Who: Robin and Tsuzuki What: Planting roses in Robin's garden and then tea Where: Robin's townhome When: Backdated to late November Rating/Warnings: Low and none Status: Complete
Sweet Pea Greenhouse didn’t usually do deliveries, but Tsuzuki had liked Robin and so, when her yellow roses had come in, he gave her a call to let her know and volunteered to bring them by her place. Once his shift was done, he headed over to her place, the pot of flowers in hand, and knocked on her door.
It was incredibly nice of Tsuzuki to offer to bring Robin’s roses to her house. In a show of her appreciation, Robin went out to get some snack cakes (who didn’t like snack cakes?) for the two of them to share once the roses were planted.
A moment after Tsuzuki knocked, Robin opened the door for him. “Asato,” she greeted with her usual warm pleasant smile. “The roses look wonderful! Thank you so much for bringing them to me.” She opened the door wider, “please, come in.”
“It was no trouble,” Tsuzuki said, walking through the door. “I was actually a little excited to see the flower bed, especially once we get these roses planted!”
“Of course, of course,” Robin answered. She waved him inside her home. Technically the townhouse belonged to her mother, as did the gardens outside. However, Robin had actually spent more time inside the home than Olivia had, especially in recent years. The home itself was distinctly modern in design, which may have been odd for the historian. It was decorated classically though. Antiques Robin had come across and simply could not part with brought a certain flair to the ground floor, along with certain number of souvenirs and memorabilia from Oliva Nico’s many excursions across the globe.
Robin led Tsuzuki through the house to the back. “I’m very excited for the roses,” she said. “The other flowers have taken very nicely to the back garden. I think I may get some bearded tongues for the front. What do you think?” She opened the back door and lead him out into the backyard.
It wasn’t a very large backyard. The location of the townhouse didn’t afford much in that regard. But what was there was very private. A red brick wall surrounded the perimeter with a gargoyle at each corner, two turned outward as if on guard, with one turned inward to watch the yard itself.
The garden took up nearly a quarter of the yard near the back between two tall evergreen trees. Robin had done a superb job in saving it from the weeds that attempted to take it over while both she and her mother had been abroad. The flowers she’d gotten from Sweet Pea had taken to the soil nicely and filled in the holes the weeds had left. Robin was quite proud of the work.
“What do you think?” She asked.
Tsuzuki looked around the yard, and smiled. The gargoyles kind of gave him the heebie jeebies, but what other people wanted to decorate their yard as was their own prerogative. “You’ve taken good care of it!” Tsuzuki said. “And the flowers I already sold you sure look like they like the yard.”
Tsuzuki’s praise made Robin swell a little with pride. She had worked very hard on the garden and it was nice to hear that her efforts had been well spent. Robin really did like gardening. There was something about digging in the dirt and having beautiful and pleasent smelling flowers all around that was just appealing.
“Thank you,” she said happily. “They really do and you helped very much. Once the roses are situated and doing well, I’ll send a few pictures to mother. I think she’ll be very pleased.”
And speaking of the roses, it was time to find a home for them. Robin studied the garden’s current layout thoughtfully. She had originally thought of putting them near the fountain that was the garden’s centerpiece, but that would probably look lopsided.
“What do you think, Asato?” She asked turning towards him. “Where would the roses like to be placed?”
Tsuzuki tapped a finger against his chin, lips slightly pursed as he took stock of the garden. He knew that Robin wanted them to be the highlight of the garden, so they needed to be somewhere that would draw the eye. Luckily, the yellow would contrast nicely with the other flowers in the garden, so that wouldn’t be too challenging. They also needed to be planted somewhere where the roots wouldn’t be crowded by the roots of the other flowers.
“I think here seems like a pretty good place,” he said after a moment, gesturing to an area that was a little ways in front of the fountain. “What do you think?”
“Hmm,” Robin tilted her head slightly. She looked thoughtfully at the spot Tsuzuki had indicated. It was still close to the fountain, but the eye moved naturally from the fountain to that particular spot and would be a centerpiece all of it’s own. She turned back to Tsuzuki with a smile and a nod. “Yes, I think that spot will do quite nicely.”
