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You should listen to Navi DuBleu. (heyheylisten) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-09-20 00:49:00

Who: Navi and River
What: Navi and River meet and River gets a job!
When: The day after this thread, Wednesday.
Where: Deku's Nursery.
Status: Complete!
Rating: G. Totally cute and fluffy.



It had been a day filled with classes and learning and dancing, and for River, despite the fact that it had been several hours of these activities, she wasn't tired. She wasn't the kind of person who called school boring or would say that the day had been 'long', just because it was jam packed with things to do. Even if several hours of dancing was physically tiring.

The day hadn't been long, but it had been empty. River sorted through her emotions on the subject while getting off the bus and heading towards Deku's Nursery. She had a package for Navi in her hands filled with an entire Tea Ring, and the thought of going to the place was uplifting. She liked the feeling.

She wandered into the place at around 5:30, which was a great time to catch the beginnings of the evening and see the plants at a time of day when a bunch of human souls weren't crowding around them. She didn't want to be around a lot of people right now.

Catching the sight of Navi near some plants, she waved and grinned, "Hello! I bring tidings of baked goods and joy!"

It had been another long day of being at the nursery for Navi. Most people thought she worked long, insane hours, but she would argue that she didn't really work at all. She loved her job and saw it more as hanging out with a bunch of friends than working.

She was singing to some ivy, gently watering them gently with a spray bottle as she danced with nobody in particular. Her eyes lit up when she saw River come in, waving happily with both arms and bouncing over. "Hi, River! I'm so happy to see you!" She hugged the other girl, giggling at the package she'd brought. "I"m sure you always bring joy, River."

The fact that the plants were Navi's friends would make River squee with joy inside. Plants had souls, too! They were living things.

The hug was unexpected and warm and lovely, and River found herself flooded with an overwhelming amount of happy energy. Navi was one of the most wonderful women she'd ever met. She bounced on her feet a bit, and then held out the box, "Well I try to bring joy with me, but I think that you're more joyful than me by a long shot. It's no small wonder your plants are so happy all the time!"

River was certain that if peonies could sing, the ones in her window box would do it. That had to be because of Navi, "Do you think plants sing? I mean, obviously of course not in our language, but in some other plant kind of way? Do you think they sing back to you?"

Navi loved hugs; they were something she gave freely and often. But hugging River was a treat because the girl hugged back. Sometimes when Navi hugged people they flailed or squeaked or tried to get away, but River hugged back and it was a delight.

Unable to keep from opening the box, Navi snuck a peek and a sniff. "Oh my gosh, that smells amazing." It was all she could do to keep her fingers from dipping into the treat. "This is for after work, it'll be my reward for finishing off the day." Grinning, she tucked it under a cash register so it wouldn't be under foot.

Compliments weren't something Navi was used to, and her cheeks went pink. "Oh, thank you! I don't know about all of that, but thank you!" The idea of plants having their own language was one that Navi had always held herself, and she nodded hard in response to River's question. "Oh, absolutely, I think they have their own way of communicating. They're either singing back to me or telling me my singing is terrible, but either way, I think they have their own language."

River couldn't help but keep on grinning widely. She bounced on her feet again, and giggled, "Silly duck, of course your singing isn't terrible! The plants would never end up so happy and beautiful if you were doing it wrong. It's because you're so lovely, and your voice is lovely, too."

She bit her lip a bit and eye-darted off to the side, then looked back at Navi and lowered her voice a bit, like this was some kind of secret, "I want to learn to sing to the plants. I want to dance with them and dig in the earth and make them happy, and I was wondering if you had... well, some job openings, because I'd trade you baked goods for plants anytime but I'm running out of money to make the baked goods with."

"Oh, I promise that my voice isn't good at all, but the plants are nice enough to grow anyway." She chuckled at River, waving as a customer left before plonking into a chair.

The other girl's enthusiasm was infectious, and Navi smiled right back, swinging her legs in the huge chair she kept for when she actually wanted to sit down. "I do! I usually operate with just a couple of part timers, but one of them moved and I've been working every shift, all six days and I'm tuckered. I'd love to have you on!" She couldn't help but bounce to her feet again, hugging River once more. Nobody would say that Navi wasn't a tactile creature.

The contact made it easier for thoughts to slip into River's head accidentally, but she didn't care. She loved tactile contact. Loved the feel of things against her hands, the textures of fabrics, the feel of skin.

And there wasn't anything bad to pick up off of Navi but happiness, at the moment, and some amount of exhaustion. Which was understandable!

"You poor dear! You've been doing all the plant tending on your own all the time? That won't do, no, it won't... You have to have time to relax and rejuvenate." River nodded emphatically, like what she was saying was complete law.

"And take baths. Lots of baths." Navi hadn't had a good long soak in ages and she was long overdue. "I've no doubt the plants will take to you, so you want to start now?" She grinned, moving to find the paperwork that all of her new hires went through.

Sliding it over to River along with a blue pen (she would've preferred sparkly, but the government tended to frown on their W-2s being filled out with glitter pen), she went over the pay and how she'd work around River's schedule in regard to the hours she gave. "I trust you, you're going to be awesome. I can tell somehow when people are going to have a green thumb."

It would have been amazing if all government paperwork got to be filled out with glitter pen, and River thought randomly that it would make the people who pushed the paper around happier. That's probably why the government didn't let them!

She tucked some hair behind her ear and chewed on her lip as she filled everything out, nodding her head about pay and hours and extremely eager to get started, "I really hope they take to me, I want the plants to like me. I know how particular lettuce can be, though, so maybe you should introduce me to the less persnickety plants first... you know... to ease them into the idea."

