Customers hovered around the cart. Well dressed, heads held high. One looked particularly important. Well, that was good. An influential customer base was one of the surest ways to get in to a steady revenue stream.

Hiei drew closer, but, he did not want to spook the young man. Though he had a feeling the sharp eyed woman had already seen him. Something about the way she moved. Like nothing surprised her. Well aware that she was the danger, and little could contest against her.

So, Hiei stayed quiet, at the edge of hearing them with his back turned to the cart and the happenings.

Impress a person with coin to spend, and they'll come back time and time again just to feel-

fifty silver coins,

His eyes widened, and his teeth bared in grimace. He almost looked over his shoulder but kept his head straight ahead, looking at a concert poster with show times. Shit. Shit. No, that was way too low. Even the little bouquets she was selling yesterday went for four a piece without too much trouble, and those were pre-made. No delivery.

Sure, he was buying in bulk but.

"Wow!" he said with a bright cheerfulness as he turned around to face Hanae. He approached the cart with a smile that never quite reached his eyes. Though he had enough practice to squint them too. "Fifty silvers for a dozen bouquets?" He gave a subtle shift of his shoulders to hide his face from the other two, and leaned closer to Hanae. "And delivery service~" the mock sweetness came a little tighter a little dryer. "I'm sure an order like that would go well over a whole gold at Hikari's, and he doesn't even deliver!" he near growled through his teeth. Coughed some, and laughed giddily. "Oh excuse me," he said as he feigned embarrassment and covered his mouth. "Seems I am a little parched,"
 
Fifty silver coins!

Brown eyes widened in surprise at the paltry sum. Luckily, Ginrou didn't have to respond right away, as the petite woman turned her back on them to grab some paper. A little crease furrowed his brow as he tried to parse what the woman might be thinking, with a price like that. This could be what his older brother was always talking about - the 'handsome man' discount one got simply for being personable. But then, he was clearly with a chaperone, so wasn't that awfully forward of the flower seller...?

Out of nowhere came a dark-haired man, who stalked towards the cart like a heron through the shallows, his eyes on something else. Not them, but the flower seller herself. Matsuri gave the newcomer a dirty look, and made no attempt to hide the glare she gave him, clearly trying - and failing, for the way he angled away from them seemed purposeful - to get a better look at his face.

Well, despite the man's odd lean, he was right about it being too good of a deal. Ginrou wasn't a cheapskate. And he didn't want anyone to think he could be so easily flattered, either.

"Surely, the lady meant fifty silver as down payment," Ginrou said, trying to smooth over the misunderstanding. "And fifty upon delivery?"
 
Hanae spun to face Hiei, emotions clearly written on her face. A hint of fear, perhaps dread was a better term, and surprise. She had figured she would see him again, although she hadn’t expected it to be so soon. But Hiei was a business man, was he not? And he needed his payment.

A part of her wanted to tell him the good news, that this was the biggest order she had ever gotten and her sign had worked and she would pay him back in a month if things continued on like they did today! But that look on his face…

A smile that wasn’t real, a smile that didn’t suit Hiei. Forget about his words and voice that made her stomach drop into a pit of anxiety, it was the smile that was the most unnerving thing of all.

One hand clutched a piece of parchment, her other hand was holding onto a thin piece of charcoal to write on. She had left her ink at home. Hanae looked from Hiei, to the silver-haired man, and to the silver-haired woman. Why was there so much tension in the air?

“Hiei, if you need some water I have it.” Hanae said, gesturing over to a woven basket. “It’s in there.” The young florist looked back at Ginrou and smiled brightly before her gaze lingered back to the woman. “Hiei is my business partner.” She explained. Business partner was a good way to put it, wasn’t it? Hopefully it would put the woman at ease as well. “I know he has a scary face but he does the math so I can grow the flowers.” Hanae laughed at her joke that was hardly a joke, a poor attempt to hopefully appease Hiei.

That being said…

“So, uh, Hiei… what was the proper price again?”
 
Hiei made a face like he smelled some piss. Eyes squinting, lips downturned. She just. She just out and told them they were working together.

His eyebrow twitched, and he did everything he could not to let a low growl rumble in his throat. Though he could feel it building there.

He shook his head and regained the mask of false sincerity, tittered a laugh. "Yes, yes! My apologies," he said as he turned to face the noble born customers. Morikami. He crossed his hands at his waist, slipping each into the opposite sleeve of his deep blue robe and gave a graceful bow from his waist, head dipped low to show utmost respect. He rose, and he had his well-worn smile on. "The proper price is the price a business quotes," he said pleasant and cool.

