❀ midgar blossoms

[auncyenhalig.livejournal.com]

This night for dreamers starts in blackness. Without form or shape, it may seem as though one is everywhere and nowhere at once. There are whispers rising from the dark from many voices, strange voices, more feelings than words. They speak of birth, life, and the inevitable death. They speak of something between death and birth, as well. Some are peaceful, others haunting. A chorus of the voices scream -- and a train whistles.

Flickering lights filter through the darkness, as well as the chatter of people, a conductor tiredly ushering them off and on. There are piles of discarded material around the train station, as though the whole city were half-scrapyard. The air is stifled and dirty, packed with noise. It drowns the whispers out until they are just white noise. And although the openness of the area suggests the outdoors, looking up will reveal no sky to be seen but a wide expanse of metal.

A young woman shifts a basket full of yellow flowers over her elbow as she looks over the people. The green of her eyes settle and with a soft smile, she approaches, her voice carrying ahead of her.

"Excuse me. Would you like to buy a flower? They only cost one gil."

And those who rummage pockets for change may find one. This is a dream, after all.

Comments

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[Eh? She wasn't sure she'd seen flowers like those before. Kunzite might like them, Ami thinks immediately; just as she hadn't discarded certain things about herself, he had not lost his tie to Nature.]

I want some!

[She rummages in her pockets and - voila! - the yen she'd been carrying seem to be gil somehow. Convenient, that.]

[auncyenhalig.livejournal.com]

Oh -- Great! [ don't act surprised! but it's not often that a new customer is so enthusiastic about them. Aerith smiles readily, turning her eyes down to the basket to pick a few out. ] How many would you like?

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[If her eyes do a quick sweep of Aerith's clothes, if her mind thinks about the likely financial situation of a flower seller, she doesn't draw attention to it.]

I'd like two dozen.

[She can think of exactly what vases to put them in, stems wet by cool water.]

[auncyenhalig.livejournal.com]

[ her clothes are clean and well-cared for, in fact; the pink dress and red bolero are simple, but don't suggest poverty by themselves. what suggests the hard life of the slums is her boots, durable but worn and dirtied from the last week alone. ]

Two dozen ... [ she starts gathering them, careful to arrange them so they complement each other. ] You must really love flowers. Most people only buy one or two at a time.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

I don't deprive myself.

[Come to think of it, a few would look good at the apartment for Mama.]

A few more, please.

[withoutshrimp.livejournal.com]

[Anya digs into her pocket, and brings out a strange looking currency. It didn't look like American money at all]

Is this what you mean by gil? It thought those were what fish had.

[auncyenhalig.livejournal.com]

Fish -- you mean gills? No, this is very different. A lot less wet, for one thing.

[ though the mention of fish has her thinking about it ... appearing in the distance is a gangly teenaged stockboy wrestling with a large, still-live fish to bring to his restaurant. Aerith glances at the sight, her expression bemused. ]

[withoutshrimp.livejournal.com]

Oh. It sounded very similar. But it didn't look the same so I was quite confused.

[auncyenhalig.livejournal.com]

Sorry. Can't accept slippery payment! But this [ she taps the gil in Anya's hand before taking her hand back ] works just fine. If you'd like one, miss ... ?

[withoutshrimp.livejournal.com]

[Anya thinks about it for a moment. She usually hates parting with money.] I suppose I can be on the other end of capitalism for once.

[as-you-command.livejournal.com]

[ Guilford gives the young woman a skeptical glance. He seems to be a man of business, if the suit he is wearing is any indication. It does not stand out by virtue of its cost or cut, but likely because he stands far apart from the rest of the crowd -- the rest of the filth -- and is as stiff and rigid as a board. ]

Hm. [ A flower? Does he look like a flower-buying sort? Still, what is one measly gil to him? At least she was not begging. He reaches into his jacket pocket and picks out a single coin with a gloved hand. ] Here. [ Guilford checks the watch on his other wrist for the fiftieth time, that hand holding a briefcase tightly. ]

[auncyenhalig.livejournal.com]

[ she sees the different aspects of this man (his suit, his posture) and cannot help but wonder why a businessman like him is down in the slums. of course, there are those who come down to the slums and stop one sector over, in sector six, for a raucous night at the Honeybee Inn ...

but goodness, she can hardly picture this man doing anything raucously, let alone visiting a brothel.

that's a good thing about peddling flowers, though; sometimes it provides a handy excuse for her to indulge her curiosity -- and, to her faint surprise, he even accepts the offer. she provides one and takes the gil with a polite smile. ] Thank you, sir. [ -- though he's already checking his watch by then, hm ... worried about missing a meeting? she wonders. ] Are you waiting for the next train?

