Covent Garden Flowers; Tuesday [08/25].

[white_oleander]

The break week between semesters always did feel a little more quiet, didn't they? And after last week, quiet was the last thing Astrid wanted. Everything was very peaceful and serene in the flower shop that day, though, so she figured it was a good a time as any to pursue a project that she hadn't done in a very long time, especially since it was so quiet, even as far as orders went.

So Astrid was smashing flower pots again. She'd pick one up, examine it closely from all angles, and then, as forcefully as she could, threw it on the ground to watch it smash into pieces, noting the the ways in which they burst for work later. But, for now, after the pot was smashed, she'd gather up all the pieces and bring them back to the counter, and then studiously, dedicatedly, start putting them together.

It was sort of a poetic metaphor, she guessed. If only it were so easy to put together the smashed pieces of her own life like this. The Japanese had the art of Kintsugi, mending pottery with gold, with the idea that embracing flaws and imperfections could make for a stronger, more uniquely beautiful vessel. It seemed a little overly optimistic, if you asked her, but she wouldn't deny it was a nice thought.

And it was a good way to pass the time and attempt to focus on other things.

Covent Garden is open!

Comments

[snowdroplace]

That... that was not the sort of thing Elli had expected to see (or hear) when she stepped into the flower shop.

She flinched.

"Goddess," she said, eyes wide. "Is everything alright, Astrid?"

[white_oleander]

And Astrid actually had a moment of surprise, because wasn't really used to a whole lot of people coming into the shop on her shift, much less right in the middle of pot smashing.

"Hey, Elli," she said, pushing the hair back from her face. "It's fine. It's a project I'm working on."

[snowdroplace]

Her timing was perfect. Perfect.

"That involves a smashed pot?" Elli wondered, though her concern was sliding over to interest.

[white_oleander]

"Smashing the pot is only a part of it," said Astrid, now sweeping down to start picking up the pieces. "Then, you put the pieces back together."

She gestured a hand toward the few she'd done so far, hardening on the counter.

"It's kind of like the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where they mend broken pottery with gold to emphasize the beauty and strength of our flaws."

[snowdroplace]

"That's an art? With gold?" Elli asked, drifting over to the counter to curiously look at Astrid's work. "I can only imagine it's an expensive one! What are you using to put it back together? Some kind of glue?"

She didn't think Astrid would be using gold, here and now.

[white_oleander]

"Definitely not gold," Astrid confirmed with a small laugh. "But, yeah, it's basically an epoxy adhesive. Not as pretty, but much cheaper."

Then she tilted her head curiously at Elli as she brought the shards to the counter. "You want to try one yourself?"

[snowdroplace]

Elli hesitated, casting a glance at Astrid.

It did look quite interesting and she was rather curious now that she knew that this was something people did.

"I did come to place an order," she said, apologetic for having to interrupt Astrid's art. "Though you do have me quite intrigued..."

[white_oleander]

"An order shouldn't take too long," Astrid pointed out with a faint smile, since Elli should hardly feel bad about expecting Astrid to do her job instead of just messing around with flower pots. "And we can always just do this on our own time. What do you need?"

[snowdroplace]

She hadn't felt bad enough to not say anything about her order, at the very least.

"Do you ship off-island?" she asked. "Or would that be something I have to take care of?"

[white_oleander]

"We can handle the shipping," Astrid assured her with a nod before guessing, "Sending something home?"

[snowdroplace]

Elli shrugged a little, smiling.

"Yes," she admitted. "It's a friend's birthday in a few days," according to her math, "and flowers are always a good gift, back home."

[white_oleander]

"There's usually a pretty good gift here, too," Astrid said with a faint smile. "Did you have something specific in mind, a flower that they particularly like? Or do you need some suggestions?"

[snowdroplace]

"There's a great deal more variety in flowers here," Elli said, looking about the store and noting all the ones she didn't recognize. "Perhaps something in purple?"

Kai wore a lot of purple. She thought he'd appreciate that.

