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 Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 7:46 pm
Saturday and his day off and Alexandre was spending it at the same place he now worked. He wasn't helping people though as he wandered the open area, the smell of sun block wafting off his all too fair skin. He'd already greeted several of his fellow workers, a smile in place as he wandered and looked. The sound of gravel under his feet a familiar sound while he turned so he could walk between two long greenhouses and back further toward other ones.
He didn't know what he was after today he supposed he was really just looking, while his mind went over the past week. He'd arranged for a meeting late tonight with several members of the Dark Mirror court, spoken to Leto, spoken with Remarque, meet a girl who was really a boy, and been flirted with at the beach. This week had been filled with all manner of things.
Pulling his cell phone from the pale blue Burberry tote bag he took a glance at the time before the bag went back into his bag as he continued on his walk. He couldn't think of any edible plants he needed, he had quite a few already. But it never hurt to see if they had anything new that could tempt him enough into buying. Turning right, rather than left, when he got to the new row of greenhouses he headed for green house seventeen.
While he walked toward the greenhouse his left hand buried itself into the front pocket of his dark jeans. The denim felt and looked as new as the pants were. Not a fan of shorts, for some reason he never felt comfortable in them, he managed to pull off jeans even in the summer heat year after year. The shirt was a loose white cotton button up with some stitched in company sign, a horse with a flag and shield wielding armor clad figure - Burberry.
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Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:21 pm
Marley was absolutely fuming when she got to the nursery. She was so glad such a place existed. It was rare to see her so very mad in public. There was most certainly a good reason for it though. She had gone out to the cemetery only to find that someone had gone and trampled some of her precious herbs. It looked like a pet was also involved due to some of them being dug up. She knew there was definitely a person involved due to very evident boot prints in the soil. The breeze cooled her down through her sheer white top as she walked up to the first greenhouse. She had a pink bikini top underneath and hot, so sheer was her first pick.
Her fists slowly uncurled from her sides as she inhaled the aromas in the greenhouse. It wasn't the greenhouse she was looking for though. This was just a stop to help calm her. She didn't want to accidentally snap at one of the workers. They certainly didn't deserve it. She was absolutely sure that anyone who worked at a nursery would not be the culprit who trampled her plants.
Her short pink heels didn't agree with her walking on gravel. It was determination that kept her from eating it while walking to greenhouse seventeen. She slipped out her phone from the back pocket of her soft purple shorts to check the list she had made. Lavender, rosemary, and basil were on the shopping list today.
Apparently, walking plus checking her list was not something she should be doing. She ended up in a near head on collision with someone. Her blue eyes jumped up to look at the guy she almost ran over and her phone fell out of her hand. The sound of it hitting the ground didn't register as she rushed to apologize. "I'm so sorry. I should have been looking where I was going. My mind was on the herbs I needed to get." Worry over his well-being and whether or not he would be mad at her filled her thoughts.
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Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:55 pm
Alexandre hadn't been exactly looking either, his eyes unfocused as he thought of everything which had gone on this week and still needed to happen. So as he heard the female apologizing, rather profusely, he held up a hand quickly to silence her. "I wasn't paying attention as well. I've had my mind on my week, instead of where I'm going and what's around me. It would seem we are both at fault."
Gaining his balance he stood still for a moment as he looked her over, and took in what she'd said. "Herbs...what ones?" Perhaps he could, again, help someone when he wasn't even working. The hells were finally reached and he looked at them in wonder. How on Earth, and why, was she walking on gravel in hells. That was dangerous, and stupid really.
"I can help you, if you need some assistance." He offered when his eyes moved back up to her face. Glancing around at the greenhouses on either side of them and the gravel path they stood on,a few people milling around and puttering about from greenhouse to greenhouse. Out side some of the greenhouses were those little flatbed cart with plants of various shapes and sizes sitting on them, waiting for their owners to return to them from the greenhouses and push them off to the next place.
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Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:43 pm
In her effort to absolve herself of any guilt and wipe the worry from her mind, she failed to see how very tall she was compared to the guy she had bumped into. Now Marley felt even worse. If she had been going any faster, she could literally have run him over. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. It was a good thing she had been listening well to what he was saying or she would have missed his offer for help. "Help would be great actually. I need lavender, rosemary, and basil."
