Covent Garden Flowers, Monday

[greenexorcist]

It was raining. Normally Shiemi would only be a little disappointed at this since rain helped plants grow, after all. And this was probably trying to help, but really? A mini-monsoon in the tropical plants aisle?

Shiemi had the section blocked off by sandbags and fans set up to cool off the adjacent aisles, and was flipping through the store's paperwork trying to find Octavian-san's phone number to ask about flood insurance.

Hopefully no one wanted any orchids, bouganvillea, or hibiscus today...

...

"Ah!!" She dropped the papers she was leafing through as a thought occurred to her. "I should move the jasmine over to that aisle!"



[Open! a little windy near the ferns today]

Comments

[2_old_for_this]

"Shiemi?" Peter asked, when she finally found the number and called him. "Is everything okay?"

[greenexorcist]

"I'm sorry for calling, but..." Shiemi sighed into the phone. "Is there something I should do about a flood in the store?"

[2_old_for_this]

"A flood?" Peter was already grabbing his keys and dashing out of the apartment. "Has the fish pond sprung a leak?"

[greenexorcist]

"No. No, there's a monsoon and I don't know if the sandbags will hold it all in." She hadn't thought of the fish! She needed to check that it was far enough away that it wasn't getting debris.

[2_old_for_this]

"A monsoon?" Peter up the stairs and down the street. "I'll be right there."

[greenexorcist]

"A-are you sure? I don't want to bother you?" Okay. She really did. What if the storm spread and damaged the store?

[2_old_for_this]

"Don't worry," Peter assured her. "Just do what you can and I'll be there in a minute." Then he was shifting into a hawk and flying there faster than he could go on two legs.

[greenexorcist]

Shiemi hung up the phone and looked around. She had the sandbags blocking the aisle and makeshift barricades built from some fencing supplies... She really had no idea what to do when it was raining inside.

Oh! She should go check on the fish and make sure they were out of harm's way!

[2_old_for_this]

Peter showed up a minute later, shifting back to human and opening the door. "Shiemi?"

[greenexorcist]

"Welcome!!" Shiemi looked up from dragging an industrial sized bag of soil to the barricade to greet the visitor. "Octavian-san? Ah! You came!" She beamed at him, pushing a soaked bit of hair from her eyes.

[2_old_for_this]

"Of course I came," Peter said. "There should be some towels in the back room. Go dry off before you freeze." He eyed the monsoon. "Any idea what's causing this, or is it just the island?"

[greenexorcist]

Shiemi shook her head, getting her hair in her face again. "It's only the one section, though, so it's probably the island?"

[2_old_for_this]

"Probably," Peter agreed. He sighed, picked up the sack she'd been dragging and slung it into place like it weighed nothing.

"Go get dry," he reminded her. "It looks like you've got a good start on containing it. I'll take over for a bit."

[greenexorcist]

Shiemi headed to the back and did her best to dry her hair and patted down her clothes. She didn't try too hard, since it was still raining out there, but enough that she wouldn't get a cold.

Hopefully.

She also started some tea. Hopefully Octavian-san didn't mind if she took a few moments longer.

[2_old_for_this]

He did not mind, but when he heard the water being put on, he called back, "Make enough for two. We may be here a while. There's cookies in the cabinet if you want."

Hm. He couldn't really stop the rain, but he could put up a barrier to keep it over the tropicals and funnel most of it down the drain in the center.

[greenexorcist]

As soon as the tea was ready, Shiemi carried it back into the store. She set it on the counter and then went to see if she was needed again. "Ah. You're containing it in a barrier?"

[2_old_for_this]

Peter nodded. "Now let's see if I can put enough power into it for it to last longer than the rain." He finished it for now and then retreated. "Thanks for doing what you could."

[greenexorcist]

Shiemi handed him a towel and then poured the tea. "I'm sorry I didn't think of that. I don't know if I could have cast a barrier like that, but I could at least have tried."

"You won't need to stay here for it to keep working, will you?"

[2_old_for_this]

"Thanks." Peter took the towel and used it to sweep as much of the water as possible toward the drain. "Don't worry about trying things if you're not sure. Though I can show you how, if you want."

He left the towel as a bit of a barrier, then quickly dissolved himself into mist and reformed, dry, to pick up his tea.

[greenexorcist]

"Would you?!" Shiemi was excited at the prospect of learning from him, but her mun is a bum who left this thread for too long then again... She sobered and considered things a moment. "Though I'd better wait until classes start and I get an idea of my schedule. I don't want to cause you any trouble"

[2_old_for_this]

"It's no trouble." Peter gave her a rueful smile. "But I'm warning you I might not be much of a teacher, either."