Tea time

[Pandora Valis]

Pandora would be in her shop, an apron tied around her slender waist and a tray of freshly dried herbs in her hands as she went to her counter and sat behind it. She would then start the careful process of plucking the delicate leaves from the stems and placing them in a pile while she retried the bottle they were meant to go into.

While she worked though, she heard the familiar jingle of the bell to her shop and her head would turn to look past some shelves, "Hello! Welcome to the Moon Flower how can I help you today?" she asked, unable to actually see the person past all the things in her way.

Inside it was warm and welcoming, a fresh herbal scent wafting through the air as the fire burned low in the fireplace. The small shop keeper not hopping up yet because she didn't want the different leaf piles to mingle together.

[Camille St. James]

Camille looked around the shop curiously, brown eyes wide as she took in the space. She'd never been in an herbalist's shop before, which was what had made her want to stop in now. If she was out to explore, then by golly, she was going to explore! Of course, it helped that the shop was next to her now-favorite bookstore, Lucifer's Pleasures...and that the bookstore owner, Hayden, had recommended that she take a look. She might have been too nervous, otherwise--she much preferred entering into things with a plan and an identity in mind, rather than leaping in blind.

For now, though, she would be semi-honest; she was a first time customer who was eager to learn. The fact that she was a noble (technically) disguised as a commoner was beside the point. Beside the point, that is, until she recognized the shop keeper behind the counter, and all the color drained from her face. Oh no. Hayden had called her "Pan" and mentioned that she was a sweet girl, but she had failed to explain that the owner of the shop was Pandora Valis, a noblewoman, and someone that Camille had met more than once. Oh dear.

She had half a mind to turn tail and run, but the girl had already called out a greeting, and to vanish so fast was sure to cause more harm. She would just have to make do.

"Pandora! I knew you had a shop, but I never knew where!" she called brightly, approaching the counter with a beaming smile. She was rather hoping that the other girl wouldn't notice her appearance, which was markedly different from her usual style. In court Camille was well dressed, perfectly made up, and her hair was always neatly curled. Now, however, for her trips into town as Just-Cami, she had let her hair fall into its naturally looser waves, her plain blouse and skirt were clearly made of coarse fabric, and muddy, worn boots peeked out from beneath the hem of her skirt. She'd been playing the part of a totally normal commoner fairly well, she thought, but she hadn't expected to encounter anyone from her other life here.

"What are you working on?" she asked curiously, hoping to get her talking about that instead of talking about herself.

[Pandora Valis]

Pandora was working on separating the leaves carefully, no matter how bubbly she was rather good at being careful with her work and getting it right. The voice made her look up and then she smiled even more- though the outfit was a little different than she had ever seen Camilla in that was for sure, "Well you never did ask and you know you can always stop by my house if you needed something," she told her a playful tease in the young woman tone as she approached.

There was an obvious questioning look in her eyes but Pandora had to admit, it was a cute look, "Avoiding responsibilities?" she asked her finally, pointing a little to her clothes. No judgment in her tone at all but there was a curious amusement there.

Oh boy, "Oh well I just got these herbs to dry and so I am now doing the annoying process of taking off all the leaves and bottling some and then roughly grinding a few together for a tonic that an older gentleman asked for to help his sleepless nights. Seems his back his aching him but of course that wouldn't cause restlessness so I'm adding in a pain relief herb to it as well to help," she explained as she would drop some dried leaves into a grinding bowl.

"Oh do you mind giving me a hand for a moment by chance? Really simple I promise," Pandora asked her. Since she worked alone, she often did everything on her own but sometimes she might ask for a hand from those she knew who might not mind giving it to her and she felt Cami was one of those who wouldn't.

[Camille St. James]

Camille blushed at Pandora's question. Well, so much for getting away with it. Still, Pandora wasn't laughing at her, exactly, and she didn't think that she was going to be offended by it. Pandora was...nice. That sounded boring, or too simple, but that was just it. Pandora was a nice, kind woman. She was generally accepting, and always sweet, and Camille could hardly imagine that there was anything she could reasonably do to make Pandora not like her. It would take something big, she thought, to really rile her up. She'd very much prefer never to see it, because Pandora Valis angry would just be wrong.

"Not avoiding responsibilities exactly... More like trying to avoid privileges." she explained slowly, trying to put it into words. "I felt like being a noble was making people...I dunno, farther away." She shrugged and fiddled a chunk of her hair, twirling it around her fingers. "I wanted to be treated like anyone else...a part of things, you know?"

