31st January, 1892 — The Florist Potts
Thistle Potts/Jack Dorset

When he had gone from seeing Miss Potts as a friendly face at the occasional event to this – stopping by with the express intention of seeing her – Elias wasn’t sure, but it had become something of a habit, hadn’t it? Perhaps it had been her fault, for bringing flowers, planting up his garden: now he was used to having them there and thinking of her.

So he could always browse the florist’s briefly – all newly reopened now – see her casually, and leave again with a new bunch of flowers to brighten the workshop, pretending it was just an errand like any other. Admittedly, today he had also brought a bouquet of sorts with him – although of sorts was the term, because really it was a bundle of twigs tied up with yellow ribbon. She was interested in his work and interested in plants, so – he had put together a mix of types of tail-twigs as if in an arrangement, so that she could see the ash’s paleness and the dark of cherry, the different shades of oak, curving willow, the zig-zag of beech. He had been almost pleased with it upon setting out, but – at the moment, with it resting awkwardly in the crook of his arm and Daffodil not actually in the room to receive it, he was growing less convinced of the idea.

“Hello,” he greeted all the same, with a friendly smile and a quick glance at the Potts girl on the shop floor. And this was the Miss Potts, of her sisters – Thistle, eldest of the unmarried girls. The other was Dahlia; Calla, the quidditch-player, was still at school. (He had been here – and Daffodil had mentioned them – often enough to know of them all; and he was sure he remembered once stumbling along the pitch-dark streets of Hogsmeade with Miss Thistle Potts in tow, a few years ago.)

Elias suspected she could guess why he was here – or rather, who he was here to see – without help, so for the moment he just feigned interest in some of the fresh greenery they had, hoping she might show mercy on him and take the hint without his needing to ask after Daffodil outright.

---

The following 1 user Likes Elias Grimstone's post:1 user Likes Elias Grimstone's post
   Elsie Kirke

---

look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

The shop's counter wasn't her typical post but work there was fluid enough that it wasn't exactly unusual to find her there.  Sometimes, for a variety of reasons she was simply the most available of the family to tend to it.  Sometimes she came up just to check on things - funny how nearly missing a building explode above you can make you want to leave the basement more often.  Today, however, it was the former.

The sound of someone coming through the front door drew her attention away from the small arrangement she was working on.  She met the person with a her comfortable-but-practiced customer smile but when she saw who her eyes lit with a spark of curiosity.  It had been nearly a month since Daffy had confessed to being kissed and so far Thistle had been unable to sus out who the culprit was.  Lucky for her, one of the prime candidates had come right to her.

"Hello, Mr. Grimstone." She returned easily, busying her hands in the arrangement once again.  She would indulge his casual demeanor by diverting her attention but she wouldn't spare him from a more familiar greeting.  Of course she knew who he was.  After a few moments -

"Can I help you find something?" she asked with a smile that gave away her ulterior curiosity. 

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3

Well, she wasn’t letting him get away with it entirely – and although she sounded polite, there was a dash of knowing in her smile, the way she said his name. Elias wasn’t sure whether it was best to play innocent or to be entirely transparent; Miss Potts had a lot of sisters to be contended with, and he didn’t know them all well enough individually to guess at their thoughts.

“Oh, I’m only looking,” he answered first, lightly, easing a red flower out of its display as if to consider it more closely. After he’d smelled it, he set it back in place and meandered over to Thistle Potts at the counter, just watching her work on her arrangement for a few moments, mildly interested in the process of it. There was some kind of science or art to it that he hadn’t quite worked out, yet.

But, interest aside, he couldn’t just stand here and pretend he was here for nothing else, and if she wasn’t going to fetch her sister from the greenhouse, then maybe Daffodil wasn’t even here and he would have to rethink this approach altogether. Elias smiled, a touch rueful at admitting it. “Is your sister in?”

---

  

---

look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

She smiled, this time with a touch of fondness.  It was a bit endearing watching him muddle through. "She is not."  she said kindly, resting her hands comfortably on the counter.  "Unless you mean a sister other than Daffy."  She couldn't help the impish curl to her smile her smile took on even if she wanted to. 

She didn't set out to wheedle at him but honestly, at this point, Thistle would be disappointed if he wasn't here for her.  It was much more fun this way.  And she had a bone to pick with him; If he was kissing her sister she was going to do what she could to make sure he meant to follow through.

