Why Am I Like This? (Rusti)

[honey satheesh varma]

October 2025

There was no rule against buying flowers for oneself, even without an occasion for it. Some people might have found that unusual, but Honey didn't care very much about other people's expectations. If it brought her happiness and didn't hurt anyone or anything, what was the problem? Besides, she liked the selection of bouquets that Forget-Me-Knot Florist sold, and it wasn't far from her café. Why not support another business in Horizont Alley if she could?

Honey, who wasn't too concerned with some of the more vicious plants available, was careful to bypass a Fanged Geranium as she entered the shop. She had to be cautious about what she purchased, anyway, because of her Kneazle, Knickerbocker; she wouldn't be able to admire anything if it was too far out of his reach, either.

"Good morning," she smiled to Rusti Flint, the girl who ran the shop. If Horizont Alley weren't such an up-and-coming area, Honey thought, there probably would have been more of a fuss about so many businesses run by relatively younger women on one street, but she also hadn't received any complaints about it.

aurelia edith flint

[aurelia edith flint]

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Obligations. Why did everything always have to be about what she was obligated to do? Meeting up with her half-siblings, playing peace-keeper for her sister and her ex – literally everything. Rusti had wrongfully assumed that the requirements for living her life peacefully had already been met. While school had been horrid during her seventh year, with everything that had come to light about her family, at least it was another check mark on her list of things to do. She played the roles that she was supposed to play, got her inheritance, and moved on. But here she was, pissed off at everything under the sun at nine in the morning.

Her sister’s personality had definitely rubbed off on her more than she thought, and she was desperately trying to fight against it. The flower shop was supposed to be a relaxing place to be, where she could care about the plats and helping people find what they needed. Instead, she had a killer headache from all the stress she had put herself through to meet the Macmillans for dinner. It was Dusti’s idea to go, and she only tagged along with her twin because there was no way she was going to let her sister deal with that on her own. That was like playing chicken in the middle of a muggle highway. Eventually someone was going to get hit. At least Rusti had the ability to spot when things were getting bad before they actually did. The last thing she wanted was for her sister to get charged with assault. That would be infinitely more exhausting and stressful than what she was currently dealing with, too.

Currently, she was nursing a cup of tea behind the store counter, hoping it would take the edge off of the throbbing in her head. It seemed to be working, but the sharp jingle of the overhead bell at the front of the store felt like it went straight through her head. That was going to have to be taken down at some point during the day, because she was not going to be suffering every time a customer came in.

She looked up from her cup to see a relatively familiar face: Honey, who ran the cat café nearby. Rusti had visited a few times, much to her own cat’s annoyance when she returned home, but it was hard to stay away from all the cats at the café! “Morning,” she mimicked, hoping to put a little bit of energy and effort into her greeting, each syllable feeling like another stab into the back of her head. She was starting to think that it probably would have better to stay closed today, except she needed the money. Somehow that had never been a problem before the store, but the place really liked to suck up her finances. It was the only reason why she hadn’t hired any help yet, and did it all on her own. “Looking for anything in particular?” she asked the other woman, straightening up behind the counter from her previously slouched position. She still had to put on a good image, if only for her business’s sake.

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[honey satheesh varma]

October 2025

Rusti greeted her and wished her a good morning. She was back behind the counter with a cup of something—probably tea, from the look of it, though Honey was conditioned to spot tea after years of working at, and then owning, the tearoom at the hospital. “Looking for anything in particular?” Rusti checked with her, readjusting her posture, though Honey wasn’t particularly bothered by it. She understood that it got to be a drag to stand around on her feet all day, running from task to task.

“Hmm. Not really,” Honey answered her; she didn’t have anything particular in mind. It was for her personal use and not the cat café, so it didn’t have to look a certain way or avoid clashing with the décor—not that Honey was so concerned with things clashing or looking too matchy-matchy. “As long as it’s safe for cats and Kneazles,” she added. That was her one real criterion, she thought to herself as she looked around the shop a bit. She then turned back to Rusti, considering the selection that she had available. “Maybe some sunflowers?” she mused, readjusting her glasses as she spoke. Sunflowers were nice for autumn, and they were relatively cheerful flowers.

aurelia edith flint

[aurelia edith flint]

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Rusti was sort of caught off guard by Honey’s response, even though she knew she shouldn’t have been. Plenty of people, customers and locals alike, stopped by just to browse. While the shop was a florist and she had custom orders to produce, apparently people also enjoyed looking at her displays. And then there were those that thought she was an apothecary, despite her signage and displays saying otherwise. It wasn’t her fault that people couldn’t read. The oddest part? There were times where they needed parts of plants that she sold. Obviously she didn’t market her magical stock nearly as much as she did her non-magical plants, but they still existed in a small back room. Other times, she sort of just assumed that the person wandering about knew what they wanted. So Honey’s initial statement confused her a bit.

