Xanadu Weyr - Petals and Pots Garden Shop
Upon entering this rustic shop, the smell of flowers is the first thing that one notices as well as the subtle musty scent of fertilizer. Selling everything for your garden needs from flowers and plants to pots and tools, the whole shop is lined with shelving filled with various things, arranged neatly by type. On the back wall trowels, rakes, shovels and clippers hang from nails, while underneath them clay pots, glass vases and bowls are stacked on the floor. In the middle of the shop is a small table that is filled with tiny glass perfume bottles with glass stoppers, each bearing a label that says 'Handcrafted by Tsenik'. These contain different fragrances, depending on the shape of the bottle. A variety of hanging baskets dangle from the ceiling, tumbles of lush vibrant flowers or vine-type plants trailing from them with price tags on the pots.
A sign can be seen near the entrance that simply states "Woo your significant other, send a hint to your brother or say hello to your mother with a surprise delivery!"
An old building has recently been remodeled and now it seems to sport all things flowers. A new sign is hanging outside with its new name and the door is wide open for business. Tsenik can be seen in the store, relaxing his chair just behind the counter. He seems to be looking over a list of some sorts that has a bunch of names on it. A finger taps idly against his lips and occasionally he'll glance towards the door to look for customers.
ka-el is up and down the clearing area all the time, making deliveries, running errands, and sometimes just playing a bit of ball with other local teens. So he's seen everything there is to see in this area, and when things change…it doesn't go unnoticed! That old building that used to be nothing has been worked on, and Kale has been curious to know just what it is. Now, it's open, and on his way back from the residential area, he can't help but to stop in. So, he enters through the open door and is immediately hit by the smell of flora and earth. "Woah…" he says as he steps further in, eyeing the shelves of things. "Tsenik would love this place…"
"That's cause Tsenik runs it!" Tsenik says cheerful voice as he notices Kale come into the shop, wiggling his fingers cheerfully at the other man. "Come on in, take a look around. If you wanna get anything, lemme know, since you're a friend I'll give you a good price." A cheerful smile pulls at his lips, "You like it?"
Kale turns at the sound of a familiar voice and grins upon seeing Tsenik behind the counter. "Hey! .. Now way, this is /yours?/" he asks as he heads towards him, brows raised. "That's awesome. I hadn't known you were gettin' a shop made." He leans against the counter a bit. "Congratulations, man. How's it feel to be a … uh, shopowner now?"
Tsenik leans forward, putting his elbows on the table to grin widely at Kale, "Yup! It's all mine. I saved up enough marks to buy it, it was really cheap considering how big it is." A small smile pulls at his lips as he looks over the shop, "I've been wanting to get a shop for /ages/ now, but now I finally have one. I cleaned it up and moved most of my flowers in here. What do you think, does it look nice enough? Is it warm enough? Do you think people will want to buy stuff from here?" A hand reaches up to lean his head against, "It's awesome, I can't tell you how excited I am that my dream has come through. I'm so happy."
"I think it looks very nice. S'very neat an' organized, y'know. People'll probably like that because they can find what they want pretty easy," remarks Kale, nodding to him. "Y've done a grand job! It's not too hot an' not too cold in here. An' it smells really nice. People'll probably come in jus' because they smell all the flowers." He moves from the counter then to look around a little more, eyeing the vases that are stacked on the floor, then meandering towards the table with the perfume bottles. He bends down a little to look at them more closely. "You made these?"
Tsenik slips out of the seat to walk around the counter, "Well, good, I'm hoping to get more business now that I have an actual store. I've always wanted to do this, you have no idea how long I've waited for this." He smiles happily and leans against the counter. "Really? You think people will want to come in and take a look? Oh, I hope so! I hope it goes really well." Yes, Tsenik is incredibly excited by the whole prospect of his store. "Oh! Those! Yes, I made those, they're perfumes and stuff. I have colognes, too, but I have more perfumes. They're more popular."
