Remember that rubber tree plant?

[leylined]

it grew.

Comments

[safe_as_life]

We could find you a better place? If you want to.

[leylined]

Thanks, but no thanks. I appreciate the help you guys are giving, really, I do. And as crappy as it is, it's about the only thing left that I have that I can say is mine by way of something I worked for. I'm not ready to let it go just yet.

[safe_as_life]

Alright. No problem. It's not even that bad. The tree really livens the place up. We can get it another one for company.

[leylined]

I was actually thinking about getting some Clivia to liven it up a little.

[And thus his hobby is found. Watch out, Gansey. Come spring Monmouth is going to look like Oz.]

[safe_as_life]

[Monmouth could use some livening up too, really]

Really? Is there a hidden gardener in there we didn't know about?

[leylined]

Maybe. It was just a thought. Besides, I've been doing pretty much that with tending the ley line.

[safe_as_life]

I think that's great. It's something to do and if you're getting good at it, why not.

[leylined]

...Would you like to go to Home Depot with me?

[safe_as_life]

Home Depot? They have plants there? Sure. [He smiles] Yeah, I'll go with you. We could probably use more at Monmouth. [Though he has a feeling Kavinsky might pee in them. He shudders] Maybe I'll wait with those.

[leylined]

[Forget Cabeswater. Adam would take the job of killing Kavinsky pro bono if that happened.] They have a garden center, yeah. They should be able to tell us what can survive the winter and what can't. And even if we don't get lucky on new stuff, they have tools.

[safe_as_life]

Sounds good to me. I don't think I've ever been there before. We can fit everything in the trunk no problem. [Off to the Camaro they go]

[leylined]

[It takes a while, but they finally arrive at the store. Adam's been here before for various items, but never with Gansey. As they start to browse the store, he can't help but watch him. Certainly he's been to places like this before, but he still can't imagine him having done so, with how collected and put-together he always seems. It's almost like using a Ken doll for a GI Joe.]

[safe_as_life]

[Gansey has been to home repair stores before, but he tends to stick to the smaller mom and pop shops. Home Depot has never been a place he set foot in] This place is huge. I should pick up some stuff for Monmouth here.

[leylined]

What do you think you need?

[Currently he's inspecting a set of gardening shears, opening and closing the blades before running a finger along one edge to check its sharpness.]

[safe_as_life]

[He sticks his hands in his pockets, leaning in to see what Adam is inspecting] Maybe some actual shower curtain rings. I'm not sure what else.

[leylined]

Probably a divider, too. Or maybe you can call a contractor and just section it off from the kitchen entirely.

[He hands him the shears.] What do you think?

[safe_as_life]

What, you don't like everything being in one concise place? [He smiles, taking the sheers from Adam, opening and closing them] What makes one gardening sheer better than another? [He knows nothing about this stuff. Nothing at all]

[leylined]

You ever hear the expression 'don't shit where you eat'?

[He shrugs.] You want them to be tough and pretty sharp. Not every plant's going to be easy to cut through.

[safe_as_life]

Never really gave it much thought, no. Think we should put a separation in there? Maybe we can nail some pieces of wood together. [He's mostly kidding]

This one looks pretty tough. [he opens it, then snaps it shut again]

[leylined]

You're evil.

We'll test it out on Steve later. [He tosses them into the cart, along with various other things needed for garden maintenance and landscaping.] Nursery or bathroom wares first?

[safe_as_life]

Well I don't know. [he chuckles] It's an idea.

[He pokes at a few things out of curiosity, but doesn't pick anything up] Nursery. Help me pick out a plant, too?

[leylined]

Yeah, sure thing.

[safe_as_life]

Are you going to grow these flowers and things from scratch?

[leylined]

Nah. [He starts pushing the cart toward the nursery.] Rubber tree plants are apparently impossible to kill. So I'll stick with things that are already alive before I try to grow something from scratch.

[safe_as_life]

[He nods, following along] I like this hobby. Making things grow. Much better than stamp collecting. It leaves you with a good sense of accomplishment.