Casual Work Day [Open]

Sketchbook tucked under her arm, along with a slick-looking black case attached to the bindings, the brunette found herself wandering through the Moon District with an expression of curiosity on her face. Dressed in a black over-shirt with white-thread patterned seams,a cream-white undershirt poking out from underneath the collar, a grey gradient patterned skirt, and a yellow ribbon tied around her neck, she might well pass for a high-schooler if it weren't for her deliberate attempts to accessorise in a way to emphasise her maturity. Not that that stopped some people asking her why she wasn't at school a lot of the time.

Along the way, she made occasional stops, pausing to pull out her sketchbook and make a few notes and quick sketches as she tied some specific scenery to a self-drawn map she was drafting together. She made plenty of notes about places like parks, places she could sit down to quietly draw, and places that inspired her imagination. One such place was decorated with a fantastical array of flowers, a sight that enthralled her - as did the wonderful aroma that wafted out from the store.

After a quick sketching and a couple of notes, she let her curiosity get the best of her and wandered inside, tucking the sketchbook back under her arm. Peering around, an almost child-like sense of wonder lighting up her face, Chidori became so distracted by the floral arrangements that she did not even notice the patron of the store. In particular, she seemed to be drawn to any hints of lavender the most, leaning in to take in the scent, smiling in adoration. However, her overenthusiastic motions shifted her undershirt, pulling down slightly to reveal more of her throat - a particularly perceptive gaze might even see the thin line of old scarring faintly marring her skin.

Unaware of the other's presence until she spoke, Chidori nearly jumped out of her skin, blushing bright red as she straightened out and whirled around to face Maria, taking in the woman's appearance briefly; her blush only seemed to increase at that point, as if there was a crimson sunset on her cheeks. Fidgeting a little, she nearly dropped her sketchbook as she shifted, reflexively reverting to pantomiming and gestures, giving a small half-wave in greeting. For a moment, she seemed like a nervous wreck - her mind had jumped to a panicked state to try and figure out how to pantomime that... before sighing inaudibly and signing with a hopeful expression.

'Do you know sign language?'

Failing that, she'd have to write out her communications on her sketchbook instead, trying not to let her shaking hands cause too much disruption. In her haste, she failed to realise that her shirt collar no longer covered her scars. Still, she seemed polite enough, trying to be as nice to the woman as she was to Chidori.

'I was drawn towards the smell, mostly. I wasn't after anything specifically, sorry. Although a bouquet of lavenders would probably be rather pleasant to have at home; would that be possible?'

Her shoulders sagged in relief when Maria signed back, and her eyebrows raised in surprise at the proficiency and speed with which she did so; it was rare to meet someone who knew it, let alone knew it well enough to be on par with people who used it as a primary language. A little bit of her nervousness seemed to subside, her hands no longer shaking as much as she continued to sign - it was much faster than writing.

Her gaze followed the patron's gestures, quickly following after her to spot the gilded specimen, her eyes lighting up at the strange flower. At Maria's suggestion, she leaned in to smell the flower, smiling brightly at the heavenly scent. Once again, her enthusiasm seemed to make her appear younger, more vibrant - a remnant of her past personality.

As she leaned back, that smile remained on her face, almost calmly signing now. 'It smells and looks amazing. Are they natural, or especially grown?' In the back of her mind, she tried to imagine a mixed bouquet of lavender and golden roses, and the thought made her excited - although she had to wonder how expensive it was.

This time, the point didn't quite go straight over her head; Chidori finally shifted her gaze down and touched a hand to her own neck before jumping a little, the blush in her cheeks darkening. She then scrambled to pull the edges of her collar up again to cover the scar, nodding meekly at Maria's second comment, a bit of her earlier mirth disappearing.

'Yes, it's a...' There was a lull in her signing then, as if pausing to find the right words. Rather than nervous, her expression seemed to become more downcast, heavily ridden by her trauma. 'It's why I can't talk.' Trying not to let a sad silence take over, she then shifted her attention back to the golden rose Maria held.

'How much would a mixed arrangement cost? Lavender and these golden roses, for instance. Something to spread the scent around an apartment.'

Utterly unaware of Maria's darker musings, Chidori found herself once again blushing a crimson sunset when the patron responded to her inquiry with an extremely reasonable price and a generous compliment. A meek smile tinged the corners of her lips upwards, stunned initially by the offer before giving a gentle nod and signing in return, 'That's very generous, and kind, of you. I will gladly purchase the arrangement.' Even without the appealing suggestion, there was a high chance of the brunette returning to the store in the future, if only to purchase more flowers and to enjoy even brief company with such a kind woman - the praise was more than she was used to, and it certainly had a strong effect on the young woman. Gingerly she retrieved the money, though she added another five hundred yen without mentioning anything about it, as a tip and because she felt a little indebted for the kind offer over the roses.

Nevertheless, she felt compelled beyond her initial inklings to return to answer in the affirmative to the woman's request. 'I will definitely come again. I'm glad I chose to wander in today.' At that, her smile, albeit bashful, grew a little more, before she seemed to start, as if remembering something. With a bit more quickness than before, a sort of nervous energy, she bowed her head and started signing again. 'But my apologies for being so rude and not introducing myself. I'm Chidori Tsukino.' Perhaps a little more formal than necessary, she gave a small, sharp curtsy, almost on reflex, before straightening out with a nervous but still pleased smile - for more than one reason, she was going to remember this encounter for a long time. Now all she needed was a name for the kind (and admittedly rather beautiful) proprietress.

Maria Nakajima; she'd have to remember that name. Beyond just their encounter so far, something about the woman was really quite striking, and had piqued her interest among other things. For now though, she merely smiled, fidgeting adorably even through her careful restraint at the suffix usage the proprietress had immediately adopted. Still, she found herself nodding and signing back, 'I'll be sure to do so.'

Trying not to stumble or otherwise make even more of an embarrassment of herself, Chidori then shifted her sketchbook out from under her arm, momentarily resting it on the counter as she made to grab the arrangement, shuffling her things for a moment to ensure she could carry everything without any issue. In that time however, Maria would likely notice at least one or more of the pages her book had been left open on, including the ones marking a large park, and an area under a specific tree, with notations about seclusion and a neat view. By context, it would likely be easy to figure out that she was scouting out places to stop and draw at, much like she had outside of the Golden Rose just prior to entering.

Once she had more or less sorted herself out, the brunette bowed her head again and gave a small but friendly wave, indulging in one gentle inhale of the aromatic arrangement before setting off, a noticeable spring in her step.