Day 33: Greenhouse (Men)
[About to make a new fan friend.]By the time Aidou arrived at the greenhouse, he was once again immersed in his own thoughts. Idle talk with Anise was over. Where the hell was Kyon? Nurses usually gave the excuse of “they’re sick” or “they’re sleeping,” which were no doubt lies, but given out during the instances where prisoners actually came back
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Aidou opened his eyes only enough to regard the uninvited person from beneath his lashes. A boy. Blood that had a foreign edge to it. If it'd been someone who had simply invaded his personal space because the rest of the greenhouse was getting crowed, then he might've ignored them as they were bound to ignore him. This one had come straight for him.
As it was, the vampire shifted away, tightening the fold of his arms in a guarded way.
"I doubt my opinion would stop you," Aidou noted dryly. The look he was getting made him more wary than pleased. What was this? Some other unfamiliar pretty boy wanted to bug him?
He was a little more surly than normal, simply because, like with Larsa, he noticed something he would've rather not. At least not today. Upper class bloodlines of any kind were easy to spot, being of one himself.
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He didn't seem to be in the same mindset as say, John. Perhaps he was a form of royalty as well?
Wolfram yawned, covering his mouth politely, but his green eyes remained curiously fixed on the figure in front of him. "If it's really that big of a deal, I could find somewhere else. But it's warmer on this side."
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Who needed to be any warmer already? As far as Aidou was concerned, the only thing staring him in the face were his own etiquette lessons. Ones he knew he ought to reach for, because that was how he'd been raised, but on the flip side, not wanting to. It left him rather reluctant to say anything.
Another vampire aristocrat would have gotten his full attention; less so with the other kinds, though he wouldn't be downright rude. Yet. The little human noble he'd met had gotten him when he'd been in a better state of mind, for sure.
He went with the noncommittal approach. "It's fine," he allowed. He thought about saying something further, but dropped it for the moment.
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He was busy carefully transporting the third when he felt that familiar presence beside him, hearing that cool (yet oddly warm, to him) voice say his name. And - well, whaddaya know - he dropped the newborn plant he was moving. Into the other pot, yes, but when he picked it up again the stem had broken.
"Er. Hi, Dias," Ashton said sheepishly, trying to cover up his little failure with the plant. He managed a little smile. "Um.. how are you feeling?" He really meant to ask him if he'd had any more freak headaches, but he had a feeling the point would get across. Even the thin red line that indicated Dias' unwarranted split lip was still there.
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"I've been worse," he said, with vague but utter truthfulness. His head still ached, but not nearly as much as last night - or possibly the sudden onset of the night before had simply made the pain feel that much worse for its abrupt arrival. And there was no way to be sure how much of the headache was attributable to Ashton, either; after the news about Scar, a headache would be a natural (and, in fact, quite mild) reaction.
He debated briefly whether or not to tell Ashton about Scar immediately, then decided against it for the time being. Better to ease his friend's worries first before dumping new issues into his lap.
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Goddamn, he was bored. All of the second shift he'd just lounged by the doors, waiting to get back inside; lunch had hardly been interesting, either. He'd been trying to look for Roy for reasons even he wasn't entirely clear about. But hey, it never hurt to hunt down an old friend and torment the hell out of them.
So now Kimbley was back in the greenhouse, the place he'd first met Mustang in this godforsaken asylum, staring at the collection of plants in pots. Some of them had to be at least a little poisonous. Even poison ivy would do at this point. Enough of it could provide a fairly noxious mixture, or a severe skin irritant. But this place was well-kept, and who in their right mind grew poison ivy for fun? Damn.
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Honestly, Roy didn't know why he hadn't just opted to stay in the Sun Room. The only real reason to actually go and participate in the activities was that it was what most of the patients did, so he had a better chance of coming across someone he needed to talk to. Of course, that also meant he had a better chance of running into someone he didn't want to talk to.
The various plant life was intriguing enough, though he had no interest in getting dirty. They got so few showers as it was. He knew that some alchemists had a knack for manipulating plants, like those Tringham brothers, but it wasn't something he had practiced at very much. He more often burned the plants.
Speaking of destructive tendencies and people he didn't want to talk to, it looked like Kimbley was present. The greenhouse still wasn't very crowded, so Roy wasn't sure what his chances of avoiding the man was. He tried to move to another part of the area and hoped that the various plants would keep him hidden.
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"Nice to see you too, Mustang," he said as soon as he was within hearing range. "Trying to avoid me in this kind of empty room? That's not friendly at all." Kimbley stayed just out of range of either attack or reach, planning to move closer when the time was right and he made sure nobody was watching. "It's almost like you don't want to talk to me."
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"That's because I don't," he responded, sending the man a winning smile. He hadn't seen Kimbley since their trip to the basement together, which made him wonder what the man had been up to since then. He had heard of the fight he had gotten into, but more important was finding out if the man was scheming. Chances were that he was, though Roy didn't imagine he could do too much damage here, considering how crippled their powers were. Then again, he didn't want to underestimate Kimbley, either. Murder was like a drug for the man, so chances were he would find a way.
"What have you been doing with yourself?" he asked, tilting his head up slightly as he looked Kimbley over. "Other than skulking around, that is."
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The last time he'd been in the greenhouse, it had been with Seishirou. Considering the man's apparent disappearance and Xelloss's own activities last night, it really was nostalgic. Very strange to be nostalgic for something that had happened so recently!
He wasn't exactly happy about the boards, but becoming angry over them would do no good. Was Zelgadis turning the moment after he'd agreed to truce? Honestly, and he tended to think badly of humans who bargained with Mazoku, but maybe there was something to be said against the other direction as well...
Frankly, it was very annoying despite his efforts to keep up a good attitude, and the nurse trying to show him how to cut leaves off of plants to make them grow more quickly didn't have very much attention given to her. Homesickness? Ah! That was an uncomfortable flavor.
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Judging by the other patient's yawn and bored expression, Peter got the feeling they were thinking along the same lines. The stranger had probably been here before, since he wasn't even looking around with any sort of curiosity.
Drawing a little closer, Peter tried not to stare at the man's hair and instead looked over the plants. "So I guess you don't have a green thumb?" he started, tone light. The question itself was kind of stilted, but that was better than just standing there in silence.
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Peony hadn't expected to be handed such big pruning shears.
He'd never been to a greenhouse like this before; most of the plants he saw were cut and on banquet tables, or in sprays throughout his palace. Grand Chokmah had its share of plants, too, but he didn't really get to walk around town much. And beyond the other side of the town there was a forest. He could not see the forest from the palace. All he could normally see was water - water, as far as the eye could see. Rarely plants. So of course an environment like this intrigued the ecletic emperor.
He was already in a sunny sort of mood; talk with Gailardia last shift had made him rather effusive, and the thought of going about with his servant and Haseo tonight was rather exciting. Traipsing about with all these young men made these old bones feel young again! Now Peony knew why Jade had really left Grand Chokmah to run around with Anise and the rest. It wasn't duty, it was-- to suck their youth out of them like a vampire ( ... )
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