Unpacking Is So Tedious {Open to Any}

Rita walked through Snowy Vale with a curious look on her face. It was a nice town and she could see herself living here. But perhaps not straight away. She hadn’t even taught her first class yet. Perhaps she wouldn’t like being a teacher at all, or she’d prove to be terrible at it. Or… A thousand other worries fluttered through her mind and Rita had to chuckle at herself. It seemed even professors could be susceptible to nerves at the start of a new school year. Which was the entire reason she’d taken the time to come down here, while there was still so much work to be done to prepare for her lessons.

She entered the apothecary and a loud DING announced her entry. Curiously she looked around what, up until a few months ago, would have been somewhat of a competitor to her own business. Well, Eldred and hers, really, but it hurt to think about it like that. The walls were a neutral, light color and the place was clean, but that’s about all that could be said for it. There were boxes scattered what seemed like everywhere, and nothing was on the shelves. Really, how anyone would dare to open a shop to customers like this, Rita had no idea. And if there had been an alternative in Snowy Vale, she’d go there. But there wasn’t, so needs must.

“Excuse me,” she said, “I hope I’m not interrupting anything. You don’t seem to be quite in business yet, but I need a mild sleeping potion, if you have one.”

Rita smiled at the woman who came out to the front of the shop. She didn’t have it in her to frown at someone so obviously friendly, even if the state of her shop left something to be desired.



“Oh, that’s all right,” Rita said, understanding the situation a bit more now. She knew out of experience how much mess moving caused, and she hadn’t had to move to a new potions shop. “I know how it is to run a potions shop. Do you brew your own potions?”

The woman grabbed one of the boxes and started rummaging through it while Rita looked around the shop. There was a lot of potential here. It could be organized by type of potion and have color coded, or alphabetizes, perhaps with color coded labels for types of potions. Some signs above the shelves would definitely help customers to find what they needed.



Rita chuckled. “No need to go as far as a coma. I’ll save that for when it’s exams time. No, just a mild sleeping draught to get me to sleep. I’d brew it myself, but I’m simply too busy.”

While she left the woman to locate the correct potion, Rita wandered through the shop. She let her fingers glide over a shelf near the counter, where she’d put dangerous or addictive potions to have a better view of them. And liberally apply anti-theft charms on the shelves, of course. Maybe color coded in red.

“Are you going to organize by type or alphabetize everything?” Rita asked, unable to keep her curiosity to herself. “And have you thought about color coding your shelves?”

Rita was relieved the woman brewed her own potions and seemed to have an exacting standard. The question about owning her own shop hit Rita unexpectedly, though. Her eyes clouded with remembered grief.

“Yes,” she answered, keeping her attention on the shelves. “With my husband.”

A rather curt answer, perhaps, but the grief was too fresh. She was glad when the woman found the correct potion and handed it to her.



Rita smiled and took the offered seat. “No, I’m familiar with it.” She shook her head. “If I wasn’t so busy getting ready for the start of term, I’d even brew my own. I don’t like to use potions I haven’t brewed myself either, but needs must.”

Rita nodded her head as the woman described how she was going to organize her shop. By type of potion and alphabetized within those categories did indeed seem to be the best of both worlds. And at least she was considering Rita’s suggestion of color coding the shelves.



With a twinkle in her eyes from amusement, Rita returned the woman’s smirk. “No, certainly not. Especially with so many of Aurora students running around in this town.” She chuckled. “I remember one time a would-be thief tried to get into the dangerous potions cabinet in my own shop. He sincerely regretted it. I’m not entirely sure they ever got the elephant trunk turned back into his own nose, though unfortunately they did manage to get rid of the donkey ears quite fast.”

“No, he passed away some time ago,” Rita said, her voice thick. “I couldn’t keep the shop after that, it was always more his dream than mine.”



Rita smiled, a bit wan, grateful for the change in subject. “I don’t mind at all. As for my love of potions, it was always a close second to magical creatures. I did my major in care of magical creatures while at university, with potions as a minor. I love creating new potions the most, but there’s not much money in that. Well, not until you’ve actually created one. And that takes years.”



Rita snorted. “Who said anything about it being a student?” She leaned forward on the counter, and lowered her voice a bit. “He wasn’t trying to sell them for the money either . Bastard was actually trying to steal one to poison his wife with. Couldn’t just divorce her, no, he had to try and kill her.” Rita shook her head. “I’m not sorry at all they couldn’t manage to turn him back to normal.” Nor had she been very cooperative when they’d asked her exactly what charms she’d had on the cabinet.

Rita was surprised. Starting your own shop was hard enough, but doing it while holding down what Rita assumed was another job, that made it even harder. “So you’re working two jobs?” she asked. “What else do you do, aside from running this shop?”



Rita chuckled. “Oh, that’s quite all right. You’re absolutely right, a secret can never be a secret long if there’s more than one person who knows it.” Surreptitiously, Rita checked her watch. It was getting later than she’d anticipated, and although she was enjoying the conversation, she knew she still had so much to do at the school. Just the thought of it was exhausting, though, and Rita reasoned that she had come to Aurora to have a fresh start. That included making new friends. So it wasn't really slacking off if she stayed a little bit longer.

“I think your suggestion to go for something to eat is a great idea,” Rita said with a smile. “As for the favor, I’d be happy to help on two conditions. One, should I need an extra chaperone in the future on one of the trips I plan to take with the older students, I can call upon you. And two, you call me Rita.”

Rita added a teasing smile as she laid out the last ‘condition’, since that one was meant purely as a friendly way to give Lorelai permission to use her first name. But she really did want Lorelai to agree to be on call as an extra chaperone if necessary. Rita already knew she’d need one when she took the weekend trip to a dragon reserve – something that she was already trying to arrange even though it would not happen until after Christmas. And perhaps, if the class turned out to be big enough and she took more trips, she’d need an extra adult to go with on more than just one occasion. And Lorelai seemed capable, plus it didn’t hurt she was the school’s nurse.


((OOC: do you want to wrap up here and open a new thread at the diner (even if it doesn’t have a proprietor, I think)?))