poppy marshall

“oh, potions probably.”

John was closing up the shop for his lunch hour, deciding to go get some coffee and a burger to tide him over his afternoon appointments. He strolled along the path with a book in his hand until he reached Granny’s Diner and headed in to grab a seat and order up some food. John opened up his book and read through some pages while waiting on his order being delivered to his table. 

   poppy tried not to ever close the pharmacy if she didn’t have to.  especially during lunch, it was a good time for some people to stop in whether it was for a small snack or to pick up their prescriptions.  but she had neglected to bring a lunch that day and her stomach was rumbling under her lab coat.  she decided to close just for a half hour or so to stop down a few doors to the diner and grab a quick bite.  maybe she could even get it to-go.  as she walked in, she realized getting a table wasn’t going to be an easy task, it seemed everyone had decided to come to granny’s for lunch.  she made the decision to approach a man who was sitting by himself with only a book to keep him company, as he had an open chair.

Adelaide smiled down at Poppy, wrinkling her nose at her. “I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. I’m sure I have plenty of possible pizza toppings too. And I’m sure you brought some ingredients too right?” She asked, chuckling a little as she pulled away from Poppy, slipping onto the couch beside her and tucking her knees to her chest. “I think I also have cheesecake in the freezer for later that we can thaw and then proceed to inhale.” Adelaide grinned, pulling her hair up into a messy bun.

     LUCIEN COULDN’T HELP BUT NOTICE the light blush she had after he kissed her hand, but he didn’t judge her for it in the least. he knew what his flirtatious gestures did sometimes. he tried to pretend he was blissfully unaware of what he did to people, but he knew every time. and some of the times, it made him especially delighted. a grin crossed his lips a bit wider as he sat down.

     “ i ‘ave been told it is one of the most memorable things ‘ere, ” he said, nodding. so many people begged for the recipe and some of them left with it. no one could ever make it quite like his chefs, not that he ever worried about anyone stealing it. “ it does sound a bit ominous. much like the wine. but i do promise it is even better than the wine. which is based on the opinion of many others. ”

   she enjoyed his smile.  poppy couldn’t pretend like he wasn’t an incredibly handsome man, and a grin only made him more so.  between the charm, the accent, and the dashing smile, she could tell she was in a bit of trouble.  she wasn’t the type of person to get nervous though, so she simply returned the pleasant smile as he took his seat across from her. 

   “it certainly sounds that way,” she responded, brushing a hair out of her face.  “oh really?  well that leaves me with rather high expectations, the wine is quite delightful,” she smiled, taking another sip of the deep red drink.  “so how long have you been here exactly?  i mean, i assume you didn’t grow up in apple peak. 

   poppy brought the steaming cup of oolong up to her lips, taking a gentle sip before delicately placing the ceramic tea cup back on it’s saucer.  she was snuggled up in a comfy pair of pajamas, waiting for adelaide to return from the bedroom.  they may have been grown women, but you’re never too old for a sleepover.

“I don’t know where you’re going, but do you have room for one more?” Cullen asked with a small smile. “I don’t know where I need to go, but as long as it’s not home, I’m okay with that. Can you help a guy out?” His expression was filled with a slight amount of desperation.

Miksha leaned lazily against the counter of Urban Floras. It had been a rather slow work day for her, so she was left alone in the quiet store. She had begun to zone out slightly, so she didn’t realize until it was too late that someone had approached. “Oh! I’m terribly sorry. How can I help you?”

