Covent Garden Flowers, Thursday

[okteiviakom]

Octavia felt surprisingly okay today. She hadn't drunk enough for a hangover last night, and she had some plans on the horizon, some vague and some more concrete and immediate. So, she felt... okay. Which was kind of an unfamiliar feeling, after the last while.

So of course there was an excess of roses at Covent Garden today, as if someone had put an extra 0 or possibly even two at the end of whatever the store had meant to order, and now they were everywhere, dozens of them in all possible colors. Some even had glitter on them, which Octavia continued to find really ridiculous. Even though it was pretty when it caught the light, yes, because the flower was pleasing enough in its own right, and it just seemed wasteful.

Anyway. Eventually, she put a sign up on the window:

FREE ROSE WITH EVERY PURCHASE
or buy a dozen for $5

There, now she'd done something about the rose deluge.

[ooc: Open!]

Comments

[magnusrushesin]

Know what makes for a Good hangover cure? This guy right here.

"Good morning!"

[okteiviakom]

Good thing Octavia didn't really have one! Well, not much of one.

"Hi. Did you bring coffee?"

... Look, it was morning, she was allowed to be hopeful.

[magnusrushesin]

"I hope you like pumpkin spice because it's all in buying until Candlenights season hits," he said, shoving a latte toward her.

[okteiviakom]

"Thank you," Octavia said, except it was slightly more of a quietly content sigh - which really said all that needed to be said about whether she appreciated pumpkin spice or not. "I didn't have time to get one before coming here."

[magnusrushesin]

"I got up early for work and to take Stevphen for a walk." His fish. Who needed a walk.

[okteiviakom]

That was not a name that rang any bells.

"Who's that?"

[magnusrushesin]

"Stevphen!" He said, holding up a glass ball containing one, still very much alive goldfish.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia leaned in just a tiny bit, squinting.

"He's a fish," she observed. Then, looking up, she added, "I didn't think fish needed to be taken on walks." Or to be carried around like that.

[magnusrushesin]

"He likes to look at things."

Again: literally just a goldfish.

[okteiviakom]

"Okay."

Octavia suspected it was just a goldfish, yes. But saying that seemed unnecessary, somehow. So she just sipped her coffee.

"Well, good for him?"

[magnusrushesin]

"You can hold him if you want," Magnus said like this was the biggest struggle of his life.

[okteiviakom]

There was a brief pause.

And then: "I don't want to hold your fish, Magnus."

[magnusrushesin]

Magnus hummed like that sounded fake. "I mean. He's a really good fish."

[sake_shinigami]

~Ring ♥, ring ♥!~

Was that Covent Garden phone ringing?

Why, yes! Yes, it was!

~Ring ♥, ring ♥!~

Was...was it ringing with hearts?

...maaaaybeeee.

Stranger things have happened!

[okteiviakom]

It did at least sound weirdly sweeter and more melodic than it usually did, if you asked Octavia.

Although that didn't change the fact that upon picking it up, Octavia herself sounded about as impersonal and flat as she did at the start of all her customer service calls. "Covent Garden Flowers, how can I help you?"

[sake_shinigami]

"Yes, hello ♥!" said Shunsui, whose voice was just about the exact opposite of impersonal and flat. "I am calling in regards to a floral arrangement ♥. I have not ordered it yet," and, let's be honest, there was a good chance he never would, "but I must say, I can already tell that it is going to quite possibly the most spectacular floral display that these eyes have ever beheld ♥. I will be so stunned to discover that such incredible beauty could be achieved in such inspiring ways by mere blossoms ♥! Masters of the art of ikebana will gaze upon its splendor and weep with yearning to one day create a masterpiece so artful ♥ , so graceful ♥, so magnificent ♥ as the flowers I may one day be receiving from your fine establishment ♥. It will make for a lovely centerpiece and will be an enviable point of discussion and admiration from all my friends ♥.

"I just thought," he concluded, "I would let you know ♥."

[okteiviakom]

Maybe it was because no one was there to witness it in person, but Octavia actually smiled, for once, as she listened.

Tell no one.

"We'll be sure to make a note of that," she said, sticking to the language of customer service but with a hint of more life to her tone. And a little bit more, when she added, after a pause for thought, "Thank you."

[sake_shinigami]

"You're welcome ♥," said Shunsui, whose beam could probably be heard even through the phone. "The pleasure's all mine ♥. You see, I am a firm and passionate believer in ensuring that all beauty, even potential beauty of the hazy near future, should be acknowledge and celebrated ♥."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia huffed, quietly. "It's much more than what like half the customers do." Yes, the ones who actually ordered flowers. (He also never needed to place an actual order, because that was really just more work for her.) "Also," she added, after a thoughtful pause, "you'd probably appreciate how the shop looks now. Someone ordered too many roses."

[sake_shinigami]

"Too many roses?" asked Shunsui, sounding skeptically amused. "Could there even be such a thing ♥?"

[okteiviakom]

"It's not called Covent Garden Roses," Octavia drawled. "Yet that's how it feels."

[sake_shinigami]

And that's when Shunsui had a thought. A potentially terrible thought, but also a very good thought, it would all sort of depend on how one chose to look at it.

There was a pause, as that thought was finishing up forming itself. And then:

"...did you need help getting rid of them?" he ventured.

[okteiviakom]

"I even have a sign on the window about just giving them away for free."

So that was a yes.

"Why?"

[sake_shinigami]

"I think I might be able to pit them to good use ♥," Shunsui said with a laugh, "especially if you're just trying to get rid of them. I'll be right over to get them ♥. Do you have...." There was a quick, calculating pause, "...seven dozen at least?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia glanced around at the overabundance of roses in all the colors of the rainbow.

And drawled, "Easily."