Tree's a Crowd [OPEN]

[Elaine Tonaya]

Elaine had an important deadline to meet for a wedding and was trying to put together some of the wreaths and arrangements. For this particular ceremony, the bride had requested two large potted palms, which perhaps should have been ordered through a landscaper, but since she'd been asked Elaine was loathe to say no.

Now she was working to try to move the two large trees out of the way until she could get a delivery truck to come in. Maybe she should have waited until her assistant arrived, but she was eager to move them out of the center of the shop in order to make room for other customers.

So she was slowly inching the two plants across the shop as the door swung open. Eyes wide, she turned to look at who had come in, but she wasn't able to see the person due to the large tree in her way. "Sorry about the mess!" she called out, gesturing to the trail of dirt that had fallen from the tree when she'd tried to tip and drag it. "Just a moment..." She stepped away and moved toward the door. Behind her, the tree wobbled for a moment before carefully settling onto the tile floor.

"Sorry again, it's just been a bit of a strange day. What can I help you with?" She finally was able to look and see who had actually come in.

[Reggie Earle]

Reggie loved going to flower shops. There was just something about seeing a beautifully arranged bouquet of flowers with their almost blooming flowers and vibrant colours that got to her. She didn't normally buy any of it for herself but she really just loved looking at them and imagining what if she got them from a secret admirer or something.

Maybe it was because of RC that she had the urge to see more of these beautiful things. He was such a gentleman and he was just so sweet and Reggie couldn't be more happier having him to text with late at night.

She chanced upon a small flower shop that just smelled so good as she walked through the mall and found someone lugging a huge potted plant. "Oh my gosh." Reggie hastened her steps to help the woman but she got it under control and Reggie blew a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" The young woman asked, her face much concerned. But when the blond woman asked if she could help, Reggie shook her head and gave a little smile of relief that the woman seemed to be fine. "I was actually just about to go in and have a look. I love flower arrangements." She admitted with a grin. "Do you mind if I come in? ...Or help you sweep the floor at least?" The dark-haired student looked down at the dirt scattered the floor.

[Elaine Tonaya]

"Come in, definitely. Don't worry about the floor. It's really my own fault for taking on more than I can handle." Elaine fully straightened and moved to greet her customer. "Welcome to the shop! My name is Elaine." She held out her hand and gave a large smile to introduce herself.

"These trees that are hogging all my space," she said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder toward the potted palms, "are a special request for a wedding. Most people are content to have bouquets and sprigs of orange blossoms scattered about. But if it's your big day, I think you should be able to have whatever you want. What do you think?"

Honestly, Elaine suspected another romantic based on the slight reading she'd gotten so far of the girl's aura. She couldn't tell anything for sure, but so far at least she seemed quite friendly, and that was enough for Elaine to feel comfortable striking up a longer conversation.

"Have you been in town long? I don't remember seeing you here before. But then, I guess not everyone is interested in flowers." Elaine moved over to the counter and unwrapped a new plate of cookies. "Do you like macadamia nut? I made them myself."

[Reggie Earle]

"Thank you," Reggie politely replied with a smile as she stepped in. The lady's welcome warmed Reggie as she introduced herself to the older woman. "I'm Reggie." She paused and looked around, her smile widening as she took in the interior. "Your shop is absolutely beautiful, Miss Elaine."

She giggled softly at Elaine's statement before nodding slowly at her question. "I think so too." She said over her shoulder, turning around to face Elaine. "I've been to a wedding once of my father's boss' daughter where white lilies floated down from these pockets on the ceiling." She remembered picking up those lilies after the ceremony was over and replaying how they fell in her bedroom. What a mess it made her room.

Continuing the inspection of the medium sized place, Reggie only turned at Elaine's question. "Oh I've been here for the past...six or seven years." Her laugh soft, barely audible even. "I haven't been here before. I didn't even know this was here to begin with!" She admitted with a sheepish grin. "Although that might probably be because I rarely go to the mall so, I haven't really explored the place. I do apologise for never stepping foot here."

