but my home was never on the ground

Monday, 17 September

Greenhouse #2
1:30 pm

❧❧❧

"Heh, I think it likes me." Reyna reached out, smiling, and tickled the screechsnap under its chin. Or... rather, where its chin would be if it had one. The wine colored plant leaned into her touch and purred. You could even see the seam of its petals (the "lips" to its "mouth") curling in pleasure.

Normally, this early in the term, classes were held in Greenhouse #1. But today's assignment required some plants of a slightly higher difficulty. They were to be split into pairs and given the responsibility of caring for a selection of particularly temperamental plants. There was a good deal of variety in the bunch, from slimy, to viney, to bitey. The fourth years definitely had their work cut out for them.

In other words, Reyna had this in the bag.

She'd been one with nature since she popped out of the womb. Why, she could probably rattle off a dozen dangerous and finicky plants off of the top of her head. Totally. So, whatever class threw at her today, the only thing Reyna would be walking away with was a big, shiny "O."

"Hope you're not too nervous," Reyna said, leaning over to her assigned partner. "Screechsnaps usually aren't too ornery, but they're so frou-frou. You have to give them just the right amount of fertilizer, water, sunlight-- 'else, they'll start screaming their heads off."

By some stroke of luck, Maevie had been paired with Reyna. Sweet, sunny Maevie... with that whole Dark Tower business looming over her. Reyna had enough decorum laid into her to not pry, but damn, was it tempting. It wasn't her fault that the details of that occaision had been kept on the down-low.

Reyna blinked, hard. Whatever. She'd rather not think about that particular event, either. Unpleasantness like that was not on the docket today, thank you very much.

Although...

Frowning, Reyna bent down and lifted up the screechsnap's lower leaves. The plant shook from stamen to roots, and a low growling leaked out from its mouth. It was obviously displeased with the exposure, but Reyna paid it no mind. Plants didn't have modesty to worry about-- they were technically naked anyway.

"The leaves on this one are kind of... spiky," Reyna muttered. She glanced up at Maevie, brow furrowed. "Could be some real barmy mutation, I suppose? That might be fun."

❧❧❧

Maevie tugged on her dragonhide gloves and interlaced her fingers, pushing the leather into the gaps between them until there was no more give. There would be no risk-taking today. She had already almost lost a finger once, and today would not be the day she actually did.

Herbology was one of the subjects she greatly enjoyed and actually managed to pay attention to quite steadily. But she lacked the natural expertise some of her classmates seemed born with. All too often she found herself with a dilemma she couldn’t explain. Being paired with Reyna was a great relief then.

The girl had to be one of the best in their year. Technically, nothing could go wrong.

"Hope you're not too nervous. Screechsnaps usually aren't too ornery, but they're so frou-frou. You have to give them just the right amount of fertilizer, water, sunlight-- 'else, they'll start screaming their heads off."

Maevie snorted, raising a brow as she flicked her gaze from the plant to Reyna.

“That sounds pretty ornery to me,” she said, looking back at the screechsnap’s oddly shaped petals, luckily closed and not screaming its head off. As of right now, anyway. She really hoped it would stay that way. She could use a good grade to even out the somewhat measly ones she knew she would likely still collect over the term, and she could do only that many extra credit assignments.

Tilting her head, Maevie peeked under the leaves Reyna was holding up.

“Spiky,” she echoed, pursing her lips. “I suppose that means they aren’t normally spiky. You reckon we need to…trim…them?” It was the best guess she had. She had unfortunately forgotten to do the assigned reading the night before.

Well, not forgotten, really. She had been patrolling, and then afterwards she had simply fallen asleep in her dorm. Sure, she could have done it before today’s class, during lunch or breakfast, but that she had indeed forgotten.

No matter, though. That’s what she had Reyna for today.

Lucky, lucky her.

❧❧❧

"Not normally, no. Quite smooth to the touch, actually. Makes me wonder, for sure." Reyna popped back up, hesitated, and then sheepishly reached for her own pair of gloves, which lay forgotten on the countertop. Better not risk losing her fingers, or get docked off assignment points, for that matter. Hopefully, the spiky surprise wasn't a bad omen of things to come...

