Flower Girl

Loire was a poor city, although you couldn't tell just by looking at it. The streets were clean, the buildings well kept, not a beggar in sight... but that was an illusion created to fool travelers, to suck them in and then suck them dry, to take them for everything they had, and possibly then some.

To look beyond the clean streets, to venture deeper into the city was to meet the true face of Loire, and it wasn't a pretty sight. The poor masses were kept away from the clean, glossy front image, huddled together in decomposing buildings in slums, and some weren't even that lucky. There was almost no way for them to even put their pride aside and beg, what with their heartless King's own soldiers patrolling the streets, with orders to kill those who would dare show the truth behind the lies.

But, there was a single way... those who were deemed "unoffensive to the public image" were allowed to walk about with generally little hassle. While some sold little trinkets that they could find or steal, a majority of them sold flowers, which were plentiful in the countryside. It was low risk, very low overhead... it was all profit, really, and to top it off, they were almost always women, knowing that a pretty face and a sweet voice would often sway people into purchasing their little multicolored plant wares.

The best "target", as one could say were men. If he happened to be with a woman, all the better, as they often spend more on flowers for the lady in question, but a single man was just as fine... perhaps better, in a way. It was easy to beguile a man and get him to lose rational thought if the girl was beautiful or attractive... a bit of flirting could go a long way to emptying his pockets and her flower basket at the same time, and by the time he came to the conclusion that it was all a ruse, she would be long gone. Sure, it was a little dishonest, but in these times, it could mean the difference between eating for the day or going hungry. It was an obvious choice, and for many, it was the only way they could survive without resorting to... more shameful means.

For Milin, who had grown up desperately poor in the slums, it was the only way she could live with herself. She was a beautiful young woman with bright green eyes, her long hair a fiery red hue, which seemed to gleam in the bright sun. Her hair was her pride, it showed that despite being poor, despite being looked down upon the rich as trash, she always kept it neat and clean, her way of showing the world that she would always seek to better herself, to show just how determined she was to pull herself out of her pathetic lot in life.

Her worn, black shoes were hidden beneath a long, flowing blue dress, its color long since starting to fade. It was one of the few articles of clothing she owned, it belonged to her mother, and like her hair, she took pride in her appearance, always making sure it was as clean as she could manage, she always took the best smelling flowers she could fine and tucked them into her dress, giving her a pleasing scent.

She may have been "garbage", but she'd be damned if she smelled like it.

Today was like any day for her, she was making her normal rounds in the town square. It was a beautiful place, really, lots of benches to sit and admire the natural beauty around them. The ground was lined with beautifully decorated tiles, freeing people from the worry of "ruining" their shoes by having to get them dirty. At the center of the square was an immense stone water fountain filled with crystal clear water with several statues of goddesses or some such within the pool holding pots from which water poured.

It was a slow day, she had barely sold anything. She sighed heavily and took a moment to rest on a bench, she was a bit tired and like always, hungry. Even in this place, the scent of the local bakeries was prevalent, and with a gust of wind, her nose picked up the scent of something tasty, making her stomach growl. With a frown, she came to the realization that she would more than likely go hungry this day... unless a miracle occurred.

"Not like that'll happen, though..."

She mumbled to herself as she looked to the ground, staring at one of the tiles. It wasn't fair, really. The city could somehow afford to maintain these damned slabs of rock, and yet so many here were so very poor. If they had actually used that money to feed people like her, then maybe, just maybe they wouldn't need to put on such a pretty facade to hide their shame, to hide the fact that there were hundreds of miserable souls in the shadows, slowly starving to death...

Deep in thought, the sounds of water and birds chirping were all she could hear... but then another sound came into the fray, a sound that broke her out of her own little world...

The sound of footsteps. Very heavy foot steps, they were boots. Looking up, her eyes caught sight of a blond man as he walked away from her, then stopped at the fountain. He looked a tad bit dirty, but one look at his clothing told her that he wasn't from Loire... and the fact that he was not only wearing a cloak, but also carrying a satchel pretty much told her that he was a traveler... and that he must have come through the desert from the east.

Getting to her feet immediately, she grabbed her basket and started to walk toward him. She instantly decided to butter him up, to sweet talk him... it wouldn't take much, especially since he had come from atleast a months travel, if not longer, most likely being without the company of a woman the whole time. This would be easy...

"Pardon me, sir, but can I interest you in a flower?"

She asked, coming to a halt mere feet from him. He turned his head to her and blinked a few times, as if slightly confused, or perhaps he just found it odd...

"They're really very lovely, don't you think? They're freshly cut, too not even an hour ago, they won't wilt for a long while."

She askes, lifting the basket up to meet his eyes. He glanced at them, and then simply nodded. She had the feeling he wasn't very interested in what she had to say, she had to step it up a bit;

"They can add a certain charm and bright quality to your already fine person, I've noticed that people will greet you warmly when they see you with a flower... oh, and they make a perfect gift for somebody special in your life! And even if you don't have anybody here now, you never can be sure when the angel of love may strike... and what better way to make a first impression than by giving her flowers?"

