melodiesoflife | Opening up the flower shop~

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Opening up the flower shop~

Where: Aqures Ixen: Terra’s new flower shop (Also a rescue center for animals and pets) located at the border between the 14th and 09th District of Aqures Ixen.
When: 9th through the month of May~ and June!
Summary: Terra has just opened her shop, Jardin Verdoyant, after spending some time and money getting it ready. Bartz had helped her where he could. Now it is open and ready for business. In June Terra can be found at the flower shop or her home. The memories left her feeling a little uncomfortable about people.
Warning: None.

Terra had made sure the shop was perfect before sending out Tempest with the flyers. There were rows of plants cut from the stem and rearranged in lovely patterns as well as rows of bright seasonal flowers that were still rooted to a clump of soft dirt. She wanted people to be able to plant flowers as well as have them to be placed in a vase or given as gifts. She had collected seeds as well, which sat in small baskets on the front counter, each with the flowers names written out on small pieces of parchment. The whole store front burst with colors drawing in those who walked by.

The back of the store was simple, Terra was in the process of outfitting it as a greenhouse of sorts and she hoped to have it set up so she could grow spring and summer flowers throughout the winter. On the far side of that wall there were pens and a dozen or so kittens were playing with small toys that Terra had made a few days before. Two of the kittens, whom Terra has trained, were wandering around the store front pulling in customers with soft meows. One was black with startling blue green eyes while the other was an orange tabby cat who’s eyes shined gold in the light of the sun.

Terra was excited and it showed in a happy smile as she lightly misted water over a collection of carnations.

She had her long green hair pulled back into a ponytail with loose strains falling to frame her delicate features. For once Terra wasn't wearing a dress deciding to wear a purple tank top and a pair of worn shorts. She wore brown boots that ended at her calf which were slightly covered in dirt and scuffed from work.

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Rikku crumpled up the flyer in her hand as she stared at the storefront, stuffing it back into the wrist cuff of her armor. The idea that had brought her here had been a longshot but, it was worth the try.

Moving in through the doors, she breathed in the floral scents deeply, looking around at the vibrant colors. Her heart sank a little when there were no species she recognized. Still, that did not mean they didn't carry similar properties. Afterall, this world had chocobos too.

"Huh?" Her eyes wandered to the pen when she heard a soft mew, and the blonde bonded over to it in a brightly colored flash, the flowers all but forgotten. Offering a little calico her fingertips to sniff. "Oh my gosh. Aren't you just the cutest? I could just eat you alive. You're so fluffy."

She giggled when one kitten tried to pounce another but grossly miscalculated, faceplanting instead. "You I'd name Wakka, cuz you're kind of a dolt."

Edited 2015-05-10 00:30 (UTC)

Terra finished up her work and then walked towards the back of the store with a smile. The two kittens she had up front continued to play with the flowers but once they saw Terra move they quickly followed playing with her heels as she walked.

"Aren't they cute?" Her smile was wide as she reached down to pick up one of her own. The kitty purred softly melting like butter in Terra's palm.

The truth was that she couldn't take care of them all without a job which was why she had started the flower shop. To take care of strays and then see if there were any good homes for the animals she's been collecting. Her roommate didn't much care for the collection of kittens as nice as she was about it.

Rikku was so occupied with the felines that Terra took her somewhat by surprise, the girl jumped slightly at the words as if she were caught doing something wrong. "Eep!"

Turning, she flushed a bit when her eyes met the green haired woman's. "Ah heh yup! So cute they shouldn't be legal." Rubbing a gloved hand to the back of her head, her spiraled eyes wandered the floral displays.

"So uh, I'm looking for flowers." Well, that was sort of obvious, wasn't it? "Actually...poisonous ones." She gave a few nods. "The deadlier the better."

"Poisonous?" Terra's voice holds no judgement but she can't help but ask more. "Why is that?"

