Welcome to Gaia! ::

The mansion stood looming in the early morning sun as Aloysius surveyed the yard and garden. Today was the day he and Liam would work on getting the outside cleaned up a bit. A gardener could have been hired but, part of him knew doing this would help this place feel less looming and more like a home. With all the rain that had been happening though, the mansion looked more abandoned than it had in a long time. There were weeds all over and ivy trying to make its way up to the second floor and above. A lot of the bigger stuff would have to be done by professionals but tackling the garden boxes and near the front stairs would be manageable for the two of them.

Turning back to the car he waved for Liam to make his way over. They could plan things out and get to work as he worked on getting his braid pinned a bit more out of the way of things. It looked a little goofy, he thought but he didn't want to get dirt in his hair or have it cut accidentally by either of them. “There really are a lot of weeds this time, hopefully with the ground being a little soft still we can get it all out and figure out what to put back in their place?”

Aloysius smiled for a moment at Liam before looking up at the Ivy again. He was right in a way, it did bring a bit of charm to the old building. “If we watch and make sure it keeps out of the mortar, I think we can keep the ivy if you would like to. As for a plan, I think we should leave the hedges and pull all these dandelions and other weeds. I had wanted to put rose bushes in maybe but, what do you think?” He had experience with roses at least due to them being his grandfather’s hobby but after they had passed, his father had them all ripped out and replaced with non-flowering hedges. It had hurt Aloysius more than most of the other things his father had done.

“I know the gardening shed around the side of the house has a lot of sproutlings as well as seeds we can sow. Mostly florals, I think at least. I used to enjoy gardening with my grandfather, we would plant different flowers every year and pull up the bulbs in winter so they would be ready to be planted again the next year or the year after that.” It was something he had really missed doing and he hoped that Liam would indulge him in this hobby just the same.

“Of course, I think we can work with it. Maybe tame it a bit so that it looks less wild and more like what I think you are imagining. Perhaps like the Ivy League colleges or those older houses in the countryside? I think that would be cozy, and maybe some red roses or white? Grandfather used to grow purple ones but… I am unsure if I have the knowledge to get those rarities to occur again.” They had been gorgeous passion project that the man had spent decades perfecting. Aloysius missed him greatly but getting back into gardening helped him feel closer to them.

“Just be careful, I do not think there is poison oak or ivy mixed in but, just be cautious and wear some gloves like I do.” There were at least 4 other pairs in the small tote that Aloysius had pulled from the gardening shed. He had grabbed the pair from his grandfather but there were also some other larger-sized ones that were from the gardener who took care of things when his mother took over the outward appearance of the house. It was nice to see the things Liam wanted to see in a house, given the orphanage probably hadn’t had much of a garden or lawn among other things. It felt good though, being able to share this with him and to see where it went.

“Seeds can be tricky, some germinate better outside of the soil in a starter environment. Others can be grown on concrete or in almost any condition. I used to have a little indoor setup for herbs in the kitchen alongside catnip for Desiree… though I wonder where she has been as of late. She was always skittish around new people given my history and lack of close friends. But anyway… as for bulbs, I think there are tulips and Dahlias. They tend to be heartier in a way given that you don’t start from small seeds. You can pull them up if needed to keep them dormant and away from weather that would otherwise kill them.” For a moment, he leaned his head down onto Liam’s shoulder.

“Thank you for this, it really means a lot to me. Grandfather and I would garden every spring as I grew up. When he passed, everything out here got abandoned or replaced by things that had no personality to them. It feels really nice to bring something truly ours back into it and to be able to help it grow.”

"We can look and I may know someone who is very handy at gardening but, I am a bit nervous to have more of my powered life bleed into my personal life. What do you think though? I do not think he would cause any trouble, if nothing else he may go a little crazy with bringing us plants. I just worry a bit about things getting too close but, I know that keeping them separate has been causing a lot of undue stress." He sighed for a moment before Liam started petting his hair. It was soothing as usual and helped n** that bit of stress in the bud.

"Unless you suggest putting plastic plants in, I doubt too many other things you could come up with for all this space would be problematic. Plus, anything can be pulled up and replanted if we change our minds. Even trees can be taken out, of course not as easily as weeds." He smiled and laughed a little before pecking Liam on the cheek and sitting back up. "Let us get all these weeds up and then we can go look in the shed to see what we have to work with."

Aloysius started pulling the weeds carefully with his gloved hands and put them in a trash bag. It would take a while but there was plenty of nice weather coming up and he had Liam to help. Both of those things really did help make him feel more comfortable about this old house. One day it would be home again and feel less like the headstone that remained as a reminder of his shattered family. At least now he and his sister were on speaking terms, which was something he hadn't seen coming. Liam was also family now too, even if in a different way. The main point was that he didn't have to do any of this alone anymore.

“I can bring it up to him then the next time we work together. I think that maybe given his focus on gardening, he may be less terrifying than when in battle.” He shuddered a bit thinking of the glitter of murder in the small general’s eyes as he was fully prepared to kill that knight on the building. “I would just say maybe we should be a bit on guard as he really is more combative than I am. He is also... very good at dispatching people and I would like things to remain amicable.” The negaverse was large and full of people with very strong and distinct opinions on the various factions and how people should act. Liam had experienced it firsthand from a Captain and Benitoite could do much more damage if needed.

“Oh, actually, that might be really nice. I am not sure what would grow best in this climate though when it comes to fruit trees but it should be fun to try it. Apples would be nice, I could make a pie with them or something else and I also think they are able to grow in most climates. I will have to look around.” The weeds were slowly disappearing into his bag as he spoke.

“You have to kind of twist and pull when you do it so it damages the roots. Once the biggest part is gone we can spray some weed killer if needed or just plant something that covers the ground. Grass also works in two main ways. It can be rolled out like a carpet and that is called sod, the other way is just throwing seeds into the earth. I think we can pull the weeds and maybe have someone more professional do the lawn at least to start it up.” Aloysius demonstrated how to properly pull the weeds before adding them to the garden bag.

He could tell Liam didn’t really know much about all this but it was ok because it was cute and he was trying. “What kind of things do you want to try planting besides a fruit tree? I think I would like to put some more privacy hedges in just as a little extra protection from noisy neighbors down the way. A lot of them probably thought I was dead given how long I have stayed away from here.”