Asato Tsuzuki wants more sweets (sweetslacker) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-11-20 16:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !partner thread, asato tsuzuki, gale hawthorne |
Who: Tsuzuki and Gale
When: Recently
What: Gale buys some plants to help spruce up his new home.
Where: Sweet Pea Greenhouse
Warnings/Ratings: Squeaky Clean!
Status: Complete
For all his bellyaching, Tsuzuki didn’t dislike his job. He hated the act of working, but he didn’t actually mind any of the work he did. Gardening was relaxing, even if he was forced to work more at his boss’s pace than his own. But his coworkers had been a little shocked when they he’d come into work that morning whistling to himself instead of complaining about his usual hangover.
He’d dreamed last night of needing to collect the soul of a young girl who’d been on the death list for three months and still hadn’t died, only to find that she was holding on just so she could compete in a waltz competition. He’d convinced the Count at the bureau to extend her life just a little, and the two of them had danced in the competition, with Hisea finally passing from the world only minutes from when they had finished.
It was bittersweet, of course, but Tsuzuki was happy that he had managed to help her accomplish one of her goals before she had died. And so, knowing that there weren’t any customers around, Tsuzuki was whistling The Magic Waltz, and dancing with a potted fern.
This was...okay, he obviously picked the weirdest greenhouse to go into, but Gale was new at buying flowers. Or plants in general, actually. However, now that he and Leliana had decided to cohabitate, and were in a place of their own, he felt like he ought to do his part in helping to make the house more a home. Plants were a good way to do that, right? They spruced the space up, added a touch of life and lush greenery. Plus, he liked the idea of surprising her with flowers - there was love behind the gesture, even if some people thought flowers as a gift were lame. It was also highly possible that the nugs would just eat whatever he brought, but oh well. They’d be good at snuffsnuffing around and picking up spare scraps of dirt and leaves?
He just hadn’t anticipated the dancing...botanist, or whatever the guy was.
“Uh - “ Gale cleared his throat awkwardly, standing there as a tall, broad figure in civilian clothing, jeans and a long-sleeve knit t-shirt. “Is this a bad time?”
Tsuzuki stumbled when he heard a voice, and nearly dropped the fern. He managed to rescue it at the last moment, and then turned around to face the customer, his face blushing crimson. “No, no, not a bad time,” he stuttered. “I was just uh… They grow better. When you talk to them.” He cleared his throat, took a breath, and continued with a little more composure. “How can I help you today?”
Gale smirked a bit, amused despite his best efforts not to be. “I’ve heard that, yeah,” he agreed - because why not humor the poor dude who got caught dancing with a plant? Maybe they grew better if you waltzed with them too, hey, Gale wasn’t the one with the green thumb. Not really. He could recall having a garden in dreamworld District 12, something with a little color that wasn’t so ashen - it was difficult to grow things there, but peas and other hardy vegetables, that helped keep the family alive.
“I just moved, so I’m kind of looking for...plants that would be good to add to the house?” he said, hoping that didn’t sound idiotic. “Easy to care for ones. Sunlight won’t be a problem, obviously they’ll get plenty, but I’m not the best gardener. Also - “ A brief pause, “...flowers for my girlfriend?” Pretty kinds. Then again, most flowers tended to be pretty, didn’t they?
Tsuzuki looked down at the plant he was currently holding in his hands, and then back at Gale. “Well, I can definitely help you!” Tsuzuki said. “This, for instance, is the Lemon Button Fern, and they’re pretty easy to care for. They’re pretty popular as house plants, and ferns are pretty hardy. Was there any particular aesthetic you were looking for?”
Aesthetic? Oh, shit. Gale had no idea what that meant. It was probably more Leli’s area? “Umm...” He stalled for time, just for a second or two so he could come up with something that didn’t make him sound like a complete dumb ass. “Well, we have a house on the beach, so...something for a small, quaint place? My girlfriend likes...cute things.”
Was there such a thing as a cute plant?
“But hardy is good. Why’s it called the Lemon Button?”
“It gets it’s name because the leaves kind of look like buttons,” Tsuzuki said, putting the plant away. “Possibly the lemon comes from the fact that the leaves are kind of a yellow green? Though I’m afraid I’m not too terribly certain.”
But cute plants. Hmmm. He tapped his finger to his chin, and started to lead Gale deeper into the greenhouse. “I happen to think that this fern is pretty cute, but if you really want something that’s kind of quaint and cute, what you’re really going to be wanting to look at is the pot you plant it in. Some of them look like faces, and the plant that you place in them kind of becomes their hair. I’ve seen some people grow some smaller plants in tea cups. And, of course, there’s bonzai trees which I’ve always been rather fond of.” It didn’t seem to matter what it was, a mini-version of anything was always cute, and mini-trees that you could grow on your windowsill were not an exception to that.
