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 Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:59 am
"Good morning, sun."
Her days really -did- start with such little, mostly 'meaningless' greetings to such things which would never answer. No, she never started her day thinking the sun was going to say 'HELLO AURORA!' back to her. That wasn't to say it -didn't- greet her back.
She just didn't aim to have full blown conversations with much more than just her flowers. Oh were they lovely today! They were lovely -yesterday- too... but it had rained pretty badly the day previously. Not to say that the rain was -bad-. Rain was wonderful! It helped her beautiful flowers grow when they weren't inside with her.
The sun was just so much nicer, beaming down from it's nice little place in the sky as the siamese woman happily went about, taking a couple of the pots of flowers outside of her little shop and setting them around the doorway to show off how beautiful and brightly colored they were.
Yes, she loved letting her little darlings display themselves proudly, taking a moment to water the ones which -hadn't- been outside the day previously (as those which had been had already been watered PLENTY), then bustling back inside to hum and care to the rest of her 'darlings'.
Ahh, how happy she must have looked, surrounded by all her plants, humming a cheerful little lullaby as she tended to them, taking special care to the Venus flytrap that was on her counter, stroking a finger across the top of it.
"and good morning to -you-, Kenneth."
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:49 am
What, oh what, was he doing here?
No... he'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't know why he was here. He knew exactly why he was here. What he didn't know was why he was here so early, so far from where he ought to be at this hour, when he'd be patrolling past here at 4 anyway. Couldn't he just wait? Really, he ought to have more patience, especially as an officer of the law.
But no, here he was, lingering outside the shop front, shuffling his feet on the street like he was trapped in place. He snatched the cap off his head and wrung it in his hands. Okay... no big deal. There were virtually never any problems on the street he was usually on, they'd probably be fine. He'd just pop in, see her, have a brief chat, then be on his merry. It'd be no trouble at all. And her warm, sunny presence would make him feel better.
But then why was he so terrified?
"Oh nuts..." he muttered, then marched up to the door...
...and stumbled to a halt. His hand lingered on the doorknob and his fur stood on end. Okay... okay... well, it wasn't too late to retreat. She probably hadn't seen him yet. He could still leave, and she wouldn't ever have to know he'd been hovering out here like an idiot.
But, he did want so badly to see her.
Oh, decisions...
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:13 pm
And for several minutes, she really -hadn't- known he was there, going about chatting up her 'little brother' plant, which for anybody who'd ever met the kid (which few had since he'd run off several years earlier.. for whatever reason Aurora wouldn't say), it was appropriate.
Then, having apparently finished whatever gleeful conversation she was holding with it, she went about preening her flowers again, practically -RADIATING- her pure joy of the morning. Which was to say, Aurora was a morning person. A morning person that put -other- morning people to shame.
Perhaps she and the sun were actually secretly related.
It was after a few moments of seemingly conversing with the other flowers of the shop (or rather a nice little display of Pansies, beautiful yellow and purple and red ones. She was smitten with the little things, afterall), she paused, as though she really -could- talk with them and she'd just let them in one some little private thought, then did a 'Zip the lips' hand gesture, before turning to go ba-.. Hey, door!
Indeed, Mr. Lechance would -not- be getting the chance to flee without at least a 'hello', as a -very- surprised (though pleasantly so) had spotted him, all but running to the door to open it with an enthusiastic greeting.
"Goooood morning, Officer~!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:21 pm
He'd just been about to run off, too. However, the sudden disappearance of the door, right out from under his hand, nearly caused him to fall over.
"AH!!!" He staggered back into the street and flailed his arms out in a shamefully attention-grabbing attempt to steady himself. Oh god oh god oh god everybody's watching. His eyes darted between all the people on the street staring at him, and he huddled down, bringing his cap up to his nose and wishing he could disappear into it.
"Mornin'..." he choked out. "Oh god, can I please come in?" He coiled his bristling tail around one leg because it felt painfully exposed when trailing. Nothing cured a fear of going into one place better than becoming even more terrified of the place you were in. Right now, the street may as well be clotted with starving jackals, as far as Star was concerned.
Besides, Aurora had a knack for making you feel safe. It was one of his favorite things about her. Peeking out from behind his cap, he looked to her bright smile for encouragement.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:41 pm
To Aurora, the theatrics of him suddenly -flinging- himself from the door was -so- adorable. In fact, it earned a very politely disguised (with a hand over her lips) fit of giggles, before she forced herself to put a stop to it. A continuous reign of giggles might have been slightly embarassing to the officer. Or at least that was what she thought.
However, his inquiry was answered by her ever so bright and constant smile and a motion with one arm (the downward and back sweeping motion) into her shop.
"You don't even have to ask me such things, silly. You -know- you're always welcome to come visit me."
She lingered for another moment with that answer before she turned to bustle back to whatever activity it was she was going to get to, pausing for a moment, before returning to the door and leaning against the frame to share her thought.
"Would you like anything? I was going to get some tea when I noticed you." She'd made a point to say she was already thinking on doing just that so Star wouldn't have to think he'd put a rut into her schedule.