She was pretty sure that none of the flowers she had here were poisonous. There were some that she didn't know well but she had made sure that they would be safe should the kittens or other animal get to them. She didn't want to hurt anyone or anything.

"I'm an alchemist." Rikku refuses to use that past tense, maybe she didn't carry an alchemist job and could only use her skills in major battles now - but she still came up with all the formulas! She pats the pouch at her thigh. "I'd use them to fight, there's some plants I may be able to use for healing and sympathetic magic too." The girl lets out a huff. "Only, it's super tough to find the ingredients I know from my home world. Some are the same but others..." There's a look of irritation - all those years of hard work finding ingredients for her mixes. And when she arrived, all those previous ones she'd risked life and limb to steal and saved for a tight spot - gone!

Nothing she could do with it but roll with the punches. She would just have to find ones that were compatible with this world. Every world had things that exploded. Every world had poisons. Time to start from ground zero.

"What little I can, well - as you can imagine I can't keep well stocked. I have to find what will work among the local fauna."

She spread her hands out, "I figured it was a longshot, but if you don't carry any- maybe you have sellers you could purchase directly for me? Or knowledge you could share?"

"I found most of my seeds and flowers. Only a few came from sellers." She wasn't the sort to want to give up so easily and it seemed like she was collecting them for a good reason. She had a few sources as well as Bartz who had helped her gather some of the things she used for the shop.

"I can see what I can find for you though." Her voice was soft though her usual gentle tone was more resolved than before.

There's a slow nod as she resigns herself for disappointment, but when the woman says she will try the girl lights up, beaming at Terra, bouncing in excitement. Rikku had really expected a dead end, a win was a welcome lift to her spirits. "Oh! Seriously? Really?! You're the best ever!"

Giving the kitten in Terra's arms an appreciative scratch on the head as if it had been her good luck charm, she flashes a bright smile. Hopping back a step, her spiraled eyes glancing over the girl, "I'm Rikku, by the way."

"You have nice hair. A lot of guys must be all over you, and girls prolly would kill for it - I bet some are all over you too." A playful grin emphasizes the words, but she's quickly on before there's much time to feel uncomfortable, talking a mile a minute as as she once again looks around the store. "Why cats and flowers? Do you just like both? Do you think there's a floral scented cat somewhere? I've seen some pretty weird stuff, I wouldn't be surprised!"

She was about to reply though she couldn't quiet keep up with Rikku. She felt her cheeks flush brightly at the girls comments and had to take a moment to process everything the energetic girl had said. She wanted to deny having anyone all over her but she decided to just skip past that part. She didn't really know what it meant anyway.

"I do like them. Um... I don't know but I'm sure some of the kitten's a keep here will start smelling like the flowers." Flowers or dirt since the kittens liked to fall into and ruin some of her potted plants.

"..." She waited a moment and then added softly. "I'm Terra."

Rikku wandered the small perimeter of the shop, hopping back up to Terra when the woman finally managed to get a word in edgewise "You're really quiet, huh? I think I could barley hear you over the flowers." The words were playful, delivered with a light wink, "Don't mind me I can talk forever. If you want to say something and I'm still going you should just like - throw something!" She mimed out an air toss, "Works every time! Especially if it's food."

Proceeding to pick up and investigate every nick knack like it was the most amazing discovery Aqures Ixen had to offer, a light giggle followed "Flower scented cats! That's the best thing I've heard ever. Oh my gosh if someone had a pollen allergy it would be like - a secret weapon! You just have to train the kitten to jump in their lap and it would be like "Oh look she likes you!" Only it's attack kittens! Be ready for sneezing."

"Terra huh? It's nice to meet you. That's a good name, I can tell."

Terra wasn't the sort to interrupt. She didn't mind Rikku's chatter, in fact, it was nice. She didn't feel like she had to talk and Rikku asked enough questions that she didn't have to guess what to say. She smiled shyly feeling warmth spread through her chest.

