Flowers For Sale
WHO: Hisana, Mashiro
WHAT: Business is a little slow at Hisana's flower cart, until she meets a certain perky, green-haired Vizard to liven things up.
WHEN: Early fall
WHERE: Commercial Street Corner
It's a warm day in Karakura, with no rain to speak of. This is a good thing for the vendor of Square Peg Flowers, who sits perched on her stool, tallying up her sales so far for the day. So far things are...average. They usually are, and people buy flowers on sunny days just because they're in a good mood, and on rainy days to give their workspace a little cheer on a gloomy day. So the weather means little, save for personal comfort. There's a small wagon behind her filled with pre-arranged bouquets requested by customers for pick-up later in the day.
Tucking the pencil behind her ear, Hisana takes advantage of the drop in business activity to clean up her workspace on the cart. Scraps of ribbon, cut bits of plastic, trimmed stems, and stripped leaves are gathered in her hands and dropped into a plastic grocery sack, already filled with remnants of the morning's activities. She draws her wrist over her brow, wondering at the day's heat for being so close to fall. Must be a heatwave. Whatever the reason, Hisana can't complain. She prefers extreme heat to extreme cold any day of the week; the latter always makes her feel so sluggish!
FwwwooossshhhhhPOP.
She squinted up at the sun from the sidewalk corner, a too-bright sunbeam slanting off the goggles perched on her head and rebounding into a passing bird's eyes; it swerved abruptly with a squawk and its flight pattern ended in a rather untimely manner into the side of the building behind Mashiro.
FwwwwooooooshPOP.
Mashiro tilted her head waaaaaay back at the sound of aerial collision, watching the bird tumble awkwardly to the ground, and then watching with a curious "OH" face as the bird wobbled drunkenly back and forth down the sidewalk. FwwwwoooossshhPOP.
She sucked the bubblegum bubble back into her mouth once it popped, making a face. "You're supposed to fly /around/ the building, silly!" she scolded, but got distracted by a glimpse of wild color across the street -- and by then the bird had staggered airborne again, unable to remember what had just happened or why.
Perking, she bee-lined for the cart of flowers across the street with the kind of fascinated magnetism of a bug to a bug zapper (with hopefully less lethal results), and popped up beside the cart gleefully. "Hiiiiiiiii! Wha'cha doin'?" she asked, gum-chewing, rocking back and forth from the balls of her feet to her heels and back again, a red balloon in one hand. In the other, she had a small round lollipop she'd occasionally suck on after pausing to maneuver the gum temporarily into her cheek.
Hm? The black-haired flower lady pauses in her clean-up, a thorned stem pressing deeply into her fingertip. Good thing she's been handling roses for several years now, otherwise it might actually hurt, or even bleed. "Good afternoon," she smiles pleasantly, her jeans whisking quietly as she slides off of her stool and dusts her hands together to clear her palms of dead plant remains.
Mashiro /looks/ to be rather young, perhaps no older than fifteen years of age. But she's got Presence. ...Must be the green hair, Hisana decides. "At the moment? Very little," she chuckles. "It's a little slow right now. Can I help you with something?"
"'Cause of the heat I bet!" she chirped, sticking her lollipop in her mouth a minute so she could wipe the sweat off her palm onto the leg of her bodysuit. She popped the lollipop out again, then spent several minutes prying her gum off of it with fingertips when it came out stuck to the candy.
She shoved the gum back in her mouth when she successfully retrieved it, then grinned before blowing another large, pink bubble.
FwwwwooosshhhhPOP. "Di'you grow all of 'em by yourself?" she asked in awe, bending over the cart and looking at the assorted blooms. "So pretty!"
"Alas, no," Hisana shakes her head with a gentle smile. "Not all of them, anyway. Just these," she nods to the brilliant indigo Chinese bellflowers placed in one of the plastic green vases. They seem particularly healthy and well-tended. "Most are ordered from greenhouses. That way people can enjoy flowers all year round, no matter what the season. Feel free to examine them!" she offers, gesturing to the vivid displays. "If you'd like me to put together a bouquet for you, I'd be more than happy to do so."
"Ohhhh," she nodded, tilting her head curiously and leaning up on her tiptoes to peek at the bellflowers. "I don't get why they named them bellflowers, how come they don't make any noise? What are these called?" she arrowed a finger at a selection of foxgloves--before blinking and looking up at the flowergirl.
"For me? Ahhhhhhmmm...... okay! Pick something that's pretty, I'm not very good at it," she began rocking back and forth on her heels again. Maybe she could pretty up the warehouse with them! Or give them to Kensei, maybe...
