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After getting back to Shackamaxon from the trip to finalise the alliance with the Rivermen (and incidentally heal an injured scout of theirs), Annie's dragged Charlie off to the flower shop where the Summer works Ironside, claiming she needs help picking some out for her partners. And secretly because she can tell Charlie's out of it. Mostly the latter, honestly.
Charlie is very out of it. She looks utterly exhausted and is barely making eye contact. On the way here, she bumped her arms and legs against a number of things and didn't even notice. And most damningly, she isn't even tapping anxiously. She's staying fairly still.
"So, um, what kind of flowers do they like?" She asks, her affect flatter than normal.
"Well, I know Yu Jin likes false starwort. I have not actually asked Polly about her preference in that area yet, though. Do you think I should?" Annie glances at Charlie, a somewhat worried expression crossing her face.
"Oh, false starwort is nice," Charlie says, a small smile on her face in place of her usual talking about flowers grin. "'nd yeah, you should probably ask her. I don't want to make her something she won't like."
"That is a fair point," Annie admits, pulling out her phone and tapping away briefly.
Charlie walks over to where they keep the arrangement supplies and gets to work making something using false starwort, but it's taking her longer than usual, her hands not quite going where her brain wants them to. She frowns at it.
When no response is immediately forthcoming, Annie shrugs one shoulder and tucks her phone away, moving to watch Charlie work.
Charlie is normally a dexterous energetic person, especially when it comes to flower arranging. She's neither of those right now. The bouquet is still coming along nicely, but slowly, with more time being spent rearranging the bouquet than actually putting the flowers where they're meant to go. "Sorry, it just seems... weird doing this right now. I'm not really sure why but it feels hard?"
"That is fine," Annie reassures Charlie gently. "Take as long as you need to get it right, okay?"
Once Charlie gets about half of the bouquet done, she looks around, before getting close to Annie and asking, in a whisper, "this is stupid, but, um, where am I? Things feel very, um, far away? And this feels, um, like a prop flower shop."
"You are in Doom and Gloom, the flower shop you work at. Do you not recognise it?" Annie's phone beeps at her then, and she pulls it out to read the message.
"No, no, I recognize it. It just... feels different. The colors are all wrong. And I can't feel the flowers," Charlie explains, grabbing a few more flowers to spruce up the arrangement.
"Wrong how?" Annie asks, studying Charlie.
"Just wrong. They look different but I can't put my finger on how," Charlie tries to explain, "it's probably nothing, sorry."
Annie shrugs one shoulder. "You are the flower expert here, so if you think they look different I am inclined to believe you, even if you cannot determine exactly how."
"It's not just the flowers that have their colors all messed up, it's everything. My jacket, the bricks and even you. Everything is just kinda... off?" Charlie sighs and shakes her head. "Sorry, this is probably all silly."
Annie frowns slightly, reaching out to touch Charlie's hand with her own. "They look fine to me, but it could just be that you are having vision issues." The music that always accompanies Annie increases in volume as she makes contact, a voice joining it in song.
"You're probably right," Charlie nods. "Did your other girlfriend get back to you?"
"I only have the one girlfriend, Charlie. Yu Jin is not a girl, after all." Beat. "But yes, she did. Marigolds or tiger lilies, apparently. Or maybe a flowering cactus." There's a shrug, then. "Not that I would have any idea which those are."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Partner." Charlie wobbles over to the rows of flowers and grabs a bunch of marigolds. Her smile brightens up a little as she grabs them and begins to arrange them, though she's still going slowly and woozily.
"Apology accepted," Annie replies, watching Charlie work.
After a bit of silent work, Charlie finishes the bouquets and hands them over, her smile a little wider than before. "What do you think?"
"I love them, and I am sure their respective recipients will too," Annie promises, smiling at Charlie. "You really are a great friend, Charlie. And an excellent florist, too." Not that there's enough people around for that first part to make a difference, but it's the thought that counts, right? (Wrong, at least where Wyrd loopholes are concerned.)
Charlie blinks twice. "Thank you. Are you, um, using a contract on me?" She looks around. "The colors, um, look better, thank you."
"I am, yes, but it is a beneficial one, I promise."
"Thank you then." Charlie nods. "Things still feel off, but, um, my head feels less heavy? Sorry, it's hard to describe."
"You are welcome, Charlie," Annie says, smiling warmly at her. "Sadly there is only so much I can do in one go, but if you are not feeling righted soon let me know, okay?" Beat. "I should pay for these, while I think about it. I do actually want to give my partners flowers, this was not just a plot to get you seeing properly again."
"Tell me if they like them! And I'll cover them for you. I do still owe you a gift. Plus you've helped me a lot since then too," Charlie says, pulling out some money from her wallet and putting in the register.
"I will!" Annie agrees, stepping in to kiss Charlie on the cheek. "Thank you, Charlie. I will see you around, okay?" And then she turns to leave, picking up both of the arrangements on the way.
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