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 Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:39 pm
The small cacti were certainly a new addition, which just made the frei all the more eager to bring Minerva true flowers from a garden as marvelous as Duncan's. She always seemed eager when it was mentioned. He and Anita both held great enthusiasm for this flower picking venture and Cruz knew his guardian wanted just as much to bring some back to her mother.
”It's really tiny,” he chuckled and held a hand up as Jill left his side, holding his index finger and thumb apart. More of a knick-knack that a house plant.
As Duncan explained the meaning of the roses in his basket, Cruz held them up and admired them. The colors seemed to fit their descriptions to him and he returned them neatly with a smile just as Jill added even more to his collection. ”Oh,” the croc rumbled, ”good. 'Nerva's sweet like lilies.”
Once Mordekai and Anita were present, Cruz floated a bit higher. The redness of Mordekai's cheeks was easier to detect without the shading of the hat. Beside him, Anita's face was covered as she fought to regain control over the fluffiness of her hair that the sunhat had smushed and disheveled. When she lifted her head, he supposed there was a slight pinkness but that was common on her while in the sun.
”Thanks,” Anita took the basket and flipped one of her braids over her shoulder, the other remaining against her front, ”It wasn't too bad. Don't think I touched any.” Just to be sure, she looked at herself and examined her arms. Her arms were a little pink around the elbows but the hat was keeping the sun off of her shoulders well enough.
”What flowers do you want for Tango, 'Nita?”
She laughed and gripped the basket with both hands. ”What are we gonna do, put them in his collar?”
”Yes,” he smiled, matter-of-factly.
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:40 pm
"Good. But if you start to feel an itch, we do have ointments for that back home." Duncan smiled at Anita once she took the basket, then returned to tending to the flowers. He caught glimpse of Mordekai's face and the two exchanged sheepish looks, though the blond seemed to more out of confusion than Duncan did. The older man chuckled quietly to himself.
While Cruz and Anita spoke, Mordekai tried to focus on watching the flowers, his hands carefully inspecting rows of dead campanula flowers. A few of them were still standing afresh, just barely, but many of the petals were beginning to wilt, and the leaves were yellowing. He glanced up once when Tango was mentioned, but glanced bashfully down again. He smiled to himself.
"You could make 'im a little flower collar..." Mordekai placed his handful of dead campanula matter into Duncan's basket, then put his sunhat back on. He walked a few feet away, out of range from the narrow grass path. Growing on the ground were a several bunches of a variety of asters. The biggest cluster of them all were the white daisies-- Mordekai knelt down to collect a few of them, one by one, making sure to pluck them with enough stem on each. He looked back at the Frei and Anita.
"These'uns might be good for 'im. Y'know how to weave these?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:41 pm
”It pays to be prepared,” Anita joked as she slug the basket over one arm. She glanced between Duncan and Mordekai as they exchanged looks of their own, though was quick to turn her attention to the flowers in Cruz's basket.
Cruz perked at Mordekai's suggestion. The frei nodded firmly, holding his basket up. ”All around the back,” he gestured to his own after moving his ponytail out of the way.
”That'd be cute,” Anita laughed as she tucked a few more roses into her own basket, the same colors Jill had picked out for Cruz. ”I don't know how long he'd wear it but he does fine with the bandana and all.”
Turning in time, both Cruz and Anita looked to Mordekai with his collection of daisies. Anita smiled and pressed a palm to her cheek while the frei quickly approached and floated low to match Mordekai's crouched height. ”No,” he answered, then looked to Anita. Her line of sight was just a bit off from the flowers but as soon as she noticed Cruz looking she met his eyes and shook her head. ”Can you show us?”
He wasn't wearing it now but he still had the small bracelet Tatiana had weaved not long ago. It was drying out now, hung on the knob of their bedroom door for decoration for fear of breaking it with continued use.
”What about bracelets?” If Mordekai taught him how to weave, then maybe he could return the gift to Tati sometime.
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:42 pm
Duncan and the Petits minded their own near the roses while the Frei joined the two others, though a few curious eyes from Jill and Jerri both fell on them occasionally. Mordekai, however, wasn't one to notice, especially when there was a task at hand, and--
He glanced up when Anita looked away from the bunches of daisies, smile slight but present. He collected all of the daisies in one hand to try and pull down his sunhat further, in an attempt to hide himself with the patches of shade. Mordekai only registered that the Frei was talking a few seconds after the fact-- when he realized he didn't quite hear what Cruz had to say, he turned back toward him.
