2019-10-16 - A New Business Partnership with an Old Friend

It's a lovely autumn day, clear and sharp, which means they've got a healthy handful of customers roaming around inside the shop and out among the plants. Everything's been rotated and protected for the season, so the hardy, winter-capable plants are outside, and the more delicate ones have been given shelter in the greenhouses or under the canopy.

Thoma's manning the register and helping patrons inside, while August works his way through tending the outdoor collection. He's in a black, long-sleeved, waffle Henley, denim jeans, and his workboots. No jacket, since the work keeps him warm enough on its own.

There is the sound of a truck rattling to a halt outside, probably not a terribly unfamiliar sound given the tendancy of people in the gardening trades to drive such things. A door is slammed shut, the bleep of an alarm arming itself follows, and then Juniper saunters on into the confines of Branch and Bole. She's just browsing really, needing some new suppliers now she's moved from one end of the country to the other, poking around, crooning the odd greeting to some of the potted plants, that sort of thing.

Though she didn't come to buy, she spots an adorable little potted mahonia shrub, scooping up the pot and cradling it in one arm as she heads to the counter. A little gift to herself, something to brighten up the yard of the trailer she just moved into. After all everyone deserves a treat now and then, right?

Thoma grins at Juniper. She's a tallish woman, her auburn hair wiggly-curly in a way which suggests it's a ton of work, tied back into a simple ponytail with a handkerchief over it, olive toned skin, a proud nose, and gray-green eyes. She's in denim overalls and a plaid shirt in green and white. "A lovely choice," she says, nodding at the shrub, giving Juniper a smile. "Did you want me to hold onto it while you look around more? There's," she nods at the outdoor collection, "a lot more out there, and August's here today, so if you need anything in particular he can give you an idea of ordering timelines."

"Honey, I could buy one of everything and not be done," Juniper tells Thoma with a return grin, her admission suggesting she's something of an addict when it comes to buying new plants. "I'll keep it to just this one for now." She sets the potted shrub down on the counter and rummages through her satchel to find her purse, before the second part of the other woman's comment sinks in. "August?" It's not a common name, after all, so she checks, "That wouldn't be August Roen, would it?" She pronounces his name more like the tree, Rowan, but the forename and surname together make a fairly unique combination, pronounced right or otherwise.

"Ah, the demands of our pocketbooks ever outweigh the demands of our hearts," Thoma laments. She rings up the plant, pulls out a small, cardboard flat for Juniper to use in keeping soil and water off her vehicle. "It would indeed. If you need it, he can get it for you, one way or another." She gestures at the mahonia. "I can keep this here if you want to have a chat."

In the outdoor collection, August is checking the plants for signs of frost damage, pinching off a withered leaf here and there.

Handing over the cash and glancing to her new potted friend, Juniper considers and then nods. "Yeah, that'd be great thanks," she confirms to Thoma, leaving the mahonia in good hands while she wanders off to the outdoor collection, weaving between taller plants and rows of smaller ones, towards where the sound of somebody working is. She makes no attempt to hide her approach, booted feet firm on the stone or concrete ground.

"You're very welcome," Thoma says, grinning, and sets the mahonia aside. She watches Juniper go, eyes assessing in the manner of all town busy-bodies.

Outside, August is eyeing the cluster of Japanese maples, all fiery red and and purple in their fall finery, veins of green running through some of the varieties. He's turning a half-wilted leaf over in his fingers, lost in thought. The sound of Juniper's approach gets his attention, and he half turns, double-takes. Another thoughtful look, this one in an attempt to identify what she reminds him of.

He snaps his fingers, points at her. "Conference. ASPB-sponsored. They held it in Olympic." He raises his eyebrows, waiting to see if he's completely off target.

"They had that awful speaker talking about some poultry manure amaranthus planting experiment.. I think the only bearable thing was the guy sat across from us, mimicking him," Juniper affirms with a cheerful smile for the not-quite-a-stranger, the memory bringing her some amusement even now. "How's it going, August Roen?" she then asks, brows raising. "Looks like you've got yourself a nice spot here."

"Yeah they needed to vet those abstracts a little more thoroughly," August says, sighing. "Hey, they beer at the bar was good, though, and the food was decent too." Of course, he'd think so, being out on assignment in National Parks for nearly a decade by the point. "And the talk about monocultures and their effect on wild diversity was pretty good. But, I'd expect that, Paula knows her stuff." He drops the half-withered leaf into the pot where it can contribute, says, "Pretty good, Juniper Wilson, thank you." He smiles. "It's not bad, huh? There's a greenbelt back there, so none of the property developers want it. Gives me some nice space. Was thinking of setting up an allotment garden on the back segment here, let people come in and plant. Maybe offer classes in Spring and Summer." His eyebrows go up. "You just passing through?"