[white_oleander]

"There's plenty of purple flowers," Astrid said encouraginingly, especially since that really was a great color to work with, and she started looking around the shop a little for ideas. "I like lilacs myself, but they don't last long. You could maybe do something with some nice orchids and some lavender. Wisteria, too, maybe.."

Another thought then hit her.

"Do flowers tend to have a lot of symbolism back home? Some people here say there's a lot of meaning in the types of flowers you give a person, so that might be something else to consider, but if it's not really a thing where you're from, then it shouldn't matter, we can just pick what looks nice without worrying about any of that."

[snowdroplace]

"We only have seven kinds of flowers back home," Elli confessed, with a shake of her head. "The only thing to not do is give someone wilted flowers! Otherwise, it's fine."

Though, of course, people still had their preferences.

[white_oleander]

"Only seven?" asked Astrid, who needed maybe a moment to really wrap her mind around that, especially when, looking around, she could spot more than that in probably half a second.

But since there were only seven, she didn't feel bad asking, "What are they?"

If there were any in common, then maybe they could avoid those, and send Elli's friend ones that might be new and different.

[snowdroplace]

Really, there was only one kind of wrapping paper in Elli's town so seven was a ton of choices!

Elli laughed softly.

"Let's see," she said, "there's toy flower, red roses, pink cat, magic blue, magic red, moondrop, and orange cup flowers. The roses are really only used for weddings though, as they're expensive and hard to come by."

[white_oleander]

And also the only one that sounded familiar, but Astrid wondered if some of them were just different names for similar shapes.

And she was now insanely curious about some of them, especially moondrops, magic blue, and pink cat.

Which after she thought about it again, almost sounded a little...well...um...

She would not be sharing that thought with Elli. Or anyone, for that matter.

"So probably no roses," Astrid mused, "especially since those were the only ones I recognized. And still a little hard to narrow it down. What's your friend like? Maybe they can sort of reflect that, too."

[snowdroplace]

Wow, Astrid. Wow.

"He's very... free," Elli said, after a pause to think about it. "Kai's only ever in town for the summer, then he wanders off to the city for the rest of the year. He doesn't like being told what to do, but he's always willing to lend a hand if you need help and he works hard when he is in town. He runs a little seaside cafe and also sells things like beach towels and umbrellas so everyone can enjoy the beach."

[white_oleander]

Her mother had written a poem about Astrid that involved the phrase 'Her cowrie shell/Where the unopened woman whispers' and read it outloud at events with Astrid there in the room, sooooo....

"He sounds nice," she said, though, if Elli was any indication, Astrid had a feeling she was from a place where nearly everyone was nice. "But that makes me think of some nice big, open flowers. Or something like...hydrangea," she spotted some nearby and moved over to it to show Elli; she better at least start sowing her what she meant so she could get an idea of what Astrid was talking about, "which are small, but grow in big bunches like this.

"And now I'm thinking maybe hibiscus, like this one, or a puple althea. That one's also called a rose of sharon, but it's not really like other roses, at least not the ones here."

Since she had no idea if Elli's roses even looked like their roses.

[snowdroplace]

Nice was sort of the point of her home.

"Everyone would tease me if I said that was a rose," Elli noted, amused, but mostly just taken by how lovely the flowers all were. "I do love how dark the hydrangea are and the white contrasting with the purple on the hibiscus..."

She said the names carefully, not wanting to forget them.

[white_oleander]

"I think," Astrid was now picking out a few of those hydrangea and the hibiscus, to bring to the counter, "if we set those two with some nice white baby's breath," and that seemed like it was a name that would fit right in with the flowers of Elli's world, "like this and some lavender like this, with a little greenry, we can really make for a nice bouquet..."

Which, she had the idea in her head now, and so she was focused in on arranging it. Sure, it wasn't paint or pencil, but floral arragement was just art in a different medium, and so with a simple pearlescant vase and a swatch of purple ribbon, she set to work putting what was in her head into the real world for Elli's consideration.

[snowdroplace]

And Elli was content to watch, smiling, as Astrid put it all together.

"It's lovely," she said, softly, as it began coming together and she could begin to see where it would wind up.