     HE GRINNED WHEN SHE SAID it was fine ( as well as the wonderful she threw in before it ) before he nodded and headed toward the kitchen first. he put in her order and one exactly like it for himself and then he put another waiter on her table, well now their table, for the evening. with that all in order, he went to the back and to the stairs that lead to his apartment. he took off the apron, draped it on one of the kitchen chairs, unbuttoned his shirt and replaced it with a burgundy button up that he buttoned up to one below the one he had on before, and instead of leaving the sleeves down, he rolled them up to his elbows. he went into his bathroom, combed once through his hair ( but not too much to lose the natural curls the top of his hair had ), and freshened his cologne.

     satisfied with the freshening up ( which was solidly under ten minutes ), he headed back down to join poppy. smiling at her, he took her hand nearest him and kissed it before sitting down. “ i ‘ope i did not keep you waiting for too long, ” he said gently, crossing then resting his arms on the table to lean closer.

   poppy waited patiently for lucien to return, her hands tucked neatly in her lap, except to reach up for the occasional sip of wine.  she didn’t want to drink too much before he got back.  she realized much more excited she was for the evening now.  of course she was excited before, but now that she would get to get some more time with lucien, it was even more appealing.  she really did like him, and she was excited to get to know him better.  she only hoped the feeling was mutual.  

     “ IT DOES, THAT IS WHY it is so deceiving, ” he said, laughing. though, the wine was still really good so whatever got someone to pick up the wine, is what they had to do he supposed. he nodded in agreement what she said about french sounding romantic. of course, he didn’t find french quite as romantic as others did, but that was only because he spoke it every day. but he did know it had that power and it was still very pleasing to his own ears.

     then she asked, or more said she’s like his company and he pursed his lips together like he had to think. the truth was he didn’t. the suggestion was perfect and he wanted to join her so he would. “ i ‘ave not ‘ad dinner yet and i would absolutely love to join you. i only ‘ave to pass the order off to the kitchen and make sure someone is on this table. ” and probably freshen up a little which wasn’t took hard since he wasn’t really in a uniform or anything, just the apron and changing up the shirt a little. “ if that is okay? ”

   his laugh made her smile.  he was quite a handsome man, but he looked even better when he was laughing.  though she supposed most people did.  she wondered perhaps if it wasn’t just the french that sounded romantic to her ears, but also the particular french man who was saying them.

   she was delighted when he said that he would join her.  poppy never minded being in her own company.  she liked herself and was okay with being alone.  but she quite liked lucien and she wanted to get to know him better.  the evening would be much nicer with him across from her table.  “oh wonderful,” she smiled up at him.  “that’s perfectly fine, i understand you have much to do.  i’ll just wait here,” she told him, sitting back in her chair.  

     HE GRINNED AS SHE ADDED on to what he said about the wine being mysterious and she was right, it was sinister sounding. “ i would say that per’aps it would be better kept in french, but i know what it means and now you do too, so i doubt that will ‘elp. ” maybe it would help for others, but the two of them both knew. what it meant so that was all that mattered at the time. but at least the wine was good. it definitely had that going for it. one shouldn’t judge something by it’s label, but one could judge the wine’s label either way. “ parfait! ” he nodded. “ it is my pleasure. ”

      “ you will not be disappointed, ” he said, picking up her menu. to be honest, she could’ve ordered anything and not be disappointed. and that wasn’t just him being pompous, he took pride in the expertise his chefs produced. “ is there anything else i could get for you at the moment? ”

   “it sounds a bit romantic in french,” she said in agreement that perhaps the name should be kept in the original language.  some things shouldn’t be bothered with a translation when the original sounded so beautiful.  “though, i suppose most things in french do,” she added, looking up at him.  it was a romance language, in comparison everything in english sounded so drab.  even with her accent, it wasn’t as poetic.  

   she smiled, it was hard not to hide her excitement to taste each of the dishes.  she felt like she had waited so long to finally come here.  “oh surely not,” she replied.  “i’m sure anything you put in front of me will be delightful.”  she hoped she wasn’t putting too much pressure on him, she just truly believed that she was in for a delicious evening.  “i don’t think so,” she said.  “perhaps just your company, but i know you’re a busy man.”

luke, too, moves into their first pose after finishing up the stretching. “that’s true,” there’s a slight nod of agreement. “a quiet day in will do just fine. not often do i get the chance.”

