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"Oh, for the love of of-!"

The light breeze that had been cooling what little skin Verdant Lindstrom had exposed was now carrying a little less than half of the stack of flyers he was carrying with him. He quickly placed the stapler in his left hand down on top of the remainder of the flyers and made a mad dash for the rest of them. He picked up two next to a rose bush, six behind a trash can, but was unable to capture the other thirty flyers, which all had somehow managed to wind up in a puddle of water by the side of the road. He sadly stared at the flyers as the ink was lifted off and the mud stained the paper beyond salvaging.

"Oh, man. This bodes ill; I wonder why kharma is being so mean to me?"

Verdant stopped lamenting over his lost flyers and walked back to the rest of them. With a firm grip on the remaining flyers in his left hand and the stapler in his left, he quickly managed to place three of the papers on a bulletin board and two more on the trunk of a tree. "Well, hopefully my suffering in this sweltering heat will not be in vain."

The flyers all read:

Verdant stood back, appreciating the work he'd done. Okay, so it was just stapling some paper to a tree, but it was better than staying at home singing along to Alesana all day, right? Just as he was about to jab some more staples into the bark to keep the flyer securely fastened to the tree, he heard a small voice nearby. He turned around and scanned his surroundings. The only person who could've possibly made that sound, aside from a sparrow and sparrows aren't people, was a mousy, undoubtedly shy girl standing not far from him.

"Oh!" Verdant strode up to her slowly and calmy, not wanting to freak her out or something (his attire certainly did have the habit of attracting unwanted attention). "Here, take this flyer. I'm performing at Apollo's Hyacinth tonight; perhaps you would be inclined to hear me play?"

With a graceful bow and tip of his hat, Verdant introduced himself as, "The Prince of the Flowers, Verdant Lindstrom!"

"Ellandra? What a pretty name! It's a pleasure to meet you."

Though Verdant wasn't attracted or interested in the opposite sex, he had to admit that Ellandra was pretty. She wasn't going to win any beauty pageants, but then again, she was probably too timid to enter in the first place.

Verdant smiled in mild surprise when she offered to help him with the flyers. "Well, I wouldn't want to trouble you, miss, but to be honest with you, it certainly would be easier to have someone else assist me. I would be delighted if you helped me post the rest of these flyers."

Verdant handed Ellandra less than half of what he had in his hands; it was hot and she certainly didn't seem to need anything more to weigh her down. As he handed her the stapler, he looked briefly in her eyes; sadness and regret, but a willingness to turn her luck around. His smile softened even more and he gestured for her to follow him.

"Yes, you're quite right, Ellandra," lamented Verdant as they stapled flyer after flyer on bulletin boards and trees. "I've actually never performed in this particular part of the city, but I'm hoping to at least make some difference. Music and poetry... I've found that there are few ways of expressing your emotins than through a song or poem. The feeling you get onstage as you sing the words you've written yourself as the audience feels the music flow through their bodies is a very powerful thing. If I can at least get one person, just one, to attend the performance and experience that feeling, I'll know I did good tonight."

Verdant blushed and chuckled at himself. "I'm sorry about that. I've got a habit of being too passionate about things I love; don't even get me started on the bands I listen to!"

Verdant stopped abruptly and beamed at Ellandra with a smile that could be nothing but genuine. "I know you're taking great pains to help me and talk to me, m'dear, but you needn't try so hard. You should relax a little. Aside from the heat, it's a lovely day! Revel in it and take in the scenery. I'm sure you'll find that doing so let's the creative juices flow."

Verdant saw that Ellandra wasn't dealing with the heat very easily and quickly suggested they take a quick rest. "There's a lovely little café that serves the sweetest iced tea in the world not far from here. It'll be my treat, of course." He pointed to an inconspicuous shop two buildings down and led the way. The cat bell tied to the door handle chimed and informed the owner that she had customers. She smiled a black-lipstick smile and turned into the kitchen.

The café was certainly something Verdant would love. There were six round tables set up in a circle, each one covered by a black lace tablecloth and topped by a beautiful candelabra. A small vase with a single black rose ("They're called Black Beauties") stood next to the candelabra and glowed with the light of the candles. The owner, dressed in a cute black jumper adorned by several floral pins, glided over to the table Verdant and Ellandra had claimed for themselves and gave Ellandra a menu while she set a tall glass of ice-cold green tea in front of Verdant.

"Go ahead and choose anything you like, okay?" He stayed quiet for a moment, then spoke again. "Call it a hunch, but I take it that the heat isn't the only thing bothering you. Is there something troubling you? You've been a big help with the flyers and I'd like to think that perhaps just listening would be payment for your kindess."

"Ah," replied Verdant, fully understanding the situation. "Well, I certainly hope that whatever problems you've encountered can be resolved without any conflict. I won't push you to tell me anything you don't want to, but I do hope you realize that it wouldn't be a burden for me to listen."

Not wanting to push the situation any further, Verdant called the owner back to their table. "I'd like two Harlequin Desserts, please, and perhaps some orange creme truffles, if it isn't much trouble." The lady smiled and retreated back into the kitchen, returning just as quickly with a plate of the truffles and two slices of cake decorated in red, green, and white frosting. Each cake was topped with a delicate candied rose that was absolutely mouth-watering. Verdant placed one slice in front of Ellandra and began to eat his.

"So, are you planning on going to Apollo's Hyacinth tonight? I'll be doing some cover songs of my favorite bands! Do you listen to a lot of music?"

"That's wonderful! Heck, I might just win over a new fan!" Verdant laughed and as he did a pair of pretty pearl-colored flowers popped out of the sides of his head. The soft scent of lavender wafted throughout the café and made the atmosphere even more relaxing.

"Ah... I seem to have gone and bloomed again," Verdant said as he stroked the petals that seemed to glisten in the candlelight. "Um, anyways, you said you were a writer? What kind of stories or poems do you write? Ooh, and what kind of music do you like? I'll be sure to put something from your genre into my setlist; it's as flexible as this cake is delicious!"

Verdant could tell she wasn't used to small-talk, but he couldn't stop himself from asking so many questions. He was quite certain that he was annoying her now, but wasn't sure if he should apologize or not.