Who: Flemeth and Will. What: Stress relief. When: Wednesday afternoon. Where: Flemeth's shop. Rating: PG-13 for mention of pot. Status: Complete!
Winston’s sneezing hadn’t gotten any better, and at this point, Will had noticed him twitching and acting nervous. The sneezing he could fix, but the nerves, he was at a loss. He was willing to try anything. He’d gotten wind of a shop in Tustin which allegedly carried some things for animals, and it was as good an option as going back to a veterinarian. The place looked small and quiet, and he appreciated that. It was bright and hot, and he was sweating to an unpleasant degree. Getting inside might help.
Once inside, he’d be greeted by cold air conditioning and the faint scent of incense. Flemeth hummed as she wiped down a glass counter looking up when she heard the bell over the door chime. “Oh, hello there.”
It was blessedly cold, and Will had paused for a second to breathe in the air that was at a human temperature. He jumped slightly when he heard the woman’s voice, turning to behold her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.” She was rather arresting, for an older woman, in truth. She had hard, flinty eyes, paired with a kind, motherly mouth and graceful hands. “I need a little help. With my dog, I mean.”
Flemeth chuckled, a wry, amused sound. “Pity, here I thought someone had gotten me a cute man for my birthday. Granted, they’d be very early. What’s wrong with your dog?” She cocked her head to the side, amused when one of her cats proceeded to rub along his legs for pettings.
Will blushed, which in truth wasn’t easy to get him to do. He felt his face get hot, and did the best he could to not appear embarrassed. “Winston has allergies. I’m treating the immediate symptoms, but the frequency of the sneezing appears to have made him nervous and twitchy.” He couldn’t get a read on this woman; would she care at all? It would affect his further interactions here.
“Poor thing,” Flemeth cooed. She was being sincere; she’d always been an animal lover. Her cat continued to nose at Will’s ankles, and she sighed. “Astarte, come away from him. Sorry about her, she loves dogs, and you must smell like one.” Flemeth moved into a room adjacent to the main area that was filled with bottles of dried herbs and bottles of premade things.
Will looked down, blinking. “I didn’t even see ... her. I have seven dogs at home right now. I train them for a living.” He followed the woman, stepping over piles of paper as he moved toward the back of the room. “You seem equal opportunity, though.” He saw everything from tarot decks to herbs, and if he wasn’t incorrect, he could smell something that was either marijuana or salvia - likely the legal kind.
“Oh, I try to have a little something for everyone here. And here we are.” She tiptoed up, having found what she was looking for, handing over a bottle to Will. “This should help, it’s a liquid tincture that’s got some Star of Bethlehem and rock rose in it. That’ll help the anxiety. You can put a couple of drops into his water, or put a drop or two on a treat.” She smiled, leaning over to let the cat jump into her arms.
Will took it, examining the bottle mostly out of curiosity. “What are those? I mean, herbs, I presume, but I’m unfamiliar with herb lore.” Was she playing a part? The shop was a little too carefully cluttered. He wondered if she had any marijuana, then decided not to ask. “Are they something like St. John’s wort?”
Flemeth nodded. “Both anti-anxiety, but they’re concentrated so they’ll work a little faster. He won’t be stoned, but he’ll be more zen. I’ve taken it before myself, just in the human dosage.” She smiled at him, chuckling. “You look like a duck right now, paddling away under the surface. What’re you thinking?” The cat mewled, looking to try to jump into the man’s arms.
“Just interested.” It wasn’t a lie; he was terrible at lying. “It’s as if a movie director had a vision of what an occult shop should look like.” Occult wasn’t an insult, either; it was simply the adjective to describe things which appeared supernatural or unusual. And yet, the papers were so carefully placed; the cats were only climbing on certain areas (though that might have been the result of simple training). Will was curious about some of the bottles in cabinets. They looked like fine liquor, but he wasn’t entirely sure.
That made Flemeth snort. “That was what I was going for when I opened the place. I didn’t know much about this beyond what I got from hippies, so I just went with what I saw in films.” She handed over the cat who sniffed at Will’s shoulder and purred loudly.
Will took the cat without really noticing, then blinked when it purred. She was content in his arms, which was perplexing in itself. But when the woman spoke, he raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure you’d be very good at anything you chose to put your considerable passions toward.” She didn’t care about this, obviously. Was it a front for something, or just a rich woman’s way to pass the time? Or something else? Was he in any danger?
Flemeth noticed how on guard he was. “Handsome, I’m not going to eat you. I’m not a wolf or something.”
“Well, I can see that.” He was attempting to be funny, but had no idea whether or not it translated; he was bad with that kind of thing at the best of times. He decided to blame it on that. “I’m just not very social.”
“Lucky. I wish I could get away with not talking to people, but unfortunately, work sort of means I have to.” The blonde woman wrinkled her nose. “I’d give anything to be in the tub with a book right now.” She sighed at the thought.
The cat snuggled into his chest, and Will shifted its weight, scratching its stomach and hoping it didn’t see fit to make him bleed for some imagined slight. “Do you own this place? If so, I can’t imagine a reason you couldn’t be.” “I do, but I don’t trust anyone else to run it.” Either end of the business - the legitimate and illegal ones both - she ran entirely. She was a control freak, this much she knew. “I don’t like being out of control, a result of having domineering parents.” She wondered if this guy was a shrink.
That got a faint smile. “So shut it for the evening.” Will shrugged. The cat saw fit to comment, and Will shifted it in his arms. This woman was interesting, even if he was starting to feel like he was annoying her faintly. “It does tend to be handy, running one’s own business.” It was another of the perks of working with dogs; he could keep his own hours. He’d done some of his best and steadiest training at hours most people would consider ungodly.