     LUCIEN NODDED IN AGREEMENT BEFORE laughing lightly in further agreement. it was interesting how the most ridiculous sounding things sounded so elegant. “ a little poetic too. ” he looked at the bottle when she asked what it said shifting his head side to side as he pondered what direction the label was going in. then he set the bottle down on the edge of the table and went to work de corking it. “ technically, it should be red winter, mais that sounds a bit dark to me. or per’aps there is some intrigue there. ” he smirked, looking at her and wiggling his eyebrows. he poured wine into her class already on the table. “ ‘owever they could ‘ave meant winter red, but i think that is less interesting. ”

     he stuck the cork back in a little, but let it sit on the table. “ ah oui! ” he grinned. “ pour le hors d’œuvre, appetizer, we ‘ave gougère which is originally for burgundy and is gruyere cheese in a pastry. pour le plat principal, main course, is matelote which is fish stewed in a normandy cider and it is served with carrots and rice. and dessert, we ‘ave a chocolate mousse, mais i will always suggest the grey stuff. ”

   she looked up at him, listening intently as he explained the name of the wine.  she laughed as he wiggled his brows in her direction.  “red winter sounds a bit...sinister,” she said, watching the deep red color as it filled her glass.  “i like it though,” her lips curled into a smile and she blushed slightly, picking up the glass to take a sip.  the flavor was complex, but she was no wine expert.  she usually just judged things on whether it tasted good to her or not, and this one was definitely delicious.  “oh it’s lovely,” she told him as she set the glass back down.  “thank you very much.”

   french rolled off his tongue effortlessly and poppy tried to keep up with everything he listed off.  it all sounded so much more elegant and intriguing in another language.  “it all sounds incredible, i’ll take the first two then, and whatever the grey stuff is,” she said a bit timidly as she set down her menu.  whatever it was, she knew it was tasty if it was his personal recommendation.  she trusted his judgement.  

a lot of his friends are workaholics, just as he is. juggling two jobs at once can make for very little time for him to do things other than work. there’s nothing better than hearing that someone enjoys their job. that’s how it should be, of course. he nods his head. “i know what that’s like,” he responds. part of him is content, though. routines are important to him. he’s fulfilled enough, between work and home. “i have today and tomorrow off.”

     LUCIEN NODDED IN AGREEMENT WITH what she said. the earth would certainly move more smoothly if everyone was just more kind. at least there wouldn’t be wars or the like. in theory. maybe there would be wars over kindness or something ridiculous. it was all in nature to argue. not just human nature. but lucien never thought too hardly on it. maybe his optimism came with being lucky in every aspect of his life, but he rarely found anything to frown over. unless he was being dramatic.

   he grinned, knowing the exact wine as soon as she asked for his recommendation. it was one of his personal favorites, though it really was hard to pick one. now if she hadn’t told him a specific color, it would’ve been much harder to choose. but since there was a red he was particularly in love with, he knew exactly what to get. “ un moment, ” he said before turned and headed over to the wines. he spotted it right away and took it back to where she was seated. “ it is hiver rouge. the name makes little sense, mais, what wine name really does? ”

   she smiled kindly as he turned around and stepped away from the table to retrieve a wine for her, excited to see what he had selected.  she didn’t often drink, but when she did it was usually a good wine.  and the occasional rum punch.  they were her guilty pleasure.  

   he soon returned with a nice looking bottle.  she sat up a little straighter when she saw him come back into view.  “it sounds elegant though, isn’t that usually the point?” she asked with a small laugh.  “what exactly does it mean?” she recognized the second word, but not the first.  she was embarrassed to admit that she didn’t know much french.  she had picked up a bit from growing up in europe, but not as much as she would have liked.  now she sat in a french restaurant with a french man and felt a little...uneducated.  it was her least favorite feeling. 

   “in any case, i’m excited to try it.  do you have any specials tonight?”