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]

“You arrived at a good time. We’ll be holding a festival next week…though, I’m sure you’ve heard, haven’t you? The inspiration is, in part, Infiorata festivals.” Giorno nodded towards the vase. “The iris will likely keep growing and dividing. If you like, you can fashion some of it into something for the party.”

[takeba]

"I'll have to give that a try, then!"

[alteredfates_npc]

~~

“God, it’s hot…” Iris slumped over the table that sat beneath the shade of one of the big maples in the courtyard. She sat opposite Criff, who always looked cool and poised no matter what she was up to. “I’ve just been helping take measurements of the open space today and I’m ready to keel over…and I haven’t even started making my dress yet!”

[criff]

"Well, I can help you. With the dress, anyway." Criff was not particularly keen on the physical labor part.

[alteredfates_npc]

Iris’s green eyes peered up from the cradle of her arms. “…Could we make something that looks like one of yours?” The implication was clear—she didn’t have a date yet and Criff had no shortage of them.

[criff]

"Sure," Criff said. "What color did you have your heart set on?"

[alteredfates_npc]

“Green? …No, green isn’t sexy. Maybe…white? No, that’d get stained in an instant. Brown would make me feel like I’m totally from the country…” Which she was but she didn’t want to feel like it. “Ugh. I can’t even decide! What are you gonna be wearing?”

[criff]

"Remember that little red dress I showed you? That."

[alteredfates_npc]

Iris gaped. “That one? You’re really pulling out the big guns! We should totally put something with red roses together for you! It would really complete your look. Whoever you go with will be so…ah. Who are you going with, actually?”

[criff]

"I haven't decided," Criff said, unbothered. "Well, if we are doing something with roses for me, maybe we can do something with irises for you. Or is that too much?"

[alteredfates_npc]

A light went off in her eyes. “Why didn’t I think of that? That’d be…oh!” Iris squinted, seeing a familiar figure making her approach. “Hey, Yukari! Over here pretty girl!”

[takeba]

"Oh, hey!" Yukari ran over to join the other two. "I met him. He loved the drink, by the way!"

[alteredfates_npc]

“Oh?” Iris gestured at her aggressively to pull up a seat. “Tell. Everything. Starting with what you’ve got in your hands there.”

[takeba]

"A thank-you gift," Yukari said, presenting it to the others as if it were a prize to be won on a game show. "For the drink." That was part of the answer, but Yukari really didn't want to go into the other reasons he was thanking her. "Really, I should be thanking you for it."

[alteredfates_npc]

Iris made an ‘o’ with her lips, glancing at Criff and back to Yukari. “A gift of flowers.”

[takeba]

"It's seriously nothing like that," Yukari said quickly, before anyone could get the wrong impression. "He's good-looking, but he's definitely not my type."

[alteredfates_npc]

“You’re not into the cool mysterious type, huh?” Iris circled a finger at her.

[takeba]

"I prefer more direct guys."

[alteredfates_npc]

Iris thought about it and nodded. "I guess that makes sense. You're a little mysterious yourself, after all. Finding a complement to yourself is what dating is all about." Iris leaned towards Criff and lowered her voice...but not by much. "I guess that means Juli's territory is safe for now."

[criff]

Criff let out a little chuckle. "Right?"

[takeba]

"Wait, so those two are together?"

[alteredfates_npc]

Iris leaned in and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "I mean...you'd think. They're, like, always together. But I bet at least one of them is totally holding back because they're on the council together, you know? They've got that weight of the world burden thing going on." Iris sat back up straight and looked to Criff. "...Actually, what was Juli like back where you two are from? She was, like, in charge there too right? Was she still this uptight?"

[criff]

"Yeah, basically. She was part of the ship's upper crust. Even after Blue took over."

[takeba]

"Is she really that bad?" Yukari looked from Iris to Criff.

[alteredfates_npc]

Iris waved a hand. “I’m not trying to be mean or anything. She’s super sweet and we all rely on her a lot. But…she can’t level with the rest of us too much, you know? Her and Giorno. That’s what makes them all…mysterious.” And that much more fun to speculate about. “And like…Juli’s got plenty of admirers of her own, you know? I don’t think she even notices.”