Sowing Seeds

[buon_giorno]

"Come here...isn't your paw hurt?"

Giorno had full intentions of stealing a mid-day nap, but Croccante was high on one of the broken pillars beside the door to his room. The white cat eyed him but didn't come down. Giorno sighed and rubbed his head. Just looking up for too long was hard when he had been on his feet for longer than an hour or two.

It had been just two days since he cured Joseph. He had slept almost the rest of the day through and that was all he was allowing himself after making himself so scarce for a whole week. At some point doubt would creep into the community gossip and that was the last thing he needed to manage.

Giorno leaned against the pillar and put some of his energy into the ivy vines that crept up it. The flowers burst open, surprising the small cat, and urging her to leap down--right onto his head. He quickly pried her out of his now-mussed curls and inspected her paw. A little splinter poked out of the pink pad, and he squinted to pluck it out--and missed. And tried again--and missed. His hands were shaking. Croccante's tail was swishing in irritation. He summoned all his focus and managed to fix his fingers around it to pull it out, and the fluffy cat bolted out of his arms not a moment later.

"Yes, yes...you're welcome." Giorno watched her take off down the hall.

Comments

[buon_giorno]

Giorno laughed, refreshed by the boldness of her remark. "If I had gone with that story that might have spared me some grief." Giorno nodded to her glass. "What do you think?"

[takeba]

"Oh," Yukari said, realizing she hadn't even so much as taken a sip yet. She raised the glass to her mouth and drank from it. "Don't take this as an insult, but it's surprisingly good."

[buon_giorno]

"I'm glad." It was a bit awkward drinking on one's own, and he felt free to take another long sip. "Did you know it was my favorite, or was it a lucky guess?"

[takeba]

"Oh, a friend of mine suggested it." Thank god for Iris.

[buon_giorno]

Giorno made a knowing humming noise. "If I may be bold...you have a knack for making good impressions."

[takeba]

Yukari felt the heat rise in her face, but it evaporated quickly.

"Really? Thanks. I was a little worried how things would go. You're kind of worshipped around here."

[buon_giorno]

"I don't mean to give an unapproachable impression. I prefer a drink and friendly conversation over being watched from a distance." Giorno said it genuinely. "Though...mulsum is actually an aperitif. If you'd like to enjoy it properly, we should have it with dinner next time."

[takeba]

"Is that an invitation?"

[buon_giorno]

“A nice beef sukiyaki should be simple enough for our chef. The caramelized sauce would go well with the wine’s sweetness…” Giorno trailed off with a look of intense thought, clearly taking the potential pairing seriously.

“For dessert…I’m pretty partial to strawberry daifuku but we haven’t tried pounding mochi before…what do you think?”

[takeba]

"You're really trying to appeal to my Japanese palate," Yukari said with a laugh. "No objections from me, though. I haven't had a good Japanese meal since I got here."

[buon_giorno]

Giorno didn’t deny it. “Food from home is the most comforting. Naturally, if you have something you’re missing in particular…”

[takeba]

"If I can get access to the kitchen and pantry, I think there's a few things I can whip up."

[buon_giorno]

That visibly piqued Giorno’s interest.

“A small matter. Though…that brings to mind something. Could you do me a favor while you’re here?”

[takeba]

"Sure, what do you need?"

[buon_giorno]

Rising, Giorno took a few steps back to the bar where two small vases sat. He presented them to Yukari—both had small starts within them, the young roots extending into the water. One plant was a medium green, and the other was identical except its edges were creamy white.

“Mint. Wonderful culinary use for humans, but it’s detested by the silverfish that try to snack on the beautiful collection in this library. I was going to grow some in here deter them, but I’d like a second opinion on which to choose.” He brought them closer. “The green one is regular mint. The variegated one is pineapple.”

[takeba]

That was surprising. It wasn't exactly a question Yukari was expecting, or would ever expect.

"Why not both?" she asked.

[buon_giorno]

"Both?" Giorno looked from them to her. "They actually smell quite distinct. The esters in the pineapple mint smell just like the fruit. Here." He lifted it a bit higher for her to see for herself.

[takeba]

Yukari took a big sniff of the plants. True enough she could smell a very distinct scent.

"Oh, that does smell good! Let me smell the other one, too."

[buon_giorno]

Giorno lifted the other--it smelled like one would expect of mint, clarifying and sharp with none of the fruity sweetness of the other.

"I don't really know if silverfish hate one more than the other, you see. If you don't know something for sure...you should really just play around until you arrive at a conclusion. Even if I wasn't in any clubs, I crafted experiments like this in my dorm all the time."

[takeba]

Yukari gave the new plant a whiff.

"I like the fruity one better," she admitted. "But that's because I love fruity scents."

[buon_giorno]

“I see. Pineapple mint it is.” Giorno set the regular mint to the side and formally extended the vase to her. “Hold this steady for a moment, please.”

[takeba]

"Uh... sure."

[buon_giorno]

Choosing the two strongest looking stems and propping them up parallel to each other, Giorno balanced the delicate leaves in his fingers. Mint was a vigorous plant, so he couldn’t fill it with life energy too quickly or too carelessly. Even with those thoughts in his head, it was only seconds between Gold Experience’s arms emerging from his to infuse it before—

“Ah.”

The pineapple mint exploded from from his palms to shroud him entirely, its long arms wrapping around his body in a loving (and pungent) embrace.

[takeba]

"W-what?!" Yukari was taken aback by the hands, but then the mint took hold of him. She very nearly dropped the pot. It was only through sheer willpower that her fingers managed to keep their grip.

[buon_giorno]

“Well…I’d say this is more than enough.” Giorno’s muffled voice came. One by one, he snapped the stalks from the glass, since the roots had made it impossible for him to simply wrench them out.

“You can leave the vase there on the table. Thank you, Takeba-san. You did well.”