"Huh?" The request fortunately registered after a moment of dazed confusion, and Mordekai nodded eagerly afterward. "Oh-- 'course I can! Bracelets're even easier-- 'ere, put these in your basket for now," he held out the handful of daisies toward Cruz and his basket, "I'll go find more flowers. Y'all got any favorite colors?"
While the question was initially directed at the Frei, Mordekai chanced a glance toward Anita. He tried to adjust his sunhat again only to find the effort futile; he took the hat off again and held it upside down by its cap. He focused his smile down at his sunhat and the daisies a while.
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:44 pm
While Cruz was floating just a few short feet from Mordekai, his guardian was standing about a yard or so from the both of them – somewhere between the two and the rest of the group. She rested her chin in her palm, smiling toward Duncan and the Petit children with her head dipped toward the shade of her hat. Their glances went unnoticed all the same, especially from Cruz who was staring so intently at Mordekai a new hole might have sprung in his tattered sunhat.
It was Mordekai's eyes the croc followed, first at the daisies, then at Anita where it lingered even as Cruz spoke. There was a brief moment of bewilderment between the two of them before Mordekai got himself up to speed. Cruz's brows were raised expectantly, mouth open and ready to repeat what he'd asked, but Mordekai understood.
”Okay,” Cruz smiled and took the bundle of daisies. They were tucked comfortably beside the roses with great care. And with that, Mordekai was off. ”Green,” the frei started, only to look around the garden and promptly sink lower. Flowers weren't green, their leaves and stems were. ”Err, red!” Christmas.
Then it seemed like Mordekai got distracted again. Cruz lifted his chin as he tried his best to see past the spotty shadows of the hat. Almost on cue, the man took the hat off entirely. Once more, Cruz followed his eyes – back to Anita, who had inched closer to one of the nearer bushes and was busy examining the petals as if they were hiding something. It took her a moment to realize she was expected to fill the ensuing silence, double-taking toward Cruz and Mordekai both with a shy laugh.
”Red for me, too. And blue. Any kind of blue,” her smile remained toward Mordekai for just a few seconds, bottom lip pinched lightly beneath her teeth. She promptly returned to examining the flowers, no doubt looking for fairies.
Cruz blinked slowly, then followed after Mordekai. He wanted to pick out some flowers specifically for Tati and he wanted to make the bracelet himself.
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:46 pm
Mordekai smiled at Cruz's first choice in color, but the Frei picked up on the matter quickly. He waited eagerly for Anita's say, then rose to walk away from the rose bushes. While warmer, flusher colors were where Duncan and the Petits were currently occupying, that certainly wasn't the best place to find the richer red and blue flowers.
"Red an' blue, huh..." He held the sun hat close to him while wandering through the garden. It was always bigger than he expected, even after tending to it for so long, but they were fortunately divided up into separate compartments in planter boxes designated by type and color, for the most part. By the time he slowed down, he was near the very opposite part of the garden, within spitting distance of the shed. He looked around to make sure he was at the right place, but once he spotted the flowers they'd like, he pointed toward them.
"There we go!" He smiled and looked back toward Cruz, then all the way back, toward where Anita was. Despite the distance, he fell into a moment of pleasant silence and wondered what she was up to-- was she inspecting the flowers for something? Questions despite, he laughed bemusedly and returned to what he was doing. He guided Cruz over closer with a small wave, then greeted the larkspurs.
There were a wide variety of them-- Duncan always had the tradition of reseeding the specific aisle they were in with a parade of monthly flowers, but it always seemed that the larkspurs were among the ones that were given the most attention, other than the honeysuckles and chrysanthemums. They came in a variety of lush blues, purples, vibrant reds, and whites.
"Think these'll make nice bracelets?" Mordekai asked the Frei idly. He was gravitating toward the white larkspurs, though, and glanced over at Cruz to see if he was following. He gestured toward him again and stopped toward a patch of peculiarly creamy green ones. When he spotted a particularly chartreuse one, he plucked it from the bunch and handed it to the Frei.
"Green flower, jus' for you," he chuckled and shrugged, "They ain't green like grass, but we got 'em." He plucked a few more from a bunch and put it in his own makeshift basket.
Anita's fairy-searching, meanwhile, was proving fruitless, though evidence of other creatures being in the garden were definitely present. Houses made of leaves and stray petals were present here and there, camouflaged with the other flora; flower petals that were healthy enough hung like baskets, collecting dew.
Jill and Jerri were beginning to walk past the rose bushes, and the adults followed soon behind them. When Duncan noticed Anita inspecting the flowers, he smiled. "Are you looking for something, Anita? Or someone?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:49 pm
The frei followed Mordekai along quite obediently, eyes scanning over all of the flowers they were moving towards. There were so many colors. Cruz's gaze immediately gravitated toward the blues, choosing some of the brightest for Tatiana once he caught up to the man.