Reggie's eyes widened at the sight of cookies. "Oh, yes ma'am. I love to eat and I'm not allergic to anything...as far as I'm concerned." She approached Elaine and gingerly picked up a piece of cooking, biting into it and nodded. "Yep, absolutely delicious. I'm completely rubbish at baking so I'm always munching on storebought cookies. This is just heavenly." She gabbed, gobbling up the rest before reaching for another one shamelessly.

"Do you work alone?" Reggie asked, turning to look at tiny potted plants neatly arranged on the shelves.

[Elaine Tonaya]

"Thank you, I'm glad you approve." Elaine sometimes felt that the shop got a bit cluttered with all the greenery she had abounding, but she did her best to arrange it well and was glad when someone else noticed.

"That sounds like a beautiful wedding. I assume they would have used nets to put up the lilies. That would have been very expensive, as well, depending on where they got the lilies. But I'm sure it was a wonderful wedding ceremony." Elaine had done plenty of weddings in her time. It was always stressful, but worth the pay-off in the wonder of everyone's face as they enjoyed the wedding. It was best when they didn't notice the flowers at all, except to mention how everything made the day perfect.

"No apology necessary. Many people don't come here often, and it's often just because they never had the need. It doesn't matter--I'm glad to have you here at all. And if you enjoy flowers, you are more than welcome to come by more often. I would love having someone else to talk to."

She smiled as she watched Reggie enjoy the cookies. "Well, then, Reggie, you might just have to come back sometime and get a baking lesson from me. I know some very simple recipes that even someone who burns water would have trouble getting wrong. And they taste better than store-bought cookies, so you'll be able to impress your friends with your new-found skills."

Elaine sighed a bit as she looked around. "I used to. I hired an assistant, but he's not due back for a little while. I let him off for lunch, and that's when those trees got in. I should have just gotten the delivery guys to move them, but, oh, I don't know. And now they're probably just going to have to sit in the store until Jonah gets back."

In order to keep the conversation from going stagnant, Elaine shook her head and turned back to Reggie with a smile. "What sort of hobbies do you have? Do you enjoy gardening?"

[Reggie Earle]

Reggie smiled warmly at Elaine, nodding her approval.

"Oh it was. The flowers were so beautiful." The younger woman gushed, remembering how velvety soft the flowers were. Reggie always enjoyed weddings. Surprisingly, she hadn't thought about her own, as much of a romantic as she was.

Smiling, Reggie nodded at the invitation. "I will definitely take you up on that offer, Miss Elaine. College can be dull, it would be nice to have someone to meet up with outside." She could have said "Apart from my boyfriend." But Reggie thought it was unnecessary and a little part of her was also telling her that spending all her spare time with RC might cause him to drift away. To want some space.

Shaking her head of those thoughts, she beamed at Elaine's promise to give her simple recipes. "Really? That would be superb." She nodded.

She frowned in concern as Elaine spoke about her assistant. "Well, I'm up for helping, really. If you need it of course." She added the last bit as an afterthought. She didn't want to stick her nose in where it didn't belong.

"Hobbies?" Reggie's cheeks heated up. "No, not gardening. Well, one of my hobbies is looking at beautiful flowers though." She offered with a sheepish grin. "Not the same thing, I know. But...they both deal with flowers?" She gave a small girlish giggle before shrugging. "I like to play video games. And write."

Not wanting to steal all the focus, she turned to the older woman. "Did you always want to be involved with plants?" she asked, nibbling on her cookie and leaning against on of the shelves.

[Elaine Tonaya]

"Don't you have any other friends to meet up with?" Elaine asked with a small frown. It concerned her that someone so obviously friendly might not have anyone to spend more time with. "I know Pilot Ridge is small, but surely there must be other people your age."

She was more than happy to share some recipes--cooking was always better if you had others to share it with. A good meal, fun in the kitchen...that was what family was about. "Don't mention it. And if you get really good you can make something for that boyfriend you mentioned and wow him even more than I'm sure you already do." She smiled warmly. It was good to have a happy relationship and to see others in that situation.

"No, really, it'll be fine. Thanks for asking, but don't worry about it." She was glad to have the offer, but it made her feel a bit guilty that she was asking a customer, a guest, to help with work.