She fetched the necessary tools needed to prepare the spot for the roses. She was looking forward to showing off her garden to her friends. Bringing little bouquets with her when she went visiting. It was all very exciting, really.
“When we’re done here, would you like to join me for some coffee - or tea,” it was important, Robin had discovered, to provide both, “and some sweet cakes?”
Tsuzuki’s eyes lit up at the idea of sweet cakes. “Oh, sweet cakes sound wonderful,” he exclaimed, and grabbed the shovel so he could start digging a hole for the roses. “How kind of you!” He began to toss the soil he dug into a bucket, digging the hole large. The final hole would be a lot bigger than one would expect for the relatively small rose bush, two feet wide and two feet deep. “Would you like to start mixing the peat moss and the bone meal with the soil,” he said, and gestured toward the dirt he was throwing in the bucket.
Robin grinned. It sounded as though Tsuzuki was just as fond of sweets as she was. It was always nice to find a kindred spirit when it came to food and she was eager to get the roses into the ground so they could admire them as they ate.
“Absolutely,” she said and set to work mixing the peat moss and bone meal with the soil in the pail by Tsuzuki’s side. “What is the bone meal for?” She asked.
“Bone meal helps with root growth,” Tsuzuki explained. “It helps add phosphorous and calcium to the soil, so it can help the roses photosynthesize a little easier.” While digging a large hole for roses took time, Tsuzuki was fairly skilled at it and it didn’t take him long until he had dug an adequate hole. He wiped some sweat off his brow (unknowingly replacing it with dirt) and leaned against his shovel. “There. How’s that look?” he asked Robin.
Robin was no chemist, but what Tsuzuki said sounded very scientific and true. She would have to do some more reading about the soil in the area around her house if she really wanted to turn gardening into a hobby.
She sat back on her heels and ran the back of her wrist over her cheek and forehead as though to wipe away any errant bits of dirt from her skin. She tilted her head thoughtfully at the hole, considering it for a moment before nodding her head. “That looks good,” she said, looking at him. “I think the roses will be quite pleased with it.”
Tsuzuki had never been particularly good in school, but he had studied a great deal about plants (and had even surprised his biology teacher when they’d gotten to that section). “Great,” Tsuzuki said, and began the actual process of planting the roses, explaining what he was doing and why as he did so.
When he finished planting, he took a step back so that he could get a look at the entire garden. “I think that looks lovely,” Tsuzuki said after a moment. “You’ve got a really good eye for this kind of thing.”
Robin watched Tsuzuki as he worked and was very attentive to what he told her. He certainly knew what he was doing and Robin would sure to call on him again if she should happen to have any questions during her next round of planting flowers.
The roses really did look lovely in their new home, all bright and cheery. Robin looked forward to seeing them every day. “They look marvelous,” she agreed happily. “Thank you very much for helping me this afternoon, Asato.” She held up a finger, “and, as I promised, sweetcakes are waiting for us inside. Why don’t we get a couple and some tea and come out here to enjoy them in the garden?”
“I’m always happy to help,” Tsuzuki said cheerfully. There really wasn’t much that made him feel better than helping people, and he was always eager to do it. “Though I have to say, sweetcakes are a great motivator.” He started to head inside.
Robin started towards the house with him, gently wiping her dirty hands on the old pair of trousers she had put on special for gardening. “Sweetcakes are always a great motivator,” she stated to Tsuzuki, “and are a special kind of reward for a job well done, wouldn’t you agree?”
She lead him back into her house and into the kitchen where coffee had been percolating while they toiled in the garden. “Do you prefer coffee or tea?” Robin asked as she fetched the promised cakes from her pantry.
“Sweets are the greatest reward,” Tsuzuki said cheerfully. “If it was possible to survive with being paid in cakes, that would definitely be my prefered payment method,” Tsuzuki laughed. Alas, he did need actual food sometimes, and he couldn’t pay his rent with cookies and pies.
“Oh, I’ll just drink whatever you’re making,” he said cheerfully. While he did have a slight preference for tea - usually fruity herbal teas - he occasionally liked to have some coffee with his sugar. “You mentioned this is your mother’s house, didn’t you? Do you mind if I ask where she is?”