”Yes,” he rumbled appreciatively, smiling as he reached out for the stem of a bright blue larkspur. Cruz didn't have the chance to pluck it before Mordekai presented him with a green one and the frei's eyes widened instantly. He took it and turned it over in his hands, smile growing the longer he studied it, ”Perfect.”
Cruz tucked that one in his basket atop the others and gestured to the blue ones. ”Need some blues,” he ran his hands over the blossoms, lightly jostling them so they swayed, ”and reds.” A glance toward another batch made his heart flutter, one color he hadn't thought about drawing his attention and reminding him of another that could use a flowery gift. ”And pink.”
Closer to the shed, Anita had bent forward against her knees to get a better look inside the flower patches. Duncan's comment drew her eyes to him with a smile but she was right back to searching after. ”Ah, kind of. I haven't seen the fairies yet today.” After another few moments, she straightened up and adjusted her basket on her arm so she could pat her shoulder. ”Had a buddy, a while back.”
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:51 pm
Mordekai picked a few more stray delphiniums and hummed in thought. "Hmm... more blues an' reds an' pinks, huh?" He stood upright to better survey the garden horizon for another place that suited Cruz's choices. He lingered on a row of freesias close to the shed-- hesitantly, he walked toward it, his focus now on his hat of flowers and the ground below him. He glanced back at Cruz and waved toward him with a smile as a gesture to follow.
Most of the next aisle were filled with an assortment of irises and freesias, but nearest to where they were was a bushel of bright-blue cornflowers. Mordekai knelt down to pick and inspect a few of them, then held some out for if Cruz came near. "Cornflowers're very blue," he noted, quietly and simply; he glanced up at the freesias and irises, "An' those over there're everythin' you need, I think, 'cept the blue, 'less purple's okay..."
Duncan to Anita's side to inspect the flower bushes next to hers. "It must've been quite a while back," he noted; he was quietly surprised at the presence of fairy's nests at all. "We haven't seen them around since a few years ago." Duncan recalled the date of their disappearance almost exactly, but he didn't see any reason to mention when.
Jill, meanwhile, crept up behind Duncan, one hand clinging to Duncan's jacket. The older man glanced back at the girl as she poked her nose through the flower bush. "I wanna see fairies too!" she exclaimed, bouncing in place, "Did you find them yet? Also, what do these mean?" She held out a cluster of white magnolias, sweet-smelling and bright.
"Not yet-- ah," he gently received the magnolias, "I believe these mean dignity, Jill." Duncan chuckled and pat the girl's head as she continued looking without listening, anyway, then glanced back at Cruz and Mordekai, curious. He raised his voice to speak to the two of them, "Would you two like help looking for anything?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:53 pm
Cruz was absolutely a twitter, the more flowers he received. His basket was starting to get nice and full despite still being light. The frei kept looking down and beaming at his steadily growing collection when he wasn't inspecting other flowers or receiving them from Mordekai.
”Very blue,” he agreed, tucking them in with the larkspurs he'd gathered for Tatiana's bracelet. Everything that was being pointed out to him was very eye catching, just perfect for the croc's purposes. ”Got blue,” Cruz assured him with a pat of the basket's handle, ”Purple's good. What's your favorite?”
Anita leaned her chin against her palm. ”Aw, really?” She looked back at the abandoned fairy settlements hidden in the flower beds with a fond smile, her brows lightly twisted with worry. ”That's a shame.” Jill's sudden approach and questions made Anita laugh. ”Maybe they migrate,” she joked. Duncan's call to the boys made her glance over to check, too. Their baskets were looking pretty healthy.
The croc floated higher, just reaching Mordekai's shoulder instead of closer to his elbow. He twisted around to look at Duncan, at first perplexed and then with a wide, bright smile. Cruz looked down at his basket, held it up to inspect closer, tilted his head, then shrugged animatedly towards Duncan.
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:56 pm
Mordekai walked a few steps away from the cornflowers to greet the freesias. He smiled gently at the Frei's question; he hummed in thought. He couldn't think of any immediate answer, but he plucked a pink freesia from its bunch and rolled it by its stem. He liked pink flowers, didn't he?
He managed a quiet 'not too sure' before Duncan interjected with an offer of help; he noticed that Cruz was answering well enough, but quietly, so he spoke up just to make sure. "Think we're almost done here, but thanks!" He glanced down at his hat full of flowers; this was more than he needed to make several flower chains from.