"Thank you." She wouldn't throw food but she'd be happy to try and make Rikku something if she was hungry.

There were all sorts of things around the store and if Rikku continued to search she might find bedding shoved in a side closest as well as shining pebbles that Terra had littered through the potted plants she had managed to collect.

"Know how I know it's a good one?" A feral glint shone in the girl's eyes, "It's got an R in it! Names with r's in them are the best." She crosses her arms, giving a sage nod, as if they were both part of some secret sect, all the while wearing an obnoxious grin.

The thief of course went straight for the shiny things, she didn't attempt to pocket any - she never did that to people she took a liking to, but they drew her as a moth to a flame. She held one of the rocks up to catch the light, "Ohh, you like treasures too, huh?" An object did not have to be valuable to be a treasure.

"You sleeping here?" The bedding had not gone unnoticed - it just hadn't been as interesting as the pebbles and came up later. Rikku was too curious for her own good, but she did try to respect people's boundaries. The Al Bhed was just such a nomad and used to laying down wherever she found herself (sometimes in trees), she did not realize that might have meant something was amiss or meant something was unusual.

Perching on the floor, Rikku played with one of the kittens, resting her chin to her free palm as she looked up at the florist. She'd already decided she would befriend the new woman who was so willing to help her, "So, tell me about Terra. You don't have to, but then I'll have to make up something. And the I gotta warn you, the stories I make up for people - they're pretty scandalous."

Terra watched Rikku as she gazed around the room. She felt lighter at the girls statement about her name. She supposed that was a good saying, she knew a lot of people with 'R's' in their names and they were all lovely names. A few people came to mind in particular but she quickly pushed them away as Rikku lifted one of the shinning round gem like stones.

"Yes." She had found them when she was searching for new flowers and she thought that it made the shop feel more like it was outside. Shining and glittering like it held the sun shine and wind within it's hard surface.

This time Terra was able to keep up when Rikku changed subjects. Her cheeks flushed slightly at the sight of the bedding and she silently wished she had found somewhere else for those things to be kept. "Yes." Terra would watch over the kittens, at least until they got used to their new home. She was sure her roommate didn't mind, though she didn't get the best nights sleep here.

It wasn't under Rikku asked about Terra that she realized she had said nothing about herself, nothing about why she had the pebbles and bedding in the store. She didn't know why but her instincts told her not to say more.

"..."

Terra was silent for a moment longer before sitting next to Rikku. "What would you like to know?" She didn't know what scandalous things Rikku might think up and she couldn't really imagine either.

The kittens covered her lap the moment she sat wanting to grab as much attention from the pair as they could.

Her brows furrow when Terra flushes at the bedding question, reflecting on it - the blonde realizes people don't sleep outside of their homes commonly here. The cultural misunderstanding clicks, "Is...something wrong at home? Do you need a place to stay?"

A small frown forms when silence follows, had she made the girl uncomfortable? Rikku did have a tendency to overwhelm introverts, and realizes with a sigh she probably could have found a thousand better approaches. It was rather prying, she supposed, but she was tired of people being so insincere and secretive around here. She wanted to know, so she'd asked.

When Terra joins her, asking what she'd like to know, the contagious joy returns to young thief's features, she catches a kitten that took a leap at her bandanna, raising it so it can bat lightly at the bottom where it goes off, "Well, if it's alright with you, I'd like us to be friends, so... everything. What your world was like, about your family if you had any." The Spiran knew many orphans, but she also knew people did not have to be blood to be family, "What you'd like to do, if you like anyone. That's what friends do right? They tell each other everything."

"... there is nothing wrong at home." Though a particularly awkward memory comes to mind as Terra says as much. "I just wanted to stay with the kittens a few nights so they got used to their new home." Though she hoped they would be adopted and that it would be a temporary home.

Terra would have felt uncomfortable no matter what Rikku said. She wasn't intimidated but she wasn't sure how to answer. She didn't have the answer to a lot of things and she wasn't one to guess.