She was interested to hear about what Pandora was working on, though, and she looked at the ingredients with interest. All this herbal stuff was quite beyond her, but she knew Pandora was good at what she did. People absolutely swore by her remedies for all kinds of things. "Sure, I'd love to help. What do you need me to do?"

[Pandora Valis]

Pandora would listen intently to her explanation as to why she was dressed as she was, nothing but curiosity in her eyes as she took it in for a moment and then smiled at her, "That's not really a bad idea since being a noble everyone treats you vastly different even the common folk but being among them must be a whole different experience and you don't have to remember to be as proper," she told her with a bit of a smile as she nodded, "I get it and your secret- since I'm assuming you didn't mean for me to notice- is safe with me. If I could get away with it I would be I work too much with everyone that I'd be picked out in a day and then my father would be so cross," she said with a little shiver at that.

She hated imagining her father mad, she barely was close to the man who was intent on finding a husband for her since she was well into her twenties now and in his eyes, already getting too old for a husband. She tended to just roll her eyes at that since she did not look her age in the slightest and just let him talk to whomever.

A smile rose to her lips at the offer, "I need that small clay jug at the top shelf and right next to it should be another jar filled with crushed minerals, do you mind grabbing them for me? The step ladder is right by the side of the shelf," Pandora told her with a smile. If it kept her from climbing, she would. She was so dang short she had step stools all over the place for herself to climb onto and get into things. With Cami on that task, she pulled over the stone bowl and started to add a mix of herbs. She would taste a couple, make a face at one, and place the one that didn't inside the bowl.

"So what is it like, just avoiding privilege?" Pandora asked her, her tone just wholly curious with no sign of judgment. She never liked how fast the noble was to judge their own, it almost made her ill at how fast they did without a care so she always tried to be different and it seemed to earn her a rather decent reputation and trust from a lot of people.

[Camille St. James]

"I'm on the job!" Camille agreed with a smile, already headed for the shelf by the time Pandora finished her directions. She did need the step stool just to get her the last couple inches to be able to grab both items without dropping them. She listened to Pandora's explanation carefully, nodding along. She was lucky that Maeve and Jareth didn't put too much stock in that kind of thing. Like Pandora, they were happy to be just a little bit odd among the nobles. Although, they did manage to spin their penchant for adopting troubled children into a kind of philanthropic fairy tale. Camille knew better--they did it out of love, not some kind of desire to 'do good.' She supposed that they were quite close, but she'd much rather be loved than pitied.

"So far, it's going pretty well. Although I did almost get stabbed. That part was a little scary...even though it was my fault." She grabbed down the things Pandora had requested, and set them on the counter next to her, then leaned in to peer at the mortar and pestle that Pandora was filling with all kinds of mysterious things. "You know the man who sits outside the bookstore? Finn? I scared him by accident, and he was already holding a knife since he was whittling. But! He's actually quite nice, and I like the bookstore owner, too. She had lots of good things to say about you, and she didn't even know that I already knew you."

[Pandora Valis]

Pandora smiled at her getting the items and bringing them to her. The young woman was as easy going as they came with things so it never bothered her to hear about strange going on's with the people around her. She was pretty sure no one could say she ever judged a person for what they liked to do. "You're amazing thank you I didn't want to accidentally bump these leaves," she explained with a happy smile.

Hearing that she almost got stabbed though would earn a rather panicked look on her face, "You are alright though?" she asked, immediately worried about if she had a hidden wound that she didn't tell her about. Pandora did not want her getting ill from an infected stab wound! "I do know of him yes," she said and she was going to twist an ear hearing about this if he had accidentally hurt her.

Now that would earn a blush from Pandora as she uncorked the jar and poured in what looked like an oil of some sort- only a few drops. Before opening the jar and sprinkling in some of the earthy minerals and corking it again, "O-oh...that is kind I hmm I don't know what to say I just don't ever see the need to just be cross with someone. You look at my father wrong and he can be fit to be tied but I just assume they've had a bad day and offer tea- Oh! Do you want some tea? Or perhaps coffee?" Pandora asked as she started to grind the mix together. For someone so small, she was rather strong and easily worked the ingredients into a powder and then into a paste from her constant grinding. Not satisfied, she would pick up a jug of purified water and add in a little bit more to it and continue as she had to work this into a smoother paste mix before placing it over a cheese clothe to drip out the beneficial tonic.

