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 Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:23 am
 Unlike the normal school roof, this is the garden, tended to by the school's garden club. Recently, though, it has been neglected. Hopefully, someone will grow the balls to starts taking care of it again...or maybe we can just let Mother Nature do it.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:33 am
Galatea sighed and wiped the sweat from her head as she tended to her beloved roses. Clipping away another dead rose, she quietly hummed a song she'd heard in the middle of Italy during the Renaissance. After she'd finally clipped away the last dead flower, she started pulling out the weeds, stopping once every few minutes to push her long braid over her shoulder again. Galatea grunted at a particularly tough weed, leaning far back in her efforts to uproot it. "Come...on...get...out...you...damned...WEED!"
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:39 am
Lugh parked his Kawasaki Ninja in the student parking lot and put a motorcycle lock on it. Then he walked into the school, and this being his second time, he walked around aimlessly, finally ending up on a rooftop garden. He saw a long haired woman doing some work, and instead of bothering her, he walked to the edge of the roof and looked out, running his right hand through his hair, the gears whirring and clicking inside of the cybernetic attachment.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:45 am
She let out a tiny scream as the plant refused to move, her weight forcing her back and her palm sliced by a stray thorn. Since she had been working so hard, Galatea hadn't noticed the man's presence, so she wasn't afraid to start cussing out this plant. Stopping herself before she could, the embodiment sighed and hissed as she tried to tend to her wound single-handedly. "Damn it. Where's a bandage when you need it?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:49 am
Lugh looked at the woman, pulled out a band-aid, then walked over to her.
"Here you go."
He grabbed the plant with his right arm and pulled it out easily.
"You should wear gloves if you're gonna do yard work. Anyway, be careful. That was my only band-aid."
He walked back to the edge of the roof and sat down on it, his legs dangling over the edge.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:59 am
Galatea silently placed the bandage on her hand, then walked over to him and stood behind him her hands on her hips. "I've never needed to before," she protested. "Besides, a woman like me, I know what I'm doing when it comes to plants." Letting out a sigh, the pretty woman sat beside him, trying to sit a bit away so he wouldn't be overwhelmed by the scent of roses on her body. "Thank you, though," she murmured, staring down at the people as the irises, lilies, and other assorted flowers behind her arranged themselves into various pictures. A fire and ice rose grew beneath her hand, which she then plucked from the ground and started to lovingly caress the petals. "What's your name?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:10 am
"Lugh. It's Gaelic for light, or something like that."
He didn't notice the flowers acting of their own accord, nor did he notice the rose grow on it's own. He was too busy looking up at the sky.
"You ever look at the sky and wonder if there really are beings of higher powers? I do it all the time. I personally wouldn't know what to do if I met one. That's assuming they exist of course. I dunno. If they do exist, you think they'd try to protect people from getting hurt while doing the things they love. Like you for example, you think that if Mother Nature exists, she'd have helped you pull out that weed without you getting cut. Whenever something like that happens to me, I look at the sky and start yelling at whoever may or may not be up there."
He looked down at his hands, opening and closing them, comparing them to each other.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 12:43 pm
The beautiful embodiment smiled softly, leaning in and kissing the flower gently. "Look at this rose, Lugh. See how the petals perfectly fold into each other? How the dew lightly outlines the edges, yet manages to collect seamlessly in the middle? This rose is much like the universe. The rose itself signifies the people: simple, small, yet when brought together, a radiant beacon of hope and life. The dew is the gods, the other beings. They live among the petals, clear enough to almost blend in, yet still different enough to stand out. Such is the way of the world." Standing, she dropped the rose in his lap and walked away as it bloomed. As her bare feet touched the grass, it automatically sprang awake, tiny flowers sprouting up to greet their beloved Mother. "I am Galatea. It is Ancient Greek, and not my only name. Over the years, I have collected many names, such as Jord and Gaea. Right now, though, I happily reply to Galatea. Some still call me Mother, which I've learned to love." She chuckled, sitting on a large leaf and allowing a few vines to unbraid her long hair. When they were done, she fingercombed her hair and hummed quietly. "Come sit by me," she called.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:12 pm
Lugh looked down at the rose, then watched her sit. Standing up, he brushed off the back of his jeans and turned to face her.
"No. You're just a person who was born with the power to control plants, and her friends have given her Mother Nature related nicknames. Except for Galatea. Galatea means milk. It's also the name of a sea nymph in ancient greek mythology. But Gaea is the mother of the gods, the titan Gaea, the earth mother. And Jord is the ancient norse word for earth. However, were you truly the all powerful Mother Nature, you wouldn't have cut your hand pulling out a little weed."
He held up the rose.
"Your powers are impressive though, I'll give you that. Not the strongest I've seen though."
He eyed the leaf warily, and continued to stand.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:29 pm
She chuckled, leaving her spot on her leaf to tend to another rose bush. Galatea allowed him to think what he did. Just because he didn't believe it, didn't mean that she wasn't Mother Nature. "My powers...I like to think of them as a beloved gift. As for my names, believe what you will. I am Galatea, the meaning doesn't matter. And what cut?" She brushed her formerly-wounded hand through her hair, showing a milk-white, smooth, cut-free palm.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:32 pm
Lugh saw her hand and got mad, crossing his arms, he looked back out over the edge of the roof and got silent. He had always envied people who could heal like that. If he could heal like that, he would still have his arm.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 4:21 pm
"When did you lose it?" she asked softly, pulling a thorn from her forearm and clipping away another dead bud.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 4:41 pm
Lugh didn't look back, nor was he surprised she could tell what he was thinking.
"A long time ago. Doing what I loved."
He held his hand up to the sky and then clenched it into a fist.
"The arm is my design, but I couldn't have done it if technology hadn't come this far."
He lowered his arm and looked back at her.
"When I lost my arm, my only two friends at the time, people I was helping invent things, took care of me, but refused to let me work on the project anymore. Said it was too dangerous for a person with only one arm. I realized then that I was never going to invent again, and I nearly killed myself. If I had your ability to heal, I would have been able to help them finish it. Instead, I got to watch their dreams soar while I could barely get myself dressed."
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 5:55 am
"What ability to heal?" she asked, standing and wiping her forehead. "I want you to know, Lugh, I can't read minds. Don't believe anything you hear people say when they talk about me. I knew about your arm because I could smell it."
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 3:31 pm
Lugh shrugged.
You still knew what I was thinking. And your ability to heal. Your hand is no longer injured. You healed in a matter of minutes, not days.
He took the rose and stripped the thorns from it, then tucked it into her hair, behind her ear.
That's better.
He looked around at the garden.
I should build something to maintain this garden. Some sort of automated weeding and watering system.
The proverbial gears in his head began to turn.
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