"Friends?" They could be friends thought the concept still confused Terra. "I don't have any family. I know a little bit about my father but they died when I was very young." Her voice was soft though she tried to keep the pain from her tone. "My home world is filled with war. It isn't a very happy place. Magic is feared there."

Terra could answer specific questions though the thought of telling Rikku anything made her head spin a little. There was so much and yet so little that she could say.

There's a slight nod, she can't help but notice the pause before Terra states that homelife is fine - but she won't pry, respecting what the woman says. There's a soft look on her face at the mention she's doing it for the kittens, but having grown suspicious now, Rikku can't bring herself to believe that.

As the daughter of the Al Bhed chief, the blonde also had a soft spot for strays - though hers are more often the human variety it still extends to animals. She pulls the kitten that has managed to climb the ties of her bandanna and made it to her head down to snuggle against her chest, petting it gently until she conjures purrs. Giving a nod at the question about friends, she flushes slightly, betraying a rare moment of shyness, "Yeah, if you like."

Pausing her petting, sympathy fills her eyes as Terra speaks, her heart going out to the woman, "I'm sorry." Even here, she was so lucky to have been raised by her father. It seemed Sin was not the only thing that took that away from people. "Everyone should get to know there parents. I was lucky enough to be raised by my pops - he's a crazy rowdy guy. My mom died when I was young."

Hesitant to ask more specific questions when the topic that had arisen was painful, Rikku did not want to push. She knew however, that opening up yourself might lead others to do the same, while leaving an open out if someone did not want to speak. "There was war in my world a long time ago, it still hasn't recovered. I can't even begin to imagine being caught in the middle of it."

"People fear magic? Why?" She could understand people fearing magic, what the Empire had forced her to do had only heightened the issues being struck with a lightning spell when she was little had begun.

"I think my world is dying." The cycle with Sin, the Summoners' sacrifices. Each time more and more people would die, more and more of Spira would be destroyed until nothing was left. "I have hope that we will...we will figure something out though. I know we will."

Terra wasn't sure what to say. She hesitated not out of nervousness but because she had never really had conversations like this before. She opened up to a few but their reactions had all been different. Rikku was so far the strangest of all.

One of the kitten batted at Terra's hand begging for attention as they two spoke. She smiled down at the little kitten and gave it the attention that it had been seeking.

"We can be friends." Her words were soft and a little unsure. She didn't have many that she would consider friends. Her bright blue eyes flicked over towards Rikku. "They fear magic because only the monsters and Espers are born with it. People can't use it, they can't understand it, so it's feared." She knew that and repeating it hurt knowing her own lineage.

"I think my world is dying too but it's hard to know what to do." Could one person really do something? Terra felt the topic of conversation weighing on her shoulders so she quickly changed subject. "It's good that you got to know your father. Could you tell me.. what it's like?" It was a strange question but Terra wanted to know.

A smile lights Rikku's eyes when the offer of friendship is accepted, the one that accompanies it on her lips more subdued than those she's worn earlier due to the dark turn their conversation has taken. The outgoing girl has been isolating herself since her imprisonment, and found she has an unusual shortage of people to call friend. This was a nice way to start changing that.

"Hmm, that's strange, magic is so accessible in my world." Moving back to petting the kitten in her hands, Rikku ponders over what Terra said about fear, "That makes sense, my tribe back home, most of the world hates us. A lot of it is because they just needed someone to blame for everything that was wrong with the world I think, and we were different from the rest of them so that made us - easy to fear maybe? Because we seemed so different from them?" They weren't though, it was just outward things like dress, using technology instead of magic, that Yevon twisted to their advantage.

There's a slow blink, "What's an Esper?"

"I don't...I don't know what to do either" Things were so confusing with the Pilgrimage now, when she set out to save Yuna from the sacrifice it was so clear. "But I'm working on it. I'm not giving up. I'm not someone who gives up ever. As long as you keep trying, there's a chance you know?"

