12366/Sleepless Moonchild

Sleepless Moonchild
Date of Scene:	09 August 2022
Location:	Klein's Bottles
Synopsis:	Donovan comes into Klein's Bottles hoping for an herbal remedy. He finds two!
Cast of Characters:	Delores Klein, Donovan Rowland

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Delores Klein has posed:
    Klein's Bottles is still a fairly new store. Established in 2020, its first bit of publicity was not only the store opening but the owner providing apartments for many mutants displaced from the destruction of Genosha. While that's all in the past, the store's owner, Delores Klein, is at least a little bit known to people who still read the newspaper.
    The inside of the store is organized in a very easy to navigate way. The open floorplan has as much natural light as possible shining in, wood bookshelves serving as the displays, square bottles of glass containing the supplement pills, and even a section of dried and fresh herbs for those who don't like their remedies processed.
    A disinterested, buxom goth girl stands behind the counter. Her nametag proclaims her to be "Sarah," but her facial expression and posture proclaims her to be bored and/or above working here.

Donovan Rowland has posed:
    Lowering himself just a little to slip under the doorway, a remarkably tall man in a long coat enters the shop, looking around with a quiet exhale. He looks visibly tired - it had been a rough week getting settled in his new home here in New York. It had been such a stark change from the small New England settings he'd been used to, but now that he was finally fully unpacked and his apartment furnished, he could attend to himself again, and he'd decided that the first order of business is to fix his sleep schedule.
    Spotting the girl at the counter, he approaches with a small, ambivalent smile. "Hello. Do you have any sleep aids? Preferably a tea?"

Delores Klein has posed:
    The girl looks up from her phone with half-lidded eyes. She furrows her brow and grumbles to herself that she actually has to interact with customers. She points. "Supplements are over there," she says before pointing again. "Dried and fresh herbs are over there."
    As she's speaking, the beaded curtain to the back parts and a much more cheerful, upbeat woman steps out. She sees the customer and greets him. "Good morning!" she says, her hands full of a basket of things to put on shelves. She sets it down and walks out in front of the counter. Her smile fades a bit and she checks an antique watch on her wrist. Her smile returns and she nods. Looking back up at Donovan, she says, "It's still morning." She puts her hands on her hips. "Have you been helped?" she asks.

Donovan Rowland has posed:
    The old man nods, his eyes following her point to the specified shelf for a moment before turning back to regard the woman stepping out from the beaded curtain. "Good morning," he replies with another small smile. "I've been helped, yes. I was lookin' for somethin' to help with sleep."
    Seeing her hands are full, he resists the urge to reach for a handshake, instead walking over to the supplements that had been pointed out and browsing them as he speaks. "Are you the owner, by any chance? I read about this shop in the paper." He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out the morning's newspaper, though it wasn't the one he'd read about the place in. "Really impressive stuff."

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores smiles and shrugs. "Well, it's small, but it's mine," she says, looking around at the place. She looks back at him and rubs her hands dry and roughly clean on her smock. She moves to one of the shelves and reaches right for the sleep aid stuff. She aims the label at him. It's a fairly cheap lable on the square bottle. It has an inkjet-printed picture of the herb that is the active ingredient and what the thing is for. "This should help," she says. "Depending on how strong the issue is. If it doesn't help, I might be able to mix you up something special, but keep in mind, that will be a kind of...drink it and lay down immediately, because you'll be asleep in five minutes whether you want to be or not...kind of thing."

Donovan Rowland has posed:
    "Delores Klein, right? Pleased t' meet you. I'm Donovan. Probably gonna be a regular here at any rate." He extends a hand for her to shake after she's semi-cleaned them off on her smock, before reaching into his coat pocket afterwards and producing from it a pair of reading glasses. Putting them on, he leans in and peers at the label. "I see. It's not a *really* strong issue, I don't think. I try to get eight hours of sleep no matter what, and I usually sleep like a baby after some exercise. But I've just moved into my apartment here, y'see, and movin' really takes a lot outta you."
    The mention of mixing something special piques his interest, though he doubts he needs something quite so strong. "I've never heard of an herbal remedy that strong before. What's it got in it? Or is that a company secret?" He chuckles just a little under his breath.