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3

Daffodil wasn’t in, then. And Thistle Potts was smiling at him, half in sympathy and half too knowingly, and Elias did his best not to look too obviously disappointed. He was trying to be casual, after all – they were just friends; he was just being friendly.

Or maybe that wasn’t true, and simple honesty was better. “No, I meant Miss Daffodil,” Elias surrendered with a smile; as if it didn’t feel like something important and strange to have said her first name aloud to anyone else, when he had never addressed her by it. In his head, perhaps – what was the use in such a unique name if he didn’t make the most of using it – but aloud he was doing his level best to keep her Miss Potts, because he was horribly aware of crossing boundaries, and that – if there was a chance of going in that direction – he ought to do things by the book this time, not let himself get carried away.

“Not that I’m not delighted to see any of the Pottses, of course,” Elias added jokingly, though beneath it he was sincere – they seemed as amiable a family as any could be, all interesting in their own right. And Miss Thistle was the one with the workshop, so she felt more familiar to him than most of Daffy’s family. With her auburn hair and the fall of freckles on her cheeks, she seemed the warm autumn to Daffodil’s fresh, bright spring.

Elias set the twig-bouquet down on the counter between them, a touch sheepish. “Only, I brought this for her.” Still, better let her sister leave it somewhere for her than him look an undecided idiot by carrying it back out and home again.

---

The following 1 user Likes Elias Grimstone's post:1 user Likes Elias Grimstone's post
   Elsie Kirke

---

look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

She was having entirely too much fun watching him sort things out now that he knew the intended party wasn't here.  He had rotten luck considering the odds of finding Daffy in the shop on any given day were pretty high.  Or maybe it was that Thistle had excellent luck.  It was very unlikely she'd have a chance so good as this.

Thistle gave a half bow of her head, accepting his after-thought that she might also be worth visiting with mock grandeur and a grin.  So, he was kind too.  She hadn't paid much mind to what he was carrying until it was placed on the counter in front of  her.  She could see now that what she'd dismissed as a bundle of wood (in her defense he was a broommaker) was clearly something more.  As someone who spent an inordinate amount of her life arranging flowers, she knew a bouquet when she saw one.  Even if it was a little unorthodox, the ribbon was a dead give away. 

She placed her hand on the bundle, signaling that she would accept and see them delivered, but regarded him now with ever so slightly narrowed eyes.  It was a token... of a sort.  A token could signal a step forward but to Thistle this was the sort of token that could live in the grey area between passing interest and true intent.  She knew she ought to be more gracious... to say something appreciative or complementary about the gift but instead when she opened her mouth came "You've been seeing one another a fair bit lately."

---

The following 2 users Like Thistle Potts's post:2 users Like Thistle Potts's post
   Daffodil Grimstone, Elias Grimstone

---

Set by Bee <3

He might hardly know Thistle Potts, but Elias had a strong suspicion she wasn’t stupid in the least. Her eyes had narrowed slightly, and her statement – statement, not question – felt especially pointed, as though he had somehow stumbled blindly into the witness-box at a court trial.

Still, Elias did his best not to flinch at that look. She was Daffodil’s sister, after all; no doubt she was just protective. And there were a lot of sisters in this family... Elias had not met the men who had married the eldest Potts girls, but he had to assume they were made of strong stuff, to pass all sorts of reckonings like this.

(But why on earth had his mind turned to marriage, all of a sudden? It was an odd thought out of the blue – he scarcely knew if Daffodil Potts had a mind to be married, never mind what she thought of him. They had been accidental acquaintances; and if that had bloomed into an easy friendship, he couldn’t take that as anything special, when Daffodil was clearly just the sort of person to be friends with everyone. He was fairly certain her disarming nature could win over just about anybody.)

“Yes, I suppose we have,” Elias only offered, pleasant but a little guarded. He had no idea how much sisters were prone to talking amongst themselves – but he also wasn’t sure why he was being so circumspect when he had nothing really to be guilty of. “She’s been fixing up my garden,” he explained, as if that work hadn’t happened months ago and he was still making up reasons to write her letters or visit the florist’s. “And helped me start a pumpkin patch.” (He was still genuinely rather proud of the pumpkin patch.)

---

The following 2 users Like Elias Grimstone's post:2 users Like Elias Grimstone's post
   Daffodil Grimstone, Thistle Potts

---

look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

Being about a Potts, fixing gardens and starting pumpkin patches should've sounded very routine if not a little friendly.  However the part that Thistle registered was that her sister had been to his home.  Repeatedly. 

