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

[julibahana]

"No one, I think," Juli said. "No one I know has even seen a bit of home."

[scholarandaprincess]

“You’re right.” Zelda walked side by side with Juli as they turned around to return to camp. “Ah! I haven’t told you the results from my latest survey, have I? The survey of artifact recognition. I’ve surveyed over 54% of people from the villa now to have them review what we find in the abyss. And the results…”

[julibahana]

"What were they?"

[scholarandaprincess]

“75%!” Zelda sounded surprised even as she said it, as if she were still trying to wrap her head around it. “And with more people to survey and more artifacts being unearthed every day, I’m sure that number will continue to grow!”

[julibahana]

"Wow." This was definitely good. The more people who recognized these things, the more easily they would be able to make use of it. "What are your plans next?"

[scholarandaprincess]

“Figuring out why. It can’t be mere coincidence.” Zelda looked up from the slate at Juli. “If I may be honest…I’m very grateful to you all for giving me space and support in my research.”

[julibahana]

"Of course! You know I will do anything I can to support you!"

[scholarandaprincess]

“I truly appreciate that.” Maybe it was being the closest she’d been to home in a long time making her feel this way, but… “Being able to contribute this way…it wasn’t something I had space to do before.”

[julibahana]

"I think..." Juli started, trying to choose her words carefully. "...that even though everything that's happened to us has been unexpected... and even though it's been challenging sometimes, it's given us all opportunities we wouldn't have had back home. I think we should all take advantage of it."

[scholarandaprincess]

"That's true," Zelda said, a slight playful smirk suddenly appearing on her face. "I'd say...the biggest opportunity is meeting people I would have never met otherwise. Would you agree?"

[julibahana]

"Yeah," Juli, returning Zelda's smirk with a smile. "I agree!"

[scholarandaprincess]

They were more than a few paces ahead of Chilchuck and Shepard, who seemed to be chatting amongst themselves. A good thing. Still, Zelda lowered her voice.

"On that note...were you still going to the festival with Giorno?" Even if they made up from the sounds of it, she didn't want to assume.

[julibahana]

Juli brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah. Um. The two of us made up."

[scholarandaprincess]

"Is that so? I'm relieved, to tell you the truth."

[julibahana]

"You didn't think we would make up?" Juli asked lightly.

[scholarandaprincess]

"Ah, well, I was sure you would! I'm relieved you both are still going together."

[julibahana]

"What about you? You going with anybody?"

[scholarandaprincess]

"Oh, no." Zelda quickly waved a hand. "I'm really not the type."

[julibahana]

"Not interested in romance? Or not interested in the event?"

[scholarandaprincess]

"Ah, well...there's no one here who I would attend such a thing with..." The emphasis hadn't been intentional, but it was obvious.

[julibahana]

Juli raised a brow. "Oh, but there's someone at home?"

[scholarandaprincess]

Zelda’s cheeks were positively aflame. “I mean…naturally he’s escorted me to every kind of function. That’s the proper thing for a bodyguard to do, after all!”

[julibahana]

"So... what if we found him while scouting your kingdom?"

[scholarandaprincess]

Zelda didn’t have to think long. “My first order to him would be a bath before there was any talk of parties.”

[julibahana]

"What? Is he always getting dirty?"