Welcome to Gaia! ::

"JANE!" Lilly bellowed. And her bellow was just a little louder than a croak. Scrambling up next to Jane on the couch in the common room, she immediately pressed up against her in a hug. "I've missed you," she chirped in a rasp. She hadn't seen the elf since... since... well, since breakfast! It was now lunch.

"Wanna go outside? To the garden? I'm trying to grow something! Do you wanna see? I wanna see if the seed grew. You wanna go see with me?" Lilly chattered, barely catching a breath to spew her words. She was just too excited about showing her friend what she had grown.
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Lilly?! Jane swiveled around on the couch. She had been trying to read the assigned chapter for english. Key word--trying. She didn't care too much for the subject and the book was so boring. She could care less about what happened to the spectre fox. Or the freshling that owned the fox. Why did they get into trouble in the first place? Why were they reading it? It didn't make sense.

The sight of her best friend had her ectastic. A much needed break from the ugly words upon the page. So what if she got a bad grade on the next quiz? Not like english mattered.

Only Lilly mattered.

Jane tossed the book over to the side, burying her head in Jane's side. Her touch was always so nice, so safe. A sigh escaped the elf's lips. She nodded. It was boring with out Lilly. Jane hated the large age gap that they had. There wasn't enough time in the world to be with Lilly.

"Yes, outside. " She needed to stretch her limbs and get some fresh air. The room was so stale. Sitting in here for five minutes was already too long.

And Lilly was growing something?! Jane's eyes went wide as she went back to sitting up straight, nodding slowly. "How?" Wasn't that hard?
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Immediately, Lilly hopped off of the couch once Jane stopped leaning on her, grabbing the elf's hand and tugging her up. "C'mon then, let's go!" she whispered urgently, excitedly. "I'll go show you," the dryad urged.

She blinked at being asked how before giggling. Jane couldn't be serious, right? But... just in case. "I'll show you how," she whispered. It was so easy to grow a plant! Well, it did take a while. And it was her first successful growing. She had always failed in the past due to impatience. Why, most of the time she dug the seeds back up to see if any changes had happened.
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Jane didn't even need help up but she didn'tprotest when Lilly grabbed her hand. Her small fingers curled into Lilly's grip and didn't let go when up. A small smile came across her lips. "Okay," she stepped close to Lilly. The temptation to lean against Lilly's shoulder was fierce but she knew that if she did, she'd likely fall asleep. She couldn't fall asleep when she didn't have much time with her friend!

The freshling nodded, the smile on her face disappeared and was replaced with thin lips. Her eyes bore into Lilly, the grip on the dryad's hand strengthening. "Please." Jane's lips curled in distaste as the still foreign word left her lips. Manners were hard. It still seemed so natural though. At least with Lilly.

"Where's the garden?" Jane couldn't remember a time when she had been in it. Was there a garden at the academy? Her face scrunched up as she looked to Lilly for direction. There had to be; Lilly wouldn't talk about something she didn't know.
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"The garden is outside, silly!" she told her in a whisper, holding her hand firmly and hurrying along. She paused, smirking a bit as she watched the caretakers carefully. They would have to sneak out, of course. "Shhh... don't let them see you," she mumbled.

And then, all of a sudden, she lunged forward, jerking the long haired elf after her. And began running down the hallway, in the direction she knew the garden laid.

When she finally slowed down when they were about to approach the door, she grinned at Jane. "This is much better than staying in that room, right?!" she exclaimed in her soft, whispery voice. The hood to her dinosaur onesie had come down, revealing her short hair.
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Outside?! Jane perked up but then shook her head. She knew that. All gardens had to be outside. A frown etched across her face. Did Lilly think she was that dumb? The elf made a mental note to disprove that idea. She couldn't have her friend think that she didn't have common sense. Jane didn't voice it though. Actions spoke louder than words.

The shushing noise made Lilly's head swivel towards the caretakers, her body inching closer to her friend. "Quiet." she muttered and nodded, mainly to herself. She could do that. That was easy. Talking wasn't her thing anyway.