Maybe if she'd had finer social graces she might have been able to have this conversation without raising his alarm but as it was all her efforts were going to finding out how close they were without outing her sister as a pre-marital Kisser.  She tried to keep her expression soft and unassuming - she'd get nothing if she didn't play her cards right - but there was part of her was keenly sensitive to tokens without intent.  She dropped her eyes to the bundle of sticks before her gaze could harden much more, touching the ribbon that bound them lightly.

"Wasn't there that ball as well?  Or was it a festival?" Thistle didn't have the slightest idea which public events she'd seen them at but that wasn't the point.  The point was that he remembered.

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3

He found himself lightly resting his hands on his side of the counter, as if pressing them in place there could force him to stand his ground, or somehow express his honesty – that he had nothing to hide.

“I’ve seen her at a few events,” Elias admitted, wondering if Thistle had also been there to witness it for herself, or word had just trickled down through the family from whichever sisters had been. Had he – had he been that obvious about it? They hadn’t ever spent the whole evening together in each other’s company, and had not especially planned it, but if he did see Daffodil, he had never thought twice about going over to say hello. So he might have said something about merely bumping into her from time to time, but, well... he was here now, wasn’t he? So they were probably beyond that.

“I do step out of the workshop occasionally,” he said instead, with an awkward chuckle to better make light of it – Elias caught himself rubbing at the back of his neck and settled his hand back upon the counter. Thistle Potts still seemed perfectly pleasant about all this, but he couldn’t fathom why she would have started this line of questioning if she approved of it. Of him. He had known that kind of disapproval before; he did not want to know it again.

But he didn’t want to bristle about it, be unduly defiant – surely the Pottses were not that kind of family. Daffodil definitely wasn’t that kind of person. Somehow, thinking of her relaxed his shoulders, the corner of his mouth again. “And she’s always –” (but what could he say here, how could he explain it? really, it would have been more sensible not to say anything else about her, but too late –) “a breath of fresh air.”

---

The following 1 user Likes Elias Grimstone's post:1 user Likes Elias Grimstone's post
   Daffodil Grimstone

---

look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

"Oh, I know all about getting caught up in work" which was true, sometimes she did little else, but she said it more for the sake of keeping the conversational flow going.  She was having less and less fun with this conversation.  It was less about trying to sleuth out if he was kissing her sister and more about her worrying he was stringing her along.  It was hard for her to see past the similarities to her own past... at least until he relaxed and said how he felt.

With a breath she mirrored his stance, pressing her hands flat on the counter, and looked at him squarely.  At this proximity it was hard to miss how much taller he was than her but she held his gaze, her expression more open than it had been so far. 

"Mr. Grimstone - you're a good man, at least what I know of you -"  She bit her lip but pressed on.  With all pretense gone there was no going back.  "And I'm sorry if this is blunt but I don't think its a stretch to say there's interest there."  she raised her brows as if inviting him to disagree.  "I can't tell what your intentions are - or if even you know - but I expect you'll do right by her."

---

The following 2 users Like Thistle Potts's post:2 users Like Thistle Potts's post
   Elias Grimstone, Elsie Kirke

---

Set by Bee <3

Something had altered in their conversation suddenly – some facade disassembling. Elias expected the worst, in her Mr. Grimstone alone, supposed this might be a door slammed in his face before he had stepped through it, or even so much as knocked; but he kept his eyes on her in spite of it, searching her expression for any honest sign of hope here.

Oh. She thought he was a good man – she barely knew him, but it was nice of her nonetheless – and Elias’ hands slipped down off the counter again in surrender. “Thank you,” he interjected, smiling wryly as she continued, because he could deal with bluntness. Bluntness made things so much more straightforward – he was almost more at ease with it. It was the affectation of polite society, a complicated scale of rites and judgement and tradition, a world he had not quite been raised in, did not feel quite himself in, that was worse. This Miss Potts had read him head to toe already (or if even you know; Merlin, she was sharp), but it was half a relief to have someone see it, for the idea to no longer be only alive in his own head.

“Of course,” he blurted out emphatically, giving himself away more clearly by his haste. He shook his head in assurance. “I’m not looking to do anyone wrong, believe me.” I wouldn’t, he might have said, but that felt too lofty to say, when maybe he had when he was younger.

