[FIN] Garden Variety Talks

[insidiousEnigma]

The past couple of days had passed in somewhat of a blur.

He'd checked in with the base, had made sure his presence wasn't needed, and then promptly told them that unless it was an emergency to not contact him. He wanted to be by himself.

Well...as by himself as he could get in his brother's house.

“There's lots of dandelions here.” Kuroko stated, and only to the trained eye would the excitement be noticeable as the Espurr held one of the weeds up for his trainer to see. “Mmhm...we've been neglecting this garden a bit.” He carefully tugged a weed out, uprooting the entire thing before setting it in a basket to his left.

The Agent knelt in the dark, damp soil, uncaring if his clothes got dirty though he was sure to get an earful from Andre when he was found. “I think some lavender would look nice here...don't you think?” He asked softly, digging a bit into the soil with his fingers to check for any missed roots. “Those don't taste very good though.” Zacharie snorted a laugh and shook his head. “Yeah, I wouldn't eat it without doing something with it first.”  

[Akira Midoriyama]

A certain silver-haired trainer came out into the garden accompanied by a Leafeon at his heels and a colorful Chatot on his shoulder. He spotted Zacharie with Kuroko and smiled when he heard the young man commenting about lavender. He walked over and leaned down, his Chatot shifting a bit to keep its balance on its perch.

“Hello, Zacharie,” he greeted, putting his hands on his knees. “Would you and Kuroko like some help?”

Happa frolicked about, happy to be outside in the sun and among plants. He went over to the dandelion that Zacharie had plucked and sniffed at it curiously.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie glanced up, a bit surprised by his new companion. “Oh, hello Akira.” He greeted, eying the Chatot curiously for a moment before looking down at the familiar Leafeon. “And hello to you as well, Happa.” He scritched behind the pokemon's ear with his free hand.

“Help?” He cocked his head slightly before looking around the garden. “Oh...if you'd like. It'll get the job done faster but if you don't want to get dirty that alright.” He held the dandelion out for Happa to sniff at and smiled lightly as Kuroko came over to inspect the weed as well. The psychic-type said, but made no move to grab the plant from his trainer.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"Are you kidding? I didn't leave high society so I could keep from dirtying my hands,” Akira laughed. “I don’t know much about gardening, but if you could instruct me, I’d be happy to comply.” He followed Zacharie’s gaze to his Chatot which winked when it realized the purple-haired man was regarding him.

“Oh! This is Telephonic. I just call him ‘Tel’ for short.” He gave a bitter smile. “I, um...I’d meant to give him to someone else but it seems that someone didn’t care to look after him in the end, so he’s back with me.”

Happa excitedly nuzzled against Zacharie’s hand and looked from the dandelion to Kuroko as the Espurr came over. the Leafeon asked, sitting on his hind legs and tilting his head at the psychic-type.  

[insidiousEnigma]

The trainer blinked owlishly before nodding slowly. “That makes sense.” He handed the dandelion to Kuroko when the Espurr grabbed for it, smoothing Happa’s fur down once more before standing at his full height so he could take a look around. “I'm just pulling weeds right now...I'll go through and check on the flowers once I'm done with that.”

He rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand, though he still managed to smear dirt across his cheek. “Just pull up any weed looking things by the root...Andre only has flowers so it's easy to tell what's a weed and what isn't…” He trailed off as the Chatot, Tel, winked at him but soon gave another snort of a laugh.

“It's nice to meet you, Tel.” He nodded his head in greeting. “That's probably for the best, he seems like a nice pokemon.” Pokemon with strong personalities were more fun to be around anyway.

Kuroko took the dandelion from his trainer before popping it into his mouth. He chewed quickly, swallowed, and then glanced around for another.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Akira chuckled when he saw Zacharie smear dirt on his cheek. He reached up with a corner of his shirt to wipe it off his face. “Okay, I’ll do my best. I might have to bother you about what is and what isn’t one if I’m not sure, though. I’m afraid I don’t have much knowledge when it comes to this sort of thing.”

The Chatot seemed to smirk before nodding in response to Zacharie and opening his beak to echo exactly what he had just heard in a perfect imitation of the purple-haired Rocket’s voice. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Shaking his his head, Akira couldn’t keep the grin off his face at the pokemon’s mimicry. “Sorry. Still getting used to that. He’s a goofball.” He knelt down to get to work, trying to pull up what he thought appeared to be a weed, but finding the stem snapping off in his hand rather than the whole plant with the root.