She was so focused on the caretakers that she didn't realize the tug on her hand at first. Jane stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. Why were they running?? Wouldn't they get caught? The urge to look back was strong but she couldn't chance it, too afraid to see the caretakers hot on their heels.

The door was offly close. Jane tried slowing down but it was too late.

She hit the door with a soft thud and winced. "Mmmhmm," she nodded, rubbing her now sore forehead. "Better than homework."
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Lilly blinked at her, gasping a bit, before moving close to examining the red spot. "Are you okay?" she whispered, touching the forehead tenderly. Poor Jane. She hoped it wasn't her fault.

Still holding her hand, she led out of the garden. A caretaker was out there, observing other freshling; they only passed a small disapproving look before further scolding another dryad and fey pair of freshlings. Lilly ignored them; she knew them, apparently they had come from the country. She then grinned at Jane excitedly. "Isn't it pretty?" she gasped in her raspy voice before crouching down to look at one of the flowers, letting go of the elf's hand.

"The homework. Is it the job thing?" she asked, glancing up at her friend. "Birkita helped me finish mine! What are you going to put on yours?"
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Jane stiffened at the touch. But it was Lilly. Lilly.. The elf's shoulders slowly relaxed. Lilly's touch always felt warm and comforting. She wasn't like the other people. She was safe. "I'm okay." she mumbled. It was probably going to cause a bruise but she was none the wiser. It didn't hurt too bad.

It was like she hit her head all over again. This was the garden?

Jane nodded dumbly. "It is." It may make her nose itch but the sight was worth it. Being with Lilly period was worth it. Were there special rocks here? She looked around. There didn't seem to be any....She'd have to dig at the dirt later.

Jane's hand grasped air where there used to be a hand, making her look down. Where did she go? Oh, the ground. "Is that the flower you grew?" she curiously peeked at the plant. It seemed so big. Wasn't it just a seed earlier this morning?

Blech. A subject she didn't like. Homework. Jane glanced to the side. "No, it's a reading." That she was hoping to avoid. Maybe she'd still pass the class if she fibbed on it. She did have to do the paragraph on what she wanted to be too....It was so much work. Why did she have to write it when she could just say it?! "I---" she frowned. What did she want to do? "I want to work with rocks." she said slowly, unsure. The idea of being away from Lilly when they were grown up terrified her. But she did need a job when she was older. "What did you put on yours?"
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Lilly nodded excitedly. "I grew this one!" she chirped in her soft voice, not touching the flower. She was told not to touch the flowers, that it would hurt them. So instead, she stared intently at it, hoping it to grow and that she would see it.

A reading. Lilly blanched. She didn't like reading so much. Birkita loved reading. It was weird. How could you hear the story if you were too focused on figuring out the words?! But she straightened from the plants, giving Jane a wide eyed look. "You like rocks?" she whispered before grinning. "We should go look for rocks, then!" she insisted, grabbing her hand.

"I want to work with dinosaurs! Though, Birkita said I can't but I can work with their bones," she said with a puzzling frown.
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"It's very pretty." she crouched down her her, touching it's stem. Although she was more capitivated watching Lilly with the flower. There was something about it---Jane couldn't quite place her finger on it. Seeing Jane with it just made her feel...warm. Nearly uncomfortably so. The elf directed her attention towards the flower again.

Definitely too much.

Jane grinned and nodded. "I love rocks." She reached into her pant's pocket and rifled around inside, taking out a few small rocks. Usually her pockets were nearly overflowing with the small hardened mineral. A caretaker had taken quite a few of her favorites today when she wasn't paying attention in class. Needless to say, Jane was still sour over it. At least she had these few. "I collect them. Do you want one?" The few she had were some of her favorites. Jane would have refused to share with anyone else. Lilly...she could trust Lilly to take care of them. The dryad was the only one that she didn't mind sharing with.