[as-you-command.livejournal.com]

[ An upstanding, business-class citizen would have nothing to do with a filthy organization such as that. It just so happens he had some important business to attend to. Business that was now concluded, and he could not get out of here fast enough.

Oh joy. Conversation. He gives a muted sigh, before giving her another once-over. What's her angle - can't she just take her money and leave? ] Yes.

[ And then he turns back to the tracks, squinting down along the path until it curves out of sight. There was sight-nor-sound of oncoming traffic on the rails. ] It is frustratingly late.

[auncyenhalig.livejournal.com]

Ah ... [ that gets a frown from Aerith as she looks along the path as well. ] They're usually on-time. [ even if they do go down to the slums, they also service the upper plate, and they like their conveniences. ] I hope everything's okay. [ an accident? considering Shinra's track record, she wouldn't be surprised to hear of an incident with AVALANCHE. ]

/html fail

[as-you-command.livejournal.com]

[ Disorder? Anarchy? Terrorism? Lovely. That's what his life has been missing. It was an option he had considered, but he was trying not to think too hard on it because it would not do to let himself get involved in any of that mess. He will just do his job, and stay away from any such incidents as best he can. ]

I heard no announcements of any delays. [ The staff could be at least that courteous, yes? If it was information they could disseminate at all. ]

[guiltapalooza]

Willow smiles when she's addressed. "I'd love to. Actually, could I have six? My girlfriend likes the color yellow," she says, brightening visibly even just by thinking of Tara. "Well, I think she likes all the colors, really, but her hair is blonde and-- and yellow makes me think of her.

"Sorry. Six flowers, less lovelorn rambling."

[auncyenhalig.livejournal.com]

"I don't mind. It might take a while to pick out six nice enough for her, you can go on and ramble." Her smile gets broader momentarily when she says that -- it won't take her so long, of course, but she has always been a little interested in why the flowers are being bought.

[guiltapalooza]

Her smile turns self-conscious, but Willow doesn't let that stop her and dutifully leans in to pick out the flowers. "Sorta out of ramble now," she says apologetically. "I'm not that sappy. Usually. I just, saw them and thought of her, you know?"

[auncyenhalig.livejournal.com]

"I do," Aerith says, nodding, holding the basket out for Willow to easily inspect. "It's easy to remember people in all kinds of ways. Flowers are one of the nicer ways, I think."

[guiltapalooza]

"And I only want nice ways for her," she answers with a sense of pride. Half dozen flowers in hand now, she takes a step back to give Aerith her personal space and digs into her pocket to come up with gil. "Here you go! Do you grow these yourself? They're beautiful."

Willow might not ordinarily be so appreciate of a simple flower, but in surroundings like this, the contrast is stark.

[changedthegame.livejournal.com]

Sam stops in his tracks when she speaks, and he idly glances around to see if maybe she's speaking to someone else. He'll feel like a complete idiot if she's actually talking to the guy three feet to the right. Though she's selling flowers. She could be talking to everyone who can hear her easily. He sighs, despite the awkward smile.

In case she is speaking to someone else, Sam holds up a hand to get her attention, while digging in his pocket with the other, trying to gather up whatever gil he has in there.

"Uh, yeah. I'll take..." He counts out the gil he has in his hand. "I'll take four of them." Even though he has absolutely no need for flowers.

[auncyenhalig.livejournal.com]

There is very rarely a need for flowers; not a physical one, at least. But to see their beauty in bloom -- it's something Aerith considers very important indeed.

She was indeed talking to him, and the small show of awkwardness gets a soft giggle from her before she leans forward, four flowers in hand. "Any idea what you'll do with them?"

[changedthegame.livejournal.com]

"I haven't really thought that far ahead yet, actually." He doesn't particularly care for flowers, himself, and he doesn't exactly have anyone to give them to. What he's especially curious about, though, is just how flowers manage to grow under the plate, or does she get them from above? There isn't exactly an over-abundance of sunlight around, after all.

Sam holds out the four gil to her, still feeling entirely awkward about the whole thing. Buying them just seems like a nice gesture, and it's just helping him to socialize himself a little more, besides. He's just... at a bit of a loss now.

[auncyenhalig.livejournal.com]

The exchange made, Aerith straightens up, considering his response. "Hmm. A nice-looking guy like you, maybe your next step should be to meet a pretty girl." There's a twinkle in her eye when she says that, looking around as though to see if someone suitable is nearby -- even as she keeps Sam in sight for his reaction.

[changedthegame.livejournal.com]

As she looks around, Sam looks down at the newly acquired flowers, considering what he should do with them. He doesn't really bother looking around at the other people. He probably won't bother with them anyway. Getting over his anti-social side is still a work in progress, after all. "Meet a pretty girl?" He actually looks a little surprised when he says that out loud. 'Meeting pretty girls' hasn't really been on his to-do list in a while.