He blinked a few more times and made a "hmmm" sound, as if he were thinking it over. She could taste the sale, not to mention the food it could buy... she decided to go for the hook;

"Yes, for mere 5 Gems, you can buy a flower, and for 50 gems, I'll even specially arrange a nice bouquet of my finest flowers. You won't find a price that rivals that anywhere else in Loire, I assure you!"

"Well... it does sound like a rather fine deal."

He finally spoke, breaking his long held silence. She almost burst into a smile right then and there, she was so sure she had made a sale, but then he spoke up again;

"But, I'll have to say no. I have nobody special in my life... and with all my traveling, I need all the money I can get, so I can't afford to spend it on something like flowers."

Milin was crushed. She assumed he'd atleast buy a single flower from her, atleast it would put her that much closer to getting something to eat, to get her through one more day... but instead of dissolving into sorrow, she renewed her efforts to get a sale;

"But sir, surely 5 Gems won't put you out too much, especially when you consider the positive effects it can have on your life. People will see you in a different light, you'll be seen as kind and gentle, allowing them to trust you more easily, it's perfect for a first impression!"

"Look, I'm sorry bu-"

"How can you afford not to increase your chances of people taking a kinder stance with you, especially when you're visiting strange and different lands? You have no experience with these new places, you don't know how the people will treat you, but a flower is the universe symbol that you can be trusted!"

Okay, so she pulled that last bit out of her ass, but she hoped he didn't know that. he took a deep breath and shook his head, then gave her a smile;

"Okay, okay... I'll take a flower."

"Ahhh... you won't regret it!"

She said as she plucked a fine yellow flower from her basket and held it out to him as he fiddled with a pouch. Removing a hand, he exchanged its contents for the the plant. She gave him a smile, and then decided to see how far she could take this;

"You know, if you really wanted to increase your luck, you could buy another flower. What better way to make your life easier than by showing the world that you love flowers by having more than one with you? In-fact, I'm sure that if you had many flowers, even the most paranoid of people would give you a chance!"

"... I think I'll take my chances with just the one, if you don't mind."

He said, turning away from her, then started to walk off. Frowning, she decided to trail behind him, trying to convince him;

"But sir, don't you want an easy ice breaker? Can you really afford to put yourself into the hands of fate so completely? Surely you can spare some more Gems..."

He seemed to pay her no mind.

"You really don't care that people will look at you with distrust? You really don't care that people may not even look your way?"

Again, he seemed to pay her no mind. She could feel the chance had already passed, and she sighed heavily, trying one last tactic...

"Fine... go ahead and walk off... leave me and my poor, sick mother to starve like everybody else today because you refused to part with a few measly Gems... what does our lives matter in the grand scheme of things..."

Her voice was filled with sorrow as she looked down at the ground, as if she were crying, and to complete it, she sniffled a few times. Feeling a pang of guilt, he stopped and turned around, then looked at her. He studied her for a few moments, trying to see if she was lying to him, to see if hse was manipulating him in some way. Of course, Milin didn't know that, and she went on;

"I tried so hard to get you to buy my flowers without having to resort to begging, I wanted to keep my pride intact, but I'm desperate now. My mother has been ill for so long now, I scraped together whatever I could for a doctor, and he told me that, if she can get enough to eat to build up her strength, she could get better again. But... we could barely afford to feed ourselves before, and now that she's sick, I'm the only one that's left to make money...

I don't want her to die... she's all I have left in the world..."

It as a true sob story, something that would really tug at your heartstrings. It was something that you couldn't say no to, that you couldn't deny or ignore. The man wasn't sure whether or not to actually believe her... so he decided to test her;

"Okay... I'll buy your entire basket full, if you let me have sex with you."

She looked up at him quickly, her eyes wide in utter shock, her face a tad pale.

"W-w-w-what...?"

She says with an equally shocked tone.

"In exchange for buying your entire baskets worth of flowers, you let me have sex with you. That way your mother gets food, you get food, an empty basket and I get a little something I've been needing for a while now."

He said it rather bluntly and to the point, showing no interest in trying to hide the fact. It was all part of his plan, though... if she was sincere, then she'd accept and he'd tell her to forget his request, but if she was lying, she'd reject him outright. He wasn't took keen on the prospect of being ripped off by a false sob story, no matter how convincing she was.

"I.. I..."

She stumbles over her words. She wants to scream at him, to call him a sick bastard, to kick him in the stomach for even thinking something like that... but she was actually rather desperate. She hoped that it would never come to this, she decided to sell flowers just so she WOULDN'T have to resort to such a thing, but... she was so hungry, and this could have been the only chance for her to sell out her entire batch today.

"We're burning sunlight here."

He says, trying to hurry her along, seemingly he had places to be, people to see, things to get done.

"... Does it... have to be sex...? Couldn't I just... use my hands or something?"

She speaks softly as she looks to the ground again, too ashamed at swallowing her pride, too disguested by the fact that he wanted to do such a think to look directly at him