They eventually managed to find their destination but Kya seemed reluctant to go in. The building was as nice as any of the ones in the middle ring, although all the windows were practically dripping flowers and vines. There were so many trees in front of it that it looked like it had its own small ecosystem right there in the middle of the city.
"Do you actually want to go in or are you planning on staking out the place beforehand?" Lin asked, nudging Kya towards the path to the door.
"Oh yeah, right," Kya replied, tripping a bit in her haste to pretend she hadn't been overwhelmed by the vast array of plant life outside the shop. Lin snorted in amusement at her friend's eagerness.
"Oh no, you should wait outside," Kya said, turning around to face Lin so quickly that Lin ran into her.
"What? Why?" Lin argued, she hadn't come all this way to not see the thing through.
"Your aura is a bit… harsh, Lin," Kya said thoughtfully, genuinely trying not to upset Lin, "I don't think it's very good for the plants."
"I'll have you know that I am great with plants. Much better than with animals or people, honestly," Lin protested.
"Not that that really means much, considering," Kya pointed out.
"Considering what, exactly?"
"The fact that you absolutely suck with most people and animals. It really sets the bar pretty low for how good you could be with plants. Especially since plants can't complain," Kya said, turning Lin around and pushing her, with two hands on her shoulders, towards the bench right beneath one of the many trees in the garden, "Just wait here for a minute and I'll be right back. Promise. No more than five minutes."
Huffing, Lin sat down on the bench and resolved that she would wait exactly five minutes and if Kya wasn't back, she would go in and drag her out.
Walking back towards the shop, Kya threw a few warning glances over her shoulder at Lin. The door to the shop chimed when she pushed it open.
The inside was no neater than the outside, with thousands of plants blossoming from every surface. The ceiling was made of glass, but almost no sunlight hit the floor due to the insane amount of foliage in the room. It was like a sauna and Kya could already feel sweat beading on her forehead. Staring around in wonder, Kya wondered where to begin.
"Kya?" she heard a woman say from somewhere to her left, "Is that you? Jin told me you were coming."
A small, elderly woman poked her head out from behind a fern. She was about four feet tall with white hair that flowed softly down her back, almost to her knees. Dressed in the typical greens of the city, she blended in marvelously with her indoor garden.
"I'm late, aren't I?" Kya said, rubbing her sweating hands on her pants. She leaned across a table full of succulents and clasped both of the woman's hands in hers.
"Oh no, dear, don't worry. I've still got it," she said, smiling, "Wait here for just a second, wouldn't want you getting lost in here."
Kya plopped down on a stool beside what looked like it used to be the front counter before the store became a jungle. She could hear the woman shuffling around in the back. Then she heard voices, just whispers. Too quiet for her to make out what was being said, but they seemed hurried and frantic.
Sliding off the stool, she quietly pushed through the foliage to make sure everything was okay. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the second voice. It was a man's voice and he sounded angry.
"You've got her here then?"
"Yes, yes. She's in the front. But you have to let me make my sale before you take her, I'm going to make a small fortune off this and I am not letting you mess that up for me," the woman argued with the man.
Backing up slowly, Kya began to realize that somewhere along the line, she had made a mistake and she was possibly about to pay for it. Whatever "it" was. She decided that her best option now was to make a silent, hasty retreat from the shop and find a different gift for her mother.
However, that plan went out the window when she tripped over a metal bucket and knocked over an entire shelf of orchids. In hindsight, walking backwards in a crowded flower shop was not the best idea she'd ever had.
