Remember that rubber tree plant?

[leylined]

it grew.

Comments

[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.

[leylined]

Does your dad collect stamps?

[safe_as_life]

He did for a while. But unlike my mother and her plates, he didn't really stick to it. I think he saw the way she was about plates and decided that was too much for him.

[leylined]

I was wondering. Your disdain for stamps is kind of obvious.

[And then they're in the nursery. All kind of plants are there, from young trees down to grass samples and while it's calming, it doesn't feel like how it should be. There's life, but it's only its potential. Having it sectioned off and only thriving to the point of being commercially appealing is almost a disappointment compared to what they experience on a daily basis.]

[safe_as_life]

Well... Stamps. [He says, then furrows his eyebrows] Am I always disdainful of the things my dsd likes?

[He looks around, feeling somewhat of the same thing Adam is. Everything looks so contained] I bet these would all look much better planted in a garden.

[leylined]

Not always. But it sometimes feels like you do things just to spite them.

[He gives a small smile in return.] Then let's get started.

[safe_as_life]

Do I? I never really thought of myself as a rebel. In any sort of way. I appreciate what they do, what they like. I really do. I didn't realize.

[He picks up a salmon pink flower, that possibly matches his polo] Oh, this is nice.

[leylined]

[He shrugs.] Maybe I'm reading too much into things.

[He looks at it curiously. It doesn't look too impressive, but Gansey seems to like it, so he steps in and grabs a nearby tag.] What's it called?

[safe_as_life]

No, no. It's good that you notice. If I don't notice, I'd rather someone point it out to me.

I have no idea. Does it say the name somewhere? In Latin?

[leylined]

[He flips the card over and reads the information there.] Rhododendron Azaleastrum. Azaleas. You like it?

[safe_as_life]

I do. I like it. It looks very... sure of itself. [Which is ridiculous, for a plant, he knows it. He glances at Adam] Do you not?

[leylined]

It's okay, I guess. It'd probably look good around Monmouth.

[safe_as_life]

You sound incredibly un-enthused about it.

[leylined]

I'm sure it'll be perfectly respectable when it matures.

[safe_as_life]

Adam Parrish, you're judging my flowers!

[leylined]

I'm just trying to prevent the set up to a bad action movie.

[safe_as_life]

... I have to say, I have no idea what you're referring to.

[leylined]

One moment I'm out at Monmouth, tending the garden I've so painstakingly been cultivating, when all you hear in the distance is the turbo in a Mitsubishi Evo. In a flash, a path is run through my garden, but the biggest casualty would bee poor rhododendron Azaleastrum. At which point, I become an old women. And since I'm an old woman, I must cry out at this indignity. "MY AZALEAS!"

[safe_as_life]

[Gansey blinks at Adam, then he laughs hard, because this is a thing he can actually see happening] Oh my god. I almost need to see this happening now.

[leylined]

See? Evil. [He snorts and puts the tag back.] Put it in the cart if you want. But that's going to Monmouth.

[safe_as_life]

I'm wavering between wanting more action in my life... or not. I can't decide. So it goes in the cart till I do.

[leylined]

Just so you know, when it does happen it's not Kavinsky I'll be going after, now that I know your master plan. [He grabs the plant and puts it in, anyway.]

[safe_as_life]

I'm sure he wont disappoint. [he snorts] What plant do you like?

[leylined]

[He leaves the cart and starts searching, before an arrangement catches his eyes. It's stunning to him, and fitting in the mid-autumn blaze of Virginia, at least to Adam. Bright red petals tinged with yellow at the edges. He reaches out to touch one almost reverently, and beneath his fingers he can feel some part of it respond. He looks at the tag and motions to Gansey.]

These ones. Gaillardia. Blanket flowers.

[safe_as_life]

[Gansey comes over, watching the way Adam looks at the plant with reverence. It's another difference he's picking up. Adam's always been quiet, but this is a different kind] Now those are really something. I highly approve.