, giving her father a chance to do the paperwork in his office upstairs while her brother went out with friends.
 

[Kaelyndra]

Flowers.

Uuni was suffocating in them. Never before had she felt such a sensation of drowning. Why had she decided to come in here again? It wrenched of friendship, family togetherness, and relationship most of all. Uuni eyed a purple orchid with extra skepticism.

What an atrocity.

In truth, Uuni didn't actually mind flowers themselves that much. There were a few she actually adored. Too much, however, was too much.

But Uuni would go a long way for a good reaction, and the flowers had just been too good to pass up. Who she'd give them to, she had not yet decided. There were tons of possibilities. Then again, maybe she would not get any flowers at all.

The cheery hello mosied its way over to her ears and the brunette peered back at the young, tan skinned girl watering flowers. Had she ever seen Utena, she would have been immediately skeptical. However, she had not, and so she simply passed the word off to the action of an innocent, young, foreign flower girl whose dad probably never let her out of the shop unattended.

"Hi." Well, she guessed she was going in. She could always walk back out again. "I heard you sell flowers here." Uuni may as well have asked if the sky was blue.  

[Whimsical Blue]

The young girl let off another one of her bright smiles as she set down her bottle and cloth, stepping away from the flowers and closer to the new customer. She was a pretty woman, though she maybe looked a little uncomfortable to be here. The blaze of color and flood of smell could be disorienting, so she chalked it up to that.

"Welcome to Farah's garden!" She said as she brushed her hands off on her apron. Her voice had the barest of lilt to it, a trace of left over accent. "I'm Orah. Yes indeed, we do sell flowers. Anything in particular you're looking for?" Her comment about selling flowers was actually kind of funny and the flower girl had to stifle a giggle at it. Yep, definitely a little uncomfortable to be here. She wondered if this customer was nervous about buying a present for a sweetheart and she smiled knowingly. It happened fairly often, actually, but as long as she was careful, she could guide them through the purchase and they would leave with a smile on their face and flowers in their hands.

"We have a lot of different varieties and we buy them all from local growers."

Kaelyndra

 

[Kaelyndra]

Oh god. This was like a scene out of a bad 80's horror movie. Only, instead of a dark hotel room, she was being greeted in a flower shop. Uuni was going to be murdered in a flower shop.

A lot of different varieties. Don't care.

Local growers. Don't care!

The fact that she had walked into the shop and therefore should care didn't cross the brunette's mind. Instead, she cast a wary gaze at the way the girl's mouth contorted up as though she knew something. What was going through that pretty little head?

"Do you have anything that smells really bad?" That oughtta wipe that smug look off of the girl's face. And, hey, if she did it was the perfect opportunity. While the idea of giving flowers to someone could be taken the wrong way, even she set it up perfectly, giving rotten smelling ones, well: that message was wasn't going to be conflicted.

Bluefire Dragonz

 

[Whimsical Blue]

"Um..."

That certainly stopped Orah in her tracks. Bad smelling flowers? Wasn't the whole point that they smell good? A little frown creased her brow as she thought about it, again rubbing her hands on her apron.

"I'm not sure... I mean, people buy them because they smell good. We don't get much in the way of business for flowers that are... unpleasant." She shrugged as she moved to the counter and reached for the tiny computer that sat by the register. For a couple of mintues, she typed in various things, moved the mouse about and clicked a couple of times. Finally, she turned and shrugged, lifting her hands palm up.

"Well, we don't sell any flowers that really smell bad, but we do have a couple of types that could smell bad to some people... Its kind of a subjective thing, you know? Marigolds and Chrysanthemums have a strong earthy smell, and Casablanca Lilies have a really strong, really sweet smell. Depending on the person, if they find the smell a bad one, I guess?"

Turning, she moved towards back of the store, hunting around until she could pull a vase of big, showy white flowers out of a refrigerated cabinet. Turning she brought them back to show her customer.

"Are you trying to get back at someone for something? These Casablanca Lilies look really pretty, but their smell can be overpoweringly sweet if you don't like sweet smells."

Kaelyndra

 

[Kaelyndra]

Uuni had to give her credit: she was back on her feet quickly enough. Feeling lazy, the brunette meandered after her temporary servant and leaned on the counter. Her eyes wandered without apprehension around the flower shop.

Well, none of those would do. With Uuni's kind of luck, they'd end up loving the flowers for all eternity. And while someone might hate a flower, they could still appreciate the effort. If the flowers had even a chance of smelling good to someone, they just wouldn't do.

