[PRP] Hi, here's your water (Anthias x Calanthe) [FIN]

[Elros Namasi]

Elros Namasi

Her first official day as water gatherer; Anthias stood a little straighter, practically glowing with pride. Though, that might very well be because the very tips of her short, fine coat actually glowed. Doing her best not to preen or pose too much, Anthias nearly jumped out of her striped skin when a messenger cleared their throat to get her wavering attention. "Gatherer Anthias, a request for two pails has been put in by the Rose Gardens," followed by directions to a specific level and plot.

By the time she reached the section of the Tree's extensive gardens she was looking for, much of Anthias' earlier enthusiasm had faded to weary determination. The buckets hadn't felt so heavy to begin with, but now... Well. "Two pails of water for the Rose Gardens!" she called out to no one in particular, trying to pitch her voice to carry like the heralds did.

Menelie

Anthias received....no response at first. Calanthe, who was knelt down behind a rosebush, was daydreaming about who-knows-what and humming to herself as she patted the soil around the roses lovingly. She'd just finished amending their soil with mulch and other good things and was now leveling everything out. The water she'd requested in order to give everybody a good drink after having fussed with their beds this morning.

Suddenly she realized she'd heard a voice in the garden and her head popped up from behind the bush. "Anthias!" she exclaimed, standing up all the way, wings flitting excitedly. She hurried over to take the water pails from her friend. "Sorry about that, had my head in the dirt." She giggled. "How's your first day going? I'd give you a hug but I'm covered in dirt and compost."

Elros Namasi

Anthias visibly sagged with relief, adjusting the carrying pole and passing the pails off to Calanthe to set aside. "Oh, I don't mind," she chirped back, referring to both her friend's apology and the reasons for no hugs.
"Not so bad. You're my first call, actually," she explained, rubbing her shoulder where the pole had dug in a bit. "Shoulda known you'd be with the roses, though. Could have just shouted for you, instead of standing around looking and sounding silly."

Menelie

Calanthe picked up the pails and carried them to where she was working, throwing a "c'mon!" over her shoulder as an invitation for Anthias to follow. "Lookit them, they're gonna bloom soon!" she said excitedly. She gently tipped a pail into the dirt, careful not to overwater in any one spot. "These ones are gonna be like a yellowy-orange color," she gestured to the plants she'd just watered. "And theeeeese ones," she said, moving to another set and watering them as well, "are gonna be pink and have these huge floppy flowers that smell aaaaaamazing." She wiggled a bit with excitement. She couldn't wait until it was time for the flowers to appear!

"Everything looks so beautiful in the morning light, don't you think?" she asked, turning to her friend and suddenly blushing a bit. Everything did look beautiful in the morning light. Anthias was almost glowing. Well, that was a feeling she was going to have to unpack later.

Elros Namasi

Anthias followed after Calanthe, trotting at first to catch up, and swept one of the pails back from her so she wouldn't have to juggle them while watering her floral charges.
"Everything looks great! I imagine Nav will be here sniffing around for clippings of the fanciest ones," Anthias laughed, swapping out the full pail for Calanthe's empty one and then leaning over to look more closely at the still tightly wrapped flower buds, the different colors of their petals just starting to peek out.

Menelie

"Oh undoubtedly," agreed Calanthe, waving a hand to redirect some of her orbiting flower petals that had gotten too close to her face. "But this year I'm making him wait until they're ready," she said, wagging her finger good-naturedly. She took the other pail and tipped its contents into the soil. "Hm," she said, looking at the bushes, then casting her gaze down the row. Doing some mental math about how much more she could reasonably get done today, and how much more water she'd need. "I don't suppose I could trouble you for some more water?" she asked. "Another two pails?" That would certainly get her to the midday meal and she'd reassess afterward.

"Hey, if you're not busy, d'you want to meet back here and take lunch together in the garden?" she asked. "I mean, if you're able to and all that."

Elros Namasi

Anthias sincerely wished Calanthe the best of luck in diverting Navarchus' attention from the roses, watching the other flutter do some mental math while she went ahead and stacked the empty pails. She expected the request for more water (it was her job, after all), but the invitation to lunch took her slightly by surprise.
"Well, I'm kind of obligated to fetch you some more water. Two more pails, you said right? But, assuming there aren't any other requests waiting for me, I should be able to stick around here for lunch after."

Menelie

"Great!" said Calanthe brightly. She didn't like the way Anthias had said she was obligated to fetch more water, but she dismissed the thought. Gathering water was Anthias' job, after all, just like tending the plants was hers. "I'll see you soon?" she asked hopefully.

 

[Elros Namasi]

Elros Namasi

Raising her eyebrows at the odd tone of Calanthe's question, Anthias nodded and said, "Soonish, yeah" with a slight chuckle as she moved to retrieve the carrying pole.

