Work Text:
Carolina's feet softly hit the ground in a rhythmic pattern. Not quite a march, but old habits die hard.
Her red eyes glistened and threatened anyone that dare come her way - even if she meant anything but harm.
And today, she wanted nothing but peace. Real peace.
Her very few leads had dragged her somewhere on this planet, and she could see why. Flowers bloomed on stringing vines, sprigs of various grasses brushed her ankles.
She looked up at the shop's sign, still running after all these years. Moss covered half of the exterior, likely not removed for aesthetic purposes. Aforementioned vines adorned the front. They seemed manipulated to form an arch over the small glass door. A quaint place.
She had to duck down slightly in order to enter.
A small bell on the door signified her arrival. The comfortably conglomerated aroma of the shop itself brought her shoulders to relax involuntarily and for her lungs to exhale any air it kept hostage.
The atmosphere beckoned her to sit and rest a while, forget her troubles, forget her responsibilities.
Her eyes focused on the young woman shelving products behind the counter. She had a brown braid down to her lower back, decorated with flowers of all sorts of colors. The counter - wood with a top unlike one Carolina had seen before. Resin coated leaves, various grasses and flowers, preserved in time as a decoration to symbolize the nature the little establishment drew its profit from.
It brought a soft smile to her face.
"Hello?" She greeted in the tone too soft to be attributed to her intimidating appearance.
The girl whipped around to face Carolina, still holding two bottles of what looked like shampoo.
"Oh! Welcome! Sorry, I was a little distracted-" The girl flashed a nervous grin, obviously attempting to conceal the anxiety burdening her soul at the way Carolina towered over her.
"I'm looking for a perfume. I don't know if you still have it, or if I'm even in the right place..." Carolina scanned the shelves, like that would even help in her endeavor.
"A perfume...? What was it called?" The girl set down the small shampoo bottles on the counter to be dealt with at a later time.
"I don't know. All I have is...uh."
Carolina dug into her brown satchel, retrieving an ocean blue scarf faded by time.
"I have what it smells like. That's about it. I think it's a little less flowery than what this smells like but I'm not sure..."
Carolina held out the scarf to the girl. She made it clear by her gentle yet firm grip that she was simply to smell, not take.
The girl leaned forward slightly, waving the smell closer with her hand.
"Um..." The girl brought a hand to her chin in thought.
Carolina put the scarf back in her bag, nestling it in a reserved spot.
"Give me a moment," the girl said quietly, before exiting the counter area and disappearing through a door labeled "staff only" in flowery decorations.
Carolina kept an artificial hand on the accessory in her bag. She was always slightly apprehensive at the thought of bringing it anywhere, afraid of tainting the smell or appearance. Such a self indulgent endeavor she'd gone on. Spending time finding anchors to ghosts instead of spending it saving galaxies.
Soon enough, the girl came back out with a small bottle with a faded label.
"Um...we don't really make these anymore. My grammy was the only one who really made them and, she...yeah." The girl rubbed her arm and avoided looking at those awful red eyes.
"...How many bottles are left?" Carolina tilted her head, holding the bottle she was handed gently.
It smelled exactly like her.
A lump formed in her throat.
"Um...about seven," the girl stammered.
"How much?" Carolina blurted out.
The girl stared for a moment, hugging herself with that same apprehension. "Um, they're not really for sale anymore...but I guess if you paid enough...? My momma wouldn't mind, I guess. Let me talk to her."
She went through a different door than before, leaving Carolina with her thoughts once more.
Her thoughts, and the olfactory essence of someone long gone.
Lora. Her big sister. Gone in an instant without a goodbye. Left only with a garment barely holding onto her being.
Lora. Someone she'd never get to see again.
Keep it together, Carolina...
"Uhm, ma'am?"
She was somewhat startled by the girl's voice.
Then she named a price - a hefty one, too. But nothing Carolina couldn't cover.
"...Thank you," Carolina said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. "I was sent on something of a wild goose chase trying to find this. You can keep the change." Carolina turned around to exit.
It must have been a mistake - how much extra cash had been left on the counter. But before the girl could call out, Carolina was gone in a red flash.