“If only we could be,” Robin agreed with a soft chuckle. “And not become all rolly polly for the effort.” She set down a plate containing various tasty looking pastries she had gotten from Baxter’s Bakery earlier that morning, as well as a few more exotic looking goodies she’d gotten from the asian market (red bean buns being something of a favorite for Robin).
Then she poured a mug of coffee for herself and another for Tsuzuki. “Yes, this is my mother’s home. Right now she’s…” Robin paused for a moment. “in India, I believe.” She turned and brought their mugs of hot coffee to the kitchen table and motioned for Tsuzuki to have a seat with her. “She’s an archaeologist and anthropologist and has been traveling the globe since before I was born. I spent my childhood traveling with her,” Robin took a seat with something of a nostalgic sigh. “Right now she’s studying a few ancient Hindu temples, then I believe she’ll be spending sometime in rural Vietnam. Originally she was supposed to come back for Christmas, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards this year. It’s a little disappointing, but,” Robin shrugged slightly, “it’s in our nature, I suppose. We Nicos apparently are stricken with wanderlust.”
Tsuzuki took a seat next to Robin. The red bean buns looked familiar, and Tsuzuki grabbed one and took a bite to confirm that that’s what they were. “You don’t see these very often!” he said enthusiastically. “My older sister likes to make them sometimes, and I’ve always loved them. Everytime I try to make them though they never look right.”
As Robin spoke of her mother, Tsuzuki added quite a bit of sugar and milk to his coffee. “I’m sorry your mother won’t be joining you for Christmas,” Tsuzuki said, and he really was. His own parents were long dead, but he knew if he ever missed a Christmas with his sister he’d be very disappointed. “But that does sound like an exciting childhood! Where’s your favourite place that you’ve been to?”
“Red bean buns are my favorite,” Robin said. “I can usually find them at an asian market. There’s this nice little market up the street from my house that usually carries them. I can point it out to you, if you’d like.”
She sipped her coffee as Tsuzuki spoke. “It was an interesting childhood,” she agreed. “Though, at the time I thought it was perfectly normal. At least for me. Settling here to attend high school was very much a culture shock for me.” Her lips quirked in an amused smile at his question. People always wanted to know where her favorite place she’d traveled was. It was so hard to pin down. All the places she’d been to had special meaning and memories for her. Some of them good, some of them not so much so. But if she had to choose…
“Probably the British Isles,” she said with only a moment’s hesitation. “When I was little, my mother and I used to Christmas there with a few of her colleagues. It was always such a magical time.” She sipped her coffee and reached for one of the buns. “Do you like to travel, Asato?”
“That would be lovely,” Tsuzuki said. “Thank you. They’re always such a nice treat when my sister makes them for me, but I’ve never looked for them myself. Though, the ones my sister make are a little better.” Maybe it was just that they were home cooked, or the fact that his sister was one of the best cooks/bakers he knew. “Perhaps I can bring some of hers next time I come!”
Tsuzuki couldn’t help but smile a little. “That sounds a little like Mean Girls,” he said. “The whole culture shock of high school, I mean. Christmasing in the British Isles sounds lovely, though perhaps a little cold. I thought when most people travelled places for Christmas they went somewhere warm,” he teased. “I’m sure I would love to travel if I ever had the opportunity, though the closest I’ve ever come has been some short weekend road trips.” He’d enjoyed those quite a bit, but between the fact that he’d spent such a large chunk of his life living in and out of psyche wards, and the fact that his sister had to pay for that, meant that they hadn’t had much of a chance to go on actual vacations.
“Oh, Asato, that would be lovely, thank you!” Robin exclaimed. “I haven’t had homemade red bean buns since I lived in Japan as a girl. I bet they taste even better homemade.” Japan was probably Robin’s second favorite place she’d been to.
She chuckled faintly as she sipped her tea, “It was a little cold,” she admitted of spending holidays in England and Scotland, “but I was so young I don’t think I noticed or much cared to be honest.” There was a little wistful nostolgia in her voice again. Life seemed much simplier when she’d been younger. Yes, she had traveled constantly with her mother with very little chance to feel grounded anywhere, or any friendships she made cut short before they could flower. Robin had no childhood friends (which was why she treasured the friendships she was making now). But it had been normal for Robin and there were times, especially around the holidays Robin longed for those days again.
