Nico Robin (all_sunday) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-10-30 14:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !partner thread, asato tsuzuki, nico robin |
Who: Nico Robin (Robin Nico) and Asato Tsuzuki
What: Flowers!
When: Sometime this week
Where: A greenhouse
Rating/Warnings: Nothing but sunny happy flowers here (contains links)
Status: Complete Partner Thread
Tsuzuki had a little bit of a hangover. It wasn’t awful, just a mild ache right between his eyes, but it did make the prospect of hard work more unappealing than it was most days. Luckily, he was mostly caught up in taking care of the plants. Some of them still needed watering, though the volunteers could handle that. And even more luckily, it had been slow all morning.
And so Tsuzuki sat behind the front desk, leaning over it with his head propped against his hand, and dozed.
The gardens in front of and behind of Olivia Nico’s townhouse were in need of attention. A lot of attention. In the time Olivia had been away the gardens had become overgrown with weeds that seemed to be on a single minded mission to choke the life out of what had once been a beautiful oasis of colorful flowers.
Robin had tried several times to save the gardens herself when she had moved back. It had been hard work and at times she wondered if she would ever win the battle. Finally, it seemed as though she had gotten the weed situation under control, but there were now giant holes that were in desperate need to be filled. So today, Robin was on a mission to fill those holes.
She walked into the greenhouse and a smile instantly was on her face. It was lovely in here. Warm, a little humid, and filled with beautiful plants. She wasn’t sure what it is she wanted or where to even start. She was going to need some help.
“Excuse me?” She approached a taller man who appeared as though he may have worked there.
Tsuzuki’s eyes cracked open a little at the sound of a woman’s voice, and he glanced at her, a little bleary eyed. As soon as he realized that he was still at work and there was a customer in front of him, his face lit up into a cheery smile and he sat up straight. He hoped she didn’t go to his boss about how he was napping on the job.
“Hello! Can I help you?”
Robin blinked a couple of times. It was clear she had caught him dozing and even though he probably shouldn’t be dozing on the job, she felt a little bad for interrupting his nap. Since joining the network, Robin understood how important uninterrupted sleep could be.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...interrupt,” that was the nicest way she could think of to put ‘wake you up’ without actually saying the words. She didn’t want to get the poor man in trouble. “I was wondering if maybe I could get some help. See, I’m tending to my mother’s garden while she’s traveling.” She paused thoughtfully, “although ‘rescuing’ may be a better way to put it. I was hoping maybe I could get some help or suggestions on some plants to fill in a few...holes...some weeds have left.”
“Oh no, there’s nothing to apologize for,” Tsuzuki said, wiping a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Then he winked at her. “Unless you were planning on telling my boss.”
Rescuing gardens, and helping others to do the same was one of Tsuzuki’s favourite activities. “I’d be happy to help! Did you have anything in mind?”
Robin hid a little giggle behind her hand when the man wiped his mouth. At least he wasn’t grumpy that she had interrupted his nap. In fact, he was down right good natured for having been jostled awake. She returned his wink with a cheery smile. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t dream of telling your boss,” she assured him.
Then she put a finger to her chin thoughtfully. “I’m not really sure,” she said. “A few perennials perhaps.” Robin enjoyed gardening very much, but it was more of a casual hobby. She did not know flowers or flower names quite as well as she would have liked. “Something that does well in partial shade, if there is such a creature in the perennial family.” She gave the man a bit of a sheepish smile. “I’m terrible remembering flower names. Maybe some hydrangeas. Or some roses,” she chuckled, “I know they aren’t perennials, but it might be nice to have a rose bush as a center piece. What do you think?”
Tsuzuki hmmed and tapped his chin with his finger, then stood and walked out from behind the counter so he could start leading her toward the greenhouse. While he may not have told her to follow him, it was obvious from the way he kept looking at her, torso turned slightly toward her as he walked. “It’s a little dry for hydrangeas,” he said. “I have a few at home, though I’m thinking I may need to consider replacing them with something else.” It wasn’t something he was looking forward to. He was rather proud of his hydrangeas and was loath to dig them up, but they were starting to look a little worse for wear and he had trouble justifying the water use. At least he would still have the ones he had raised in the greenhouse to look after.
“A rose bush sounds amazing! What colour roses were you hoping for? From there I can help suggest some perennials that would really compliment it.”
