A flower's cost was more or less means tested. In practice, this was whatever Aeris figured a customer could afford to pay – with some exceptions for sympathy or celebratory events. Customers who leered and made suggestive comments in Wall Market could expect prices upwards of two hundred gil, many upset at a critical misunderstanding of what was on sale. The flowers. Anything more would see inquirers directed to the Honey Bee Inn or the more dubious places in Sector Six.
In Sector Five, flowers cost anywhere between five to ten gil. Hard enough to scrape by down here, and the flowers did make people feel better. Often slum-dwellers would pause to wistfully recount their former lives away from the city. Outside under blue skies, in grassy meadows, where flowers like these grew wild and no one had to suffer air choked with Mako fumes.
Always sounded so tempting, so much better. But how to achieve it was never clear – without saving. Aeris had ventured to the edge of the city more than once and peered out. Surrounding Midgar was a grey wasteland. No greenery here. Hopefully it was further afield. Possibly bad timing on her part, but whenever she viewed outside, the sky was never blue – always overcast and grey.
The Upper Plate's prices skewed to remarkable variances. It depended on the attitude of the customer – and in odd cases, how notorious they were with their spending habits for the famous rich. Shinra workers not bound for below plate would start off at one hundred gil. Most would try to haggle, but Aeris knew full well there were no flowers like hers in the city. The Shinra employees always folded in the end. Selling in Sector Eight was often a good day.
The great days were when managing to accost some celebrity or upper-management Shinra type, though critically no one like Hojo (never once seen outside the Shinra building. Did he ever leave) or President Shinra. Or the Turks. The celebrities, film, TV, theatre stars could afford to shuttle back and forth between the major cities and had the remit to wander out into real wildernesses for real flowers. But they would pay her for the convenience, barely blinking at her inflated prices, keen to show off to a date, loved one or friends. These sales were the truly excellent, helping fund a nice meal for Mom and her, or helping plug a gap in the household's finances, or allowing Aeris a treat of some kind.
SOLDIERs were a rarity. She did not often see them, let alone sell flowers to them. But he was sure-footed when the populace in Sector Eight panicked in the gloom, the smoke and flames rising from the destroyed reactor beyond. He seemed distracted until she held the flower out, all his attention focused on it. Not one sent on a lot of missions; the SOLDIER stared at it like it was the first he'd seen in years.
"One gil." A bargain, the discount applied on the spur of the moment. Her smile was complimentary.