Welcome to Gaia! ::

Following Verdant up the long stone path from the gate to the lobby, Elst made a few cursory glances around the rows of plants they were passing, to ensure all was well while he’d been gone. Seeing that everything was fine, he proceeded into the lobby. He heard Verdant’s comment. “Oh, no worries, I have no problem keeping it in my home, I already keep tons of plants in there as it is, a new addition is always welcome.” Aoi slowly climbed out of his inside pocket, knowing it was safe in the lobby. “And trust me, it’l have a very positive environment with us.”

Hearing Verdant’s next array of questions, Elst thought for a second, raising his eyebrow slightly at the last one. “Well, I guess you can start now, and what I’ll have you do is, lemme think here… Well, you’ll mainly be helping me with customers, as well as maintaining the plants. You’ll also keep watch when I’m away, though I plan to stay here as often as possible while you get used to working here. And, uh, as for the nectar, feel free to, I guess, as long as there’s plenty left for the bees and such.”

Elst shook his head. “Oh, no, you’re not burdening us at all with the amaranth, we’re glad to have it. And I’ll get it to my house, you’ve done enough lifting.” He grabbed the pot at its base, lifting it with some variety of ease, and Aoi swiftly climbed up the pot, up onto the rose bush, to get to the top, a much better view. As Verdant enjoyed his ‘drink’, Elst began the long walk to the back area of the Nursery, where his home laid buried in ivy.

“This’ll be fun, a nice multi-mile walk.” He laughed slightly, to himself.

Watching his new employee appreciate the natural takeover around him, Elst knew he’d made the right choice. He’d needed an assistant that could truly appreciate their responsibility, and not be doing it for the money. He needed someone who, unlike Aoi, could work with customers, run human relations and such. Verdant seemed to be exactly that. He had a love of plant life, and unlike Elst, was very heavily socialized, and could be friendly with customers. Charisma. That’s what Elst lacked, and Verdant seemed more than enough to make up for it. He grinned, thinking of the beneficial prospects that lay ahead.

Upon hearing Verdant’s question, however, the grin sharply fell. Elst narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, and as they approached the front door of his home he removed his green-tinted eyewear, not yet opening the front door. “Oh, it’s not too much of a personal question, no, I haven’t any problem having you know. It’s just… difficult. Before I looked human, before any of that, well, I had no emotion, none at all. I was like any other plant.” He paused a moment, his head down, searching for his keys in his pocket while balancing the pot in his other hand, before continuing.

“Now, honestly, I remember little of those days, as I had little use for remembering anything but when the rain seasons were, but there’s one thing worth remembering. I eventually came to adapt human emotions, integrate them into myself, becoming conscious after a while. I even eventually took on a human form, as you can see. But even now, after all these years, there are a few simple things I cannot grasp, despite my efforts. Rage, jealousy, and love. The first two, I don’t mind avoiding, especially because I can feel basic anger, but the third is something I still struggle to get a hold of. It’s just another problem to deal with, though, and I shouldn’t be bothering you with it. If I can just find my keys…” He returned his hand to his coat, this time a different pocket, while Aoi watched from his rose-top perch. Without him noticing, out from Elst’s neck had sprouted another of his roses, and a few bees had landed on it, the flower being large enough to keep them occupied. It was a deep scarlet in hue.

Elst had finally found his keys, and was about to open the front door, but as Verdant began to speak, he grew still, silent. There was a certain tone to Verdant’s voice, utter sympathy, something Elst was unaccustomed to hearing. His brows furrowed ever so slightly as he listened. He barely even moved when Aoi’d been set in his arms. He heard the man’s words, yet what he truly heard was absolute silence. The words carried a new sort of weight to them; their meaning seemed to shoot straight to his head.

He slowly lowered his eyes for them to focus on Aoi, as he was still lost in thought. Has this been it all along? Had this been that forever-out-of-reach feeling? Had he actually gone so long without it that he hadn’t noticed it when it finally graced him? So many questions, so few answers, too many things to consider at once. A son, of sorts, surrogate, in a species almost as rare as his own…

His knees sluggishly straightened as his body followed suit, the enveloping hum of the bees and a faint ringing from Aoi’s ribbon the only sounds in the still air. He eventually stood straight, Aoi gently supported in his arms and a near-comatose look on his face. His eyes narrowed, however, as he snapped back to reality, an epiphany having hit him. “Th-thank you, Verdant, I suppose you’re right… Let’s head inside…” He fell silent once more, his eyes not leaving Aoi once, even as he removed an antique-looking iron key from his pocket, unlocking the heavy wooden door in front of him.

He stepped inside, gesturing for Verdant to follow. They stood in a short hallway lined with small potted plants, the exception being a large Hydrangea in the windowsill. Windows, in fact, lined the entire house, skylights, wall panes, sliding glass doors, and the room to which the hall opened up was no exception. The scent in the air was almost overwhelming, massive peppermint shrubs lining a number of windows, as well as several others, such as lavender. They seemed to mix, however, no particular aroma proving too strong. A large bookcase, stocked with reference texts and leisure reading alike, dominated the opposing wall, and was in the process of being taken over by what was either a climbing rose or fine ivy plant. This was one of the few luxuries Elst chose to invest in. “If you would like, you can allow the Amaranth to grow over the bookcase like this ivy has; when I need something to read I can just ask it to move away from the book I need…”

The air, though laden with the fragrances of the plants within it, seemed light, fresh from the constant respiration of the greenery.

Elst broke out of his trance a bit, as the creator of the trance itself halted it with his comment. He laughed, lightly, watching the man enjoy the myriad of scents his home held. “Oh, good to hear you like it, you’ll be spending a lot of time at this here Nursery, and most of the buildings are as overgrown as this is…” He excused himself for a moment, walking out through the hallway to retrieve the Amaranth-turned-rose bush. Shortly, he returned, and placed the aesthetic rose next to the book case, lightly tapping it with one of his fingers. Slowly, it began to assume its original form.

Elst let out a slight sigh, as the fatal topic finally arose. “Yes, about Aoi… Well, first, I’ll trust you not to tell a soul about this, and second, well… Aoi is an Essentic, artificial life banished from the world so long ago. More specifically, a Magicker Essentic, of the Floramancing variety. You may have noticed I keep him hidden. You now know why.” Upon finishing, he sat down on a large reclining chair, positioned so that it caught the rays of the sun as they passed through the nearest window. He was glad to finally get this out; it was, of course, a necessity that his shop-help knew, but… it worried him. He was lucky he could trust Verdant with this information. There was another recliner about two feet spaced from Elst’s; it too was positioned to catch as much sun as possible, but from a different window.

“Here… Take a seat. I’ll answer any other questions you may have.” Aoi, who had been practically burying himself in the Amaranth’s sweet scent, dashed over to Elst, reassuming his favorite spot: Elst’s shoulder.

Elst eyed Verdant’s expression mildly. He looked a bit shocked, but seemed to be handling it fairly well so far. Now, for more questions… “If I had even the slightest inkling of an afterthought that you’d tell anyone, I wouldn’t have told you all that, would I? Anyway, well, I got him from an establishment of sorts, they’ve apparently been working to restore Essentics to the world for quite some time now. Haven’t a clue how they’ve done it, though, and I don’t really plan on bothering them about it any time soon.” He stopped for a moment, sparing Aoi an affectionate grin and another one of the little Proto’s favorite candies. “Whatever the cause, though, I’m just glad to have him. He’d brought a certain light to my life I never really had before.”