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| No title. |
| (2012-10-10 - 2012-10-11) |
| No description. |
| Ivo Galvan | Straightening, Ivo wipes the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, dirt-stained fingers shading his eyes from the desert sun, and surveys the land he has mastered. "Well..." It's about one square foot or so. "...it's a start." The discovery of a garden in the back of the workshop converted into the Shard Seekers's new HQ was assuredly a pleasant surprise. The lack of an indoor bath is inconvenient, but the trellice-shaded area is quite lovely, and there is even room for the Seekers to grow their own fruits and vegetables, which will be helpful in these trying times. Before they get ahead of themselves, however, first, they must get their affairs in order. To wit, they must weed. "Lily, could you hand me that trowel?" the erstwhile knight says calmly, sounding relaxed and content, currently dressed in spare earth-toned workclothes one of the previous craftsman inhabitants left behind, somewhat too large for his slender frame. "That'd be the little shovel." Only a day into their occupation of these new premises, Ivo has effortlessly transitioned into domesticity, busying himself with cleaning, organization, and the paperwork associated with the lease. In part, his natural diligence is showing more readily than it does when he is being playful with others. Yet this seems only part of the story. For while the others busy themselves seeking work or exploring, Ivo, so often the socialite, has stayed at headquarters, often watching over -- read: babysitting -- their naive magical prodigy. And getting this overgrown garden in order, a Sisyphean task to be sure, straight away became his new hobby. "You know," he remarks idly to the girl, looking down at how much ground there is still to cover, "back home, at the manor, we had a garden a lot like this." |
| Ivo Galvan | Ivo's eyebrow raises as Lily hops, then stumbles, but he doesn't move to assist her -- he waits, gaze attentive but neutral, curious. Then she rights herself! "Nice!" he congratulates her, splitting into a grin, giving her an enthusiastic thumbs up; you can almost see the teethping. He reaches out to accept the proffered tool, then kneels down to begin digging in the dirt again. Though his expression resumes its rather self-possessed satisfaction, deep in his blue eyes, one can glimpse the glimmer of a childish delight not so far from Lily's own. All they need is some toy dumptrucks. Brrm brrrrm!! "A manor is a house where important people live," the swordsman-turned-gardener explains, as always comfortable with exposition, as he carves under the roots of a persistent weed. "My father was an important man, and my mother came from an important family. It was my mother who loved to garden." He pauses briefly, contemplatively, though his smile does not flicker. "Later, it was our butler, Cezanne, who took care of the grounds as best he could. I helped, but I had to go to school eventually, and after that, I had to work." "Playing in the dirt is fun, though, isn't it, Lily?" He glances over his shoulder at the girl, grinning again at the sight of her dirtied smock -- he'll have to wash it later -- but soon his smile softens. "But you know, gardening is so much more than that. Look." He points with his trowel to a single yellow flower which his excavations have left standing, surrounded now by uprooted clumps of withered grass. "With care, it will flourish. With neglect, it may die. But even on its own, it's done its best. With knowledge, we can help." He makes a circular gesture with the tool, still smiling. "For example, these grasses might have choked off its access to water." He turns back to his work, digging again. "Now that it's our garden, it's our responsibility," he says. "Once we're a real Clan, and sworn to protect them, the people of Fluorgis will be our garden, too. But flowers are easier to understand than people." |
| Ivo Galvan | Wasn't it because she got squirted in the face by one? Perhaps being attacked by a flower was a foreboding sign of what would become the girl's fierce rivalry with the ground. Ivo smiles again as Lily gets up close and personal with the flower, examining it minutely. What, indeed, distinguishes the flower from the weeds? He does not volunteer the information unsolicited, and seems content with Lily's assistance, however confused she might be about the method. "Hm...?" But though he anticipated that the girl would have questions about what he had told her, this one catches him off guard. Such is the way with children. He blinks, then, pondering, looks down at the flower himself, as though its petals might hold the answers. "That's... a good question." Does he sound faintly wistful there, for a moment? "I think most people would say," he continues, tone now just as before, "that it's their heart which makes a person important. Everyone's heart is different, which is what makes them special, but we all have one, which means we can understand each other if we try. If a flower has a heart," he adds lightly, poking gently at the stem and watching it wobble back into place, "it's a simple one. Give me light! Give me water! And so forth. But people's needs are often more complex, and difficult to discern." He pauses there, and looks sidelong at the girl. "Why do you ask that? Is something troubling you?" |