"Not exactly."

Oh, the irony, the lily was her favorite flower: not this one, though. This one was going to make her sick to her stomach. She wasn't trying to get back at herself for goodness sake!

"How expensive are those?" Uuni had a feeling that if they were made for gooky, sticky relationships, that flowers were going to be expensive as well.

Bluefire Dragonz

 

[Whimsical Blue]

Reaching over to her computer again, Orah typed in a code and waited for the computer to load the information.

"Um... eighty dollars, if you want the lilies in a plane vase. A hundred and twenty if you want them in the sparkly one they're in now." She said, turning back to look at the flowers. They weren't the most expensive piece they sold, but it was certainly up there. "We have others that aren't quite so much, and singles are even less. Those violets in the little vintage watering can over there are ten dollars." She said as she waved a hand at the little purple flowers that grew out of a small tin watering can.

Straightening a couple of the lilies that had shifted out of place in the arrangement, she shrugged. "I'm sorry if we don't have what you're looking for... your request just isn't something we get often. We're not a terribly big shop, my dad and I run this place. If you're really set on it, though, I could special order something for you? I could probably find one of the really stinky ones and have it shipped here for pick up."

It was disappointing to not being able to help a customer find what they want... even if what they wanted was as weird as a bad smelling flower.

Kaelyndra

 

[Kaelyndra]

And your soul, for those ones in the back.

Uuni stared at Orah, tilted her head a bit, and narrowed her eyes some more. Was this for real? Ten dollars for a violet?

She could pick a violet. There were plenty of houses with fences she could presumably jump. Was she really set on it? Custom ordering a stinky one and having it shipped sounded like it would be a triple-digit endeavor.

"Nah, that's okay. I'll keep my kidney this week, thanks."

A normal person might have felt bad for wasting someone else's time. A normal person could apparently spend a massive amount of money on flowers. Thank goodness Uuni was not normal.

"Right, well, see you around, then."

Bluefire Dragonz

 

[Whimsical Blue]

"I'm really sorry we didn't have what you wanted." Orah said as she stepped out from behind the counter.

"Thanks for coming though! I love seeing new people around, taking an interest in our flowers. Hopefully you'll come visit us again and maybe then we'll have something you'll like. Until then..."

On impulse, the young girl turned and pulled one of the lilies from the bouquet. Stepping up quickly, she grabbed Uuni's hand and wrapped her fingers around the stem.

"Here. I'd really like you to have this, as sort of a thank you for coming in."

Letting go of her hand and the flower, she moved back behind the counter and fussed with the remaining bouquet, rearranging the flowers now that one was gone.

Kaelyndra

 

[Kaelyndra]

Too nice. That was Uuni's opinion of Orah. And no one, no one, was ever too nice. Supposedly nice people couldn't exist in the universe for long: they were either taken advantage of, or they flipped their lids from all of the tension of staying 'perfect'.

It would only be a matter of time before someone destroyed her small, flower world. There was so much more for her out there. It was possible someone would take it down for her piece by piece, but it was more likely she was going to be thrown into the fray without little care for her person.

To say Uuni was expecting the physical assault would have been a lie. Uuni stared blankly at the flower emplaced in her palm. Well, what was she going to do with this?

"Er," she responded dumbly. "Alright."

If Orah didn't know already, she'd soon learn Uuni didn't have the capability to make a legitimate thank you. Even the idea was blasphemous. The brunette glanced back to where Orah fussed, and then found it within herself to shrug.

The next moment, she was high-tailing it for the exit and only breathing once she was safely outside. Now, who to pawn this off on?

Bluefire Dragonz

 

[Whimsical Blue]

Orah watched as the woman left, her hands stilling on the flowers. She had certainly been an odd one, but the girl suspected maybe she had reasons for it. Life wasn't always easy... sometimes bad things happened to good people for no good reason and then you had a choice. Give up and see the shadow behind everything, or soldier on and look on the bright side. It might be harder to do the latter, but she liked to think it brought her more happiness in the long run. And those you lost would be happier too, knowing you were.

Well. There was work to be done. Maybe that woman would come back someday and she could actually find out what her name was. It hadn't seemed like a good time to ask, though now she wished she had. Orah would remember her though... she remembered everyone she saw in the shop. It would be hard to forget, since these lilies would be a reminder whenever she saw them.

Kaelyndra

End!