A brief moment of silence follows Terra's question, it seems almost cruel to talk in depth about having a father to an orphan. Rikku had always wondered what her life would be like had her mother not been taken however - and her newfound friend had asked.

"Hmm, I guess it depends a lot on the type of man your father is?" She can't imagine the years Yunie knew with Uncle Braska being anything like the ones she had with Cid, "The important thing though, is that they care about you. I was lucky - my pops is a good man. He was really protective, he looked out for me. He's a reckless guy, passionate - jumps into things without thinking." The two were a dangerous combination, Rikku always feared what Cid might do had she come to harm.

"He gave me my freedom though. He wanted me to be strong, taught me to stand up for what I believed in and not back down. We fought sometimes - families do that. We were just both really stubborn. In the end though, my old man always wanted what was best for me."

Images of the Al Bhed leader trapped in the Heran facility crept into her thoughts, tensing, she moved the kitten to her shoulder to return to the present, "You said you, knew a bit about your father?"

"I wonder what it's like. Fighting with your family." Terra's smile was wistful as played with the little kittens in her lap. "I think... I'd like that." Bright blue eyes shifted over to Rikku with a shy smile. It hurt to talk about but not enough to stop her from mentioning it.

She felt like she could trust Rikku. Like she might teach her something that she couldn't learn from others. "I know that he was an Esper. My mother was human. Umm..." Delicate fingers pressed to her lips in thought. "An Esper is a magical creature. Like the summons here but they are all gone now."

Her voice softens to a whisper and she looked down at the kitten. "I know my parents loved each other very much."

Reaching a hand out to scratch behind the ear of one of the kittens in Terra's lap, she watches her recent companion with a soft expression. "It is nice, even through it drives you crazy. I'm sorry you didn't get to have that. You know though - family doesn't have to be blood. People choose their own too." Many orphans she knew made a surrogate family from friends, Lulu and Wakka treated Yuna like a little sister.

"Looks like you've started, in your own way." A small gesture indicates the kittens in the shop.

Ah ok, so an Esper was her world's Aeons. Rikku listens to the woman softly speak, the gentle cadence of the words delaying the Al Bhed's realization of what was said.

"Wait...huh." Clover irises curiously search the woman's blue eyes, as she leans down to try to catch Terra's averted gaze, "You're part summon?"

Think of Terra's parents always made her a little sad. She had no memories of them and only knew what had been written in that report. She wished that she knew more about them, how they met, how they fell in love. There was so much she wanted to ask them.

Since then Terra had been in the care of the Empire. She didn't remember much of it but the things she remembered gave her nightmares. She wouldn't call anyone there family. She was happy for the kittens but she hoped to find them different homes. Better homes than staying with her.

Terra looked over at Rikku curiously. "Yes." She really couldn't say anything else about it. She had told Ramza and Sephiroth about it but no one else. She didn't know what to think. She was a monster and she knew what it felt like to lose control after the last dream they shared.

Rikku had not meant to imply Terra had family, the woman would have known, made it clear she did not - rather, that she could choose to build one now. Nor had she meant to make the mage grow quiet again, there was always a finesse one had to maintain to keep the softspoken ones talking. Especially when you first met them and they were building their way towards learning to open up with you. The chatterbox was confidant that she would find that balance with time - the more she got to know the florist.

Her spiral pupils may have appeared somewhat dizzying as her eyes darted side to side, peering into her counterpart's crystal blue eyes with newfound intensity. She appeared curios, amazed - though if there was any doubt, "That's amazing!" Clearly Summons were profoundly different in Terra's world - Rikku had barley put it together, if the woman had not mentioned that her mother had been human which so distinguished the two she might have missed it during her new friend's soft discourse.