"Foxglove," Hisana replies, nodding at the vibrant fuschia flowers with the black speckles within. "They're poisonous if you eat them, but they're safe enough to handle. They're 100 yen for two stems. As for the bell flowers, I assume that's what they're called because of their shape. They're also called 'balloon flowers' I believe."
Hooray! Business! "I'd be glad to! How much did you want to spend?" she asks, looking over the selection of flowers with one hand on her narrow hip, trying to decide what this girl might like. The foxglove, certainly. It would like nice with some of the yellow carnations, maybe with some camelia blossoms intertwined.
She scrunched her nose up all funny. "Foxes wear gloves? That's kind of silly, they'd just get dirty.... ahhhhmm," she added again, shoving her lollipop inside a cheek for a moment so she could dig through her pockets. She had some leftover money from buying today's bento boxes for everyone's lunches....
"Ahhhmm, I got..." she pulled two sticks of gum out of her left-hand pocket one-handed, set them aside, stuck her hand back in and pulled a 500 yen coin out, handed that over to the girl...
"500... and..." another 100 yen piece was produced and handed over, "100..." a 50 yen piece, also handed over... "50 and..." she switched the balloon to her other hand after being reduced to lint in the left hand pocket, and went through her right pocket.
Ten 10 yen pieces, four 5 yen pieces, and six one yen pieces later, she'd emptied her pockets. "That and--you can have my balloon, too!" she beamed, pushing the coins and the balloon into the girl's hands. "What can I get with that?" she perked, excitedly.
"Really? My, how generous!" Hisana laughs, laying a slim hand to her chest. "Thank you. I think the balloon will brighten my cart beautifully." The ribbon is tied expertly and neatly to one of the four white-painted columns holding up the cart's roof, the balloon bobbing and dancing in the warm breeze. "There! Now let me see..." Wiping her hands absently over her hips, Hisana moves forward, envisioning the bouquet in her mind. She draws two of the foxglove stems first, holding them delicately by the stems. Then she plucks a yellow carnation, positioning it carefully, followed by a stick of scarlet camelia. She then draws one of the bellflowers, turning it carefully so that it faces outward, and looks over the rest of the choices available to her. Combined with the greens, this is about seven dollars worth. Adding a rose and some baby's breath should top it off nicely. Selecting a freshly-budding white rose that is sure to open its petals in the days to come, then laying some baby's breath, fern fronds, and long strands of healthy green grass blades, she holds it up for Mashiro's inspection and hopeful approval. "What do you think? Do you like it?"
She watched the magic that went into the creation of the bouquet with a curious awe, head swiveling back and forth with the flowergirl's hand as it picked and chose from among the different blossoms. She pulled her lollipop out of the space between her cheek and gums when it was all finished (giving a quick, sucking inhale to keep any juice from leaking out onto her chin), ohhhhhhing excitedly.
"So pretty...! Maybe it will cheer Kensei up some," she added, popping the lollipop back in her mouth and clapping happily, bouncing on her toes. Then she paused in a revelation. "Oh, oh! I'm Mashiro, what's your name?" She stuck her hand out, offering.
Hisana beams. It always brings her great pride and joy when she's able to satisfy a customer, especially with a pleasant reaction like that. "I'm very glad you approve, Mashiro-san. It was a pleasure to make." She bows lightly at the waist, then turns to yank out a strip of plastic from the roll, drawing it against the blade to make a neat square. Laying the flowers diagonally, she then trims the stems, brushes the edges away, and rolls up the flowers in the plastic. This is then stapled shut and tied with a green ribbon, since she supposes that Mashiro is fond of the color.
Turning to present the bouquet, laid out in both hands, Hisana bows her head again. "Nakamura Hisana. It's very nice to meet you."
She did like green, very much so. She took the bouquet when it was all finished, starting to crunch on the lollipop now that there wasn't much left of it. Krnch, krnch, krnch. She peeked over the cart and found a small trashcan for the leftover stick, tossing it before she saluted Hisana-the-flower-girl. "You too! Thaaaank you for the flowers!" She bounced, before waving and dancing around in a circle before she zipped off down the sidewalk. "I'mma go find Kensei now so I can give them to him~ Bye!"
Not only is the trash can available for trash disposal, it is also held out by Hisana herself who anticipated Mashiro's need the moment she saw the sucker stick come out empty. Once its job is done, she sets the trash can back down to sweep the trimmed stems within. "You're welcome!" Hisana smiles, raising her hand to wave a polite farewell. She is so small and well-mannered. "Good-bye! And good luck!" Whoever this Kensei fellow is, he's very lucky to have someone bring him flowers. It's sure to brighten up his day, especially if there's no real special occasion for it.
Well! If all of Hisana's customers turn out to be so sunny and pleasant, then she's in for a very good day.