“I can’t shut it for the evening, you’re here. Unless you’re trying to flirt,” Flemeth grinned, batting her eyelashes and grinning.
“I’m pretty bad at that, too.” To say nothing of the fact that women - well, everyone - tended to think he was odd. Will blushed awkwardly, looking down. “I should probably go back to my dogs anyway.” He set the cat down gently, making sure it was on all fours before letting go. “Though Monster and Titan will probably raise hell, since I’ve met this young lady.” He thought the cat was a girl.
“You can, if you want to.” Flemeth blinked. “You don’t have to rush off, sweetheart. Do you want a cup of tea?” That man was more high strung than a whole room of cats.
He’d been about to decline, but something made him change his mind. “Yes, actually. Thank you.” Maybe he could work out why this place seemed to set him on edge without actually asking. There was just something wrong. She’d already admitted something was contrived. And besides, he was self-aware enough to know some things about himself. “I could stand to relax, and yet things like salvia never did anything for me.”
She smiled, moving to her electric kettle, chuckling at his observation. “You are a sly one, aren’t you? I don’t think you’re a detective. What are you, then?” She pulled her shawl closer around his shoulders, cocking her head to the side to look at him.
“A detective? No. Though I enjoy true crime. I train dogs for a living.” Will blinked, looking owlish. Sly? Was he?
“You have no idea who I am. Well, that’s a relief.” She chuckled, crossing her legs and sitting down. “I thought you were going to bust me. I’m on the level in the shop, but I trade a lot of ... information mostly, as well.”
Will shook his head. “I’m sorry. Should I know who you are?” He shrugged, figuring he might as well be honest at this point. “I could just tell something wasn’t quite ... true.” It sounded odd when he explained it, but that was as close as he could get it. “I wondered what was being put on.” “Oh, this business is legitimate. The other one isn’t so much.” She smiled at him, sitting down in a chair across from him and crossing her legs. “I’m in the pleasure business, but nothing that harms anyone.”
“I didn’t mean the business from this store isn’t legitimate. I just meant that it looks like a set. It’s too lived in.” Will felt awkward in trying to explain, but still, he thought she might need to know sometime in the future. “I’m guessing you don’t blackmail women into working for you, or anything of that nature, so it’s not my business to pass moral judgments.” She didn’t have it in her, of that he was fairly sure. She wouldn’t have been able to look at him the way she was looking at him now.
“No. Every single person who works for me does so because they want to.” She propped her head up on her hand, smiled at him and sighed. “If I were twenty years younger, I’d flirt with you.” Not because she felt it was inappropriate or something, just because she was sure he’d flail or squeak.
He was curious in spite of himself - not about the flirting, but about the rest of her business. “Is that salvia I smell, by any chance?” It had crossed his mind more than once that marijuana might calm some of his waking nightmares, at least temporarily. But of course, she could simply tell him to go away.
“No. It’s pot. Do you want some?” She stood up and moved to find her own stash, idly finding rolling papers at the same time.
“I have night terrors.” If marijuana wouldn’t help, maybe this Flemeth could recommend something else that would. He had a therapy appointment, but between Winston and his own worries, sleep had been snatched.
“Oh, god.” She winced, then started to go to action. She grabbed a cloth sack and filled it with a few things - tea that had valerian root, kava, catnip, and chamomile, as well as some lavender scented bath products. On top, she put a plate of brownies from the kitchen area of the shop that nobody had access to but her. “Here, sweetheart.”
Will blinked, not expecting a huge bag of things. “I ... thank you.” He’d been so concerned about Winston that maybe he’d overlooked himself. Still, at least he’d been right about her being motherly. “I tend to avoid drugs, but I know that it can have relaxing properties. I’m not sure I know how to relax.” He smiled faintly.
“Only the brownies have anything illegal in them. The rest of it is just bubble bath and good old fashioned herbal tea. The tea works for me, and on the nights I want it to work faster, I drink it in a big bubble bath.” She smiled, feeling more maternal than attracted to him.
Well, shit.
Bubble bath was weird, at least to him, but he had nothing against tea, really. And she did mean well. “I appreciate it. I’ve had difficulties since I was a child.”
“Seriously, sit in the tub sometimes. Smell the bubble bath, read a book, and just ... don’t think about things. People forget that our brains have to relax once in a while.” Flemeth smiled, looking down at her hands. “It’s important. Your dogs remember that, right?”
“Dogs don’t often get anxious. It’s why Winston’s troubles have been so problematic.” Physical illnesses could be dealt with; he knew better than most that one’s mind wasn’t always so cooperative. Will managed a small smile. “I don’t imagine a bath will eliminate any of my problems, but maybe temporary relief can be found.”
“Hey, take what you can get, right?” Flemeth smiled, kissing the cat on the nose once it hopped into her lap. “Dogs don’t get anxious because they live in the moment. If you can live in the moment of your bath, it’s something.”
“They have no choice but to live in the moment.” Will nodded. “We have the choice.” Maybe he ought to choose that more often.
“Exactly.” Flemeth smiled and patted his hand.
Will felt a need to be alone, but did his best to be nice about it. “Thank you. For your help. What do I owe for Winston’s remedy?”
Flemeth waved a hand. “You just have to let me meet him sometime. I like dogs, but the brats here don’t.”
That did make him smile a bit. “Perhaps I’ll bring him by. Winston is the most outgoing of the pack, so he’s a good ambassador.” Will took the remedy and the bag of things for him. “Thank you.” Hopefully she’d keep him in mind in a fond way. Or at least a neutral way.
Smiling at him, Flemeth moved to squeeze his hand. “Come by any time. I’m glad to have met you.”
Will didn’t flinch, which he’d consider a victory. “My pack and I thank you.” He headed back out the door, needing to get home to his safe space.