Happa watched Kuroko and laughed. He went over to another dandelion and bit off the top.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie paused, unsure what the other was doing until he noticed the previously clean cloth come away dirty. “...Thank you.” He resisted the urge to rub at his face again. “The best way to learn is by doing.” The Agent shrugged, “You can ask me anything, I don't mind it.” He bent to pluck a few prickly stems attempting to grow in, not even so much as wincing as the small thorns dug into his skin.

“...You might need some gloves though.” He said, thoughtfully examining the weed until his gaze shifted over the the normal-type. He laughed lightly and shook his head, “S'okay, it's pretty cool that he can do that.” He tossed the weed into the basket before crouching next to Akira again. “Here,” His tone was full of amusement as he reached for another weed. “Grab it as close to the ground as you can and pull gently.” He demonstrated, tanned fingers wrapping delicately around the stem and wiggling it a bit before carefully tugging it free.

“It takes some practice.” He assured the other, digging his fingers into the soil to tug the roots Akira had missed free.

Kuroko cocked his head curiously, He asked, thinking of the different treats Andre kept around. Zacharie didn't often buy treats like Andre did. Instead making his own treats that consisted mainly of plants and what he called “protein supplements”. Only the bigger, carnivorous pokemon got stuff with meats in them.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

“Anything?” he repeated, watching Zacharie uproot some plants by their prickly stems. “Then...would you be okay with me asking about things other than gardening…? Like...personal questions? If not, that’s fine,” he added quickly. “Um...you wouldn’t happen to have any gloves on you, would you?” If there weren’t any, maybe he could just use his hands through the cloth of his clothes or something.

“It’s pretty cool,” Tel repeated, hopping about a bit on his trainer’s shoulder. “It’s pretty cool he can do that.” He fluttered down to land on Zacharie’s hand as the Rocket Agent showed Akira how to pull out a weed the proper way.

“Tel, get off him! He can’t work that way,” Akira scolded playfully, attempting to coax the bird back onto his hand by putting it near Zacharie’s. Tel cocked his head at it but otherwise didn’t seem interested in moving.

“It’s pretty cool he can do that,” the Chatot said again and imitated Zacharie’s laugh.

Akira gave the bird an incredulous look. “Evidently he thinks it’s pretty cool you can pull weeds,” he told the purple-haired man. “You can just shake him off if you need to.” Reaching for another weed, he did as his new teacher had advised him and was rewarded with the whole plant being pulled out by the root. “Oh, hey. That wasn’t so hard.” The next one he tried was quite a bit tougher, though, and he soon discovered that not all weeds were equally stubborn.

Happa said, pawing at the earth at the base of Akira’s next target.

Tel translated to their trainer.

Nodding in thanks to both his pokemon, Akira obeyed. The root came free. Realizing it was the plant that he had seen Zacharie feed to Kuroko earlier, he held it out to the Espurr. “Um...do you like these?” he asked.

Happa dug at another dandelion and pulled it out before bringing it to Kuroko.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie glanced at the other from the corner of his eye, trying to gauge what the other could want to know. “Sure, if I don't want to answer them I won't.” He nodded amicably as he reached for his bag nearby. “And yes, I always carry gloves.” He tugged a pair of gloves free and passed them along.

...Then paused as Tel landed on him.

“He's okay, I don't mind.” He reached up to gently run his finger along the pokemon's soft feathers. He sat back in the dirt, careful not to sit on any flowers, and took to petting the pokemon. “Gardening is pretty cool, in my opinion.” He agreed with the bird, smiling just a bit as it imitated him again.

Kuroko glanced over at Akira lazily before nodding and giving an excited squeak. He took the flower from the boy, stuffed it into his mouth, and then took the one Happa was holding out for him. The Espurr murmured, twirling the weed between his paws and watching it spin to the ground.

“Don't make yourself sick eating all of those.” Zacharie warned. “I have a jar in my bag if you want to save some for later.”  

[Akira Midoriyama]

“...If you always carry gloves, why don’t you use them?” Akira questioned, amused as he accepted the pair gratefully and put them on. “And I agree; gardens are magnificent. I’m just so allergic to dirt and pollen and other outdoor stuff that I don’t spend much time outside so I haven’t really tried cultivating my own.”

