Tuesday: Plant Parenthood

[mylandmyrules]

Nell's kittens were chasing dust motes around the shop very intently - when they weren't interrupting a chase to pounce on each other's tails or grab Nell's legs. Nell was used to this by now, though she always took a moment to tell them what good hunters they were. Maybe they'd be able to catch any mice that appeared, though she'd been quite clear about telling them the squirrels were off limits.

The plants were doing well and she'd recently stocked up the teas and lotions, so today was fairly light on things she needed to accomplish. There was a pile on the back counter of website orders she needed to send out, but she could do that later in the afternoon.

In the meantime, Plant Parenthood was open and Nell was happy to entertain any visitors.

Comments

[furrybluefreak]

Kurt had a light day as far as classes went, so when he was finished with the one he had he decided to head over and check out the shop. He had been meaning to for a while and figured now was as good a time as any. He was running out of time if he wanted to make sure to get a few things before the holidays.

He walked in and paused at the door for a moment. "Hello?" he said as he stepped in the rest of the way. "Nell right?" he said giving her a small grin. "How are you today?"

[mylandmyrules]

"Hello," Nell said cheerfully. "Yes, I'm Nell, welcome to my store. I'm quite well thank you."

She smiled at him a little ruefully. "I'm awful sorry. I recognize your face, but I can't put a name to it. It's been nine years for me and I'm afraid a lot of names have slipped away."

[furrybluefreak]

"Oh, of course," he said with an apologetic smile. "I'm Kurt. Kur Wagner," he said that German accent coming through as it often did.

"I had been meaning to stop by. Wanted to see about a couple of gifts I need to figure out before the holidays.... one, in particular, that's giving me some trouble," he added with a hopeful glance around the shop.

[mylandmyrules]

"It's nice to meet you again, Kurt," Nell said with a smile. "I'm glad you stopped by.

She tilted her head, "What were you looking for? I'm happy to help however I can. And I can always blend something special for teas, lotions, and tinctures or combine plants any way you'd like."

[furrybluefreak]

"Ah I... I'm trying to figure out something to get for... for a girl I like," Kurt said with a shy smile and a flush that was thankfully well hidden. "I know she is used to a lot of handmade things. I figured something nice and unique might be a good idea?"

[mylandmyrules]

"Oh," Nell said with a nod. "Of course you'd want something special."

She considered for a moment. "I could make up a little basket for her with some teas and some handmade lotion, maybe a little flowering plant for her room, maybe some homemade jam?"

[furrybluefreak]

"Oh that sounds perfect!" Kurt said with a grin and a small sigh of relief. "Little bit of everything nice and I know she will love it!"

[mylandmyrules]

"Why don't you pick out what teas and lotions you think she'd like while I grab a basket and some ribbon from the back," Nell said. "The jams are over by the counter. Oh, and I'll bring you a selection of small plants. I've got some very sweet African violets she might like."

[furrybluefreak]

"Ok thank you, Nell. That all sounds wonderful," Kurt said as he headed over to where she had indicated to look around and try and decide what exactly Libby might like."

[mylandmyrules]

"I'm glad to help," Nell said as she headed out to the back. "Does she have a favorite color?"

[furrybluefreak]

Kurt thought for a moment and felt a bit bad.... he really should know this. He was pretty sure Libby had told him at some point but he couldn't remember.

"I'm pretty sure yellow is one of her favorite colors," he offered.

[mylandmyrules]

"Yellow it is, then," Nell says returning with a basket and ribbon and a tray with small African violet plants. They were in bloom, thanks to a little help from Nell, some blue or yellow, pink or purple, or variegated with white.

"Any of these appeal to you?" she asked.

[furrybluefreak]

Kurt considered the flowers carefully and then gave a decisive nod. "They are all beautiful. But I really like the variegated one," he said finally. "I'll go with that one please."

[hasaknightjob]

It was afternoon when Marc stopped by. He made a quick stop at the Perk (handy, how it was across from the Magic Box) and grabbed a couple of drinks to go before heading over. "Hey."

[mylandmyrules]

"Marc," she said with a smile. "Hello, how are you today?"

[hasaknightjob]

"I've talked to people," Marc said, by way of an answer. He put one of the drinks in front of Nell. "Hot chocolate. Go nuts."

[mylandmyrules]

"You poor thing," Nell said, only somewhat teasingly. "Come in, sit down and put your feet up."

[hasaknightjob]

"Least it gets Steven off my back?" Marc said. He took a sip of his own drink, which was coffee. Regular, not any of that peppermint shit. "How's it going?"

[mylandmyrules]

"I suppose," Nell said. "Have you done your duty for the day or do you have more people to talk to?" She was assuming, possibly incorrectly that she was not part of his duty.

She smiled at him and took a sip if the hot chocolate. "Thank you for this. I'm doing well. Better with seeing you."

[hasaknightjob]

"Never seen you drink coffee and you make your own tea so - " Marc shrugged, letting that be the explanation for why he picked hot chocolate. "And only one was on assignment. The rest just happened."

[mylandmyrules]

"If you were here early enough in the morning you'd see me drinking coffee," Nell assured him, "But this time of day hot chocokate is a nice treat."

She took another sip and sat down in one of the chairs, nodding toward another if he chose to sit. "Very interesting. Actually out talking to people, accidentally or not."

[hasaknightjob]

Marc took the offered seat. "Yeah, there's a new guy at the gym. Then doing something for Steven to shut him up." Not that Marc had minded that particular pit stop. "Then stopped in at the Perk to get us drinks and ran into Watts. So I'm done for the week, pretty much."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell's eyebrows went up curiously. "Errands to shut Steven up. Interesting."Being prideful was definitely a sin, but Nell was actually a bit pleased that she and Marc had developed a friendship without Steven's encouragement. Sending him to the class definitely didn't count.

"You have definitely been busy," she agreed. "How is the Detective? It sounded as if he was having a tough time of it before."

[hasaknightjob]

"You know how he nags," Marc said. Could Marc have told Steven to run his own errands? Yes. Had he? Eh. "And Watts is doing all right. Had some shit he was dealing with but he'll be okay. Nothing that's an emergency."

Marc wasn't going to get into further detail since it wasn't his business to share. But he figured Nell would understand that.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell completely understood. Both about Steven nagging and not sharing information that wasn't someone's to share. "I'm glad," she said. "And glad you could be there for him."

Her kittens had decided to check out this interesting visitor, Cygnus sniffing around his shoes while Rigel perched on a nearby chair and looked from Nell to Marc and back again.

"The store's doing well," she said. "And online sales are good. Which is a relief. I'm not gonna have to pack up and leave at least."