I get by with a little help...

[gotbottle]

It's Friday evening in Chicago, and people all over the city are looking for a bit of a challenge, or at least something to occupy their time for a while.

Ananya Chinnamalai strides down the front steps of the Field Museum, her high heels clicking on the marble steps. She mutters as she tugs at a dangling diamond earring, readjusting it and

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[designed2kill]

Luka is walking past Rafi's botanica just when said customer is leaving, letting a whiff of incense escape through the temporarily open door. She has never smelled anything like it before. It smells good. Luka is intrigued. She usually doesn't go into shops, but it would be interesting to find out what this smell is. She enters the shop, but stays close to the door as she hesitantly looks around.

[movementyouneed]

Rafi glances up and notices the girl standing just inside the door. He straightens up, offering a smile as he leaves his task aside for a moment to focus on her.

"Hello! Is there something I can help you with?"

[designed2kill]

"It smells good in here," Luka says. "I smelled it when I was passing by outside, so I thought I would come in. What is it?"

It may not be immediately noticeable, but Luka carries a strong feeling of obsession not too far beneath the surface, a drive to do anything and everything to make the object of her obsession happy.

[movementyouneed]

Rafi certainly catches an undercurrent of something, and it's enough to intrigue him. He extends an arm, sweeping it at the interior of the botanica in an inviting gesture.

"I carry a wide range of incense and scented candles--all organic, soy-based," he says, watching her closely. "You can come in and look around if you like."

[designed2kill]

Luka comes in and starts systematically examining everything in the botanica. When she gets to the candles, she carefully picks each one up to read the label on it revealing what scent it is. Some of the candles she even holds up to to her nose and sniffs. She's clearly interested in them, but when she's done she puts all of the candles carefully back on the shelf exactly how she found them. She didn't see any candles like this when she went to Arlin's flat, so she's not sure if he likes them. And if he doesn't like them, then she shouldn't have one in her apartment. If she wants to smell pretty scented candles, she can come here instead.