"HEY THERE'S A SHIPMENT IN. I THINK IT'S FROM THE SEED WHOLESALE," Karkat called out to the greenhouse as he walked in. It was before hours, so luckily no customers were around to get offended by his... dulcet tones. He was her best friend, but Kanaya usually tried to keep him occupied with non-sales tasks while they were open, for the sake of the store. Karkat was a hot-tempered man whose temperament and pallor were both ill-suited to working in a greenhouse, but he appeared to enjoy (tolerate, in his words) employment at Kanaya's place. "Alright, Just Let Me Finish," she replied in his general direction. Kanaya was pruning a morning-glory vine before it could reach the roof, and was perched precariously on the top of a ladder.
"There, I'm Done." Kanaya climbed down and folded up the ladder against the wall, then turned to face Karkat. "There Was A Package?"
"HERE. SEEMS A LITTLE HEAVY FOR SEEDS, THOUGH." He placed the box on the ground, and stretched, muttering "FUCK" at his sore muscles. Kanaya used the pruning shears she was still holding to slice open the packing tape.
"You Were Correct. It's Not Seeds, It's Books," Kanaya announced, reaching into the box to reveal a hardcover romance. "WAIT, CHECK THE MAILING ADDRESS. AND GIVE ME THAT," Karkat replied, eyeing the book. She tossed the book to him and flipped the package to see the labeling.
"Says It's For 413 Appletree. Next Door, I Think."
"THEY'RE A BOOKSTORE- JUST MOVED IN," Karkat supplied, his dark haired head already several pages into the novel. "We Can Go Welcome Them To The Neighborhood, Then. And Return Their Books While We're At It," Kanaya concluded, resealing the box.
"BUT WE'RE WORKING," Karkat protested, breaking his engrossment. "No We Are Not, We Open At Ten And It Is Now Nine." Kanaya stared him down with a look that brokered no argument. "FIIINE," he groaned like a petulant child. Kanaya smiled at her small victory, walking over to where she kept pre-cut flowers in water. Why Not Greet The Neighbors With Flowers? Yellow carnations for cheer, stephanotis for luck, limonium for success. Kanaya liked sending messages in bouquets, even if no one really understood them but her.
"HURRY THE FUCK UP," Karkat urged, carrying the box in his arms. The book he was reading, she noticed, was open and upside down on the top of the box.
"Alright," she conceded, wrapping the bottom of the bouquet. Kanaya checked her reflection briefly in the mirror behind her desk- her dark reflection looked back, not a single black strand out of place in her angular pixie. Her jade green eyes were cloaked in black eyeshadow and matching lipstick- expertly done, as she prided herself on. How Vain Am I? The Answer Is Unquantifiable.
Kanaya and Karkat walked over a door to 413, coined Strilonde's Occult and Assorted in white script on the black awning. Opening the door for Karkat, whose hands were full, Kanaya looked around the store and was taken aback. In the dim light, the walls were not visible under a dense layer of bookshelves. Black and white pictures of bones and people were stuck up with BluTack and tape. An assortment of strange and gruesome artifacts laid on mismatched tables laying around the shop. The place would have looked like a mashup of an evil wizard's lair and a darkroom for photo development, if there hadn't been a DJ's stand in the corner.
"Hi." A voice cut through the air suddenly, and Karkat jumped 2 feet in the air. "Um, Hi There," Kanaya replied awkwardly, trying to recover her heart rate. At the cashier's desk near the door, a striking woman in a tank top and a black skirt leaned casually against the wall (shelf). With her bobbed platinum blonde hair, violet eyes, and pouty lips, she could be a model- her eyeliner, heavily applied and stark black, already fit the French actress look.
"I'm Rose. You are?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'M KARKAT VANTAS, AND SHE'S KANAYA MARYAM," Karkat gestured. "WE RUN THE GREENHOUSE NEXT DOOR." Kanaya thanked him silently- she did not think she would have said anything coherent.
"We Received One Of Your Packages Today And We Wanted To Return It," she added, finding her voice. Karkat looked sadly at his book before placing it and the box on Rose's desk.
"Thanks a million; some of those books are quite expensive," Rose smiled. "You can keep that one, you know; Drew and Holden are quite the couple," she remarked as an afterthought, addressing Karkat. He muttered his thanks and grabbed the book back, glancing at the flowers in Kanaya's hand. "AHEM." Karkat looked down at the flowers in her hand and back at her.
"Oh! Yes, These Are For You. Welcome To The Neighborhood." Kanaya held out the bouquet, not daring to look her in the face. Rose took them, brushing Kanaya's hand ever so lightly. Their eyes met, purple on green.
A loud noise disturbed the near silence, causing Rose and Kanaya to spring apart. "Hey Rose where'd you want- oh." A man nearly identical to Rose halted in the frame of the back door he'd just kicked open, carrying a bust of an extremely ugly wizard.
"This is my twin brother, Dave. He hides behind his aviators to look cool. Dave, this is Karkat and Kanaya; they run the garden shop next door." Rose set down the flowers and took the statue from his arms, placing it on the floor near her desk and patting it fondly on the head. "Dave is the reason our place is so eclectic; if he wasn't here, there would be a lot less photographs and turntables."
Dave tilted his shades up on top of his head, revealing lazily amused red eyes. "Rude. Don't listen to my lunatic sister. She's just jealous 'cause she's boring. Closest she gets to sick rhymes is shitty slam poetry," Dave explained. "You wanna hear some? Of the rhymes, not the poetry. Though you look like you might like it," he continued to Karkat.
"NO, WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR SHIT, WE LIKE OUR EARS THE WAY THEY ARE," Karkat retorted. "KANAYA CAN WE GO YET? WE OPEN SOON."
"I Am Very Sorry, He Is Not Always Like This, We Will Leave Now," Kanaya apologized profusely. Now we can never talk to them again, ever. However, neither Rose nor Dave looked in the least perturbed. Kanaya exited the shop, almost pushing Karkat out the door. She looked back once more to glimpse a small smile on Rose's face before the door swung shut.
"What On Earth Were You Thinking?" Kanaya asked Karkat angrily after a short walk back filled with an unpleasant silence. They were both trying to get more work done before store hours, but failing miserably. "HE WAS PISSING ME OFF. HE JUST ASSUMED I LIKE SLAM POETRY-" "But You Do." "THAT'S NOT THE POINT. AND HE KICKED OPEN THE DOOR! WHO THE FUCK DOES THAT? NOT ANYONE WHO'S REMOTELY CIVIL." In the heat of his tirade, he nearly upended an entire tray of seedlings, realizing it only when Kanaya yelped.
"You Have Probably Just Ruined The Concept Of Neighborly Conduct Singlehandedly." Kanaya frowned at him, closing the laptop on which she was analyzing the store's finances
Karkat sighed and seemed to cool his temper. "LOOK, I'M SORRY I RUINED YOUR BLOSSOMING ROMANCE- YEAH IT WAS PRETTY OBVIOUS- AND I'LL APOLOGIZE THE NEXT TIME WE SEE THEM." "If There Is A Next Time," Kanaya shot back, trying to tone down her blush.
"THERE WILL BE, ALRIGHT?"