“Sure, I can totally do that!” Navi bounced up, figuring she’d fax the paperwork in the morning. “Let’s go say hi to the herbs - they’re easy to grow and I really don’t understand why everyone doesn’t grow them in their windows.” Smiling to herself, she motioned for River to come over and say hello to the basil and fennel. “They’ll grow pretty much anywhere, in pretty low light, and most home cooks use stuff like this all the time. And they taste so much better!” There were a few mint plants there too, and Navi broke off a leaf for River to smell and roll into her mouth.

River bounced along after her, then reached out a hand and gently patted the tops of the basil and fennel plants, "Hello little herbs! I hope you're having a nice day today! I'm sure any day now you're going to go to a new home where someone will appreciate you and add you to delicious foods."

That seemed like an appropriate thing to say. Herbs wanted to be happy and used to make food taste nice, right? That was their life ambition! She sniffed delicately at the mint and then rolled the leaf into her mouth and chewed on it, eyes and nose crinkling up a bit at its bittersweetness, "This is so much better than fake mint you get in commercial ice cream and things."

Navi was running her fingers over the fennel and the rosemary, smiling with pride at the way River was taking to this like a fish to water. It was like she was born with some otherworldly grace, and Navi couldn’t help but think the other woman was beautiful. She cocked her head. “Do you have any of these at home? You should take the ones you use when you cook or bake. And you can totally use the mint to make your own ice cream, I do that sometimes. It’s pretty easy to make if you have an ice cream maker. And all night. And strong arms.” Which she didn’t have, but she was getting there!

“Oh, do you have any kitties? I’ve got catgrass and catnip. Puppies like them too, just not as much. They tend to like knocking them over more anyway.” Navi showed those to River too, just in case she had a kitty at home. Most homes were nicer with kitties.

The herbs all smelled wonderful, and River took the time as Navi introduced them all to her to take in their scent, give them a pat, and even sometimes imagine what she'd put them in when she cooked. She didn't know how to cook so much as she knew how to bake, but she wanted to learn.

At the mention of pets, she shook her head, "Oh no, no pets... I don't think our apartment allows them, you know, and me and Simon are hardly ever home these days. They'd get sad and lonely, and you'd almost certainly have to get two so that they could keep each other company, and then I think they'd get up to all kinds of mischief and..."

She trailed off, and giggled at the thought, "That would actually be delightful, but Simon wouldn't agree. And you're making me want to learn to cook and make my own ice cream now! I'm going to end up spending my paycheck on herbs."

It didn't sound like River minded that at all.

“Oh, I don’t think you will, if only because the herbs are so cheap!” Navi pulled out a fruit box and nodded for River to take it. “Take home whatever herbs you think you’ll use. Sign-on bonus!” She bounced on her feet, glad that it was slow right then so she didn’t have to worry about anything but River.

She thought happily of her own kitty at home and smiled at the idea of River living with someone. “Oh, good, you don’t live alone. Is Simon your friend or someone else?” She wanted to hear more about River’s life, if only because Navi knew that the other girl wasn’t just an employee but also a friend.

There were a few moments of silence on River's end as she was once again stunned by Navi's generosity. She made a mental note not to take advantage of it, and decided only to load up as many herb plants as she was certain she could look after and make use of at home.

While she carefully made her selections, she beamed another smile over at the blonde woman, "Simon's my brother. He looks after me... He's this brilliant doctor. He works over at UC Irvine. We left home to come here. I needed a place where I could be..."

River crinkled her nose up a bit, while searching for the word she wanted, "Where I could Be. And he got the job here. He helps with tuition and everything!"

“Oh, wow, he’s a doctor? Is he a whole lot older than you? You’re in school too? Wow!” Navi grinned. River was loads smarter than her, and Navi knew it; Navi had always picked things up easily and spent most of her free time reading, but she didn’t have any formal education post-high school. So the Tam family seemed amazing and awe-inspiring to Navi.
“I didn’t go to college or anything, I just started up right here. Then my grandpa died, so I had to keep the store going.” She smiled, looking at the tree outside that she and her grandfather had planted when she was younger. It was strong and healthy, and after twenty-four years, moderately sized. “I’ve done this since I was little. If I didn’t do this, I’d be a vet, but … I don’t know, I can learn lots of stuff just by reading. But you and your brother are amazing to me!”

The fact that it was a pretty brilliant family and she'd been some kind of child prodigy was a part of River that she really didn't enjoy bragging about. She didn't like drawing attention to it, and she didn't like the people who were smart and decided to make other people feel stupid just because of it.

So she grinned and ducked her head modestly, wrinkling her nose a bit, "He's older than me a bit, yes. I'm going to college to become a ballerina, but... I'm not amazing. I mean, HE is amazing. I admire him so much. The things he does, I don't think I could ever do. Saving people and everything. But you're amazing, too!"

River bumped her hip against Navi and smiled, "It doesn't matter, about college. What matters is that you're happy and doing something you love, and I think you are, and I think you do. And you're just so ... ... You have such a wonderful energy to you!"

“You dance, too?” Navi’s dancing was strictly that kind of club dancing that was more like simulated dry humping than dancing, or spastically flailing. But ballet was technical and beautiful and it was people floating on air. She smiled at River, beaming a little. “You’re basically a butterfly, though.” She bumped her hip against her as well, chuckling. “I’m glad you think so. I think we’ll be friends for a really long time.”

"Don't you think it would be the most amazing thing to be a butterfly, though?" River said, excitedly. It was almost possible to see and hear the gears whirring around in her head as they randomly went off in the direction of life as a butterfly for a few seconds, before she tuned back in to reality.

When she did, she giggled, "I hope so! I really like you. I'm going to love working for you and with you and the plants and ... everything."

Hugging her new friend again seemed like the most appropriate response, and it was one that Navi was more than happy to give into. “Same here! I think we’re going to have a lot of fun with the plants and hanging out and - yeah, everything!”