But he had learnt his lesson; he had made a mess of things once, and he was determined not to make a mess of this. He swallowed quietly, contemplating. “Though I’m not yet sure if there’s... the same interest there.” He raised his eyebrows a touch as he confessed it, casting his eyes meaningfully across to her side of the florist’s counter; but maybe Thistle Potts knew her sister’s mind better than he did, or would do him the favour of finding out? (He had thought there had been a hopeful sign or two, some comfortable, natural warmth between them – but it was always hard to realise it, in letters or at events or in public. But there had been a moment, at least for Elias – back when Daffodil had visited the workshop – where it truly felt like she had seen him. But if he was to go about things properly, moments alone were no measure of anything: they were too far and in between. So perhaps he would just have to trust in the potential.)

---

  

---

look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

Oh this was much better.  Even though most of it was her doing the conversation suddenly felt warmer and more honest and much more her speed.  Even though the conversation was entirely her doing up till now it was a relief to let go of her own pretenses and an even bigger relief that it was well received.  She realized in retrospect how poorly it could have gone and shrugged it off with a slightly embarrassed grin.  He didn't seem to mind so she wouldn't either.  Merlin, but wasn't he endearing?  She already wanted to believe he had good intentions but she had the good sense to save that decision for another time.

"Oh come now, Mr. Grimstone.  I can't do all the work for you."  she said with her own wry grin.  Even if she knew her sister's heart she wouldn't tell him.  And clearly she didn't - Thistle was now mostly certain that Mr. Grimstone was not the mysterious Kisser her sister had mentioned. 

After a moment she relented.  "I can tell her you've been wondering."  In fact she'd probably tell her about this whole thing.  "But there's a way to find these things out for yourself... like paying visits.  Visits that don't have anything to do with business."

---

The following 1 user Likes Thistle Potts's post:1 user Likes Thistle Potts's post
   Elias Grimstone

---

Set by Bee <3

There was something almost cryptic in her expression now, that might be amusement or something knowing or something else entirely; Elias could not read Miss Potts as well as she could him. But her tone was light, and her words encouraging, if nothing else – and, in spite of his interest in her sister, she was apparently not going to chase him right out of the shop or threaten to feed him to any carnivorous cabbages. That was something of a relief.

Instead, he felt as though he had perhaps made an ally today – I can’t do all the work for you, she was teasing now. “No, no, you’re right,” Elias said, mouth twitching up again slightly – he was trying not to look too abashed for being so transparent, and maybe he was failing – but he shook his head to assure her that she really needn’t ask Daffodil directly.

He could muddle through on his own, he was sure. And maybe Thistle Potts was right: relying on chance encounters and other pretences was probably not enough to seem committed to the thought. If he drummed up the courage to be a little more plain about things, he might find a plainer answer. Elias was in no rush to do so – these things took time – but if it was simply a question of putting in the work, he was happy to do it. Still, he laughed at the bluntness of her suggestion. “But thank you for your insight, Miss Potts,” he said, only half in jest, “I’ll keep that in mind. And –” Elias gestured at the bundle of twigs again, with an innocent look, “you’ll say I left this for her?”

---

  

---

look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

The conversation had not gone at all like she'd expected.  They'd run something of a gamut, or at least she had.  She could only assume he also felt a bit dizzied by the number of twists and turns the short conversation had taken them.  Still, she smiled ruefully when he laughed and thanked her.  It was quite blunt, she'd own that, but it felt like the right thing to do even in retrospect. 

"Of course."  She said, with a gentle nod of her head. 

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3

Elias smiled again to repeat his thanks to her, sure that she was being sincere. Best not to wonder too much about what other messages she might pass on to her sister – he would drive himself mad by wondering if he let himself start. “I suppose I’ll see you soon enough again, then,” he added, with a brief quirk of a conspiratorial smile, “if I’m to be paying visits. Non-business visits.”

And now that he had found some level ground with Daffodil’s sister here, some shoot of common understanding, he wouldn’t mind facing her next time in the least. Funny how content he could be feeling about going on his way today, when he hadn’t even gotten to see Daffodil at all. Elias glanced back with an almost rueful grin from the doorway. “Have a good day, Miss Potts.”

---

The following 1 user Likes Elias Grimstone's post:1 user Likes Elias Grimstone's post
   Thistle Potts

---

look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3