Juniper shakes her head slowly. "Nope. As of about three in the afternoon yesterday, I'm a bona-fide resident of this little town," she replies, her smile slanting to something slightly wry. This is, after all, a fair way from New Mexico. "Kinda glad I've found a familiar face though, and someone who knows plants to boot," she adds, gesturing around the store. "Gonna make landscaping a whooole lot easier if I've got a good supplier."

August blinks, looking surprised. "Really? Well," he opens his hands, indicating the area at large, "welcome to the...whatever this is." There's a glint in his eye, a suggestion he doesn't mean welcome to just the town, but rather everything that comes with it. For example, the part where here, August is lit up like a city on fire. His Gift was never very subtle, but in Hoh it was muted. Olympic's thin spots were scattered in odd places, and there was never a guarantee he'd be near one. It muted him, made his Glimmer quieter.

Not here. Here, he's as subtle as a supernova. "There's a lot of...weird stuff, here. A lot." He licks his lips, seems about to say more on that, decides not to. Instead, he dips his head at her. "I'm more than happy to be a supplier. If I don't have it in stock, I can get it, whatever it is. And," a nod back at the store, "you can feel free to advertise in there, if you want. I'm no Molbak's but I get decent pass-through traffic all in all."

"Yeah, the whatever-this-is," Juniper acknowledges the comment with a shake of her head, glancing around at the customers browsing before suggesting, "Do you want to grab a drink somewhere when you're done here? Catch up, maybe gimme some tips on where's good in Gray Harbor?"

For her part, she glows with a steady light; not near as bright as August's, but reflecting either pure raw power or someone who has practiced using it until it's stronger than mere gift alone. "Yeah, that'd be good actually. I'll get a sign printed and some business cards for anyone who enquires, if that's alright?" she then nods, business head back on.

Speaking of weird, in wanders the shop's lost Spaniard with a tablet in hand and a limp akin to an urban cowboy. He stops looking up and looks like a deer in the headlights for a moment until he grasps more of the conversation and goes back to perching on the stool behind the counter setting it down in front of him.

The words catch up don't escape him and that might be enough ammo right there. A slow, lopsided grin stretches on one side of his face, "Awww people claim to know you in public, boss? You can't ass that up." See? He's helping! Juniper gets a lift of his fingers as the smartass greets. "Hola. How's it goin? Welcome to... well here."

"Can definitely do that," August says, nodding. He considers Juniper a spell, says, "There's a lot going on here I should maybe let you know about." He arches an eyebrow. There's definitely an air of warning in his expression.

He sighs at Ignacio, gives him a tired look. "I know it's hard to imagine, but I do know people not you, de Santos." He nods at Ignacio, tells Juniper, "Ignacio, one of my employees. Ignacio, this is Juniper. New in town, if not new to me."

Ignacio lets his good mood go undaunted by the notification August brings him. It might even be hard to imagine the guy taking himself very seriously a all. Arms fold on the desk, elbows forward, and really waits to see how this explanation is going to pan out. Still, he is introduced, and offers a hand out to her. "Nice t'meet you. We have a support group formed for people he sighs at. We meet every third Thursday." Yes, definitively from new York the way be abuses those R's like they owe him money.

"Hey honey, and thanks," Juniper responds amiably to Ignacio, flashing him a cheerful smile even if the majority of her attention is still on August. "Sure, that'd be real good too," she confirms with a nod to the proprietor of this fine establishment, before turning her gaze towards Iggy. "Why would people not want to know August? He's one of the foremost experts on red and yellow cedar genomes - definitely on this coast, if not in the country as a whole." She seems to find this to be a good thing, though it may not be so interesting to someone with less of an interest in green and growing things.

August tilts his head at Ignacio. "Is it Thursday? I thought it was Tuesday. No wonder all the ciders in the fridge are gone on Friday morning..." He gives Ignacio a wry smile for Juniper's compliment, sniffs as if to say 'so there'. "A sign and some business cards would be fine. Got a spot for that sort of thing." Not that anyone is advertising in it just now, which means Juniper gets it all to herself.