Robin watched him get up and quickly she followed after him towards the green house. She was somewhat disappointed to hear that it was too dry for hydrangeas. She rather liked hydrangeas. Her mouth pulled down into a little pouty frown. “That’s a shame,” she said. “I thought they would have looked nice. Oh well. It can’t be helped I suppose.”
She looked up at her guide, her brows furrowing together over soft brown eyes. “My first compulsion is to say red roses, but that’s a bit cliche, don’t you think?” She tilted her head a little to the side in thought. “My mother is rather fond of the color yellow and since these are her gardens, perhaps I should get some yellow roses. I’ve always liked pink roses.” She laughed a little, “which is a little funny. I don’t normally like pink.”
“It really is,” Tsuzuki said, pouting. “They’re my favourite flower.” Which was why he had held on to them for so long, but he liked tulips too and they didn’t require nearly as much water.
“Colours on flowers are more alive than say, a t-shirt, so it makes perfect sense to me,” he said, smiling. “Let’s see. Pink roses are often used to convey appreciation and thanks, so you could look at it as a thank you to your mother. Yellow roses would certainly stand out; not a lot of people grow them, and they mean friendship, happiness, and a promise of a new beginning.” He knew not everyone was as interested in the secret language of flowers, but he had found that telling people the differences could often help when they were equally torn between two choices.
Robin listened intently to what the man was telling her. She knew flowers had a special language all their own. Giving people a certain flower in a certain color could be the difference between a simple thank-you and confessing undying devotion. But the actual language was one of a few Robin did not know first hand. It was very interesting.
Robin bobbed her head as she listened. “I think I like the idea of appreciation in my mother’s garden. After all she’s done for me, it only seems appropriate. And yellow for friendship,” Robin smiled thinking giving yellow roses to her friends would be wonderful, “yes, I think I like that very much. Do you have any yellow roses?”
She continued to follow the man through the greenhouse. “I might be interested in tulips,” she said next. “Can you tell me what tulips convey?”
“I don’t have any at the moment, but I can no doubt get some in for you,” Tsuzuki said. “Though with roses it’s best to prep the soil beforehand. I can give you a care sheet before you leave so that you could have it ready for when the roses come in.”
Yellow roses would be a lot of fun to build a flower bed around, and Tsuzuki was already going through a number of flowers he could show her. “Tulips mean a perfect love,” he said, smiling. “And they can also mean eternal life and the coming of spring. The meaning changes a little based on the colour. If you wanted to build your garden around the yellow roses, I would personally suggest red or purple flowers.”
He brought her to his first suggestion. “This is the blanket flower. They don’t need too much water, and I find them quite beautiful.”
Tulips representing perfect love sounded so romantic. Robin would have to remember that for the future. Not that she ever expected to experience Perfect Love herself, but the idea of it was just too good to forget.
She was a little disappointed that there were no yellow roses currently available, but was cheered instantly when her guide told her that not only can he get her some, but he would give her the means to prepare the garden for them! “I would appreciate that very much,” she said, “thank you…” she trailed off realizing she had not yet gotten the man’s name. Well, that was a bit rude of her. “I’m sorry, I haven’t gotten your name yet.” She offered her hand. “My name is Robin.”
She sucked in a small little gasp when she saw the blanket flower. “Oh, it’s so pretty!” She said as she leaned over a bit to get a better look at it. “Red and yellow. How lovely.” It would look stunning in the garden, she thought, with the yellow roses.
“Asato Tsuzuki,” Tsuzuki said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Robin.”
He couldn’t help but smile at her reaction to the blanket flowers. “They are pretty, aren’t they? Mother Nature’s the greatest artist I know of, and I just love multi-coloured flowers.” Not too far away was the Purple Coneflower, and once he thought she was done with the blanket flower he went to stand near it. “And this is the purple coneflower. Butterflies love them, so assuming you like butterflies this flower is a good way to attract them.”
“The pleasure is mine, Asato,” Robin smiled. She took another look at the blanket flower and committed its name to her memory. She would definitely get a few of those for the garden as well.
She then joined him by the purple cornflowers. They were a brilliant shade that made Robin, for a moment, think of the outfit that had appeared in her closet not long ago. A dream gift of the clothing she wore in her dreams. The way the purple seemed to match made her smile. Another flower name to commit to the list she was compiling in her head. “I do like butterflies,” she said turning her eyes up at Tsuzuki. “And hummingbirds as well.” She tilted her head a little, “what would attract hummingbirds, do you think?”
