"You don't know my sister! She's so smart, she'll have at least 8 different ways to get of my body by the time she hears what happened," Tolly whined, catching sight of the mandrake and picking it up with a relieved sigh. "How much will it cost?"
"Think they're about twenty." She said, putting the book back down. "So I doubt you'll be getting murdered anytime soon. Just make sure to feed them, and don't give them too much water, they're like humans that way- and maybe don't throw them out the window this time." She bit her tongue. "Sorry, rambling again."
"No, it's fine," Tolly reassured, rifling around for his wallet with the hand that wasn't holding Fey's new mandrake. "I like the way you talk. It makes me feel really put together by comparison," he joked. He finally dug out a 20 and slapped it down on the counter in front of Sage.
"Thank you." She took the bill, putting it in the register and adjusting her oversized sweater and fixing her skirt. "And you do have a point, I never speak in a way that makes sense- aaaaaand I'm doing it again."
"You make sense. You just kinda keep the conversation going on your own for a while." He shrugged, shooting her a flirty smile as he picked up the mandrake off the counter. "I dunno. I think it's kind of cute."
Sage blushed, chewing her lip. "Maybe to you, but most normal people just get annoyed." She said, leaning against the counter. "Besides, it's a bad habit anyway."
"Excuse you, I am a paragon of normality! And I'm positive most people think you're just as adorable as I do," Tolly said, shooting Sage a quelling look. "Your real bad habit is chewing on your lip like that."
Sage rolled her eyes. "One on the list of many." She muttered, looking down. "And you are a far, far cry from normal."
"Don't talk bad about yourself, Sage! I think you're a lovely human being, even if you're definitely lying about me being abnormal." Tolly bent forward to take Sage's hand with a wide smile.
Sage blushed harder, looking anywhere but him. "If there is one thing I pride myself on, it's my honesty. You are the most abnormal person I have met." She said, smiling slightly.
"Sage Smith, I'm no different from any other witch! If you want to see abnormal, you should meet my sister." Tolly shook his head at the thought, laughing quietly. "And speaking of my sister, do you have anything cool that might make her forgive me?"
"…Perhaps." She said, hopping over the counter, boots making a slight thud on the floor. She walked over to the display stand. "Daisies for stability and reliability, Purple Hyacinths for forgiveness, and Daffodils for chivalry and new beginnings." She rambled, pulling out some of the flowers. "Sure to make her forgive you!"
((I spent embarrassingly long looking that up…))
(lol, it's fine. flower language is complex and interesting and i think it's really cool!!)
"Perfect!" Tolly pulled her into a joyful hug and looked over the bouquet with a smile. "It's so pretty! Fey's such an aesthetic ho, she'll love it! Thank's Sage, you're a lifesaver. Plus with your magic, she'll be sure to forgive me"
((I know!!! Great for working in subtle symbolism too))
She smiled slightly, tensing up a bit at the sudden hug. "No problem, Tolly!" She said, laughing a bit. "Now, go keep your sister from murdering you, and I'll see you later.
(Yessss!!!! I've put it on the crow rhyme level of subtle symbolism and I try to use it in my more ~serious~ works)
Tolly pulled her closer for a second and then released her entirely and dashed out the door, bouquet and mandrake in hand. Fey was going to love this so much that she'd totally forget to be mad at him."You're the best, Sage! I love you! I'll see you the next time I do something dumb!"
Sage's whole brain short circuited, so good job Tolly. She shook herself down to refocus, head back behind the counter to read until the next customer walked in.
Tolly came back to the shop the next day, noticeably more sober than he had been yesterday. "Fey's pissed because I didn't pay you for the bouquet and I didn't even notice until she asked about how much it cost and I realized! I'm so sorry!"
Sage smiled, biting back a laugh. "It;s fine, Manager doesn't know. It wasn't much, anyway." She said, voice dropping to a low whisper. "Also, you missed out on how I lost my voice last night working the late shift." Her voice sounded more horse than usual, and she was sipping some tea from a thermos.
(I'm heading to bed. Goodnight!)
Tolly's face scrunched up in offense and worry. "First of all, I really do feel bad! You can't just let me steal stuff from the store, that's wrong! And second, you sound awful! What happened?"
((Goodnight!))
Sage shook her head, still smiling. "No one was in the store, and sang along to the Ramones and Nirvana a bit too passionately." She said, shrugging. "And I still can't match Joey's voice."
"Who can? I was worried you got in another screaming match with the cursed begonias." Tolly shivered theatrically and gave the flowers a dour glare. "But anyways I'm getting off topic! How much was the bouquet?"
"About ten bucks. They're really common flowers and we didn't use that many." She said casually, taking another sip of tea.
Tolly narrowed his eyes at her for a second but pulled out a 20 and slapped it down onto the counter. "Sounds good! Thanks for dealing with my dumb ass."
She smiled, getting out the change. "Anytime, Tolly. It's half of my job."
"And here I thought we were friends," he joked, shooting a smirk back at her. "You wound me, Sage. And keep the change, you deserve it!"