fandomtownies | The Street Outside Covent Garden Flowers, Tuesday Morning

"Aatr's tits!"

As Seivarden stepped through the portal, a bag over her shoulder and the box containing a tea set in her arms, a polar bear appeared in front of her, holding out a bottle of coke.

Breq, those fucking bears are h...

And there the portal closed and Seivarden's implants could no longer connect to Mercy of Kalr. The sudden disconnection made her wince, and without thinking about it she accepted the bottle, not noticing that she held on to it along with the box in her arms.

She remembered this street, the shop she had once owned, the door leading up to the apartment above it that had once been hers and was supposed to be again for a while.

It was a good thing she had brought a decent gun this time, because she might need to spend some time at the shooting range. Or the gym. And the gym.

Carefully putting the box on the ground, and the bottle with it, she then pulled out the phone Breq had given her and turned it on. Where had Breq got this? For how long had she been planning this? The phone connected to the network and Seivarden slipped it back into her pocket again, and reached for the box, nudging the bottle aside with her foot.

Another bear turned around a corner, and before it could even hold out a bottle towards her, Seivarden said: "No. Really, no. Just fuck off."

The bear didn't seem to take offence and just turned and headed in the opposite direction.

Seivarden looked at the door leading up to the apartment and sighed.

[Open!]

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On her way into work that morning and laden with more Cokes than she probably knew what to do with, Astrid paused a moment when she got closer to the flower shop and saw someone was standing there outside of it. The last time she'd shown up and there were people already there hadn't exactly been thrilling news or a pleasant experience, and the last thing she wanted to deal with right now after a few months of peace was more of her mother's new children. Or a lawyer. Or whatever else was waiting for her in that dramatic saga.

But then she realized that she actually recognized this person, not from California, or from anything having to deal with her mother, but actually from here, and her relief at that was palpable.

"You're back," she noted by way of greeting. She'd only really talked to her former boss at this place a few times (at least a few times more than her current boss, but that was fine; it balanced out nicely with how much her other bosses at her other job were more involved), but it seemed rude to just run into her on her way into her shift and not say anything at all.

Seivarden sighed, ignoring the rudeness of the greeting. This was Fandom, after all.

"I am," she said with a sigh, then looked a little closer at the person. "You used to work in the flower shop, didn't you?"

To be fair, it had been almost two years, and very eventful ones.

"I still do," said Astrid with a shrug, and a general gesture toward the shop. "That's the whole reason I'm here, it's time for my shift."

Her head tilted a little curiously, though, especially now that she knew she was not going to be dealing with rabid, delusional fangirls again that day. Or at least not at that moment.

"Did you have a good trip?"

With the ownership of the shop changing hands, Astrid thought Seivarden's departure was going to be a perminant one, but...well. She knew how that could go sometimes.

"Trip? Oh, I'm just visiting again briefly," Seivarden replied.

She hoped it would be brief, anyway.

"I'm not even sure how much time has passed here."

"It's December First," Astrid offered helpfully, adding, after a considering pause, "2020."

She couldn't remember for the life of her when it was that she'd left, because it's not like it was a momentous occasion for Astrid or anything, so she couldn't really give a more specific time frame. If it was important, Seivarden could just do the math herself.

Seivarden had to think. "Two months?"

Didn't Astrid keep track on when the place she worked at changed ownership?

"Fuck."

Then: "How is the slower shop doing?"

Seivarden wasn't sure why she asked that, but she did glance towards the window.

She still got paid and could sell her postcards. The details beyond that were inconsequential.

As to the question, Astrid shrugged as noncommitally as she'd been for the duration of the conversation so far.

"About the same. We have a lot of bonsai lately."

Then, a thought:

"Would you like to buy one?"

Hey, it was her job, okay?

"What am I supposed to do with a bonsai?" Seivarden asked.

Another polar bear showed up and offered a coke. Seivarden sighed, accepted it, and added: "Aatr's tits, why December?"

"You're supposed to care for it and admire it and its relation to the space around you," said Astrid, because she'd even had a class on it!

It was hard to ignore the clear irritation at bear, though, as Astrid, too, accepted a bottle with a gracious nod of thanks.

"Use it to distract yourself from the fact that it's December, maybe."

After a pause Seivarden said:

"I'll have one."

She didn't know what state the apartment would be in, but since it had been less than two months it couldn't be that bad. Perhaps a plant of some kind would make a difference though.

It was hard to not feel a little victorious about that, even if Astrid didn't really care what the answer was, either way.

"Let me get thr shop open," she said, moving toward the door, "and you can pick one out. I can make some tea, too."

Astrid may not have remembered when Seivarden left, but she did remember about the tea. She had definitely stopped bothering with gloves, though.

Seivarden could definitely overlook the lack of gloves, considering that this was Fandom, but a civilised offer of tea was at least a better welcome than she had expected.

"Thank you," she said. "I would very much appreciate it."

Astrid nodded, opening the shop and inviting Seivarden in before following and heading over to where the tea set still was after dropping off her backpack behind the counter.

"Just give me a minute," she said. "The bonsai are..."

She took a moment to access the current state of the frequent changing arrangement of the store.

"...everywhere..."

With way more poinsettias today than she remembered there being last week, too.

"Does the new owner have a thing for bonsai or is it the island?" Seivarden asked, stepping inside.

It was odd. The place was so familiar, and yet the life she had led when she owned the shop seemed so far away.

The Street Outside Covent Garden Flowers, Tuesday Morning

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