Covent Garden Flowers, Saturday

[crimson_sister]

Lucille had seen a few colourful ponies on her way to work, but at least there weren't any in the shop.

The shop was full of bonsai trees.

She didn't know much about them, and perhaps she should have made sure to have Shunsui tell her more about them as he had offered, but she hadn't thought the knowledge was going to be immediately necessary. At least the miniature trees would likely survive the day. Studying them, Lucille found there was something tortured about them, something held back, kept small, made to look old to keep them alive. Or perhaps she was just speculating. Either way, they were more intriguing than she had thought.

Still, this warranted a sign in the window:

25% off bonsai trees

Covent Garden Flowers was open.

Comments

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

Well, that was at least one pony in the store now, one with very sparkly lilac eyes and a nice cup of tea marking her flank, having nudged the door open with her muzzle and about to be very disappointed, because she'd come over to Lucille's shop under the impression that the same equine affliction might have taken her, as well.

"Well, fuck," she said, before she could really help it, and wondered how she thought this could have ever been a good idea.

[crimson_sister]

"Can I help you?"

Then Lucille remembered that something similar had happened years ago, when she was still a student, and lilac eyes, and a tea cup...

"Tisarwat?"

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

The resigned sigh should have been enough of an answer for Lucille, but even as she wallowed in the apparent selective nature of this current deformity, she could already see one way in which this might benefit her a great deal.

"Yes," she confirmed, "it's me. I woke up as a horse. I don't suppose you have any tea, do you, Lucille?"

Have you ever tried making tea with hooves, Lucille? Because Tisarwat had! Just that morning! It...did not go well!

[crimson_sister]

"Of course I do," Lucille said, getting to her feet to pour Tisarwat a... cup? Did that work for horses?"

"I think this happened some years ago too. At least I will make sure you have tea."

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

Tisarwat would make it work, although she'd have to admit, maybe a bowl would be more appropriate in this case, even if it would hardly be very dignified.

"This is the first I've heard of anyone turning into horses," she said, her tone a little discouraged and complaining, "but at least it's not anything new, I guess. Is that maybe why you're still...you? Did this happen to you before?"

[crimson_sister]

"It might just be that the island decided to be kind to me," Lucille said, placing a cup in front of Tisarwat.

"If you get bored I can read you poetry and play for you."

She imagined not having hands would be annoying.

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

Tisarwat took a moment to consider the cup and how to go about doing this before she finally leaned in and tried to take as delicate iasip as one could when you were really just slurping but trying to be proper about it.

Even with the trouble, she still sighed contentedly for the tea before giving Lucille a grateful look.

"That would be nice," she said "Being a horse might be unpleasant, but that doesn't mean the whole day has to be."

[crimson_sister]

"You are always welcome at my place," Lucille said, then added, after a pause:

"Will you be able to make food for yourself?"

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

Tisarwat hadn't really gotten that far in her thinking yet; honestly, solving the tea problem had seemed much more important.

"Plenty of grass in the park for grazing," she said dryly.

Joking.

Mostly.

Would she even want regular food? She definitely didn't exactly relish the idea of trimming lawns for sustenance, though.

[crimson_sister]

"Should you still prefer human food we can perhaps order something," Lucille suggested.

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

"While my body may be...this," Tisarwat decided, after another carefully delicate slurp of tea, "I'm pretty sure my stomach," and my mind, thank Amaat, "are still my own. Which means that's a really good idea, and I'd really appreciate that, Lucille, thank you."

[crimson_sister]

"I am glad to hear that," Lucille said. "I wouldn't want you to starve."

She hesitated for a moment.

"Should it make it easier for you you are welcome to stay in my spare bedroom while this lasts."

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

"I wouldn't want to intrude," said Tisarwat after a moment, mostly of recalling it what it took to get out of her own apartment that morning, "but that would be...convenient."

[crimson_sister]

"Oh, you wouldn't be intruding," Lucille assured her. "There is plenty of space, and I wouldn't want you to be more inconvenienced than necessary."

She quite liked the idea, actually.

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

"I wouldn't want you to be inconvenienced any more than necessary, either," said Tisarwat, but mostly because she felt it should be said, for propriety, and if the soft smile managed to show on her pony face, it would say as much. "But that would make this whole thing significantly more...tolerable."

[crimson_sister]

"I will get something for dinner on my way home, then," Lucille said. "And you are welcome whenever you like."