"Writing is a wonderful creative outlet. I tried my hand at it, but I was never very good. To my dismay." Elaine gave a sort of sad smile. "I had to get my boyfriend to write love poems for me. They weren't very good either, but it was the thought that counts, right?" She didn't know much about video games, but she could understand about just liking beautiful things.

"I actually only got into flowers quite recently. Well, not that recently, since I've been working here nearly thirty years. But I originally had no plans to go into flowers. It was just that I needed to have my own place, and after a few years of working in a restaurant, I decided I just wanted something simple and beautiful. I was...drawn to flowers." It was partly due to her ability, but she wasn't willing to say something like that, even to someone she had only recently met. She rarely went around saying that she was a metahuman.

"Do you have any ideas what you want to do for a career? It's fine if you don't, I just know they're pushing a lot of kids these days to figure out their lives so early."

[Reggie Earle]

"I do...and there are," Reggie blushed, wondering if she was bothering Elaine. She did come across as clingy but she really didn't want the older woman to think she was a complete nuisance! "I just don't mesh well with them. Am...am I bothering you, Miss Elaine?" She asked quietly.

Reggie's cheeks heated up even more when Elaine mentioned the boyfriend. Had RC thought out loud? Oh this was embarrassing. "Um...how'd...uh...I dunno about wowing him," she chuckled embarrassedly, cupping her heated cheek.

The youth nodded with a smile as her offer was turned down once more. Elaine and Reggie were both cut from the same cloth, being gracious about appreciating offers of help but not really wanting to burden them. She could understand where Elaine's hesitance came from.

"Oh I'm rubbish at poetry. I usually just write short stories and mostly the romantic kind." She grinned sheepishly. "Or fantasy. You know, dragons and princes and fairies...things like that."

Reggie listened to Elaine in interest as she spoke about how she started out. "Really? I can understand the pull. Flowers are just beautiful and they smell lovely." The younger woman gushed.

Elaine's question brought a wide smile to her face. "It's not a big dream or anything but I would like to teach at a language center. I've always loved languages. Always had a knack for it. That's why I'm studying linguistics right now." She explained, biting her lower lip before asking what she'd been meaning to ask earlier.

"Miss Elaine...this is embarrassing...but did I mention the boyfriend thing out loud? I'm usually not that spacey...usually." Reggie would usually stare off into space, sure but she seldom spoke when in her daze.

[Elaine Tonaya]

"Absolutely not!" Elaine said, shocked that someone would even mention it. "Whatever gave you that idea? I've been known to be a bit clingy myself, but it's not always a bad thing. It's good to know that not everyone pushes people away, despite all the things people tell me about how kids these days are different." She shook her head in slight disbelief.

Elaine smiled at Reggie's blush. "Don't worry, it's not always a bad thing to be a bit stellar. Don't be afraid to try something new and amazing every once in a while." But don't go too far, she thought, but didn't say. This person didn't need a "smart choices" talk from some stranger she just met.

"Fantasy? That sounds wonderful. And sounds like a lot of fun. You must have a wonderful imagination to be able to write that sort of thing," she said excitedly. She'd somewhat hoped that Morgan would end up writing more, but he'd fallen into history and never got out. Which wasn't necessarily bad, but wasn't always as fun to read as a good romance.

"The smell was definitely the pull for me," Elaine admitted, fingering a bud in one hand. "It's good to surround yourself with beauty, though. It can remind you of good things, even when everything else seems wrong." She only frowned briefly as she remembered some of the difficulties in her life. But it was hard to stay depressed when there was a bright daisy smiling and nodding at you in the corner.

"Oh, linguistics, that sounds interesting..." Elaine said, but she trailed off as she saw Reggie bit her lip. She sensed that there was something else on the girl's mind, and when the next question came Elaine bit her own lip in response.

"Oh dear. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that," she said. Thinking back she realized that Reggie hadn't actually mentioned her boyfriend within the conversation. "No, I suppose...I think I just inferred that. My mind sometimes plays tricks on me like that. I just, you seemed like the kind of person who was in a happy relationship, and I think I just accidentally inserted it into the conversation. I hope you'll excuse me." Elaine smiled sympathetically. "And if you think I'm bad now, I can only imagine how bad I will get in my old age."