Kale carefully lifts up one of the stopped bottles to peer at the liquid inside, a thoughtful look on his face. "They're popular?" he repeats, glancing at the man before giving the bottle a gentle sniff. With the stopper on, he can only smell a little, but it's enough for him to appreciate it! "Nice. So … girls like this sort've thing?"
Tsenik waves a hand to the bottles, picking one up himself. "Well, most girls seem to like this sort of stuff. But I've always enjoyed nice-smelling things, and lots of other people like nice-smelling things." He smiles a little, "I seem to sell a lot of 'em, so I think they're pretty popular."
"So this stuff is for girls and boys?" Apparently, Kale has never thought of wearing cologne before, though he has noticed that girls, well .. most girls tend to smell a bit nicer than boys do! And if guys like nice smelling girls, then it must make sense that girls like nice smelling guys. He's sure these bottles smell better than the fire and ash scent that tends to cling to him all the time! He sets the glass down carefully, not wanting to break anything. "Urm, .. which one've these are for boys then?" he asks, gesturing to the bottles. "Like, if I wanted to buy one for a boy, which ones should I be lookin' at?" He pauses, rethinking his words. "Wait. Not for a boy from me as a gift or anything," he says quickly, shaking his head. "I mean for /me/. Buyin' one for myself."
Tsenik laughs quietly at Kale's words, seeming more amused than anything else. "Trust me, Kale, I didn't have you pegged for liking little boys." He winks playfully and picks out a couple of bottles and sets them in front of Kale, "Those are some of the ones I've made for men. They're much more earthy and subtle than the ones for females. A lot of 'em have a sort of…spicy smell to them. I'm always experimenting with new scents and stuff. I think for you, maybe you want one of the more spicy ones, especially since you work in the forge." Tsenik nods his head as he considers Kale thoughtfully.
Phew. Well with that little verbal mix up cleared up, Kale grins and then looks at the bottles that he picks out. Ah, these are for men. "Must be hard to make things like this. What do you do? Like … crush up herbs an' stuff?" he asks while gently removing the stopper from one to give a tentative sniff. He wasn't sure what he was expecting. Manish flowers? But the aroma that he smells isn't flowery at all, nor is it horribly strong! It does seem … manish, and Kale looks surprised. "Wow. This /does/ smell nice. Which one is a .. uh, spicy one?" he asks, contemplating the different shapes of the bottles that were picked out.
"It's kind of hard to describe," Tseniks says softly as he watches Kale, "I kind of extract the smell from what I'm using or else try to recreate the smell. But yes, I extract the oil from the flowers and use that to make the perfumes. It requires a lot of oil to make a perfume." A finger points one of the bottles, "That one, there, is one I think you'll like. You can try a little bit of it too, just put a dab on your wrist." He taps the inside of his wrist as an example.
Kale listens with interest. It's always nice to find out what other crafters do and how they do it, even if he doesn't really grasp the concept of flower oil. Flowers have oil? "That's a lot've flower squeezing… or .. er, however you get oil out of flowers.." he says, sounding a bit unsure about the squeezing part! He takes up the bottle that Tsenik suggests and, after uncapping it, follows his direction and dabs a little bit on his wrist. He sniffs and … "Oh… oh hey, I like this one," he says with a sudden grin, nodding. "Now I know what y'mean by spicy! Kinda reminds me of the forges, but not exactly, 'know? Wow, that's really cool. How much is this?"
"Like I said, it's really hard to explain. It'd be easier to show it to you than it would be to explain it. And anyway, you get the oil out of the flower, then you mix it with alcohol and water. And that makes the perfume." He nods his head towards the substance, "But you have to do it just right, think of it like cooking. If you don't add the right amounts you get something that doesn't taste good and doesn't look good. But if you do it just right, it turns out great." He smiles as Kale seems to like the scent, "I thought you'd like that one. It seems kinda…you. Kinda earthy, and musky, with a little bit of spice to it." He nods his head in thought, "That one? Because you're a friend of mine, you can have the first bottle for free, how bout that? And I'll refill it for a 1/4th mark."