WHAT: Business is a little slow at Hisana's flower cart, until she meets a certain perky, green-haired Vizard to liven things up.
WHEN: Early fall
WHERE: Commercial Street Corner
It's a warm day in Karakura, with no rain to speak of. This is a good thing for the vendor of Square Peg Flowers, who sits perched on her stool, tallying up her sales so far for the day. So far things are...average. They usually are, and people buy flowers on sunny days just because they're in a good mood, and on rainy days to give their workspace a little cheer on a gloomy day. So the weather means little, save for personal comfort. There's a small wagon behind her filled with pre-arranged bouquets requested by customers for pick-up later in the day.
Tucking the pencil behind her ear, Hisana takes advantage of the drop in business activity to clean up her workspace on the cart. Scraps of ribbon, cut bits of plastic, trimmed stems, and stripped leaves are gathered in her hands and dropped into a plastic grocery sack, already filled with remnants of the morning's activities. She draws her wrist over her brow, wondering at the day's heat for being so close to fall. Must be a heatwave. Whatever the reason, Hisana can't complain. She prefers extreme heat to extreme cold any day of the week; the latter always makes her feel so sluggish!
FwwwooossshhhhhPOP.
She squinted up at the sun from the sidewalk corner, a too-bright sunbeam slanting off the goggles perched on her head and rebounding into a passing bird's eyes; it swerved abruptly with a squawk and its flight pattern ended in a rather untimely manner into the side of the building behind Mashiro.
FwwwwooooooshPOP.
Mashiro tilted her head waaaaaay back at the sound of aerial collision, watching the bird tumble awkwardly to the ground, and then watching with a curious "OH" face as the bird wobbled drunkenly back and forth down the sidewalk. FwwwwoooossshhPOP.
She sucked the bubblegum bubble back into her mouth once it popped, making a face. "You're supposed to fly /around/ the building, silly!" she scolded, but got distracted by a glimpse of wild color across the street -- and by then the bird had staggered airborne again, unable to remember what had just happened or why.
Perking, she bee-lined for the cart of flowers across the street with the kind of fascinated magnetism of a bug to a bug zapper (with hopefully less lethal results), and popped up beside the cart gleefully. "Hiiiiiiiii! Wha'cha doin'?" she asked, gum-chewing, rocking back and forth from the balls of her feet to her heels and back again, a red balloon in one hand. In the other, she had a small round lollipop she'd occasionally suck on after pausing to maneuver the gum temporarily into her cheek.
Hm? The black-haired flower lady pauses in her clean-up, a thorned stem pressing deeply into her fingertip. Good thing she's been handling roses for several years now, otherwise it might actually hurt, or even bleed. "Good afternoon," she smiles pleasantly, her jeans whisking quietly as she slides off of her stool and dusts her hands together to clear her palms of dead plant remains.
Mashiro /looks/ to be rather young, perhaps no older than fifteen years of age. But she's got Presence. ...Must be the green hair, Hisana decides. "At the moment? Very little," she chuckles. "It's a little slow right now. Can I help you with something?"
"'Cause of the heat I bet!" she chirped, sticking her lollipop in her mouth a minute so she could wipe the sweat off her palm onto the leg of her bodysuit. She popped the lollipop out again, then spent several minutes prying her gum off of it with fingertips when it came out stuck to the candy.
She shoved the gum back in her mouth when she successfully retrieved it, then grinned before blowing another large, pink bubble.
FwwwwooosshhhhPOP. "Di'you grow all of 'em by yourself?" she asked in awe, bending over the cart and looking at the assorted blooms. "So pretty!"
"Alas, no," Hisana shakes her head with a gentle smile. "Not all of them, anyway. Just these," she nods to the brilliant indigo Chinese bellflowers placed in one of the plastic green vases. They seem particularly healthy and well-tended. "Most are ordered from greenhouses. That way people can enjoy flowers all year round, no matter what the season. Feel free to examine them!" she offers, gesturing to the vivid displays. "If you'd like me to put together a bouquet for you, I'd be more than happy to do so."
"Ohhhh," she nodded, tilting her head curiously and leaning up on her tiptoes to peek at the bellflowers. "I don't get why they named them bellflowers, how come they don't make any noise? What are these called?" she arrowed a finger at a selection of foxgloves--before blinking and looking up at the flowergirl.
"For me? Ahhhhhhmmm...... okay! Pick something that's pretty, I'm not very good at it," she began rocking back and forth on her heels again. Maybe she could pretty up the warehouse with them! Or give them to Kensei, maybe...