But sunflowers? Rusti had those. And quite a few of them too. She assumed Honey had seen the small display outside, though they weren’t completely up yet with the morning sun. Sometime around midday they’d be at peak tilt, following along with the fiery ball’s trajectory. Personally, she loved having them at the front of the shop because they popped with their vibrancy and personality. “I might have something made already, actually,” Rusti mused, holding up a finger for Honey to wait while she went to go get it. A customer had come in a few days earlier looking for a bouquet with sunflowers, and Rusti had put a few together to give them a good idea of what she could do. While she never considered her work a failure (since pre-built bouquets sold just as well as custom orders did), this one had been sadly sitting on one of the window sills waiting for it’s time to shine. Grabbing it, she brought it back to the front of the store and set it down on the counter so Honey could see.

“So, obviously we have sunflowers, and these are orange lilies,” she pointed at each, and then to the final flower variety, “and these ones are mums. Varying colours to help round it out.” She pulled back from the bouquet to let the other woman observe them more closely if she wanted to. “And I have full on sunflowers too, if you just want them. I think they look pretty good sitting out in front of store fronts around here.”

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[honey satheesh varma]

October 2025

At her mention of sunflowers, Rusti told her that she might have something made already. That was great. Honey didn't want anything that she ordered to be too much trouble. That was just how her personality was; she was an agreeable person who tended to stay out of other people's way when she could. She wasn't one to make a fuss about things if they weren't perfect or completely to her liking, and she didn't doubt that whatever Rusti had made already would be perfectly fine.

Honey waited where she stood, as Rusti had indicated for her to do. It wasn't a long wait or terribly boring at all, and Rusti soon returned with the ready-made bouquet, which she set on the counter. "So, obviously we have sunflowers, and these are orange lilies," Rusti pointed out, to which Honey nodded. "And these ones are mums. Varying colors to help round it out." The color choice did look really nice. "And I have full on sunflowers too, if you just want them. I think they look pretty good sitting out in front of store fronts around here."

Just sunflowers alone would look nice out in front of the café, Honey thought. "Hmmm," she vocalized as she considered her options. "I'm not sure about the lilies around my Kneazle, but I could probably put that one somewhere he can't get to it… Would it be too much, do you think, to get both?" Honey asked, looking to Rusti. "Not, er, in Galleons, I mean," she clarified for her; even if it was a little bit more expensive, it would be alright. "Just as decorations… Like, maybe two of just the sunflowers for outside the café, one on each side, and then the bouquet with the mums and lilies for my flat?"

aurelia edith flint

[aurelia edith flint]

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“Right!” Rusti sort of exclaimed, suddenly feeling stupid that she had forgotten lilies were toxic for cats. She should have remembered that, since she actively kept her own cat away from them. That was the exact reason he stayed at home, far away from the shop. Knowing Nibs, he would be nibbling on everything, the exact reason for his name in the first place.

As for having both on display at the café, she didn’t see anything wrong with it. If the sunflowers were going to be outside, then there wasn’t really anything conflicting. And even if they did happen to be next to each other, sunflowers looked better in groups, at least in her own opinion. “No, I don’t think it would be busy at all. They’re themed off each other, at the very least, so having them altogether in one place wouldn’t be bad either.” Though that was entirely up to Honey in the end. Having the bouquet for home would look just as nice, but Rusti still pictured it on the counter at the café. “I can take the lilies out, if you’d like? Or we can find something else to replace them?” Before Honey could answer, she was already thinking of the best replacement, and had turned around to look at what else she had in stock.

Rusti was almost positive that she had orange mums as well, and headed into the back once again to check. On the way, the vibrant orange of another flower caught her eye, and she immediately swiveled on her heels and grabbed one of the small containers, bringing it back to where Honey was. “How about this in place of the lilies? It’s a marigold, sometimes called calendula? Non-toxic to pets as well. An easy enough switch for me to make too.”

