flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful

[suncrushed]

Who: Juniper Woods (suncrushed) and Chihiro Fujisaki (codeforhope)
Where: Goldenrod City
When: June 24th
Summary: Now that Juniper's settled down in Goldenrod, she decides that at least while she's here, it'd be better to try and make her residence look like home somehow, and what better way to do that than gardening? It's better to garden with friends, though, so two introverted friends get down and dirty with...gardening.
Rating: PG
Log:

[It's been a few weeks since she first arrived in Goldenrod City, temporarily housed in one of the inn rooms, but now that she has finally settled down in a place of her own, she decides that now would be the best opportunity to start on her garden. She hasn't the slightest idea how long she will be here in Johto, so she might as well make the best of it while she is here - and, on the other hand, it would at least be a semblance of her garden from home.

Her mind flickers back to her conversation with Chihiro and how the two promised to meet up sometime in person, so what better time than now to meet up? Besides, with his recent success in breeding, now was as good a time as any to discuss the procedures and technicalities behind the process alongside planting seeds that would soon bud and blossom into beautiful flowers.

And so, after inviting him to come over, she waits outside with her team roaming around the premises; she does feel a bit sheepish that her invitation was impromptu, but she's very pleased that he agreed nonetheless. She hasn't done anything like this in a long while with a friend, so she's more than excited for this opportunity, and she feels as though it would be a sufficient compensation for him having given her one of his Persian's offspring...once the flowers bloomed, anyway.]

Comments

[suncrushed]

[...Hmm, perhaps not then.]

O-Okay...

[She, in turn, takes the spade with a nod, rising onto her feet. She pauses as she inwardly decides how large she wants her garden to be before - and with some very noticeable difficulty - she begins to shove it into the ground to break through and loosen the soil. There's definitely a lot of heavy breathing going on, but she will survive.

...Probably. Don't mind her!]

[codeforhope]

[Chihiro does begin to notice after a few minutes, but...he hesitates to say anything about it. He's concerned, of course, but he doesn't feel right just blatantly asking if she's okay...

He takes a breath and carefully pulls the rake across the dirt as she digs, Chica mimicking Chihiro's movements and going behind him to get any stray lumps of dirt he might have missed.]

[suncrushed]

[Digging has never been her favourite part of gardening...ever. Her Mightyena trots over, however, wanting to at least aid his master through reducing her exertion by going ahead of her and digging as well. Eventually, with the assistance, she finally manages to dig out the layout of the garden. With a few puffs to catch her breath, she steps back, gently placing the spade back where it was originally.]

O-Okay... T-There we go...

[codeforhope]

It looks nice.

[Chihiro comments quietly, moving to brush a bit of dirt from his skirt. The Meganium lets out a cheerful chirp, carefully placing her rake back with the pile of tools while Chihiro does the same.]

What's next?

[suncrushed]

Ah, thank you...

[Juniper gives a gentle smile in gratitude, then trails off to think.]

Mm, well, now we can start gardening... I, um, I...have an extra set of gardening gloves if you'd want them...? I'd hate for you to get yourself too dirty because of me...

[codeforhope]

That would be nice, thank you. I...I actually don't mind it all that much.

[Though he's pointedly trying his hardest not to get his clothing too dirty, or else he'll be stuck in the house until he can get them cleaned since he doesn't really have any spare uniforms similar to this one. Then again, it's not like he's been going out too much anyway.]

[suncrushed]

A-Ah, I'm really glad... I really love gardening, so hearing others enjoy it as well makes me very happy... Ah! I'm sorry, I was rambling. Please, um, give me a moment, I'll be right back.

[She rushes into her house, taking care not to trip over any of the Pokémon accidentally, returning in a few minutes with a pair of gardening gloves.]

H-Here you go.

[codeforhope]

[Chihiro dips his head a little in thanks, placing the rake to the side for a moment so he can pull on the gloves.]

So...what kind of flowers do you plan to plant here?

[suncrushed]

Oh, um, sunflowers!

[Always the priority.]

Some lilies and carnations, too... I'll admit I wasn't able to find as many seeds as I used to have back home, but these'll do.

[codeforhope]

[Nod nod.]

Those will be very pretty, I think.

[suncrushed]

I should hope so.

[Speaking of which, she moves back towards the equipment to where she's laid down several packets of seeds of the flowers she mentioned prior.]

Right, um...here you are. Take these, and use these hand trowels here to dig holes and place the seeds inside. You'll want to space them out properly so that they'll have enough room to grow up nice and strong.

[Juniper, these are flowers, not children.]

[codeforhope]

[It's okay, Juniper- just wait until the day Chihiro tries showing you some of his coding projects. Binary can be children too, you know.