“I’m sure you’ll get the chance to travel someday,” Robin told Tsuzuki. “Where would you like to go, if you could go anywhere?”
“Everything always does,” Tsuzuki said. There was nothing quite like a homecooked meals and homecooked desserts.
“I don’t know,” Tsuzuki said. “Japan, maybe. I was born there, though we moved here before I had any memories of it. And my dreams take place there! I guess it would be fun to see how my dreams differed from real life.” He frowned. “Well, so long as there isn’t a chance of meeting someone from my dreams there. That’s not very likely though, is it?” There were some people who Tsuzuki wouldn’t mind seeing, even if Chief Kanoe sometimes scared him a little, but Muraki had literally ripped Tsuzuki’s spine out in one of his most recent dreams and he didn’t have much desire to go through that again.
Robin blinked several times. “You’re a Dreamer too, Asato?” She asked. How incredible! It seemed as though everyone she was meeting lately was a Dreamer. Not that Robin minded in the slightest. It was a nice community to belong to and she was meeting some amazing people, many of which she couldn’t picture her life without now.
She tilted her head thoughtfully. “I don’t think you’re apt to meet anyone from your dreams actually in Japan,” she said at last. “I’m not sure if it works like that. I think the Dreams only happen here in Orange County. I’ve seen people post on the network - you’re on the network, aren’t you, Asato?” Of course he was. All Dreamers were on the Network. Unless Tsuzuki was talking about normal everyday dreams, but that didn’t seem likely to Robin at all. “Anyway, I’ve seen people post on the network that when they go away - on vacation for instance - the Dreams stop and only start again when they get back.” She tapped her mug thoughtfully with her finger. “So I think if you were to meet anyone from your Dreams, you’d only meet them here. Have you met anyone from your Dreams?”
“You too?” Tsuzuki asked. He wasn’t really sure how he felt about that. On one hand, it was great to meet another Dreamer, but on the other hand, the dreams seemed like something that he’d rather his friends not have to go through.
“Well, that’s a relief,” Tsuzuki said, letting out a heavy sigh. Not that he’d want to meet Muraki here, but maybe if he got a heads-up, through the Network perhaps, he could just try really hard to avoid him at all costs. “It’s strange that they seem to be contained to this area though.” But that was obviously a problem for someone else to work out. “I do have someone from my dreams here,” Tsuzuki said, fondly. “His name’s Hisoka, and he actually volunteers at the greenhouse sometimes.”
Robin nodded slowly. She had thought it odd that Dreams were not only contained to just Orange County and the towns and cities that made it up, but to only the people who signed on to Valarnet and spent any significant time there. And not just the Dreams, but everything that went along with them. Some even life altering. It was some kind of magic Robin had no real hope of ever understanding.
“Really?” Robin’s head tilted to the side. “Do you get along well with him?” She asked.
While normally a cheerful guy in general, Tsuzuki’s face somehow managed to brighten even more. “Oh yes. In my dreams, we didn’t really get along at first. He’s kind of mean. And cold.” That was because of the way Hisoka’s parents had treated him before the boy had been murdered. His parents here wouldn’t win parent of the year, but as far as he could gather, they weren’t as cruel as his parents had been in the dreams. “But we became partners. Our first case was a bit of a doozy, but when all was said and done, Hisoka stayed by my side.”
Which was rare, and was something that had endeared the boy to him even more in this life (which was impressive given how much he had already cared about him). He hadn’t dreamed much of what had happened before he had met Hisoka, but he’d had the distinct impression that his partners didn’t usually stick around.
“How nice,” Robin said. She enjoyed Tsuzuki’s smile. There was just something about it that made her want to smile, even if she was just a little jealous that Tsuzuki had someone he cared about from his dreams here. She would have been thrilled if any of the Straw Hat Pirates appeared in Orange County, the spitfire Navigator, the stoic Swordsman and especially their adventurous well-meaning Captain. Even the curly-browed Cook would have been nice. Seeing him and Isabela together would give hours on end of amusement.
Still, jealousy aside, Robin had grown fond of Tsuzuki. He was splendid company and she hoped they would have a chance to spend more time together like this.