[Camille St. James]

"Oh I'm perfectly alright," she assured her friend quickly with an apologetic smile. "No harm done, just a fright."

She kept watching Pandora work, leaning against an empty area of the counter. She wished she had a skill, like Pandora's herbs, or Finn's carvings. Maybe she needed a hobby? She'd have to pick something that was different than those two, though, because she could already imagine herself cutting her hand or poisoning someone by mistake. Maybe she could pick up knitting or something. That was safe, right?

No I don't need any coffee or anything. I mainly wanted to check out the shop and see what it was like. I've never actually seen an herbalists shop before. I never really had reason... which I guess is maybe a good thing, since it means I'm not sickly?" She shrugged.

She peered at the liquid that Pandora was getting from her plants. It didn't seem like a lot... Do you use it as drops, or something?

[Pandora Valis]

Pandora visibly relaxed at that, "Well a fright can be handled I thought I was going to have to go over and box his ears and make him apologize to you again," she told her with a little smile. It would be a rather funny sight for someone of Pandora's size to just go up to someone and grab them by the ear and start to scold them.

Her hands moved easily, having been learning since she was little, she would pick up a funnel and a jar and cover it in a cheesecloth. She would fold the thin material a few times to get the best strain from the mix before she went back to grinding.

"Well you can need herbs for more than that herbs can help boost the body natural immunities, help with hair and nail growth or with skins natural luster...lets see...there are few things that herbs can't do when mixed right and applied in a certain way. I could make you your very own skin cream perfect for your skin and you won't have a single blemish- not that you do but I make my own and well," she told her with a little smile at that. Pandora wasn't vain but she liked to feel good- what lady didn't? "I also make herbal bath salts and scrubs, oils for your hair and legs...it's more than just physical health it helps mentally as well if you know or have an idea for what you want or need," she explained.

Pandora would give a nod, "Yep, this will be made into a tonic this is the first batch, the more concentrated one for his sleep and the next batch I make- in this same bowl- will be for his pain and then followed by something to just help soothe him. I do it in parts so that they will all mingle together cohesively but in the end I will fill that bottle up and a drop or two under the tongue at night will do wonders," she said with a smile as she ground for another moment before carefully pouring the mix into the funnel with cheesecloth, "So how is your family doing by the way?"

[Camille St. James]

Camille giggled at the image of Pandora challenging the man who was so much taller than her, then paled slightly as she imagined the knife at Pandora's throat instead of her own. No...she was glad it had been her.

Hm, beauty products did sound nice...she didn't have too many issues with her complexion, thank goodness, but the skin on her legs did get awfully dry, and her elbows too. She was definitely tempted. She hadn't brought much pocket money with her today, since she was still pretending to be a commoner, but maybe she could make a return trip for something like that.

The question about her family caught her by surprise, and she straightened up a little so she could count on her fingers. "Lacey traveling on official guard business, her baby MJ is getting waaaaay too big, Lillia and I are good, Aaron wants a puppy and won't shut up about it, Maeve--I mean, Mother is as sunshiny as ever, and Father is...Well, he's himself." She laughed. "We're all doing pretty well, all in all, although we've been pretty busy and not spending a lot of time at the house."

[Pandora Valis]

The giggle made her smile, it would be a rather funny sight for someone of her size to do that but she wouldn't now knowing that Cami was ok and unharmed from the surprising encounter.

Now she bit back a laugh as she started to work on the next part as she counted fingers of everyone, a smile on her face at that one, "It sounds like your family is rather busy," she told her with a little chuckle, "Now I can relate not spending a lot of time at home I'm mostly here and going home when I need to," she told her rather casually with a shrug of her shoulders.

Ever since her mother died so strangely, she had tried to avoid her father and he didn't protest as long as she wasn't doing anything to besmirch their family name or cause him grief. She was good at flying under the radar for him and just working her backside off to make a name for herself. "And what about you what have you been up to besides your fun little hobby?Oh and almost getting poked by Finn with his carving knife," she asked with a smile, just gentle tease on her part but other than that, there was still no judgment from her. "And you know if you or anyone in your family needs something, any of you need only ask I'd be more than happy to help," Pandora told her, wanting her to know that it didn't overly matter what but if they needed something, she was glad to aid if she could.

