15667/Black and Blue Roses

Black and Blue Roses
Date of Scene:	20 August 2023
Location:	Sherwood Florist, First Floor
Synopsis:	Dinah meets MJ. Helena crashes the party.
Cast of Characters:	Mary Jane Watson, Dinah Lance, Helena Bertinelli

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Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Here she was, passing through Chelsea, having some time off from her latest audition. Mary Jane wa having a pretty relaxing day, humming pleasantly. Going to look through the streets and thens eeing a flower shop, she would perk up. "I should get something for Aunt Anna.. And May. They could use something to brighten things up."
    So, she would head into Sherwood Florist, the bell at the door ringing to announce it being opened.

Dinah Lance has posed:
    And behind the door of the flower shop, there was a woman in a leather jacket. No fishnets, not today, although she did wear MMA gloves, a cream top, and leggings that tucked into stompy little boots.

    And a flower shop in Gotham... was never going to be a megabucks franchise. But this shop had been in her family for quite some time, and this little building. So the rent was the right price.

    And what was Dinah doing? In this ragtag little shop, there was a few refridgerators and spritzing shelves that held a variety of colored items. Now - she tended to do hot business around holidays, and what was coming up?

    Not a whole lot at the moment, really. So a lot of the arrangements were for birthdays and the like. Glancing up at the ring of the bell, the blue eyes of the blonde meet the redhead's, and Dinah gives a little smile. "Hey there. Welcome to the Sherwood Florist," she says. "Oldest florist in Gotham... er... the shop, not me. I think," she says, her face scrunching up with that thought.

    "You look really familiar, though..." she says, thoughtfully.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Going to glance about, Mary Jane would 'ooh'. "Oh, wow, everything is so bright in here." Spoken like a city girl who didn't go to places that had a lot of bright, flowery things in them. She would glance about a bit more, before turning over to Dinah as the woman would come out.
    "Hey there, pleasure to meet you." she would offer her hand forwards, "Mary Jane. I.. Don't think we've met." Not recalling Dinah's face off the top of her mind. "But this place is amazing and I'm really sorry that I haven't come here before. There's not a lot of florists about the city. Shows you how much I get around. And this place is a branch of the one in Gotham?" Her attempting to make that particular joke a little subtle, but not quite managing it.

Dinah Lance has posed:
    Dinah was very glad that MJ was focusing on the flowers, rather than the aging building that surrounded them, and spritzer fridges on their last legs, etc. But Dinah was very good with the flowers, and the arrangements - but then again, she had a good teacher.

    Dinah had slightly damp hands with floral scented water on them, probably from all the arranging she had been doing, but thinks no mind on extending her hand, taking ahold of Mary Jane's. "Dinah Lance," she says, waggling her shears that she held in her other hand then.

    "It's kinda a glum city. It's famous for glum, at least - all the crime stops happy and colorful from being in vogue, I guess," she says. A pause. "We're in Gotham now, I..." A pause, Dinah squinting. "Ohhhhhhhhhh..." she says. "You're a clever one," she adds, grinning.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
She's been in New York for awhile. She's seen plenty of places that are worse. It doesn't look like it's going to crumble from the bottom up so that was a step up from other places in the city that folks had setup shop and home in.
    "Everything here looks great, really. Are you the only worker here? You do a great job taking care of everything." There didn't seem to be any other sounds of someone else in the shop and she wasn't seeing signs of any other workers present. So maybe Dinah did run all of it on her own?
    "Pleased to meet you, Dinah. Just looking for something to get my Aunt. If you could recommend something here that's nice that I could take back for her that will survive the subway trip home?"

Dinah Lance has posed:
    "Family business, really," says Dinah, a grin showing her perfect teeth as she flashes a smile towards MJ's way.

    A beat more. "My grandmother started this shop, my mom continued it, and well..." she sets the shears down on the counter. "Thought I'd keep going, at least," she says. "But yeah. It's just me. That's why we have the terrible hours," she says, gesturing back to the sign. 10-4PM. That, and any later tended to get into her drinking time, ahem.