“I’m a big fan of bee balm!” Tsuzuki said, and started to guide her toward the plant. “You can even use the dried flowers for tea if you’d like. They attract bees as well, which I think of as a boon, though if you’re afraid of bees they might not be the best choice. We’ve also got honeysuckles, beard-tongues or petunias.”
Bee balm. The name made Robin imagine a cartoonish round fuzzy bumble bee buzzing around a garden with a happy look on its face and little hearts and rainbows surrounding it when it landed on its favorite little flower. Robin couldn’t help but to giggle to herself. She wished she could draw.
“Oh, I know bees are very important,” Robin said. “Without bees we wouldn’t have many flowers, never mind fruits like apples and oranges. Beekeeping is a culture and an art. I do not think I would be particularly good at it, but putting flowers out for them would be nice.” She was still picturing that happy little bumblebee, now with a couple of honey bees as friends.
Then she blinked. “What is a beard-tongue?”
“That’s right! You’d be surprised at the amount of people who are terrified of bees despite that. But they really do need all the help they can get right now. I’m not sure if I’d be a very good beekeeper either.” That outfit they had to wear seemed so stuffy.
“Oh, we keep our beard-tongues over here,” he said, leading her towards the flowers. “I always thought they kind of looked like old toothless men smiling. You can usually tell which flowers will be good for attracting hummingbirds by their shape though. You’ll want something that’s bright and that where the flowers are kind of tube-shaped. They usually hold the most nectar.”
“I can understand why people can be afraid of bees,” Robin said thoughtfully as she followed Tsuzuki towards the next flower. “They do sting after all and it’s quite painful.” Robin had been stung a number of times as children sometimes are. “Especially if you happen to get one stuck in your hair and it stings you while you’re trying to get it freed.” Speaking from personal experience, here. “One of my mother’s colleagues always told me that I had nothing to be afraid of when it came to insects. As long as I approached them carefully and with respect. I am after all a giant compared to them - and here is where he used to hold his arms out like this - “ Robin held out her arms as though she were carrying a beach ball under them “- and waddle around using a ‘giant’s’ voice and he always made me laugh like that. He would show me what insects were ok to play with and which ones to leave alone. Bees, he told me, were always very busy, just like the saying goes. And it would be rude of me to interrupt.”
Robin often missed her mother’s colleagues almost as much as she missed her mother.
When Tsuzuki pointed out the bearded-tongues, Robin paused and looked at them carefully. Her new friend was right, they did resemble old toothless men smiling, which was cute in a creepy sort of way, but for the life of her, Robin couldn’t figure out why they were called bearded-tongues. They weren’t hairy (like a beard) and they didn’t exactly look like tongues either. Robin liked them.
“I think, Asato...” she started, a finger to her chin thoughtfully. She turned slightly to look back the way they’d come. “I think I would like to take some blanket flowers and some of these bearded-tongues with me today, if I could. Then I will come back for some yellow roses when you get them in.”
“Bee stings are pretty awful. I got stung once when I was a kid and I puffed up like a balloon.” It hadn't done much for his lack of popularity when he'd been in school. “But that's such a good saying! Bees are busy so don't interrupt,” he repeated to himself. He was going to have to keep that in mind for the next time they had a school group come in.
The mystery of how beard-tongues got their name would forever remain a mystery, probably.
“Great!” Tsuzuki said. “I'll throw in some fertilizer for the soil you'll be planting the roses in too, and you'll be all set!” He probably shouldn't be giving fertilizer out without charging for it but what his boss didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and he liked Robin and wanted her mother’s flowers to flourish.
“That’s very kind of you, Asato.” Robin said with a smile. “You’ve been a great help, thank you very much.” She reached in her purse for one of her business cards, of which she handed to Tsuzuki. “I will definitely be back for more flowers and probably some soil and mulch - and advice - but if you could, perhaps, call me when you have some yellow roses available? Also,” she pointed to the name of her store on the card, “I own an antique store. If you’re ever interested, please feel free to come by. Hopefully, someday I can help you as much as you’ve helped me.”
“You have an antique store,” Tsuzuki said, eagerly taking one of her cards and looking it over. “Oh, I’ll definitely have to come in sometime!” He loved antiques. Sometimes his sister said that he was more like an old man than someone in their twenties. “Why don’t you go wait for me at the front and I’ll get everything in order.” The blanket flowers, the beard-tongues, some fertilizer on the house and a couple of care sheets for the new flowers she was taking home today, as well as for the roses. His hangover was all but forgotten, he happily went to work.