[Camille St. James]

"Busy is a bit of an understatement!" Camille laughed. "But the same goes for you, you know. If you ever need anything and we DeGraffs can help, let me know. I may only be adopted, but I do have some pull." She winked.

As far as herself, and what she'd been up to, that was a more difficult answer. She sighed as she folded her arms on the counter and set her chin down on top of them, practically hanging off the counter the way she was propping herself on it now. "I've been...exploring? I'm trying to figure out what direction to take for myself. I feel a little....disconnected?" She knew she was trailing off and speaking slowly, but she really couldn't help it. It was difficult to put the empty feeling in her chest into words. She felt like something was missing. Like maybe she was broken. But that sounded melodramatic, and it wasn't really getting any closer to the root of the problem. Maybe an example would help?

"Take you, for example. You have your shop, and you stay out here, and you try not to let your father interfere in your business. You know what you like, and you do it well. And Hayden, she has her bookstore, and that's her thing, and she loves it. And then me...I don't really have a passion or a path. I'm just floating along, carried wherever things take me. And I don't think I like that. I'd like to be the maker of my own destiny, dramatic though that may be." She laughed a little at herself. "I'm sorry, I guess I wound up going on a bit of a rant. Did that make sense, at least a little? I've been having more trouble pinning down what's been bothering me."

[Pandora Valis]

Pandora gave a little chuckle before smiling at that, "Hey your family wanted to have you apart of them I'm sure you have plenty of pull, my family is just stuck with me," she said with a little giggle but gave a nod, "Thank you though that is nice to hear either way," she told her with a smile.

Camille would find that even as Pandora worked, checking things as she did, her attending was on her and what she was trying to explain.She would grind the new mix, add more oil and water and then continued to grind into a watery paste to add to the cheesecloth strainer.

That was a pickle she was in, trying to figure out what she wanted to do and that made her think for a moment, "I may not be able to help with you finding the path you want- I've been on mine since I was little so I guess I've always wanted to do something like this," she explained as she thought for a moment, "What are things you like to do tell me what is something that makes you want to get up and do something- for me it's this shop and the people I help and get the pleasure to meet. So what about you what is something you like doing that makes you want to do it," she asked her curiously wanting to know to maybe help her figure out what she was wanting to do. If Pandora could be a sounding board for her then she happily would do so.

[Camille St. James]

Camille hummed thoughtfully, filling the silence while she considered her answer. "I like reading and discussing things that I've read. I think hearing other people's opinions about things is interesting, because their thoughts are so different from mine. I like dancing and parties, but that's not really something I can do all the time. I feel like...What I really like is being around people, and talking to them, and getting to know them. But I don't always get the chance to get past the basics with people. Like...I like talking like this, about things that matter. But I don't really have a lot of people I can talk to that way."

She sighed, remembering her last purposeful attempt at finding a kindred spirit. It hadn't gone very well. Maybe she'd be able to try another strategy next time, but she needed a little recovery time first to think of a better approach.

"And, I'm not really sure what 'makes me want to get up and do something'... I just kind of...do. I go to the things I'm invited to, and when I'm not out at parties and things, I read, or I talk to Lillia. It's more habit, than anything, and it feels wrong. I've only come out here like this a couple of times now, and that's because I was looking for something to make me feel differently." This was even harder to express than what she was looking for; she really didn't have anything she was very passionate about, besides her sister. She'd die for her sister. But that wasn't exactly something she could center her whole life on. She and Lillia weren't the same person, any more. She needed to find her own way. 

[Pandora Valis]

Pandora was, for once, silent as she listened to her. Even as she worked on grinding things together to add to the tonic, her focus was easily on Cami as she tried to figure out what she wanted and where she wanted to possibly be and do. From what she was hearing, it sounded similar to being a socialite of sorts to go around and enjoy the company of others but it still made her think as she ground away at the stone and ingredients.

A little Hmm left Pandora, the young woman thinking, "Well just getting up is a good thing and doing things out a habit sure but it sounds like you are stuck in a rut that isn't letting you find a new path. You know what you like but you can't see what you would like to do yet and as you said you just get up and do things that you normally would do," she said as she added the last bit to the funnel, the tall bottle filling slowly.

"I have a suggestion. Do something you don't normally do- like you doing this is a good start honestly to just step outside yourself but maybe something more. Shadowing other jobs or people in what they do it could spark something," Pandora suggested to her. She had passion and drive, just needed a path and Pan hoped she was helping her in this in some fashion to think of other things.