He does as she bids him, carefully rolling up his sleeves so he can start to dig the holes. As soon as Hogosha spots Chihiro doing this, he lets out a cheerful bark and starts to dig too, making a few holes that are probably much too big for planting anything in.]

[suncrushed]

[She would very much be pretty interested in that; it's only fair.

Juniper giggles again at Hogosha's antics, moving to the side opposite Chihiro to dig holes of her own.]

[codeforhope]

[After a little while of digging, Chihiro leans back on his heels to examine their work. The holes seem to be pretty uniform, save for the random ones scattered about here and there thanks to the little Growlithe.]

Okay...so are these deep enough to plant seeds in?

[suncrushed]

[Juniper takes a moment to scan the holes thoroughly, before finally giving a small nod in approval.]

Mhm, these are fine. We just have to plant and water them, then we'll be done.

[codeforhope]

[While Juniper says that, Chica snakes out one of her vines to gently lift one of the seed packets, giving it a curious look. Isamu gets up on his hind legs to have a peek as well, sniffing the packet.]

Mmm....by the way....thank you again for inviting me to do this, Juniper-san. I....it's been very enjoyable.

[suncrushed]

Heehee, you're quite welcome, Chihiro! ...If I may say so, I'm very glad that you came over, actually. I do enjoy gardening, but it's more enjoyable when you're doing it alongside a friend. I've never gotten to do much with friends when I was younger, so...this truly makes me happy.

[Sure, she's played with Athena at GYAXA when they were children and spent an incredible amount of time with Hugh and Robin back at Themis, and while she did enjoy those moments with them, there was truly something cherishable about this, too. Especially given the fact that no one she knew from home was here with her in Johto. Every friend she's made here so far was dear to her.]

Ah, pardon me... I... I didn't mean to ramble. [She brings her fist to her mouth, coughing lightly as well as sheepishly.] Um, plant whichever packets you'd like.

[Rather embarrassedly, she proceeds to follow her own instructions, crouching down to pick up two packets of seeds before returning back to her side of the flower bed she had dug in.]

[codeforhope]

[Chihiro feels the same, though he cannot honestly say he has many memories of doing things like this with friends...if any at all. Most free time of his own was spent on the computer, or doing something with his father- a lot of the time with a computer.

He reaches out to take the packet that Chica had been examining from her vine. Sunflower seeds, it looks like. And it's a good thing he took it when he did- Isamu, the walking garbage disposal, was starting to get some ideas about tasting just one or twelve of those seeds while nobody was looking.

Then he picks up another lying next to the trowel he'd picked up, Marigolds it looked like, before beginning to drop a few seeds here and there into the empty holes.]

[suncrushed]

[Juniper opens one of the packets that she had taken, chrysanthemums, and begins to drop them in the holes she's dug; she's taking much care in planting them, gently brushing the dirt to fill in the hole before moving to the other. When she's finished with the chrysanthemums, she moves on to the other packet - lilies - and repeats the process over again until, eventually, her side is filled and ready for watering.

She rises up onto her feet, gently brushing the dirt off of her own gardening gloves, and promptly moves to watch Chihiro quietly until he finishes his own.]

[codeforhope]

[It doesn't take long until he's gotten the flowers planted, idly wishing that he had a water type with him to make the work a bit easier in continuing from here. Still, actually doing something hands on like this is really...relaxing in a way he can't explain.]

Okay. I...I think that's right.

[suncrushed]

[Juniper also does not have a water type, but she'll suffice in watering them. It shouldn't take her that long, anyway.]

Heehee, that's right. ...Thank you very much for the help, Chihiro. I really do appreciate it, and I can take it from here if you'd like. I'll let you know when they bloom, so you can come and see them.

[codeforhope]

[He stands as she says this, Chica and the others following suit. By now the Abra has been out like a light the entire time, and Hogosha doesn't seem eager to leave just yet. Chihiro smiles down at the little pup before bending over to rub his head.]

Thank you very much, Juniper-san. I hope you don't mind me coming to visit sometimes...the house has been empty lately, since...a lot of my friends are traveling.

[suncrushed]

[Juniper shakes her head, a bright smile crossing her lips in response.]

Mm! I don't mind at all. Feel free to come over whenever you'd like.

[A pause.]

But...in that case, would you like me to come over and visit you sometimes?

[codeforhope]

I would like that very much.

[He'll just have to remember to warn her about the Eevee hoard in advance.]

[suncrushed]

[Or he could just let her get bombarded with Eevees. That works, too.]

Heehee, then let me know whenever you'd like me to come over, okay?

[codeforhope]

I will.

[As he says this he's gently lifting the sleeping Abra from Chica's back so he can climb on himself, the Abra seeming rather content to just curl up in her trainer's arms and continue sleeping.]

[suncrushed]

Heehee. Thank you again, Chihiro, and may you have a safe trip back.

[Despite him simplying returning home, she's still wishing him the best!]