Nephrite was close to finishing off her usual garden round, which she always took care of once the sun had set properly and could no longer bother her. It had been gray and overcast all day and due to the frequent rain showers she did not need to water the plants this time. While some gardeners might consider themselves lucky, Nephrite was less than pleased. Rain inevitably meant she'd come in contact with mud and get dirty no matter how hard she tried to retain her pristine appearance. What worse, the mud liked to cling to her, no matter how often she tried to phase it off. Unfortunately, there'd been plenty of weeding to do.
She had donned her gardening outfit, of course – a simple yukata with a flower pattern, the sleeves tied back to be out of the way, and then a cute apron, both easy to wash – but it still bothered her immensely and she found herself looking forward to be soaking in a nice, hot, scented bubble bath. Especially as it had just started to rain again. Nephrite's eyes narrowed with annoyance.
'Amon, didn't the forecast say-' She started complaining but broke off when she noted her guardian seemed to have fallen asleep. She didn't push it, even though she very much wanted to rant about the nasty weather to him.
What with the frequent nightmares that plagued her guardian she was grateful for every time he was able to sleep peacefully. So instead she hurried into the greenhouse for shelter, her last stop anyway before she could go back inside. And have her bath. And then maybe light a stick of incense or two to make Amon's sleep even more peaceful and rested and snuggle up to him for a little. Yep, that did sound like a nice plan.
Diligently the young fiend took care of the greenhouse plants, all the while the rain was steadily growing stronger, countless drops drumming a staccato against the glass panes. It was kinda nice, she figured, and even calming – as long as you weren't outside and the weather ruined your hair. She liked the scent of rain and moist earth.
Her momentary calm and peace of mind, however, was promptly disturbed when her gaze fell upon the strange tiny bright green specks on the stems and leaves of one of her most treasured herbs. Only, these actually weren't tiny specks.
These were bugs.
Nephrite did exactly what all little girls did when faced with bugs.
She screamed.
Amon woke up with a start, feeling completely disoriented. Several seconds ticked by with him blinking confused at the unfamiliar before he eventually realized just where he was – in the living room, on the flokati rug. Eh, fell asleep on the couch again …
And, apparently, he'd fallen off the couch, thanks to Nephrite's little banshee scream. His ears, metaphorically speaking, were still ringing. He wasn't overly worried though, it had been a disgusted shriek of rage rather than fear. Instead he swore quietly when he discovered his tablet on the floor next to him, screen black. Right, he'd been reading ... Fortunately the screen lit up promptly when he touched it, the device merely having been on standby.
Amon breathed a sigh of relief. It was brand new, and he'd already been forced to return it to the store thrice – once because Nephrite had dropped it, and twice because it had been … overheating. Uh. After what Athan had told him he very much hoped it was a problem of the model and nothing … he himself might be causing. Nah ... In any way, it would have sucked to have to bring it to the store again.
'Amonnnnnnnn …' Nephrite whined unhappily, floating in through the wall from the patio since he hadn't come outside yet. 'There's bugs on my plants,' she complained in a whiny voice. 'Lots and lots and lots of nasty, tiny green bugs!'
Oh. That. I knew I'd forgotten something. “Aphids, yes. I saw them when I checked on the garden earlier today. They're on my tomatoes too. I wanted to call Jasa about them, but couldn't reach her right away and then forgot.” He shrugged.
'You saw bugs on my plants and didn't do anything about them?!' Nephrite glared at him with her best outraged 'how DARE you' expression.
“You said it. Your plants.” Amon shrugged, indicating that he felt anything but responsible for Nephrite's herbs, as rare and excotic they might be. “However, I'll call Jasa to see what to do about the bugs on my vegetables – tomorrow. Maybe I'll share the wisdom.” First and foremost, however, he wanted to go back to sleep as soon as possible, thank you.
'But … Amon!'
Her guardian merely smirked. “Go take a bath, Neph, there's dirt all over you.”
There was another shriek of rage, the sound of several doors being slammed, and then – except for the faint sensation of Nephrite still seething in the back of his mind – all was peaceful and quiet again. For now.
She had donned her gardening outfit, of course – a simple yukata with a flower pattern, the sleeves tied back to be out of the way, and then a cute apron, both easy to wash – but it still bothered her immensely and she found herself looking forward to be soaking in a nice, hot, scented bubble bath. Especially as it had just started to rain again. Nephrite's eyes narrowed with annoyance.
'Amon, didn't the forecast say-' She started complaining but broke off when she noted her guardian seemed to have fallen asleep. She didn't push it, even though she very much wanted to rant about the nasty weather to him.
What with the frequent nightmares that plagued her guardian she was grateful for every time he was able to sleep peacefully. So instead she hurried into the greenhouse for shelter, her last stop anyway before she could go back inside. And have her bath. And then maybe light a stick of incense or two to make Amon's sleep even more peaceful and rested and snuggle up to him for a little. Yep, that did sound like a nice plan.
Diligently the young fiend took care of the greenhouse plants, all the while the rain was steadily growing stronger, countless drops drumming a staccato against the glass panes. It was kinda nice, she figured, and even calming – as long as you weren't outside and the weather ruined your hair. She liked the scent of rain and moist earth.
Her momentary calm and peace of mind, however, was promptly disturbed when her gaze fell upon the strange tiny bright green specks on the stems and leaves of one of her most treasured herbs. Only, these actually weren't tiny specks.
These were bugs.
Nephrite did exactly what all little girls did when faced with bugs.
She screamed.
Amon woke up with a start, feeling completely disoriented. Several seconds ticked by with him blinking confused at the unfamiliar before he eventually realized just where he was – in the living room, on the flokati rug. Eh, fell asleep on the couch again …
And, apparently, he'd fallen off the couch, thanks to Nephrite's little banshee scream. His ears, metaphorically speaking, were still ringing. He wasn't overly worried though, it had been a disgusted shriek of rage rather than fear. Instead he swore quietly when he discovered his tablet on the floor next to him, screen black. Right, he'd been reading ... Fortunately the screen lit up promptly when he touched it, the device merely having been on standby.
Amon breathed a sigh of relief. It was brand new, and he'd already been forced to return it to the store thrice – once because Nephrite had dropped it, and twice because it had been … overheating. Uh. After what Athan had told him he very much hoped it was a problem of the model and nothing … he himself might be causing. Nah ... In any way, it would have sucked to have to bring it to the store again.
'Amonnnnnnnn …' Nephrite whined unhappily, floating in through the wall from the patio since he hadn't come outside yet. 'There's bugs on my plants,' she complained in a whiny voice. 'Lots and lots and lots of nasty, tiny green bugs!'
Oh. That. I knew I'd forgotten something. “Aphids, yes. I saw them when I checked on the garden earlier today. They're on my tomatoes too. I wanted to call Jasa about them, but couldn't reach her right away and then forgot.” He shrugged.
'You saw bugs on my plants and didn't do anything about them?!' Nephrite glared at him with her best outraged 'how DARE you' expression.
“You said it. Your plants.” Amon shrugged, indicating that he felt anything but responsible for Nephrite's herbs, as rare and excotic they might be. “However, I'll call Jasa to see what to do about the bugs on my vegetables – tomorrow. Maybe I'll share the wisdom.” First and foremost, however, he wanted to go back to sleep as soon as possible, thank you.
'But … Amon!'
Her guardian merely smirked. “Go take a bath, Neph, there's dirt all over you.”
There was another shriek of rage, the sound of several doors being slammed, and then – except for the faint sensation of Nephrite still seething in the back of his mind – all was peaceful and quiet again. For now.