The attention he gave to her heels had not gone unnoticed. Damn her stepfather. He probably had thrown out her boots for gardening in a rage or something. She had been in a rush to leave before he got up that she had just grabbed the first pair of shoes she could reach. That happened to be the pair of short heels she had on. He was probably the only person who could push her buttons so easily. "You'll have to excuse my heels. I, umm, couldn't find my boots." She offered a smile, "I promise I won't trip." It really wasn't too much of a problem for her. She would just have to be careful and walk slower than usual.
Her eyes briefly stopped at the sight of the flatbed carts. She toyed with the idea of using one but she was honestly here to only get the three plants she needed. It wasn't like she was going to buy a lot. Just one of each. There was a garden waiting for those herbs to be planted in. Once there, it wouldn't be too much work for them to prosper.
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Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 11:11 pm
"Only those three?" Lavender while used in cooking it wasn't commonly used, though he'd seen it used in pastry enough. It seemed however that cooking with flowers and the like was coming into favor, again, so maybe it would become a big thing.
"Only those three? Or is there more?" Offering a hand to her he changed then and offered his arm. "I'll help you walk, you can lean on me." How odd it would look, given his and her height, but he didn't give it much thought as he was more concerned with assisting her in getting to where she needed to go with as few injuries as possible.
"If you need anything else I'm sure we can find an unused cart." He might need one for himself at some point during this trip of his, he honestly wasn't sure. He was going to run out of room in his own greenhouse soon, he'd have to start filling his parents up again. He didn't really want to do that though, leave his parents caring for his excess purchases.
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Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 11:50 pm
Marley nodded at his question. "Yes, only those three. My garden already has everything else I would need but I need to replace those ones." She frowned as she thought of her poor garden again. Who would have done such a thing? Perhaps she should check in on it at night once in awhile. Then if the culprit came back, she could catch whoever it was. She was pretty sure there was no one that she had upset. Her stepfather wouldn't have wasted energy to go all the way to the cemetery just to ruin her plants. He only destroyed things in his own home.
She stared at his offered arm for longer than was necessary. No guy had ever offered her his arm before. This was a day of firsts for her it seemed. After a moment, she realized that she must look like an idiot and quickly tucked her hand in his arm. "Thanks, it's so generous of you to help me out, especially since I nearly ran you over." Though he was shorter than her, she didn't feel it was awkward for him to be helping her. How often had she seen her mother help her taller stepfather stumble to bed.
She waved her other hand. "No, that's all I really need." It wouldn't be good for her to buy more than was necessary. Otherwise, there might not be room in her garden for it. She didn't like buying any plant on a whim.
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Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:14 am
"You have a garden...what else do you have in it, and more importantly why do you need to replace those three? Bugs...sun...over watered?" He asked, thinking of the most likely causes for replacing a plant, unless they had just been taken too much from and gone into shock or well...you need more and had no more to take from the plants already there.
"It's better than you risk breaking your neck, or twisting an ankle. Walking on gravel in heels is nearly begging to be hurt in some manner." Stating this as he helped her to the greenhouse where the herbs would be found, thankfully lavender was housed with the normal herbs. "It wouldn't due for you to be hurt, especially when I can assist in keeping that from happening." And he wasn't the sort who enjoyed seeing others hurt, unless he was powered up and they were a knight or senshi. His powered up life was a completely different matter, like a different person...or just a bad case of mpd.
"Alright, then lets get you what you need and make sure all three plants are healthy."
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 6:41 pm
She did her best to give him a smile even though her thoughts on why she needed new plants was making her mad all over again. "I do have a garden. You ever walk past the cemetery? That garden in there, I take care of it. They were nice enough to let me garden there since I can't at home." Marley shook her head at his questions as to why. "Someone had trampled it and let their pet dig up my plants. Thankfully, it was only those three that had been utterly destroyed." Her voice made it clear how upset she was over it.
He was being so very sweet to her and she didn't even know his name yet. "My manners seem to be lacking today. I'm Marley. Thanks for all your help, with the walking and the plants. Had I known I would have found myself here, I would have been more careful in the selection of my footwear." She just hoped her little heels didn't break off in the gravel. If it did, she would raise hell when she got home. Her stepfather better be in a docile mood today. There was no mercy in her heart today after the events of the morning and the fact that her rubber boots for gardening was missing. None of her siblings would take it, they thought her boots were ugly.
