fandomtownies | The Perk, Sunday Afternoon

There was a school trip this upcoming week, apparently; Pam had only learned of it when she found out Adrian wouldn't be coming in to work next week. She hadn't known just how much of this town was dedicated to that school until now, with the streets suddenly much quieter.

It suited her fine, honestly. She'd spent the past few weeks getting comfortable. A quiet island meant she had time to expand her horizons. Sometime into the afternoon, she walked to the Perk, her senses telling her of tiny things hatching under the stone, the breath of relief of a place that would be partially unburdened by the constant to and fro of human feet.

She sat at a table, her coffee in one hand, a phone in the other, and scrolled. Did you know more than three-quarters of the Chesapeake Bay's tidal waters were contaminated by chemicals to one extent or another? That there were chemical plants and industrial complexes along the Chesapeake Bay that dumped far more waste than they were allowed to? That the water was rife with PFAS and PCBs, and that nitrogen levels hadn't fallen in some time?

She had. But it was nice to get specifics.

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You might need more data points, Octavia.

"That doesn't say much," Pam concluded. "I'd ask if I could draw some blood, but I doubt it's safe for me to touch you right now."

She sipped her coffee. "I have chlorophyll in my blood."

Sorry if the trauma was inconveniencing the research.

"So you're part plant?"

Octavia didn't seem surprised. One, there were the living things growing on the woman's skin. Two... She'd been on Fandom too long.

"Mine's just fucked up with radiation, I think."

There were better ways to handle trauma. Not that Pam was about to lecture anyone on that.

"More or less," she said. "But if it's touch that causes this, then the relevant agent is in your skin. Blood, skin cells... sweat."

Octavia shrugged. "Don't forget the magic part," she said, not unhelpfully as such, but... That dry tone just got in the way a lot.

She picked up her coffee again. Considered it.

"I don't know how these curses work," she offered, "but I've seen enough of them to know they're... all different from each other. And I wonder how much science can account for there."

"Well, you won't know unless you try," Pam noted. She settled back with her cup.

"I'm just telling you what few facts I know," Octavia muttered into her cup.

No, murmured. There was enough something... not softer as such, but. Something. A tone.

"And I'm offering a chance to find out more facts," Pam said. "Regardless of... anything else you want to do."

"But you can't draw my blood."

That was not Octavia refusing, obviously. Just reiterating what Pam had already said.

"You said you couldn't handle plants with your bare hands," Pam noted. Thoughtfully.

"Are you about to tell me I shouldn't assume it also covers the rest of my body?"

The dry was there again, but not as prominent.

"I'm saying that upon reflection, it's likely I can wear gloves and take samples from you just fine," Pam said.

This time, her dry matched Octavia's.

"Mmh," Octavia hummed, with a fraction of an incline of her head. "Like I do with the garden."

"There's a lab in the apartment above Pick Your Poison," Pam said. "Drop by sometime, if you want."

Octavia watched her for a moment again, before saying anything. Calculating, almost.

(God, there was so much Red Queen in her these days, and no one to spot it. Especially not in the form it was presenting itself.)

"I'll think about it."

That probably went for more than just the lab.

The Perk, Sunday Afternoon

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