    "Well, when I think of keeping the flowers safe, I think about more their container," says Dinah. "But we have some beautiful roses - yellow and blue ones in an arrangement with some periwinkle that might end up being cute," she says. "And a hard plastic container will keep them fluffy and not-squished, unless, well... you decide to sleep against them in the subway train or something," she says. "We have a glass container for stuff like that, if you'd rather."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would laugh, "I see. So how much of the aftercare of this place goes into drinking time?" She would inquire over to Dinah. Quickly seeing if the woman was playing it up or there was a tone that she was always annoyed with getting blood in her alcohol stream like she knew a few of. She would go to listen over to what Dinah was saying and hmm.
    "Plastic's better just as with my luck I'll end up with it being broken on the way back. Subways can get tight. And thank you. Roses would be lovely. You can almost never go wrong with them. Plus, my aunt can always put them in a vase, put it in a corner, then accidentally elbow it if she doesn't particularly like them." That was the way of old women and the world.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli hadn't been by the shop in ages. Coming to think of it, she hadn't seen Dinah in ages. While that could imply they were both old, don't go there. There are no wrinkles to be seen on either brow.

Parking around back, the dark haired Italian woman makes her way to the door and steps inside.

It isn't hard to find Dinah in a shop with a Workforce of One. And she has a customer.

Offering a smile and wave, she moves to look at some of the flower arrangements on display rather than interrupt what could be a sale.

Dinah Lance has posed:
    "You understand then," says Dinah, playfully waggling her brows. There was a playful tone to her voice, but there was some truth to the whole thing.

    Laughter comes from Dinah at the statement for what MJ says there. "Well, if she does... sometimes it's the thought that counts," she says with a wink, already stepping towards the cabinets and starting to grab one of the premade arrangements, examining the leaves and things for any imperfections that had snuck in since this morning.

    She plucks at a leaf, removing it.

    Dinah *definitely* recognized Helena, though. A fellow Birds of Prey? How could she not? "Hey, Hel," she says, tidying the flowers in the plastic container. "It'll be about twenty dollars, give or take. A few more dollars if you're using a credit card, the processing fees are killer," she says to MJ.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would grin, "Yup.. Bit too polite to say anything directly, more than happy to deal with it behind my back as soon as my attention is elsewhere and then give a hint. I think they're a lot more communicative than our generation is.. Err, my generation I guess." Not being exactyl sure how old Dinah was.. So that might have come ou ta little wrong depending on how she had phrased it! Smiling over innocently (and apologetically) she would turn over to glance at Helena.
    "I'm not getting in the way of you having another customer here, am I? I can just get these quick and head out so you can tend to your other patron. Guess you're being a busy bee today?" That one might get her an elbow. THere weas only so far one could try and be a buzz.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli smiles, "Hey Dinah, just thought I'd stop in but no hurry" she offers with a nod to Mary Jane. Customers first. And customers before friends who are customers. Because favoritism isn't nice.

She pauses as MJ asks about being in the way of a sale. "We're friends from the same hobby group. You're not interrupting. I'm just looking around at everything first anyway."

Dinah Lance has posed:
    Dinah does give MJ a *look* at the bee joke. "Flower puns ever since this one came in here," says Dinah. Now, it would be bad customer service to elbow customers. Dinah, however, was not a typical shopkeeper. It was Gotham, after all. She gives MJ an 'accidental' nudge with an elbow as she finishes packaging the flowers.

    At what Helena says, Dinah brings her hand up to waggle it in a 'maybe' gesture. "Helena? She's a bum that sneaks in here every so often," she says to Mary Jane. "She just comes in here to look at the flowers, and if she's lucky, I give her a sandwich," she says, with a wink to Helena. "But yes, it's busier than normal, you know?" she says.

