Covent Garden Flowers, Wednesday

[2_old_for_this]

The monsoon had let up today - instead, the entire tropical plant section was hot and so humid it was misty. Fortunately, it meant some of the lake in the aisle was evaporating; unfortunately, it meant that some of the nearby plants were miserable.

And whimpering.

So, today Peter would spend his time alternately moving the complaining plants away from the overwhelming damp heat, and trying to come up with a spell to get rid of some of the water that wouldn't just burn up the entire store.

And bailing it out in buckets and towels. Hey, he could be practical.

The flower shop was open!

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[okteiviakom]

Octavia had been giving things some thought over the last couple of weeks, since Jonothon had told her about the changes to the music store.

And she'd come to a decision. And that decision was very closely related to her showing up here today.

In her leathers, as always. "Hello."

[2_old_for_this]

"Hi." Peter looked up from wringing another towel over the sink, took in the new person, and smiled. "Peter Octavian." He wiped his hands on a dry towel and held one out. "Can I help you?"

[okteiviakom]

If Octavia believed in signs, his last name might've been a good one. But since she didn't... she just made a note of it otherwise.

"I'm Octavia Blake." This was an Ark environment more than it was a Trigedakru one. So, that was the name she was going with, this time. "Are you hiring?"

[2_old_for_this]

Peter grinned. "Sure! Nice to meet you; us number eights have to stick together. You're a student at the school?"

[okteiviakom]

"I'm a resident of the town." She wasn't grinning, unsurprisingly. (Mean people might've wondered about whether she even remembered how.) "I've been working at the music store, but Jonothon is making changes there. I feel like this place would be more useful to me."

A little blunt, maybe.

[2_old_for_this]

Blunter than Peter was used to, but he was adaptable.

"I'll be happy to have you, but what sort of use are you looking to get from it?" he asked. Just being around plants was enough for him, but probably not for everybody.

Then again, he was pretty sure that was all Shiemi and Nathan were in it for, so you never knew.

[okteiviakom]

"Plants can be useful," Octavia replied, neutrally. "I want to learn more about them. This seems like a good place to do it."

While earning money, since that seemed to be an inescapable necessity in this time.

[2_old_for_this]

"Yeah, it is," Peter said. "I didn't know much about them myself when I came here. I should be honest and let you know, though - a lot of what we do isn't really useful. We get more orders for decorative bouquets than healing plants."

He sighed and gestured at the still-very-wet aisle. "And sometimes the island gets creative. Though I think that's everywhere."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia didn't bother mentioning how she'd already figured out the actual work itself wasn't likely to be useful – she was well aware of the whole thing where people here seemed to be more concerned with things 'looking pretty' and wasting their resources.

She could make her own value.

So instead, she just glanced over at the aisle. And shrugged. "I can handle it."

[2_old_for_this]

"Okay," Peter said. "Can you use a computer and register? I can show you how if not. I had to learn them myself."

[okteiviakom]

"I learned the register at the music store."

She hadn't had to use it with too many customers, but she'd made sure to learn how it worked. That, and several other things at the store.

"But not the computer."

[2_old_for_this]

Peter nodded. "I can show you how, then. Really the only thing you'll need to do is look up things for customers. If you can't find them with a quick search, just tell them you'll get back to them, let me know, and I'll check when I'm in."