Kale can't help but to grin at Tsenik's comparison. "That makes sense, an' it also makes me know that I'd be horrible at makin' perfumes," he says, both sounding and looking amused. "I'm an awful cook. Left on my own, I'd probably starve. S'a good thing the caverns are open every day, else I'd be wastin' away. An' it's a good thing /you're/ here, else I'd never know anything about what it takes to smell like anything else but a smither." The bottle is recapped now, and at Tsenik's generous offer, his eyes gently widen in surprise. "Really? Wow, that's more'n I could've asked for. Thank you!" He nods in agreement before offering his hand to shake. "An' I'll do you one better. I'm not done here yet, but before I purchase anything else…I need your advice, if you don't mind."
Tsenik laughs loudly and reaches out to pat the other man's shoulder in a friendly manner, "I'm not half-way bad at cooking, I don't mind it, I kind of enjoy cooking especially if it turns out to be really good." Tsenik leans lightly against the counter, "Well, I'm sure you'll smell much nicer and people'll take notice of that. I'm not saying you smell bad, but it's always good to smell /nice/." Tsen nods his head at the thought, "Advice?" A hand rubs at the back of his head, as if considering things. "About girls, I take it? I suppose I could try to give you advice, but I try to stay out of the whole romance thing myself. I /sell/ romance, I don't get involved in it."
Ah it's good to know that one doesn't smell as badly as one thinks! Kale does take the time to bathe himself daily, after all! Tsenik's assumption regarding girls is correct, and it shows with the sort of smirk that lands itself upon the young smither's face. "Yeah, sort've," he replies. "But it also deals with your business, so m'sure you'll be more help than y'think!" he assures. "An' I think you've the right take on it by stayin' out of romance. If it was up to me, I'd do the same thing. But uh…well, my two best friends are girls, and I suppose no matter what I do I can't really escape it. You saw what happened with Soriana, an' that didn't have anything to do with me at all!" Yet he still wound up in the middle of it all. Alas! He waves a hand. "Anyway. I have a sort of…er, date.. I guess, an' I don't really know what I'm supposed to do or bring. Should I bring flowers? Or would that be stupid?"
Tsenik smiles, "I already know you like Idrissa." Tsenik says with a shrug of his shoulders, pushing himself off of the counter to start looking around the shop, as if looking for something in particular. "So you and Sori were an item too? Or were you implying something else? It's really no business of mine, but in my business, it tends to come up quite a bit." He pauses before some flowers and shakes his head before moving on. "So, you're going on a date with Idrissa, and you want to impress her. Definitely bring some flowers, something flattering without being overbearing. Something that says you're interested without expecting something more." A finger taps at his lips and he stops to consider some other flowers. "I think something that would last a couple of days, so not a rose…besides, those say way too much and aren't the sort of thing you want." His eyes flicker until he finally seems to see what he wants. He Kale over and points at some white lilies with light pink in the middle, "Something like this with maybe some lavender and a orchid or two…"
"Ooh..no you weren't there, were you?" amends Kale, looking thoughtfully at Tsenik. "No, it's Datsun I was thinkin' of. He saw it his first day here. No, Soriana is jus' my friend. I don' think I'm really her type anyway. She's more for the … weyr-born type, I guess. But no, I thought you were there the day she an' her…well, I don' know what he really was to her, but they had the argument of the century one day. She was angry with him for something he did. M'not sure what, but he was yellin' at her and at Idrissa and at a woman named Jessi.. I stepped in but, geeze, the girls all really had it handled. Never make a girl angry because one angry girl really ends up bein' five angry girls. A girl is never angry alone." A lesson well learned that day! "Not that the bloke didn't deserve it. The things he said weren't anything a man should ever say to a lady," he remarks with a bit of a frown. But, eh, that's water under the bridge.
Pocketing his new bottle of cologne, he clasps his hands behind his back and follows after him, eyeing the flowers that he knows not the name of. "What does a rose say?" he asks curiously. "I've never given flowers to anyone, so it's good to know what /not/ to give," he says just as his eyes alight on the lilies. "Lilies, lavender, and orchids? You could put those all together in a bunch?"