At Maevie's suggestion, Reyna gave her a look, like she had daisies sprouting out her head. "That's a, er, rum idea, hey?" She snorted.

Ooh, no, that sounded a bit rude. Not everyone was as comfortable with plants as she was, it would do her good to remember that. Plus, making someone like Maevie droop with sadness was never the plan.

Reyna compensated with a hearty pat on Maevie's shoulder, sending clods of dirt showering over both of them. "Trimming would do more harm than good," She said, unbothered, and leaned down once more. "Just gotta work 'round the buggers!" She grinned sunnily.

"Now, hand me some o'that dragon dung, if you please."

Laying down the fertilizer was pretty calming. A press of dung into the soil here, and some massaging of the screechsnap's roots there... Soon, the fussy plant was starting to relax, and a low chittering noise reached Reyna's ears.

"Like flyin' a kite." Reyna said, holding out her hand for more dung. "Don't worry. You get used to the smell after a bit. Have you ever seen a real dragon before, by the way? We grew up in Australia, mostly, and I think that Opaleye dragon comes 'round sometimes."

Times like these, when Reyna was most at home, she could be a real chatterbox. Almost as talkative as Lovelace-- though, really, who could ever hope to match her sister's motormouth? Maevie seemed like a good listener, too.

She paused to twinkle up at her housemate again. "You seem like the brave sort. With what you saw-- Uh, I mean, I think you could hold your own against a dragon." Reyna cleared her throat. Good grief. She'd almost breached the thing, and now was probably not the best time, wrist deep in dragon shit.

"Here, m'almost done," Reyna mumbled, trying her best to brush past. "You can water if you want..?"

❧❧❧

Reyna’s snort at Maevie’s suggestion warmed her cheeks, a spark of embarrassment fluttering around her heart as she pressed her lips into a sheepish smile. Had it been such a ridiculous idea? Sometimes, Maevie couldn’t help but wonder if there was something wrong with her mind. Things just tumbled out of her mouth before she could think them through. It wasn’t rare for her to elicit sputters of laughter, though not always intentionally.

The pat that landed on her shoulder a moment later pushed the self-deprecating thoughts aside, and Maevie nodded once. “Heard,” she grinned, filing the information Reyna was giving for next time: no trimming spiky leaves that weren’t expected to be there; work around them.

She was sure she could remember that.

When Reyna asked for dragon dung, Maevie went to work without complaint. She pulled the sack from beneath their workbench and dug her gloved hands into its mushy depth. The smell greeted her immediately and overwhelmingly. An involuntary cough escaped her as Maevie handed the dung to Reyna.

"Don't worry. You get used to the smell after a bit. Have you ever seen a real dragon before, by the way? We grew up in Australia, mostly, and I think that Opaleye dragon comes 'round sometimes.”

“If three years of Herbology have not gotten me used to the smell by now,” Maevie said, eyes watering but laughing through the pain, “I think there’s little hope for me left.” She handed over a handful of dung, shaking her head in reply to Reyna’s question. “No dragons yet. The only ones I’ve ever seen were in books and my imagination. A real one would probably send me into a coma.”

She snorted, but Reyna’s next words quickly lodged the humour in her throat. Her heart squeezed, and Maevie stilled for less than a split second as her brain flashed with memories. They were gone before they fully formed, but their impressions left an afterimage nonetheless.

Maevie forced herself to push past in the same breath.

She chuckled lightly, a little nervous but genuine. “Not that brave,” she said, reaching for the watering can. Thinking back on how she had handled the aftermath, brave really wasn’t the first word that sprang to mind. Pathetic, more like.

Maevie cast a glance at Reyna, maintaining her smile like someone who had been through this sort of conversation a million times before.

“I think a dragon would have actually been my preferred option." She laughed softly, tipping water into the Screechsnap’s pot. A real grin flickered over her lips as she looked around at Reyna again. “At least they don't have wands."

Only fire.

An itch went through the scars on her palm, covered beneath the glove's leather, and Maevie cleared her throat. Stopping the flow of water from the can, she glanced at their plant.

"Enough water?" she asked.