    The faint scent of bourbon was hanging around Dinah at this point, even as Dinah slides the finished arrangement to MJ.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would giggle over. "Well, sorry." She says in a 'sorry not sorry' voice and glance over at Helena. Right before she gets the light elbow and then goes over to roll her eyes with a 'suurre' bit on her expression over. "How much will that be then?" She goes to take out her purse of holding. The thing with which was so rummagable it might as well be some sort of black hole as she would go to fish through to get money to pay up for it.
    "Thanks! I'm sure that she'll love them. Or she'll smile politely at me, and soon as I'm out of earshot a accident will happen." Noting the smell of bourbon but not commenting. Not her business anyways and it's not like Dinah was the first one that she'd met on any day that was that way.
    "And hobby group?"

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli nods to Dinah and clarifies to MJ, "She's not wrong. I'm a teacher. Based on what the salary is, I could make more begging for change on a street corner." SHe doesn't do it for the profits.

"And that's mean, Dinah. I know how old the food in your 'fridge is. I don't want food poisoning" she offers sweetly.

Stopping in front of a display of wild flowers she studies the colorful blooms thoughtfully.

Dinah Lance has posed:
    "Oh, twenty dollars, a little more if you use a credit card," says Dinah to MJ at that, turning her attention from Helena back towards MJ. "Well, if that happens, it's the thought that counts, right?" A grin.

    "And I own a florist shop, so... we aren't exactly like... actresses or anything," she says. A beat more, and something seems to catch her. Her eyes narrow. "Huh," she says. Why would she think of that?

    "We have black roses in the back, Hel, if you're hoping to make a statement," she says, sticking out her tongue at the other woman in gentle play.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would smile, "Well, yes. I'm sure that also there'd be some comments from her about how if I really cared I'd pay more attention to what she likes, but she won't bring htat up to my face. She'll just give me that disapproving glare and I'll have no idea what for." She would go to scan through her purse, pulling out a ten, a five, a one dollar bill, a beaten up dollar coin, and then the rest of the cash over in spare change of various coinages being brought out.
    "Uh, sorry, not much of a cash person." Not that a lot of people were in this day and age. Looking over at Dinah and grinning. "I suppose you have the most important job of any of us, teaching. And probably the most regrets of any of us seeing what the next generation is going to be like."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli looks at Dinah, "Hon, please. Black roses and horse's heads left in someone's bed is entirely older than old school."

She smiles to MJ. "I enjoy it. I teach middle school English. Most of the kids are great. The difficult ones just need a bit of extra understanding. It can be hard, but I try to support all of my kids. We've all had difficult times in our lives. Having them during childhood, even teen ages, has a huge impact on adult life. If they only come away from my classes knowing I cared about each of them I'd feel successful."

Dinah Lance has posed:
    "It's the thought that counts," says Dinah to MJ, picking up the cash as she hands it over.

    "I dunno about that. Florists make the American economy work," she says. A grin though, as she does nod her head along to what Helena was saying. "Nothin' cooler than the old school," says Dinah, although at what MJ says about her age... well... she purses her lips, leaning back towards the counter as the others talk.

    "What do you do, miss?" she asks of MJ.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would smile, "Yeah, kids have always had it rough. I htink that we're all particularly good at being hoodlums right when we're teenagers. At least our parents tell us that all the time." her expression sours for a moment - reflecitn fo her own relationship with her parents before it would vanish. "And I suppose you keep things weeded down." Tha tprobably gets another elbow.

"Oh, wannabe actress. You know that phase where you're one of about half a million people who has the same idea and wants to try and hit it big?"

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli nods. "We try as teachers to be a good influence. Or at lesat not a bad one." She picks up the wildflower bouquet. "I should get going, Dinah. I just wanted to stop in and say hi and pick up an arrangement for a coworker's birthday tomorrow"

Looking to MJ, she smiles, "Nice to meet you. Good luck with your career."