The twins couldn't stop staring at the piece of paper that had just been handed to them by their sister Luna, who had arrived at the door to the small one bedroom apartment the twins had been sharing in the residential district. It was all typical enough at first; they exchanged warm hugs, It's so good to see yous, and how have you beens.
Then, with the simple gesture of reaching into her purse and pulling out a piece of paper, along with an ominous “Oh! Right! I have something to show you two!” and a bit of a mischievous grin, Luna managed to render her sisters entirely dumbfounded for a couple minutes.
Luna grabbed a desk chair from one of the twins' computer desks and wheeled it over, siting down across from the sofa they were sitting on and putting her feet up on the coffee table, grinning madly at the pair of them.
Finally, Rose broke the silence first.
“So mothers...bought you a storefront with an apartment above it?”
“Bought us! See? Your names are on it too!” Luna corrected Rose gleefully.
“A storefront with several rooms and extra space for a hydroponics setup. For us to sell the cannabis flowers I grow and provide healing to anyone who wants it. And an apartment three times as big as the one we're staying in with extra rooms, a balcony, and tiny backyard?” Azalea confusedly recited, still staring at the official-looking document which listed the three of them as owners of the building in question.
“Well see,” Luna began to explain matter-of-fact-ly, “the extra space and bedrooms are because moms know the magic number."
“Oh.” Azalea simply said.
“Right.” Rose finished, a knowing look crossing both their faces.
The “magic number” was, of course, a reference to the number of members of the Snowflower family congregating in any one area. As a general rule, if at least three Snowflowers start living somewhere together, more are bound to follow, according to the clan matriarchs' observations over their many years of experience raising a rather large family. Snowflowers were pack animals by nature; they might not all always live in the same place, but they did like to travel and settle in “clumps” if they could.
“Um...” Azalea finally tore her eyes away from the document. “Why didn't you mention this over the phone before you came? All you said was 'can I stay at your place for awhile.'”
Luna's grin became so wide that if it grew any wider the top of her head seemed like it would just fall right off.
“Becauuuuuse, that would spoil the surprise! Besides, I knew you'd both say yes.”
The twins exchanged glances and knowing sighs before Rose responded, “Well, I'm tempted to be indignant now on principal but...yes, I do believe that was a correct assumption.”
“Well, I guess we've got packing to do. Or...not,” Azalea added, looking around at all the still-packed boxes of stuff the twins hadn't gotten around to yet. For the best, since they'd have plenty of other work ahead of them in cleaning up the place, applying for a license to sell cannabis, actually setting up the damn place, and oh right, still had to think of a name they could all agree on. The next few weeks were going to be busy....
[insert few-week time skip here]
Then, with the simple gesture of reaching into her purse and pulling out a piece of paper, along with an ominous “Oh! Right! I have something to show you two!” and a bit of a mischievous grin, Luna managed to render her sisters entirely dumbfounded for a couple minutes.
Luna grabbed a desk chair from one of the twins' computer desks and wheeled it over, siting down across from the sofa they were sitting on and putting her feet up on the coffee table, grinning madly at the pair of them.
Finally, Rose broke the silence first.
“So mothers...bought you a storefront with an apartment above it?”
“Bought us! See? Your names are on it too!” Luna corrected Rose gleefully.
“A storefront with several rooms and extra space for a hydroponics setup. For us to sell the cannabis flowers I grow and provide healing to anyone who wants it. And an apartment three times as big as the one we're staying in with extra rooms, a balcony, and tiny backyard?” Azalea confusedly recited, still staring at the official-looking document which listed the three of them as owners of the building in question.
“Well see,” Luna began to explain matter-of-fact-ly, “the extra space and bedrooms are because moms know the magic number."
“Oh.” Azalea simply said.
“Right.” Rose finished, a knowing look crossing both their faces.
The “magic number” was, of course, a reference to the number of members of the Snowflower family congregating in any one area. As a general rule, if at least three Snowflowers start living somewhere together, more are bound to follow, according to the clan matriarchs' observations over their many years of experience raising a rather large family. Snowflowers were pack animals by nature; they might not all always live in the same place, but they did like to travel and settle in “clumps” if they could.
“Um...” Azalea finally tore her eyes away from the document. “Why didn't you mention this over the phone before you came? All you said was 'can I stay at your place for awhile.'”
Luna's grin became so wide that if it grew any wider the top of her head seemed like it would just fall right off.
“Becauuuuuse, that would spoil the surprise! Besides, I knew you'd both say yes.”
The twins exchanged glances and knowing sighs before Rose responded, “Well, I'm tempted to be indignant now on principal but...yes, I do believe that was a correct assumption.”
“Well, I guess we've got packing to do. Or...not,” Azalea added, looking around at all the still-packed boxes of stuff the twins hadn't gotten around to yet. For the best, since they'd have plenty of other work ahead of them in cleaning up the place, applying for a license to sell cannabis, actually setting up the damn place, and oh right, still had to think of a name they could all agree on. The next few weeks were going to be busy....
[insert few-week time skip here]
On a street somewhere in downtown Manta Carlos City there was a modestly sized building with an apartment on top and storefront below, with an ornate wooden sign out front that read, in a swirling cursive script, “Three Flowers” and then below in smaller lettering, “cannabis shop and magical wellness center.” In the door was a piece of paper that read “ask about magical healing free of charge!”
A pair of hanging flowerpots ornamented the underside of the awning outside the storefront, framing the door in long flowering vines. In the window by the door was a standard “open” and “closed” flip sign next to a chart showing what would be their normal business hours, which started in the afternoon and extended well past sunset so that they could service both diurnal and nocturnal customers.
Inside the shop, through an indoor trellis with moonflower (ipomoea alba) vines just beginning to creep across the sides, there was a lobby that was entirely chock full of potted plants. They were all clean, neatly tended and arranged in a way pleasing to the eye, but they were everywhere; pots along the walls, in the windowsill, the counter, and so on, many of them with vibrant flowers in all colors imaginable.
The room itself had wooden flooring and the counter-top was a dark gray granite. There were doors on either side of the room, one labeled “wellness center” on the right, and on the left, “cannabis shop.” There was also a door behind the counter marked “employees only.” Against the left wall there was a stone water fountain made to look like a tiny babbling brooklet. There were a few wooden padded chairs sitting around the lobby and soft harp music was playing on low volume throughout the room.
Behind the lobby counter stood three eager, anxious, and excited elves who, at the very present moment, were all looking at each other with expressions that conveyed “what next?”
“The plants are set up in the hydroponics room and I've got all the cured buds packaged and ready for sale...” Azalea said, thinking aloud.
“The signs are all put up, the products on display and the initial inventory taken...” Rose recounted.
“And the rooms are all ready on the wellness center side in case we actually get any patients.” Luna added, with a note of finality.
“So...we all ready?” Azalea asked while looking questioningly at the other two.
There was a pause as neither answered her for a few moments. Then Luna's face lit up and she exclaimed, “Duh! We need to unlock the door and flip the sign to open or people won't know we're ready for them.”
Luna shook her head in disbelief of their collective oversight, and walked around the counter, unlocked the door, and put one hand on the sign. She paused, took a breath, and flipped it around so that the “open” side was facing out the window. Then she faced the twins and beamed, declaring “Open for business!”
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Aaron would soon slip into the store, a cloak like hood that she would push off, her nose twitching a bit as it picked up the different scents, hee red eyes looking over everything. It was a nice shop, new, she was enjoying the different scents in the air, there were things in here she couldn't really buy, and some things wouldn't work with her biology, but looking never hurt.