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[honey satheesh varma]

October 2025

Rusti probably had plenty of things to keep track of for her customers, so Honey wasn't offended or angered by the fact that the toxicity of lilies had slipped her mind all of a sudden. Things happened, and Honey felt that that sort of thing was her responsibility anyway. If she were to buy something dangerous, then that was on her if there were consequences—not on Rusti.

Providing her input on the possibilities for the different floral arrangements after that, Rusti said that she didn't think that getting both the lilies and the sunflowers would make things too busy. Because they were themed off of each other, she added, it wouldn't look bad to have them both in one place. Honey nodded her head as Rusti spoke. "I can take the lilies out, if you’d like? Or we can find something else to replace them?"

Seeing that Rusti looked to be thinking of something, Honey waited to speak and watched as Rusti went to the back. She kept waiting in the meanwhile, and Rusti soon emerged again with a different flower that Honey was as familiar with as any.

"How about this in place of the lilies?" Rusti suggested to her. "It’s a marigold, sometimes called calendula? Non-toxic to pets as well. An easy enough switch for me to make too."

Honey nodded more firmly and smiled. "Yeah," she answered, and she then explained it to Rusti. "My family use marigolds all the time for festivals and things like that. Those will look nice, I think," she agreed. "There's no need to remove the lilies, though, if it's too much of a bother…"

aurelia edith flint

[aurelia edith flint]

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Marigolds fit so well in almost any piece that needed color. Rusti was against magically enhancing non-magical flowers and plants – some of her contemporaries in botany and herbology had no problem with that but she vehemently refused to do so. They always said it was because she was young and hadn’t gotten too deep into the research and would eventually understand their point of view on the matter. All Rusti wanted to do was for them to shut-up and let her run her damn shop. She could care less about what crusty old herbologists that smelled of musty, decaying plant matter had to say. It was her damn shop with her dead parents’ money, and she wasn’t going to charm the colors of her marigolds to make bouquets for any time of the year. They would be used when they were by muggles. She didn’t care what wrinkled witches thought about not having blue marigolds in stock for some unknown moon festival, or something like that. She had the normal colors, and that worked perfectly for what Honey needed.

“They’re unbelievably versatile. I wish we’d use them more around here, to be honest,” she mused. Though Honey having them at her café was certainly a start to making some color pop in the shopping districts. “Diagon isn’t nearly as bland as it used to be. But Horizont seems so flat these days.” There were unique storefronts and owners, but they lacked pizazz. She hated that word and yet it was true.

Honey mentioned that the lilies didn’t have to come out, but Rusti already had her hand in the bouquet and was expertly extracting them. She could use them in something else, so it wasn’t like it was a loss to her. The marigolds were placed in their stead, and after spinning a few of the other flowers around, she stepped back and gave it a hard look. “Think that’ll work?” she asked the other woman, glancing at her before her gaze returned to the bouquet. “If it doesn’t pair up as well as it should, you can bring it back and I’ll give it another shot.” Even better would be if she could see it in person. It wasn’t like the cat café was far away or anything…

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[honey satheesh varma]

October 2025

"They're unbelievably versatile," Rusti commented on the nature of marigolds. "I wish we'd use them more around here, to be honest." They were very pretty, for one thing. For another, thought Honey, they were such a happy color. She wasn't sure if anyone could be sad around such lovely flowers. Maybe that was just her optimism talking, but Honey felt that flowers were sort of like an instantaneous Cheering Charm. There were some flowers that weren't necessarily as pleasing on their own, but even those were nice when used in combination with a handful of others.

"Diagon isn't nearly as bland as it used to be," Rusti added. "But Horizont seems so flat these days." Though Honey was tempted to disagree (albeit as respectfully as she could), she had a point. Diagon Alley had been established for so long, whereas Horizont Alley was comparatively newer. It hadn't completely established itself yet, even if there were plenty of businesses popping up all the time. It needed to have some more character to it, something that made it distinct and exciting and fresh.

Flowers might not have been the perfect solution—not in and of themselves—but Honey hoped that the arrangement that Rusti was crafting would look as good to passersby as it did to her already. As Rusti finished up with the adjustments, she spoke again. "Think that'll work?" she asked her. "If it doesn’t pair up as well as it should," she continued, "you can bring it back and I'll give it another shot."

