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

[shepard]

"Oh?" Shepard echoed.

[julibahana]

"Wait up, Zelda." Juli was up a half-moment after her elven friend. "I'll help too!"

[unchill_chuck]

Chilchuck's large brown eyes rapidly scanned the vacant table. Even Giorno was gone in a flash--probably to get more wine. 'Damn kids!'

"Oh...ah...the wine dried out my throat."

[shepard]

"If you want to give it a little more thought, I won't hold it against you."

[unchill_chuck]

"T-That's not it." In fact, it was the absolute opposite. He was more than excited-- he felt like a young man again around her. Still... "Despite how I look, I'm not exactly a spring chicken. In your race's years, I'd be about 50."

[shepard]

"I'm not exactly a spring chicken, either."

[unchill_chuck]

"Don't even joke! You're--you're breathtaking."

[shepard]

"Breathtaking?" Shepard felt her face warm. Before he could get the wrong idea, she stepped in to clarify. "That's not exactly a compliment I find myself getting that often."

[unchill_chuck]

Chilchuck laughed, but it was a soft kind of laugh. "If no one's told you yet, I'll take being the first."

[shepard]

"You would be the first, but it's not unwelcome. Sometimes even a tough girl like me wants to be told she cleans up nice."

[unchill_chuck]

And there was no way Chilchuck was going to miss out on seeing that.

“Well…I might be old, but I know how to show someone a good time at a festival. Half-foots have a dozen for every season.”

[shepard]

"As long as there isn't slow dancing, I'm sure we'll have a good time."

[unchill_chuck]

“Slow dancing’s not really a thing with my people. …Actually, the only race I’ve seen do that are Tall-men.”

[shepard]

Shepard raised a brow. "Really? Not even the elves do it?"

[unchill_chuck]

“Elves don’t really do physical affection. Classier to court for decades with a lot of longing looks. Like the rest of us have any time for that.” Chilchuck rolled his eyes. “Marcille’s an outlier.”

[shepard]

"Too bad she's not here. I would have liked to meet her." Frankly, Shepard would have been happy to meet any of Chilchuck's party.

[unchill_chuck]

“She’s a lot like Her Highness…looks like her, too. Marcille is way more high-strung, though. But if she were in a place like this I’m sure you’d get a more relaxed version of her. Warm beds and and Giorno isn’t out here forcing us to consume monsters to survive.”

[shepard]

"Let's hope it stays that way." The Normandy was always on the back of her mind. It was safe here, but if Zaibach found them, it wouldn't be for long. Shepard was sure of it.