fandomtownies | Covent Garden Flowers, Friday (9/25)

It wasn't that Yasha was unused to getting one of Jester's magical Sending messages by now, it was just that ... Jester barged gleefully right into one of those messages like the Kool-Aid man busting through a wall, and there was nothing you could do to soften the surprise factor.

So when she got to work and paused, fully frozen in place for about two seconds with one foot raised to step over the doorjamb and into the shop, it was because she was on the receiving end of one of those messages.

Yashaaaaaaa! Jester's familiar, excited voice popped into her head. I’m coming to visit you guys! I ran out of spells yesterday or I would have told you already. Anyway, I’ll be there really --

She never could decide if Jester just hadn't gotten the hang of counting 25 words or less, or if she just got so carried away that she couldn't be bothered to care about things like spells with word limits, but it did get a tiny grin out of her for just a second. It was Jester; she couldn't help being endearing to pretty much everybody.

Even if she actually had no idea when to expect Jester to show up. Details.

I'm at work right now, she thought back. At the flower shop. I mean, if you're showing up today, before we close.

It wasn't enough to dispel the general air of melancholy that always hung about her, but said air of melancholy did seem ... a very tiny bit lighter overall today, especially every time she glanced toward the door as if she was expecting someone to show up.

[OOC: Open! I may have to scream at you about things that went down with my girls on last night's stream, though. FAIR WARNING.

Also fair warning: there is a brief narrative reference to past torture downthread.]

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Jester was actually pretty good at being stealthy when she wanted to be. Came with being the cleric of a trickster archfey not-quite-deity who'd also been her best friend growing up.

So she did a very good job of sneaking up while Yasha was occupied with a phone call (ever so awkwardly, as usual) and tapping her on the shoulder. She'd have gone for the covered-eyes "guess who" routine, but Yasha had way too much height on her to pull that off.

"Surprise!"

And then she just threw her arms around Yasha and hugged her -- briefly -- from behind.

Yasha went still for just a moment, just frozen stiffly in place with a deer-in-headlights look on her face, but she relaxed again as soon as Jester let go. As much as she was uncomfortable with contact, it was Jester, who was so fiercely determined to try and make her feel like part of the Mighty Nein, and it wasn't like she could get mad at her about it.

"Hello, Jester," she said with a very slight smile as she turned around. "I was wondering when -- it is good to see you."

"This is where you work?" Jester leaned forward to peer very closely at a bouquet, then pulled out her sketchbook to doodle a quick picture of Yasha surrounded by flowers. "That's kind of perfect for you. Have you collected a whole lot of different kinds now?"

Not that she knew why Yasha did, but.

Yasha smiled very slightly -- it was always a little easier to smile around Jester -- and pulled out the etiquette book she always carried with her.

"So many different kinds, yes." She flipped briefly through the pages where she already had flowers pressed and dried, showing Jester how many new pages she'd added since... well. Since before the Iron Shepherds had captured her, Jester, and Fjord, because she'd run off almost immediately after their rescue and ended up here, and now that she thought about it, they hadn't really parted on the best of terms, had they?

Not that it seemed to bother Jester.

"It's a lot. There's so many kinds we see coming through here."

"Your collection is so big now," Jester breathed in sincere awe. "I don't think -- did you ever tell us why you're collecting all these flowers?"

"I --" Yasha ducked her head. "No. I am doing it for a reason, but no, I have not said why."

Because she was in no way ready to talk about it, let alone here where the squirrels were always listening.

And Jester was astute enough to know it wasn't a good time to push.

"Well," she said, even though she'd really was curious, "I'm glad you're having so much good luck with it. And these are really, really pretty."

"They are," Yasha replied, trying to muster a little smile despite the pang that came with thinking about how much Zuala would have appreciated them too. "There's lots of different kinds out in the preserve, too, if you want to come take a walk with me. You could maybe spot a few of the teal deer, or an alot, and I think there's some furry fish in the stream ..."

"Teal deer?"

Well, there was a way to get Jester's attention immediately.

"That sounds amazing," she said, grinning. "I'm in."

"Okay," Yasha said, glad for Jester's enthusiasm; as always, it tended to chase a little of her melancholy away. "After I get off work, then? I can meet you at -- do you have a place to stay, or should I -- I don't really use my hotel room that much, if you need it."

"Oh, I'm staying with Beau and Karolina, but thank you," Jester said brightly. "So you could come find me there, or ..."

Maybe sensing that Yasha was not totally enthused about that idea, she offered, "Orrrrrrrrrrr I can just come down and meet you here later."

"That would work," Yasha said with no small amount of relief, which she tried to hide by busying herself adjusting a spray of flowers in one of her arrangements.

After a moment she added, softly, "It is good to see you, Jester."

To tell the truth, she had assumed Jester was just here to visit Beau and the friends who'd come to rescue them, and that she was only stopping to say hi to Yasha out of politeness. But right now, she could almost believe she might actually be a real part of the group someday.

Pfft. As if Jester wouldn't consider Yasha a part of the group, when the whole reason she and Fjord had left the Iron Shepherds' lair with as relatively little physical trauma as they did was because Yasha had taken the brunt of the torture for them.

As if Jester hadn't made up her mind that Yasha was definitely part of the group long before even that.

"It's really really good to see you too, Yasha," she said just as softly. "I'm glad you're doing okay here, even if we miss you a lot."

Yeah, Yasha. They missed you. Deal with it.

Covent Garden Flowers, Friday (9/25)

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