"No, no," Honey cut in quickly, shaking her head, but not because the arrangement wasn't sufficient. To the contrary, it was beautiful. "It's lovely," she assured Rusti, smiling at the sight of it—not to mention the time and effort that had gone into making it look the way it did. She knew that Rusti was only trying to be helpful to her, and she was appreciative of that, but Rusti really didn't need to worry about her being so particular about this thing or that. "Really, Rusti," she said, still smiling, "all your work is beautiful." She needed to stop selling herself short, Honey thought.

"We should do something to make Horizont Alley more… lively," she agreed, though. "Spring would be nice for something like that," because it would give them time to plan, and the weather would be warmer for it. "We could go round to the other businesses and encourage them to join us," she suggested, "and host our own street party for the community…" Maybe it was far-fetched, but Honey didn't think that most people around Horizont Alley would object to the idea. It would bring in more business, for a start, and she didn't think that people would really argue with that. Plus, it would be a good way for people to get to know each other.

aurelia edith flint

[aurelia edith flint]

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Compliments had happened a lot more since the death of her parents and the opening of her shop. Rusti knew, at least somewhere deep down, that she had deserved praise for her work with her bouquets and arrangements, if not for the ability to actually keep all of her plants alive. Most people could barely do that, and the amount of work she did on plants brought back in to revive them was actually kind of insane. But when it came to being complimented in person, she still didn’t know how to react, or if she even needed to do anything apart from give thanks for it. The years of verbal abuse and screaming were almost impossible to overwrite, and being lost for words in a situation like this seemed more normal than anything else, even if it was positive. “Thank you,” Rusti responded quietly, figuring that was really the only thing she had to do in this instance.

Honey seemed to be taking note of the comments about Horizont being dull, offering up an idea about getting the other businesses to help with livening up the alleyway during the spring. That was really the best time for it anyways, and while she would have loved to turn the entire street into a fall festival with tons of colors for the entire month, people were more amenable when they didn’t have to think about the incoming winter. It was probably going to be her slowest season until the week before Christmas when everyone and their ancient warlock grandfather wanted a wreath to hang up. That prep work was going to be maddening. “That could work if we started planning now. And can keep Blishwick out of it until the last second.” The matchmaker would most likely try to take over the whole thing so he could run it as one of his giant mixers. He was friendly enough, usually stopping by weekly to get flowers for his business (and his customers stopping by for them as well), but she didn’t want to be forced into helping host one of his events when it was her idea to begin with.

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[honey satheesh varma]

October 2025

Rusti didn't sound opposed to the idea of having some sort of a public event for the Horizont Alley community, and she said that she thought it could work if they got started planning it then. They would need to; Honey was in agreement with that. It would give them all ample time to ensure that everything would be how they wanted it to be. More importantly, it meant that they wouldn't be scrambling to get anything done at the last minute and that they could still focus on their day-to-day roles in the meantime. It would only be in the days and weeks beforehand that they might need to do a little bit of extra preparation, then, like putting out seasonal decorations or adding special items to their inventories or menus.

Rusti, however, seemed to have another idea in mind, too. "And can keep Blishwick out of it until the last second," she stated.

Nice though Jimbo Blishwick was, Honey was inclined to agree there. The man liked to do things in a way that was sort of… unparalleled. Honey had to hand it to him; he was incredibly creative, but his creativity sometimes came across as being slightly overwhelming. That wasn't entirely a bad thing, of course, but Honey also didn't want anything that was meant to be a collaborative effort to turn into Jimbo Blishwick's one-man matchmaking show.

"It should be after February, then," Honey laughed lightly. Blishwick would take any chance he could to tie Valentine's Day into it, she figured. "And nothing too elaborate to begin with, I don't think…" she added. "Enough to make people feel good," which would probably come with the changing of the seasons regardless, "and make them want to spend time with other people." Horizont Alley was made up of a lot of smaller businesses, so it would be easy enough to create that sort of appeal for the public.

aurelia edith flint

[aurelia edith flint]

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She didn’t want their idea to be taken over by Blishwick. It was the sort of thing that was bound to happen if he heard about it from the start, and then the entire event would be filled with publicity and socialites. She’d grown up with the latter, being forced to attend her parents’ various events and galas and hated the idea of having her shop and work area turned into the same thing even if it was only for a day. Blishwick liked everything big and outlandish, but there was a time and place for that, and Horizont Alley for a community type thing was not it. He’d probably still try to make a big show of his appearance or whatever. She could have sworn she saw him waltzing around in a pumpkin-patterned suit the other day, twirling an equally gaudy walking stick around in his hand. If it wasn’t for his supposed one-hundred percent accuracy in matchmaking, she wouldn’t have hesitated to call him a hack and fraud.