| Ivo Galvan | Ivo blinks again -- and then begins to laugh, shoulders shaking lightly. "Oh, you mean /that/ kind of important." As his mirth subsides, his smile grows distant, his gaze returning to the flower. "I wonder why I thought... the garden must have reminded me..." There are so few good memories of home. After all, all the rest of them-- "Aheh, well, no, not everyone has a manor." --were about trying to be important. "Sometimes 'important' can mean 'influential'," he explains, even as he admires how Lily manages to deftly pluck the weeds in spite of her hesitation and general clumsiness. How curious. "For example, the rulers of Fluorgis are more 'important' than we are in the sense that more people depend on them and do as they say. They have manors. But that doesn't mean they have bigger or better hearts." "Hm, I wonder?" he replies lightly regarding the flowers and the weeds, sounding amused. "I don't know whether either or both do. But with all this crowding, neither can thrive. So if I have to choose--" His smile softens again. "--I choose the flower, rarer and more beautiful." An aesthete to the core. "But don't worry, Lily. When we bury the weeds, they'll return to the earth. Then, who knows? Maybe they'll come back as flowers." The way he's important, huh? "That's because we're friends. We care about each other, so our hearts are connected." He returns to digging in the dirt, methodical. "People who aren't important to you now may become important to you later," he continues, "as you come to know their hearts. So don't write them off too quickly, okay? Like I said, understanding another person can be difficult. And everyone has something special to offer. Learning what's special about /you/, about your own heart, is part of believing in your own importance. But--" His smile now slight. "--if you ever come to doubt your heart--" Amidst the tangled grasses, a blue flower is revealed. "--it's the friends who care for you who'll show you the way." |
| Ivo Galvan | "Ha ha, it is confusing," Ivo agrees, grinning a little at his younger friend, while without batting an eye he tugs his workshirt's sleeve over his hand and reaches out to rub a clean patch against Lily's cheek, dutifully removing the smear she's left. "Partly, it's because... people easily become confused about what it means to be important." He glances back at the blue flower, silently taking in its juxtaposition with the yellow. Hm, maybe he could rearrange them slightly, with some careful transplanting. "As you meet new people, you'll find that some want to be famous, some want to be strong, some want to be rich... some want to be rulers of Fluorgis and live in a manor, and some even want to rule the worlds... and some just want to love and be loved. You'll have to decide for yourself what's most important to you, Lily." If Ivo has something to say about the wisdom of following Reize's way, he doesn't offer it, but his smile does grow gentle. "That's not true. You're very special, Lily, and you'll have your own path, different from ours. The gift you have with magic is very rare, and only you can discover how best to use it." Affectionately, he lightly taps the gem fragment embedded in her forehead. "But you have plenty of time to figure that out. And even if we have our own roads to travel, we're all going the same direction: forward." Ivo's gaze is reassuring, his smile unassuming but confident. "We'll be walking side by side." |
| Ivo Galvan | "Sure," Ivo replies casually enough, surveying their progress. Almost three square feet cleared! Lily's weed-clearing abilities have swiftly improved. "There's no need to be afraid. Why not be excited instead? After all..." Glancing back at her, he smiles again. "...who knows what flowers still lie hidden." After a moment, though, he registers her expression. "Eh...?" He stares at her blankly, briefly uncomprehending, before -- in what may be a first -- Ivo himself blushes slightly, his eyes widening and jaw dropping in shock. "Er, sorry," he manages, "did that, uh, feel funny? I didn't mean to, er... that is, I didn't anticipate, uh..." He trails off, then at last simply sighs, reaching up to rub the back of his head. "Lily," he finally says with a touch of weariness, gazing off into the distance even though he speaks her name, "why are the girls Reize shows up with always so young?" Hey, at least some of their ages are measured in years rather than weeks. |
| Ivo Galvan | Ivo looks vaguely relieved. "Oh, you know," he replies idly. "Cooties." Who knows the physiology of a crystal-forehead girl? Give him a call when research is necessary into that of a crystal-forehead woman. Hmm -- maybe the former would make a good side-quest for Reize. Briefly, Ivo considers pinning that up on the bulletin board, then remembers Shiki and Faruja, and wisely decides against it. "It just goes to show," he continues, unpreturbed, "that you're a very special girl." His embarrassment was a rare moment indeed, and it has passed, leaving his usual calm smile in its wake. "Not remembering your past means you have a lot to learn, and that's tough, but it's an adventure, too. And we're all on an adventure in our own way. This is a brand new world for all of us, too." He gestures broadly with his trowel toward the garden as a whole. "So take your time, Lily. Be patient, ask questions, keep an open mind. There's a lot for us to do. There's a lot that /you/ can do, with the power you possess. But we need to practice before we're ready. So..." He grins. "The garden is a good place to start." |