Perfuma had been having a good day. Actually, she had been having a good week.

The drum circle she had hosted over the weekend gained three new members—Oh, how wonderful it had been to show them the ropes! Even her meditation session with Catra went better than it usually did, and she was oh so proud of her friend for how far she had come! When they had first started these weekly sessions all those years ago, Catra had been so angry, filled with so much negative energy that she didn't know how to let go. But now she was happier, and Perfuma was proud of her.

She even had a slight boom in business lately. Not many people came to her flower store (Perhaps a mall had not been the perfect location, but that had not been her decision to make), so most days went by slow with her tending to all the flowers. But lately more and more people were putting in orders, it made her heart soar to see such an increase interest in plants.

She couldn't have been happier, and it had Perfuma practically prancing about the flower shop, a song on her lips as she watered the flowers all around.

But, for every good, something bad was bound to happen, and she found that when the door opened with the distinct chime of the bell. Turning around, Perfuma beamed as she saw Scorpia come shuffling in. "Ah! Good morning, Scorpia!" Perfuma greeted.

Scorpia smiled, though it was strained in comparison to her usual ones, "Ah, hey, Perfuma," she greeted as she pulled a gardening apron on, her tone rather, well, not Scorpia.

She seemed to be oozing negative energy in comparison to the happy, positive woman Perfuma was used to, and it just wasn't right, wasn't normal.

Putting the watering can down, Perfuma frowned and made her way over to her friend. "Hey, Scorpia," she began, placing her hand on a large bicep, "Is everything okay? You look rather down." Well, that was a bit of an understatement.

Scorpia looked like someone had stolen something she loved dearly and ignored the value placed on it as they trashed it. She looked like she was trying her hardest to hide how devastated she felt by putting on a brave face and failing. It was heartbreaking to see Scorpia look so sullen. The last time Perfuma had seen her like that was when she and Catra had their big falling out a few years ago, where she got rejected by her best friend after having a crush for so long.

Wait…

"It's nothing," Scorpia said, smiling that strained smile once more, shrugging Perfuma's hand off. "Really, nothing for you to bother yourself with. Hey, let's get to work, these flowers must be pretty thirsty, right?"

Scorpia awkwardly tried to scoot past Perfuma, which she could have easily done given their size differences, but Scorpia wasn't the type to just shove someone else aside so she could get by. And, with Perfuma refusing to budge an inch, Scorpia was left just trapped in the back corner of the store with all the spare aprons.

She laughed nervously, her scorpion tail raising and lowering anxiously behind her as she pressed the tips of her pincers together. "I, ah, can't really get to work when you're standing there, Perfuma," she said carefully. "I mean, I don't really want to accidentally knock you over, so if you could, um, just move to the side a little?"

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," Perfuma said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. She could be stern and unmoving when needed, and this felt like a moment that needed that firmness.

Scorpia couldn't even look her in the eyes. "It's nothing, really. Come on, Perfuma. We don't want to slack off, do we?"

"It's Lonnie, wasn't it?"

To that, Scorpia stiffened, her breath hitched loudly, and Perfuma knew she hit the mark. Slowly, the woman lowered her head, her shoulders drooping in defeat. "I…ah…" she swallowed, hard, finding her words. "How'd you know?"

The only thing that could describe what Perfuma felt was sympathy. Sympathy for her friend. "Do you want to talk about it?" she said instead.

There was a long pause, as if Scorpia trying to decide if she did want to talk or not. Slowly, she raised her head up once more to look at Perfuma. "I thought we were really hitting it off, you know? We liked hanging out, we shared a few interests. She's fun. A good person, a good friend—and I hoped we could be more than that. I thought she did, too." She let her head drop down once more. "I asked her this morning, but I guess I had my hopes out for nothing."

Scorpia's crush on Lonnie hadn't been a secret, virtually everyone in their circle of friends had known, and Perfuma would be lying to herself if she said she never felt a twinge of jealousy whenever Scorpia gushed about Lonnie when they hung out. But she, like everyone else, had figured that Lonnie had felt the same. It was rather surprising to hear that Lonnie had rejected her.

A little relieving, too, not that Perfuma was going to pay that feeling any mind. No, no, she was going to shove it back to sort out at a later date, this wasn't the time for her own feelings to rear their heads up, no, she had to focus on helping her dear friend feel better.

"Oh, Scorpia, I'm so sorry," Perfuma said, and it was true. Regardless of how she might feel, what was more important to her was that Scorpia was happy, even if it wasn't with her. Seeing Scorpia heartbroken hurt her just as much. "I'm sorry about what happened with her, I truly am."

Scorpia gave her a tired smile. "I hate to say it, but I'm starting to think that it's me. That—that there's something about me that pushes everyone I like away? It was a stroke of luck Catra and I were able to be friends again after I almost ruined our friendship with my crush, and now I probably just lost Lonnie as a friend because of it, too. Do you think there's something about me that makes me, just, not good for a relationship?"

What? "No! No, no, no!" Perfuma yelled a tad too loud if how Scorpia flinched was anything to go by. She took a breath to bring her voice back down, to try and calm down, but it was harder to find that sense of tranquility here. She managed to, however, and gave her friend a gentle smile. "Scorpia, you are wonderful. You're beautiful, loyal, the kindest person I have ever met. There is nothing about you that would make people shy away from being with you."

She was speaking from the heart, trying to convey just how wonderful a person Scorpia was, how amazing. Scorpia was almost too good for the world, and she wanted her to know.

Taking in a breath, Scorpia released it in a low whistle, "I, ah, do you really mean all that?"

"Of course," Perfuma nodded, taking Scorpia's pincers in her hands and looking her in the eyes. "Never, ever think that there's something wrong with you. You are perfect just the way you are, and you will find someone who loves and cherishes you just as much as you do them. Perhaps that person wasn't Catra, and perhaps not Lonnie, but you still have a long future ahead of you to find her, and you'll have your friends at your side the entire time to support you."

"Thank you," It was quiet at first, and then louder. "Thank you. I'll, I'll do my best to remember that. I think I'm just going to need some time for now, to get over what happened with Lonnie, to get my mind off of all of this for now."

Smiling, Perfuma let go of her and backed away, providing her room to get to the rest of the store. "Well, tending to flowers can be very relaxing."

Scorpia laughed, passing Perfuma as she made her way further into the store. Perfuma could hear the clank of metal as she grabbed one of the watering cans, a rack shuddering as she almost knocked over one of the hanging pot rack on her journey to fill the can with water. With a smile still on her face, Perfuma crossed her arms over her middle, feeling butterflies in her chest.

Regardless of how she felt, even if Scorpia's 'her' wasn't her in the end, Perfuma would be content so long as Scorpia found her special someone, the person who made her happy no matter what. That would be enough for her.