He copntinues, "Hell," gestures at Ignacio, "maybe de Santos can help you write some copy, for flyers." He raises his eyebrows at Ignacio to see how that sounds.

Returning her attention to August, Juniper nods at the mention of having a spot for signs and cards, taking out her phone and setting herself a reminder for later, to get some produced. Brows quirk slightly at the notion of a club for people being sighed about. "Lots of people you find tiresome, August?" she enquires, sounding amused rather than terribly nosy.

"Not tiresome so much as," August gestures, "in need of guidance." 'A whole lot of guidance' his expression says. But maybe it's not a surprise he'd feel that way, at his age.

He leans his hip against a heavy table holding a selection of cabbages (ready for your ornamental winter needs!). "So what brought you out here?" It's a casual question, offered not-so-casually. "The ah," his eyes flick around them to see who might be near by, back to Juniper, "weird stuff? Or something else?"

"Honestly, it was sort of an accident. I left New Mexico and wandered for a bit, ended up here and found that, like home, there's that.. weird stuff. Despite the cost, it feels comfortable to be doing it, and since this is the only place I've found other than Roswell where it seems consistent, I figured I'd stay for a few months and see what happens," Juniper explains simply. "So I've taken out a lease on one of the trailers at the park for six months, and we'll see if I can build up enough business to keep afloat."

August gives Juniper a sort of assessing look when she talks about leaving New Mexico. Does he clock her lack of a wedding ring? Maybe, though, he's not particularly obvious in looking. It's the kind of look which acknowledges there's a story there, but doesn't explicitly ask for it.

"Pretty much the same for me," he admits. "Was driving through here, realized that I was feeling the same thing I felt in Portland and Olympic. Figured, well...it's not that far from Olympic, and maybe I can make some kind of living. So," he shrugs, "here I am."

Ignacio nods so very convincingly (eh, okay he makes the face so concerned words come out), "Oh yeah that's what I was thinking when I met him. Oh hey, ceder guy. I got a go-to now." Oh yes, serious face... he doesn't know what a fucking ceder is but he'll support August in this... leafy coniferous endeavor. He does perk up though, "Oh hey, yeah if you're starting a new business up I cna tell you who to talk to. Get you some city comissions, where to advertise, I got a second job when I'm not giving Roen grey hairs full time. I can post there too."

"That would be really great," Juniper affirms to Ignacio with a bright smile. "Can we exchange numbers? I have to head out in a couple minutes, but I'd love to get your advice on who to see about that sort of thing," she requests, digging out her cellphone to prepare to store contacts. A glance to August. "You too, honey. For that catch up."

August snorts at Ignacio, but also smiles to see him reaching out to Juniper. It's a smile of employerly approval of the highest kind. "Sure thing," he says, pulling out a business card. It's double-sided, with Branch & Bole's American cranberry bush on one side, and Out on a Limb's Pacific Madrone branch on the other, mostly black and white but for spots of color on the leaves and berries. "The business number's my personal," he tells Juniper. "And sure, just let me know. Twofer is a nice little bar, Pourhouse isn't half bad either. I can introduce you to people, maybe."

Numbers are exchanged, details saved, cards pocketed, and Juniper nods. "Right. I've got an appointment to give a quote in half an hour so I'd best shoot. Good running into you again, August. And nice meeting you too," she nods to Ignacio, before heading back to the counter and picking up her plant, then heading out to her truck. Zoom!

Outside, through the window, a solitary old man ambles towards the trash can and flips it open before rummaging through the contents. A cursory look is all he needs to find a mostly eaten sandwich. Collecting it, he takes a bite and continues past, his eyes already on the next receptacle and the treasures that could be found within, leaving a small mess behind.

August waves a farewell to Juniper, watches her go with a distant expression. This eventually brings Jenkins into his line of sight. Another person who makes him sigh for making a mess of the trash, but you know, whatever. He heads over that way, hands shoved in his pockets. "How're you doing, Jenkins."

Ignacio follows August in tow. Where Alexander is a copbotherer Iggy seems a Roenbotherer. The limp that is uniquely his ambling urban cowboy gait brings him at the shoulder of August, "Been thinking about a few things if you got time, boss." Then there's trash cans and as Jenkins moves on from the one and the contents teeters Ignacio extends a hand (and subconsciously his will) to the can in that nono, don't spill! manner. By some miracle (ahem) it rights itself and the 27 year old falls curiously quiet looking from Roen to Hobo-Santa and waves, "Hola."