Because she knew him well enough to think he might worry over such a little thing.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:53 pm
A flood of relief swept through Star at the invitation, and she barely even needed to gesture before he was darting in. "Oh, thank you so, so much."
He did find himself lingering in the entryway a bit, however, wondering if perhaps he'd forced his welcome on her. But deep in his heart he knew that was a silly way to think, it was just that paranoia creeping up again, and thus he forced the thought aside.
The combination of the scents and colors of the flowers, the warmth of the shop, and Aurora's enchanting presence almost immediately put the tense officer at ease. His fur relaxed and tail uncoiled, and he breathed in deep. Every time he came, he marveled that the place was always so pleasantly temperate, even when it was deathly freezing or swelteringly hot outside. He wondered if perhaps it was Aurora's own aura that kept the place so cozy.
Aurora's inquiry caught his ear just as he was replacing his cap and thinking of letting himself the rest of the way into the shop. He met her eyes, and did his best to smile for her. "Well, if you were already making some... then yes, tea would be lovely, thank you." A thought creeped into his head and caught him off guard; he wondered if he'd ever tasted Aurora's tea before. He couldn't recall an occasion. Still, he was sure that any tea made by Aurora would be sweet, rich, and warming.
The smile on his face broadened.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:13 pm
Tee~ He had such an adorable smile.
It was a momentarily entertained thought before Aurora excused herself with a 'Make yourself at home in the meantime, then~'. She fully expected him to as well before she bustled off back into the more 'homely' part of her shop.
No complaints for her, her home smelt like flowers all day, and then she didn't have to commute to work early in the morning or home late in the evening (though that -would- have probably given a certain officer an excuse to spend more time with her....).
She was off and away from several minutes, humming loudly while she waited for her water to boil, the rather loud opened and closing of various cabinets accompanying her little activity. Seemed she enjoyed most everything she did in such a simple little life.
Frankly, she wasn't exactly looking for any 'Prince Charming from Far Away to waltz in and fall in love with her at first sight'. That would have been vaguely disturbing, actually.
But it wasn't -too- horribly long from her cabinet banging expedition that she made her grand reentrance with her little teapot (floral patterned with some little kid scribbles in marker underneath the little flowers to give them stems and petals. Obviously a task of her youth) and a pair of teacups.
She set the tray down on the counter and offered her guest a sweet smile. "I'm not sure if you'll exactly agree with my tastes, but it's a spice-tea." she warned, picking up the teapot by the handle carefully and, with the same care, pouring some into one of the cups, then setting it out for him.
Smile smile. She would have made such a lovely waitress.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:38 pm
When told "Make yourself at home," Star dutifully obliged. He stepped in and began browsing all the rows of flowers, admiring the arrangements and Aurora's handiwork, right down to the handwriting on the name cards and sale signs. Even her handwriting was light and loopy and free. He beamed at it, then shuffled aside to observe a collection of small potted cactuses. They almost seemed cute, if not for their sharpness. He'd get one if he didn't think he'd jab himself on it on a regular basis.
His ears flicked back and forth with the chaos of all the sounds coming from the kitchen. He eyed the door to the back rooms warily. This kind of din was pretty standard for her, but all the crashing got to Star's worry-glands. He'd go check on her if he didn't feel like that would be invading her home... which, it kind of would. At least he had her humming to assure himself he was okay.
OW. He glanced back down and withdrew his hand quickly to see a needle sticking out of his forefinger. Hastily he plucked it out and shook off the pain before she could observe his foolishness. See, he knew that was going to happen.
He pivoted to see her dancing back in with the tea. The smile drifted back to his face, and he strode up to meet her with an unusual confidence, grinning at the little doodles on the teapot's side. "Anything's fine," he assured her as he leaned up against the counter. "I'm pretty diverse in my tea tastes." He took the teacup up carefully and blew some of the steam off the surface, watching the ripples dance in his drink.
Long ago he'd learned to wait some time before actually sipping at his tea. One too many burns in his youth...
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:55 pm
"That's a good skill." she commented, holding her own cup with both hands carefully, shifting it around to dispell the heat that was sinking into her palms with a very ginger movement. Only once her hands has adjusted did she hold the cup to her lips, blowing on it, before taking a sip.
Mmm, tea first thing in the morning was always so nice. Well, 'first thing' not related to her flowers, at least. Though seeing Astin had been a pretty nice stand-in for it as well. Even if he had looked a little embarassed to have her suddenly opene the door to say hello.
It was a little charming thing he had to him. One of several, frankly. It wasn't often she got to meet a good man who would come -visit- her, really. Heck, the only ones who really came often were ones who were repeat customers, so that Astin came without having any real agenda or purpose besides seeing her made her feel all special inside.
Oh dear, her thoughts were going off into la-la land a bit.
"You came by a little bit earlier than usual today." she finally commented, taking another sip of tea.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 3:18 pm
"Well," Star said as he studied the patterns in the teacups and the teapot and even the grain of the wood of the counter, "I like to try as many different teas as I can. They're soothing, and good for your health..." He paused and drummed his fingers on the sides of the teacup. "And goodness knows I need to look out for both." With that, he took his first sip. He breathed in the scent as he swallowed it. "Oh my... that's very good, Aurora." He gave her a smile, as though for payment for the beverage, then went in for another sip.
