[PRP] Floral Fellows (Athera & Shyloh)

[saedusk]

 

[saedusk]

The moon was brighter through the trees tonight than Athera was used to seeing. Where she lived, the canopy was thicker and the world was darker, but it was just as beautiful and full of more plantlife than she could count on both hands. Despite how lovely it was, though, she itched to see Alternia beyond the boundaries of the swamp.

Normally if she took rare trips into civilization it was while monitored by other trolls. This time, some ways away from home but still within the confines of the forest, she was chaperoned by someone else's lusus.

"Do you think we'll find something cool?" she asked Bumbs as he flew above her head in a lazy circle. Athera always did like Aprife's lusus—they shared a love of plants and got along swell because of it. They even shared tips for taking care of their individual gardens. "I really wanna find some new flowers. Like... like... something that smells really nice."

Overhead, Bumbs hummed in gleeful agreement.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

There was, at Shyloh's ankle, a loud squeaky protest.

"Aw come on! Stoppit!" Shyloh lifted his leg into the air to try and shake off his anxious passenger. With a plobby thud, the sprout that had been holding onto his shoe landed uselessly onto the ground. The two engaged in a stare down--a moment of intense silence--only for it to be broken as Shyloh took another step forward.

"I'm gonna turn around soon! I just wanna go a little further okay?" It was the furthest he'd ever explored, which he knew was dangerous, but he was nothing if not prepared! His backpack was full of supplies and he had a small box cutter from a craft store in Four Fronds for self defense. Between that and the fruit snacks, he was set. "I'm gonna be back by mornin' yknow. I'm not a dummy."

The sprout folded its rubbery little arms and squeaked. Still, the promise seemed to satiate it.

And so the tealblood pressed onward. He had important things to do tonight! Namely, chart all this unexplored territory. He had a journal in one hand and a pencil in the other, and he was diligently marking down landmarks. His most recent had been a creek with a giant rock in the center that looked like a butt. Exciting!!!

Suddenly, he gave pause. "Wait, weren't there two of you?" He looked at the little sentient friend by his foot, who gave a very unhelpful shrug.

---

Meanwhile, a tiny sprout had successfully gotten itself very, very lost. It waddled to and fro looking for its charge... oh wait! There! All it saw was grey skin and a short stature and it was running, squeaking and beeping all the while. That is, until it realized it wasn't the right child.

The gray-skinned white-maned dandelion with a polygon for a nose looked up at Athera as it tried to comprehend the situation in its very simple mind.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

This, this was exactly why Athera wanted to travel outside of the swamp. The flowers she'd found averaged three thin yellow petals each, ones that stood straight up and were presented to Alternia by the three large, wide, marbled leaves at their base. They were absolutely lovely and strange, smelling of lemons and—according to the lavenderblood's imagination—actual sunshine. She left most of them alone to thrive in their natural habitat, but she'd already collected a specimen all the way down to the roots with her trusty little shovel.

"This is so great, Bumbs!" she exclaimed, carefully settling the flower's roots in a cloth bag she filled with dirt and decaying leaves to tide it over until she got home. "I can't believe how luck-"

The words died in Athera's throat immediately as she turned to continue her trek, flower in hand and one foot hovering dangerously close to one tiny, plobby something or other. "Is that a mouse?!" Drawing her foot back quickly, she took a few steps back. She didn't want to crush the poor thing, but the longer she stared, the more she began to realize that what she saw wasn't a mouse at all. She had no idea what it was.

Dropping to her knees in the forest moss, she leaned in real close to get a better look.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

The little sprout backed up, its eyes wide. Many things crossed its mind at this point. Would it get eaten? Would it get smushed? It knew it had to take drastic measures in a time like this. When Athera drew in close, it gave her a rather weak and inoffensive headbutt, followed by a slightly more offensive shrill squeak.

When it saw that it did mostly nothing to the much bigger and stronger child, it keeled over and played dead.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

About the only effect of the creature's attempts was the way Athera scrunched her nose and squinted her eyes at its squealing. The headbutt felt like being bomped with a cotton ball and the act, well, she'd seen more than enough animals where she'd come from to assume it wasn't really dead.

"Come on, little guy. I won't hurt you." Athera's touch was indeed quite delicate as she scooped it up from the soil with both hands after setting her special flower aside. The texture was like nothing she'd felt before and the closest she could equate was a beanbag covered in soft rubber.

"It's okay," she cooed, stroking it's tiny head.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

This was it. This was the sprouts final, dying moments. It felt the hands scoop it up, could feel its body and soul leaving the ground and ascending to a higher plane. Then again, the little stitches were nice. It was still surely going to die, but the sprout was chirping at least, and doing a little wiggle. The pre-death pets felt pretty nice.

It didn't even seem to notice the footsteps, thundering and loud as they were. Maybe because it happened too fast? Or because it was too deeply engrossed in its purgatory state of existing?

Regardless, Shyloh came crashing through the underbrush like a crazed fool, his eyes wide and his cheeks flushed a bright teal. It was clear he'd been running around like a maniac for a little while now. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" Who was this? Did they live out here? What the heck was that??? Shyloh was staring at Bumbs now, then back to Athera, then to his precious little sprout in her arms, sprawled out and probably dead. That was fine because there were still a bunch of others back home, but he hated to think it suffered at the hands of some kid.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Athera's eyes lit up. Those squeaks, those chirps, those little wiggles... The longer she looked, the cuter it got, and Athera was already making plans to take it home and raise it in her garden once it got over its fright. She started to manuever back to her feet, slowly, carefully, still gently smushing the fluff on its head.