"I remember that, but I wasn't sure what it was all about, I kinda walked into it and most of it went over my head." A hand waves over his head as if to demonstrate this. "Like I said, I don't know much about relationships, I stay out of them. I just promote them with my business, that's enough of how I want to deal with that sort of thing." Tsenik considers the flowers, as if trying to decide how to arrange them. "Well, I could bunch them up if you'd like in a simple wrapping paper, or I could put them in a pot of some sort. That'd cost extra if you want something like that. And are you wanting to give them to her yourself? And when are you wanting the flowers? It's best to wait until the day you intend to give them to her so that way they're the freshest."
Oh, there's so much he didn't think of! If he gets the flowers delivered, that'd save him the awkwardness of giving them to her with the chance that she doesn't like them. And it'd save Kale the embarrassment of walking around with a bouquet of flowers, which likely with earn the snickers of local kids. But .. she might appreciate him giving them to her? He gently smacks his palm to his forehead. "Oh, I don't know. I /do/ know I won't need'm til tomorrow. And uh…I guess I'll give 'em to her myself?" It's said more like a question, eyeing him as if to see if that's the right decision to make. "Wrapped in paper."
Tsenik smiles and lifts up a finger to wiggle at Kale, "You're showing her /courage/ giving them to her yourself. It's better for old relationships to get it delivered, as a surprise, to remind the person that they love them. But for a new relationship? It's better to make that leap yourself, show her that you're committed to her, that you're ready to start a relationship. If you don't do it yourself, you're showing that you're not really sure of yourself and it makes you look weak. She'll still be delighted, but not as delighted as seeing you present them yourself." Tsenik's really not the expert on this matter, but he's delivered enough flowers to pick up quirks of what does and doesn't work. "Alright, I'll wrap 'em up and you can pick them up here when you're ready. Any specific time you're looking at?"
"Courage huh?" Bravery is something that Kale prides, and he definitely would like for her to know that he is courageous! "Y'know .. for a guy who doesn't do dating, y'sure know a lot," he points out, though it's done in a complimentary tone. And maybe just a little bit amused, too! "Tomorrow after the workday's done. I'm takin' her to dinner an'… so, yeah. It'll be evening. I guess I can come get'm durin' my lunch break so I can already have them when I leave to meet her." That's the most thought that he's put into this date thing! "Thanks Tsenik. You're a huge help. How much will it be? No discounts. Y'already gave me a huge one with the fragrance."
Tsenik laughs and shrugs his shoulders, "Well, what sort of shopsman would I be if I didn't know some of what I'm doing?" He winks playfully and looks over his shoulders at the flowers again with a thoughtful look. "I don't intend on pursuing a relationship. People'd get jealous because of the work I'd do." His fingers idly brush against the petals of the flowers, "And I don't think I'd find the right person for me." The man is silent for a moment before he offers a warm smile, "That sounds like a nice evening, I'm sure she'll love it. And it's a good way to get started in a relationship." There's another thoughtful look given to the flowers, "For the flowers? A mark and a half. They'll be ready for you by noon and you can pick them up then. I'll be here waiting for you to show up."
Kale is quiet for a moment as he thinks over a bit of what Tsenik says, and after a short while he lightly tips his head to one side. "Sure you will. Find somebody for ya, I mean. There's lots of girls here on Xanadu. Some riders, some not. Most seem pretty ok…from what I've seen anyway. Besides, with this new shop open, girls will come pourin' in. Not all've them are gonna be taken by somebody already." He grins. "I bet before this turn is over, you'll have girls fightin' for you!" Noting the price and time that the flowers will be ready to pick up, Kale nods. "I'll have the marks here tomorrow. Thanks again Tsenik. This shop is gonna do great, I can feel it. I'd better go. Got a few things to finish before I'm done for the day." He turns to head for the door, but he pauses again to offer him a grin. "Good luck with everything!" He waves, then heads out.
Kale: "Never make a girl angry because one angry girl really ends up bein' five angry girls."
Best. Line. Of. Log!!! XD