"Fifty silvers for the flowers, twenty for the delivery of such a large order, and twenty for the rushed nature of the order," they could have easily gotten a gold and then some for all this. But the keen eyed woman was watching them like a hawk. "If a friend lets us know you gave them a recommendation, we'll knock off any delivery fees on future orders placed for the month," Hiei made a small shift in his footing, his shoulders and hips angled toward the sign. Pocketful of Petals. Its neatly painted script reminded them of the name.
 
The man had a name, Hiei, and he was introduced as the flower seller's business partner. But if that were the case, they had an odd relationship indeed. Ginrou nodded along politely to the man's breakdown of the price, but his sister was less keen about the whole thing. She wouldn't stop glaring daggers at the newcomer. Her hand wasn't on her sword yet, but Ginrou knew that expression, and it was one worth being afraid of.

He felt Matsuri's hand on his arm. She turned him round so that both their backs were facing away from the flower stand, and hooked her arm over Gin's head to pull him down to her height. The boxes still stuffed under his arm shifted, but didn't fall.

"I don't like the look of this guy," she said, voice low. "This isn't some sort of elaborate... flower racket... is it?"

Ginrou cleared his throat. "If its a ruse, they're very bad at it," he reassured her. "We're still getting a deal."

Nodding solemnly, Matsuri let go of him. She crossed her arms and pushed a loud breath of air from her nose. She stood that way for a few unpleasant seconds.

"Fine," she said finally. She twisted back round to face the flower seller, pointedly ignoring her 'business partner'. Reaching into a hidden pocket of her jacket, Matsuri pulled out a coin pouch and an ornate slate of wood. It was carved and painted with a circular sigil, showing the stylized form of a wolf.

"Our residence is in the Gold District. Show this at the gate, and they'll let you in." Matsuri counted out ninety silver, and offered both the coins and the seal to the flower seller. Yellow eyes smouldered with a wrath that was probably meant for the man beside her, but was leveled at the flower seller herself. "And put that charcoal away, I don't want you dirtying our family seal."
 
How lucky for her that Hiei was so good at math. Perhaps from his earlier words, Hanae hadn’t bothered in lowering down the price to her original sum. He had a point. Delivering it should cost more, shouldn’t it? Although she wasn’t too sure about the twenty silver because the order had been rushed… it’s not like it was the young Morikami’s fault for wanting to get their mother flowers on the day of her arrival. Regardless, she had enough sense to be quiet, still smiling cheerfully at the two.

Her wide smile did little to hide the anxiety of Matsuri’s palpable annoyance.

Somehow, underneath Matsuri’s glare, Hanae only smiled wider, more insistent than she had done before. Dark eyes were uplifted to small crescent moons, her red lips thin and strained. Yet Hanae smiled nonetheless, putting the charcoal away and wiping her hands clean of it’s residue.

“Yes, Lady Morikami,” Hanae said, showing that her hands were clean before she did take the seal and the silver coins. What a blessing! A true, real-life blessing! It had to be the sign, it had to be! Or maybe it was from her gifts to Kishi. Hirawa women usually ended up marrying a daughter to a dragonkin at least once a generation to bring about good fortune. Perhaps Kishi was her good luck charm?

Hanae felt her cheeks flush with joy.

“Thank you so much for your patronage!” She shouted before dipping her head into a low bow. A single coin was dropped by accident. Hanae stood up, her back straight, and looked at Matsuri and Ginrou sheepishly. “I promise,” She said as excitement began to sizzle throughout her limbs from her heart, “That everyone will love them. My carnations have always been part of my pride and joy.” Hanae announced boldly, and turned towards Hiei, her dark eyes bright and hopeful.

She’d have to give Kishi weed every day if it meant she could be blessed as she was today.
 
Entitlement. How he despised it. But he squeezed the muscles of his face all the more and bowed as Hanae had. While she may have despised his dancing, it helped him mirror her enthused bow with only the slighest of delays. To the untrained eye, it may have even looked rehearsed. Professional.

Though he found it hard to keep a straight face with all of Hanae's roiling excitement. For someone so small, she was loud. It had Hiei smile small and turn away from her.

She... oversold it a bit. But, well. Now was not the time for performance critiques. And it added a bit of earnest charm to the affair. He met her eyes for a moment. A bit of warmth there in them as he gave her a nod, he turned his eyes toward the siblings, gaze averted, head slightly bowed as was respectful of one of lower station.

"We will have them delivered by sunset," Hiei took up the charcoal stick, and with quick clean characters, jotted down the appropriate notes. He wasn't holding the seal, so it shouldn't be a problem. The last bit of information was the prices agreed upon. Itemized and clearly delineated.