“Gardening is pretty cool,” Tel agreed, bobbing his head up and down. Then he inched his way up Zacharie’s arm using his talons to scale him until he was perched atop his shoulder.

The silver-haired trainer laughed softly at Kuroko’s excited squeak, not having expected the pokemon to make that kind of sound. “So, um...do you mind me asking...what your relationship with Izaya Orihara is?” he asked, his eyes on the weeds he was working on uprooting as he spoke.  

[insidiousEnigma]

“I have callouses...and I don’t mind getting my hands dirty, but I carry them around just in case.” He held very still so as to not disturb Tel’s climb, “That must be rough.” He genuinely sounded a bit sad. Zacharie couldn’t imagine not being able to just go out into a forest, field, park and just...being there without having to take medication or have a pokemon with him to filter the air.

He scritched under Tel’s beak once more before shifting carefully to start plucking weeds once more. Akira’s question caused him to pause before he let out a soft sigh. “We don’t have any sort of relationship.” He muttered, digging his fingers into the soil and wiggling his fingers a bit. “And I guess we never did.” He shrugged before muttering a quiet apology to the Chatot.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

“Well...I guess it’s not so bad if you don’t know what you’re missing,” he answered, once again touched by Zacharie when the younger man expressed sympathy, “but since I got Happa, I’ve been able to enjoy it more, so it’s nice.” Akira kept watch on Telephonic to make sure he wasn’t being too much of a nuisance to his new perch. “And Happa wants to go out a lot, so I’ve been getting more sun whether I want to or not just to keep him happy. He’s helped me gain a greater appreciation of nature that way, though.”

Tel raised his head to allow Zacharie to scratch him easier, craning his neck at an angle. Akira gave the other trainer a skeptical look. “Good or bad, there’s obviously something there,” he pointed out. “And if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay, but I thought you would at least be honest about it. Can’t you be honest with yourself?.”

The Chatot didn’t seem to mind the shrug and hopped a bit before whistling long and low in response to the apology.  

[insidiousEnigma]

“I’m glad that he’s been able to help.” He glanced over at the Leafeon, watching as he chatted with Kuroko. “Being outside is just,” He looked around the garden, at the trees growing at the edges of Andre’s property, up at the sky. “Really, really, relaxing.” He cocked his head slightly, “At least for me.”

Zacharie frowned, his gaze narrowing as he yanked a weed from the ground with a little more force than necessary. “I thought there could be something.” He muttered bitterly, tossing the weed into the basket. “I wanted there to be something.” The Agent paused and cocked his head. “But I don’t know...I don’t think…” He heaved a heavy sigh. “We were never friends...I don’t think. But he doesn’t...want...me…” He reached up to tug on his hair anxiously before shaking his head as if to clear it.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

“Yeah...I may not have spent much time around them, but I’ve always liked trees and what they stood for,” the Akira said, following Zacharie’s gaze toward the trees. “Grounded, calm, steadfast, growing in spite of whatever chaos might surround them… I’ve often wished I could be more like that.”

He watched the purple-haired man’s demeanor change as he continued to work. “...Zacharie…” he said softly, pausing after pulling up another weed to put an arm around the gardener. “Some people just aren’t worth the effort. You did your best, didn’t you? If he’s still going to turn his back on that, then he’s a moron. Who needs him?” Akira put his other arm around him in a brief hug before letting him go. When he noticed the other reach up to tug on his hair, though, he stared, blinked, and laughed. “...So you even do that too? Wow...I really feel like...I can relate to you a lot.”  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie leaned slightly into the hug, but otherwise didn’t really react much. “I don’t know…” He said moodily, absently running his fingers along the leaves of a nearby tulip. “I tried...but I don’t know if I tried my best.” He probably could have tried harder...but would that have been being too pushy?

Relationships were difficult.

The purple-haired boy startled a bit at Akira’s sudden laughter, unsure what could have brought that about until he let his hand drop from his hair. “You do it as well?” He gave a soft huff of a laugh. “Well...I guess I’m glad that we seem to have a lot in common. It’s…” He lifted his gaze to the sky thoughtfully. “Nice.”