That was when a crazed tealblood burst through the underbrush.

Athera jumped, the near-weightless sprout bouncing up out of her hands at the sudden movement. With a shout of surprise, she managed to catch it again, but her blood pusher was in her throat and her already owlish eyes were downright huge.

"What are you doing?!" she shot right back, cautiously clutching the squeaky beeper to her chest.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"I asked first!" Shyloh's expression was torn between wanting to cry and wanting to scream some more, his cheeks flustered with teal. "And you're--! You're touching! My sprout!"

Said sprout was very relieved to be on solid (?) skin, at the very least. Being juggled had stressed it out, but now it sat there with its stubby arms anchored to Athera's hand. Still, it didn't seem to move much. Shyloh was shifting his weight between his feet in increasing discomfort.

"You prolly hurt it! I can't believe this." The tealblood threw his arms up in the air before tangling them in his hair, "I can't handle this!"

saedusk

surprise it's a short boy

 

[saedusk]

"Your sprout?" Athera challenged back, not even knowing what a 'sprout' was exactly. As far as she knew, this little guy was a wild forest creature belonging to no one, but she'd wanted to take it home and her possessive nature flared up in protest to Shyloh's claims. "I found it. It was out here alone. I'm allowed to touch it if I wanna."

Turning her nose up, she let him have his tantrum while trying to force her own metaphorical feathers to de-ruffle. His reactions were absolutely over the top and Athera was better than that. She had to prove she was better than that.

"You're getting all mad about nothing. It's not even hurt, are you, little guy? I'd never hurt the forest creatures for no reason." To emphasize, she gave the sprout the softest pat she could muster as if urging it to show just how a-okay it really was after that frightening flight from her hand.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shyloh held his breath, cheeks bright teal, as the stranger gave the sprout a pat. A few seconds rolled by before it gave a very delayed squeak, its entire body reverberating with the sound.

The tealblood sniffed. "Yeah well..." His lips were still screwed down in a tight frown. "It's still mine. It got lost, okay? My lusus'll get upset if I don't come back with the same ones that left." She would already be upset if the sprouts spilled his secret about wandering too far anyway. He didn't want to disappoint her twice in one go.

"And anyway, there's lots of dangerous stuff in the forest. You'd be dumb if you didn't know to be careful..." Not that Shyloh was one to talk, but he was still pouting anyway.

Behind him, Shyloh's second sprout squished its tiny hands into its cheeks.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"I am careful," Athera protested, looking once more at the sprout in her hand. Its belated squeak made her feel a bit better, but she still stood on her toes defensively. By now she'd seen (barely, it was so small) the other sprout behind Shyloh. Maybe he was telling the truth.

One hand planted itself firmly on her hip and she jutted it out, trying to look cool, trying to act like the thought of giving up her new little friend wasn't sorta upsetting. "Anyway, didn't you just run in here screaming and stuff without thinking? Maybe you're the dumb one who doesn't know how to be careful."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shyloh's face twisted up with a sort of embarrassed agony that it seemed like Athera had just slapped him. "I-I...!" He sucked in a breath, "I'm not dumb! I'm not dumb. I'm not stupid, I'm not. I was just..."

Shyloh exhaled hard through his nose. "I just got scared." He finally admitted. "They're really fragile okay!"

The sprout continued to flatten out, not unlike a pancake in Athera's hand.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Athera did de-ruffle then, for real this time, and her hand slid off her hip as she settled into a more casual and somewhat sheepish stance. Okay, so she hadn't meant to go as far as making this kid feel bad, it was just that he'd started her and the sprout, too. He should've been more careful, but everyone made mistakes sometimes.

"Sorry, sorry...." she muttered, "Don't worry about it, okay? I wouldn't hurt this little guy it's too cute. I'm being careful, okay? I promise."

As a show of good faith, she took a few steps closer to Shyloh, now carefully cradling the pancake sprout with both hands so there'd be no chance of it falling. "If it's really yours I'll... I'll give it back. Just don't freak out on me like that anymore."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shyloh's eyes were busy looking at the floor. He did this a lot--looking everywhere but the trolls he was trying to speak to. Despite that, his eyes did snap up when Athera took a step towards him, his expression curious and defensive all at the same time.

The apology seemed to help. The tension slowly started to ease out of his shoulders, and while he still looked suspicious of the stranger, his posture seemed to relax. Suddenly she was offering the pancake-sprout back to him in a gesture of peace. Shyloh sniffed, his hands shaking just a little bit as he collected the pile of sentient-plant-plob from Athera's grasp.

The sprout didn't seem to mind the transition. It didn't offer any sort of help either--instead preferring to rag-doll around like a limp noodle. The sprout behind Shyloh's legs seemed pleased and let out a squeak of triumph as the rescue of its companion.

"I'm... really... bad at talking." Shyloh said before he could catch himself. His tendency to be raw and honest with others was too ingrained. "I won't yell or freak out on you again. I just get... worked up 'n crud..." Would Momosa be proud that he was reconciling? He sighed and shook his head.

"...they are pretty cute though, huh...?" He moved his hands just so--the sprout in his palms seemed to wiggle like a wave. Sligtly disrupted, but not too disgruntled to actually move, the creature squeaked with every subtle motion.

saedusk