"Foxglove," Hisana replies, nodding at the vibrant fuschia flowers with the black speckles within. "They're poisonous if you eat them, but they're safe enough to handle. They're 100 yen for two stems. As for the bell flowers, I assume that's what they're called because of their shape. They're also called 'balloon flowers' I believe."
Hooray! Business! "I'd be glad to! How much did you want to spend?" she asks, looking over the selection of flowers with one hand on her narrow hip, trying to decide what this girl might like. The foxglove, certainly. It would like nice with some of the yellow carnations, maybe with some camelia blossoms intertwined.
She scrunched her nose up all funny. "Foxes wear gloves? That's kind of silly, they'd just get dirty.... ahhhhmm," she added again, shoving her lollipop inside a cheek for a moment so she could dig through her pockets. She had some leftover money from buying today's bento boxes for everyone's lunches....
"Ahhhmm, I got..." she pulled two sticks of gum out of her left-hand pocket one-handed, set them aside, stuck her hand back in and pulled a 500 yen coin out, handed that over to the girl...
"500... and..." another 100 yen piece was produced and handed over, "100..." a 50 yen piece, also handed over... "50 and..." she switched the balloon to her other hand after being reduced to lint in the left hand pocket, and went through her right pocket.
Ten 10 yen pieces, four 5 yen pieces, and six one yen pieces later, she'd emptied her pockets. "That and--you can have my balloon, too!" she beamed, pushing the coins and the balloon into the girl's hands. "What can I get with that?" she perked, excitedly.
"Really? My, how generous!" Hisana laughs, laying a slim hand to her chest. "Thank you. I think the balloon will brighten my cart beautifully." The ribbon is tied expertly and neatly to one of the four white-painted columns holding up the cart's roof, the balloon bobbing and dancing in the warm breeze. "There! Now let me see..." Wiping her hands absently over her hips, Hisana moves forward, envisioning the bouquet in her mind. She draws two of the foxglove stems first, holding them delicately by the stems. Then she plucks a yellow carnation, positioning it carefully, followed by a stick of scarlet camelia. She then draws one of the bellflowers, turning it carefully so that it faces outward, and looks over the rest of the choices available to her. Combined with the greens, this is about seven dollars worth. Adding a rose and some baby's breath should top it off nicely. Selecting a freshly-budding white rose that is sure to open its petals in the days to come, then laying some baby's breath, fern fronds, and long strands of healthy green grass blades, she holds it up for Mashiro's inspection and hopeful approval. "What do you think? Do you like it?"
She watched the magic that went into the creation of the bouquet with a curious awe, head swiveling back and forth with the flowergirl's hand as it picked and chose from among the different blossoms. She pulled her lollipop out of the space between her cheek and gums when it was all finished (giving a quick, sucking inhale to keep any juice from leaking out onto her chin), ohhhhhhing excitedly.
"So pretty...! Maybe it will cheer Kensei up some," she added, popping the lollipop back in her mouth and clapping happily, bouncing on her toes. Then she paused in a revelation. "Oh, oh! I'm Mashiro, what's your name?" She stuck her hand out, offering.
Hisana beams. It always brings her great pride and joy when she's able to satisfy a customer, especially with a pleasant reaction like that. "I'm very glad you approve, Mashiro-san. It was a pleasure to make." She bows lightly at the waist, then turns to yank out a strip of plastic from the roll, drawing it against the blade to make a neat square. Laying the flowers diagonally, she then trims the stems, brushes the edges away, and rolls up the flowers in the plastic. This is then stapled shut and tied with a green ribbon, since she supposes that Mashiro is fond of the color.
Turning to present the bouquet, laid out in both hands, Hisana bows her head again. "Nakamura Hisana. It's very nice to meet you."
She did like green, very much so. She took the bouquet when it was all finished, starting to crunch on the lollipop now that there wasn't much left of it. Krnch, krnch, krnch. She peeked over the cart and found a small trashcan for the leftover stick, tossing it before she saluted Hisana-the-flower-girl. "You too! Thaaaank you for the flowers!" She bounced, before waving and dancing around in a circle before she zipped off down the sidewalk. "I'mma go find Kensei now so I can give them to him~ Bye!"
Not only is the trash can available for trash disposal, it is also held out by Hisana herself who anticipated Mashiro's need the moment she saw the sucker stick come out empty. Once its job is done, she sets the trash can back down to sweep the trimmed stems within. "You're welcome!" Hisana smiles, raising her hand to wave a polite farewell. She is so small and well-mannered. "Good-bye! And good luck!" Whoever this Kensei fellow is, he's very lucky to have someone bring him flowers. It's sure to brighten up his day, especially if there's no real special occasion for it.
Well! If all of Hisana's customers turn out to be so sunny and pleasant, then she's in for a very good day.