This time, she did give him a genuinely happy smile. "Yes, let's get some nice healthy plants." Nothing made her more happy then gardening.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:19 pm
"No, I can't say I've been by. But perhaps I will, I would like to see what they let you plant." Which was very nice of them to do, he couldn't think of many people who would allow a person to plant on their property, or property which wasn't the person seeking to plant on it. It just didn't happen so he was rightly surprised, but also pleased. "Someone trampled it..." That seemed to even spark an anger in the blond, but being who he was and having quite the affinity for plants it was to be expected; at least by those who knew him.
"Uncivilized, obviously, and an untrained dog." An untrained person was more like it. Either way he wouldn't mind seeing the person who did it and informing them of what he thought of such behavior. "Why would they walk there dog on the cemetery property to start with, much less allow such behavior and partake themselves." He didn't mean for her to answer, just talking and making his opinion known. "I do hope the person was caught, or will be."
"Yes, healthy plants will do just nicely. And I'm Alexandre, it's a pleasure." A smile to her as he got her to where the needed herbs were. "What else do you grow, if I might ask." And perhaps he could go see them with her, he was curious. Not only because she was his age and obviously had quite the thing for her plants but also due to the gardens location, that was actually the most interesting thing. "It's a pleasure assisting you, considering what happened it's the least I can do." He'd really like to find the person, if no one had yet to do so, and make sure they learned some manners and to have some respect for other peoples gardens and the work they took to care for.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:02 pm
Marley was most certainly happy to hear that he felt the same way she did about it. She was also very grateful the cemetery for allowing her to grow things there. "I hope the person gets caught too. It might have been someone visiting a grave. You'd think they'd have more respect for the property if they were there to show respect to their loved ones." Then she had a thought. "Unless they thought it was weeds due to a lack of an education." That made her frown. People should respect all plants if they didn't know anything about them. She didn't so much blame the dog that was probably involved, they were only following their human's footsteps. As an afterthought, she added, "Sometimes justice doesn't get served though. It's unfair really."
She sighed softly as she thought of how unfair a lot of things were really. When he introduced herself, she turned her attention back to him. Her hand gripped tightly to her arm when she almost slipped on the gravel. "Oh, sorry." She quickly loosened her grip so she wouldn't kill his arm. "Alexandre, nice to meet you."
The reason she was allowed to garden in the cemetery is because she gave the workers free food from it. "I grow mostly edible plants in my garden. I got tomatoes, potatoes, different peppers, green onions, aloe, and strawberries. Though my strawberries aren't doing so well right now." They were just the hardest plant she ever worked with. Everything she knew about gardening was from trial and error and researching on her own. The strawberries were a fairly new addition to her garden too. First time she ever tried to grow them.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:31 pm
"I don't see how someone, unless they were lacking that much, could mistake what plants you have for weeds. Though I suppose I shouldn't think so highly of everyone." Shaking his head he wondered if he could somehow help, watch her garden at night and make sure it's all alright. Could Benitoite do that? Would it be alright? He had no duties to fulfill so he figured it would be alright. That in mind he mentally nodded to himself, mind made up.
"I don't know why someone would bring a dog to a cemetery, no matter what."
Listening to her he nodded his head before tilting his head. "How about I go with you and take a look at your strawberries. Maybe I can help and figure out what the problem is. It could be something small and easy to fix, some plants are just fussy and very needy of certain things." Shrugging as he spoke while already figuring he'd get a look at the plant in question and try to help. "If they don't work we can get you another one to try with, or something else you might like. But hopefully if I go with you I can help figure out the problem."
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:50 pm
Marley supposed he was right. Basil, lavender, and rosemary looked nothing like weeds. Unless it was just some inconsiderate person. There were all kinds of rude people in the world that lived to ruin things apparently. "Your probably right but I know for sure it was an adult person that trampled them. There were boot prints in my garden. I'm pretty sure I didn't make anyone mad enough to purposely destroy something of mine." She would just have to periodically check on her garden at night herself. Though she couldn't imagine who would be at the cemetery at night aside from the groundskeeper. It couldn't be the groundskeeper, he knew her and occasionally would take some tomatoes home.