Her mind tumbled over a thousand questions she wanted to ask, tangling her up with where to even start. In her excitement she paused, her brows furrowing slightly. "People can't summon you somehow and force you to do things...can they?" There was worry in the question, a touch of anger. She'd always felt bad for the Aeons back in Spira, Yevon revered them, but to her, they'd seemed like prisoners - and while they were impossible to read, she always felt like they were sad. Maybe it was the fact they were all in chains.

Her question made Terra pause. The kitten in her lap batted at her fingers a few more times before looking up at Terra with wide curious eyes. The kitten didn’t understand why the woman had stopped and in its protest let out a soft defiant meow. As if sensing Terra’s distress it began to rub against Terra’s hand purring to comfort her.

Terra felt a hole in her chest grow as the recent dream appeared in her thoughts with a sharp alarming clarity. Her hands were shaped like claws and blood dripped from her fingers staining the ground as she moved forward. Terra felt her heart hammering in her chest. “I don’t know.” Her voice was soft and scared as if her usual defenses shattered. “I hope not.”

She heard a growl as those claws sank into flesh tearing free the sickeningly sweet sense of blood as it spilled on the floor. Terra’s hand pushed at her forehead to erase the memories she had been trying so hard to forget. Her vision swam and she felt cold despite the heat of spring.

“I’m sorry… I..” Her voice sounded far away when she spoke. She couldn’t turn to look at Rikku.

Rikku's face fell, "Terra, I'm so sorry..." She quickly shifted from a sitting position to a crouch at the strong reaction, spilling a kitten to the floor. A ready sentry to spring and catch the woman if she fainted, it hadn't gone unnoticed, how more than just the half Esper's voice seemed to sway at the question.

"I can't even imagine, that must be terrifying." Her lips press into a line when the mage can't face her. "I'm not gonna let that happen to you." No, people were not tools, that was too cruel. Rikku would protect her friend, she echoes the same rhetoric she had earlier about helping her dying world, "I'll think of something."

Terra took a moment to steady herself. She didn’t feel well but she didn’t want to worry Rikku. She wondered where Tempest was but that thought quickly left her mind. She focused on each breath slowly breathing in and out watching as her chest rose as if to remind her that she was here; that she was alive. She looked over to Rikku her vision slowly clearing.

“It isn’t your fault.” She didn’t know if she should say more. It was only a dream and she didn’t know if Rikku was close to the person in the dream who had been her puppet master. She didn’t blame him. She didn’t want people to think of him that way. It was just a dream. Except that it hurt. It hurt to breath.

Terra shook her head slowly. “I’m sorry. I don’t think… I should say more.” Her vision swims again and she glances at the kitten who had now stopped and was staring up at her. She needed to lay down but she feared moving. She had done so well to keep those thoughts from her mind. She was scared, it was hard not to be but she wanted to face her fears.

Rikku felt it was her fault, at least, for leading her new friend to such a dark place. The girl had to wonder, did hardships make heroes? She made a note to tread lighter in the future. When the mage speaks, Rikku bites her lower lip slightly. At first Rikku thought the reaction was fear of what might happen, and truly the thought that you could be controlled to the girl who had known its torture was terrifying enough for her to believe the strong reaction was suitable to a fear of what might be. It wasn't though, was it? Why would someone be so afraid of something they did not know? Terra's words made it clear, something had happened.

"Terra, I said friends tell each other everything, but. Only if they want to ok? You can always talk to me, about anything. I don't want you to force yourself to if it's gonna be painful though, only if it would help. I didn't mean to, bring up such hurtful things." Rikku's hand moves gently, hesitantly, to try and support the woman's arm when she sees the green haired woman sway. She was worried it was a bad idea, whatever had happened to Terra, it may well be possible touch is the last thing she wants - but she looked ready to collapse, and Rikku wasn't about to let her get hurt.

"Please, you really need to lay down. I'll lock the shop, people will just think you're on lunch and won't know any better. Ok?" Maybe she could find a cool cloth somewhere too.

Opening up the flower shop~

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