#amrita feat. royce 001

[dvsconocvdo]

Today was her day off which meant that Amrita had slept in (for the first time in two weeks), and had decided that all she was going to do was garden, play with her pet bunnies, and do laundry. Coming to Out of Stalk felt like coming to her second home. Engulfed by the scent of dirt and surrounded by vegetable patches, she truly felt at ease. There weren't many occasions were she came across other people in her gardening down time, but she was pleasantly surprised to see someone nourishing his plants with such kind words. She too spoke to her plants, she found that it was rather quaint company. So, the young witch did her best to stay quiet as she passed by plants that weren't hers, she used a big of earth manipulation to help a few sad plants before landing next to Royce. It was rather hard to swallow down the innate nervousness that filled Amrita by being next to the advisor, but she did her best to contain it. After all, right now they were just two gardeners.

In her own journey to shove down her nervousness, she completely missed the presence of the bee. It was rather easy for Amrita to let animal thoughts or feelings to dwell in the back of her mind especially little insects. "No, you're not crowding them at all. I didn't want to interrupt you." She offered a well practiced smile before kneeling into the floor. One of her two pairs of jeans was used exclusively for moments like this, and hence the fabric surrounding her knees was always darker due to the dirt stains. "Some Jwala chili, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and a bit of basil." She notified him with a proud smile. "I see you have some tomatoes too! Are we going to have a tomato show off? See which one is the best?" She joked before giggling, shaking her head at her own words. "I wanted to do carrots, but didn't have enough space. I also want to try to go eggplants or cucumbers next year. Even my little garden at my balcony is getting crowded."

Just then she heard it, the faint buzzing of a bee. Amrita turned away from Royce in the direction to the bee. "It looks like there's a little friend nearby." She whispered, hand reaching out as she used her powers more intentionally, calling the bee towards her. "When did you start gardening? If I can ask. Have you grown tomatoes before? I always try to grow something new in each season. I even try to make it work without using my powers." If she wanted to, she could make every plant in her garden grow and bear fruit regardless of the season, but Amrita liked the process. She enjoyed waiting. She enjoyed letting nature take its natural course with her garden. Some times she lost plants or flowers, other times they bloomed beautiful, and other times they bore fruit in all shapes and sizes. It could be an unexpected process if she didn't involve herself. A time of unpredictability that made her expectant.

setting: out of stalk, one sunny afternoon

featuring: royce van doren iii & open @lunarcovestarters

“Look at you,” he said in a low voice, fingers delicately brushing over the leaves and yellow flowers of a tomato plant. “You’re coming along well, I can already tell you’re going to yield the most delicious fruit this year.” He’d been a faithful member to the town garden, taking care of various veggies, fruits, and plants whenever he was home. It was the one place where he didn’t mind stains on his nice clothes, wearing then a thick canvas apron with gardening shears and other tools tucked into its large pockets to protect his crisp white dress shirt from being dirtied. The knees of his gray slacks were already dark from being pressed against the side of the garden box, though he didn’t mind. He had his sleeves rolled up, hands glove free as dirt crept under his finger nails, checking on the health of every plant before him. “And you’ve already grown several inches since we last met,” he complimented another, smiling widely at them. Royce liked plants, he liked their simplicity, their unique vibrancy, how accomplished one felt when they raised them up from seed to beyond.

Watering a few thirsty looking plants with a small canister, he glanced up in time to see another person enter the garden. “Am I crowding your plants?” Royce asked, not sure who’s own were growing near his tomatoes and peppers. “Here, I’ll get out of your way,” he said, using a cloth rag to wipe his dirt-caked hands as he carefully pulled himself up to his full height. That was when he heard it, the faint and unmistakable buzz of the one thing that could scare him more than the Catalyst, hunters or any other powerful threat combined: A bee. Royce dug into his apron pocket, feeling for his EpiPen and curling his fingers around it the second he placed it, the thundering of his heart calming for a second before he turned back to the other with a bright smile. Not a single sign of his momentary panic was evident on the man’s handsome brow, even as he casually glanced around for the buzzing beastie. “So what’s your poison then? Carrots, winter squash, basil?”