She nodded, "I don't know who would be at a cemetery at night. I spoke to the workers and they didn't see anyone strange near my garden during the day." It was such a mystery to her. Then again, she had seen stranger things. She thought back to that fateful day where she found herself on a rainbow bridge thing being attacked by some kind of space whale. Yep, definitely seen stranger things.
Her face brightened at his offer. "That would be great. Oh but you don't have to go out of your way to help me. I could pay you for your time." It would definitely be nice to have expert opinion.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:55 pm
Of course such people existed. There was likely not one sort of person which didn't exist, and in numbers as well. "It's also not likely an enemy would stalk you, as I'm sure they'd have to, in order to get to your garden." He stated as he went to look over some of the plants, wanting to insure she got good healthy plants. Even as he checked over the plants he kept his eyes peeled for any signs of eight legged creepers. He did not need a panic attack now, he really didn't like being so weak.
"Why an adult and not a teenager?" Was there something about wearing boots which meant it had to be an adult and not some teenager? He wouldn't put it past a teenager either, it seemed like that same sort of immature behavior teens were commonly noted to display and posses.
"It's good that the workers know about the garden and apparently keep an eye on it. That'll help, in case someone comes back to do the same thing. Maybe next time they'll even catch the person." Or Benitoite would. He would certainly be stopping by to check on her garden in the evening without her knowing, or anyone else for that matter.
"It's nothing, I'd rather see your plants doing well than worry over pay. I spend a good deal of my time with plants anyway, so it's nothing out of the ordinary for me. We can go when you have time." If that was right after this or later didn't bother him too terribly.
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 12:13 am
He was absolutely right. She shouldn't be jumping to conclusions. It could have been a teenager. "You're right. It might have been a teenager. All I know is that a kid wouldn't have feet the size of mine." Marley looked over the plants with him. She definitely wanted them to be well off already. Then all she would have to do once she planted them in her garden was take good care of them. Though she always felt bad when she saw dying plants. The great thing about the nursery was that they took good care of their plants they sold. Some places that sold plants but didn't solely focus on them had really stupid workers.
She nodded. "It helps that I give them free pickings from my garden once in awhile." Her smile was one of amusement now. It was the least she could do to repay them for letting her garden there. Thanks to them she had a sanctuary of sorts when things got bad at home.
She would have to pay him in some way for his help. Even if it wasn't in money. Maybe they could go see a movie or something but not like a date. She only really knew his name, that he was a gentleman, and the he liked plants probably more than her. "Thanks in advance then. I know it's not slugs, that's for sure. I do my best to keep them out. Even bought healthy bugs for my garden like praying mantis. The spiders kind of came by themselves, uninvited." That bit she learned through reading. Bugs that helped keep bugs out of her garden. Though she didn't like the spiders too much, like when the wove webs that attached to her vegetables.
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:40 pm
"Yeah, that's all we can be sure of." Even gender couldn't be a sure thing. it could have been a boot wearing female, though he somehow doubted it. he knew better than to think something for positive when he didn't have proof right in front of him. And even then you couldn't be sure, I mean he'd been to space...and no space ship was involved or spacesuit. His life had, over the past year, become filled with impossibilities proven possible. It was insane and really something fit for a movie, or at least some popular tv series. Picking up one of the basil plants he offered it up, small and compact it wasn't leggy and too big. Nice in every way really. "I'd go with this, it isn't leggy and no yellow or dead leaves, it looks good."
Shuddering at the mention of the eight legged nightmares, literally for him, he nodded his head. "Aphids maybe? Or did you get lady bugs to handle them?" It was in his opinion best to handle things, problems, naturally rather than with all kinds of chemicals. So while he didn't have spiders in his greenhouse he did have other bugs that were healthy and helpful to keeping everything healthy. "I'd say giving free pickings is a good motivation for allowing a garden to remain. A very nice thing you do for them. Just let me know when I can see the plant and I'll see if I can help figure it out, if it's not slugs as you say or aphids then we'll check for other things." Anything with pests or not. "If we can't figure it out someone who works here should be able to."
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