Barring a side trip to fill up one of the water dippers in the seedling nursery, Anthias didn't have any other pressing requests to see to, so she and Calanthe had very quickly finished the morning watering and she returned from putting up her work stuff and grabbing her lunch without much fuss.

Menelie

When Anthias returned, Calanthe had made an effort at cleaning herself up to eat--didn't want dirt on her hands to get on the food, after all. The sun was getting high and Calanthe was very ready to take a break from the heat and the bending. She'd laid out a blanket in a shady spot for them and waved Anthias over when she arrived.

Elros Namasi

Anthias had packed part of her lunch for the day (a spring tuber and early greens salad) and stopped by the kitchens to supplement (the salad was big enough to share, but she'd purposely nabbed a couple of berry tarts so she and Calanthe could each have one to themselves).
Spotting the other flutter fairly easily despite the cloud of loose flower petals that usually trailed her, Anthias moved carefully between rows of already blooming flowers and set down the basket that held the food as well as a portable dipper for them to drink from.

Menelie

Calanthe had also packed part of her lunch for the day (mushrooms, fiddlehead ferns) but she was excited to see Anthias return with a basket. She opened her small basket and set out the mushrooms and ferns she'd brought, so as to share. "This is fun," she said. "Taking lunch is much more pleasant with friends. How was the rest of your morning?" she asked, munching on a mushroom.

Elros Namasi

"Oh hey, we can just toss those in here, too, and shake it up," Anthias suggested brightly, because that had been how she'd mixed her clean root vegetables and leafy greens in the first place. "Let me take these out, first, though," she added, hastily removing a couple of sweet-smelling wax leaf packages and setting them aside.
"Not bad or especially busy," Anthias finally got around to answering, nibbling on a wild carrot and one of Calanthe's mushrooms. "I've gotta make sure all the cisterns in the kitchens and around the lowest level are full by this evening, though, so that's pretty much the entire afternoon."

Menelie

"Ooh, good idea," said Calanthe, who tossed the ferns into the salad without hesitation. "This looks delicious. Ooh, and what're those?" she asked, chucking her chin at the little parcels Anthias had taken out. She popped another mushroom into her mouth and looked curiously at the wrapped food.

"Yeah, I've got a ton of weeding and moving dirt around to do this afternoon," agreed Calanthe. "Roses are so fussy about weeds." Then, after a pause, she added, "I bet we're both going to be sore this evening." She chuckled and rolled her shoulders in illustration.

Elros Namasi

"You'll see," Anthias said, somewhat conspiratorially before moving swiftly on, chatting with Calanthe about the care and feeding of roses and maybe trying to convince the shapers to 'dig' some additional wells while they steadily chewed through their food until it was down to just the packages.

Grinning, Anthias set one in front of Calanthe and then unwrapped her own with a little flourish, showing off a shallow golden crust filled with purple and red preserves. "They had berry tarts in the kitchens today!"

Menelie

The idea that Anthias had a surprise for her gave her a little fuzzy feeling, but she was easily distracted by their conversation and the rest of the meal, which was delicious. At the unveiling of the berry tarts, Calanthe shrieked with delight. "Oh my stars, berry tarts?" she shook her head in disbelief. "How do we have summer berries when it's barely even spring?" The answer was probably some kind of magical preservative, but she was still completely charmed. "Oh, thank you for bringing them, Anthias, I would have totally missed this, being out here all day!" She bounced as she sat and clapped her hands, sort of dimly aware that she was acting like a child. She couldn't help it. Any kind of sweets made Calanthe lose any sense of decorum.

Elros Namasi

"Last summer's preserves and you are welcome." Anthias beamed, pleased with the reaction (she'd barely kept it together herself when she'd laid eyes on them), and took a decisive bite out of her pastry, using the leaves it had been wrapped in to catch the crumbs that didn't end up on her face.

Menelie

Calanthe lifted the tart to her mouth and savored the smell for a moment before biting in. She practically melted upon tasting it. "What a treat," she gushed. This was exactly the kind of pick-me-up she needed to get through the afternoon.

After both tarts were eaten and they'd had a moment to rest and sip some cool water, it was time for both of them to get back to work. "We should do this more often," said Calanthe, brushing a few errant pastry crumbs from her skin. "And I hope the rest of your first day goes wonderfully," she said earnestly, taking Anthias' hand and giving it a little squeeze.

Elros Namasi

Smiling and returning the squeeze, Anthias let her hand slip from Calanthe's so she could gather up her things, along with the will to leave this nice shady spot, before pulling her friend into a quick one-armed hug. "Thanks, I hope it goes well, too. We really should do this more often. But, I imagine we'll be seeing each other plenty when the growing season ramps up." Then, with a shrug and a little wave, Anthias turned and trotted away to finish up her tasks for the day, calling over her shoulder, "See you!"