[SE] tutto fa brodo

Mateo

Champagne, cocaine, gasoline
and most things in between

Deep in his conversation with his tomatoes, Mateo doesn't hear the stranger enter the shop. Ordinarily there's a cheerful bell above the door to alert him to customers, but he's propped it open today due to the heat. All of this is to say that he startles a bit at the sound of her voice, though his hands are as steady as ever on the herbs and vegetables he's cultivating.

"Ah, mi dispiace," he trills, slipping into his father's native travelling tongue (though Outlanders might well compare it to the more contemporary Italian), "I did not see you there." And now he absolutely does see her; she reminds him of begonias and cherry blossoms, and already Mateo is mentally adorning her with inquisitive petals and seeing her wreathed in delicate floral scents.

Or maybe it's just the lingering dreamdust in his system from last night, who can say?

Anyway, she's asked a question and the botanist is never one to shy away from an answer. "Low maintainence can still be beautiful," he says, moving away from the herbs (for now) and into the shop proper. "Are you looking for something that flowers, or has any additional properties?"

I roam the city in a shopping cart
a pack of Camels and a smoke alarm