A potted plant with a face on the actual pot seemed like something from a horror movie - Gale could see why people would find it cute, but to him it was rife to be Orange County nightmare fuel. Those pots could come alive and suddenly grow teeth and a vendetta against humans. Pass. Though the other suggestions...
“Teacups?” he repeated, sounding interested, as he followed Tsuzuki through the greenhouse. “That’s actually a good idea. I think she’d like that. Do you have any of those, or I guess plants you’d put in them?” Teacups were small and cute for sure - both up Leli’s alley. She had three nugs, she drove a VW bug, she loved tiny macarons and other French pastries, and preferred tea over coffee anyway. Perfect. “The bonzai tree also sounds good. Those are probably easy to care for too?”
He wasn’t sure where he heard that. Or maybe it was that pruning them was supposed to be a ‘zen’ thing.
“We don’t have any teacups here,” Tsuzuki said. Well, they did, for the monthly teas they held, but he was pretty sure his boss would skin him alive if he started giving those away to people. “But I’d be happy to show you some plants that you can put in them. You’ll most likely want some succulents.” Tsuzuki had the sneaking suspicion that Gale wouldn’t know what succulents were either, so he explained as they walked toward them. “Cacti are all succulents. They’re the plants that all have kind of thicker leaves, and the best part is they’re all really easy to care for.”
They’d arrived at the plants. Jade plants, aloe vera, hens-and-chicks and a variety of other cacti lined the shelves, all in small, plastic containers that would be easy to replant into something else. “Bonsai trees are less work than a lot of people think they are, but they are more work than these guys here. They can be pretty delicate, and you can’t exactly forget about them for weeks at a time like you can these, but I’ve always found them very calming.”
Forgetting for a plant for weeks at a time - yeah, it seemed legit. Gale could see himself doing that (not on purpose, but his schedule was weird with the jobs he worked and Reserves training and so forth), so he would definitely like something as hardy as he was. A plant to rough and tough it out, in the soldier lifestyle.
Though once Leliana saw a plant in a teacup she’d probably name it, and pledge her life to it. No need to worry (he hoped).
He also had no clue what the fuck a succulent (sounded dirty) was either - good call, Tsuzuki. “Aloe’s familiar...” Gale at least recognized that type, gunmetal eyes squinting thoughtfully. “I also think we could use something calming. How many of these cacti do people usually get? Like a set of three or something?”
“I wouldn’t say that there’s any set average for how many people get,” Tsuzuki said. “We don’t really sell them in sets, though I’m sure I could work out a discount of some sort if you wanted to get three or more.” What his boss didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
Also nice to know, because seriously, Gale was clueless. “Sounds good,” he agreed, and picked out one of each, basically. “These three - “ He pointed to the selected plants in their plastic containers; now he’d just have to stop by a thrift shop or someplace with ‘cute’ things to find individual teacups for sale and not a whole set (though it was possible he could be suckered into buying a whole set, for Leliana). Actually, there was that one cafe Jack told him about - the one where he and Wendy encountered the giant spider. Hopefully there would be no giant spider this time.
“And a bonzai, if you have one. Is that cool?”
“Absolutely! I’ll get everything ready for you at the front counter.” He gathered the plants that Gale had picked out cheerfully. “Was there anything else you needed?”
He’d planned to come in and get flowers too, something colorful, but Gale didn’t want to bring home a whole forest’s worth of plants - it would start looking like a fairytale woods in their house or something, so he was pretty good to go, following the helpful greenhouse employee up to the front counter as instructed. “I don’t think so, these are all great,” he said, sounding casual - and relieved that he’d found just the perfect thing.
“I’m Gale, by the way.” For some reason, he felt compelled to introduce himself as he rummaged for his wallet - cash, he’d pay in cash since he always kept it on him. Less paranoia in that regard. “Thanks for all your help, Mister...?”
“Tsuzuki,” Tsuzuki said. “Asato Tsuzuki,” Tsuzuki said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gale!” He made a brief detour to grab one of the bonzai trees, making sure to grab one of the ones that looked the most healthy. Once they got to the front desk, he started wrapping them to protect them from the elements outside, even if they weren’t likely to get damaged by the sunny weather outside. He also made sure to grab a couple of the care sheets he had made sure to keep behind the counter.
“I do have some directions for caring for all the plants here, but if you ever have any questions about these or other plants, don’t hesitate to call me!”
“Nice to meet you,” Gale flashed a genuine grin, peering curiously at the wrapping job and also the care sheets - well, those would come in handy, definitely. Or else he’d have had to rely on Google-fu to keep up with ensuring the new members of the ‘family’ didn’t die. But the cacti seemed pretty hardy - overall, he was confident Leli would like everything.
Once he had everything wrapped and in a box (without the top on - just so he could carry it all to the car) he added another, “Thanks again. I’ll definitely be back if anything...weird happens. Like my complete lack of green thumb means I need to replace stuff before my girlfriend notices.”
That was a joke. Mostly because Leli always noticed.