"If you're certain!" When Mordekai waved, Duncan did the same in return. He turned back to Anita and Jill as the blond returned to his flowers; he chuckled and went back to inspecting the flower bush. "The settlements look a bit too fresh to have been abandoned... alas, they're flighty little creatures."
Jill puffed her cheeks and pulled away from the flower bushes at the unsatisfactory answer. "That's dumb," she commented; idly, she let go of Duncan's jacket and walked closer to Anita, one hand reaching for her arm. "Anita, what's Cruz doing?" She was curious, but didn't want to stray too far from everyone else.
"He's picking enough to make bracelets, dummy." Jerri walked up from behind Jill and away from his mother; as it were, they were inspecting the tulips. He ruffled the girl's hair as she glanced up.
"Bracelets? I wanna make them too," Jill looked back up at Anita and tugged at her shirt, "Anita! Can we make bracelets? Oh--" she turned again to Duncan and pat him on the arm, "Uncle, mom has all of my flowers! You have to tell us what they mean! Right? Do they still mean things when they're in bracelets?"
"I'll tell you what they mean when your mom's done picking her flowers." He chuckled, brows upturned. "Flowers don't lose their meaning when used for bracelets, no."
Mordekai glanced back over at the group at the mention of bracelets, toward Anita and Jill. He grinned bemusedly before staring back down at his slowly growing pile of mostly-red and blue flowers. Had he meant to do that? He flustered again, just slightly, and reached to adjust the hat on his head. When he realized he wasn't wearing one, he glanced up and noticed nothing but sky.
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:59 pm
If the fairy dwelling was too fresh to be completely abandoned, as Duncan said, then Anita was pleased. Regardless, she smiled pleasantly at the thought and glanced back to it just as Jill chose to hang off her arm. She quietly shooshed her, gently swaying her arm in Jill's grasp, then laughed at the siblings' exchange. ”I think Mordekai was gonna show Cruz how to do it,” Anita glanced over to check their progress; they were getting further off and seemed to have plenty of flowers.
Cruz hovered lower, distracted by a particularly vibrant flower as soon as he bothered to ask the question. Mordekai's answer didn't immediately register but the croc was pulled to attention with the offered freesia. It was just the right pink for the stag, he thought. The frei's wings rustled excitedly as he deposited it and a few more into his basket. The collection was coming along nicely and Mordekai seemed to have a good amount, too. It looked like they would get a lot of bracelets out of them.
”Don't know your favorite?” Cruz asked once the response registered. It was strange to him that Mordekai wouldn't know what color he liked best.
The croc puffed out his cheeks and looked down at the basket. He intended to ask if Mordekai liked any of the colors he had in there but was instantly taken by just how many there were. ”Are there enough?” he asked instead, lifting his head and holding the basket up to be inspected, ”For bracelets?” There were so many he wanted to make, now, and for so many people. ”Can we start?”
Each question came out smooth with no hesitation, only the obvious excitement behind Cruz's eyes and the slight bounce in his hovering tripped up his otherwise calm exterior. That, and how tightly he was gripping the basket.
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:03 pm
Jill nodded at Duncan firmly-- it was a promise he was sworn to keep, but later. Bracelets, however, were an immediate concern; she patted Anita's arm again, firmly but very gentle, given her weight and strength. "Let's go! Can we go? Pleaase--"
"Let's not push Anita around, Jill." Duncan gently pat Jill's back to usher her away from bothering Anita. The girl looked up defiantly but listened nonetheless, though she only took a few shy steps away from Anita.
"I wanna make bracelets," she noted again; Jerri held her by the wrist and managed to walk her a few steps farther from Anita yet, though Jill was still hellbent on looking over at the Frei's direction.
"Jill, just wait a second, they're probably going to come over here." Jerri frowned as Jill offered him a raspberry in response, though he halfheartedly returned the favor.
"Oh--" Mordekai snapped back into attention and looked away from the sky. Haphazardly, he tended to the flowers again while digesting Cruz's question; he hadn't necessarily heard him in full, but he cautiously shook his head anyway. Mordekai managed to pick a few more irises until realizing his basket was also nearly full, and when he saw how bright Cruz's basket looked, he grinned.
"Yeah! More'n enough, really, good job." He smiled at Cruz and absently looked back over at the rest of the group. He noticed Anita and the children and Duncan in one corner, and Rebecca walking toward Jill. She seemed to have picked an ample amount of tulips for herself. He lingered a bit on watching Rebecca, then looked toward the tulips.