“Definitely after February. I think I’ll be busy at the start of the month for Valentine’s, and then everyone is going to want early spring flowers and the sort,” she explained. Eventually she was going to have to get some assistance. Right now things were calm and people were still discovering the store. One of these days that was going to change and suddenly she would be swamped with customers. While great, having to fulfill hundreds of orders for Christmas or Valentine’s sounded like a horrid headache. “I think they call them block parties in America,” Rusti mused. “But we’d be using the entire street, is what you’re thinking, right?” Just imagining each storefront either highlighting what they had or mingling seemed great to her. There were often times where she felt like she didn’t truly know her neighbors yet, despite living and working around them. Honey was really the only one so far, and probably because she was the newest after herself.

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[honey satheesh varma]

October 2025

"Definitely after February," Rusti agreed, though not because of Blishwick but because she would be busy at the start of the month from Valentine's Day orders, and then people would be wanting flowers for the rest of the spring. "I think they call them block parties in America," Rusti continued, though Honey didn't know and had to take her word for it. "But we'd be using the entire street, is what you’re thinking, right?"

Honey nodded. "Yeah, the entire street through Horizont Alley," she confirmed, moving her arm to illustrate the length of the street, "with anyone who wants to join, really." She wasn't sure that the blood bank, for instance, would be taking part in something during the daylight, but it would probably make for a good opportunity to get donations in. "It shouldn't be too much work," considering that they didn't really have to set up much of anything except for maybe some signs. It was nothing too controversial, either. What reason would anyone have not to want more business around those parts? They weren't going around Knockturn Alley.

aurelia edith flint

[aurelia edith flint]

▲

Having a ‘block party’ sounded exciting. Being able to put what she grew and made on display was even more exhilarating. There was a difference between the people that came in and asked stupid questions about things they could look up on the magic phones and those that had an actual interest in plants and what she had to offer. Basically those that knew what they wanted and just needed her help to get that figured out were the best kind of customers. Like Honey. She imagined that having her work up for the entirety of the alley and anyone traveling through would draw all sorts of praise and other interesting characters. After years of being put down for her interests, she wanted her cake and to eat it all in one sitting. And then maybe eat another one right after. Getting compliments was her fuel now and it was amazing how much better than felt over being given a grunt of acceptance over good grades or a well-received appearance at an event her parents put on. She knew she deserved everything she got now.

“I guess it really wouldn’t be…once everything is out and ready to be put up, it’d just be what? A couple wand waves and things would be where they were supposed to be?” At least it sounded that easy to her. The veteran shopkeepers of Horizont would probably be better people to speak to on this sort of thing since they were the ones with experience here. Maybe even let Blishwick think he was running the whole event just so he could pat himself on the back for all the work he didn’t do. “But yeah, I’ll ask around to see if there’s some sort of, oh I don’t know, like a neighborhood committee? There has to be someone we need to propose plans to before getting started.”

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[honey satheesh varma]

October 2025

"I guess it really wouldn't be…" Rusti agreed in response to the amount of work it was likely to take to set everything up for an alley-wide street party of some kind. "Once everything is out and ready to be put up, it'd just be what? A couple wand waves and things would be where they were supposed to be?"

Honey nodded, glad that Rusti wasn't opposed to the idea she'd had. It really wasn't too much work unless people wanted to make it difficult for themselves by going above and beyond what they really needed to do to make it all come together.

"But yeah," Rusti continued, "I'll ask around to see if there’s some sort of, oh I don't know, like a neighborhood committee? There has to be someone we need to propose plans to before getting started."

"Lovely," Honey smiled. If there wasn't some sort of committee for something like that, then it probably wouldn't hurt to figure out how they could start one up. The Ministry probably wouldn't care much about something like that, provided that nobody was breaking any laws or smuggling in Muggles. "I don't want to leave all the work to you, though," she noted, "so let me know what you find out."

aurelia edith flint
OOC: We can wrap this up here or do one more on your end. This is ancient. 😅