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores smiles politely and gently as she puts her hands into her apron's pocket. "I probably shouldn't say," she says. She glances toward Sarah, then back to Donovan. "Not strictly FDA approved in this country. In England, it's allowed, and it's perfectly safe. No side-effects I've been able to find."

Donovan Rowland has posed:
    Donovan gives another quiet laugh. "Alright, then," he replies, peering at the label one more time before straightening up. "This should do just fine, thank you." He removes his glasses and folds them back up, slipping them into his coat pocket.
    Slowly meandering towards the counter with the supplement in hand, he turns briefly as if in sudden remembrance of something. "Matter of fact, while I'm here- you got anything for anxiety? Nothin'... major, but somethin' that could help if I'm on edge a lot for no particular reason."

Delores Klein has posed:
    From her spot next to the shelf, Delores turns and grabs another supplement, knowing precisely where it was. She turns back and offers it to her customer with a kind but slightly proud smile. "Of course!" she says, cheerfully. "It's one of our top sellers!"

Donovan Rowland has posed:
    "Oh, fantastic. Thank you very much. I can imagine why it'd be a top seller in a big city like this." Donovan accepts the supplement with a smile, turning to the counter and placing both onto its surface. He regards the disinterested girl on the other side as he withdraws his wallet from another coat pocket. "What do I owe ya?"

Delores Klein has posed:
    The goth looks at the bottles, then at the man. She's still irked that he would DARE make her do work. However, with the boss lady right there, she rolls her eyes and picks up one bottle, looking at the price sticker. With exaggerated movements, she pushes down metal plungers on the antique cash register. Little flaps push up with her movements. She then puts the first bottle down and repeats with the second bottle. Soon, she hits something and the totals are added together. She tells him the price from under half-lidded eyes. Someday, they'll be either fully lidded or unlidded.

Donovan Rowland has posed:
    Donovan takes the specified amount from his wallet and puts it on the counter with a smile. "Thank you."
    He turns back to Dolores, pocketing the supplements. "I like the antique register. This place was established just a couple of years ago, wasn't it? Good t' see some appreciation for the classics." He glances around a moment and adds, "Think I also read a while ago that you provided apartments to mutants displaced by some destructive crisis. Those happen often in this city? I've seen more weird stuff in a week livin' here than I have in a lifetime in Boston." Donovan chuckles again, this time a little wrily.

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores huffs a bit, her smile fading, though not all the way. "Do they ever," she says, rhetorically. She smiles again politely as she says, "Hub of activity on this world, especially with the spaceport going in. It's not going to get easier, and everything that happens here only seems to make more things happen here, like water rushing over stone will eventually carve a canyon and make it easier for more water to flow through. I only hope we don't break through to something truly terrible in the future."

Donovan Rowland has posed:
    Donovan blinks, hesitating a second before he replies. "... Right. Wasn't expectin' something quite so apocalyptic, but that's good to know. Maybe I shoulda picked a more peaceful place t' retire..." He gives another dry chuckle and nods, sticking his hands into his coat pockets. "Though somethin' tells me this city will end up growin' on me anyway. And if things really go south in the future, well, I think things will work themselves out. They have a way of doin' that when all sorts of these folk are around, don't they?"

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores's smile turns quite cheerful as she stuffs her hands in her smock's big pocket. "Absolutely," she says. "Keep me in mind if you have anything more serious come along, okay? Arthritis, aches and pains, and maybe even vision correction. Herbal medicine can do amazing things, you know." She moves to get back to stocking shelves.

Donovan Rowland has posed:
    "Will do. I've been takin' herbal medicine for a long time, so it's good to have a local spot I can count on. I'll probably end up a regular here" Donovan smiles, walking over to the door to leave. He's glad now that he did his research on the local businesses beforehand - this was a good choice. "Thanks so much. Have a good one."

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores smiles his way. "You, too!" she says. "Tell your friends about us." She then goes back to work, and her gothy counter girl went back to ignoring both of them moments ago.