Look for rocks?! "Okay!" The elf got up quickly, excited at the prospect of filling her pockets to the brim once again. She did it too quick though and teetered, nearly falling on the flowers. Jane gave her friend a wide grin. "Do you need help up?"

And that grin slowly fell as she became confused. "Why can't you work with dinosaurs?" Dinosaurs are real. She hadn't seen one, but they were in her science school book. What did Birikita know? "Birikita isn't an adult."
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Lilly grabbed her hand, tugging it away from the plant. "You shouldn't touch them, the teachers say it's bad for the flowers," she whispered before letting go with a grin. She was quite content on staring at them... until she saw Lilly digging in her pocket. Her eyes widened, moving closer to Jane to look at the stones in her hands. "You found these?!" she asked in awe. Before nodding eagerly and squeezing her eyes shut, holding her hand open, palm up. "Pick me one! A surprise!" she announced happily.

She frowned, waiting for the rock but listening to Jane. "Birkita is as smart as the adults," Lilly pointed out, displaying how much admiration she had for the other freshling.
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Jane's shoulder's slumped and a frown crossed her lips. "Why is it bad for the flowers?" It didn't make any sense. Her rocks loved to be touched. Although...they didn't grow any. Still, she was sure that they loved it! They at least got warm. And who didn't like feeling warm? Rocks and flowers both came from nature. They should require the same things right? They both needed dirt, after all.

She grinned down at her rock collection and looked up at Jane as she stretched out her arm further, carefully moving the stones so that they were evenly spaced. "Yep!" Her chest felt so warm. She didn't want the feeling to end. Was this...happiness? "There are a lot of rocks on the way to science class." At least, that walk offered more rocks than most of her other walks outside. "But they're everywhere here." She was starting on a second jar full in her room. And yet she still felt like she didn't have enough. The thought of having more rocks because of her job as an adult had her buzzing with energy. Man, she couldn't wait.

But..she might not be with Lilly. Her hand slightly fell lower as she inspected the rocks before pulling out a bright and shiny green one. It reminded her of Lilly's skin. So pretty. "This one." she grabbed Lilly's hand and curled her fingers over the stone before taking a step back. She'd still have Lilly when they grow up, yeah?

Unless Birkita got in the way. Jane let out a small growl. "Birikita isn't an adult." She stuck her nose up and looked away from Lilly. "Birikita doesn't know everything." Uttering the name had her blood boiling.
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Her hand closed over the smooth rock and her eyes opened. What she saw made her gasp. It was the color of plants and how most dinosaurs looked in her books! A squeal of happiness went through her. "It's so pretty!" she announced in a high whisper, holding it closer to her face.

"I'll definitely find you some rocks. We can't take the ones here, though. The caretakers said no. It helps with drainage and frost, or something like that," she explained softly before grinning. "But... I can show you where a good spot is! Birkita doesn't know everything but she does know a lot. She showed me this spot, too!" Lilly said, holding Jane's hand again. "And I want to show it to you."
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The squeal caught her off guard and made her stiffen. Wha---That noise. Was that a good noise? Her intense stare fell upon Jane, body stiff. And then relaxed as she said it was pretty. The elf let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. "You do?" she nearly squeaked. Why did her face feel so hot?! "I---I'm happy you like it." The words nearly came out in a barely audible jumble. She knew she was always quiet but why was it so hard to speak now?!

As much as it was embarressing, she wished for that happiness back. Her face fell at the news of not being able to take any rocks here. "Not even one?" So sad. "But no one takes care of the rocks. They're only interested in the plants..." The rocks wouldn't have anyone to talk to. No one to keep them company. No one to go on adventures with...Her heart hurt just thinking about it. How many rocks in the world were there that didn't have a good home? "Let's go." Maybe she could take a few of the rocks when Lilly wasn't looking. If no one knew, then she wouldn't get caught. It was simple. The only difficult thing was hiding it from her best friend. Jane looked away from her. "I want to see."

The elf gained resolve. Even if Lilly wasn't there; she'd work with rocks. Someone had to take care of them. It was the perfect job.
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