Welcome to Gaia! ::

The sun was oppressive, especially given the fact he’d had some drinks at home with Blaise last night. But the farmer’s market had to happen; he couldn’t prep for the next week without looking over fresh ingredients from people who were local. It was his client’s preference, and he was the only one of the employees who didn’t have a kid to watch this early in the day.

Grabbing a few more apples after making damn sure they weren’t the ones that made you pass out, he heard a loud voice talking about bathbombs. That wasn’t really his thing, considering some of the ingredients in them irritated some of his piercings that were always a pain. But he wondered if Blaise might like some… Maybe?

Chewing on one of his most recent chocolate creations, a shimmer-dusted flamingo, he looked over the bathbombs with that same poker face he wore at the market to make sure he got the best deal.

The prompt greeting passed over him as he looked around, looking at the different scents, shapes, and colors of the bathbombs as a few other people did the same. It wasn’t a surprise that there were people here; it seemed like the sort of thing that did well at farmers’ markets while some produce fell in and out of season.

After he heard them pipe up again, this time closer to him, Rafayel looked over. “Oh, uh. Just looking right now, not really sure what they like. They’re… French? I think?” At least from what he remembered, but to be honest, the guest bathroom he’d taken over as his own in their house had stuff all over the spectrum when it came to scents and types of skin and body care.

For a moment, his eyes focused on the pendant, glass, but something that made him wonder if he could replicate it in sugar; it might be a fun side project to test out with something more spooky for Halloween. Maybe work around an opaque base, work in colors to make it look like an eye, then encase it in clear sugar without compromising the base… He’d done some similar things like that when making trim or supports.

“Petrichore?” The word didn’t register at first, but he did pick up a few things to sniff. Personally, he liked some of the less sweet scents; he got enough sugar smell at work, and honestly, after long periods working on a project or creation, the smell of sugar and chocolate made him gag. So as he found some of the floral ones that made him think about the gardens around his clients’ homes, he looked back over at them.

“Do you do like… those diffuser necklace bottle things?” He had eyes; he could look around, but they’d get things squared away for a sale, and he felt a little lazy anyway.

Well, that answered one question, and he accepted the coffee beans and sniffed them. It always cleared things up, though he still hated that smell personally. “That might work for me, the necklace option.” At least he might see if that helped after he got stuck outside with his coworkers who smoked, something that always bothered him considering they had to taste the food, and it couldn’t possibly help if they were smoking at least four cigs a shift.

Since they went through the trouble of bringing things over, he did take a few sniffs of the two ones Darius had brought over. Smoke wasn’t his thing; his nose wrinkled slightly at it, but the first one seemed interesting. “Maybe that first one. Do you have any floral ones that are mixed with that sort of earthy wet smell?” See if Blaise might like it, he figured.

“Rafayel is my name, by the way. I come here often to get ingredients for work.” Pulling another of his snacks out of his back pocket, he popped the glistening and shimmery chocolate in his mouth as they turned to get things. The taste was a bit weaker than he’d wanted, so he had a few of them to snack on while out and about. The rose jam hadn’t managed to stand out against the dark chocolate the client had wanted in this batch, so he’d try another ratio tonight when he got home.

Trying out the samples one by one, he considered them and what he liked or disliked about them. He really only knew a bit about what Blaise liked, mostly the cologne they wore or the food they cooked. But he figured that maybe the jasmine and honeysuckle hints fit, so he held onto that one as he continued.

“I think I’ll start with this one, with the jasmine first, then see how he likes it.” The aloe seemed nice too, but the idea of lotion and his work were at odds. It was always a struggle. Bathbombs seemed the right track, maybe for Blaise, then whatever else they liked; god, he felt awkward about the idea since they’d started actually dating.

“Can I… get like a gift bag wrap or something for one or two bathbombs of this scent and one of this sandalwood one?” Then thinking on it and the other scents from before. “Then in a separate bag, the necklace and that first forest one? I should have asked: do you take tap to pay? If not, I have cash on me.” Trying not to think about the fact he was buying a gift for Blaise, he juggled things around and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket.

Watching as they puttered around getting things packed up and ready, he pulled out his black card and had it at the ready while they set up the reader. “No numbers on my card if it does act up, but it seems clear enough out.” Taking a moment to look up at the sky, he squinted at how oppressively bright it was. The new schedule on top of going out late to drain had been sucking the life out of him almost.

Raising an eyebrow at the mention of black bathbombs that didn’t stain, he filed that information away for later. Maybe after he figured out what didn’t irritate his piercings, or on a night he took them out to soak and clean for a lil longer. “I.. feel like taking a brillo to porcelain is a bad idea.” Honestly, he’d never thought about that since all the cleaning had been handled by maids before, and in his own place he had a shower and just hit it with a spray bottle and the super sprayer setting on the shower head.

Tapping his card on the back, he felt the machine vibrate slightly like they usually did when doing their thing. “I’ll see how he likes these, then go from there. Do you have an extra business card I can grab?” It seemed like something that might be good to give to Blaise as well so they could look at and figure things out too.