"Tulips... y'can't make a good flower chain wid'out tulips." Idly at first, he walked a few steps toward the tulip aisle, then picked up the pace-- he waved toward Cruz again as a cue to follow. "One last stop an' we can start, promise!"
As Mordekai began walking, Rebecca glanced over, then toward Anita brows upturned. "Any reason why Cruz isn't with the rest of us, dear?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:04 pm
”It's okay,” Anita noted softly to Duncan as Jill was shooed away, but the timid smile on her face showed her gratitude when Jill was finally coaxed back.
Cruz floated just a bit higher at Mordekai's praise. As soon as he returned the smile, he was back to admiring the basket in his hands. The frei followed after without looking up, just seeing the direction Mordekai's legs were taking him in his peripheral. Only when another type of flower was mentioned did his attention finally fall back.
”Tulips,” he repeated. That was an easy flower. The name was simple and they were really identifiable in a group. There were a lot of nicely colored tulips arranged, as well. ”Okay,” Cruz accepted this condition and held the basket closer to himself, speeding up his glide just enough to catch up with Mordekai as he reached the flower bed.
”Why are tulips good for flower chains?”
Rebecca's return was met with a small wave from Anita. She raised her brows and smiled uncertainly at the question, then gestured a hand toward the frei. ”Mordekai said he'd teach him how to make flower bracelets, so they're getting a bunch I guess.” Anita glanced to Jill and chuckled. ”Jill really wants to do bracelets, too.”
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:05 pm
The two siblings talked between themselves, Jerri argumentative and Jillette adamant. It was only when Rebecca walked over to them that Jill fled to her immediately-- the girl clung to her mother's waist as Anita and Rebecca spoke, and throughout their conversation, she continually whispered 'mom,' as if to garner anyone's attention. Unfortunately for Jill, she failed completely.
As an idle motion, Rebecca kept one hand around her daughter's shoulder. She seemed reluctantly amused at Anita's response, and her chuckle bordered on uncomfortable. "Mordekai's going to teach him how to what? I didn't even know he could--"
"Mom!" Jillette finally exclaimed, her voice now at full volume. She tugged at Rebecca's dress, too, which finally motivated the woman to look down.
"Sweetheart, I'm talking to Anita. What is it?"
"Show Uncle Clarke my floweeeers," Jill whined; she reached for the basket, which Rebecca firmly held onto. "I wanna know what they mean! Please."
With a firm sigh, Rebecca let go of the flower basket for Jill to take-- immediately, the little girl flocked back to Duncan, who was busy inspecting the flowers and keeping the already quiet Jerri company. Before addressing the older man in full, though, she turned around to wave toward the Frei-- loudly and enthusiastically, she called to him. "Cruz, come here! Don't you wanna know what these mean?"
Mordekai couldn't help but grin idly as they neared the tulips; even if he wasn't certain anymore on a favorite color, he always regarded tulips with overwhelming fondness. He smiled at Cruz's question while picking tulips of a variety of colors; the flowers were all vibrant and well during the heat of summer.
"Tulips're good 'cause everyone's okay with 'em, I think... an' their stems're easy to work with," the blond began. He looked up as Jill spoke up, then glanced sheepishly at the Frei. He gestured toward the girl with flowers still in hand. "Think she wants you t'go over for somethin'...y'can go ahead if y'want, I'll catch up real quick." He smiled assuredly, then gestured toward his hat basket, "I'll pick nice tulips for ya."
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:08 pm
Before Rebecca was interrupted by her daughter, Anita gave an amused shrug. It seemed like Mordekai had a few hidden talents. There wasn't much time to consider it with Jillette being so exuberant, though, and Anita was quick to stay quiet with basket in hand and a smile on her face.
Cruz was quick to start examining the tulips once he caught up, nodding at the blond's sound explanation. Tulips did seem like a good flower for everyone.
The young Petit's call for the croc was noticed even without Mordekai's notice, but Cruz hadn't begun drifting until then. He lagged back, observing the man uncertainly, then smiled at his assurance and promise. ”Okay. Lots of nice tulips. Thanks!” Cruz gave Mordekai a parting touch on his shoulder before making a beeline right for Jill. He smiled at Rebecca and Anita as he passed, then hovered low enough for his ribbon to drag as he settled at eye level beside Jill.
”You know all the flowers meanings?” he asked Duncan with a lopsided grin, eyes wide with curiosity while he dug out the first bright blue larkspur he picked for Tatiana's bracelet.
Anita adjusted her stance so she was a bit behind Rebecca while watching the kids flock to Duncan. She passed a glance over her shoulder to Mordekai tending to the tulips and chewed her lip.
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