layla 'double betrayla' fairbourne (boundless) wrote in disorderic, @ 2017-11-10 12:51:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | layla fairbourne, richenza selwyn |
WHO: Layla Fairbourne and Richenza Selwyn.
WHAT: A Gryffindor and a Slytherin walk into an evil plant store...
WHEN: Friday, 10 November. Afternoon!
WHERE: The Little Shop of Horticulture, Knockturn Alley.
WARNINGS: Creepy plants and general DE plotting.
Even if Layla didn’t know the name of the shop they were going to peruse she obviously would have pegged this one as some messed up Knockturn establishment that sold creepy plants. The Little Shop of Horticulture was your typical Knockturn business that focused on one twisted aspect and product that drew a particular clientele. Nestled deeper into the alley than most never dared think about let alone ventured into, the store was two levels of tilting brickwork that likely was only kept from toppling over due to magic. The exterior was covered in a dark, grimey, mess of thorny vines that seemed to twitch and writhe whenever passersby strayed too close. Layla noted that even many denizens of Knockturn themselves tended to mind their proximity and take a wide berth, sometimes strolling into the winding street. It wasn’t particularly reassuring, but maybe it was good she came here with a guide. “Creepy,” she commented bluntly, eyes falling on Richenza for a moment to gauge how she was taking this, but then as a typical Gryffindor, and not one that had learned her lesson regarding plants even after the Inner Circle’s training exercise, moved forward and reached for the door knob. “I can see why you chose this—” The mess of hanging vines quivering near the door snapped outwards trying to lasso her wrist to which only her reaction speed honed from playing Quidditch and dueling practiced saved her from by jerking her arm backwards and up. “What the fuck?!” Layla exclaimed, taking a step back and scowling at the entrance. “Oh, now,” Richenza fussed, “he’s only saying hello!” She nudged past Layla and reached for the door. When the vines started to coil, as if to snap out again, she raised a single finger and shook it at them. “Ah, ah, we’ve already said hello before.” The vines stilled and she reached out to glide her fingertip along one of them, careful to avoid the thorns. Quick as could be, though, she reached for the door knob with her other hand and swung the door open, stepping inside and holding the door for Layla with an unbothered smile. It took Layla a few seconds in to notice the door was being held open for her while she was staring in disbelief at the interaction between woman and evil plant. Because that plant surely was evil, there was no doubt about that in Layla’s mind. “But—” her mouth closed quickly with a clack of her teeth as she decided she didn’t want to know, and then made a quick movement for the door while the lifeline was still open. The plants still tried to get a piece of her. Inside the shop the air was warm, sticky, and humid due to the greenhouse spells that were in place to protect all of it’s darling little hellion plants from the unfavourable British autumn climate. Wrinkling her nose at the pungent odours that permeated the air from who knew what, Layla took a few more steps inside to place some distance between herself and the vines outside. That left Layla standing beside a weird sunflower with a face that promptly licked its lips. With an exasperated sigh, Layla paid the sunflower no more mind before turning to Richenza. She was growing rapidly more eager with each passing second to get this over with. “Something with spores, you said?” That sounded fun, admittedly. “That’d infect them and give them some sort of longer, agonizing illness?” “They’ll be bleeding from their eyes when we’re done with them,” Richenza said, pausing in her scan of their surroundings long enough to throw a cheerful smile at Layla. “Oh, there’s spores over there.” She gestured towards the other end of the shop and paused again to consider whether or not she should let Layla walk herself there. They’d have to pass by more vines. She gave the Gryffindor a considering look before reaching for her arm and tugging her off to the spores. ”Let’s go!” It was for the best that Richenza decided to escort Layla through the vines. It was as if the living plants had sensed her inexperience and were planning on making an afternoon snack of the blonde woman. Practically curling into the Slytherin’s grasp as if it were a shield to avoid some slithering tendrils of a — was that an octopus merged with a plant? — well, whatever it was. “Right,” she hissed through grimacing lips and keeping her voice lower to avoid detection, it seemed. So much for Gryffindor courage. “I love the sound of eye bleeding, actually,” Layla added, piping up, louder, once they’d passed the second round of vines that were being tended to by some old, grey-haired, and wrinkled woman with a name tag that read ‘Audrey’. “Although I think a good variety should keep things interesting, don’t you think?” With an unbothered shrug, Richenza replied, “Whatever you like. It’s your project!” Once they were stood in front of a row of a wide variety of plants from pulsing fungi to bulbous ferns, Richenza extricated herself from Layla’s grip, giving the other woman’s hand a sympathetic pat. The vines had been…friendly, but they always were and she was used to it. Layla didn’t seem to be that used to it at all. “They’re not allowed to spore inside,” she reassured with another sympathetic pat on the hand. “This is the one with hemorrhagic spores,” Richenza said, pointing to a shrub that would’ve looked innocent if not for the hypnotic wave of its leaves. “Don’t watch it for too long.” “To spore inside,” Layla deadpanned. She sucked on her bottom lip for a moment while mulling over that information and limiting her time watching the most innocent of plants as her cohort had instructed. She averted her gaze and then casually shrugged with a mixture of grin and smirk spreading across her lips. “I love it. No one will ever suspect it.” Nonetheless her attention was drawn now past the innocent looking deviant of a plant. There were so, so many options. “Although we should get a wide variety, anyway,” she decided. “Why limit ourselves.” “This one’s spores are basically little burrowing razors,” Richenza said, gesturing at a cluster of dusky purple mushrooms with glinting thorns and then at a fern with curling leaves. “This one puts people into a coma.” She listed off a few others, gesturing at each and ignoring the faded name plates in front of each plant. Each plant did something terrible that plants really weren’t meant to do. Layla followed along half a step behind Richenza as they went down the list of various sporing plants and their effects. “You know, this kind of material would have made Sprout’s herbology lessons so much more interesting.” She wasn’t actually sure if these planets were illegal, but this was Knockturn so there was a very likely chance they were. Oh well! There was a plant with little bulbs that Layla crouched down in front of. It was smaller than many of the rests, and she squinted to read the grimy, faded card. “Am I reading this right? It’s spores are parasites that grow inside — it reproduces using a host?” She wrinkled her nose: “It sounds horrifying. We’re getting one.” Richenza nodded pleasantly. “There’s all sorts of little nasties in here,” she said. She pointed to a row of plants beyond the spores. “There’s a ground cover one back there that eats toes! And you can’t get them back from it either because it starts digesting them so quickly. You have to grow them back from scratch.” Although clearly not totally at ease in the store, Layla was certainly getting swept up with excitement in all the possibilities presented. Her eyes flashed over to where Richenza had indicated. It even looked completely normal. It wasn’t like Layla hadn’t had her share of injuries thanks to Quidditch and other stupid things she’d done, but that sounded particularly unnerving. “I think we need to check out those ones that spit acid. Just because.” She pointed over Richenza’s shoulder to a row of plants that had a protective glass shield covered, on the inside, with globs of various vile looking liquids and mucus. “Just because,” Richenza echoed, reaching for Layla’s arm again. “I’ll lead the way.” She gave Layla’s hand a pat and started tugging her over to the glass. |