Customer- Morikami Clan

A dozen custom Bouquets of Carnations 5 silver per bouquet... reduced to 50 Silver total

Delivery 4 silver per bouquet... reduced to 20 silver total

Rush charge for same day delivery of large order... 20 silver

Total agreed upon... 90 silver pieces

Seller- Pocketful of Petals

He snatched up the paper, turned it neatly in his hands, and presented it to the siblings. "Please, let us know if the record is agreeable,"
 
All Ginrou could do was watch as the two flower sellers bowed low to his sister - and to him, he supposed. When he'd first stopped by the little flower stall, the woman had been so kind and generous. She was still kind, but now there was something else creased in the corner of her eyes. An invisible line had been drawn between them, somewhere during the conversation.

He felt a little surge of relief when the flower seller loudly proclaimed her excitement over the carnations, seeing a bit of that earnestness again. But it was short lived. The other man - Hiei, he remembered - took up the charcoal and drew the line anew. Professional. Clean, practiced movements.

The paper stayed in the man's hands for a moment too long. Matsuri wouldn't take it. She crossed her arms, her chin held high and her lips pressed into a thin line.

Ginrou reached out and took the written agreement instead. Lashes low, his eyes darted over the numbers on the paper. By the prices marked there, they'd gotten nearly forty silvers discounted. The message between the numbers was clear - you won't get this kind of deal again. A smirk flicked across Ginrou's face. He gave a little hum of amusement.

"More than agreeable," he said, as he handed the paper back. "Just one last thing - what names should I give to the gatekeeper?"
 
Hanae had awkwardly crouched down to pick up the coin that had fallen. It was good to use one’s leg’s instead of back, that’s how kept from needing a cane when older. She was careful with the seal, and somehow, perhaps due to the good luck of the day, managed to pick up the coin without toppling over or dropping more coins on the ground.

She stood up. One coin fell from her hand and onto the ground. She looked down at it, missing the men’s brief conversation until a question was asked. Hanae’s gaze broke from her hard stare at the ground and when to the silver-haired man. Was Pocketful of Petals not a suitable enough name? Shouldn’t her business name be used?

Or maybe… maybe this was how a business owner built a solid relationship with repeated customers!

Hanae remembered that after she took Master Midori’s seminar on becoming your own boss and thriving in this poor economy that he did say a personal touch was needed. It would make them feel special, and everyone loved feeling special.

“Hanae and Hiei,” Hanae answered before Hiei could. First names should express that Hanae was giving the Morikami siblings the encouragement that they would be friends! Or perhaps develop a relationship in the future? Hanae was still smiling through her whirlwind of thoughts, and without thinking, bowed again, this time out of gratitude and farewell. She completed four bows in the span of five seconds, holding the last one a bit longer.

If she could have she would have shouted out a series of ‘thank you’ and other platitudes, but she refrained from doing so. She could do so after dropping off the flowers, perhaps. Or, maybe next time they ordered from her!
 
The transaction was accepted, but the young man asked for more information. It strained Hiei's smile, even bowed as he was before them.

Hanae coughed up an answer. Casual, and easy. Hiei breathed a little easier himself. When Hanae rose, he rose with her. When she bowed, he bowed with her. A shadow to her budding disposition. They held the last bow longer.

The final farewell. The end of the act.

"If that is all you would have of us, Mistress and Master Morikami," Hiei said coolly. "Please excuse us, we have much work to do in order to fulfill your order within the agreed upon schedule," still, he dared not to be so impertinent as to rise.

They, after all, were of noble standing. He was but a common street vendor.
 
"Hanae and Hiei," Gin repeated the names warmly. "I hope we can continue working together." It was the polite thing to say after striking a beneficial deal, but he seemed to mean it.

The dark haired man was quick to hurry them away after that, and Matsuri was quick to oblige. "Alright okay that's great, let's go Gin. We've been walking around all morning and I am sooo hungry."

Ginrou found himself being pushed in a certain direction by his sister again, this time towards the street and away from the flower stand. He twisted round and snuck a wave towards the pair, before turning to follow his sister. One of the benefits of being the younger brother was not needing to be that formal all the time.

The boxes and bags Ginrou had been carrying awkwardly under one arm were redistributed back into both of his arms. Foot traffic was starting to pick up as the sun rose higher, and Gin didn't notice when one of the smaller boxes fell to the ground. It was a long black rectangle tied up with a silver ribbon, and it looked like whatever was inside was expensive.

The box clattered to the cobblestone in front of the flower cart, left behind by the two siblings. Ahead, Gin's pale hair swished around a corner as he disappeared into the crowd, blissfully unaware of his mistake.
 
Continue working together!

Hanae beamed like the sun, and when the two siblings, now one known as Gin, walked away, Hanae stood up and turned around to put the coins into her coin purse, finally. Which she could have done all along, or perhaps even just set it on her cart….

She turned back around, bending down low to pick up the coin that seemed to love the ground. She placed that one in her coin purse as well, still bristling from the excitement.