Her comment stopped him, though, and his lips lingered, pursed at the edge of the cup. An immediate conscious effort kept him from dropping the thing, startled; he'd hate to break one of Aurora's things, or make a mess in her shop. He set the cup down before he could do just that.
Oh, excuse, excuse... he needed a good excuse. Sure, she'd probably be happy enough with, "I just wanted to see you..." But he worried so about her questioning his intentions. Being neurotic as he was, it didn't occur to him that Aurora was unlikely to ever question his intentions. He crossed his hands on the table, then finally blurted out, "Well, I got a call to check something out. And I thought I might as well stop by while I was in the neighborhood."
Oh no, that was a terrible excuse. But... it was out now, and that was it.
Star vaguely recalled an old friend telling him some sort of addage about lies feeding lies... but he tried not to think about it too hard.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 3:40 pm
She was happily oblivious to his pausing actually implying he was looking for a reason to tell her why he was there, instead simply contenting herself to sip at her tea (which he had liked, that made her so happy!) while he sought out the right words.
Which the answer she was given earned a bit of a frown of concern. Something in -this- neighborhood had been called out on? Why, that didn't make her feel safe at all!
"Oh, well did you check it out already? What was it?" she asked, fully buying into his excuse and actually seeming concerned that whatever it was he'd been called to check out might have been something that could have come and caused -her- problems.
And as it was Aurora, this thought was -very- obviously painted on her face. Oh it wasn't a natural looking expression for her to have actually been more concerned than she should have been over something that was actually a lie.
But she didn't know that.
"Is it anything I need to be worried about?"
Sip.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 3:50 pm
Star would've blanched at the sight of her expression if his face weren't suitably fur-covered. However, his tail did bristle a bit. Oh god, and now he had her worried. Why couldn't he just have told her the truth. Oh... he'd be beating himself up over this all day.
"No, no, it's fine," he told her as quickly as he could get the words out of his mouth. "It was just... some folks having a very loud argument. Domestic dispute. It's fine now... it all got worked out." He lowered his head and used his tea as a blessed oportunity to hide his face from her for a while. He hoped it was enough to assuage her. Whenever a frown was on her face, it made him feel like a thousand teenage angst similes were tearing up his heart.
His next sip of tea was more like a swig.
"But really, don't worry about it. This is one of the safest neighborhoods in town, by far." Which was true. Most of his patrol neighborhoods were the much calmer areas, residential areas and small markets.
He went out of his way to ensure that these were the neighborhoods he patroled.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:02 pm
Well he wouldn't have to worry about the look of concern on her face staying there for very long after he started talking, his answer doing a suitable job of smoothing it back out to her normal smile again.
"Ooooh."
She didn't really have much else to say now that her question had been answered, sipping her tea again, then carefully setting the cup down to trace her finger along the edge of it thoughtfully. Yes, she -was- looking for something to use to keep the conversation going.
"Is this our first time having tea together?" she finally asked, looking from her half-filled (optimist) cup up to the man sitting across the counter from her. Aurora couldn't think of any other opportunity where he'd come in when she'd been in the midst of such a task....
He normally came in later before she started to make dinner or something of that variation. Hmm... he was always coming over here. She didn't even -know- where he lived...
..
...
Why did that make her feel a little sad?
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:46 pm
Star heaved a sigh of relief, then nursed at his tea. Crisis averted. Now that he didn't have to worry about her concern, he could happily sip at his tea in her company.
As many little frets and freak-outs he'd had since he'd gotten here, Aurora's shop was still one of the few places in the world where Star barely worried. Comparatively speaking. In fact, for a few minutes, he was perfectly happy just to lean up against the counter and sip his tea and be with her. No complicated thoughts or worries clouded his mind, just contentment and the scent of tea and flowers.
"I think so," he said, running his finger around the edge of the teacup. "Makes me glad I decided to stop by." He hummed briefly into his cup before sipping again. "Maybe I should stop by before my rounds more often."
He stopped. Well, wasn't that very rude, inviting himself over like that? Really, Aunt Flora taught him better manners than that. "I mean... I mean, if it's no trouble for you," he swiftly ammended. No need to force himself on her, now.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:56 pm
His way of trying to correct himself from making the 'invite myself over' statement was so -cute-. It even earned a -very- quiet purr which could only be heard because she was leaning against the counter, making it vibrate -very- quietly.
"I'd like that." she replied taking another careful sip of tea, keeping eye-contact with him over the edge of the cup, before continuing with a good 'excuse' for him to come over for such morning visits. "It gets horribly lonely in the morning... and on rainy days. People don't like to get up, nor do they like getting wet."
At least, that was -her- logic on why those were her 'lonely days'.
"Most of the time I simply converse with Kenneth."
If there was anything everybody who spoke to her regularly learned, it was 'Kenneth' was the venus fly trap. As much as she didn't delight in killing off the flies that had a way of getting inside her shop, she needed them to keep her flowers alone.
"But you're much more pleasant to speak with."
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