“What an auspicious day!” Hanae exclaimed, looking at the Morikami seal. For a moment, her smile dimmed as a faraway look clouded her dark eyes. Her thumb traced along the wooden sigil. She placed it down by her coin purse, heading over to her basket. Surely this good news would lessen the bit of awkwardness between her and Hiei. Their last encounter…

Hanae needed to apologize to him. Opening it up, she pulled out a small metal box. A lunch box, not decorated with a cloth or anything to show any insight into its owner. She also took the canister of cooled barley tea. She pivoted on her heel, hardly registering the black box left behind by their recent customers in the road.

“I!” She began loudly, then paused and cleared her throat. She spoke softly. “You were thirsty earlier, so….” Hanae held out the items to Hiei and dipped her head. “Please enjoy this as my apology for yesterday when—when I spoke wrongly of you.” She brought her head back up, her gaze meeting Hiei’s. “And please forgive me for overstepping in our relationship. I will ensure that I behave properly from here on out.” Hanae said firmly.

Then added a meek, “but if you could help me deliver this order I’d appreciate it.”
 
There she went again, loud ecstatic. He couldn't help but laugh a bit at the way she seemed to shake. Her hands and limbs almost seemed to vibrate with excitement as she looked to the seal, and the way she smiled.

"Auspicious," he nodded in agreement. "I suppose we could call it that, yes," best to save the talk of hard numbers for another time. The service charge an delivery fee would make sure they made some coin. Likely more coin than the cart had made all day yesterday. Small, meaningful improvements. Those were oft the ones that lead to long term success.

Least, that's what he had learned over the years.

His eyes had fallen to the flower cart, and all the bright blooms that stirred with the wind. "Should probably push these into some shade," he said absent mindedly, for his skin felt the heat of the highnoon sun, and some part of his mind recalled lazy summer days tending a lonely flower pot. A soft voice giving him that piece of advice.

I!

Hiei jumped some, eyes wide as they snapped to find Hanae. She cleared her throat, and offered him something. He nod, and took up the plain tin box, weighty with something inside, and the tea, cool to the touch. She bowed, and he was caught a bit off guard by it all. Struck all the more when her earnest gaze came up and caught his. Her words sure and confident. Until they weren't.

He smiled at her request.

"Of course," he answered. "We are business partners, after all," he said easily. Raised the tin box and the corked stoneware bottle. "Thank you," he wasn't sure if he could so easily forgive all she had said but... "I appreciate the gesture, Hanae," he said, eyes still fixed on the box and the tea. It was so thoughtful of her.

Even if it was to make up for her misstep.

He dipped his head in turn, raised the gifts to his crown, and held them there a long moment. A sign of appreciation, and acceptance of what energies came his way. He rose up, slowly, and put the items down. His eyes looked past her, and he saw a black shape he could have sworn the young man was carrying.

"Hmm," he sounded, and paced over to the box quickly enough, picked it up, and brought it back to the cart. Stopped next to Hanae and gave it an investigatory shake. "Wonder what it is," he said with a sly grin.
 
With everything smoothed over between them, at least to the point that now hopefully there would be no awkwardness, Hanae was more than happy to give the items to Hiei. She went to go get something, and when she heard the rattling of a box and Hiei’s question, she turned, raised up her index finger.

“It’s nothing special, rice and pickled turnips and—“ She looked at the black box, wrapped with a silver ribbon. “Hiei, no!” Hanae shouted, her face getting pale. She quickly went towards the man, reaching out for the box but stopped before she was even close. “It could be fragile,” Hanae whispered to him, pointing at the box. “More fragile than glass, maybe.” She added, her eyes darting back to that box.

“It must belong to the Morikami’s.” She decided.
 
He grinned wider. Noticed that she didn't actually try to stop him. "Could be broken already," he said matter of fact, and gave it another little shake. It... didn't sound broken. It sounded solid, heavy. "It's probably expensive," he teased, gave her a sly look, then put the box on the cart between them. "We can return it to them with the delivery of the bouquets," he added, and looked over the sign she had painted. Gave it a nod of his chin. "The sign looks nice," he said and picked up the food stuffs. Cracked open the tin box, and leaned against the cart.

The familiar sourness of pickled turnips and blanched broccoli with the tang of soy sauce. Pale and dark roasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top. He smirked, and took up the chopsticks laid neatly across.

"It looks lovely," he said, and raised a chopstick to his crown with another grateful bow of the head. Picked up a turnip and popped it into his mouth. "Taste good too," he motioned to her with the chopsticks, before grabbing up a piece of broccoli, dark thin sauce dripped off its stem. "Want to share?" he asked. And offered her the saucy vegetable.
 
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